Legends from River & Mountain

Carmen Sylva (Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Luise of Wied, Queen of Romania)Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 406K words
Chapters: 41

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.Legends from River & Mountain by Alma Strettell and Carmen SylvaAuthor: Sylva, Carmen, 1843-1916,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jun 26, 2016

Editor's review

This book is a collection of stories compiled by Carmen Sylva (the pen name of Elisabeth, Queen of Romania) in collaboration with Alma Strettell, belonging to the tradition of legend collections in German and Nordic literature. Readers will see how rivers and mountains become the stage for folk narrative, and the stories often carry the plain rhythm and moral import of oral literature. For readers familiar with European folk tales, this is a less common textual encounter; for those studying nineteenth-century legend collecting and adaptation for children, it offers primary material for comparison. The electronic edition is released by Project Gutenberg and suits short-form reading on a commute or before bed, as well as supplementary reading in folklore or comparative literature. Because the language is English and the text is early, some expressions and narrative manners require the reader to slow down.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in European folklore and oral narrative
Scholars studying nineteenth-century legend collecting and adaptation for children
Readers who wish to feel the rhythm of classical narrative through short reading
Language learners in need of English folk-story material

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern fantasy or fast-paced adventure
Researchers requiring full scholarly annotation and textual criticism
Beginners impatient with nineteenth-century English expression

Reading tips

Read piece by piece, one or two tales a day, without aiming to finish at once.
Note recurring images as you read, such as rivers, mountains, and travelers.
Compare with other folk-story collections from the same region to observe narrative differences.
When encountering unfamiliar expressions, first guess from context, then confirm in a dictionary.

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 suitable for children?

The stories come from folk tradition, and some pieces suit parent-child reading, but the language is early and plots may contain punishment or danger common to traditional tales. Parents are advised to look through first, choose gentler and shorter pieces, and explain as they read together.

What language level is needed to read this book?

The original is in English, from Project Gutenberg. Readers with general English proficiency can finish it with a dictionary, but nineteenth-century syntax and vocabulary may pose obstacles. Try one or two pieces first to gauge the difficulty before deciding your pace.

What is the connection between this book and Carmen Sylva?

Carmen Sylva is the pen name of Elisabeth, Queen of Romania, who had an interest in literary writing and legend collecting. The book is jointly credited to her and Alma Strettell and is a compilation of legends; the division of labor for individual pieces should be checked against the original copyright page.

Comments

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About the author

Carmen Sylva (Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Luise of Wied, Queen of Romania) Author · German (born in Neuwied; Queen consort of Romania) · 1843–1916

Carmen Sylva is the pen name of Elisabeth, Queen of Romania, wife of Carol I. Born in Neuwied, Germany, in 1843, she died in Romania in 1916. She wrote in German, Romanian, French, and English, producing poetry, drama, fiction, and fairy tales. She was especially devoted to translating Romanian folk poetry for Western readers, bringing the legends and songs of the Carpathian region to a wider audience. Her works often draw on Romanian landscapes and folk tales, with a romantic narrative tone and an accessible, translated quality. During the War of Independence of 1877–1878 she nursed the wounded and was called the "Mother of the Wounded."