00 00 m o o> 'iilll '^m (O § mm& 33ft -co a ■ WB. • ••■' BQPK In '•- MM SB s M ANIMAL STORIES EDITED BY ANDREW LANG. THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK. With 138 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6.s. THE BED FAIBY BOOK. With 100 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. With 99 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE YELLOW FAIRY BOOK. With 101 Illustra- tious. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE PINK FAIRY BOOK. With 67 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE BLUE POETRY BOOK. With 100 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE BLUE POETRY BOOK. School Edition, without Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. is. 6d. THE TRUE STORY BOOK. With 66 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE RED TRUE STORY BOOK. With 100 Illus- trations. Crown 8vo. 6s. THE ANIMAL STORY BOOK. With 67 Illustrations. i Irown 8vo. 6s. THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. With 66 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. LONGMANS, GREEX, & CO., 39 Paternoster Row, London New York and Bombay. ,^>cw Saj. i\ Oaf* ■o ftafy. Iff *U ^M*j.l : & ")THE HON FAILS IN l.UVE. WITH fllSSA.f THE RED BOOK OF Animal Stories SELECTED AND EDITED BY ANDREW LAN G WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. J. FORD LONGMANS, GEE EN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1899 All rights reservi : Longmans, Gkeex, & Co. 7 91 L3£ TO MISS SYBIL CORBET Author of 'Animal Land' 'Sybil's Garden of Pleasant Beasts' and ■ Epiotic Poems' Sybil, the Beasts we bring to you Are not so friendly, not so odd, As those that all amazed we view, The brutes created by your nod — The Wuss, the Azorkon, and the Pod ; But then our tales are true! Fauna of fancy, one and all Obey your happy voice, we know ; A garden zoological Is all around, where'er you go. XTellys and Kanks walk to and fro, And Dids attend your call. We have but common wolves and bears, Lion and leopard, hawk and hind, Tigers, and crocodiles, and hares: But yet they hope you will be kind, And mark with sympathetic mind These moving tales of theirs. PREFA CE Childeex who read this book will perhaps ask whether all the stories are true ? Now all the stories are not true ; at least, we never meet the Phoenix now in any known part of the world. To be sure, there are other creatures, such as the Mastodon and the Pterodactyl, which are not found alive anywhere, but their bones remain, turned into stones or fossils. It is unlikely that they were changed into rocks by a witch, or by Perseus with the Gorgon's Head, in the Greek story. It must have been done in some other way. However, the bones, now stones, show that there were plenty of queer beasts that have died out. Possibly the sight of the stone beasts and birds made people believe, long ago, in such creatures as Dragons, and the water-bulls that haunt the lochs in the Highlands. One of these was seen by a shepherd about eighty years since, and an account of it was sent to Sir Walter Scott. There is also the Bunyip, a strange creature which both white and black men say that they have seen in the lakes of Australia. Then there x PEE FACE is the Sea Serpent ; many people have seen him alive, but no specimen of a dead Sea Serpent is in any of the museums. About 1,300 years ago, more or less, St. Columba saw a great water-beast, which lived in the river Ness, and roared as it pursued men ; but the Saint put an end to its adventures. For my part, I do not disbelieve that there may be plenty of strange animals which scientific men have not yet dissected and named by long names. Some of the last of these may have been remembered and called Dragons. For, if there were never any Dragons, why did all sorts of nations tell stories about them ? The Fire Drake, however, also the Ice Beast, or Eemora, do seem very unlikely creatures, and perhaps they are only a sort of poetical inventions. The stories about these unscientific animals are told by Mr. H. S. C. Everard, who found them in very curious old books. The stories about Foxes are by Miss B. Grieve, who is a great friend of Foxes, and takes their side when they are hunted by the Duke of Buccleuch's hounds. I am afraid she would not tell where the Fox was hiding, if she knew (as she sometimes does), just as you would not have told his enemies, if you had known that Charles II. was hiding in the oak tree. Not that it is wrong to hunt foxes, but a person who is not hunting naturally takes the weaker side. And, after all, the fun is to pursue the fox, not to catch him. The same lady wrote about sheep in ' Sheep Farming on the Border." PREFACE xi The stories about ' Tom the Bear ' are taken from the French works on natural history by M. Alexandre Dumas. We cannot be sure that every word of them is true, for M. Dumas wrote novels chief!}7, which you must read when you are older. One of these novels is about Charles L, and it is certainly not all true, so we cannot believe every word that M. Dumas tells us. He had a great deal of imagination — enough for about thirteen thousand living novelists. Most of the other tales are written by Mrs. Lang, and are as true as possible ; while Miss Lang took the adventures of a Lion Tamer, and ' A Boar Hunt by Moonlight,' out of French and German books. The story of greedy Squouncer, by Mrs. Lang, is true, every word, and I wrote ' The Life and Death of Pincher,' who belonged to a friend of mine.1 Squouncer's portrait is from a photograph, and does justice to his noble expression. Miss Blackley also did some of the stories. Most of the tales of ' Thieving Dogs and Horses ' were published, about 1819, by Sir Walter Scott, in ' Blackwood's Magazine,' from which they are taken by Mrs. Lang. I have tried to make it clear that this is not altogether a scientific book ; but a great deal of it is more to be depended on than ' A Bad Boy's Book of Beasts,' or Miss Sybil Corbet's books, 'Animal Land,' and ' Sybil's Garden of Pleasant Beasts.' 1 From Longman's Magazine. xii PEE FACE These are amusing, but it is not true that ' the Garret Lion ate Sybil's mummy.' Indeed, I think that when people, long ago, invented the Fire Drake, and the Ice Beast, they were just like Miss Corbet, when she invented the Kank, the Wuss, and other animals. That is to say, they were children in their minds, though grown up in their bodies. They fancied that they saw creatures which were never created. If this book has any moral at all, it is to be kind to all sorts and conditions of animals — that will let you. Most girls are ready to do this, but boys used to be apt to be unkind to Cats when I was a boy. There is no reason why an exception should be made as to Cats, and a boy ought to think of this before he throws stones or sets dogs at a cat. Now, in London, we often see the little street boys making friends with every cat they meet, but this is not so common in the country. If anything in this book amuses a boy, let him be kind to poor puss, and protect her, for the sake of his obedient friend, ANDREW LANG. CONTENTS The Phoenix ... ... Griffins and Unicorns ... About Ants, Amjjhisbcenas, and Basilisks . Dragons .....*•■•• The Story of Beowulf, Grendel, and GrendeVs Mother The Story of Beowulf and the Fire Drake . A Fox Tale ... . An Egyptian Snake Cha/rmer ... . An Adventure of Gerard, the Lion Hunter Pumas and Jaguars in South America . Mathurin and Mathurine Joseph: Whose proper name was Josephine . The Homes of the Yizcachas ... Guanacos : Living and Dying ... . In the American Desert . ... The Story of Jacko II ' Princess ' ........ The Lion and the Saint ....... The Further Adventures of ' Tom,' a Bear, in Paris Recollections of a Lion Tamer ... Sheep Farming on the Border ..... When the World was Young ... . . Bats and Vampires ....... The Ugliest Beast in the World . The Games of Orang-Outangs, and Kees the Baboon Greyhounds and their Master* . PAGE 1 4 12 20 33 43 49 55 61 84 98 102 108 112 117 128 135 138 143 154 171 177 196 200 206 224 xiv CONTEXTS PAGE The Great Father, and Snakes' Ways . . . .232 Elephant Shooting 238 Hyenas and Children ........ 