The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales

Richard GarnettProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2
Word count
476K words
Chapters
48

Tags

English Originals Folk and Supernatural TalesForeign Literature Fate MotifHeroic EpicImaginationLegendary TalesPoetic NarrativeGod ImageryClassical MythologyFantasy WorldPagan FlavorFolk Legend

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.The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Richard GarnettAuthor: Garnett, Richard, 1835-1906,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

This is Richard Garnett's collection of short stories, a public-domain work of English literature with the flavor of late nineteenth-century fantasy and satirical narrative. The title borrows the Norse image of the twilight of the gods, but the tales are not a unified mythological retelling; they are rather a gathering of short pieces on classical themes, allegory and whimsy. Their strength lies in elegant prose and light invention, often treating myth, history and human nature with irony and wit. A good sample of Victorian fantasy short fiction. Do not expect modern fantasy's strong plotting and world-building; enjoy the verbal play and short-form structure. Suitable for literary readers, classroom discussion of narrative technique, or bedside browsing. Readers unfamiliar with Western classical and mythological allusions may need notes for some pieces.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the title story first to sense the collection's tone, then skip to other tales as interest dictates.
  2. Look up brief background on mythological or historical allusions, then reread the passage.
  3. After each tale, summarize its ironic point or allegorical drift rather than following plot alone.
  4. Compare with other Victorian fantasy short stories to appreciate stylistic differences.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48

FAQ

Are these stories a systematic retelling of Norse myth? No. The title borrows the image of the twilight of the gods, but the pieces vary in subject and method; they are chiefly short fictions with classical allusions, allegory and irony, and should not be approached as a unified mythological system.
Does reading this require much mythological background? Some pieces draw on Western classical and mythological allusions, and basic familiarity helps, but systematic knowledge is not required. When unsure, look up brief background and reread; the main line and irony usually remain clear.
Is it suitable for classroom or book-club use? Yes, for selected stories. Their brevity suits divided reading, and discussions can focus on narrative perspective, irony and mythic revision. Teachers should annotate allusions in advance to lower the barrier.

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About the author

Richard Garnett Author · British · 1835–1906

Richard Garnett (1835–1906) was a British scholar, librarian, biographer and poet. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he joined the British Museum (now the British Library) at the age of sixteen and served as Keeper of Printed Books from 1890 to 1899. He wrote biographies of Milton, Carlyle and Blake, as well as The Age of Dryden, and contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Dictionary of National Biography. His works span literary history, bibliography and biography, combining scholarly rigour with a poet's sensibility; his collection The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales also reveals his gifts in imaginative fiction.