Mythology and Folklore Blog

First Encounter Story source: The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922). Original Source Plot: So there is this prince who was incredible sheltered from the outside world. one day someone told him about how beautiful nature was outside nad he desperately wanted to go outside. The king wanted his son to see no evil so he ordered all the sick and beggars and allowed his son to go out. there was an extravagant chariot made up and the king basically decorated the whole town so that what his son saw would not be how things actually are.  The gods became jealous of all the praise that the prince was reviewing so they sent an old man and made him cross paths with the prince.  The prince was confused at the man as he had never seen anyone elderly. So he asked his charioteer if the man was a monster. The charioteer told him that this was just an old man, and that one day this would happen to the prince too.  Thoughts: I love this story because it is such a crazy, almost theoretical s

The Captive Woman Story source: Apuleius's Golden Ass , as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013). Original Source Plot: This is setting the scene for hte story of Cupid and Psyche to be told to a young captive woman by an elderly woman.  There is a man named Lucius who was turned into a donkey that is being held by robbers who also have a horse.  The robbers went to sleep and the Old woman went to bring food to the donkey-man, and horse. In the night the robbers woke and left, but Lucius kept eating, for he was starving.  Eventually, Lucius went to get some drink and the robbers returned with nothing to show for their late-night outing except a girl they had taken. The robbers made it clear to her that they weren't going to hurt her and were only interested in procuring a ransom.  The girl cried more and more. Eventually, the robbers called the old woman over to sit with her. The girl eventually tired herself out and fell asleep. A second later she sat back up and cried

Sources : So I will be using a number of sources for inspiration and information I can build off of. Source 1  This source will be used to provide some insight on the birth of dragons which Plan to intigrate into my first story. Source 2  This source will serve as some inspiration for writing from an object's point of view. Im not quite sure what the object is going to be yet but I know I will be writing one of my stories in this style. Source 3  This source will be serving to inform me about soem stories of female pirates as I want ot intigrate them into one of my stories at some point.  Source 4  This source is going to be providing some insight into existing stories of the underworld and ghosts. I love thease themes and plan to integrate them into one of my storis as well.  Plan : I plan on staring off on this idea that Focuse will be broken out from his mundane life by releasing a dragon type creature in the mines. this is where my research in dragons is going to come in handy.

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I have Tentatively decided to dive into the wonderful world of Middle Earth for my storytelling project. This is a world created by JRR Tolkien primarily displayed in his books The Lord of the Rings.  For the first story, I loved using this source about the birth of the dragon, im thinking about doing something surrounding this idea of discovering a dragon egg or accidentally hatching a dragon egg. It sounds like a pretty wide topic of how they are born but I think there is a ton of opportunity to introduce a dragon as a positive force in a way that hasn't been seen in Middle Earth before. Of the stories I've read in middle earth, dragons are not usually too friendly so I think this is a great avenue that can be taken advantage of. Especially if a dragon ends up working for/with a dwarf because dwarves are known for their love of jewels. In that aspect, the two have that in common.  Dragon Egg Picture Second, I found this story from the point of view of a woman pirates ring .

The True Origin of King Arthur Story source:  King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table  by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902). Original Source Long ago, after the death of Uther Pendragon, there was no king in Britain. All who valued power wanted nothing more than to claim this vacant throne and it was no secret that many were willing to commit heinous acts to do just that. It was for this reason that the magician Merlin arrived to design a test of heart for he who would claim the crown. He sat for many days converging with the primordial powers until he arrived at a solution. In his power, he created a great sword infused with magical properties. This sword stood with a hilt of gold decorated with the most precious gems fit only for a king to wield. This sword was then placed inside a stone with only the hilt revealed. Merlin then issued a proclamation. “Any man who wishes to claim the throne need only pull this sword from the stone and the crown will be his!” declared the

 The End of Arthur Story source: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902). Original Source Plot : The story begins with a wounded Arthur lying on the ground after defeating Mordred. King Arthur tells Sir Bedivere to go throw Excaliber into the waterside.  Sir Bedivere saw all the jewels on the sword and decided instead to hide it under a tree. When Arthur asked him what he saw, Sir Bedivere said nothing happened. Arthur knew he was lying so he told him to go back and actually throw it in the water.  Sir Bedivere did as he was told before the sword submerged a hand came out of the water and grabbed the hilt.  Arthur went to see and many came and cried when they saw him. Arthur then told them to put him into the barge.  Arthur sailed out in hte barge into the sunset.  Queen Guenevere heard what happened and became a nun.  Lancelot went to see Queen Guenevere and lived as a hermit for 6 years until hearing of Guenevere's death.  Lancel