252 A Fight with a Hipjyojjotamus . . . . . . 257 Kanny, the Kangaroo ........ 261 Collies, or Sheep Dogs ........ 266 Two Big Dogs arid a Little One ..... 273 Crocodile Stories ......... 280 Lion-Hunting and Lions ....... 285 On the Trail of a Man-eater . . 304 Greyhounds and their Arab Masters ..... 310 The Life and Death of Pincher 317 A Boar Hunt by Moonlight 321 Thieving Dogs and Horses . . . . . . 328 To the Memory of Squouncer 339 How Tom the Bear was bom a Frenchman . . . 344 Charley 357 Fairy Rings; and the Fairies who male them . . . 364 Hoio the Reindeer Live ....... 370 The Cow and the Crocodile 376 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES The Lion falls in love with A'isso . The Griffin How the Unicorn ivas Trapped Finding a Mermaid ..... Victor carried up the Chasm by the Dragon . Queen Waltheow and Beowulf GrendeVs Mother drags Beoiculf to the bottom of the Lake ....... The Death of Beowulf ..... The Lion falls in love with A'issa . Aissa's Father finds her Axt The Lion appears at the top of the Ravine . Maldonada guarded by the Puma The Jaguar besieged by Peccaries Joseph's Breakfast ...... St. Jerome draws out the Thorn Tom frightens the Little Girl Just in time to save Tom .... Securing a Mammoth ..... Megatheria ........ Tlie Vampire Bat ...... How the Namaquas hunt the Rhinoceros Orang-Outangs eating Oysters on the Sea-short The Orang determines to throw the rival Monkey overboard ....... Frontispiece to face p. 4 8 16 23 34 38 44 62 70 78 88 92 104 138 144 150 178 184 196 202 208 212 a XVI ILLUSTBATIONS PAGE When this Prize was laid at the feet of the Lady, the Giver might ash in return for anything he chose to face p. 224 Baker shooting the Elephants at the Island . HannibaVs Elephants ..... The Lion ivas in the air close to him The Woodman and the Lions get the best of the Bear ........ The Highwayman' s Horse .... The Captain had a Strange Dream The Bear instantly rose on its hind legs and began to Dance . Then a soft nose touched him 240 248 290 296 334 346 352 358 IN TEXT The Phoenix The Odenthos The Demon of Cathay ..... Bagnar does battle with the Serpents De Gozon and his Dogs fight the Dragon The Snake Charmer The Lion said to the Gazelles, ' Do not flee ' The Lion laughs at the Marabout's Question Mathurin and Mathurine .... Spaniai'ds meeting a Caravan of Llamas . Watching the Combat The Moccason Snake fascinates the Orioles ' Princess ' and the Invalid .... The Lion rescues the Ass from the Caravan I seized him by the scruff of the neck . The Lion Tamer offers to wake the (stuffed) Crocodile Digging the imprisoned Siwej) out of the Snow Stegosaurus ...... 2 13 15 23 31 57 67 75 99 113 121 123 136 142 159 163 175 189 ILL USTRA TIONS xvii PAGE Pterodactyl 193 Le Vaillant and Fees out limiting 217 The Baboon who looked after the Goats .... 221 The Snakes found in the Lame Man's Bed . . . . 235 Os well's narrow Escape ....... 245 How the Hippopotamus attacked the Boat . . . . 259 The New Arrival 262 Kanny frightens the Carpenters 264 The Faithful Messenger 267 Finding the Necklace 283 The Lion in the Camp ....... 301 Cummmg's Cap frightens the Tiger 305 The Elephant tried to gore the Tiger rvith his Tusks . 308 The Summons to the Hunt 313 Vomhamniel in Danger. ....... 325 A Portrait of Greedy Sauouncer . . . . . . 341 Hunting the Bison ........ 367 THE PIKENIX In former times, when hardly anybody thought of travelling for pleasure, and there were no Zoological Gardens to teach us what foreign animals and birds were really like, men used to tell each other stories about all sorts of strange creatures that lived in distant lands. Sometimes these tales were brought by the travellers themselves, who loved to excite the wonder of their friends at home, and knew there was nobody to contradict them. Sometimes they may have been invented by people to amuse their children ; but, anyway, the old books are full of descriptions of birds and beasts very interesting to read about. One of the most famous of these was the Phoenix, a bird whose plumage was, according to one writer, ' partly red and partly golden,' while its size was ' almost exactly that of the eagle.' Once in five hundred years it ' comes out of Arabia,' says one old writer, ' all the way to Egypt, bringing the parent bird, plastered over with myrrh, to the Temple of the Sun (in the city of Heliopolis), and then buries the body. In order to bring the body, they say, it first forms a ball of myrrh as big as it can carry, puts the parent inside, and covers the opening with fresh myrrh ; the ball is then exactly the same weight as at first ; thus it brings the body to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the Temple of the Sun.' This is all that the writer we have been quoting seems to know about the Phoenix ; but we are told by someone K B 2 THE PHOENIX else that its song was ' more beautiful than that of any other bird,' and that it was ' a very king of the feathered tribes, who followed it in fear, while it flew swiftly along, rejoicing as a bull in its strength.' Flash- ing its brilliant plumage in the sun, it went its way till it THE 1'HUiMX reached the town of Heliopolis. ' In that city,' says another writer, whose account is not quite the same as the story told by the first—-' in that city there is a temple made round, after the shape of the Temple at Jerusalem. The priests of that temple date their writings from the visits of the Phoenix, of which there is but one in all the THE PHCENIX 3 world. And he cometh to burn himself upon the altar of the temple at the end of five hundred years, for so long he liveth. At the end of that time the priests dress up their altar, and put upon it spices and sulphur, and other things that burn easily. Then the bird Phoenix cometh and burneth himself to ashes. And the first day after men find in the ashes a worm, and on the second day they find a bird, alive and perfect, and on the third day the bird flieth away. He hath a crest of feathers upon his head larger than the peacock hath, his neck is yellow and his beak is blue ; his wings are of purple colours, and his tail yellow and red in stripes across. A fair bird he is to look upon when you see him against the sun, for he shineth full gloriously and nobly.' It is very hard to believe that the man who wrote this had not actually seen this beautiful creature, he seems to know it so well, and perhaps sometimes he really fancied that one day it had dazzled his eyes as it darted by. The Phoenix was a living bird to old travellers and those to whom they told their stories, although they are not quite agreed about its habits, or even about the manner of its death. Sometimes, as we have seen, the Phoenix has a father, sometimes there is only one bird. In general it burns itself on a spice-covered altar ; but, according to one writer, when its five hundred years of life are over it dashes itself on the ground, and from its blood a new bird is born. x\t first it is small and helpless, like any other young thing; but soon its wings begin to show, and in a few days they are strong enough to carry the parent to the city of Heliopolis, where, at sun- rise, it dies. The new Phoenix then flies back home, where it builds a nest of sweet spices — cassia, spikenard and cinnamon ; and the food that it loves is another spice, drops of frankincense. b2 GRIFFINS AND UNICOBNS Some of the creatures that we read about in the books of the old travellers are quite easy to believe in, for, after all, they are not very unlike the birds and beasts that are to be seen to-day in different parts of the world. The Phoenix, though bigger, was- not more beautiful than the tiny humming birds that dart through tropical forests, nor more splendid than the noisy macaws, and we can picture it to ourselves without any difficulty. But nobody now will ever go in search of the gourd that grows on a tree, and contains a little flesh-and-blood