Curious Myths of the Middle-Ages

Baring-Gould covers an interesting array of topics, from well-known subjects like the Pied Piper of Hamelin and William Tell, to obscure subjects like the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and Bishop Hatto.

For this, he deserves thanks and many stars in his rating. However I had to delete a star or two due to his annoying habit of presuming readers are fluent in Latin and French. Granted, when Baring-Gould wrote this, most of his intended readers probably could speak fluent Latin and French but it is perhaps too much to ask readers of the 2005 reprint to understand, for example, Appendix D (on "Shipping the Dead"), which almost entirely consists of a dense Latin tract containing references to "carne familiariter agnitus" (which I translated as show more "meat is familiar to Aunt Agnes") and "eosdem circinabat fluminis fluctus" (which I'd like to think refers to "someone's fart circulating around the room").

Also, the stories did get repetitive after a while as Baring-Gould painstakingly repeats the story numerous times as he shows that many different areas of Europe have similar stories.

And I think I got my Olafs mixed up at one point. show less

This is a version abridged by Edward Hardy: I am unaware of the extent of the abridgement.

I expected on picking this up to be the stories I think of as myths of the period: Arthur and Roland and Ossian and Carolus Magnus - but instead it covers the tales that I think of as more the urban legends of the time: the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and Pope Joan and the Wandering Jew and their kin. I prefer those lesser stories anyway.

Baring-Gould covers these stories, from the classics to lesser-known arcana like the Schamir of Solomon and St. Patrick's Purgatory, in his readable, comprehensive Victorian style, treasuring both wonder and scholarship for their own sakes. The individual sections are short enough to be quickly read and each is show more illustrated with a fabulous medieval woodcut. Definitely recommended. show less

An anthology unlike any other. An investigative approach to European fables of the middle ages, and tracing their origins across time and space, even to places as far away as Persia and India. A must read for anyone interested in a retelling of old myths and legends from an anthropological perspective, it nevertheless makes for a very interesting read even if you're only looking for something to while away some time.

A good collection and discussion of mediaeval myths, if perhaps not up to date with current interpretations

A fresh and interesting book of myths despite its age. Thanks to Laurie King's "The Moor" for making me aware of the author.