 The Drawing of the Sword Story source: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902). Original Source Plot: There was no king in Britain. Merling the magician met with archbishop of cranberry and decided that all lords and gentlemen of Britain should meet in London.  When they met they saw a sword in stone and engraving saying anyone able to pull the sword out the sword is king.  Nobody could pull the sword out. 2 knights stayed behind to monitor the sword. New Year day the challenges went out to everyone. a knight, Sir Ector, came with his son and foster son.  Ectors son forgot his sword so he sent his foster brother to get it. Arthur couldn't get into the house to find the sword.  Arthur rode back and easily grabbed the sword out of the stone to give to his brother.  Arthur's brother had the sword and tried to use it to claim the kingship.  Sir kay say that Arthur got it for him. Arthur said he pulled it out of the stone.  They ma

 The Beggar King Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). Original Source Plot: Proud King Hagag sat and listened to his priest read a passage about how riches don't last forever.  He grew mad at this and asked who wrote those words.  When the priest told him it was from the book the king took the book and ripped out those pages.  Then the king went hunting a deer that eventually got caught in some tree branches.  The deer freed itself and the king continues after it on foot. He turned a corner and didn't see a deer but a young man in deer skin panting. He said he is a genie that lured the king there.  The genie disguised himself as the king and met the other men. The king cried and was met by a woodcutter.  HE tried to tell the woodcutter he was the king but instead the woodcutter laughed and made him work. The king lost all wealth and was essentially a begger.  Months later the 'king' had a feast for all the beggars. The real king went t

How the Hills Turned Green In a time long ago, the hills were scattered with colors. Blues and yellow as far as the eye can see. There was a great battle of this time. The trees, with leaves of blue spread seed as much as possible to cover the land with blue. But the grass, of yellow did much the same. Each wanted control of the hills and valley. Each wanted to live and be amongst family. The grass and trees battled for centuries, each gaining the upper hand, only to lose it years later. This battle wore on until one day a blade of grass and a small pine tree met. As they grew side by side they talked of the war between their people. They discussed the pain it had caused each of their families. Through this bonding, they fell in love. As they were able to grow together, they became bonded. When it came time for each of them to spread their seed something magical happened. The pine tree and the grass changed. They became one, bonded through their love and hatred for war. As the grass se

 When the Rainbow was Torn   Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936). Original Source Plot : Cactus flowers resemble a rainbow.  The cactus flower used to be white until they were given color by a rainbow.  each end of the rainbow bathe things in color, but the rainbow never touched a cactus for some reason.  One day the rainbow didn't see a bushel of cactus and accidentally fell on them.  When this happened the thorns caught the color. Suddenly the flowers bloomed and absorbed color.  Thoughts : Im not sure if im supposed to believe that rainbows are sentient here. It seems that rainbows and plants have minds of their own. If that is true then it says a lot about Indian culture. We ought to treat all things with respect as they are all capable of feeling and desire. This opens up a world of possibilities in which anything can have wants and feelings! I think I could easily adapt

 Why the Woodpecker Pecks   Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936). Original Source  Plot : The woodpecker pecks at the dead wood. He is smart and moves if you look at him Woodpeckers used to be Indians.  There was a plant called a mescal plant. When you ate of it you had visons of gods and ancestors. Only medicine men had this right to use the plants.  One boy didn't listen and tried the plants and fell asleep. The next day the boy told the other boys what he had seen and they all went out to try them and also saw strange visions.  The boys told their fathers and their fathers told their mothers until everyone was eating them.  They eventually stopped hunting, and doing chores until all anyone did was sit around and eat this plant.  Parents forgot children, so the children started to wander the woods for food.  One woman did not eat the plant and noticed all the children leave.

Ina-ga-nat and the Gateway (Introduction) Story source:  American Indian Fairy Tales  by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).  Original Source In the time before time, spirits were free to roam in and out of the physical world. The great bridges of the north and south pole acting as gateways between worlds. As creation began humanity emerged. Created by the spirits, they were tasked with maintaining the great bridges so that the spirits might continue to come and go at will. In turn, the spirits rewarded the humans with a plentiful crop. Food to sustain them and safety. As years passed, humanity began to learn. They discovered how to provide food and shelter for themselves. As a result, they no longer needed the spirits. The great gateways fell to ruin and the spirits became trapped in the spiritual realm. This angered the spirits greatly. Over time they began to sabotage the humans. They started with the soil. The spirits made it so acidic nothing could grow. As the hu

