tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71753819082375121312024-02-20T01:03:40.842+00:00Man, Myth and MagicMyths, legends and folklore from across the globe.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-21041708173180500342015-06-08T13:18:00.000+01:002015-06-08T13:18:07.553+01:00Mythical Creatures: Giants of Wales - Part TwoToday we are going to finish learning about the Giants of Wales, their stories and defeats, starting with the
giant, Benlli Gawr, who appears in Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward’s <em>History of Wales</em>.
He is said to have been defeated by heavenly intervention when Saint Germain
was denied entry to his stronghold.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTeMa-k3-cWk4-ok7HAV7R4oYMkSYxY_F4EBMdJ_hV1GMoAhTVTL3UDf1nUG6om0Ybjghj0dCiOk_aKgR33jyPxQwfkhIVJ8_mBQeG-s1BbItdzN6bNQmWOr51huIyT0-Elb4A2jnaNWp/s1600/P1010345_Paris_Ier_Eglise_Saint-Germain_l'Auxerrois_statue_Saint-Germain_reductwk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTeMa-k3-cWk4-ok7HAV7R4oYMkSYxY_F4EBMdJ_hV1GMoAhTVTL3UDf1nUG6om0Ybjghj0dCiOk_aKgR33jyPxQwfkhIVJ8_mBQeG-s1BbItdzN6bNQmWOr51huIyT0-Elb4A2jnaNWp/s1600/P1010345_Paris_Ier_Eglise_Saint-Germain_l'Auxerrois_statue_Saint-Germain_reductwk.JPG" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanus_of_Auxerre#/media/File:P1010345_Paris_Ier_Eglise_Saint-Germain_l%27Auxerrois_statue_Saint-Germain_reductwk.JPG">Saint Germain l'Auxerrois statue</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Saint
Germain and Benlli Gawr<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
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<em>At the time
of this mission, there lived in Powys a wicked and tyrannical king, named
Benlli; - Benlli Gawr, the giant, he was more frequently called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The saint found himself one evening at the
gate of this giant’s city, and sent a mild and respectful message to him,
hoping to carry on his good work where it was so greatly needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the churl sent word back, that if he
stayed at the gate a twelvemonth, he should not enter the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The saint was distressed at this, for it was
becoming dark, and he knew not where to get a night’s lodging; when the keeper
of the gate, who had been the unwilling bearer of his lord’s reply, courteously
invited him to his own humble abode; and thither St. Germain joyfully
went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next day he took his place at the
gate again, hoping for admission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst
occupied in prayer, a man covered with sweat hastily came out, and prostrated
himself before the saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Dost thou
believe in the Holy Trinity?’ asks St. Germain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘I do,’ replied the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whereupon the saint baptized him, and told him that within an hour he
should die; and so it happened; for Benlli above all things abominated want of
punctuality in the men he employed, and this man coming to his work after
sun-rising, was straightway beheaded.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
No entrance
could the saint gain; so at night he bade his host call all his friends out of
the wicked city; and when he had so done, he told them to watch and pray, and
whatever might happen to the tyrant’s stronghold, by no means even to look
towards it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus they did, and early in
the night fire <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fSgT9bdOPVbJ8Zwq_U5-oAn5MpqRP0adzu_noJO98q3EhIhyphenhyphen9UwIZDvgIV7E0tSAe-F0jU58V4n7Plug90emXxySsy1_PaqhVt9O9U22TMyimUSVtZnacnaYfSWCJH4dQM07xWPHD-rD/s1600/800px-Mold_gold_cape_front_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fSgT9bdOPVbJ8Zwq_U5-oAn5MpqRP0adzu_noJO98q3EhIhyphenhyphen9UwIZDvgIV7E0tSAe-F0jU58V4n7Plug90emXxySsy1_PaqhVt9O9U22TMyimUSVtZnacnaYfSWCJH4dQM07xWPHD-rD/s1600/800px-Mold_gold_cape_front_view.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mold_gold_cape_front_view.jpg">Gold Cape, found 1833, Bryn yr Ellyllon, around 1900-1600BC</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
fell from heaven, and burned up both tyrant and stronghold, and
city and people, so that not one escaped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was thus that, in the eighth century, our Lord’s command to the
apostles to shake off the dust of their feet as a testimony against a city that
refused to receive them, had become perverted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have mentioned this legend, however, for the purpose of calling our
readers’ attention to a curious ornament of gold, somewhat resembling a
corslet, which was discovered near Mold in Flintshire, under a carnedd, long
known as the Bryn yr Ellyllon, or Elfin’s hill, and is now in the British
Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bones of a large-sized
skeleton were found with it; and it seems to have been ornamented with amber
beads, as well as with chasing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Owen
Pughe conjectured that this was the burial-place of Benlli Gawr, whose
stronghold was on Moel Benlli near it; the mode of sepulture being such as
would prevail in the fifth century.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
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Our next tale
comes from the folklore of Shropshire and concerns the Giant of Wales, who bore
a grudge against the Mayor and people of Shrewsbury and sought to drown them
all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh60mw0nSN3PmcrIN-G2C9d9futTtbW2qcGG3ZIWu06mvKVRs_ZjSNMwSOxXrl5PGXIRFKgC_AJGAOjIfF5M_xIoX_xaD55gSOXDcVSYhyphenhyphenMC93pfmtypGzUhzPc2Cw8NCdrN7qj-JdS86/s1600/wrekin+giant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh60mw0nSN3PmcrIN-G2C9d9futTtbW2qcGG3ZIWu06mvKVRs_ZjSNMwSOxXrl5PGXIRFKgC_AJGAOjIfF5M_xIoX_xaD55gSOXDcVSYhyphenhyphenMC93pfmtypGzUhzPc2Cw8NCdrN7qj-JdS86/s1600/wrekin+giant.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebeardedwhelk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/cool-runnings-and-game-pie.html">The Wrekin Giant - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Origin
of the Wrekin<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
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<em>Once upon a
time there was a wicked old giant in Wales who, for some reason or other, had a
very great spite against the Mayor of Shrewsbury and all his people, and he
made up his mind to dam up the Severn, and by that means cause such a flood
that the town would be drowned.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
So off he
set, carrying a spadeful of earth, and tramped along mile after mile trying to
find the way to Shrewsbury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how he
missed it I cannot tell, but he must have gone wrong somewhere, for at last he
got close to Wellington, and by that time he was puffing and blowing under his
heavy load, and wishing he was at the end of his journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By-and-by there came a cobbler along the road
with a sack of old boots and shoes on his back, for he lived at Wellington, and
went once a fortnight to Shrewsbury to collect his customers old boots and
shoes, and take them home with him to mend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the giant called out to him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I
say,’ he said, ‘how far is it to Shrewsbury?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Shrewsbury,’ said the cobbler, ‘what do you want at Shrewsbury?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Why,’ said the giant, ‘to fill up the Severn
with this lump of earth I’ve got here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
an old grudge against the Mayor and the folks at Shrewsbury, and now I mean to
drown <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbeoStzWzMTnJxQPUF4CsDgHFfVH0j8z2wsILRqyzBITfdlbW90YkDZqoRWyLKlJ6kC6IDJ-VeB8rAKwX03QE0ACOljyFvy7rO1uh9Z_44qCjFa1u-r1EdSx8zgsTPebF8VcdQ8dNK5GG/s1600/the-wrekin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbeoStzWzMTnJxQPUF4CsDgHFfVH0j8z2wsILRqyzBITfdlbW90YkDZqoRWyLKlJ6kC6IDJ-VeB8rAKwX03QE0ACOljyFvy7rO1uh9Z_44qCjFa1u-r1EdSx8zgsTPebF8VcdQ8dNK5GG/s1600/the-wrekin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mistermoftelford.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/a-sunny-friday-afternoon-part-two-the-wrekin/">The Wrekin, Telford</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
them out, and get rid of them all at once.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘My Word!’ thought the cobbler, ‘this’ll
never do!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t afford to lose my
customers!’ and he spoke up again, ‘Eh!’ he said, ‘you’ll never get to
Shrewsbury – not today, nor tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why, look at me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just come
from Shrewsbury, and I’ve had time to wear out all these old boots and shoes on
the road since I started.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he showed
him his sack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Oh!’ said the giant, with
a great groan, ‘then it’s no use!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
fairly tired out already, and I can’t carry this load of mine any farther.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shall just drop it here and go back home.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he dropped the earth on the ground just
where he stood, and scraped his boots on the spade, and off he went home again
to Wales, and nobody ever heard anything of him in Shropshire after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But where he put down his load there stands
the Wrekin to this day: and even the earth he scraped off his boots was such a
pile that it made the little Ercall by the Wrekin’s side.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ-MOrm1H8GYVl-tPNY86QSojfAKEI8cGmfgiiEK5yzZNyloLR5HUEVXa6w-xnLw3TD9xsbmGwbB3BMl5-vz47vAAgwbyu46ndnl9OYNLSTagTY2oVcV7kuDllcCFVOZC7wQ-AdAmRtiD/s1600/Slender_Man_by_Gaara_Monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ-MOrm1H8GYVl-tPNY86QSojfAKEI8cGmfgiiEK5yzZNyloLR5HUEVXa6w-xnLw3TD9xsbmGwbB3BMl5-vz47vAAgwbyu46ndnl9OYNLSTagTY2oVcV7kuDllcCFVOZC7wQ-AdAmRtiD/s1600/Slender_Man_by_Gaara_Monster.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://urbanlegendsonline.com/the-slender-man/">The Slender Man - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally,
before we finish looking at Welsh giants, we have the black giants of
Wales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These range from the giant black
ghosts of Welsh folklore to the black giants of the Mabinogion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following tale tells of Edward Frank who
one night saw a giant ghost on his journey home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Of gigantic
ghosts there are many examples which are very grotesque indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such an apparition which met Edward Frank, a
young man who lived in the parish of Llantarnam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he was coming home one night he heard
something walking towards him, but at first could see nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly his way was barred by a tall dismal
object which stood in the path before him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was the ghost of a marvellous thin man, whose head was so high above
the observer’s line of vision that he nearly fell over backward in his efforts
to gaze at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His knees knocked
together and his heart sank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With great
difficulty he gasped forth, ‘In the name of God what is here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn out of my way or I will strike thee!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The giant ghost then disappeared, and the
