Myths and Legends of All Nations: Famous Stories from the Greek, German, English, Spanish, Scandinavian, Danish, French, Russian, Bohemian, Italian and other sources

by Logan Marshall (Translator & Editor)

A collections of stories from various nations.

Content

Prometheus the Friend of Man
The Labors of Hercules

From the German of Gustav Schwab.

Deucalion and Pyrrha
Theseus and the Centaur
Niobe
The Gorgon's Head

From Hawthorne's "Wonder Book."

The Golden Fleece

From Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales."

The Cyclops

From Church's "Stories from Homer."

Œdipus and the Sphinx

Adapted from Church's "Stories from Greek Tragedians."

Antigone, a Faithful Daughter and Sister
The Story of Iphigenia

From Church's "Stories from Greek Tragedians."

The Sack of Troy

From Church's "Stories from Virgil."

Beowulf and Grendel

From Joyce Pollard's "Stories from Old English Romance."

The Good King Arthur
The Great Knight Siegfried
Lohengrin and Elsa the Beautiful

From the German of Robert Hertwig.

Frithiof the Bold
Wayland the Smith
Twardowski, the Polish Faust
Ilia Muromec of Russia
Kralewitz Marko of Servia
The Decision of Libuscha
Count Roland of France

From Church's "Stories of Charlemagne and the Peers of France."

The Cid

Genres: Mythology, History, Reference, Classics

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Logan Howard Smith's pen-name.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Prometheus, the Friend of Man (Hello again, petty and vindictive monsters *ahem* Olympians)

***The Labors of Hercules (I think they left out just a few key details of that story...)

***Deucalion and Pyrrha (On the one hand, whoever wrote the Bible might be a complete hack, but on the other hand, this explains a whole lot regarding the Abrahamic God's petty vindictiveness)

*Theseus and the Centaur (Nothing quite like mass murder to cement a good manly... sure, let's just go ahead and call it "friendship")

*Niobe (No matter how many times I read this story, it never ceases to boggle my mind how Niobe could be so abominably stupid. "Oh, you just killed every last one of my sons? Well, I dare you to go ahead and kill all my daughters too!" Then somehow manages to be surprised that the monsters Olympians actually did it.)

**The Gorgon's Head (Go send a hero out to fetch a head that turns everyone who looks at it to stone. Then gather the whole city together and order him to take it out of the bag.)



(Also, let's just go ahead and put this point on the Evil Overlord List: Ancient Greek Edition: "If I want to get rid of someone without making myself look bad, I will not send him on an impossible quest in the hope that he dies. The only way that ever turns out is that he'll come back with hero status, a new wife, and new weapons to use against me. Instead, I will have him assassinated in his sleep. Or better yet, see if there's any dirt on him I can use to get the Olympians to do my dirty work for me. If it turns out that he is in fact the son of Zeus, I will acknowledge that it's time to cut my losses, fork over the throne, and go find another kingdom to usurp.)

**The Golden Fleece (Jason's girlfriend does everything for him. Also, see above point on the whole impossible quest thing.)

***The Cyclops (Always nice to see a story where the hero thinks his way out of a problem rather than just hacking his way out. Though if you're not a fan of having your eye put out, maybe don't eat your guests.)

***Œdipus and the Sphinx (Memo to ancient Greek monsters: If someone manages to best you, suicide is not the answer. Maybe step up your game a bit and try again?)

****Antigone, a Faithful Daughter and Sister (They never listen to the prophets when they say "Do not do this thing, you are going to regret it." Why do they never listen to the prophets?)

*The Story of Iphigenia (*scourges the Earth in punishment to humanity for sacrificing humans* *demands a human sacrifice* Olympian logic!)

**The Sack of Troy ("I don't trust that giant hollow wooden horse; I think it might be full of Greeks." "Great! Let's bring it straight into the city without checking inside!")

(And here we have yet another book that claims to be a collection of myths from all nations, yet somehow manages to be more than half Greek by page count.)

***Beowulf and Grendel (I don't have the slightest clue why female characters who show the slightest sign of competence are always dismissed as "Mary Sues" even though characters like this guy are apparently perfectly okay and worthy of remembering.)

