This little book of famous legends needs no introduction beyond a word of emphasis as to its educational value.

It is needless to point out, perhaps, that these stories—handed down from father to son and circulated in minstrelsy before the days of written history—have been almost the sole perservatives of the romance, chivalry, and splendor of the Middle Ages.

Out of the wealth of myths and traditions my selections have been purposely diverse, that as far as possible each nation and each people might be represented in this marshaling of the picturesque in legendary history.

And thus may the young reader have an insight into what, in the case of each nation, has become of the very fiber of its literature, art, and music.

In some cases, where the beauty depends largely on the literary style and treatement, direct transcripts from the best sources have been made; but for the most part I have reduced the stories to the simplest terms consistent with clearness and human interest. Among the sources drawn upon are Guerber's "Legends of the Middle Ages" and "Myths of Northern Lands," Chenoweth's "Stories of the Saints," Washington Irving's "The Phantom Island," Baldwin's "The Story of Roland," Browning's poems, Longfellow's poems, Malory's "Boys' King Arthur," Ragozin's "Frithjof" and "Roland," etc., etc.

It is the author's hope and belief that this volume will help to inculcate in the child a love for good reading, quicken his imagination, and broaden his horizon.

Introduction by the author