frightened Edward, seeing a cow not far off, went towards her to lean on her,
which the cow stood still and permitted him to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The naiveté of this conclusion is convincing.</em>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Another
folktale tells of a giant black man who terrified Anne Jenkins, the daughter of
the Reverend Mr. Herbert Jenkins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Anne, the
daughter of Mr. Herbert Jenkins, a young woman, well disposed to what is good,
gave me the following relation:-<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
That as she
was going one evening to milk the Cows by Rhiw-neweth to seek them, she saw
something like a black man, standing by a holly-tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had a Bitch with her which saw it also,
and ran towards him to bark at him, upon which it stretched out its black
tongue, and the Bitch was frightened and ran back to the young woman turning
about her feet for fear; upon which the young woman was so terrified that she
could scarcely speak: she found the Cows and brought them back to their own
field, from whence they had strayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
passing by the holly-tree back again, feared to look at it, lest she should see
the same sight again; but being past it, saw it again, very big in the middle
and narrow at both ends, going before, treading very heavily, so that the
ground seemed to tremble under it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
went towards a spring in that field which is under it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It went towards a spring in that field which
is under Rhiw-newith, called Ffynnon yr Yspryd – (the Fountain of the Spirit);
because of an Apparition formerly seen by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>About which it fetched a turn, and went over the stile from that field
into the Rhiw-newith, the common way so called, and there he whistled so
exceedingly strong, that the narrow Valley echoed it back, and then departed;
she then felt herself well.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Mabinogion is ‘full of black men, usually giants, always terrible to encounter.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of these appears in ‘Peredur the Son of
Evrawc’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenE_gUOLmOj0Opa467h7k5PqVr8-sCZj9uLb74KGd-238KZ3VATyWi4u6UOBuRlq9RHYWloMuzZFmdeOA4-jSMjOupspumzdLRat2SZ0aJO8d5LeEj5zDh0ml_dEYDk7QIrZKlnBosHo3/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_01_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenE_gUOLmOj0Opa467h7k5PqVr8-sCZj9uLb74KGd-238KZ3VATyWi4u6UOBuRlq9RHYWloMuzZFmdeOA4-jSMjOupspumzdLRat2SZ0aJO8d5LeEj5zDh0ml_dEYDk7QIrZKlnBosHo3/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_01_med.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/display.php?img=647">Peredur Illustration by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Excerpt from Peredur the Son of Evrawc</strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Arthur was
in Caerllion upon Usk; and he went to hunt, and Peredur went with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Peredur let loose his dog upon a hart,
and the dog killed the hart in a desert place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And a short space from him he saw signs of a dwelling, and towards the
dwelling he went, and he beheld a hall, and at the door of the hall he found
bald swarthy youths playing at chess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And when he entered, he beheld three maidens sitting on a bench, and
they were all clothed alike, as became persons of high rank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he came, and sat by them upon the bench;
and one of the maidens looked steadfastly upon Peredur, and wept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Peredur asked her wherefore she was
weeping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Through grief, that I should
see so fair a youth as thou art, slain.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Who will slay me?’ inquired Peredur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘If thou art so daring as to remain here tonight, I will tell thee.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘How great soever my danger may be from
remaining here, I will listen unto thee.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘This Palace is owned by him who is my father,’ said the maiden, ‘and he
slays everyone who comes hither without his leave.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘What sort of man is thy father, that he is
able to slay everyone thus?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘A man who
does violence and wrong unto his neighbours, and who renders justice unto none.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And hereupon he saw the youths arise and
clear the chessmen from the board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
he heard a great tumult; and after the tumult there came in a huge black
one-eyed man, and the maidens arose to meet him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they disarrayed him, and he went and sat
down; and after he had rested and pondered awhile, he looked <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwGtieAbKh7_5Caiyc8r92UjbL79ua8RPBFvJqsHsBOEZVBmehAskZ3uaUWGHvk3I7s2ih7LG3hfdhi35-GqiTUEzX9a2qaJklvjz56nmULlWor8oMQf-tNnGRPFsiFbXITGidGTpv7pC/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_02_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwGtieAbKh7_5Caiyc8r92UjbL79ua8RPBFvJqsHsBOEZVBmehAskZ3uaUWGHvk3I7s2ih7LG3hfdhi35-GqiTUEzX9a2qaJklvjz56nmULlWor8oMQf-tNnGRPFsiFbXITGidGTpv7pC/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_02_med.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/display.php?img=647">Peredur Illustration by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
at Peredur, and
asked who the knight was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Lord,’ said
one of the maidens, ‘he is the fairest and gentlest youth that ever thou didst
see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for the sake of Heaven, and of
thine own dignity, have patience with him.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘For thy sake I will have patience, and I will grant him his life this
night.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Peredur came towards them
to the fire, and partook of food and liquor, and entered into discourse with
the ladies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And being elated with the
liquor, he said to the black man, ‘It is a marvel to me, so mighty as thou
sayest thou art, who could have put out thine eye.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘It is one of my habits,’ said the black man,
‘that whosoever puts me to question which thou hast asked, shall not escape
with his life, either as a free gift or for a price.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Lord,’ said the maiden, ‘whatsoever he may
say to thee in jest, and through the excitement of liquor, make good that which
thou saidst and didst promise me just now.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘I will do so, gladly, for thy sake,’ said he.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Willingly will I grant him his life this
night.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that night thus they
remained.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
And the next
day the black man got up, and put on his armour, and said to Peredur,
"Arise, man, and suffer death." And Peredur said unto him, "Do
one of two things, black man; if thou wilt fight with me, either throw off thy
own armour, or give arms to me, that I may encounter thee." "Ha,
man," said he, "couldst thou fight, if thou hadst arms? Take, then,
what arms thou dost choose." And thereupon the maiden came to Peredur with
such arms as pleased him; and he fought with the black man, and forced him to
crave his mercy. "Black man, thou shalt have mercy, provided thou tell me
who thou <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnOAN3qUtAgmgVSY0mJKZm8-FaYi_nztN81cNsALA3xS3SS0qOfGfze_dzxVEPgaazvdoiCL7udOpdxKH7CGeZ3YAY8gqygMw02dtpOqALck2oOcnz0LT6zeFzNDteQfnpxdnP2UyerY2/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_04_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnOAN3qUtAgmgVSY0mJKZm8-FaYi_nztN81cNsALA3xS3SS0qOfGfze_dzxVEPgaazvdoiCL7udOpdxKH7CGeZ3YAY8gqygMw02dtpOqALck2oOcnz0LT6zeFzNDteQfnpxdnP2UyerY2/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_peredur%20-%20son%20of%20efrawg_04_med.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/display.php?img=647">Peredur Illustration by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
art, and who put out thine eye." "Lord, I will tell thee; I
lost it in fighting with the Black Serpent of the Carn. There is a mound, which
is called the Mound of Mourning; and on the mound there is a carn, and in the
carn there is a serpent, and on the tail of the serpent there is a stone, and
the virtues of the stone are such, that whosoever should hold it in one hand, in
the other he will have as much gold as he may desire. And in fighting with this
</em><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="page_107"></a><em>serpent was it that I lost my eye. And the Black
Oppressor am I called. And for this reason I am called the Black Oppressor,
that there is not a single man around me whom I have not oppressed, and justice
have I done unto none." "Tell me," said Peredur, "how far
is it hence?" "The same day that thou settest forth, thou wilt come
to the Palace of the Sons of the King of the Tortures." "Wherefore
are they called thus?" "The Addanc of the Lake slays them once
every day. When thou goest thence, thou wilt come to the Court of the Countess
of the Achievements." "What achievements are there?" asked
Peredur. "Three hundred men there are in her household, and unto every
stranger that comes to the Court, the achievements of her household are
related. And this is the manner of it,--the three hundred men of the household
sit next unto the Lady; and that not through disrespect unto the guests, but
that they may relate the achievements of the household. And the day that thou
goest thence, thou wilt reach the Mound of Mourning, and round about the mound
there are the owners of three hundred tents guarding the serpent."
"Since thou hast, indeed, been an oppressor so long," said Peredur,
"I will cause that thou continue so no longer." So he slew him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The last
giant black man of the Mabinogion I want to cover here appears in ‘The Lady of
the Fountain’ in a tale related by Kai to some of the Knights of the Round
Table.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><strong>Excerpt from The Lady of the Fountain</strong></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Then Arthur
spoke, "If I thought you would not disparage me," said he, "I
would sleep while I wait for my repast; and you can entertain one another with
relating tales, and can obtain a flagon of mead and some meat from Kai."
And the King went to sleep. And Kynon the son of Clydno asked Kai for that
which Arthur had promised them. "I, too, will have the good tale which he
promised to me," said Kai. "Nay," answered Kynon, "fairer will
it be for thee to fulfill Arthur's behest, in the first place, and then we will
tell thee the best tale that we know." So Kai went to the kitchen and to
the mead-cellar, and returned bearing a flagon of mead and a golden goblet, and
a handful of skewers, upon which were broiled collops of meat. Then they ate
the collops and began to drink the mead. "Now," said Kai, "it is
time for you to give me my story." "Kynon," said Owain, "do
thou pay to Kai the tale that is his due." "Truly," said Kynon,
"thou are older, and art a better teller of tales, and hast seen more
marvellous things than I; do thou therefore pay Kai his tale." "Begin
thyself," quoth Owain, "with the best that thou knowest."