lamb ; or expect, in travelling through Scotland, to find a Barnacle-Goose tree, with ducks instead of fruit, as a very clever gentle- man who later became Pope did about four hundred and fifty years ago ! To us, who can look at a giraffe or a rhinoceros any day we choose, there is nothing so particularly strange about a griffin, which had the body of a lion, and the wings and head of an eagle, and was as strong as ten lions, or a hundred eagles. ' He will cany,' we are told, ' flying to his nest, a great horse, or two oxen yoked together as they go at the plough, or a man in full armour. For he hath his talons (claws) so long and so large and great upon his feet, as though they were the horns of great oxen, so that men make cups of them to drink of : and of his ribs and wing-feathers they make a very strong bow, to shoot with arrows and querrels.' A ' querrel,' it is needful to explain, was a bolt shot from a crossbow. Hegjlllf GBIFFINS AND UNICOBNS 7 Griffins were not to be met with every day, nor in every country ; but they roamed freely through the Caucasus Mountains, in search of gold and precious stones. Indeed, so fond of gold was the griffin, that after he had dug out a large heap with his powerful claws, he would roll about in it with delight, or sit and look at it by the hour together. But, unluckily, the griffin was not allowed to enjoy this innocent pleasure undisturbed. The gold mines were the property of an ugly one-eyed race, who dwelt near a cave which is the home of the north wind, and when they found they were being quietly robbed, they consulted what they should do to punish the thief. It was not an easy task, for the griffin was much cleverer and quicker than his enemies, and, indeed, he nearly always got the best of it. Whenever they went out to dig for gold and emeralds, the griffin would hide until they had collected a large store, and then jump on them, flapping his great wings, and shaking his terrible claws, till they ran away in terror, dropping all their hard-earned treasure. There was only one way in which they could revenge themselves, and that was by carrying off the griffin's egg, that had the power of curing every disease from which mankind can suffer. But it was seldom that any one was fortunate enough or clever enough to win this prize, for the griffin is a very cunning creature, and more than a match for the one-eyed race. Still, now and then, an egg was discovered by some accident, and then how the whole nation rejoiced and prospered, till the precious tbing got broken in some careless hands ! We all know about the battle, in ' Alice in Wonder- land,' between the lion and the unicorn for the possession of the crown, and how the unicorn was worsted, and ' beaten all round the town,' by the victorious lion. Since that victory the lion has waved triumphantly from the English flag; but he and the unicorn are deadly foes still, and glare furiously at each other across the arms of 8 GRIFFINS AND UNICOENS England. ' The unicorn and the lion heing enemies by nature,' says a man who wrote three hundred and fifty years ago, ' as soon as the lion sees the unicorn, he betakes himself to a tree ; whereupon the unicorn, in his fury, and with all the swiftness of his course, running at him, sticks his horn fast in the tree, and then the lion falls upon him and kills him.' The same story is told by other people, and this is what Shakespeare means when he says in one of his plays that unicorns may be betrayed with trees. There was only one way by which a uni- corn could be taken alive, for ' the greatness of his mind is such that he chooseth rather to die,' one writer tells us ; but this was a way which has been tried ever since the days of Samson, and even before him ! A beautiful young lady was dressed in her best clothes, covered with jewels, and seated in a lonely place in the middle of a forest to wait till the unicorn passed by ; the hunters meanwhile lying hidden in a neighbouring thicket. By^and-bye a crackling would be heard among the branches, and after a little while the unicorn would come in sight, his sharp horn thrust out from his nose. Directly he saw the young lady he always went straight up to her, and laying his head on her lap, fell fast asleep. Then the hunters would steal out very softly, and throw ropes round the sleeping unicorn, and carry him off to the king's palace, sure of receiving much gold for their prize. Living or dead the unicorn was held to be of great value for many reasons, but chiefly because his horn was used for drinking cups, and showed at once if any poison mingled with the wine. This was an excellent quality in times when people thought nothing of poisoning their nearest relations, and after the tiniest quarrel both parties went about in fear of their lives. The power of the unicorn's horn sometimes went even further, and dis- pelled the poison, for we read in an old chronicle of what happened in the waters of Marah, which Moses made sweet by striking them with his staff. ' Evil and unclean \cms cnE Xanicorn \8/\S (TRAPPED GRIFFINS AND UNICOBNS 11 beasts,' says the chronicler, ' poison it after the going down of the sun; but in the morning, after the powers of darkness have disappeared, the unicorn comes from the sea and dips its horn into the stream, and thereby dis- pels the poison, so that the other animals can drink of it during the day.' A few unicorns would be very useful on the banks of the rivers which water our manufactur- ing towns nowadays. 12 ABOUT ANTS, AMPHISBJENAS, AND BASILISKS In the far-off country ruled by Prester John many wonders were to be seen, and among them hills of gold, ' kept by ants full diligently.' Now anybody who has studied the history of ants knows that there is no end to their ingenuity and cleverness ; but they are not usually found as guardians of gold or precious stones. How- ever, these ants were not at all like the little brown creatures we are accustomed to see, but as big as dogs, and very savage, thinking nothing of eating a man, and gobbling him up in one mouthful. So the people of the country found that if they wanted the gold they would have to obtain it by a trick, and began to watch and plan how to get the better of the careful ants. Their chance came in the great heat of summer, as the ants used sometimes to fall asleep in the middle of the day. Then the people who had spies on the watch, day and night, collected hastily all the camels, dromedaries, horses and asses they could find, and loaded them with gold, and were off and out of danger before the ants, who were heavy sleepers, woke up. This did very well so long as the weather was hot, but when it grew cooler the ants worked hard all day, melting the gold in the fire ; and then some other stratagem had to be thought of. One thing after another was proposed, but was rejected as being unpractical, till at last a man, who was cleverer than the rest, hit upon a way of turning a well-known ANTS, AMPHISBJENAS, BASILISKS 13 quality of all ants against themselves. The industrious creatures could not bear to see anything standing empty or useless, and the treasure seekers, being aware of this, got together several mares, who had young foals, and placed on their backs empty vessels, which were open at the top, and reached nearly to the ground. As soon as the mares approached the hill, and began to graze, out came the ants and began to fill the vessels. While this was going on, the foals had somehow been kept at a d; stance by the men, but as soon as they guessed the vessels to be almost full, they drove out the little creatures, who began to whinny after their mothers. At the sound of their cries, away galloped the mares, gold and all, and however often this trick was repeated, it never failed to be successful. 