Andrew Lang

Before you begin to read all the delightful things collected together in this little book, there is one point upon which you should be quite clear: What is an essay? Well, the term is a pretty wicle one. .Literally it means "an attempt"—a shot at hitting the mark—a blow on the head of the...

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a brilliant Scottish scholar, man of letters, and serious student of folklore. His series of "fairy books" is generally regarded as among the richest collections in the English language. Gathered from around the world — from Norse and Icelandic sources, from the Far...

CHAPTER ONE The Boyhood and Parents of Ulysses Long ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of Greece, there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small and mountainous. People used to say that Ithaca 'lay like a shield upon the sea', which sounds as if it were a flat...