"I will do so," answered Kynon.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQbT9GuseDHoUcVoVQN6g7rUadbAu7V7OOzjEmstTg6DL7DbHFaR3L_FqH2Y9eIIO7HTjN34W7jcO0XpZWjAKqWDB0j36i_dquqvQHanVIG4Fg9Y4NX8dLeIvopmcJqA8sfk5UP9R_zvq/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_the%20lady%20of%20the%20fountain_01_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQbT9GuseDHoUcVoVQN6g7rUadbAu7V7OOzjEmstTg6DL7DbHFaR3L_FqH2Y9eIIO7HTjN34W7jcO0XpZWjAKqWDB0j36i_dquqvQHanVIG4Fg9Y4NX8dLeIvopmcJqA8sfk5UP9R_zvq/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_the%20lady%20of%20the%20fountain_01_med.jpg" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/display.php?img=648">The Lady of the Fountain Illustration by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"I was
the only son of my mother and father, and I was exceedingly aspiring, and my
daring was very great. I thought there was no enterprise in the world too
mighty for me, and after I had achieved all the adventures that were in my own
country, I equipped myself, and set forth to journey through deserts and
distant regions. And at length it chanced that I came to the fairest valley in
the world, wherein were trees of equal growth; and a river ran through the
valley, and a path was by the side of the river. And I followed the path until
mid-day, and continued my journey along the remainder of the valley until the
evening; and at the extremity of a plain I came to a large and lustrous Castle,
at the foot of which was a torrent. And I approached the Castle, and there I
beheld two youths with yellow curling hair, each with a frontlet of gold upon
his head, and clad in a garment of yellow satin, and they had gold clasps upon
their insteps. In the hand of each of them was an ivory bow, strung with the
sinews of the stag; and their arrows had shafts of the bone of the whale, and
were winged with peacock's feathers; the shafts also had golden heads. And they
had daggers with blades of gold, and with hilts of the bone of the whale. And
they were shooting their daggers.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"And a
little way from them I saw a man in the prime of life, with his beard newly
shorn, clad in a robe and a mantle of yellow satin; and round the top of his
mantle was a band of gold lace. On his feet were shoes of variegated leather,
fastened by two bosses of gold. When I saw him, I went towards him and saluted him,
and such was his courtesy that he no sooner received my greeting than he
returned it. And he went with me towards the Castle. Now there were no dwellers
in the Castle except those who were in one hall. And there I saw
four-and-twenty damsels, embroidering satin at a window. And this I tell thee,
Kai, that the least fair of them was fairer than the fairest maid thou hast
ever beheld in the Island of Britain, and the least lovely of them was more
lovely than Gwenhwyvar, the wife of Arthur, when she has appeared loveliest at
the Offering, on the day of the Nativity, or at the feast of Easter. They rose
up at my coming, and six of them took my horse, and divested me of my armour;
and six others took my arms, and washed them in a vessel until they were
perfectly bright. And the third six spread cloths upon the tables and prepared
meat. And the fourth six took off my soiled garments, and placed others upon
me; namely, an under-vest and a doublet of fine linen, and a robe, and a
surcoat, and a mantle of yellow satin with a broad gold band upon the mantle.
And they placed cushions both beneath and around me, with coverings of red
linen; and I sat down. Now the six maidens who had taken my horse, unharnessed
him, as well as if they had been the best squires in the Island of Britain.
Then, behold, they brought bowls of silver wherein was water to wash, and
towels of linen, some green and some white; and I washed. And in a little while
the man sat down to the table. And I sat next to him, and below me sat all the
maidens, except those who waited on us. And the table was of silver, and the
cloths upon the table were of linen; and no vessel was served upon the table
that was not either of gold or of silver, or of buffalo-horn. And our meat was
brought to us. And verily, Kai, I saw there every sort of meat and every sort
of liquor that I have ever seen elsewhere; but the meat and the liquor were
better served there than I have ever seen them in any other place.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Until
the repast was half over, neither the man nor any one of the damsels spoke a
single word to me; but when the man perceived that it would be more agreeable
to me to converse than to eat any more, he began to inquire of me who I was. I
said I was glad to find that there was some one who would discourse with me,
and that it was not considered so great a crime at that Court for people to
hold converse together. 'Chieftain,' said the man, 'we would have talked to
thee sooner, but we feared to disturb thee during thy repast; now, however, we
will discourse.' Then I told the man who I was, and what was the cause of my
journey; and said that I was seeking whether any one was superior to me, or
whether I could gain the mastery over all. The man looked upon me, and he
smiled and said, 'If I did not fear to distress thee too much, I would show
thee that which thou seekest.' Upon this I became anxious and sorrowful, and
when the man perceived it, he said, 'If thou wouldest rather that I should show
thee thy disadvantage than thine advantage, I will do so. Sleep here to-night,
and in the morning arise early, and take the road upwards through the valley
until thou reachest the wood through which thou camest hither. A little way
within the wood thou wilt meet with a road branching off to the right, by which
thou must proceed, until thou comest to a large sheltered glade with a mound in
the centre. And thou wilt see a black man of great stature on the top of the
mound. He is not smaller in size than two of the men of this world. He has but
one foot; and one eye in the middle of his forehead. And he has a
club of iron, and it is certain that there are no two men in the world who
would not find their burden in that club. And he is not a comely man, but on
the contrary he is exceedingly ill-favoured; and he is the woodward of that
wood. And thou wilt see a thousand wild animals grazing around him. Inquire of
him the way out of the glade, and he will reply to thee briefly, and will point
out the road by which thou shalt find that which thou art in quest of.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"And
long seemed that night to me. And the next morning I arose and equipped myself,
and mounted my horse, and proceeded straight through the valley to the wood;
and I followed the cross-road which the man had pointed out to me, till at
length I arrived at the glade. And there was I three times more astonished at
the number of wild animals that I beheld, than the man had said I should be.
And the black man was there, sitting upon the top of the mound. Huge of stature
as the man had told me that he was, I found him to exceed by far the
description he had given me of him. As for the iron club which the man had told
me was a burden for two men, I am certain, Kai, that it would be a heavy weight
for four warriors to lift; and this was in the black man's hand. And he only
spoke to me in answer to my questions. Then I asked him what power he held over
those animals. 'I will show thee, little man,' said he. And he took his club in
his hand, and with it he struck a stag a great blow so that he brayed
vehemently, and at his braying the animals came together, as numerous as the
stars in the sky, so that it was difficult for me to find room in the glade to
stand among them. There were serpents, and dragons, and divers sorts of
animals. And he looked at them, and bade them go and feed; and they bowed their
heads, and did him homage as vassals to their lord.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><em></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hNk8ZnSD6LLDapAa6Z7FvQk8RNUpSUAH0oG_9KGI8alaJeKrXYiO0sxGYfNRd0LxcPwu0KA-z_dBsKe53A83L-G5TsoWd8R5Bv9dZeSQ61EFyGgipNEdSSlcBxZVuxKOEjCUrIDYXwC2/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_the%20lady%20of%20the%20fountain_02_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hNk8ZnSD6LLDapAa6Z7FvQk8RNUpSUAH0oG_9KGI8alaJeKrXYiO0sxGYfNRd0LxcPwu0KA-z_dBsKe53A83L-G5TsoWd8R5Bv9dZeSQ61EFyGgipNEdSSlcBxZVuxKOEjCUrIDYXwC2/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_the%20lady%20of%20the%20fountain_02_med.jpg" width="411" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/display.php?img=694">The Lady of the Fountain Illustration by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>"Then
the black man said to me, 'Seest thou now, little man, what power I hold over
these animals?' Then I inquired of him the way, and he became very rough in his
manner to me; however, he asked me whither I would go? And when I told him who
I was and what I sought, he directed me. 'Take,' said he, 'that path that leads
towards the head of the glade, and ascend the wooded steep until thou comest to
its summit; and there thou wilt find an open space like to a large valley, and
in the midst of it a tall tree, whose branches are greener than the greenest
pine-trees. Under this tree is a fountain, and by the side of the fountain a
marble slab, and on the marble slab a silver bowl, attached by a chain of
silver, so that it may not be carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful
of water upon the slab, and thou wilt hear a mighty peal of thunder, so that
thou wilt think that heaven and earth are trembling with its fury. With the
thunder there will come a shower so severe that it will be scarce possible for
thee to endure it and live. And the shower will be of hailstones; and after the
shower, the weather will become fair, but every leaf that was upon the tree
will have been carried away by the shower. Then a flight of birds will come and
alight upon the tree; and in thine own country thou didst never hear a strain
so sweet as that which they will sing. And at the moment thou art most
delighted with the song of the birds, thou wilt hear a murmuring and
complaining coming towards thee along the valley. And thou wilt see a knight
upon a coal-black horse, clothed in black velvet, and with a pennon of black
linen upon his lance; and he will ride unto thee to encounter thee with the
utmost speed. If thou fleest from him he will overtake thee, and if thou
abidest there, as sure as thou art a mounted knight, he will leave thee on
foot. And if thou dost not find trouble in that adventure, thou needest not
seek it during the rest of thy life.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"So I
journeyed on, until I reached the summit of the steep, and there I found
everything as the black man had described it to me. And I went up to the tree,
and beneath it I saw the fountain, and by its side the marble slab, and the
silver bowl fastened by the chain. Then I took the bowl, and cast a bowlful of
water upon the slab; and thereupon, behold, the thunder came, much more violent
than the black man had led me to expect; and after the thunder came the shower;
and of a truth I tell thee, Kai, that there is neither man nor beast that can
endure that shower and live. For not one of those hailstones would be stopped,
either by the flesh or by the skin, until it had reached the bone. I turned my
horse's flank towards the shower, and placed the beak of my shield over his
head and neck, while I held the upper part of it over my own head. And thus I
withstood the shower. When I looked on the tree there was not a single leaf
upon it, and then the sky became clear, and with that, behold the birds lighted
upon the tree, and sang. And truly, Kai, I never heard any melody equal to
that, either before or since. And when I was most charmed with listening to the
birds, lo, a murmuring voice was heard through the valley, approaching me and
