Myth-Folklore 2019

For this week, I chose to read stories about the Fairy Queen, as found in Stories from the Faerie Queene  by Mary Macleod. My favorite story in Part B is Two Knights , as I personally find it a bit humorous. Two Knights: The knights Artegall and Scudamour come across each other and Artegall prepares to attack Scudamour but stops upon realizing who he is. Artegall refuses to tell Scudamour his name but the two men find out that they are both looking for revenge against Britomart, thinking she is a man. Scudamour thinks Britomart stole his lover while Artegall is upset that he lost to Britomart shamefully. Both manage to hunt Britomart down and attack her, knocking off the visor of her helmet, revealing that she is a girl. Artegall falls in love with her and Scudamour laughs at the thing, teasing Artegall for losing to a girl while rejoicing that he need not be jealous of Britomart, that he can still have Amoret, the girl he loves whom he believed Britomart had stolen from him. G...

For this week's reading I chose the the stories about the Fairy Queen   as found in Stories From the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod. My favorite story for Part A is The Magic Mirror  and will probably be the story that I retell for this week. The Magic Mirror: While traveling with our heroine, Princess Britomart, a knight asks her what brings her into this country, to which she replies that she is looking for praise and fame for her skills as a warrior. She then tells him that she is looking to exact revenge on Artegall and denounces him in front of the knight, though secretly she loves Artegall and is pleased when the knight defends his honor. Britomart even feigns ignorance about what Artegall looks like (the knight describes him to her) in order to hide her true feelings. She knows that she is destined to marry him as she once asked the magic mirror that could tell the future, which Merlin had given to her father, King Ryence. The mirror showed Artegall and she fell in l...

For this week's reading, I chose the stories of Robin Hood, as seen in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898). Of these stories, my favorite was The Bishop of Hereford  as I love a story where a hypocrite gets their due. The Bishop of Hereford: In this tale, Robin Hood notices that the Bishop of Hereford is traveling his way, so he decides to play a trick on the greedy, immoral man. Robin and his men make it so that the bishop and his entourage must pass by them, at which point the bishop notices that Robin has killed a fat deer. The bishop accosts Robin and his men for killing one of the king's deer, especially when there are so few of them to eat it. He declares that he will take Robin before the king for punishment. Robin asks for mercy, to which the bishop replies that he will not grant Robin or his men any mercy, that they must go before the king for punishment for poaching a deer. Robin then summons the rest of his men so that the ...

For this week's reading, I chose Robin Hood from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898). First of all, all of these stories surprised me as Robin Hood is not at all as he is commonly portrayed in movies. He is kind of a brat and a punk who goes around picking fights he can't win, calling his pales to come get him out of trouble. That being said, Robin Hood's character annoyed me and so my favorite story was The Pedlars because in this story Robin gets what he deserves. In The Pedlars, Robin Hood decides that he wants to search the packs of three peddlers traveling to Nottingham. Presumably, Robin wants to steal their goods. He orders them to drop their packs and shots arrows at them, which results in them dropping their packs and preparing to fight off Robin and his friends using their giant staffs. Robin asks the peddlers to wait so he and his men can get staffs with which to fight, to make things more fair (because it is totally f...

For this week I chose to read Native American marriage tales from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). My favorite story for the second half of this week's readings was The Girl and the Turkeys . In this story, which is very similar to the story of Cinderella, a poor girl tends a flock of turkeys and the birds grow to love her as she is very good at caring for them. The poor girl is scorned by others in her community and makes her living by caring for their turkeys. One day, she is told about a dance that will be held and wishes she were able to attend. The turkeys promise her that they will help her attend and transform her raggedy clothing into a fine and beautiful outfit and make the girl incredibly beautiful. The turkeys tell the girl that she must not forget about them, otherwise she will risk losing her good fortune. The girl promises to never forget them and goes to the dance where she is incredibly popular. Every man wants to dance with her and no...

For this week, I chose to read Native American marriage tales from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). My favorite story out of this week's readings was The Fox-Woman . In this story, a single man notices that when he returns from hunting, his dwelling is completely cleaned, his clothing cared for, and his food prepared. Amazed and curious, he pretends to go out hunting one day while secretly hiding and waiting to see who is doing these things for him. He sees a fox enter his home and when the man goes in after the fox, he finds inside a beautiful woman with the skin of a fox hanging nearby her. He asks her if she has been the one doing the cleaning and cooking, to which she replies that yes, as his wife, she has been the one doing these things. The two live together for a bit until one day the man mentions a musky odor, which the woman declares is her. She declares that she will not stay if he finds fault with her and leaves in a huff, running away as a...

For this week, I chose to read Inuit Folk Tales from  Eskimo Folk-Tales  by Knud Rasmussenwith illustrations by native Inuit artists (1921). My favorite story from this part of the reading was Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother which I though was extremely interesting and intriguing. Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother: Papik and his brother-in-law Ailaq go out hunting together often, with Ailaq always returning with something and Papik returning with nothing. Papik grows jealous of Ailaq and kills him while they are out one day, returning without him. Ailaq's mother accuses Papik of killing her son and swears to take revenge on Papik. She dies after deliberately drowning herself in the tides and Papik lives in fear of her spirit, but cannot escape it in the end. While out with some other men, a thick fog descends and the two other men hear the screams of Papik as the spirit monster of Ailaq's mother attacks, mutilates, and kills him. These men and a large gro...

