SAINTS IN FOLKLORE

A selection of saints, the stories of whose lives range from the historical to the mythical, and are often a mixture of the two with a little apocrypha as well. Miss Hole separates fact from legends as she tells about the saints of the wells, of the solstices, as well as Saints George, Oswald of Northumpria, Christopher, Blaise, Joseph of Arimathea, St. Catherine of Alexandria, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. One of the most interesting aspects of the volume is its insight into how saints were adopted as patrons because of the miracles attributed to them; St. Nicholas with his succoring of children, schoolboys, sailors, bankers and pawnbrokers and captives plus his duty as Father Christmas and Santa Claus, has perhaps the most varied role to play. The relationship to earlier pagan practice or belief is also considered. Not to be looked to as a compendium, but of supplementary religious and folkloric interest.