Week 3 Storybook Project: Writing Styles

The storybook project I’ve decided to work with is that of the magical objects. I feel that magical objects play a very important role in many myths and legends, but where do they go after the tale has been told?

I already have an idea of a setting for my storybook, but now I have to figure out a style. I’m almost certain I want to do a frametale style of storybook, but my mind isn’t completely made-up on this yet. Possible objects of interest are the Ulûñsû'tï from Cherokee legend, Excalibur from King Arthur, the Merlin’s magic mirror from the tale of Britomart, Sampo from the Kalevala, and various artifacts from Norse mythology. These are just the ones I know about already, but I’m hoping to expand my knowledge and get a better idea about different artifacts across cultures as the semester goes on.

1st writing style:

This is the one I’ve been thinking of the most. With this first style I want to tell the stories of the magical artifacts from their own point of view, so this would definitely a first-person narrative. I feel this would give more depth and character to the storybook because with each story there would be a different artifact telling it. This opens up so many possibilities for different characters, personalities, dialects, and other great additives to give a story life! With this style I could either go with frametale or anthology, but I haven’t decided yet.

2nd writing style:

This style would be very, very similar to the 1st writing style, but instead of a first-person POV, I think this would be from a third-person POV (for the most part), in where the stories of the magical artifacts would be recounted and told by someone else. I’m imagining the setting for this story either being in a curious antique shop, or in the wagon (or trunk) of a traveling salesman peddling his wares. The time/place setting aspect of this is still undecided. The drawback to this is that I don’t think I’d be able to incorporate as many diverse characters in this story as I would if I were telling the story from the object’s POV.

3rd writing style:

This has the potential to be really fun and would allow me the freedom of combining elements of both the first and second writing styles. With the 3rd writing style, I’m thinking of going deeper into the category of magical objects and instead of just ANY magical object, using magical weapons that were wielded by famous figures in the stories (the spear Gungnir as wielded by Odin, Excalibur by King Arthur, etc.) Unfortunately, this style would narrow down the across-cultures theme I was going for (for now anyway, because I only know of a few famous weapons, and those were wielded by heroes from Europe). I can imagine telling this story by these famous figures from stories gathered around a table at a pub, recalling days of old with their best and most trusted weapons.

4th writing style:

I could completely eliminate all cross-culture variation and just do an anthology of the various magical artifacts presented throughout the Norse myths, because there are A LOT. How I would lay out this storybook is a bit tricky, however. I could go with something similar to writing style 1, where the tales are told from the POV of the artifact in question, or I could tell the stories by way of the artifact’s maker! Many famous magical artifacts in Norse mythology are forged by the dwarves (usually after they’re teased by Loki), so maybe I could tell the story from a third-person storyteller POV also.

The Fenris Wolf, bound by the chain Gleipnir

Image: Unita Nightroud

Bibliography:

Title: The Uktena and the Ulûñsû'tï

Book: Myths of the Cherokee

Author: James Mooney

Year: 1900

Link: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/cherokee-uktena-and-ulunsuti.html

Title: The Drawing of the Sword

Book: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table

Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1902

Link: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/king-arthur-drawing-of-sword.html

Title: The Magic Mirror

Book: Stories from the Faerie Queene

Author: Mary Macleod

Year: 1916

Link: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/07/britomart-magic-mirror.html

Title: Forging the Sampo

Book: The Kalevala

Author: Elias Loenrott

Year: 1907

Link: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/07/kalevala-forging-sampo.html

Title: Skáldskaparmál

Book: The Prose Edda

Author: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur

Year: 1916

Link: http://sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/index.htm

Extra Reading Diary Week 3: The Tales of Noah

Growing up, my family was never especially religious. I went to Sunday school a few times and remember the basic Bible stories, but those were watered down to be suitable for children. That’s why I chose to read Noah’s stories for my extra reading.

The Ark:

It says that Lamech lived seven hundred seventy and seven years and that he was one hundred eighty two when he begat Noah. How did people live for so long back then? Did they drink some secret elixir that we don’t know about anymore?

Anyway, God decides that he’s going to wipe everything off the Earth because his creatures displease him, but he takes favor on Noah and tells him to build a gigantic boat. This reminds me lot of the creation stories of Ancient Greece. There were several races before man, but every time the gods were displeased with the race for whatever reason they would just wipe them off the Earth and start with a fresh slate. I wish I could wipe away all the misgivings I had so easily.