saying, 'Oh, Knight, what has brought thee hither? What evil have I done to
thee, that thou shouldst act towards me and my possessions as thou hast this
day? Dost thou not know that the shower to-day has left in my dominions neither
man nor beast alive that was exposed to it?' And thereupon, behold, a Knight on
a black horse appeared, clothed in jet-black velvet, and with a tabard of black
linen about him. And we charged each other, and, as the onset was furious, it
was not long before I was overthrown. Then the Knight passed the shaft of his
lance through the bridle rein of my horse, and rode off with the two horses,
leaving me where I was. And he did not even bestow so much notice upon me as to
imprison me, nor did he despoil me of my arms. So I returned along the road by
which I had come. And when I reached the glade where the black man was, I
confess to thee, Kai, it is a marvel that I did not melt down into a liquid
pool, through the shame that I felt at the black man's derision. And that night
I came to the same castle where I had spent the night preceding. And I was more
agreeably entertained that night than I had been the night before; and I was
better feasted, and I conversed freely with the inmates of the castle, and none
of them alluded to my expedition to the fountain, neither did I mention it to
any; and I remained there that night. When I arose on the morrow, I found,
ready saddled, a dark bay palfrey, with nostrils as red as scarlet; and after
putting on my armour, and leaving there my blessing, I returned to my own
Court. And that horse I still possess, and he is in the stable yonder. And I
declare that I would not part with him for the best palfrey in the Island of
Britain.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p>And that concludes the Giants of Wales. Next time we will look at the giants of Scandinavia.</o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427292632&sr=8-1&keywords=giants+monsters+%26+dragons+an+encyclopedia+of+folklore+legend+and+myth+by+carol+rose">Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Wales-August-Wunsche/dp/B00AM3KSBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427292671&sr=8-1&keywords=History+of+Wales+by+Bernard+Bolingbroke+Woodward">History of Wales by Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/English-Fairy-Tales-Sidney-Hartland/dp/1162969091/ref=sr_1_sc_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1427292721&sr=8-4-spell&keywords=English+Fairy+and+Folktales+by+Edwin+Sidney+Hartland">English Fairy and Folktales by Edwin Sidney Hartland</a><br />
<a href="https://archive.org/details/ARelationOfApparitionsOfSpirits">A Relation of Apparitions of Spirits in the County of Monmouth and the Principality ofWales by Edmund Jones</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/mab/index.htm">The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest</a> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-14571419102766346612015-06-04T07:54:00.000+01:002015-06-04T07:54:50.370+01:00Mythical Creatures: The Giants of England - Part Two<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8StXxHzCSjErFUAcJvOZsqqknaLEENH3dI1t2BPXXDQPZk7r7t0U3p_D3cPjrvb4C6stVtWjM9hUB6KIvvZUxSq7IyOBMk4DViHL51of-zvLA08hkSrdaomdMgFvBly8iiDR6JjGLR6mV/s1600/Cormoran_by_yusef_abonamah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8StXxHzCSjErFUAcJvOZsqqknaLEENH3dI1t2BPXXDQPZk7r7t0U3p_D3cPjrvb4C6stVtWjM9hUB6KIvvZUxSq7IyOBMk4DViHL51of-zvLA08hkSrdaomdMgFvBly8iiDR6JjGLR6mV/s1600/Cormoran_by_yusef_abonamah.jpg" width="287" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Cormoran-56438844">Cormoran by yusef-abonamah</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cornwall has
its own popular tale of giants and of Jack, although without the beanstalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stories of Jack the Giant Killer have been
present in Cornwall for centuries, with the earliest telling of how Jack came
to St. Michael’s Mount to rid the place of the giant Cormoran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Cormoran was not the only giant killed by
the fabled Jack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the following tale
Jack goes onto to vanquish many more giants, each more fantastical than the
last.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Jack the
Giant Killer<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>When good
King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of England, in the county
of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called Jack. He was brisk and of
ready, lively wit, so that nobody or nothing could worst him.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>In those
days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named Cormoran. He was
eighteen feet in height and about three yards round the waist, of a fierce and
grim countenance, the terror of all the neighbouring towns and villages. He
lived in a cave in the midst of the Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would
wade over to the mainland, where he would furnish himself with whatever came in
his way. Everybody at his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on
their cattle, making nothing of carrying half a dozen oxen on his back at a
time; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist like a
bunch of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that all Cornwall was
in despair.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>One day Jack
happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were sitting in council
about the giant. He asked: 'What reward will be given to the man who kills
Cormoran?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'The giant's
treasure,' they said, 'will be the reward.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Quoth Jack:
'Then let me undertake it.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqU1LBjKOq6-TK3QMMTlAFr6n9Eb9t69ph6m91LT1QHwWXEnoazv3lSE5fbq6pzTUVEtuyf_w8u9HQ0wKPTgJG8MLHOIS6-s-bCQDmLc3sGXEHubeUOiW7ig0XWaDNS8w5azKQG08USxG/s1600/allies-fairy-book-jack-giant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqU1LBjKOq6-TK3QMMTlAFr6n9Eb9t69ph6m91LT1QHwWXEnoazv3lSE5fbq6pzTUVEtuyf_w8u9HQ0wKPTgJG8MLHOIS6-s-bCQDmLc3sGXEHubeUOiW7ig0XWaDNS8w5azKQG08USxG/s1600/allies-fairy-book-jack-giant.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cla.blog.ryerson.ca/tag/fairy-tales/">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by Arthur Rackham</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So he got a
horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the beginning of a
dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before morning had dug a pit
twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, covering it over with long sticks
and straw. Then he strewed a little mould over it, so that it appeared like
plain ground. Jack then placed himself on the opposite side of the pit,
farthest from the giant's lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the
horn to his mouth, and blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who
rushed from his cave, crying: 'You incorrigible villain, are you come here to
disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will have, and
this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for breakfast.' He had no
sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit, and made the very
foundations of the Mount to shake. 'Oh, Giant,' quoth Jack, 'where are you now?
Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's Pound, where I will surely plague you
for your threatening words; what do you think now of broiling me for your
breakfast? Will no other diet serve you but poor Jack?' Then having tantalised
the giant for a while, he gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the
very crown of his head, and killed him on the spot.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Jack then
filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, which he found
contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of this they made a
declaration he should henceforth be termed<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>JACK THE
GIANT-KILLER <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>and
presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these words
embroidered in letters of gold:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXishF9s0M02f8Tmq9hPo2Ybh35tTDnOUZInvM_RZcXQgtGdF_X27OtOMMDMGoWzop6i_z96A3HGS0LrIa9Hveyjg9jHw9iJUZzO_NgPWPgRpU-2ypFZV7WgXoJNs4ad-z5p6Dl9XGpOr/s1600/tumblr_msl1j3lhES1rotwfko1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXishF9s0M02f8Tmq9hPo2Ybh35tTDnOUZInvM_RZcXQgtGdF_X27OtOMMDMGoWzop6i_z96A3HGS0LrIa9Hveyjg9jHw9iJUZzO_NgPWPgRpU-2ypFZV7WgXoJNs4ad-z5p6Dl9XGpOr/s1600/tumblr_msl1j3lhES1rotwfko1_500.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://geisterseher.tumblr.com/post/60241336756/jack-the-giant-killer-between-1865-and-1889">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>'Here's the
right valiant Cornish man,</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Who slew the giant Cormoran.'<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>The news of
Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, so that another giant,
named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be revenged on Jack, if ever he
should light on him. This giant was the lord of an enchanted castle situated in
the midst of a lonesome wood. Now Jack, about four months afterwards, walking
near this wood in his journey to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a
pleasant fountain and fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping the giant, coming
there for water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the
Giant-Killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack on his
shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed through a
thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was strangely surprised
to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His terror was only begun, for,
on entering the castle, he saw the ground strewed with human bones, and the
giant told him his own would ere long be among them. After this the giant
locked poor Jack in an immense chamber, leaving him there while he went to
fetch another giant, his brother, living in the same wood, who might share in
the meal on Jack.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>After
waiting some time Jack, on going to the window, beheld afar off the two giants
coming towards the castle. 'Now,' quoth Jack to himself, 'my death or my
deliverance is at hand.' Now, there were strong cords in a corner of the room
in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made a strong noose at the
end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron gate of the castle he threw
the ropes <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjLpFjUmc9Kl3wAHMy4EYptx6RQa3XuFbNGKMtGXw-W2LPtdWpPLOZnCZsvQdgq0VumOTvejbQwRS2ynNvSPCsNo5gO5QehEOrlfRcRH4SqIkbhgflbOO5nFZKgrn64LsGQx0OR5GrCLD/s1600/tumblr_lnf1iq0pCZ1ql1jpho1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjLpFjUmc9Kl3wAHMy4EYptx6RQa3XuFbNGKMtGXw-W2LPtdWpPLOZnCZsvQdgq0VumOTvejbQwRS2ynNvSPCsNo5gO5QehEOrlfRcRH4SqIkbhgflbOO5nFZKgrn64LsGQx0OR5GrCLD/s1600/tumblr_lnf1iq0pCZ1ql1jpho1_500.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairytalemood.tumblr.com/post/62103925973/enchantingimagery-jack-finds-three-ladies-tied">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by Hugh Thomson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
over each of their heads. Then he drew the other ends across a beam,
and pulled with all his might, so that he throttled them. Then, when he saw
they were black in the face, he slid down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew
them both. Then, taking the giant' s keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found
three fair ladies tied by the hair of their heads, almost starved to death.
