Thomas Bulfinch

The Age of Chivalry Thomas Bulfinch

Bulfinch's Mythology is a classic retelling of the great myths and legends, from ancient Greece and Rome to the time of Charlemagne. Volume two focuses on Arthurian legends, and covers such notables as Sir Gawain, Launcelot, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Tristan and Isolde, Robin Hood, and much more. Tales from Camelot, dramatic narratives from The Mabinogeon, and stories of the noble warriors of English history. Young readers can find no better introduction to medieval myths and legends. If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if that which tends to make us happier and better can be called useful, then we claim that epithet for our subject. For Mythology is the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness. Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. When Byron calls Rome "the Niobe of nations," or says of Venice, "She looks a Sea-Cybele fresh from ocean," he calls up to the mind of one familiar with our subject, illustrations more vivid and striking than the pencil could furnish, but which are lost to the reader ignorant of mythology. Milton abounds in similar allusions.