When I first began to write on Mythology, I followed the Germans in
using _mythus_ for the Greek ~mythos~. I afterwards thought it
would be better to Anglicise it, and, strange to say, I actually found
that there was a rule in the English language without an exception. It
was this: Words formed from Greek disyllables in ~os~, whether
the penultimate vowel be long or short, are monosyllables made long by
_e_ final. Thus, not only does ~bôlos~ make _bole_, but ~polos~ _pole_,
~poros~ _pore_, ~skopos~ _scope_, ~tonos~ _tone_, &c.; so also ~gyros~,
_gyre_; ~thymos~, _thyme_; ~stylos~, _style_; ~kybos~, _cube_, &c.: I
therefore, without hesitation, made an English word _m[=y]the_. Mr.
Grote, in his _History of Greece_, has done the very same thing, and
probably on the same principles, quite independently of me; for, as I am
informed, he has never condescended to read my _Mythology of Greece and
Italy_, perhaps because it was not written in German. We have had no
followers, as far as I am aware, but Miss Lynn, in her classical novels,
and Mr. J. E. Taylor, in his translation of the _Pentamerone_, &c.
Meantime the English language had got another form of ~mythos~,
namely, _m[)y]th_, which I believe made its first appearance in Mr.
Cooley's _Maritime and Inland Discovery_, and so has the claim of
priority, if not of correctness. This form has been so generally
adopted, that it seems likely ere long to become a mere slang term. It
is used for every kind of fiction whatever; indeed, I have seen it
employed where the proper word would be _hoax_. Nay, to make matters
worse, it is actually used of persons. Mrs. Harris, for instance, has
been termed a _myth_, as also was Robin Hood, not long since, even in
"N. & Q."! I wonder how Apolodorus would have looked, if he had heard
Orion or Polyphemus called a ~mythos~!
Do I then expect the people of England to surrender their glorious
privilege of going wrong without let or hindrance, in matters of grammar
and etymology? Far from me be such folly and presumption. All I venture
to expect is, that men of learning and good sense will, when they are
speaking or writing about those venerable fictions which once commanded
the assent of polished nations, use the more dignified term _m[=y]the_,
and the adjective _mythic_, instead of the hybrid _mythical_, leaving
the poor unhappy little _m[)y]th_ to be bandied about at the popular
will and pleasure.