Barbarians and Nobles - The Dark Ages after the Roman Empire [Quintessential Classics] (Illustrated)

In this volume are grouped stories of that early period of the Middle Ages when Europe was the meeting place of many races and tribes which were later to make up the nations of the modern world. In its broad lines the historical epic of the wandering of the nations, and of the formation of Christendom out of a chaos of tribes and peoples and tongues, is as stirring as any saga; in its details there are many bits of epic prose, many quaint scenes from the life of the time, and many pictures of well known heroes. It is, moreover, with all its tragedy of the fall of the Roman Empire, a tale of hope; for there runs through it a single line of progress,—that the barbarian of one age appears as the noble of the next, taking his turn in defending his world against the onrush of new barbarians. Barbarian becoming noble unconsciously, uncivilized becoming civilized, that is the tale of the early Middle Ages in relation to the world of to day; and it is a tale fascinating beyond one's most hopeful anticipations...