New-York tribune., 1891-01-29
NEW PUBLICATIONS
PROBLEMS IN FAIRY MYTHOLOGY

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Wexford.
This Is an Interesting book II it raises as many
unsoved problems the one hand as it solves on inc
other that is due TO the condition OF the suO!eo
with which it deals For there is wide diversity OF
opnlon as TO the best method of extracting what Is
nrimtve in folklore from all the accretiOns OF ages
and thus getting perfect foundation upon when 70
build system that shall be complete representation
IN miniature OF the development OF the imaslninsS
OF humanity not the development OF the human
Imagination, for everything goes 10 show that tere
has been no process that could Justly be called an
evolution OF that faculty. Genius in modern tmes
strives in vain merely to initiate works OF the fancy
that were perfect in ages or among races barely re
moved from the rliiest barbaTism There are srohes
In the Descent of Ishtar which not even Dante couIu
equal, and it is the merest commonplace 10 sPeaA
OF the pre- eminencc Of Homer Clvilzcd races Cah
only admire without hoping to emulate the beauty OF
narratives that have sprung from the hearts OF ui
tutored savages like the American Indian or the MAORI
OR unhempt pcaSantry like that OF Russia 40
questions earth are more Thoroughly uhais"oi""'0
from the point of OF the evolutionlst thah IoSc
of folklore. Mr.. Iartland has exempli1ed tnS lac'
An spite Of himself. ave assumed" says ne, " uie
hypothesis of the evolution OF civilization ITO"
savagery BY this ! mean that just as the hlsHer
orders of animal and vegetable life have been deVeopcu
from germs which appeared on this planet lcd'''auo
sges ago: so during past of unknown lehs'n INC
civilization of the highest races of men has oeeh
gradually evolving through the various STAGES vi
savacerv and barbarism up to what We know OF u
today and every nation, no matter no" oarua'ous
has arisen from lower stage than that III "i"0" 1t
Is found and Is its way, If left 10 It's hatur"l
processes TO something higher and better lhus
ono would suppose that the modern Greek was a"
Improvement on the ancient Greek; that ''c moucr"
MesOpotamisn was more civilized than the prehistoric
Chadacan or that the Copt OF 10 day Is an advance W
the Egyptian Of the time Of Ramcses but MI mar
lands book proves above everything else 'haV MS "
sumption is incorrect and that, common as IL IS " -
scientific only in name lie endOws his savage WIN
a capacity Of thought that might appal "'i"Vu
rnetaphvsican the difference being that the savage
thinking is directed TO sustaining wholly uh'eiaoic
theory OF universal life every object about "i'' a'
mate and inanmate being instinct with person"HS'
a consciousness akin to his own.
supposing this view of the savage as we kho" MN
70 he correct IL does not follow that the p1mltNe man
filled ANYTHING like the same angle OF vision. II do-
cordinc 10 the hypothesis IL has taken unnuoere "-
TO develop the European. So by the same ISpo
Il has taken unnumbered ages to develop lHe "l'''
II IS no more a legitimate process TO carry Dach 'ie
elaborate ceremonialism and supernaturallsm OF 'he
African 10 his prehistoric ancestors than IL Is 10 carry
hack the elaborate customs of the European 10 ule
nile dwellings OF the stOne age. Every at'enp' AZ
transfers Of this must be sustained IN oea oH '
strictest criticism There is something thoroueiuN ms
leading in the comparison between the eVoiuuoh '"'
Is a law OF organic life and the evolution OF rrouncts
dtion and incorporation Of details pot necessarily
related TO each other but brought into picturesque
relationship by the touch Of genius
Most Of the fgments. however. OF what Is caAcu
fairy mythology bear the marks OF hieh oNii"auoi
Palaces and prisons massive fortresses costly gar
n,ents Jewels coins elaborate weapons, gates doors
and the like were an mpossibity 10 the conception VI
.ho nr,ritive man Until doors invented, he
oould no more have imagined machine tha' "orNeu ."
hinges than q machine which ran by steam or elec-
tr;city But when rude men, in whom imaglhauoh i
vivid csme in contact with the appliances OF cVlnza
finn II was natural that they should nho i'll tlcn'
uhat fancy atrophed by refinement, could not see
This principle will be found of almost universal ap
pcation 10 the mechanical elements OF popular ioIe,
and il points always TO contact between peoples VI
low civilization and peoples OF higher clvizauoh d.
indispensable 10 the production of an extremely large
class Of folk tales
Mr. Harand Is right in the emphasis that he lays
nm the experimentation of ignorant races. "To
large proportioA OF human beings at the present
day, he says, "beasts and birds, trees ana plah's'
the sea tho mountains, the wind the sun. the moon
the clouds and the stars day and night the heaven
and the EARTH alive and possessed of the passions
and the cunning and the will they feel within mem
selves Tho only difference is that these things are
vastly cleverer and more powerful than meh' Heh'o
they are TO be dreaded 10 be appeased if possible TO
be outwitted-evcn sometimes to be punished But
IT is also true that The difference between Plato and
Aristotle the one believing in the existence and i'm
mortality Of individual souls and the oher scepucai
Of all spiritual existence, is not merely distinction
between philosophical sects but natural division OF
mankind. There is scep'icism among savaga' just
as there is among civilized men. When sitting Bull
was taxed, short time before his death, with dis
belief IN the Messiah looked for by the Sioux. he
practically confessed by his silence that the accusa-
ton was true. II is not too much 10 say thai most
folklore such belongs, perhaps, In the DOMAIN OF
comparative religion owes It's existence to the inter-
play of these two opposing forces In human nature
An illustration of this is to be found not only in the
way Plato uniformly introduces his myths OF the
other world but also, for example in the story OF
the way Apoonus OF Tyana returned from Hades
as a ghost 10 convince a Young unbeLever OF the
truth of Immortality, tale which had its counterpart
I'm all corners Of the esSh long before Defoe wrote
his famous introduction to "DrelincOurt on Death"
Mr. HartIand embodies his theory Of the origin OF
fairy supersOns in throefOld doctrine Of spiri ual
existence OF Transformation by which living creature
may change its shape-for instance a man may be-
come a wof-and Of witchcraft But 1t would seem
as IL these three items in the creed OF rude and ig
norant people were only different aspects Of the
same corrupt spirituasm, practically identical the
world over. All the variations come from the
natural process of transferring the ordinary practices
OF human life to world in which humanity "a
such, has entered and cannot enter IL
IS plain that the fact OF spiritual existence
vould be the only thing liable to change in the
infinite mass of details which would be added from age
TO age to the simple primitive belief Change as 10
this single fact would be impossible, for the reason
that It IS the indispensable condition Of every enter
prise OF the Imagination in the realm outside Of this
mortal life In every other respect change would be
the law and the only wonder is that the inhabitants
of the supernatural realm can be CLASSIFIED under so
few general titles they are.
The three fold division indicated Mr. 1artland
10 reject too summary the opinion Of Lebrecht con
cerning the origin of the myths respecting the swan
naidens The German scholar maintained that the
swan maidens nothing more nor less than souls
Of the departed If the opinion of Lebrecht IS correct
If the swan maiden tales 10 be resolved ultimate
rInc thnn hay a Irincinle hrnad