14 ANTS, AMPHISB^NAS, BASILISKS There is no time to tell of all the strange monsters that men used to invent just to frighten themselves with ! There was a creature called the Odenthos, which had three horns instead of one, and felt a special hatred of elephants. There wh,s the little Amphisbsena, which was something between • , lizard and a snake, and had a head at each end of its body, so that it never needed to turn round. This must have made it very creepy to meet, but besides being horrid to look at it was very dangerous, as both of its heads were equally poisonous. Then there were yellow mice as large as ravens, and another kind as big as dogs, that must have looked rather like kangaroos, and a great many others, of which pictures may be found in old books. But none, not even the griffin or the unicorn, was as fierce as the small black basilisk, which was only a foot long. It got its name from a white mark on its forehead the shape of a crown, so they called it ' the kin^,' from the Greek word ' basileus.' It seems odd that such a tiny little animal could have caused such dread in men as well as beasts, but it really was a terrible little creature. It was enough for it to hiss for every living thing that heard it to scamper away to its den. If it spat, its venom was so deadly that rocks were rent by it, any bird that flew over it fell down dead into its jaws, and by merely looking at a man it killed the life within him. If he happened to come across a basilisk for the first time, and tried to cut off its head instead of running away, he fared no better, for the poison from its mouth would fly along the blade and cause his instant death. We may wonder how, after a few years, there was anything but basilisks left on the earth, and perhaps there would not have been, but for the presence of weasels and of crystals. Weasels and basilisks had a natural hatred of each other, and rushed at each other's throats at every opportunity. The battle always ended in the same way, by the death of both combatants, for though ' the weasel overcomes the basilisk with its strong smell, yet it dies ANTS, AMPHISB^NAS, BASILISKS 15 withal.' The piece of crystal was more useful still, for if you held it up between you and the basilisk and looked THE DEWQN OF CATMT through it the poison of the animal was driven back on itself, and killed the monster instead of the victim. 16 ANTS, AMPHISB^NAS, BASILISKS There are no basilisks nowadays, but their re- membrance still lives in many of our proverbs. The Demon of Cathay and his proceedings recall several of our old fairy tales, especially some of the Arabian Nights. He could talk the language of man and imitate any voice he chose, so that if he found a solitary traveller walking through a forest he would call to him by his name in the tones of some of his friends. The traveller would leave the path and go in the direction of the voice, when the Demon would spring out and devour him. Or he would mimic the roll of drums, or the blast of trumpets, and the poor man in surprise would think he must be drawing near a city, or at any rate ap- proaching an army, so he would go in search of the sounds, only to find, when it was too late, that it was a trick of his deadly enemy's. Quite as strange as the creatures on dry land were those that dwelt in the sea, for every animal that lived on earth had its fellow in the ocean. We read of sea-bears, sea-foxes, sea-asses, even of sea-peacocks ; and now and then one might be found on the beach after a great storm. Once some Dutch women, going down to the shore after a gale to see what they could pick up, were startled at finding a beautiful girl, with a fish's tail, lying among the shells and sea-weeds, beyond high-water mark. This was a mermaid, as anybody else would have known— a gentle creature, but without a soul. They took her home and taught her to spin and weave, and to kneel before a crucifix ; but she was not happy, and always tried to escape into the sea. The Dutch women did not mean to be cruel, but they liked to have her there, and she was useful to them, so they kept a close watch upon her, and she lingered on in their house for fifteen years, fading gradually away, and dying in the year 1418. On the opposite side of the North Sea, in the Firth of Forth, as well as in the Baltic and the Red Sea, sea-monks FINDING A MERMAID R C ANTS, AMPHISBJENAS, BASILISKS 19 were at one time quite common, if we may believe a Scotch historian. Like their land brothers, they bad a shaven spot on their heads, and wore robes and cowls ; but instead of trying to help those who needed it, in one way or another, as land monks were supposed to do, they ate up everybody that came within reach. After this it is a comfort to think that a pair of shoes made from the skin of the sea-monk would last fifteen years ! Having once invented sea-monks, it was easy to go on and invent a sea- bishop, and pictures of him may still be seen in early books of travels with a crozier in his hand and a mitre on his head, and splendid vestments over his shoulders. He must have been a beautiful prize to catcb, but he was very rare, and did not flourish out of the water. One was sent to the King of Poland as a present, but he pined away, and at length, finding himself in the presence of some bisbops dressed like himself, he implored them by signs to release him from captivity. Overcome with pity for their brother in distress, they prevailed on the King to grant him his freedom, and when he heard the joyful news the sea-bishop at once made the sign of the Cross by way of thanks. The bishops escorted their brother solemnly to the sea-coast, and as he plunged beneath the waves he turned and raised two fingers, in the true form of episcopal blessing, and has never been seen on earth again, as far as we know ! c2 20 DRAGONS Nearly a thousand years ago there lived a historian who set down in his book not only accounts of real battles and sieges, but also a strange medley of other facts besides. Of course he thought all he wrote was true, for history, as the dictionary tells us, is ' an account of facts and events,' and the business of the historian is to write about them. The stories in this old book about magic, spells, dragons, and monsters may, perhaps, make us smile nowadays, when we are taught that fairy rings are not caused, as we should like to suppose, by the good people, but by ' an agaric or fungus below the sur- face which has seeded in a circular range.' But it must be remembered that to the men of old time all these matters were very real. Our historian, in common with many wise men who lived hundreds of years after him, believed without doubt that the world was full of strange creatures which lived in pathless woods, in rivers, on mountains, or in the sea. One of his tales is the descrip- tion* of a voyage by King Gorm Haraldson, under the guidance of Thorkill the Icelander, in quest of treasure supposed to be guarded by Giant Garfred, who lived in a ' land where no light was, and where darkness reigned eternally.' ' The whole way was beset with perils, and hardly passable by mortal man ; ' nevertheless, three hundred men declared their willingness to follow the King and make the attempt. After many adventures the wind took them to Utter Permland, a region of eternal DBAGONS 21 cold and deep snows, full of pathless forests, haunted by dreadful beasts. King Gorm and his followers were met by a huge man named Gudmund, the brother of Giant Garfred, who gave himself out to be the guardian — the most faithful guardian — of all men who landed in that spot. In reality he was a treacherous scoundrel, but at the outset he invited them to be his guests, and ' took them up in carriages.' ' As they went forward they saw a river which could be crossed by a bridge of gold. They wished to go over it, but Gudmund restrained them, telling them that, by this channel, Nature. had divided the world of men from the world of monsters, and that no mortal track might go further.' Well, here we take leave of King Gorm and Gudmund, and we will cross in imagination that golden bridge into monster-land, though they did not, nor does our historian, give any particular description of the monsters which lived there ; but, from other ancient writers, we can