The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama by Lord Raglan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama (1936) by Lord Raglan is not the kind of book for the casual reader. The Hero is for those serious writers/professors willing to study the craft of writing and storytelling at a much more intellectual level.
“The thesis of this book,” writes Lord Raglan, “is that the traditional narrative, in all its forms, is based not upon historical facts on the one hand or imaginative fictions on the other, but upon dramatic ritual or ritual drama… I then took a number of quasi-historical traditions and showed that there is no valid evidence for their historicity, and that many of them are demonstrably unhistorical. I next gave the evidence for connecting the myth and the folk-tale with ritual, and for believing that the hero-tale is derived from ritual and not from fact” (p 278).
Throughout the book Lord Raglan repeatedly shows that stories such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Tale of Troy, the Norse Sagas, Robin Hood, King Arthur, etc., are based on dramatic ritual and the heroes therein are set on 22 key characteristics (a pattern for the traditional hero).
Many heroes that fell into this pattern were from cultures all over the world and from various religions as well. For example: Theseus (20/22), Romulus (18/22), Perseus (18), Pelops (13), Apollo (11), Zeus (15), Moses (20), Watu Gunung (14), Arthur (19), and Robin Hood (19/22). These are but a portion of heroes studied within the book.
Lord Raglan also defines the purpose of myth in relation to the hero. “Myth is ritual projected back into the past,” writes Lord Raglan, “not a historical past of time, but a ritual past of eternity. It is a description of what should be done by a king (priest, chief, or magician) in order to secure and maintain the prosperity of his people, told in the form of a narrative of what a hero–that is, an ideal king, etc.–once did” (p 147).
A writer will take just as much pleasure from this book as a historian might. One of my favorite passages of the book concerns the criterion of a successful writer, and is as follows:
“Nobody can hope to be a successful poet or composer of stories unless he has familiarized himself with a large number of poems or stories of different types, both in their general outlines and in the details of their construction; and the better writers whose works he studies, the better are his own writings likely to be. This simple fact is, of course, the basis of all literary education. In addition, our budding author must, if he is to produce anything possessing the least degree of originality, observe and read a good deal, and thus acquire a large fund of ideas. By drawing upon these he will be able to vary the form and content of his writings; this is the most that he will be able to do, since imagination at its highest is no more than the combination of two or more old ideas to form a new idea” (p 136-137).
One of the reasons why I read this book was for research in my own writing, and to study in further depth the understanding of what makes a lasting and classical narrative and hero. After reading this book, I have learned more about the construct of myth, folk and fairy tales, sagas, the basis for drama and ritual dramas and the success of the age old heroes in narrative form.
Actually, this is one of the most intelligent books I’ve read (to be compared with the works of Tertullian and Cicero and the likes). Therefore, this is a strong recommend for any serious-serious writer who wants to excel, or for any professor diving deeper into the depths of history, philosophy, religion, and literature.
CG FEWSTON
This is my good friend, Nicolasa (Nico) Murillo, CRC, who is a professional chef & a wellness mentor. I’ve known her since childhood & I’m honored to share her story with you. In life, we all have ups & downs, some far more extreme than others. Much like in Canada, in America, the legalization of marijuana has become a national movement, which includes safe & legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use & research for all.
“This is a wellness movement,” Nico explains. The wellness movement is focused on three specific areas: information, encouragement, & accountability.
In these stressful & unprecedented times, it makes good sense to promote & encourage the state or condition of being in good physical & mental health.
To learn more you can visit: Americans For Safe Access & Texans for Safe Access, ASA (if you are in Texas).
The mission of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research.
Link: https://www.safeaccessnow.org/
TEXANS FOR SAFE ACCESS ~ share the mission of their national organization, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research, for all Texans.
Link: https://txsafeaccess.org/about-1
Stay safe & stay happy. God bless.
It’s in fact very complicated in this busy life to listen news on Television,
therefore I only use internet for that reason, and get the most up-to-date news.
hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve definitely picked up something new from
right here. I did however expertise some technical points using
this site, as I experienced to reload the web site
many times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times
will sometimes affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Well I am adding this RSS to my email and could look out for a lot more
of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update
this again soon.
I every time emailed this website post page to all
my contacts, since if like to read it afterward my links
will too.
Pingback: The American Novel and Its Tradition (1957) by Richard Chase - CG FEWSTON