Folks of All Mythology

 The Morning After     And it was on the next morning when Owen O'Mulready waited for his master to pass by so he might report back to him about his dream. James Taafe was not long. In fact, he was earlier than usual.     "What have you to report?" James asked for he was very curious to hear how Owen's first dream had gone.     "What haven't I to report?" Owen said. "I thought I was halfway to America when I awoke climbing halfway up my chimney covered in soot! There was a rogue of a crane and some strange-looking sailors and, by God!, even the plants talked." Owen shook his head. "I shan't be envious of people who dream anymore."     "It does sound like a harrowing adventure," James said. "You're sure you've no desire to dream anymore?"     "None whatsoever!"     James nodded and started on his way when Owen stopped him. "What is it you need Owen O'Mulready?"     "Was it no...

  Dancing with fairies. 1895. John D. Batten ( More Celtic Tales )     My favorite story from Part B of the unit was definitely "The Legend of Knockgrafton." In all, it was a really good story, came with a song, had the good guy get rewarded, and the unethical guy gets punished (even if it was a little overboard). Aside from the plot and characters, I really liked how it portrayed the fairies' behavior.     The idea of fairies being bright, merry, joyful creatures is mostly a Disney invention. In folklore, fairies (even the nice ones) are vindictive and fickle with a strict moral code tailored to each individual. Classical fairies are tough to deal with! Some are outright hostile. Others are easily agitated by violence. Most are gracious as long as you follow their rules.     But...what are their rules?     Excellent question!     Answer?     Who knows.     No, really. Depending on the story, the protagonist is e...

  Dream of Owen O'Mulready. 1895. John D. Batten. (Source:  More Celtic Fairy Tales )     "Dream of Owen O'Mulready" was my favorite story from this unit. This was partly because it was one of two stories that weren't sad, but it was mostly because the story is just a trip! Owen's dream was wild from start to finish. I really liked how there wasn't a clear transition. At the beginning of his dream, I really didn't know what was a dream and what was reality.  I mean, it became clear pretty soon, but when he's "woken up," the reader isn't clued in on the fact he's dreaming already.     In all, I'm fascinated by dreams. Are they our brain working through our stresses and thoughts? Are they pure nonsense? Somewhere in between? It's interesting how the basis of the story is because Owen had never had a dream. Since it's a fairy tale, it makes me wonder if he was born that way or cursed? Either would be very fairy-tale-clich...

 Carrying the Family Mantle     Ava looked at the fur mantle spread proudly on the wall above the fireplace. "You've never told me about this, Mary."     Mary shuffled next to her and looked up at it. "My family and I tend not to talk about out of doors," she said. "Most people don't believe the story behind it anyway."     Ava shifted. "What's the story?" she asked, though she already knew it.     "One night, 500 hundred years ago, twelve witches came to the house. Long story short, my ancestor drove them out of the house with a trick. When they came back she had already protected the house, so they couldn't get back in. They fled again, and one of them left her mantle."     Left?  Ava frowned. "You're sure it wasn't stolen?"     Mary rolled her eyes. "Why would anyone want to steal a witch's mantle?" She shook her head. "Anyone with any sense knows that would be a terrible idea....

  Farmer talking to Ivan. 1892. John D. Batten. (Source:  Celtic Fairy Tales )     The Tale of Ivan     Out of all the stories of Part B, maybe even the whole unit, "The Tale of Ivan" was my favorite. I liked Ivan as a character, which is not always something that happens with fairy tale characters for me. I might like the story, but the main character themselves I won't like. Ivan is more of a human in this story, rather than an idea in human form as is usually the case with fairy tales. The farmer is also a very curious character. His name is never mentioned, and all the advice he gives Ivan leads Ivan into success, a steady income, and saves his life more than once.     It's true Ivan had to follow the farmer's advice in the first place for it all to work, but the farmer gave very situationally specific advice. It makes me wonder if the farmer was really a farmer or perhaps some entity. He doesn't seem to match the typical idea of fairies, but ...