get a pretty fair idea of what he would have been likely to say about them if it had suited his purpose. He would certainly have in- cluded a stray dragon or two ; indeed, elsewhere, he does actually give us two dragon -slaying stories, the first of which concerns King Fridleif, who was wrecked on an unknown island. He fell asleep, and dreamt that a man appeared before him, and ordered him to dig up a buried treasure, and to attack the dragon that guarded it. To withstand the poison of the creature, he was told to cover hjmself and his shield with an ox -hide. When he awoke he saw the dragon coming out of the sea, but its scales were so hard that the spears thrown by Fridleif had no effect, and the only thing that happened was the uprooting of several trees by the monster, which wound its tail round them in a tit of temper. However, the King observed that by constantly going down to the sea the dragon had worn a path, hollowing the ground down to the solid rock to such an extent that a bank rose sheer on each hand ; so 22 DRAGONS Fridleif seems to have lain in ambush, as it were, in this hollow channel, and to have attacked the creature from beneath, where its armour was less proof against assault ; in this way he slew it, unearthed the money, and had it taken off in his ships. The second story concerns another King, called Eagnar Lodbrog, which means Eagnar ' Shaggy-Breeches.' This is how he came to be known by his nickname, which was bestowed upon him by Herodd, King of the Swedes : Eagnar was in love with Thora, Herodd's daughter, who had received from her father two snakes to rear as pets. They had given to them daily a whole ox upon which to gorge themselves, so they ate and ate, and grew and grew, until at length they became a public nuisance, so huge were they, and so venomous withal that they poisoned the whole country-side with their breath. The Swedish King repented his unlucky gift, and proclaimed that whosoever should remove the pests should marry his daughter. Many tried and perished ; but Eagnar was now to prove himself the hero. He asked his nurse for a woollen mantle, and for some thigh-guards that were very hairy ; he also put on a dress stuffed with hair, not too cumber- some, but one in which he could easily move about. He took a sword and spear, and, thus accoutred, fared forth to Sweden. When he arrived, he plunged into some water, clothes and all, and allowed the frost to fashion for him, as it were, a coat of mail, impervious to the venom of the sn»ikes. Leaving his companions, be went on to the palace alone ; then the combat began. An enormous snake met him, and another, as big, crawled up to help its companion ; they belaboured Eagnar witli their tails, and spat venom at him from poisonous jaws. Meantime, the King and his courtiers ' betook themselves to safer hiding, watching the struggle from afar, like affrighted little girls.' Eagnar, however, persevered, his frozen dress protecting him from the poison, and with his shield he repelled the attacks of the snakes' teeth ; at last, though DBAGONS 23 hard pressed, he thrust his spear through the creatures' hearts, and his battle ended in victory. A great banquet was held in the palace ; Eagnar received at once his bride and his nickname of ' Shaggy-Breeches,' as we have seen. He did many other brave deeds', and was a successful rover ; but was cruelly put to death by an English King called Ella, who threw him into a pit full of snakes. Eagnar's device of freezing himself into a suit of ice RAGNAR DOES BATTLE WITH THE SERPENTS armour recalls to us a similar plan adopted by a race of monsters universally believed to have lived in Africa ; nearly all the old writers of marvels allude to them, under the name of ' Cynocephali,' wbicb means 'dog-headed,' that is to say, their bodies were those of men and women, but their heads were the heads of dogs. They lived upon goat's milk ; but although that seems to mean that they dwelt quietly amongst flocks and herds, they seem never- theless to have been fond of a fight whenever there was 24 DRAGONS the least chance of war with neighbouring tribes. To pre- pare for battle, like Eagnar, they jumped into water, and then rolled themselves in the dust until their bodies were covered with it ; then they allowed the sun, which, of course, is always very powerful in Africa, to bake it into a sort of cake or mud-pie crust, which formed the first layer of defensive armour ; when that was sufficiently dry and hard they repeated the process, not once or twice only, but again and again, until they thought their coat of mail, if we may so call it, strong enough to be proof against the arrows of the enemy. A very worthy writer, who .lived about 1600, has told us that he quite believes in the reality of winged dragons. After giving us some wonderful stories about them, he remarks that ' from these and similar tales we can easily see that what we find in other authors about winged dragons is all true.' Switzerland, especially that part of it round about the Lake of Lucerne, was famous for these creatures. There is opposite to the town of Lucerne a mountain, called Pilatus, from the tradition that Pontius Pilate, when banished by the Eoman Emperor Tiberius, wandered there, and threw himself into a black lake at the summit. His ghost is supposed to haunt the place ; once a year it appears, clothed in robes of office, and whoever is unlucky enough to see it, will die before the year is out. Mount Pilatus often has on a cap of clouds, and it is said that the weather will be fine, or the reverse, according as Pilatus has his cap off or on. We may well imagine it, therefore, to be a wild, eerie sort of place, in every way suitable for dragons to take up their abode. Our old author then tells us that a peasant one morning was mowing hay; he looked up, and at that moment there issued from Pilatus a huge dragon, which flew across the lake to a mountain on the other side. In its flight there dropped from it something which the peasant could not clearly distinguish, for he was too frightened DRAGONS 25 to observe accurately, and indeed was nearly fainting ; but when he recovered, he found in a meadow a mass of what appeared to be solid blood. Enclosed in this was a stone of many colours ; this stone turned out to be of priceless value, for it was a certain cure for every disease under the sun ; and more especially for such as were caused by poison or bad air of any kind ; it was still in Lucerne at the time the author wrote. Another man of that city, called Victor, saw a still stranger thing on Mount Pilatus. He was a cooper by trade, and one day, when out looking for wood wherewith to make his casks, he lost his way in the recesses of these Alpine rocks and forests. All day long he wandered about, until, at twilight, as he was just about to lie down and rest, he fell into a deep chasm which, owing to the failing light, he had not noticed. Fortunately he fell into some soft mud at the bottom, but though he broke no bones, he fainted. When he recovered, and began to look round, he discovered that there were absolutely no means of escape. The hole was as deep as a well, with steep sides which could not be scaled. Stretching along the whole length of this cavern, and on either side, were other tunnel-like openings, a succession of smaller caves; into one of which he was about to enter when, lo ! two dragons came forth from it, and he supposed that his last hour was at hand. The creatures, however, offered him no violence ; they were inquisitive, it is true, wondering, no doubt, what sort of new companion this was, who had found his way into their dwelling ; but all they did was to rub themselves against the man's body, caressing him, as it were, with their long necks and with their tails, just like a purring cat. For six months Victor lived in this underground cavern. ' But what did ho live on? ' you may ask, with Alice, when the Dormouse told his story of Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie in the well. These three