For this week, I chose to read Inuit Folk Tales from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussenwith illustrations by native Inuit artists (1921).  My favorite story from this part was The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son  as I found this story touching and engaging. The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son: A mother bear is killed and her cub is given to an old woman to raise. The old woman raises the bear and trains it to understand human speech and to act like a human. He is taught to take care when playing with children (and adults) and to help the hunters catch animals for food. The bear is almost killed by another group of hunters who mistake him for a normal bear, so he is made a collar in order to distinguish him from other bears. Members of other groups vow to kill the bear, but he manages to stay safe, his foster-mother always reminding him to not harm humans unless they attack him. One day, the bear brings home a dead man, presumably because the man attacked him, ...

For this week's readings, I chose Tibetan Folktales as seen in Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). My favorite story out of those listed for Part B was How the Raven Saved the Hunter . I found it incredibly touching and sad how the hunter tried to kill the very thing that was trying to save him. How the Raven Saved the Hunter: A hunter is thirsty and makes a cup from a leaf. He attempts to drink water from a local stream but a raven flies down and knocks the cup out of his hands. This happens three times before the hunter decides to kill the raven. He shoots it down, killing it, and then decides to explore the source of the water. He finds that the water is coming out of the gaping mouth of a huge snake and that tons of animals have died from drinking the water, their bones accumulating on the side of the stream. The hunter then regrets killing the raven that was only trying to save him. In my retelling, the story will be told fro...

For this week's readings, I chose Tibetan Folktales as seen in Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). My favorite story out of those listed for Part A was The Ingratitude of Man because I think it teaches a very important lesson--sometimes those we don't think can help us are actually the most willing to help whereas those we believe could help us a lot are the most unwilling to help. Oftentimes the most wealthy and fortunate people are the most ungrateful and the most selfish. The Ingratitude of Man: A man, a rat, a crow, and a snake are all walking together at night when all of a sudden they fall into a pit. They cannot get out and believe that they will starve, though why the crow cannot just fly out of the pit, I do not know. Anyway, a man hears their screams for help and saves them, expecting that he will be repaid in the future by the man but not by the animals. The crow is the first to repay the kind man, giving him jewelry...

 For this week's reading, I chose the story of  The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung , as told in  The Chinese Fairy Book , edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). In one part of the readings, Sun is put in charge of the Queen-Mother of the West's peach orchard. One of the three rows of peaches grants people immortality--thus these peaches are very valuable and must be well-protected. As expected, Sun proves to be a less-than-dedicated peach watcher and is discovered by some fairies lounging near a peach, transformed into a worm. From these fairies, he learns about a great feast the Queen-Mother is hosting, one to which Sun is not invited. After enchanting the fairies and forcing them to stay put, Sun tricks the Bare-Foot God into going to the wrong location for the feast while Sun slips into the feast after transforming himself into the deceived god. At the feast, he puts the servers in charge of the wine asleep and drinks a ton of it. He then wander...

 For this week's reading, I chose the story of The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung , as told in The Chinese Fairy Book , edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Sun Wu Kung is born from a rock, from an egg of stone. He is a stone ape, nourished in the rock by earth, heaven, sun, and moon. He grows up in peace and happiness, playing all day, every day, until he comes across a waterfall and passes through it, discovering a heavenly cave. The other apes make Sun Wu Kung their king due to his discovery. After several hundred years pass, Sun Wu Kung desires immortality and so travels on the sea, coming across a fisherman. The ape learns the ways of man, but does not find the secret to immortality among them, so he sets off again, coming across a singing man who directs him to the saint called the Discerner who proceeds to give the ape his name, Sun Wu Kung. Sun proves to be a difficult student of his new master, but is perceptive. After his master asks him which wa...

For this week's reading, I read the Arabian Nights tales in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898.) In this part of the Arabian Nights, the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp is told: Aladdin is the son of a poor tailor (living in what appears to be China, oddly enough) and is incredibly idle, so idle that his father dies from anxiety and frustration. The boy's mother laments his idleness and tries to get him to change, but to no avail. An African magician  tricks Aladdin and his mother into believing he is the dead father's long lost brother. The fake uncle then takes Aladdin and uses him in an attempt to get a magic lamp. The plan fails and the magician flees, leaving Aladdin in the cave with the magic lamp and a magic ring. Aladdin eventually uses the genie trapped in the ring to escape and return home. He and his mother clean up the lamp to sell, at which point a genie pops out, one more powerful than the genie ...

For this week's reading, I chose the Arabian Nights , as found in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). In Part A of these readings, the storyteller and daughter of the vizir, Scheherazade, risks her own life to save the lives of countless other women. She offers to become the lover of the murderous sultan Schariar, famous for killing every woman he takes after only a day. Each morning, he has his vizir kill the girl and then select a new one for him. Scheherazade decides to start telling stories to her sister, who the sultan allows to spend this last night with Scheherazade. Scheherazade tells her sister, Dinarzade, a story only to be cut off by the dawn of a new day. The sultan allows her to live in order to hear the rest of the story, thus beginning the main plot of the book: Scheherazade successfully lives day after day by telling interesting stories that intrigue the sultan, thus saving her own life and the lives of other...

