ABSTRACT
TO avoid all misunderstandings, I state here that in the present chapter I have simply collected a number of stories which seem to be indubitably of the märchen-type, having no serious claim to be called either myth or saga. I offer no opinion as to their relations to the modern European and other stories to which I compare them; for a brief but excellent discussion of that, see Halliday, Greek and Roman Folklore, Chapter III, to which, and to his private criticisms and suggestions, any merit this chapter may have is mostly due. For purposes of comparison I have used the list of folktale themes by Mr. Jacobs, which appears as Appendix C of the Handbook of Folk-lore, imperfect and sketchy though it is, because it is the only one conveniently accessible in English. To each title I have added the number and name of the story in the bestknown of all European collections, that of the brothers Grimm,1 which best illustrates the type in question, and a reference to the discussion of the matter in the best-known commentary, Bolte-Polivka. Other works, however, have been freely drawn upon.