sisters, you may remember, lived upon treacle, which was sweet, if unwholesome ; but the Lucerne man's diet was 26 DBAGONS even less satisfying, being only the moisture which trickled from the surface of the rock. Learned men have certainly proved that it is possible to keep oneself alive for many weeks without food, if a sufficient supply of water be taken ; but I do not remember to have met with any other case where any one lived for six months upon such provender. When spring came round the dragons thought it time to leave their abode ; unfolding its wings, the first one flew up, and the second was preparing to follow, when Victor, seizing" at once his opportunity and the tail of the dragon, was carried by the creature into the upper world. He found his way back to Lucerne ; but a return to his ordinary food, of which he had been for so long deprived, brought on an illness, and in two months he died. His adventures were embroidered upon an ecclesiastical vestment, which used to be shown in the church of St. Leodegarus to any sight- seers who might wish to see it. Near the church of St. Stephen in the city of Ehodes there was a vast rock, and a cavern in it from which issued a stream of water.1 In this subterranean cave there lived, in the year 1345, a terrible dragon, which devastated the whole island ; not only did it devour sheep, cattle, men, anything living, upon which it could seize, but its breathing was so pestilential that the very atmosphere was poisoned by it. Nobody could venture to go near the part of the coast where it dwelt ; in fact the Grand Master of the Knights strictly forbade any- body belonging to the Order to attempt it, under this severe penalty : First, he was to suffer the disgrace of 1 The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights Hospi- tallers, as they are sometimes called, were an Order founded in the eleventh century, some time after the first crusade ; in the fourteenth century they took the Island of Ehodes, in the Mediterranean, and held it against the Turks. It was during their life in this island that the events occurred which are now to be described. The account is taken from a history of the Order, which is quoted word for word by the author who has told us the story of the Lucerne dragons. TTrtTAT) /iitinipr. T*r DRAGONS 29 being deprived of the marks and dress of the Order ; and, secondly, his very life was to be forfeited. Nevertheless there was a young Gascon Knight, of noble birth and great courage, who was not to be deterred from his project by this edict ; on the contrary, he thought an opportunity presented itself of winning much honour and renown. His name was Deodatus de Gozon. He kept his own counsel, telling nobody in the city of his plan, but he went to the Grand Master and begged leave of absence on the pretext of business at home. Having got leave he went into the country to carry out his design ; but he was careful, before starting, to observe the dragon as closely as possible, so as to remember every point in its horrid carcass. What he saw is thus described : It had a body as thick as that of a carthorse ; its long and prickly neck ended in a serpent's head, which was pro- vided with long ears like those of a mule ; its mouth gaped widely open, and was furnished with the sharpest of teeth ; its enormous eyes shone so brightly that they seemed to emit flames of fire ; and its feet (of which it had four) were armed, like bears' feet, with sharp claws. In its tail and other parts of its body it resembled a crocodile, wearing an armour of the hardest scales cunningly disposed ; from its sides issued two gristly wings, in colour not unlike a dolphin's gills — the upper surface blue, the lower a sort of reddish yellow, this last being the general hue of its entire body. Swifter than a horse, when it moved abroad in search of food, it did so partly by flying, partly by running; its scales, too, made such a clattering, as of crockery, and its hissing was so terrifying that people at a great distance were almost frightened to death. De Gozon, accordingly, having looked carefully at the monster, as we said, withdrew into the country, where he set to work and contrived a creature exactly like the dragon in every respect ; he made it of paper and stuffed it with tow ; then he bought a well-trained charger, and 30 DBAGONS a couple of English dogs — bull-dogs, in all probability. He now taught his servants how to make the tow dragon imitate the movements of the real dragon ; that is to say, they snapped its jaws, and made it lash its tail about and flap its wings ; all this they did by means of ropes. Next he mounted his horse and brought his dogs into action, setting them at the sham dragon, and exciting them with cries, until their rage knew no bounds ; hardly did they set eyes upon it, when they flew at it to tear it in pieces. These exercises went on for the space of two months, at the end of which De Gozon, consider- ing his men and dogs sufficiently well drilled, returned to the city. Arrived there be lost no time in carrying out bis project ; arming himself with breastplate, lance and sword, he went to the church of St. Stephen, which was near the monster's den, and prayed, devout knight as he was, that his enterprise might be crowned with success. He then gave particular instructions to his servants as to what they were to do : they were to watch the battle from a lofty rock, and if the creature won, they were to escape as best they could ; but if he slew the dragon, they were to hasten to his aid, for it was only too likely that even victory would cost him dear, and that he would stand sadly in need of such remedies as they could bring. All was now ready ; so the Knight, entering the cave, began to screech and yell lustily in order to wake up the dragon and annoy it ; then, rushing out himself, he mounted his charger, and awaited the attack on a piece of level ground. He did not have long to wait ; scarcely was he mounted when the sound of the well-known hissing was heard, and the clattering of the huge plate- like scales warned him that tne monster was after him in full cry — and, indeed, as it came at him, partly running, partly flying, the creature itself thought it saw in the bold Knight an opportunity not lightly to be missed ; for all was grist that came to its mill — flocks, herds, horses, and DRAGONS 31 men, as we have already seen. De Gozon hurled his spear at the beast, but the shaft shivered into a hun- dred pieces against the hard scales, so that, thus early, in the fight, he lost the use of one of his best weapons. But the dogs now made a diversion in his favour, for by worrying the monster on this side and on that, they so engaged its attention that the Knight had time to dis- DE GOZON AND HIS DOGS FIGHT THE DRAGON mount, and make ready with sword and shield for a combat on foot. Bearing itself up on its hind legs, the dragon endeavoured, as a bear will do, to hug its enemy to death, but it now exposed the under surface of its neck (which was comparatively unprotected by scales) to the attack of De Gozon. In an instant he thrust his sword into its throat ; a deluge of blood gushed out ; the monster tottered, and fell ; but in its fall crushed to the 32 DRAGONS ground the brave Knight, who was already sufficiently wearied with the strife, and half poisoned besides by the dragon's noisome breath. The servants, however, seeing the dragon fall, rushed down from the neighbouring heights, and thinking they could discern some faint signs of life in their master, filled their caps with water from the stream hard by, and dashed it over him. He soon recovered sufficiently to be able to mount his horse and ride back to the city, where he told the Grand Master of his splendid exploit, thinking, not unnaturally, that honour, reward and glory would be his — who had freed the country from such a dire pest. But, alas ! the Grand Master set the duty of obedience before even such deeds as De Gozon's. The Knight had disobeyed the edict, had been altogether far too foolhardy and presumptuous, and must take the consequences; he was accordingly degraded and imprisoned. Not for very long, however, we are happy to think, for the tidings soon spread over the whole island, and people were so strong in his favour, that the Grand Master was induced to relent. De Gozon was liberated from prison and reinstated. Shortly after- wards all the people in the city assembled to do him honour in a procession ; nor were the brave dogs for- gotten, for had it not been for their furious onslaught it is not likely that the Knight would have lived to tell the tale. They were led at the head of the procession, with the dragon's skin borne before them, heralds proclaiming as they went : ' These are the brave English dogs, the pre- servers of the Knight, the conquerors of the dragon.' Four years afterwards the Grand Master, Elio de Villa- nova, died ; and Deodatus de Gozon was unanimously elected as his successor— in the year 1349. 