Produced by Ted Garvin, Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note The Glossary and Index includes a pronunciation of the Anglo-Saxon names in the text. These include some characters with a macron (straight line) above, and some with a breve (u-shaped symbol) above. Also used is the accute accent (´). If these do not display properly, you may need to adjust your font settings. HERO-MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE BRITISH RACE BY M. I. EBBUTT M. A. WITH FIFTY-ONE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. H. F. BACON A.R.A. BYAM SHAW W. H. MARGETSON R.I. GERTRUDE DEMAIN HAMMOND AND OTHERS [Illustration] GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY LTD. LONDON CALCUTTA SYDNEY [Illustration: Robin Hood and the Black Monk William Sewell [_Page 331_]] _First published August 1910_ _by GEORGE G. HARRAP & CO._ _39-41 Parker Street, Kingsway, London, W.C.2_ _Reprinted: October 1910_ _September 1911_ _December 1914_ _May 1916_ _December 1917_ _February 1920_ _June 1924_ _Printed in Great Britain at THE BALLANTYNE PRESS by_ SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & CO. LTD. _Colchester, London & Eton_ TO MISS JULIA KENNEDY IN TOKEN OF THE ADMIRATION AND AFFECTION OF AN OLD PUPIL THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED PREFACE In refashioning, for the pleasure of readers of the twentieth century, these versions of ancient tales which have given pleasure to story-lovers of all centuries from the eighth onward, I feel that some explanation of my choice is necessary. Men's conceptions of the heroic change with changing years, and vary with each individual mind; hence it often happens that one person sees in a legend only the central heroism, while another sees only the inartistic details of mediæval life which tend to disguise and warp the heroic quality. It may be that to some people the heroes I have chosen do not seem heroic, but there is no doubt that to the age and generation which wrote or sang of them they appeared real heroes, worthy of remembrance and celebration, and it has been my object to come as close as possible to the mediæval mind, with its elementary conceptions of honour, loyalty, devotion, and duty. I have therefore altered the tales as little as I could, and have tried to put them as fairly as possible before modern readers, bearing in mind the altered conditions of things and of intellects to-day.