  The Horned Women. 1892. John D. Batten (Source: Celtic Fairy Tales )     I've been really excited to read this unit! I'll be continuing with Celtic fairy tales next week, and I'm looking forward to it so much. The majority of my family history and ancestors are from Ireland, so I love learning everything I can about the country. Reading through these, I wondered how heavily they were Christianized. I know there's relatively nothing pre-Christianity in regard to mythology, folklore, and fairy tales, so I really wonder how some of these would've red without that influence entirely.     The story that caught my interest and held my attention the most was "The Horned Women." Seeing the title and knowing Irish fairy tales, I had no idea what direction it was going to go in. The direction ended up being witches, to which I replied, "Yeah, that's fair." I wonder why each witch has a different number of horns. The first witch has one, the second tw...

Dads, Look!     The seven men left of the original war party sat around the fire and spoke about their day. As usual, at the end of the day, they were all exhausted. Had they been a normal group with no other responsibilities to speak of that weren't toward each other, hunting, scouting, and the like, they would no doubt have been brimming with energy at the end of their days.     But with their little girl, Foot-Stuck-Child? No. Definitely not. Each day left them tired and haggard, but they wouldn't have had it any other way.     "Foot-Stuck-Child lit me on fire today," one said. His eyebrows were missing. The ends of his sleeves were singed black, and his hair was noticeably shorter. "I didn't burn for the most part. She's getting better." He leaned back and smiled smugly. Who could top being set on fire?     Another man waved him away. "Please, she sent me to the bottom of the river! I could still breathe for the most part, but she just sat o...

An Embden Goose. (Source: Wikimedia Commons )     For Part B, there was a specific story that stuck out to me for its plot and characters! It was strange one didn't do that in Part A.... "The True Bride" jumped out at me from the readings. It was much longer than most anything I've read in this class, but it held my attention the entire time.  Main Themes I Noticed Swan Princess vibes with She-Who-Spits-Gold being turned into a goose who spends the majority of her time on a lake and trying to communicate with her sons Diligent and kind female is rewarded greatly; Lazy and mean/vain female is punished greatly Wicked stepfamily Fairy godmother, except there's four of them and they're SWSG's brothers she doesn't know about who just so happen to be magical (reminded me of the fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty ) Unwaveringly loyal animal companion who's basically the backbone of the story's plot Animal rearing humans Animal-birth slander Questi...

  Red Fox in Snow. Igor Shpilenok. (Source:  One Big Photo )     This week's Part A was definitely a first for me in that no story or plot really jumped out at me. There wasn't anything in particular about plots or characters that stuck out to me. Instead, it was the general world of Native American mythology which grabbed my attention. It's very strange to me, not in any bad way, just in a way that makes me have to step back for a moment to reorient the landscape in my mind to accept the new information from these stories.     They're definitely not bad stories. I found most of them very entertaining. However, past all the nonchalant shape-shifting and human-animal relations, I found the world to be strange in the best way. It's definitely a world I would love to walk into and explore, pick my way through all the stories.     Of this world of Native American mythology and folklore, the magic is the best part. My two favorite instances were in "Sp...

 How to be Dead 101     The man poked his head out of the burial site. His thin wrinkled face squinted at those around him. "I tried being dead," he told his wife, "but I don't think it's stuck to me. I don't know how to be dead."     His wife, who had bargained their long lives for some daylight, shushed him. "You are the first one to ever die, figure it out."     The man lay back down, grumbling.     Flashes of light went off around him. "Congratulations!" someone shouted. He couldn't tell if it was male or female. A smooth, round face, like that of a child's, appeared above him. H screamed and poked his head out of the gravesite again.     "Dear, I really don't think I like being dead."     His wife shushed him. "We'll figure it out once the men return from hunting. Until then, get back in your grave."     The man settled back into his grave forlornly.      "You're the first human to eve...

  Arctic Fox. Will Brown. (Source: Flickr ) Story 1     "Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother" wasn't a story that particularly grabbed or held my attention until the end. The old woman does turn into a terrifying monster, but what got my imagination going was one of the last lines. "The people of old times thought it an ill thing for men to kill each other."     At first, I just thought along the lines of how it could be commentary today. Have we truly become so desensitized to violence that we've arrived at the point where we don't care? Surely we're not that far gone. But this was written down in 1921. I think humans have always been this way. We have stories about how murder is a very bad thing and how in the "old days there wasn't this much violence!" But I think every generation feels that way, and I also think we have a tendency to glorify "simpler times" as more non-violent, more peaceful, more harmonious. I wonder...

