The whole story probably means no more than this: Jack the Giant Killer is the Wind and the Light which disperses the mists and overthrows the cloud giants; and popular fancy, ages ago, dressed him out as a person combating real giants of flesh and blood, just as in all ages and all countries the forces of nature have taken personal shape, and have given us these tales of miraculous gifts, of great deeds done, and of monsters destroyed by men with the courage and the strength of heroes. Now our task is done. We have seen that the Fairy Stories came from Asia, where they were made, ages and ages ago, by a people who spread themselves over our Western world, and formed the nations which dwell in it, and brought their myths and legends with them; and we have seen, too, how the ancient meanings are still to be found in the tales that are put now into children's books, and are told by nurses at the fireside. And we have seen something of the lessons they teach us, and which are taught by all the famous tales of Wonderland; lessons of kindness to the feeble and the old, and to birds, and beasts, and all dumb creatures; lessons of courtesy, courage, and truth-speaking; and above all, the first and noblest lesson believed in by those who were the founders of our race, that God is very near to us, and is about us always; and that now, as in all times, He helps and comforts those who live good and honest lives, and do whatever duty lies clear before them. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: Edward Clodd, _The Childhood of Religions: Embracing a Simple Account of the Birth and Growth of Myths and Legends_, p. 76-77. (1878)] [Footnote 2: Kingsley's _Heroes_, preface, p. xv.] [Footnote 3: _Oxford Essays:_ "Comparative Mythology," p. 69.] [Footnote 4: _Popular Tales from the Norse_, by George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L.] [Footnote 5: _Popular Titles of the West Highlands_. Orally collected, with a Translation by J. F. Campbell. Edinburgh: Edmonton and Douglas. 4 vols.] [Footnote 6: Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, i. 112.] [Footnote 7: _Old Deccan Days_. Miss and Sir Bartle Frere.] [Footnote 8: _Old Deccan Days_.] [Footnote 9: _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, vol. i., Introduction, p. c.] [Footnote 10: Baring-Gould, _Myths of the Middle Ages._]