6. Myths

Myths have their origin in primitive man’s personification of the forces and objects of nature, as gods, demons, giants, dwarfs, light-elves, spirits of darkness, trolls, and hideous monsters. Interpreting nature in poetic imagery and language, primitive races came to believe in these myths as their religion. The Greek myths, which are largely personifications of the beauty of nature, are especially pleasing to children who love stories of flowers, trees, fountains, and sudden transformations, as the natural response to their inherent love of nature. The Norse myths are personifications of the awe-inspiring natural phenomena of the cold and rugged northland. Such stories picture stalwart courage, manliness, and heroic virtue, qualities that appeal to later childhood and youth. The myths of the American Indian, such as Longfellow’s “Hiawatha,” treating of the spirit of the wild woods and free out-of-door life, are well adapted to the child’s love of nature.

“Myth is not a goal. It is a means by which the goal is reached. The race grew out of the myth-making period of its development, and the child will grow out of the myth-loving stage in its religious development, unless hindered by parents or teachers who unwisely withhold this childhood religious material from him.”[3]

Some of the best collections of myths are Hawthorne’s “Wonder-Tales”; Kingsley’s “Greek Heroes”; “Norse Stories Retold,” Mabie; “Stories of the Red Children,” Dorothy Brooks.