Chapter VIII: The Fairy-Lore of Savages

Primitive philosophy of nature—Astro-mythology of Australian
tribes, of the Tasmanians, the Bushmen, the Esquimaux, Hervey
Islanders, Thlinkeet Indians—Such myths invented to account
for natural phenomena—Not always the result of forgotten
etymologies—The Aht story of the origin of the moon—American
story of the robin—Hervey Islanders’ story of the sole—Stories
also invented to account for curious customs or beliefs—Reason
given by the Irish for their annual persecution of the wren—The
story of the wren and the eagle, very similar in Ireland and
North America—Facility of the dispersion of stories often
accounts for their resemblance—Wide range of the story of
Faithful John—Polynesian stories of Maui stopping the sun’s
motion—the same idea in Wallachia and North America—Many
similar stories arose independently of each other, as the
versions of the idea contained in Jack and the Beanstalk—Some
Aryan myths, explained as fancies about the clouds, found also
in the New World—Hindu myth of Urvasi compared with myths from
Borneo and America—Story-roots to be looked for on earth, not
in the clouds—Celestial and terrestrial phenomena confused—The
influence of dreams in the production of myths—The influence
of flattery—Tendency of chiefs and sorcerers to become gods
and heroes after death—Zeus compared with the culture-heroes
of savage mythology—The Hottentot Utixo, Mannan MacLear,
Manabozho, Viracocha, Quetzalcoatl, Heitsi Eibip, all probably
of human origin—Nicknames a factor in mythology—Tendency to
personify abstractions—Vivid imagination of savages 239-275