The Flood:

I remember every beast is to be taken on the Ark by two, but God specifies that this is only for unclean beasts and that clean beasts are to be taken onto the Ark by sevens. What is a clean and unclean beast? Are clean beasts those that can asexually reproduce?

At this point in time Noah is six hundred years old. Seriously, what are these people eating to keep them alive for so long?

The rain goes on for forty days and forty nights but the waters remain on the Earth for one hundred fifty days. Imagine all the swimming that could be done!

What are you doing? Get back inside!

Image: Man Myth and Magic

After the Flood:

So the Ark comes to rest on the mountain Ararat and the flood waters gradually abate. I think I remember a documentary talking about finding the Ark on some mountain in Iran, which is plausible. Honestly, I think a giant wooden structure like the Ark would have deteriorated by now.

The ground becomes dry again and Noah leads his family and all the animals off the Ark and builds an altar to God and burns ‘sweet offerings’ (I’m guessing incense like myrrh or cinnamon, maybe frankincense and sandalwood). God, being pleased by this, decides to not wipe off every living thing from the planet again because men are evil to begin with. I don’t agree with that. I think people are born neither good nor evil. They’re just born and then life shapes their conscience.

The Tower of Babbel:

Wow, so the first third of this story is pretty much a geneaological history of Noah’s sons. I just skipped it. I do not have the attention span to keep track of who begat who.

Honestly, I don’t understand why the LORD was so angered by the building of the tower and decided to scatter everyone to all ends of the Earth. On the other hand, I’m kind of glad we don’t have just one universal language because I really REALLY enjoy learning new languages.

Read the Tales of Noah Here!

Storytelling Week 3: The Two Brothers

There were once two brothers who ran a small shop together. The eldest brother specialized in ordering and selling groceries and the other brother specialized in remedies and fancied himself a modest apothecary crafter.

Business was good for the first few years, but the town suffered an industrial decline and so the economy dwindled and people began to leave the small town. The brothers realized they could not continue to run their shop together and so agreed to move to different towns and run separate shops.

“Now, brother,” the elder began sternly, “since our first venture didn’t work, I think it’s only fair that we stay out of each other’s respective towns. Obviously one town cannot support the both of us.”

Distraught and saddened, the younger brother wept but agreed. “Because you are the eldest, I trust your wisdom. Farewell, brother. I will miss you dearly.” Then the two embraced and went their separate ways.

All towns were suffering a shortage of fresh food and ingredients due a steady decline in the economy, so the eldest brother was accepted quickly into the nearest town and his business thrived because he had better connections than other grocers of the area. The younger brother, however, did not fare so well.

He wandered from town to town peddling his art as a healer, but most towns were too afflicted by the lack of food and only wanted a grocer.

The healer was crestfallen and worried as the food shortage was starting to affect him too. His clothes began to deteriorate and fall apart and his face became sunken and sallow.

He spent a night in the barn of a kind-hearted farmer and wept, praying that his brother was faring better than he was. The younger sibling wished only the best for the only family he had left because without his older brother he would truly be alone.

In the morning the farmer came to the barn and gave the younger brother cheese and bread. He noticed the farmer had a wet, racking cough and offered to make him a tea using ingredients from his apothecary satchel. The farmer reluctantly agreed, but was surprised when his cough abated a few hours later.

Herbs at 'The Herb Room'

Image: JoyBrew

“You know, this has been spreading around the whole town. It’s not life-threatening, but damn if it isn’t annoying,” the farmer told the younger brother while sipping another cup of tea.

Hopeful, the younger brother thanked the farmer and headed into the town, going door-to-door and offering a cure for the cough. Everyone rejoiced that evening when the tea had taken their coughs and pains away and gave him food as payment.

The younger brother finally came to the door of the town grocer and gasped when the door opened to reveal his older brother! Joyous, the younger brother embraced him and praised that he was still alive. Annoyed, the elder brother put himself at arm's length away from his younger brother.

“What did I tell you about coming into the same town as me? There is no room here for the two of us."

Astonished and hurt, the younger brother searched his sibling's eyes for any warmth, any love he might hold for his only other family. But his eyes were cold and pitiless.

The younger brother cast his eyes down as a tear escaped. “I can see you’re not afflicted, brother, and that you’re still not happy to see me. Very well. I’ll take my leave.” 

With that, he trudged out of town to go find work in another. Eventually he became the acclaimed healer of a seaside village and went on to live a comfortable, happy life.  But he never saw his brother again.


