If you haven't yet ran into the
Project Gutenberg site you haven't looked hard enough.
Here are some books that are readable online, as well as downloadable to your own computer.
Why are they free? The books are
free in the United States because
their copyright has expired on them.
What do them mean by free? Click here.
Now spiritually usefull list begins
Here:
Myths of the Norsemen by H. A. Guerber ( Hélène Adeline 1859-1929 )The religious beliefs of the North are not mirrored with any exactitude in the Elder Edda. Indeed only a travesty of the faith of our ancestors has been preserved in Norse literature. The early poet loved allegory, and his imagination rioted among the conceptions of his fertile muse. "His eye was fixed on the mountains till the snowy peaks assumed human features and the giant of the rock or the ice descended with heavy tread; or he would gaze at the splendour of the spring, or of the summer fields, till Freya with the gleaming necklace stepped forth, or Sif with the flowing locks of gold."
Legends of the Middle Ages by H. A. GuerberThe object of this work is to familiarize young students with the legends which form the staple of mediaeval literature. While they may owe more than is apparent at first sight to the classical writings of the palmy days of Greece and Rome, these legends are very characteristic of the people who told them, and they are the best exponents of the customs, manners, and beliefs of the time to which they belong. These mediaeval legends form a sort of literary quarry, from which, consciously or unconsciously, each writer takes some stones wherewith to build his own edifice. Many allusions in the literature of our own day lose much of their force simply because these legends are not available to the general reader.
The Story of the Greeks by H. A. Guerber
A knowledge of ancient history, however superficial, is of very great value; and the classic legends are almost equally worth knowing, because of the prominent part they play in the world's literature. These tales make a deep impression on the minds of children, and the history thus
learned almost in play will cling to the memory far more tenaciously than any lessons subsequently conned.
Stories of the Wagner Opera by H. A. Guerber (
don't know who Wagner is? Click Wikipedia)
"We swear to thee that great and free
Our Rome shall be as once of yore;
To protect it from tyranny
We'll shed the last drop of our gore.
Shame and destruction now we vow
To all the enemies of Rome;
A new free people are we now,
And we'll defend our hearth and home."
Contes et Légendes (Legends and Fairy Tales) by H. A. Guerber (they also have the french original)
This little collection of Legends and Fairy Tales is intended merely as an introduction to general French reading. The stories have been told as simply as possible, with infinite repetition of the same words and idioms to enable the pupil to obtain a good vocabulary almost unconsciously. They have also been narrated as graphically as practicable to arouse an interest in the plot, to stimulate curiosity, and thereby induce the pupil to read to the end.
With the exception of the first tale of the series, for which I have purposely selected the common nursery story, "The Three Bears," I have carefully avoided the tales which are most familiar, or have given them in some unusual version, so that only by knowing the meaning of the words the sense of the story can be obtained.
The Book of the Epic by H. A. GuerberEvery now and then in our reading we come suddenly face to face with first things,--the very elemental sources beyond which no man may go. There is a distinct satisfaction in dealing with such beginnings, and, when they are those of literature, the sense of freshness is nothing short of inspiring. To share the same lofty outlook, to breathe the same high air with those who first sensed a whole era of creative thoughts, is the next thing to being the gods' chosen medium for those primal expressions.
These are the first 6 - I'll be updating this list during the day.
H. A. Gueber's writing is magnetic, you'll see when you start reading the prefaces, she's very good at it.
