Curious Myths of the Middle Ages

The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography lists more than 1240 separate publications, though this list continues to grow. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being Onward, Christian Soldiers and Now the Day is Over. He also translated the carol Gabriel's Message from Basque to English. He often wrote standing up. In 1853 he went up to Cambridge earning the degrees of B. A. in 1857, then M. A. in 1860 from Clare College. His first book of songs, Songs and Ballads of the West (1889-91), was the first collection published for the mass market. He wrote many novels including A Book of Ghosts and The Lives of the Saints. His folkloric studies resulted in The Book of Were- Wolves (1865), one of the most frequently cited studies of lycanthropy. One of his most enduringly popular works was Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, first published in two parts in 1866 and 1868.