 The Fairy Bride Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). Original Source Plot : there was a girl name Neen-I-zu, daughter of a chief and very loved and shielded from harm. She liked to walk the forest alone though and see mystical things.  There were faries that lived in those woods. They loved to play pranks.  They always hid from the indians and were scarcly seen. Just about everyone was sure they existed out there.  Neen-i-zu had heared a story from Iagoo of a faraway place where its always summer and always happy.  Neen-i-zu thought the fairies might be messengers from this happy place. So she hung around there hoping one day to be invited. She made a song calling to be heard.  One night she stayed later than she should. Side note: she hated hunters because they killed, she believed there would be no need to kill in the happy place. her mom wanted her to marry a hunter thought.  She was thinking about this one night in the f

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).  Original Source Plot: There was a tribe of fishermen in the north.  The best fish found in the north where it's frozen in the winter. this land was ruled by North Wind. If he had his way the world would be one big ball of ice. He was no match for the south wind though. This wind of course made summer and life. the south wind will periodically sit and smoke making the summer great. During this time the fisherman work fast. After some time the North wind would awake, driving the fisherman back south.  However, when the fisherman ran Shin-ge-bis, the diver, laughed. He was always in a good mood. He suggested carving a hole in the ice to keep fishing when the surface was frozen over. He had the power to turn into a duck and (dive).  He ended up staying and the other fisherman left.  He was very successful for a time until the north wind found him.  The nor

Mighty Mouse, Champion of Beasts Story source:  Tibetan Folk Tales  by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). Original Source A LONG time ago, when all beasts spoke a common tongue and all land was uniform, there was a single ruler of the beasts. The mighty lion reigned supreme above all creatures. The lion knew this and demanded all creatures serve him. The lion spent his days lazily relaxing. Every whim catered for and every meal provided. Since birth, this champion of beasts would never want for anything. It is because of this that the lion grew to an enormous size. Such a lion had never been seen before nor would it ever be seen again. One day a gazelle came to the lion. The gazelle pleaded the lion to intervene on behalf of the gazelle. For the gazelle had lost its home. Its family displaced by the hand of a pack of buffalo. The gazelle begged for justice by the hand of the mighty king. Yet, the king declared it was not his place to intervene. Upon this declarat

 How the Rabbit Killed the Lion Story source: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). Original Source Plot : Long ago the King of the beasts was the lion. So great was he that all animals came to kowtow or praise him every day. One day a rabbit was so comfy he decided not to go praise.  Suddenly the lion was there in fron of him demanding accountability for the rabbit's actions. The rabbit lied (to save his life) and said it saw a devil and ran to hide so he could not go and kowtow.  The rabbit said that the devil challenged the lion to see who the true ruler of the beasts is.  The lion said he would go and fight the devil. When he got to the water he saw his own reflection. The rabbit said that his reflection was the devil. So the lion jumped in to fight the 'devil' and drowned. Thoughts : Well, this story seems to me to speak about the nature of slothfulness. At the root of it, the problem was laziness. Eventually, because this rab

 The Tiger and the Frog Story source: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). Original Source Plot: All animals understand each other. A tiger named Tsuden was hunting when he was spotted by a frog who got scared of the tiger.  He asked the tiger where he was going. tiger said he is going to hunt and he has gone 3 days with no luck. "I guess ill eat you up" The frog says "Im king of frogs and I can jump any distance"  The frog challenges the tiger to see who can jump across the river.  As the tiger went to jump the frog grabbed his tail and made him fall in. When the tiger went to look at the frog the frog was already across. Then the frog challenged them to both vomit. the tiget only throws up water and the frog throws up tiger hair. The tiger was like "how did you do that?" and the frog said he ate an entire tiger the day befoe.  The tiger ran away. The tiger then met a fox and explained what happened.  The fox la

Kevs’ Urashima Original Source Upon a quiet eve’ such as this, I sit and ponder he who sailed the water His heart of pure set out to sea, what fish might acquire he O’er the hills of jade-green water to marvel at the strand of gold Urashima sailed upon such strands, undenounced to he, This jade-green emerald sat upon, would become a casket for eternity. O’er the seventh sun thankfully did pray, as such the jade-green casket yield a turtle! The joy of life filled short again as Urashima recalled his father’s den. “a tortoise knows what’s right and wrong, for a turtle’s life is very long. And if you see such a surprise, to love and respect it would be wise”. Urashima pondered such old words and settled to space his jade-green gift. For better is death compared to life, if choice is stolen in suns new light? So Urashima turned to gaze the sun, knowing his last day was soon to come. Yet this jade-green emerald was not done and as the tortoise fled to be O’er a new creature began to sho

