to find in India to explain its diffusion elsewhere; and until we find this the problem of diffusion for this particular story must remain unsolved.
It will thus be seen that neither on the German nor the English lines of investigation can we at present arrive at any very definite conclusion, either as to the origin or the diffusion of the Argonaut story. Yet we need not despair. We are only at the beginning of our inquiries as to the lines of transmission of Folk tales in and out of Europe, and it is by no means unlikely that we shall find our comb in India, which would be an important stage towards solving the problem of diffusion. If we can ever get at any definite conclusion as to this, we shall then be in a better position to discuss origins. The very early date at which the Argonaut story appears among the Greeks gives them a primâ facie claim to the origination of the legend; but, as we know it among Folk tales, it is clear that the Teutons had something to do with the later incidents, which mainly follow the Teuton, rather than the Greek form. Twenty years ago we might have said that the Teutonic was the earlier and represented more closely the original Aryan form of the legend, but, as at present advised, we must regard the obstacles to pursuit as a later and Teutonic interpolation; for in either case we must assume a passage from one tribe to another and why not a later as well as an earlier case of borrowing?
Source.—The poem which Tennyson made from the most romantic episodes of the Maelduin has drawn general attention to this fine specimen of the Wonder Voyage. As it is a Celtic product I naturally relied on Mr. Nutt both for text and comments, which he gives as follows:
"The Voyage of Maelduin" is an Irish romance preserved in a number of MSS. of which the oldest was copied at the close of the twelfth century from earlier MSS. now lost.
