Algonquin Legends of New England

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leland, Charles Godfrey, 1824-1903

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Algonquin Legends of New England" by Charles Godfrey Leland is a collection of myths and folklore derived from the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot tribes, recorded during the late 19th century. The work aims to preserve the rich cultural heritage of these Northeastern Algonquin tribes by compiling and narrating their ancient tales, which explore themes of creation, morality, and the relationship between humanity and the divine. At the start of the book, Leland introduces his efforts to collect these legends from Indian narrators and highlights the surprising complexity and antiquity of their mythology. He outlines the main figure, Glooskap, a demigod representing the good principle, and his evil twin, Malsum, or the Wolf. As the narrative unfolds, it reveals Glooskap's benevolent deeds, such as creating humans and animals, while also suggesting a parallel between these legends and Norse mythology. The opening sets the stage for a captivating exploration of folklore that weaves together elements of the natural world with the spiritual beliefs of these indigenous cultures, inviting readers to delve into a world rich in storytelling and tradition. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Emily Ratliff, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from images generously made available by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions

Notes:

Reading ease score: 77.7 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2004-11-01