early settlers in England point in the same direction. As York Powell has said,[1] ‘There is one fact about Teutonic mythology as we have it which has never been brought out quite clearly. The mass of legend in more or less simple condition that has come down to us is not the remains of one uniform regular religion . . . but it is the remains of the separate faiths, more or less parallel, of course, of many different tribes and confederacies, each of which had its own several name for each several mythic being, and its own particular version of his or her adventures and affinities.’ The old German world, with its secrets and wonders, and the views of its ancient people regarding their gods and heroes, were, as Wagner says, formerly lost in the darkness of the past, and are now visible in the light of the present.[2] The same may be said of the old Scandinavian world, and the modern light in which we may view their mythology is due to the long labour of German and Scandinavian scholars. The results of their researches point to the existence of many tribes having differences in their mythological names, beliefs, and practices.
It is to the Old English race more than any other that we must look for the most remarkable examples of the absorption within it of people of many various tribes and nations. It is probably largely owing to this absorption within itself of people of other descent that the race owes much of its vigour. In all ages of the world and in all countries it is and has been the strongest and ablest of a tribe or nation that has been selected by natural circumstances or political considerations for conquest and colonization. Those who have gone to the wars, or have become successful colonists, have been among the ablest of the race. England, during the centuries in which her settlement went on, received and