'Sweet ladies,' quoth Jack, 'I have destroyed this monster and his brutish
brother, and obtained your liberties.' This said he presented them with the
keys, and so proceeded on his journey to Wales.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Jack made
the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but lost his road, and
was benighted, and could find no habitation until, coming into a narrow valley,
he found a large house, and in order to get shelter took courage to knock at
the gate. But what was his surprise when there came forth a monstrous giant
with two heads; yet he did not appear so fiery as the others were, for he was a
Welsh giant, and what he did was by private and secret malice under the false
show of friendship. Jack, having told his condition to the giant, was shown
into a bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another
apartment muttering these words:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Though here
you lodge with me this night,</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>You shall not see the morning light:</em><br />
<em>My club shall dash your brains outright!'<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>'Say'st thou
so,' quoth Jack; 'that is like one of your Welsh tricks, yet I hope to be
cunning enough for you.' Then, getting out of bed, he laid a billet in the bed
in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of the room. At the dead time of the
night in came the Welsh giant, who struck several heavy blows on <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1MWjtMsBrB14Fe42UJW5biza-UvUvv3ygCzUBTVhsMXbTbfGlxJezBZbgs_Zs1o-13dj2rVovDrTJvXqZk8eGeDvZ3GBylDeEdbT12qKjyclXguT8avyDjtwEF-BbsbYImQEPaVOo7xo/s1600/045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1MWjtMsBrB14Fe42UJW5biza-UvUvv3ygCzUBTVhsMXbTbfGlxJezBZbgs_Zs1o-13dj2rVovDrTJvXqZk8eGeDvZ3GBylDeEdbT12qKjyclXguT8avyDjtwEF-BbsbYImQEPaVOo7xo/s1600/045.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45021/45021-h/45021-h.htm">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by John Leech</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
the bed with
his club, thinking he had broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack,
laughing in his sleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. 'How
have you rested?' quoth the giant; 'did you not feel anything in the night?'
'No,' quoth Jack, 'nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps with her
tail.' With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to breakfast, bringing
him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. Being loth to let the
giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large leather bag under his loose
coat, in such a way that he could convey the pudding into it without its being
perceived. Then, telling the giant he would show him a trick, taking a knife,
Jack ripped open the bag, and out came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon,
saying, 'Odds splutters her nails, hur can do that trick hurself', the monster
took the knife, and ripping open his belly, fell down dead.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Now, it
happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his father to give him
a large sum of money, in order that he might go and seek his fortune in the
principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful lady possessed with seven evil
spirits. The king did his best to persuade his son from it, but in vain; so at
last gave way and the prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money,
the other for himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to
a market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered
together. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had
arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased owed when
he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors should be so cruel,
and said: 'Go bury the dead, and let his creditors come to my lodging, and
there their debts shall be paid.' They came, in such great numbers that before
night he had only twopence left for himself.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2hLRmgaWwf9FUejNJvP6tLvcJEPIA1YK-AfluY2JhoFvns8FHmRnNf1NSfbYE2KT5OoFoFtpo_e477cxTgB2DFsu5OGJIRBD1RGTXlnT5W8F6hkzFMMVouA7HqMS5kVk83zR623HgL8y/s1600/058s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2hLRmgaWwf9FUejNJvP6tLvcJEPIA1YK-AfluY2JhoFvns8FHmRnNf1NSfbYE2KT5OoFoFtpo_e477cxTgB2DFsu5OGJIRBD1RGTXlnT5W8F6hkzFMMVouA7HqMS5kVk83zR623HgL8y/s1600/058s.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45021/45021-h/45021-h.htm#link2H_4_0006">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by John Leech</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Now Jack the
Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the generosity of the prince
that he desired to be his servant. This being agreed upon, the next morning
they set forward on their journey together, when, as they were riding out of
the town, an old woman called after the prince, saying, 'He has owed me
twopence these seven years; pray pay me as well as the rest.' Putting his hand
into his pocket, the prince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their
day's food, which cost what small store Jack had by him, they were without a
penny between them.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>When the sun
got low, the king's son said: 'Jack, since we have no money, where can we lodge
this night?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>But Jack
replied: 'Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle lives within two
miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant with three heads; he'll
fight five hundred men in armour, and make them to fly before him.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Alas!'
quoth the prince, 'what shall we do there? He'll certainly chop us up at a
mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to fIll one of his hollow teeth!'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'It is no
matter for that,' quoth Jack; 'I myself will go before and prepare the way for
you; therefore stop here and wait till I return.' Jack then rode away at full
speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, he knocked so loud that he made
the neighbouring hills resound. The giant roared out at this like thunder:
'Who's there?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Jack
answered: 'None but your poor cousin Jack.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Quoth he:
'What news with my poor cousin Jack?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He replied:
'Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Prithee,'
quoth the giant, 'what heavy news can come to me? I am a giant with three
heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five hundred men in armour, and
make them fly like chaff before the wind.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Oh, but,'
quoth Jack, 'here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand men in armour to
kill you and destroy all that you have!'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Oh, cousin
Jack,' said the giant, 'this is heavy news indeed! I will immediately run and
hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar me in, and keep the keys until
the prince is gone.' Having secured the giant, Jack fetched his master, when
they made themselves heartily merry whilst the poor giant lay trembling in a
vault under the ground.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Early in the
morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of gold and silver, and
then sent him three miles forward on his journey, at which time the prince was
pretty well out of the smell of the giant. Jack then returned, and let the
giant out of the vault, who asked what he should give him for keeping the
castle from destruction. 'Why,' quoth Jack, 'I want nothing but the old coat
and cap, together with the old rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's
head.' Quoth the giant: 'You know not what you ask; they are the most precious
things I have. The coat will keep you invisible, the cap will tell you all you
want to know, the sword cuts asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are of
extraordinary swiftness. But you have been very serviceable to me, therefore
take them with all my heart.' Jack thanked his uncle, and then went off with
them. He soon overtook his master and they quickly arrived at the house of the
lady the prince sought, who, finding the prince to be a suitor, prepared a
splendid banquet for him. After the repast was concluded, she told him she had
a task for him. She wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, saying: 'You must show
me that handkerchief tomorrow morning, or else you will lose your head.' With
that she put it in her bosom. The prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's
cap of knowledge informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the
night she called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But Jack put
on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was there as soon as
she was. When she entered the place of the demon, she gave the handkerchief to
him, and he laid it upon a shelf, whence Jack took it and brought it to his
master, who showed it to the lady next day, and so saved his life. On that day,
she gave the prince a kiss and told him he must show her the lips tomorrow
morning that she kissed last night, or lose his head.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Ah!' he
replied, 'if you kiss none but mine, I will.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'That is
neither here nor there,' said she; 'if you do not, death's your portion!'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>At midnight
she went as before, and was angry with the demon for letting the handkerchief
go. 'But now,' quoth she, 'I will be too hard for the king's son, for I will
kiss thee, and he is to show me thy lips.' Which she did, and Jack, when she
was not standing by, cut off Lucifer's head and brought it under his invisible
coat to his master, who the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the
lady. This broke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared
in all her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went to
the Court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many exploits, was made one of the
Knights of the Round Table.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJymglogXX_YYvC3TK_stud2NH7NF4HUcNKytnTx7EHT-bd9jyeFE902DmZoUfOQkQeDbqzRNLBmDv2F2S26SmcDEYuoYvMvAJKWJL7H7M5xd99s1aZxHwVAl1UA95rzKALHFkNLrQA4AU/s1600/illus-091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJymglogXX_YYvC3TK_stud2NH7NF4HUcNKytnTx7EHT-bd9jyeFE902DmZoUfOQkQeDbqzRNLBmDv2F2S26SmcDEYuoYvMvAJKWJL7H7M5xd99s1aZxHwVAl1UA95rzKALHFkNLrQA4AU/s1600/illus-091.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17034/17034-h/17034-h.htm#JACK_THE_GIANT-KILLER">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by Arthur Rackham</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Jack soon
went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, when he saw a cave,
near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting upon a block of timber,
with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle eyes were like flames of fire,
his countenance grim and ugly, and his cheeks like a couple of large flitches
of bacon, while the bristles of his beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the
locks that hung down upon his brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or
hissing adders. Jack alighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat of
darkness, went up close to the giant, and said softly: 'Oh! are you there? It
will not be long before I take you fast by the beard.' The giant all this while
could not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, coming up
close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his head, but, missing
his aim, he cut off the nose instead. At this, the giant roared like claps of
thunder, and began to lay about him with his iron club like one stark mad. But
Jack, running behind, drove his sword up to the hilt in the giant's head so
that it fell down dead. This done, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it,
with his brother's also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that
purpose.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Jack now
resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, and, passing
along through a great many windings and turnings, he came at length to a large
room paved with freestone, at the upper end of which was a boiling caldron, and
on the right hand a large table, at which the giant used to dine. Then he came
to a window, barred with iron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number
of miserable captives, who, seeing him, cried out: 'Alas! Young man, art thou
come to be one amongst us: in this miserable den?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Ay,' quoth
Jack, 'but pray tell me what is the meaning of your captivity?'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'We are kept
here,' said one, 'till such time as the giants have a wish to feast, and then
the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the times they have dined
upon murdered men!'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Say you
so,' quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them free, who all
rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then searching the giant's
coffer, he shared the gold and silver equally amongst them and took them to a
neigbouring castle, where they all feasted and made merry over their
deliverance.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39zkaiBaT1lxZNz1hlTyYIrBKw08GVGiwHPMtj7f6Hzc5P36lIsJsPZ2i5gcp7-u2pflk4t9hRZrTXWR9eYppk12YXnSMsZB3_WNH3vbA9irEEByoqsW46kuxno8v1apZOKikT_bwEkDU/s1600/Jack_the_Giant_Killer_John_Dickenson_07a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39zkaiBaT1lxZNz1hlTyYIrBKw08GVGiwHPMtj7f6Hzc5P36lIsJsPZ2i5gcp7-u2pflk4t9hRZrTXWR9eYppk12YXnSMsZB3_WNH3vbA9irEEByoqsW46kuxno8v1apZOKikT_bwEkDU/s1600/Jack_the_Giant_Killer_John_Dickenson_07a.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://conceptartworld.com/?p=20631">Jack the Giant Killer Concept Art by John Dickenson </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>But in the
midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one Thunderdell, a giant
with two heads, having heard of the death of his kinsmen, had come from the
northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and was within a mile of the castle, the
country people flying before him like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted,
and said: 'Let him come! I have a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and
gentlemen, walk out into the garden, and you shall witness this giant
Thunderdell's death and destruction.'<o:p></o:p></em><em>The castle
was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a moat thirty feet
deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. So Jack employed men to
cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to the middle; and then, dressing
himself in his invisible coat, he marched against the giant with his sword of
sharpness. Although the giant could not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and
cried out in these words:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Fee, fi,
fo,fum!</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>I smell the blood of an Englishman!</em><br />
<em>Be he alive or be he dead,</em><br />
<em>I'll grind his bones to make me bread!'<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>'Say'st thou
so,' said Jack; 'then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The giant
cried out again: 'Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? Then I will tear
thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones to powder.'<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'You'll have
to catch me first,' quoth Jack, and throwing off his invisible coat, so that
the giant might see him, and putting on his shoes of swiftness, he ran from the
giant, who followed like a walking castle, so that the very foundations of the
earth seemed to shake at every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that
the gentlemen and ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly
over the drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club.