Author's note: This story is based off of The Quarrel of the Cat and the Dog. I wrote notes for this story earlier this week and figured I could put it into a more human scenario. I've been an only child all my life, so I don't know firsthand what the sibling dynamic is like, but I took my best crack at it. Looking back, I realize I made the younger brother a bit of a crybaby in comparison to his older brother. Then again, maybe it could be interpreted that his older brother is just heartless and cruel. Regardless, I thought I would apply the Cat and Dogs' quarrel to a situation which might occur between siblings because the Cat and Dog acted basically as siblings before this huge quarrel started, and only the Cat wanted them to not be friends again due to his own selfish nature. Oddly enough, I've always grown up with both cats and dogs - they get along just fine. Maybe this myth is a little outdated, but it was still fun to re-tell nonetheless. If I were going to revise this and add more, I think I would have added more dialogue at the end instead of when the brothers reunite and the older brother is basically like, "Hey, get out of my town." Alternatively, I could have elaborated more on what happened to the younger brother after he left that town and described his adventures in coming to the little seaside village. I felt a short but sweet ending was better overall.

Bibliography:
Title: The Quarrel of the Cat and the Dog
Book: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends
Author: Gertrude Landa
Year: 1919 

Week 3 Reading B: More Jewish Fairy Tales

Jewish Fairy tales part 2

Sleep of One Hundred Years:

Wrecked with grief at the destruction of Jerusalem, the Rabbi Onias weeps on a hill overlooking a city and falls into a deep sleep of one hundred years. Tales like this confuse me, from a scientific standpoint. How could anyone survive a sleep that long? This guy is outside, exposed to the elements, with no food or water in the DESERT. How is he being kept alive?

Then the story becomes sad. Onias awakens after one hundred years of counting sheep and discovers that Jerusalem has been rebuilt. By chance he finds his grandson is now the Rabbi of the city and tries to live with him for a while, but everything is strange and foreign. So then he goes back to the spot where he slept forever and goes to sleep AGAIN - this time really forever. This story is kind of sad, but I appreciate that God preserved Onias to see the glory of Jerusalem again.

King for Three Days:

This starts off with Crusaders proclaiming they have permission from God to exterminate all the Jews. So that’s what they do.

Then, because the leader of this crusade, Godfrey, is twisted and strange, he decides to try and invoke a blessing from the famous Rabbi Rashi. Rashi, being a prophet and having better things to do than trifle with this sadist, tells him basically, “No blessing of mine will alter God’s plan for you.” Then he tells Godfrey that he’ll take over Jersusalem and reign as King, but only for three days. Being a jerk, Godfrey tells the Rabbi that if his prophecy is false in any way, he’ll destroy him (which I imagine he’ll do eventually because he’s Jewish). The Rabbi’s prophecy comes true, Godfrey is a broken, tired man, and the story just kind of cuts off there.

What I really liked about this tale was the end and how it the cities where Rashi and Godfrey lived and reigned remain today. For example, the city of Worms is by the Rhine river, and the synagogue near the river is where Rashi is reputed to have studied. I really like it when old tales correlate to modern day places.

The synagogue in Worms where Rashi is rumored to have studied.

The Fairy Frog:

The Jewish peoples are very gifted with the Sight for prophecy. A father calls his son, Hanina, to his death-bed and tells his son to purchase whatever is first offered to him at the market on the eve of the festival at Passover no matter what price because it will bring him good fortune. Hanina, being a good son, purchases the first thing that’s offered to him and it’s a frog that ends up eating everything in the house. Hanina’s wife breaks down and starts crying and the frog, being the size of a man at this point, tells her to make a wish. Naturally, because the frog has eaten all the food, she wishes for food. Then he tells Hanina to make a wish and Hanina states that he wishes to be schooled in the lore of men. He does this by swallowing strips of paper that the frog has written stories and lore on. I wish I could learn things just be swallowing pages from my textbook! Can you imagine? Oh, how much simpler school would be…

Plot twist! The frog is actually the fairy son of Adam, which is why he’s able to grant wishes. Who would have thought?

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Jewish Fairy Tales

Jewish Fairy Tales

The Giant of the Flood:

Noah has decreed that all animals who can lie down may enter, but those who stand cannot. This made me wonder - did he permit snakes to enter? Snakes cannot truly lie down or stand up, so did he take them aboard?