  Urashima Story source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). Original Source Plot: A man is sailing to suminoye.  As he is sailing he remembers a story about a fisher named Urashima who sailed for 7 days and never returned home.  After 7 days at sea, Urashima drew a turtle from the waters.  But because the turtle is a symbol of a long life he didn't kill it and allowed it to live.  Then he passed out and had a dream of a hot girl who is "the daughter of the dragon" She told him that she was the tortuous and since he spared her he can come to marry her and live with her in her underwater castle.  There they lived for generations in happiness. He left to see his family after a while and the dragon's daughter gave him a casket and warned him not to open it. (i think inside was his immortality?) When he got to where he used to live he couldn't find any sign of anyone.  He was so upset he opened the casket and wa

Izanagi and Izanami Story source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). Original Source Plot: beginning of tie Izanagi god of heavens married Izanami goddess of love. They gave birth to gods, worlds, men and beasts, and all creation.  Before the beginning of time, there was a cloud. the cloud gave bud that turned into the sun as it rooted on the highest plain of heaven. there was a second bud that descended and turned into the moon.  The two then made gods, the last of whom are Izanagi and Izanami (god of air and god of clouds) **does that mean they are a god of 2 things each?** From them, all creation came.  One day they were chatting and decided to visit their creation.  It took 2 tries but hey attatched a mountian to the bridge in heaven they were standing on and descended. The took 2 different paths on earth but eventually bumped into each other.  The woman spoke first and that was a problem so they did a do-over. The second ti

Theoretical Job Story source: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907). Original Source Authors Note: The fact that Jobs's wife was tested to determine his faith or excess of faith intrigues me. If God was waiting to see if Job was loyal why didn’t god just stop when Job continued to praise him through his sickness and other trials? Why did God have to also test his wife? The only logical explanation I can come up with is that if God was simply testing the resolve of Jobs's faith he would have stopped with Job unless the definition of his extends to his family as well. I.e. if Job had a truly genuine faith then his family will be faithful as well. It is for this reason that I present the following scenario depicting the problem with this statement. There once was a man named Job. He was for all the world blameless. All those around him turned to him for godly advice. He never practiced sin and lived an upright and blameless life. One day

Lot and the tree of the Cross Story source: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian, and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907). Original text Plot: Adam is scared to die so he sends his son for a piece of fruit from the tree of life.  Instead, the angel gives him a branch.  Seth planted the branch after finding his father Adam dead upoan return.  After the flood, the narrative starts again witt Lot. Lot was prompted to water the tree by an angel.  On his way, he saw a traveler dying of thirst.  Lot stopped and gave the man some water. then the man turned out to be the enemy. Lot went back and filled to the water only to have the same thing happen agian 2 more times. Lot fell asleep in exhaustion and was visited by an angel he forgave him of his sins and said the tree was watered. Lot died in peace, the devil convinced Hiram to cur it down for the temple. the architect threw it away. It was then passed through a series of mundane occurances until eventually was used as the cross to cruc

 Job and His family   Story source: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian, and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907). Direct Source Plot : Job has large family and lots of money. To prove sincerity, God deprived him of health and wealth.  His wife served him for 7 years; supporting him and nursing him. One day the devil came and asked her to praise him and he would restore their lost wealth.  She went to ask Job if that was ok and he was so mad he swore if he ever got healthy by God again that he would give her 100 lashes.  God then restored jobs health and children and made him even richer than before.  Job felt bad about the oath he made so god found a way to release him from that oath and they all lived happily ever after.  Authors note: This is a pretty straight forward tale that I am well familiar with. In fact, I have preached on this story a number of times. It always strikes me as interesting how the majority of the book of Job is not centered on Job but on those trying to ad

Rama and Lakshmana ‘dead’ Story source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).           “R…ama… Rama… can you move?” Said Lakshmana.      “Hardly” replied Rama. “I can’t feel my legs.”      “you think this is the end brother?”      “It is never the end. As long as there is breath in my lounges I won’t stop until Ravana is destroyed. This world has been plagued in darkness long enough Lakshmana, and I intend to stop it, whatever the cost. For the enemy is mighty, this is true, but I am Rama. Savior of the land **stands slowly to his feet** and on this day darkness will be reminded once more of the strength of the light” Declared Rama.      Unknown to Rama, Hanuman and company were nearby searching the field for survivors. As Rama stood Hanuman called to those around “come and see, our champion has not fallen! Rama has strength in him yet!”      Hanuman ran to Rama and embraced him. Rama's full weight collapsing instantly into the hands of Han