For this week's reading, I chose  Ancient Egypt . Part B consisted of two long stories, one called The Book of Thoth and the other called The Two Brothers, and a shorter story called The Tale of King Rampsinitus. These tales come from  Egyptian Myth and Legend  by Donald Mackenzie (1907). My favorite of these stories was the Book of Thoth. The Book of Thoth : In this story, an Egyptian prince who loves reading ancient texts is told by a priest how to obtain the Book of Thoth which allows one to control everything on earth and in heaven and also contains a multitude of powerful spells, all in exchange for the prince paying for the priest's costly funeral expenses--rather an odd request but perhaps the priest was elderly and about to die. He clearly wanted to go out in style. Anyhow, the prince, Nefer-ka-ptah, takes his wife Ahura and son Merab with him to get the book out of the river (the Nile?). Ahura has a premonition that something bad will happen and she is co...

For this week's reading, I chose Ancient Egypt . Part A consisted of stories about creation, Ra, Hathor, Osiris, Isis, and a couple other tales involving magic. These tales come from Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907). The Secret Name of Ra : In this story, Isis desires some of Ra's power, so she uses magic to create an invisible snake which bites Ra as he is walking by, causing him to become weak from its venom. In pain, Ra cries out and Isis rushes to his side, offering him healing if he only gives her his secret name, which grants him power and was given to him by Nu, from whom Ra came. After several rounds of Isis asking for the name and Ra refusing, he finally relents and allows her access to the name. Isis then heals Ra and possesses his power. I found it interesting that this story was most likely written to reconcile Ra's worshippers and Isis' worshippers--the tale offers a way to have both Ra and Isis as superior god and goddess, as Isis ...

This part of Ovid's Metamorphoses from Ovid's Metamorphoses , translated by Tony Kline (2000). covered the stories of Echo, Narcissus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Mars and Venus, Perseus and Andromeda, and Perseus and Medusa. Echo : In this story, a nymph is cursed by Juno for distracting her while other nymphs make love to Jupiter. In her rage, Juno curses the nymph Echo and only allows her to repeat what others say. Echo eventually stumbles across the beautiful Narcissus and falls in love with him but is cruelly rejected by him. She runs away in humiliation and turns into a stone. ( This story might be hard to retell. Perhaps I could have a young shy girl in modern times who stutters fall in love with a popular and beautiful boy in her school only to be cruelly rejected by him when she confesses her love for him. She then grows completely silent, never speaking for the rest of her life. This would be a rather sad story. ) Narcissus : Narcissus eventually sees his own reflect...

For this week's readings, I chose Ovid's Metamorphoses which includes multiple tales involving the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses. My favorite story out of the seven included in Part A was the story of Phaethon and the Su n from Ovid's Metamorphoses , translated by Tony Kline (2000). Phaethon is the son of the sun god Phoebus. He asks his father to prove his parentage by granting his son one wish. The god grants Phaethon a wish and the boy asks to be allowed to drive him father's chariot which carries the sun across the sky each day. Phoebus reluctantly agrees, seeing the danger in his son's request. Sure enough, Phaethon is unable to control the horses and lights heaven and earth on fire. Jupiter is forced to kill the boy with a lightning bolt in order to save the earth. Phoebus mourns his son, as does the boy's mother and three sisters. His sisters all turn into poplar trees as they mourn their brother. I think it would be interesting to rewrite this stor...

If I choose to do my story over this part of the week's readings, I will do my story over the nature and inanimate objects section. The Tree and the Reed  in  The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). In this fable, a tree asks a reed why it does not grow its roots deep into the ground and grow up as tall as the tree. The reed says that is may not be a magnificent plant but that it is content and safe the way it is, to which the tree scoffs, claiming that no one would mess with it due to its large size. Yet a storm rips the tree up and destroys it while the reed is able to come back after the storm passes. ( If I were to retell this fable, I would have two characters who are friends. One becomes wealthy in a business that involves quick cash but has high turn over. The other works at a boring but stable job with no turn over. The rich friend asks the poorer friend why he does not enter the more profitable field, to which the poorer friend says he is safe and content wit...

If I choose to do my story over this part of this week's readings, I will probably choose to do it over some of the lion fables as these are my favorites. The Lion's Share in The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). In this fable, the lion works with a fox and jackal to kill a stag. When they are all dividing up the meat, the lion claims all parts for himself for various reasons, one of which is that the others will not dare to challenge him over it. The jackal and fox are forced to let him have it, but note that the lion had no problem sharing the labor but did not want to share the rewards of the labor. ( If I choose to do this story, I could place the story in modern times and have it involve various world leaders who fight a war as allies but after the war is won, one of them-the leader from the strongest nation-takes all of the territory and plunder and refuses to let the other nations reap any of the rewards of war. ) The Lion and the Statue  in  The Fables o...