Then, coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke it
down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and wallowed like
a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all the while; but though
the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged from place to place in the
moat, yet he could not get out to be revenged. Jack at length got a cart rope
and cast it over the two heads of the giant and drew him ashore by a team of
horses, and then cut off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent
them to King Arthur.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>After some
time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the knights and ladies,
set out for new adventures. Through many woods he passed and came at length to
the foot of a high mountain. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzYto6j1YJx-auk_JR5KseaOy7t1IU1Ndxna4BRG8sj8cYbbao9apDiVgjPNi43AcVdw3HblhjujdOQDomWR3PAdUqqloMkphe1pDDE4RQpx-9BExjmRAYgXN-69c3j8YRjhvUGmnljgK/s1600/illus-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzYto6j1YJx-auk_JR5KseaOy7t1IU1Ndxna4BRG8sj8cYbbao9apDiVgjPNi43AcVdw3HblhjujdOQDomWR3PAdUqqloMkphe1pDDE4RQpx-9BExjmRAYgXN-69c3j8YRjhvUGmnljgK/s1600/illus-5.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17034/17034-h/17034-h.htm#JACK_THE_GIANT-KILLER">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by Arthur Rackham</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here, late at night, he found a lonesome house,
and knocked at the door, which was opened by an aged man with a head as white
as snow. 'Father,' said Jack, 'can you lodge a benighted traveller that has
lost his way?' 'Yes,' said the old man; 'you. are right welcome to my poor
cottage.' Whereupon Jack entered, and down they sat together, and the old man
began to speak as follows: 'Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror
of giants, and behold, my son, on the top of the mountain is an enchanted
castle; this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he, by the help of an
old conjurer, betrays many knight and ladies into his castle, where by magic
art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above all, I grieve
for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's garden, carrying her
through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery dragons, when they secured
her within the castle, and transformed her into a white hind. And though many
knights have tried to break the enchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no
one could accomplish it, on account of two dreadful griffins which are placed
at the castle gate and which destroy everyone who comes near. But you, my son,
may pass by them undiscovered, where on the gates of the castle you will find
engraven in large letters how the spell may be broken.' Jack gave the old man
his hand, and promised that in the morning he would venture his life to free
the lady.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDjCUZ-Dhius2EeHvOM55IMPw4r2vFm-RCDzcM_IXcgRIbts3MYmEjaPl5dwGjYu3vfdACINA05WOSBgyqgi1_cKeUqJ05spVy8nbh6twHuzn03llWg21rarYwZuKX0VXJmof9Bf4H1j1/s1600/020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDjCUZ-Dhius2EeHvOM55IMPw4r2vFm-RCDzcM_IXcgRIbts3MYmEjaPl5dwGjYu3vfdACINA05WOSBgyqgi1_cKeUqJ05spVy8nbh6twHuzn03llWg21rarYwZuKX0VXJmof9Bf4H1j1/s1600/020.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/eft20.htm">Jack the Giant-Killer Illustration by John D. Batten</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<em>In the
morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap and shoes, and
prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached the top of the mountain
he soon discover the two fiery griffins, but passed them without fear, because
of his invisible coat. When he had got beyond them, he found upon the gates of
the castle a golden trumpet hung by a silver chain, under which these lines
were engraved:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Whoever
shall this trumpet blow,</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Shall soon the giant overthrow,</em><br />
<em>And break the black enchantment straight;</em><br />
<em>So all shall be in happy state.'<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Jack had no
sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the castle trembled to its
vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were in horrid confusion, biting
their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing their wicked reign was at an end.
Then the giant stooping to take up his club, Jack at one blow cut off his head;
whereupon the conjurer, mounting up into the air, was carried away in a
whirlwind. Then the enchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who
'had so long been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper
shapes, and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the
head of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the Court of
King Arthur, where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the knights and
ladies who had been delivered.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Whereupon,
as a reward for his good services, the king prevailed upon the duke to bestow
his daughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married they were, and the whole
kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. Furthermore, the king bestowed on
Jack a noble castle, with a very beautiful estate thereto belonging, where he and
his lady lived in great joy and happiness all the rest of their days.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Another
story from Cornwall tells of the giant Bolster, who fell in love with Saint
Agnes. The story itself is re-enacted every year in Cornwall on May 1st using giant puppets and local performers.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43BzJtPabm8xZjzMj2hGeOr0tDe6LlOcNP0S1gpfkl5uy-UkOSxzBEbIUd86D4_xm3qcvRdtb4bplus1OcDXCaJUbNqkmouffex9zIY1GsZpRk-nGhyfAMMySUxbE9fjIVRN5FePkwHsY/s1600/_47601526_10-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43BzJtPabm8xZjzMj2hGeOr0tDe6LlOcNP0S1gpfkl5uy-UkOSxzBEbIUd86D4_xm3qcvRdtb4bplus1OcDXCaJUbNqkmouffex9zIY1GsZpRk-nGhyfAMMySUxbE9fjIVRN5FePkwHsY/s1600/_47601526_10-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cornwall/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8607000/8607996.stm">The giant Bolster puppet</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Giant Bolster</strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>This mighty
man held especial possession of the hill formerly known as Carne Bury-anacht
or Bury-anack, "the sparstone grave," sometimes called St
Agnes' Ball and St Agnes' Pestis, but which is now named, from the
use made of the hill during the long war, St Agnes' Beacon. He has left his
name to a very interesting, and undoubtedly most ancient earthwork, which still
exists at the base of the hill, and evidently extended from Trevaunance Porth
to Chapel Porth, enclosing the most important tin district in St Agnes. This is
constantly called "The Bolster."<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Bolster must
have been of enormous size: since it is stated that he could stand with one
foot on St Agnes' Beacon and the other on Carn Brea; these hills being distant,
as the bird flies, six miles, his immensity will be clear to all. In proof of
this, there still exists, in the valley running upwards from Chapel Porth, a
stone in which may yet be seen the impression of the giant's fingers. On one
occasion, Bolster, when enjoying his usual stride from the Beacon to Carn Brea,
felt thirsty, and stooped to drink out of the well at Chapel Porth, resting,
while he did so, on the above-mentioned stone. We hear but little of the wives
of our giants; but Bolster had a wife, who was made to labour hard by her
tyrannical husband. On the top of St Agnes' Beacon there yet exist the
evidences of the useless labours to which this unfortunate giantess was doomed,
in grouped masses of small stones. </em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK0ZcIsHLRW00uDiH3jaZf4kJE6WL4zYtOuEoxPQuicJvHNW4ttbOcbj5plP1bhGl6WR8ajGReuDPS4t_ima8e3BmW29f74oZ1IWNRSDAebJ1M-ebKzuLn_Kkln0II9XGKODaR0aFzU54/s1600/209_29_940+St+Agnes+Head_thumb_460x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK0ZcIsHLRW00uDiH3jaZf4kJE6WL4zYtOuEoxPQuicJvHNW4ttbOcbj5plP1bhGl6WR8ajGReuDPS4t_ima8e3BmW29f74oZ1IWNRSDAebJ1M-ebKzuLn_Kkln0II9XGKODaR0aFzU54/s1600/209_29_940+St+Agnes+Head_thumb_460x0.jpg" unselectable="on" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/st-agnes-and-chapel-porth/things-to-see-and-do/article-1356403993271/">St. Agnes Head, Cornwall</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>These, it is said, have all been gathered
from an estate at the foot of the hill, immediately adjoining the village of St
Agnes. This farm is to the present day remarkable for its freedom from stones,
though situated amidst several others, which, like most lands reclaimed from
the moors of this district, have stones in abundance mixed with the soil.
