448 NATURAL HISTORY OP 



the Finnic Kalewalla, lately brought to light, the nu- 

 merous Scandinavian Sagas, and the two Eddas. Even 

 the British Celtic legends of Arthur, the Mabinogion, 

 and the poems of Taliesin and Aneurim, have now 

 likewise established their degree of authenticity, as 

 well as the first part of the Arabic Antar. Among 

 the Teutonic tribes, the staves of the Gehugende, 

 according to Jahn, marked on wood, in Runic letters, 

 contained the tribal reminiscences, whence the earliest 

 monkish annalists have drawn a great part of their 

 first historical materials. The Heldenbuch, and Nie- 

 belungen-noth, were most likely preserved by their 

 help. The last mentioned may, however, be of Franco- 

 Theotisk origin, since four or six pages, in the Flemish 

 language, of the twelfth century, have been lately dis- 

 covered at Ghent. 



It is to be regretted, that many stores of early in- 

 formation have been neglected. The list of classical 

 (Greek and Latin) writers which have perished since 

 the thirteenth century, is sufficiently extensive. That 

 of indigenous chronicles, annals, and legends, espe- 

 cially in the north of Europe, since the same period, 

 is even more considerable. Some few may yet remain 

 unknown ; and though the general history of events 

 may not be greatly impaired, we still have to deplore 

 the loss of much that concerns the nationality, the 

 manners, opinions, and traditions of our remoter an- 

 cestors, which, after all, are quite as valuable, nay, 

 even more so, than the commemoration of crime and 