33 THE STORY OF BEOWULF, GRENDEL, AXD GRENDEL' S MOTHER Long, long ago, perhaps nearly a thousand years before the adventures of the Knight of Ehodes of whom you have just heard, there lived a King of Denmark called Hrothgar. That is a curious name, you may think ; but you can recognise it in our own word ' Eoger,' which, of course, is common enough. This King lived in a palace, called Heorot, a princely abode, beyond what the sons of men had ever heard of ; he had a beautiful wife called Waltheow, and gold, silver, and riches in abundance were his ; moreover as his knights, earls, and retainers were all devotedly fond of him, he seemed to have everything in the world which could make him happy. In those days, when feasts were being held in the great halls, it was customary for one who was called a 'skald ' — that is, a poet or minstrel — to sing or recite poems before the assembled company. On one of these occa- sions the ' skald ' made poems about all sorts of evil things, wicked spirits, demons who abode in darkness, giants, ghosts, and sin and wickedness generally. It was, perhaps, not quite the sort of song to make merry the hearts of the feasters, and, in fact, it had the opposite effect, for they broke up ill at ease, as if some deadly peril were in store ; nor were their presentiments without reason. That night there came to the Palace a monstrous and superhuman being named Grendel, who was the very incarnation of all cruelty and malice. He was a creature B D 34 BEOWULF, GRENDEL AND HIS MOTHER of enormous strength and size ; for we read later in the story that it required four men to carry his head when he was dead. He lived an evil life, and wandered about, a lone dweller in moors, marshes, and in the wilderness. Savage and fierce as he was, nothing exasperated him more than that the King and his people should be so happy ; the sound of joy and revelry within the Palace was to him as gall and wormwood. That very night, therefore, when the skald recited his ominous poem, Grendel loft his fens and marshes, and came silently to the Palace, where he found the Danes all asleep. Thirty of them he killed, devouring fifteen in the hall itself, and carrying off the rest to the marshes. Despair there was and lamentation in the morning when the other Danes arose from sleep ; but none knew, or could even suggest, what was best to be done. For twelve years were the people grievously afflicted by the cruel Grendel, ' the grim stranger, the mighty haunter of . the marshes, the dwelling of this monster race.' He persecuted them right sorely, nor would he have peace with any man of the Danish power. A dark, deadly shadow, he attacked alike tried warriors and youths, he ambushed and plotted, roaming the night long over the misty moors, contriving evil in his heart continually. Matters, then, were at this pass, wrhen a neighbouring King called Hygelac heard of the Danes' misfortunes. Hygelac reigned over the Jutes in- Gotland, and he had a nephew called Beowulf, who, in common with the King and the rest of the people, was distressed to think of Hi'othgar's troubles. So Beowulf made him ready a good sea-boat, took fourteen of the bravest men-at- arms as his comrades, and set sail to help Hrothgar and the Danes. When the Danish King was told of Beowulf's arrival, he was, as you may well suppose, only too de- lighted, and hailed him as a heaven-sent champion, for he already knew all about him, how valiant he was, and how strong; ' for,' said Hrothgar to his people, ' it used to P2 BEOWULF, GBENDEL AND HIS MOTHER 37 be said by seafaring men that this fearless warrior had in his grip the strength of thirty men.' When Beowulf came before Hrothgar, he told him, what the King already knew, that often before he had encountered sea- monsters, destroyed the Jotun tribe and slain night Nixes ; and that hitherto all his deeds of prowess had been successful. ' I hear,' he said, ' that Grendel, from the thickness of his hide, cares not for weapons ; I therefore disdain to carry sword or shield into the combat, but with hand-grips will I lay hold on the foe, and fight for life, man to man.' Beowulf ended by asking that his ' gar- ments of battle ' might be sent back to his lord and kins- man Hygelac, if Grendel proved victorious in the fight. The King relied with steadfast faith upon his guest ; there was now joy in the Palace of Heorot, and Queen Wal- theow herself, golden-wreathed, came forth to greet the men in the hall ; to each she gave a costly cup — to each his several share — ' until it befell that she, the neck- laced Queen, gentle in manners and mind, bare the mead-cup to Beowulf,' and thanked God that she might find any to trust to for relief in her troubles. They all retired to rest ; but not one of Beowulf's comrades thought that they would escape alive, or get them thence in safety to their well-loved homes. That night from the moor, under the misty slopes, came Grendel prowling ; in the gloom he came to the Palace, where the men-at-arms slept, whose duty it was to guard the battlemented hall ; they slept, all save one. With his vast strength the monster burst open the door, and strode forward, his eyes blazing like fire. With a grim smile of delight he saw the sleepers, seized one of them and devoured him all but the feet and hands. Then he reached out at Beowulf, but the warrior clasped the extended hand and firmly grappled with the enemy. A battle royal ensued ; the hall resounded with cries and shrieks, for the Danes were roused from their slumbers. They tried to help Beowulf 38 BEOWULF, GBENDEL AND HIS MOTHER with swords and other weapons, not knowing that they were of no avail against the monster. But the Jute yielded never a whit, he pressed Grendel harder and harder with that mighty hand-grip of his, and by sheer strength tore off the monster's hand, arm, and shoulder. Grendel fled ; back to the lake he went, to the Nixes' mere, where the water for days afterwards was troubled and discoloured with blood. As for Beowulf, the grateful King could hardly thank him enough. A feast was prepared, the walls of the great hall were covered with cloth of gold, and the hero received a war-banner, helmet, and breastplate, besides golden cups, a superb golden collar, and many other precious things. When the banquet was over they all retired to rest, as they supposed, in safety. But an avenger was at hand, Grendel's mother, a monstrous witch, ravenous, wrathful, and cruel as her son. She burst into Heorot, seized the man who was the King's favourite amongst all his nobles, and carried him off to the lake. She also took with her Grendel's blood-stained hand, which had been put up as a trophy. Beowulf was not in the Palace at the time, for another lodging had been given to him; but he was quickly summoned after this new disaster. ' Never fear,' said he, ' I promise thee she shall not escape, neither by water, nor into the earth, nor into the mountain forest, nor into the bottom of the sea, let her go where she will.' So they made ready at once to go to the lake, which was about a