The giant Og wants to also be saved from the flood and tricks Noah into harnessing a Unicorn to the boat so that he can ride it and be saved from the flood waters. Noah agrees to feed him, but says that in doing so, Og will have to agree to be a servant of Noah’s descendants. Being a giant, Og is naturally lazy. When the flood finally ends he’s put to work building houses for the humans. He eventually becomes the king of Bashan and tries to wipe out the Israelites by crushing them with a mountain, but he mountain crumbles and falls on top of him and then Moses slashes his ankle with a sword, thereby killing him.

Through many of these stories the Unicorn is mentioned and described as a gigantic beast, certainly big enough to hold a giant. Yet I’ve read tales of Unicorns in other legends which describe them as only a little bigger than horses. Where’s the consistency?

The Beggar King:

This story was a great lesson in humility. After ripping out a page from the Bible which offended him by proclaiming that wealth and legacy are not forever, the King Hagag goes out hunting a stag. He strips his robes to follow the stag across the river into a thicket and instead finds a young man in deerskin. The young man claims to be a genie and says he’ll teach him a lesson in humility. So, after the genie steals the king’s clothes and assumes his role, King Hagag is forced to wander the streets begging and eventually loses all hope at ever regaining the throne. Thus he becomes a guide for a group of beggars.

The genie-cum-King holds a feast for all the beggars of the land and when King Hagag attends, he deems him as having learned his lesson and trades robes with him, promising the the blind shall continue to be guided. After that, King Hagag rules with much more compassion and wisdom.

The Quarrel of the Cat and the Dog:

This is a bit of an origin story on how the cat and dog came to hate each other. In the beginning, cat and dog were the best of friends, but winter came and food became scarce. Cat decided they should part and go each other’s separate ways to make finding food easier. Dog was reluctant, but complied with Cats’ wishes. Cat added that they should never cross paths again and told Dog she was headed to Adam’s house to catch mice for her food. Dog plodded away disconsolately.

He spent many months trying to find a good place to call home and had run-ins with starvation, exhaustion, wild animals, and cold. He finally was given shelter at a humans’ house but, after discovering it was Adam’s home, refused to stay because Cat lived there and would treat him with contempt. Despite Adam trying to make both animals live together peacefully, Dog went to go live with Seth and that’s why Dog and Cat can never live together.

I find this story amusing because I’ve always lived with both cats and dogs who get along great with each other. They might fight every now and again, but ultimately they remain very good pals.

What quarrel? I see no quarrel here.

Image Credit: Roger H. Goun

Click here to read more Jewish Fairy Tales!

Week 2: Possible Storybook Topics

I know I’ve recently become really interested in Celtic mythology and I’ve always enjoyed Scandinavian myths. But I don’t want to narrow my storybook topic to just one region. I’d really like to work on a storybook that somehow encompasses something central or present in all myths from around the world.

Topic: The Gods Among Us

Comments: So, if anyone has read American Gods by Neil Gaiman, you’re probably thinking this idea is a rip-off of his story. Honestly, it’s a similar idea, but it’s an idea for stories I toyed around with long before I ever read American Gods. Reading the first chapter in the Ancient Egypt chapter, the last line mentions how Ra took the form of a mortal man and stayed on Earth and how centuries passed like years to him.

Possible stories: I know the gods are thought to walk amongst mortals in many different myths. I’d like to make a compilation of stories about gods interacting with humans in the modern age.

Sample Story comments: In Greece, Norse, and I guess Egyptian mythology, the top gods (Zeus, Odin, Ra) are spoken of taking human form and helping/dispensing wisdom to humans. I’m sure this is the same for many other cultures across the world, too.

Bibliography:

Story: Creation,

Book: Egyptian Myth and Legend,

Author: MacKenzie, Donald

Year of Publication: 1907

Link

Topic: Marriage Across Worlds

Comments: I’ve read stories about humans who marry fairies (or even animals in Native American folklore). Sometimes the marriage doesn’t end well, but other times it does.

Possible Stories: I would like to set up a storybook that reads from the account from a ‘special’ marriage services agency, with fantastic tales of their successful (and failed) marriages.

Sample Story comments: I like the tale of the fish-peri in Turkish fairy tales, as it’s one of a happy marriage. There are other stories of animal-husbands or wives in Native American legends, but those sometimes take a turn for the worst (such as the Bear-Woman).