Whenever Bolster was angry with his wife, he compelled her to pick stones, and
to carry them in her apron to the top of the hill. There is some confusion in
the history of this giant, and of the blessed St Agnes to whom the church is
dedicated. They are supposed to have lived at the same time, which, according
to our views, is scarcely probable, believing, as we do, that no giants existed
long after their defeat at Plymouth by Brutus and Corineus. There may have been
an earlier saint of the same name; or may not Saint Enns or Anns, the popular
name of this parish, indicate some other lady?<o:p></o:p></em><em>Be this as
it may, the giant Bolster became deeply in love with St Agnes, who is reputed
to have been singularly beautiful, and a pattern woman of virtue. The giant
allowed the lady no repose. He followed her incessantly, proclaiming his love,
and filling the air with the tempests of his sighs and groans. St Agnes
lectured Bolster in vain on the impropriety of his conduct, he being already a
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcZx9AbQiNUCXLDt8M1vFjf2wKyr8AuYQcm5RnZeg7twORyKsb-dZ94Y8rk_y_4V9a-uIjmlSjWXRZ_ZeVZeXiCjSr8p5YhqywossPEkd0nez9SMDakrVebxj0m4lxCKkzlPTTxmQ7VJj/s1600/bolster1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcZx9AbQiNUCXLDt8M1vFjf2wKyr8AuYQcm5RnZeg7twORyKsb-dZ94Y8rk_y_4V9a-uIjmlSjWXRZ_ZeVZeXiCjSr8p5YhqywossPEkd0nez9SMDakrVebxj0m4lxCKkzlPTTxmQ7VJj/s1600/bolster1.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strangehistory.net/2011/12/30/a-six-mile-stride/">The Giant Bolster and the Six Mile Stride by George Cruikshank</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
married man. This availed not; her prayers to him to relieve her from his
importunities were also in vain. The persecuted lady, finding there was no
release for her, while this monster existed, resolved to be rid of him at any
cost, and eventually succeeded by the following stratagem:-- Agnes appeared at
length to be persuaded of the intensity of the giant's love, but she told him
she required yet one small proof more. There exists at Chapel Porth a hole in
the cliff at the termination of the valley. If Bolster would fill this hole
with his blood the lady would no longer look coldly on him. This huge
bestrider-of-the-hills thought that it was an easy thing which was required of
him, and felt that he could fill many such holes and be none the weaker for the
loss of blood. Consequently, stretching his great arm across the hole, he
plunged a knife into a vein, and a torrent of gore issued forth. Roaring and
seething the blood fell to the bottom, and the giant expected in a few minutes
to see the test of his devotion made evident, in the filling of the hole. It
required much more blood than Bolster had supposed; still it must in a short
time be filled, so he bled on. Hour after hour the blood flowed from the vein,
yet the hole was not filled. Eventually the giant fainted from exhaustion. The
strength of life within his mighty frame enabled him to rally, yet he had no
power to lift himself from the ground, and he was unable to stanch the wound
which he had made. Thus it was, that after many throes, the giant Bolster died
!<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The cunning
saint, in proposing this task to Bolster, was well aware that the hole opened
at the bottom into the sea, and that as rapidly as the blood flowed into the
hole it ran from it, and did<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>"The
multitudinous seas incarnadine,</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Making the green one red."<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Thus the
lady got rid of her hated lover; Mrs Bolster was released, and the district
freed from the presence of a tyrant. The hole at Chapel Porth still retains the
evidences of the truth of this tradition, in the red stain which marks the
track down which flowed the giant's blood.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Our next
tale comes from Norfolk and tells of the Tom Hickathrift, almost a giant
himself, who defeated the Giant of Smeeth, who was ‘so malicious that the local
people would go twice the length that their journey should take in order to
avoid crossing the common.’<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XLWr5kMDpb0ZWRfXzjxSUltp4069uuJR3x2GQyqs9LqpCvquwO-mzkq9hFuTgvkh6zY771XZLNVmtrVX8fyRDbEoDz3htFzZx7cbq3hpBglZZAyrwj-wbYGmtCtMC2xCkjh1TsvIYax-/s1600/tilneygrave-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XLWr5kMDpb0ZWRfXzjxSUltp4069uuJR3x2GQyqs9LqpCvquwO-mzkq9hFuTgvkh6zY771XZLNVmtrVX8fyRDbEoDz3htFzZx7cbq3hpBglZZAyrwj-wbYGmtCtMC2xCkjh1TsvIYax-/s1600/tilneygrave-3.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.enidporterproject.org.uk/content/cambridgeshire-traditions/stories/tom-hickathrifts-grave-saints-church-tilney-saints">Tom Hickathrift's grave, Tilney by Nicky Stockman</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Tom
Hickathrift and the Giant of Smeeth<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
churchyard of the church of All Saints, in the village of Tilney All Saints,
lies a long narrow stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about 7ft
long and broken in two places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It lies
just beyond the eastern end of the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has been worn smooth by wind and weather, but it’s said that years
ago, carved into the stone, there was a circle with a cross inside it and
beneath it a straight line.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>The stone
marks the grave of Tom Hickathrift, and it marks the end of a story that began
many hundreds of years ago in the city of Ely.</em><br />
<em>In Ely,
there once lived a man called Thomas Hickathrift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was married to a ramping girl called
Joan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had a son, and they called
him Tom, after his old father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He grew
up, and when he was old enough, he went to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Tom had no head for his ABCs or his
123s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he wanted was to sit in front
of the fire and warm his hands.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Old Thomas
passed away, leaving poor Joan to raise the boy alone – and it wasn’t
easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time Tom was ten years old,
he stood 8ft tall in his stockinged feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His hands were the size of shoulders of mutton, and he’d eat enough mean
in one day to satisfy five full-grown men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His old mother had to work her fingers to the bone, and her bones to the
marrow, to keep the boy alive.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>One day she
came into the parlour after a hard day’s work, and saw Tom’s enormous back
hulking in the firelight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His great red
hands were stretched towards the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was whistling tunelessly between his teeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joan flew into a fury: ‘Can’t you do
something useful, Tom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re a waste of
your time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re a waste of my
time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go to Stamford’s barn and
fetch some straw for the floor of the house!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>In those
days they had straw on the floors of their houses as we have carpets
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom lumbered to his feet.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘All right
then, Mother.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He ducked
under the lintel of the doorway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
strode across the fields until he met Farmer Stamford: ‘My old mother asked me
to fetch some straw from your barn.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘You take as
much as you can carry, Tom.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Famer
Stamford soon regretted his words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom
went into the barn and piled stook upon stook until he’d got himself half a ton
of straw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He roped it round and swung it
onto his shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he set off for
home with the straw on his back, whistling all the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farmer Stamford stood and stared in
astonishment.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz7tSaaAQHL3RmHRu-eWLN766JzC7LqGT7EKUSN4UwLwetoP-LJIGyIic-rxtmJESfitBMcXiSTNoFS7PPjVJPjzzFIUSVH0f-0Tkmii3hHWEDFaNbS7Sd4uHCLINlXpSkPaGda9D2wbe/s1600/tomandtree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz7tSaaAQHL3RmHRu-eWLN766JzC7LqGT7EKUSN4UwLwetoP-LJIGyIic-rxtmJESfitBMcXiSTNoFS7PPjVJPjzzFIUSVH0f-0Tkmii3hHWEDFaNbS7Sd4uHCLINlXpSkPaGda9D2wbe/s1600/tomandtree.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://talesfromundercroft.blogspot.co.uk/">Tom Hickathrift Illustration - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>From that
day onwards there was no more hulking in the firelight for Tom
Hickathrift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story of his prodigious
strength was out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the world and his
wife wanted Tom to work for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
that time, there was a woodman living in Ely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’d felled a mighty oak tree and he needed some help to lift its trunk
onto a cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked Tom and five other
strong men to give him a hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
morning Tom stood with his arms folded, and watched the five men as they set to
with levers and winches – but the oak wouldn’t budge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the middle of the day, when he’d eaten his
baggin and wiped the grease from his mouth with the back of his hand, Tom said:
‘Stand you aside.’<o:p></o:p></em><em>He reached
down, curled the fingers of one hand around the stump of a branch, lifted the
trunk, swung it round, and lowered it onto the cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The woodman was amazed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘Well,
Tom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What can I give you as payment for
your trouble?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘I’ll tell
you what,’ said Tom, ‘I’ll have a twig for my old mother’s fire.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Beside the
tree that had been felled was another still standing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom wrapped his arms around the trunk and
heaved it out of the ground, roots and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He lifted it onto his shoulder and set off striding across the fields
towards Ely, whistling as he went.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>It wasn’t
long before Tom Hickathrift was famous the length and the breadth of the
Fens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At every fair, from Swaffham to
Spalding, from Cottenham to Kings Lynn, he was a champion at the wrestling,
boxing, tossing the cannonball, and all the other sports of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even today, in a field in the parish of
Terrington St. Clement, a millstone lies half-buried in the ground that Tom is
said to have thrown for a wager from the Tuesday Market place in Kings Lyn,
some 6 miles away.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>A brewer in
Kings Lynn needed a man to bring barrels of beer from Kings Lynn to
Wisbech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he saw Tom Hickathrift at
a hiring fair, he seemed to be the very man for the job.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘Now then
Tom,’ said the brewer, ‘If you’ll work for me, you can have as much beer as you
can drink, as much meat as you can eat… and a new suit of clothes besides.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>That was a
payment after Tom’s heart, and he readily agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brewer told him how he was to lead his
horses pulling the great brewer’s cart, piled high with barrels, from Kings Lyn
to Wisbech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom listened and nodded.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaOTzoaBPahide1Sp_h8S6vsdOnr1i5C0yEI2astwV2FpaGXzeVGxiWxGz6sA3lTUVLlcfF02d8dVBV8QVO93_jT6MRbaIL5w8PmszeYoI1wqigyXrYDS224RdKPzPN42GQH8zHOqAnWb/s1600/lal313306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaOTzoaBPahide1Sp_h8S6vsdOnr1i5C0yEI2astwV2FpaGXzeVGxiWxGz6sA3lTUVLlcfF02d8dVBV8QVO93_jT6MRbaIL5w8PmszeYoI1wqigyXrYDS224RdKPzPN42GQH8zHOqAnWb/s1600/lal313306.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.magnoliabox.com/art/208132/the-worlds-legends-he-was-the-strongest-man-in-england">The World's Legends: He was the strongest man in England by Mike Lea</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Now, at that
time, between Kings Lynn and Wisbech, on the Smeeth – the great common that
belonged to the ‘seven towns of the Marshland’, Walpole St. Peter, Walsoken,
West Walton, Terrington, Clenchwarton, Emnett and Tilney – there lived a
giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d made his home in a cave on a
low hill in the middle of Smeeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom
Hickathrift stood tall, but this was a real giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He towered as high as a house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His eyes were like barber’s basins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His favourite sport was twisting the heads
from his victims, and hanging them from the branches of an oak tree that grew
on the top of his hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that was
