Folks of All Mythology

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...