—for the amount of its contribution to the history of the human mind.
The first class of readers will, it seems to me, accord a high value to Gaelic tales, and when a sufficient number of them is presented to the world, they will receive their proper rank among the myth tales of Europe.
The second class of readers will find a large amount of interesting material in Gaelic myth tales, and they will know how to find what they want without further comment.
To students of mythology, forming the third—the most restricted, but in the eye of science the most important—class of readers, some remarks concerning mythology, myth, and myth tale may not be out of place nor unwelcome.
First, as to the origin of the term "mythology."
There are two nouns in the Greek language which have a long and interesting history behind them; these are mythos and logos. Originally they had the same power in ordinary speech; for in Homer's time they were used indifferently, sometimes one being taken, and sometimes the other, with the meaning that "word" has in our language.
Strictly speaking, there was of course a difference from the very beginning, which, though slight
