American Hero Myths A Study In The Native Religions Of The Western Continent

Author : Daniel G. Brinton,
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781986097871
Total Pages : 164 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (978 download)

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Download or read book American Hero-Myths written by Daniel G. Brinton, and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-04 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the preface This little volume is a contribution to the comparative study of religions It is an endeavor to present in a critically correct light some of the fundamental conceptions which are found in the native beliefs of the tribes of America So little has heretofore been done in this field that it has yielded a very scanty harvest for purposes of general study It has not yet even passed the stage where the distinction between myth and tradition has been recognized Nearly all historians continue to write about some of the American hero gods as if they had been chiefs of tribes at some undetermined epoch and the effort to trace the migrations and affiliations of nations by similarities in such stories is of almost daily occurrence How baseless and misleading all such arguments must be it is one of my objects to set forth At the same time I have endeavored to be temperate in applying the interpretations of mythologists I am aware of the risk one runs in looking at every legend as a light or storm myth My guiding principle has been that when the same and that a very extraordinary story is told by several tribes wholly apart in language and location then the probabilities are enormous that it is not a legend but a myth and must be explained as such It is a spontaneous production of the mind not a reminiscence of an historic event The importance of the study of myths has been abundantly shown of recent years and the methods of analyzing them have been established with satisfactory clearness The time has long since passed at least among thinking men when the religious legends of the lower races were looked upon as trivial fables or as the inventions of the Father of Lies They are neither the one nor the other They express in image and incident the opinions of these races on the mightiest topics of human thought on the origin and destiny of man his motives for duty and his grounds of hope and the source history and fate of all extern We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.