mile from the Palace ; a gloomy water it was, overhung with trees, and how deep none had ever found out ; every night, men said, a strange fire was to be seen on its surface, so none cared about going there. However, the King's horse was now saddled, and his men-at-arms were ready ; Beowulf put on armour to protect his body from the enemy's grip, and a white helmet guarded his head. One of Hrothgar"s men lent him a short sword that had never BEOWULF, GBENDEL AND HIS MOTHER 41 yet failed anyone who had used it in battle. Then the expedition started : over a steep and stony rise through narrow roads, past precipitous headlands they went, till they came to a bare rock and a cheerless wood, below which lay the water, dreary and troubled. They were maddened with rage when they saw the head of iEschere lying on the ground ; he was the noble taken by Grendel's mother. The water of the lake was bubbling with blood ; many strange creatures of the serpent kind glided over the surface, and the men could also see Nixes lying on the headland slopes. Beowulf shot at one of the horrid water creatures with an arrow, wounding it only ; but the King's men pursued it with poles and battle-axes, and killed it. Then Beowulf asked Hrothgar to send back all his presents to Hygelac, if it should happen that he, Beowulf, perished in the water. Hastening away, he plunged into the lake, and it was not very long before Grendel's mother found out that some man from above had invaded her dwelling. She grappled with him in her dreadful grasp, endeavouring to crush him to death, but his chain-mail protected him. Then she dragged him down to her den at the bottom ; but meanwhile many strange beasts with terrible tusks pressed him hard in those depths, one of them even rent his war-shirt with its talons. Beowulf found himself in some kind of dreadful hall, where no water seemed to touch him ; the light of a fire, a glittering ray, lit up the cavern. He could now clearly distinguish the mighty lake-witch, and thrust strongly at her with his war sword, which rang out shrilly on her head. But, alas ! its edge would not bite ; she had probably bewitched it with spells, as often happened in old days. So Beowulf threw away his sword, and came to close grips with her, trusting in his mighty strength. He seized her by the shoulder, but unluckily tripped and fell. In a moment she was upon him, and seized her broad dagger with deadly intent. Then, indeed, had it gone hard with Beowulf but for bis coat of chain-mail, which protected 42 BEOWULF, GBENDEL AND HIS MOTHER his shoulder from the furious blow she gave. Suddenly he saw lying on the floor a magic sword ; a huge weapon with finest edge, forged of old in the time of the Jotuns, or giants, whose work it was. No ordinary man could have wielded that blade, but Beowulf seized it, and smote the witch a fearful blow, almost cleaving her body in twain. A bright light shone up at once in the cavern, which the warrior now began to explore ; nor had he gone far before he found Grendel lying on a couch, dead, so Beowulf cut off his head. Meanwhile Hrothgar and the rest of the Danes had been sitting watching the water, which suddenly became thick and stained with blood ; they had no hope that Beowulf survived. What, then, was their astonishment and delight to see him swimming towards them, breasting the waves with mighty strokes, and bearing the head of Grendel with him. And now a marvel befell ; the sword with which Grendel's mother had been slain began slowly to melt away, just like ice ; for the hag's blood was of such power that it consumed the blade, until nothing was left but the hilt, which was of gold, richly chased, and carved with strange characters called ' runes.' Beowulf swam ashore, and gave an account of his adventures ; four men, as we have already said, bore Grendel's head to the Palace, where the hilt of the magic sword was closely examined. The characters graven upon it were found to be a description of the battle between the Gods and the Frost-Giants, in which the Giants were defeated and overwhelmed in a flood. There is an account of it in an Icelandic poem, called the ' Voluspa,' or the ' Song of the Prophetess,' which describes the Northern ideas of the creation of the world ; and tells how evil and death came upon man, predicts the destruction of the universe, and gives an account of the future abodes of bliss and misery. Thus did Beowulf deliver the Danes from their misfortunes, after which he returned home, and on the death of his uncle, Hvgelac, became King of Gotland. 43 THE STORY OF BEOWULF AND THE FIFE DRAKE Beowulf was a wise King, and had ruled his country well for fifty years, during which nothing had happened to mar the happiness of him or his subjects. But now trouble was about to arise. Hidden away in a mound of earth was a vast store of treasure, gold, silver, jewels of great price, and this hoard for three hundred years had been guarded by a monstrous Fire Drake. One night, while this dragon slept, a man succeeded in entering the storehouse, from which he stole a cup and many valuable jewels. When the serpent awoke its rage knew no bounds ; it came forth from its cave, endeavouring to track the man, whose footsteps it could see on the shore, but without success. So it waited till evening, vowing that many should pay dearly for that drinking-cup. Then again it came forth, wandered all over the country at night, setting every house it could see on fire, for its scorching breath and the brands it carried with it were irresistible. Beowulf's own home, in common with others, was destroyed, whereupon he bethought him of vengeance, remembering how of old he had been successful in quite as dangerous undertakings, and how he had outlived every quarrel, every perilous enterprise. Knowing well that no ordinary defence would avail him anything against the Fire Drake, he had fashioned for himself a curious battle shield, all of iron. Choosing eleven companions, he went to look for the dragon ; the way 44 BEOWULF AND THE FIRE DBAKE was hard to find, so the man who had been the cause of all the mischief went with the little band as a guide : indeed, he was the only one who knew where the dragon's hoard was to be found ; besides, he was very much ashamed of himself, and was anxious to do all in his power to atone for the disasters which his theft had brought about. When they arrived at the Fire Drake's lair, which was near the sea, they saw an arch of stone, and a stream issuing out of it from the mound. The water was so hot, by reason of the dragon's flame continually beating upon it, that a man could not bear his hand in it for any length of time. Beowulf told his companions to wait outside, whilst he himself went into the cave. The Fire Drake, hearing his footfall and his voice, knew at once that an enemy was near, so it coiled itself up ready to spring to the attack. Blazing like a live coal, it advanced with a rush, Beowulf defending himself as best he could with his shield. He dealt the monster a terrible blow with his sword, which, however, failed to hurt it, indeed, it only roused it to greater fury. Breathing flames the Fire Drake pressed the valiant King to the utmost extremity, and it seemed as if it was to go ill with him that day. His companions, too cowardly to help him, watched the combat in terror, crouching dowm in the wood near by to save their lives. Yet there was one among them, Wiglaf by name, who plucked up courage to try to help the King, for he remembered how kind Beowulf had been to him in former days, in granting him a wealthy manor, and other favours, and besides, he was in a way related to him. So this brave young warrior grasped his shield of yellow linden wood, and drew his sword, rushing through the smoke to help his liege lord. ' Dear Beowulf,' cried he, ' have courage ; remember how thou did'st say aforetime that glory should never depart from thee ; now must thou defend thy life to the uttermost — see, I come to help thee.' On rushed the serpent against its new