 Rama Confronts Ravana Story source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Plot: We begin in an intense battle scene. Kumbhakarna is destroyingthe apes and Hanuman.  Thankfully, ram is able to kill him with some flaming arrows. Indrajit made a sacrifice, becaem invisible, and threw down arrows until Rama and Lakshmana pretended to be dead.  Hanuman went that night to check out the battlefield and see what the damage was.  Hanuman grew to a giant to retrieve a mountain and get some healing herbs found there for the apes, Rama and Lakshmana.  The next day they began to fight again and Indrajit was killed.  Ravana was mad about the death of Indrajit because he was Ravanas son.  Ravana wanted to kill Sita as retribution but was convinced to seek revenge on the battlefield.  Ravana almost killed Lakshmana but he was healed by Hanuman. the final day of battle begun and Rama killed Ravana. Thoughts :      This was yet again a very dense passage. It's incredibly complicate

 The Birth of Rama Story source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). I chose this one because I thought it would serve me well to compare with the birth of Jesus I read last week. Pretense: Valmiki went to bathe and saw 2 birds, one was shot by a hunter so he composed a poem for the birds partner of sorrow.  Brahma heard this poem and demanded that Valmiki celebrate the story of Rama and therefore he composed the Ramayana. Plot : There were 2 kingdoms, one ruled by the father of Rama the other ruled by the father of Sita.  Unfortunately, Dasaratha (father of Rama) was unable to have a son by any of his 3 wives. So he began a horse sacrifice to intrigue the gods to provide.  After the horse was free to roam for a year it was sacrificed in a massive sacrifice to the gods.  The gods said he would have 4 sons because his festival sacrifice was so nice.  The gods go back to their dwelling to discuss the fight against Ravana the demon king.  Vishnu told the other gods to d

Jesus in School   It was early in the day when a schoolteacher asked Joseph if he had a son. Joseph replied he had a son of 6 years and the schoolteacher replied asking why he had never seen his son in school. Joseph had never thought about sending Jesus to school. He had always been a different sort of child. After his wife had given birth without conceiving the boy had always displayed strange tendencies. School just always seemed out of reach, a normal boy’s path. But not the path for his son.  “But why not?” Joseph wondered to himself. Joseph agreed to send Jesus to school the next day.  Upon arrival, Jesus joined the other children as they began to sing a song of numbers. The goal of the exercise was to teach the children how to count to 10 one number at a time. Jesus refused to participate though. “Jesus, you must participate in the activities! You need to learn your numbers” explained the schoolteacher. Jesus replied “teacher I can tell you this room is 45 feet in length and 25

 Jesus and the Schoolmaster   Story source: The Lost Books of the Bible , edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ. Plot : A schoolmaster asks Joseph to send Jesus to school.  he tries to teach Jesus the alphabet but before reaching B Jesus stops him and blows him away with knowledge of the meaning of the alphabet.  The master is blown away and says that Jesus needs no leaning. They then took Jesus to a more learned master who was going to whip him for not just moving on to B in the alphabet.  As he went to whip Jesus his hand withered and died.  Joseph decided to shelter Jesus from then on so no one else would die at his hand.  Jesus then met a rabbi and explained universal truths of the law and blew the rabbis mind.  the end. Ideas : I think if I wanted to adapt this story to my own I might run with the idea that anyone who displeased him would die. I think there is a lot of potential for some comic relief there. It is almost suggesti

 The Birth of Jesus (James) Story source: The Lost Books of the Bible , edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The Protevangelion of James. Plot : Agustus demands jews to be taxed and Joseph takes his sons and Mary to Bethlehem.  **here is a discussion of Jesus's brothers which is hardly ever mentioned in canonical gospels.** Mary is hysterical laughing one moment and crying the next.  Mary is led to a cave by Joseph when she says something in her must come forth.  When she began to give birth all of the creation essentially froze around Joseph and an angel appeared to him. He got a midwife and brought the angel and midwife to the cave. Then there was a bright light and Jesus was born.  Now, there is some guy named Salome that the midwife talks too and tells him that Mary is a virgin who just gave birth. Mary then fell ill because "she had tempted the living God" **does this mean she almost died because god was tempted and slept with her?? Does that mean she is no lon