VII—FOLK-LORE OF THE SLAVS
There is much that is curious about the folk-lore of the Russians and kindred peoples. They have the old, original nature myths, with hero stories added. There is the same setting as in Scandinavian mythology, of cold and storm. There are epics in three cycles which embody some stories almost identical with those of the Greeks. There are, however, two striking differences between their legends and those of other countries: one is, that sorcery, witchcraft, spells, exorcisms and incantations abound; the other is that nearly all tales have folk-music accompanying them. Fairy stories are abundant and charming, and much like those of Norway and Sweden. Read from Myths and Fairy Tales of Russia, by Jeremiah Curtin, and Russian Folk Tales by R. Nisbet Bain.
VIII—GERMAN FOLK-LORE
In many respects the folk-tales of Germany are more interesting than those of any other country. They do not deal with the great, simple myths, except as they have been transformed into certain fairy tales, but are centered largely on more recent stories. There are tales of the Middle Ages, of knights, besieged castles, huntsmen and hermits; there are Rhine legends, with princesses and giants; there are mining tales of dwarfs and goblins, and stories of water fairies and forest elves. Notice the resemblance to the stories of other lands in some of Grimm's fairy tales. See how closely Peter Klaus is like our own story of Rip Van Winkle. Read Stories of the Rhine Gold, by Anna A. Chapin, and the best known stories from Grimm, especially Rumpelztiltskin, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White and Rose Red.
IX—FOLK-LORE OF ENGLAND
All parts of England are rich in folk-tales, festival customs and legends, and various shires have preserved in book form those which are peculiar to them. In rhymes and jingles, nicknames, proverbs, riddles and nursery tales we find traces of very early tradition. Frazer's Golden Bough speaks of May Day customs, Maypole dances, keeping St. John's Eve and Midsummer Day, as survivals of religious festivals of great importance. The hero stories, especially those of King Arthur and his knights, are unusually well developed and beautiful. English fairies are most human and charming. Shakespeare is rich in allusion to them; read on this point Shakespeare's Puck and His Folk Lore, by William Bell, and parts of Midsummer Night's Dream.
In Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book all the delightful old fairy stories are preserved; read Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Ridinghood, Cinderella, and Jack the Giant Killer. Notice how several of these stories are considered by some students as nature myths.
Read Kipling's Puck o' Pook's Hill, the modern fairy story, and contrast with those of older date.
X—AMERICAN FOLK-LORE
The negroes of the South have a complex set of stories of their own, some with the mark of their savage ancestors on them—as is shown in their fetishism, voodoo, magic and ghosts—and others which are full of a quaint humor. Most of the latter are in the form of animal stories, and have been gathered together by Joel Chandler Harris. Read from Nights with Uncle Remus, and see how each of the animals mentioned has its peculiar characteristic, and how the rabbit, who always represents the colored man, outwits the white man by his cunning. Clubs should make a point of reproducing some of the old negro folk songs.