But for a long time he is not able to remember, because he has been dead.

After a long time he gets back his memory--only to get into new mischief out of which his mother must help him afresh.
The names of the three heroes quoted to you represent also the names of three great stories, out of the many stories contained in the epics.

But in this epic, as in the Indian epics (I mean the Sanskrit epic), there is much more than stories.

There are also chapters of moral instruction of a very curious kind--chapters about conduct, the conduct of the parents, the conduct of the children, the conduct of the husband, the conduct of the bride.

The instructions to the bride are contained in the twenty-third Rune; there are altogether fifty Runes in the book.