**The Good King Arthur (Lyrical poetry tends to be really hit-or-miss for me)

*The Great Knight Siegfried (Want to marry a woman who as a condition of winning her has set out a series of impossible tasks, and thus clearly does not want to be married? Cheat! Cheat, and get your friend to do everything for you, and then wonder why she could possibly be bitter and unhappy about your marriage.)

***Lohengrin and Elsa the Beautiful (Sure, I get that the moral is about trusting your spouse, and about respecting their space when they ask you for privacy... but seriously, who comes up with these ridiculous clauses? What practical purpose could they possibly serve in-universe?)

***Frithiof the Bold (Royal family marriage politics, UGH)

Wayland the Smith (Oh, ew! Ew! You'd think that a child-murderer and rapist that murdered two little boys in cold blood and then raped their sister via Magical Roofies would be the villain of the piece, but no, he gets away with all of it completely Scot-free because of some vague wrong the king did to him in the past that's never even explained! Seriously, I get that different cultures had different attitudes about rape, but it's only the most depraved of societies that don't have any sort of issue with child murder. Seriously, ew! NO STARS!)

**Twardowski, the Polish Faust (Apparently you can sell your soul to the devil, commit any number of atrocities, and still manage to worm your way out of it in the end if only you pray hard enough.)

*Ilia Muromec of Russia (Oh look, yet another complete Mary Sue of a medieval hero. Here came a guy... and he fought this other guy... because apparently neither of them had anything better to do... and one of them isn't going to be killed in battle Because Reasons that are never explained... Why are we supposed to care about this again?)

*Krawelitz Marko of Servia (You want to know what really makes a story work? Context. Also, giving us more of an introduction to the characters than throwing a bunch of random names and ranks at us and expecting us to remember them all.)

*The Decision of Libuscha (Well isn't that just charming? No woman can be trusted to make any sort of decision or hold any sort of leadership position on her own unless she's got a man around to pull her strings. And oh hey look, she can't even be trusted to choose her own man, she's got to go and get a bunch of other men to do that for her as well.)

*Count Roland of France (Oh riiiiiiiiight, I remember Roland. That's the arrogant little shit that thought calling for backup was beneath him, got every last man under his command killed 'cause he didn't wanna blow a horn, and somehow still ended up being lauded for his "bravery".)

...they saluted the great image of Mahomet, the false prophet, that stood on the topmost tower.

(Also, I'm guessing whoever wrote this didn't actually know the first thing about Islam. Just a tiny little hunch.)

*The Cid (Yes, I totally picked up a book of myths that purported to be from all nations because I wanted nothing better than to read about a bunch of barbaric Christians shoving their religion down people's throats and calling it "holy". I never thought I'd say this, but can we have the Olympians back, please?)

[Peyton Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

Awesome

I didn't like it at all I rated it this so you can see my opinion. please don't get this book it's not worth ur time p/s

[Ricky Kimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myths From Around The World

This is a collection of myths and legends from around the world. Hercules,King Arthur and El Cid are among the stories included in this volume.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of myths and legends, many I was already somewhat familiar with, others not as much. I had fun remembering those I was and found those I was not familiar enjoyable.

[Felipe CZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great starting point to learn more about myths and legends. These are european stories, so they are not from "all nations", but still it is a great collection. I enjoyed the Greek ones the most, although it includes Cid, which is also good, and some interesting, and very weird, stories from other places. Recommended reading for all ages, but younger readers might find some of the language confusing.

[Mark Schlechty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and diverse

This book had many interesting tales. Many of them were well-known Greek legends and myths . There are also many other stories from other cultures . It is well worth reading .

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

You think know your myths?

I loved mythology since the 5th grade. I picked up this book to read the same myths as before. I was given an older, but refreshing glance in the world I love.

[Mahir Şanlı · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yüzeysel olarak mitleri okumak isteyenler için tercih edilebilir.

[Peter Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction and skeletal versions of some of the World's best myths and legends. Each chapter is a good introduction to a different myth. Can be read either before or after reading the full versions. Can help young and beginning readers with accessible versions of classic stories.

[Bria · Rating 2 out of 5]

What's with all the editorializing, Logan?