  A Polar Bear in Manitoba Walking Toward the Camera. 9 November 2011. Emma. (Source: Flickr )     There are four stories that caught my eye from this unit, although I was surprised to find I really liked all of them. The way they're formatted is really interesting. A lot of times when stories are translated from oral to written, details or the way it's told gets changed in some way. I really liked these stories because I felt I was listening to someone telling them to me after I had pestered them about it. The stories often ended in, "And this is all I know about it." or in a very similar way. It made me feel like whoever had been originally telling the stories was telling them to a child who had been bugging them. It was amazing how even the narrative style put me in the shoes of someone else. The Story I'd Rewrite     The  story that caught my eye for the assignment in this class, in particular, was "The Coming of Men a Long, Long While Ago." This sto...

To Be Worthy of a Happy Ending     Prince Ucay looked nervously about the grand hall. His bride-to-be beside was not an unpleasant woman, but he did not love her. He pined for his love who he kept secret from the world for he was too afraid to admit to his father he was in love with the daughter of his father's most hated rival, a witch.     The doors to the hall burst open. The guests screamed. His bride-to-be cowered beside him. For a brief moment, Ucay's heart was elated. It was his love!     His heart fell. She did not come toward him with a smile. She came toward him with eyes red from tears and hate on her face.     "You have betrayed and destroyed any love we once shared! For your timidity and cowardice, you will be transformed into nothing more than the performing monkey you are. And what better place for a monkey to live than the tallest tree in the forest. And what better subjects for a monkey prince to rule over than the other animals i...

Raven. (Source:  Pixabay ) Overall Thoughts     I liked a lot of these stories because they were mainly creation stories, a.k.a. stories that tell how or why something came to be. I'm not super sure if "creation story" is the correct term, but I think it is. Anyway, out of all the creation stories and a couple fable-like ones, the two I liked the best in Part B were because their endings grabbed my attention. Story 1: "Why the Sun Shines More Brightly than the Moon"     The ending caught my eye because I didn't expect it to end the way it did with the two sisters dying. I thought the crystals would have allowed them to rise from and set into the ocean at different times, thus also explaining why the sun and moon seemingly rise from there. Or I thought they might also be saved by being stored in their crystals? I'm not sure, but I didn't expect it to end quite like it had.     I really liked how the sun and moon, or the people they were meant for, wer...

      FINALLY!!     It's finally here! I've been waiting s pecifically for this week where I could read the most anticipated folklore and tales of the semester: Filipino tales!     There were three stories that caught my eye in Part A. Story 1: "The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao" Until this story, I didn't know what a carabao was. I had heard of carabaos' great horns and strength, and, in my mind, I had envisioned something out of a myth. I was so delighted to find it was just a domesticated water buffalo native to the Philippines. And I think it's so cute, too! A Carabao in the Philippines. Mike Gonzalez. 7 August 2005. (Source:  Wikimedia Commons ) This quote stuck out to me the first time I read it, "...for in union there is strength." I didn't know it at the time, but that's pretty much the lesson to be learned for Part A, aside from the few stories that have their own fables at the end. Many of the stories go on...

 The Fate of Two Friends           It was a peaceful day, even with Sun so close by. Bodhi was in mild shock something hadn't gone wrong because of his friend today. So far, there hadn't been pranks or tricks. No one had yelled. Sun hadn't gotten anyone riled up either. The weather was fair with a soft steady breeze flowing through every room.     Yes, it was a perfect day.     Bodhi frowned and rubbed his forehead. If it was so perfect, why couldn't he meditate? No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on it, he couldn't quiet and empty his mind today. He was tempted to blame Sun, but he really hadn't done anything today. Yet.     "That may be my fault," a man said.     Bodhi turned to admonish him who dared interrupt his prayers and meditation but stopped. Sitting serenely by him was a man dressed in glowing garments. Bodhi was stunned into silence. His brain catching up to him, Bodhi jumped up and bowed to t...