Bibliography:

Story: The Fish-Peri

Book: Forty-Four Turkish Fairytales

Author: Kunoz, Ignacz

Year: 1913

Link

Topic: Magical Devices throughout tales

Comments: A common theme in many stories is that of a magical device which somehow benefits the protaganist - Excalibur in the tales of King Arthur, the Sampo in the Kalevala, fetishes in the Congo… I’m curious to see what other magical items there are in different folk tales.

Possible stories: An unassuming, totally plain-looking antique shop that has magical artifacts for sale and the stories behind them.

Sample Story comments: The great sword Excalibur was drawn by Arthur, which proved him to be the true king of England. I know that Arthur will use this sword on many of his quests, so I’m interested to see where this enchanted piece takes him and how it will be used.

Bibliography

Story: The Drawing of the Sword

Book: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table

Author: Lang, Andrew

Year: 1902

Link

Topic: Powerful women of the Mythoverse

Comments: Powerful women, especially in the forms of priestesses, enchantresses, etc, play a large role in shaping myths. There’s Morgan Le Fay in Arthurian legend, Isis in Egyptian mythology, and Britomart of the Faerie Queene tales.

Possible Stories: Going along again with my theme of the gods in the modern world, I could tell the stories of these women and how they influence still today the workings of the world (in ways big or small).

Sample Story Comments: I enjoyed reading about Britomart’s cunning and moral composure when she fought with the six knights who were beating up on one. Not only is she physically strong, she’s strong-willed and bright.

Bibliography:

Story: How Britomart Fought with Six Knights

Book: Stories from the Faerie Queene

Author: MacLeod, Mary

Year: 1916

Link

"Isis" by Janice Duke on Deviantart

Extra Reading Diary: The Odyssey

Land of the Cyclopes:

I wonder what kind of pact the cyclopes made with the Gods so that Zeus would rain down magic fertile water to keep the crops ever-growing. Because honestly, that would be a pretty handy thing for us humans to have.

Prisoners of the Cyclopes:

I’ve read in the myths that when drinking wine, it was to be mixed with water so that the drinker would not become so quickly intoxicated. I think that would be a good practice to bring back for a lot of college parties.

This story is reading a lot like with Jack and the Beanstalk, but much more violent. Odysseus seems to be losing more and more of his men with each adventure. I appreciate his foresight, though, in waiting to try and kill the Cyclops the next day instead of right then and there.

The Cyclops defeated:

Good thing Odysseus still had all that potent wine to drug the Cyclops with. And clever of him to give him the name nobody!

The Cyclopes advise Polyphemus to pray to their father Poseidon? Maybe Poseidon made his children go live on an island far from mortal men so that they wouldn’t war and convinced Zeus somehow to give them fertile rain. Interesting.

Escape from the Cyclops:

Odysseus taunts too much. His ship could have been crushed from just one jest. Also, Cyclopes must have great hearing to be able to land a rock so accurately from that far away.

The Curse of Polyphemus:

What’s the point of having a God for a father if they can’t curse your enemies for you? I’m curious if he ever had his eye healed by poseidon.

Circe, also a character in the Marvel Universe

Image: Wikipedia

Circe’s Magic:

I don’t understand why Odysseus keeps urging his men to go into danger. They obviously don’t want to investigate the smoke in the woods, and with good reason. I’d be terrified if my last venture had ended in 90% of my shipmates being slaughtered.

Ah, but it appears men will not be a suspicious of a woman. Eurylochus is wise to have abstained from entering her home. Why didn’t Odysseus go with his men if he was so eager to know what was there?

How kind of Hermes to offer help. I would think Odysseus would be more suspicious of him though, because Hermes is often depicted as a trickster God.

Moly Defeats Circe:

This wicked goddess just keeps trying to take and take, but Odysseus is having none of it. Good for him. At least he got her to free his men before succumbing to her wily ways.

On Circe’s Island:

I think Eurylochus has the right idea in still being distrustful of Circe, but I’d be tempted by the thought of a warm bed and food after so many years wandering at sea.

At least this time it’s not a trap. It’s more like a vacation from weariness and despair. I’m glad Circe’s a woman of her word.

Death of Elpenor:

Wow, is there anywhere Odysseus can land his men where at least one of them won’t die? Seriously. At least this death wasn’t as gruesome as the others.

And Odysseus has misled his men again about where they’re going. Surprise, there. It’s like going shopping with one of your really energetic friends and, just when you think you’re about to go home, they say you’re going to yet another store with them. I’d be upset, too.

Read the Odyssey here!