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In: Mythology, Legends & Folklore·Archaeology & Anthropology
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #71107.
The work is a scholarly exploration of the “life‑token” motif that recurs in the Perseus legend and in folk traditions worldwide. Beginning with a modest dedication to a circle of contemporary scholars and folklorists, the author launches into a systematic survey of how heroes and heroines plant or possess objects, trees, flowers, animals, rings, knives, that signal their vitality or impending doom. Chapter after chapter catalogues examples from European Märchen, Indian and African tales, and classical myth, tracing the evolution from organically linked tokens (a tree sprouting from a hero’s fish‑scale) to arbitrary charms (a ring that darkens when its owner dies). The text is organized as a series of numbered chapters, each dissecting a particular aspect of the custom, witchcraft, sacred wells, totemic covenants, funeral rites, before drawing a concluding synthesis on the underlying theory of the life‑token.
Written in the formal, footnote‑heavy style of late‑Victorian scholarship, the prose reflects the academic conventions of the 1890s, with extensive citations and a measured, encyclopedic tone. Readers who relish comparative mythology, folklore studies, or the anthropology of ritual will find the detailed cross‑cultural parallels and the meticulous classification of customs compelling. Those interested in the Perseus myth, the symbolism of objects in legend, or the historical development of folk belief systems will appreciate the book’s depth and its blend of literary analysis with ethnographic observation.
I desire to add to the names of friends who have so kindly extended to me their assistance in various ways, those of Mr. Edward Clodd, now president of the Folklore Society, the Rev. W. Gregor, LL.D., Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, M. J. D. E. Schmeltz, the learned Curator of the Ethnographical Museum at Leiden, and editor of the Internationales Archiv, and Mr. W. R. Paton. To Mr. W. H. D. Rouse I have had occasion to refer so frequently for assistance of various kinds, constantly and ungrudgingly rendered, that I hardly know how to thank him. …
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