Custom and Myth

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 467K words
Chapters: 47

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Custom and Myth by Andrew LangAuthor: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912,Language: English, Class: BL: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Religion: General, Miscellaneous and Atheism, Release Date: Nov 17, 2004

Editor's review

Custom and Myth is a collection of essays in which Andrew Lang discusses custom and myth from the perspective of comparative folklore. Rather than building a systematic theory, it starts from concrete cases and examines the similarities and differences among peoples in customs, beliefs, and narratives, displaying the methodological appeal of nineteenth-century comparative study. Lang writes with erudition and a touch of skepticism, deftly seeking social and psychological clues in seemingly absurd legends; the reading offers both intellectual density and the pleasure of inference. As a public-domain ebook, it is better suited as an introduction to early folklore and mythology than as an authoritative contemporary theoretical text. Read it as a set of scholarly essays demonstrating method: attend to how the author poses questions and compares materials, and note the limits of his era. Best read slowly, essay by essay, in a quiet setting, with notes to sort out cases and arguments.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Beginning readers interested in mythology, folklore, and comparative cultural studies
Readers who want to understand nineteenth-century comparative method and the scholarly essay
Students who need public-domain English materials for reading practice or course extension
General readers who like to think about custom and belief through concrete cases

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a systematic contemporary textbook of folklore
Specialist researchers expecting a rigorous argumentative system or extensive annotation and textual scholarship
Readers who prefer light story reading and do not want to engage with academic discussion

Reading tips

Read essay by essay; after each, summarize in a few sentences the author's question and comparative approach.
Mark unfamiliar peoples or custom names first and look them up after finishing the essay, so as not to interrupt the rhythm.
Read alongside a modern introduction to folklore to identify differences between Lang's method and contemporary perspectives.
Keep a simple comparison table recording similarities among cases and the explanations the author gives.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a systematic textbook on mythology?

No. It is closer to a collection of essays in comparative folklore, discussing specific customs and myths rather than building a complete theory chapter by chapter. It works as a methodological example and introduction; for systematic study, use a contemporary textbook alongside it.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

The original is nineteenth-century English prose with long sentences and references to peoples and customary terms. University-level English reading ability is enough to attempt it; read slowly essay by essay with a dictionary, and do not try to finish the whole book at once.

What should I keep in mind when reading a public-domain ebook?

Public-domain ebooks are easy to obtain, but their layout and annotation may be less polished than modern editions. Mark essays and key cases yourself, check quotations and proper names against reliable sources, and avoid treating the book's views as settled conclusions.

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About the author

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a British writer, poet and folklorist best known for compiling collections of fairy tales and myths. The library holds 77 of his works, including The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Violet Fairy Book and The Brown Fairy Book, as well as Tales of Troy and Greece and The Homeric Hymns. He gathered, edited and retold folk tales from Europe and around the world, naming the volumes by colour; his clear, fluent prose served both children and folklore scholarship. These collections preserved a wealth of oral material and shaped the modern English-speaking world's image of fairy tales, leaving a lasting influence on fairy-tale publishing and comparative story research. Public information on his life is limited, so this note focuses on his editorial and literary contributions.