left of them he would devour, crunching their bones and licking their blood
from his fingertips.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>On account
of this giant, the brewer gave Tom one last piece of advice: ‘Now then Tom,
when you lead the horses pulling my cart, don’t take the short cut over the
Smeeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go the long way, by road, d’ye
understand?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Tom nodded, ‘All
right then.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The next day
Tom started work, and for a few weeks, he did what he was told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on his diet of strong meat and strong
beer he grew stronger and bolder than he’d ever been before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, he was leading the horses out of
Kings Lynn when he saw the track that led to Smeeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thought to himself: ‘Well, why not give it
a try… gain the horse or lose the saddle, as the saying goes…’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He pushed
open the gate and led the horses through.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>When he came
to the Smeeth, the giant nosed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A
giant’s nose is always more fine-tuned than his eyes or his ears.)<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He came
sauntering out of his cave, with a great gap-toother grin stretched across his
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there was one thing he loved
more than human flesh, it was a barrel of ale.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘How now
rogue, what brings you here so bold, in throwing open the gate and leaving the
road?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll make an example of you to all
the rogues under the sun.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He pointed
to the spreading oak on the height of his hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was festooned like a Christmas tree, with grisly trophies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Severed heads were hanging by their hair,
some old with white bone jutting through blotchy blackened skin, some fresh
with red blood dripping and dribbling still.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘D’ye see
this tree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll hang your head the
highest of them all!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Tom reached
under the back of one of the brewer’s horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He picked up a handful of horse-muck.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘You will,
will ye?’ he said, ‘I’ll tell you what… you can have a turd in the teeth for
all your taunting talk!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He hurled it
and struck the giant’s cheek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The giant
bellowed with rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ran into his
cave, and returned with a club in his hand as big as a mill-post.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘Here’s the
twig that’ll make you see sense!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>He strode
down towards Tom… and it was at that moment that Tom Hickathrift realised his
mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjIRL-c_eVez8GhITwIv_-L9dSgdSElFhweOdnzK8SsZ-6xjctVw5cb1E5qqKKT0HXoKqMjIZvmUAm77S8nYMmwShf0j4ObjcE7Jnd8JWA3U7JCBzabcyMSZw1ahBcTl-axhfCzSXvPU8/s1600/tomandogre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjIRL-c_eVez8GhITwIv_-L9dSgdSElFhweOdnzK8SsZ-6xjctVw5cb1E5qqKKT0HXoKqMjIZvmUAm77S8nYMmwShf0j4ObjcE7Jnd8JWA3U7JCBzabcyMSZw1ahBcTl-axhfCzSXvPU8/s1600/tomandogre.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hiddenea.com/quest2.htm">Tom Hickathrift and the Giant of Smeeth - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>He’d come without a
weapon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he had was the whip for
driving the horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked to left
and right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no young trees he
could pull up by the roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was he
to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, all of a sudden, he had an
idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He unharnessed the horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ran to the side of the brewer’s cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He curled his fingers under it an
lifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cart toppled over and the
barrels rolled across the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
the underside of the cart he snapped one of the iron axles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the end of the axle he broke away the
wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the axle in one hand as a
club and the wheel in the other as a shield, he stepped forward to the fight.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The giant
brought his club swinging down through the air, but Tom jumped aside so that it
caught the rim of his wheel and cracked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The giant dropped to his knees with the strength of the stroke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom jumped into the air and gave him such a
thwack on the side of the head with the axle that the giant was sent staggering
left and right.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘What!’
shouted Tom, ‘Are you drunk on my strong beer already?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Then they
set to like hammer and tongs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All day
they fought, making the hard ground soft, and the soft ground hard, with the
fury of their fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of
the afternoon the giant was wet with sweat and blood.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘How now
rogue,’ he roared, ‘let’s have a little pause and drink some of that beer of
yours.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘I may be a
fool,’ said Tom, ‘but I ain’t such a dolt as all that.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>And he gave
him another hefty whack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time the
sun set, the giant was lying with his face in the grass, bellowing and begging
for mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Tom gave him no
quarter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the whip and the axle as
noose and tourniquet he tore the giant’s head from his shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he fitted the axle and the cracked wheel
to the cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pulled it upright, piled
up the barrels and harnessed the horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon he was leading them into Wisbech, whistling as he went.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The story of
Tom’s triumph spread like wildfire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
people of Wisbech lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him to the
Smeeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people of the seven towns of
the Marshland came swarming to their common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure enough, they found the giant’s body… and then they found his
grimacing head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lit a huge bonfire,
and all that day there was feasting, dancing and celebration.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5WZTRqF5odBv5PUBzbD57foW8OhlRKsZSfDAQHlrzn-I0qb6J4-3srGO-rtzOQm1sV5Pem5frEirGJNvTtyhjdPOlKAMHJJVkVaol30RhyUHt-ohLar4YRHpN_VX7f2pfrYCLgO02Av_/s1600/tilneygrave-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5WZTRqF5odBv5PUBzbD57foW8OhlRKsZSfDAQHlrzn-I0qb6J4-3srGO-rtzOQm1sV5Pem5frEirGJNvTtyhjdPOlKAMHJJVkVaol30RhyUHt-ohLar4YRHpN_VX7f2pfrYCLgO02Av_/s1600/tilneygrave-11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/357614026637145730/">Village sign depicting Tom with the wheel and axle by Nicky Stockman</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>At the end
of the day, when everyone had gone home, Tom ventured into the giant’s
cave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There he found amongst a huge pile
of gnawed bones, a great quantity of gold, silver and copper coins; the emptied
pockets of the giant’s victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was treasure enough to make him rich for life.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>With the
money, he paid for the building of a beautiful house called Hickathrift
Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His old mother came to live with
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And from that day onwards, he was
no longer known as Tom Hickathrift, but as Mr. Thomas Hickathrift, gentleman.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>It’s said
that years later he killed another giant, on the island of Thanet in Kent, and
that afterwards the King himself dubbed him ‘Sir Thomas Hickathrift’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s also said that it’s thanks to Tom that
there are no lions, bears or wolves on British soil.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>That’s a
maybe… but what certainly is true is that, for all his strength and courage,
Tom proved no match for old age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he
was 100 years old, and felt that his time had come, he hobbled out of his
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A huge stone ball was lying on the
ground.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘Wherever
this ball falls, there you must lay my bones to rest.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i6Sw_zQHYu99wce1uRrHdd5PIiozerWUKQmhO0pD9E_CosbuaDScn_q-Ra7PnO1zEqXCwpaYqfwTsfHr8IEQpqu6cJsGhnuYBYqYYiYrmqDMSxbSSSnXK9Xjt-nPEDP2KQRTYY9PnG9Q/s1600/tilneygrave-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i6Sw_zQHYu99wce1uRrHdd5PIiozerWUKQmhO0pD9E_CosbuaDScn_q-Ra7PnO1zEqXCwpaYqfwTsfHr8IEQpqu6cJsGhnuYBYqYYiYrmqDMSxbSSSnXK9Xjt-nPEDP2KQRTYY9PnG9Q/s1600/tilneygrave-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/357614026637145738/">Tom threw the boulder which hit this face of the church wall. His grave lies under the left hand side of the window. by Nicky Stockman</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>He gave it a
tremendous kick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It flew through the air
and cracked the east wall of Tilney church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where the ball fell to the ground is where Tom is buried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over his grave a stone was set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carved into the stone were no words, for Tom
had never mastered his ABCs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
there was just a circle for the cartwheel and a straight line for the axle with
which he’d fought the giant and saved the Smeeth all those years ago.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>And Tom has
never been forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the
marshland and the fens, if there’s a dew-pond in a field, the chances are it’ll
be known as Tom Hickathrift’s washbasin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If someone puts up a grandiose pair of gateposts, they’ll be known as
Tom Hickathrift’s candlesticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a
building is somehow in the wrong place (like the tower of West Walton church),
it will have been lifted by Tom for a wager and put down slightly askew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to catch a glimpse of Tom, you
can go to Walpole St. Peter; there’s a small carving of him on the outside wall
of the north chancel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the best place
of all is not in Norfolk at all: it’s in Saffron Walden, where Tom and the
giant are modelled in plaster on the outside gables of the Sun Inn, on the
brink of doing battle.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Britain-Ireland-Richard/dp/1847739865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426250366&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends+of+Britain+and+Ireland+by+Richard+Jones">Myths and Legends of Britain and Ireland by Richard Jones</a></div>
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/index.htm">English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Popular-Romances-Traditions-Superstitions-Cornwall/dp/B008IVOSOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426250402&sr=8-1&keywords=Popular+Romances+of+the+West+of+England+by+Robert+Hunt">Popular Romances of the West of England by Robert Hunt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-British-Isles-Geoffrey-Ashe/dp/0413629902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426250439&sr=8-1&keywords=Mythology+of+the+British+Isles+by+Geoffrey+Ashe">Mythology of the British Isles by Geoffrey Ashe</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Norfolk-Folk-Tales-Hugh-Lupton/dp/0752479423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426250524&sr=8-1&keywords=Norfolk+Folk+Tales+by+Hugh+Lupton">Norfolk Folk Tales by Hugh Lupton</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426250574&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters+%26+Dragons%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+Folklore%2C+Legend%2C+and+Myth+by+Carol+Rose">Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose</a></span><br />
<img height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK0ZcIsHLRW00uDiH3jaZf4kJE6WL4zYtOuEoxPQuicJvHNW4ttbOcbj5plP1bhGl6WR8ajGReuDPS4t_ima8e3BmW29f74oZ1IWNRSDAebJ1M-ebKzuLn_Kkln0II9XGKODaR0aFzU54/s1600/209_29_940+St+Agnes+Head_thumb_460x0.jpg" style="left: 905px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 479px;" width="96" />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-84vO5HPguME%2FVQgUtKZJWwI%2FAAAAAAAAEFM%2Fq8esiWO9ZT8%2Fs1600%2F209_29_940%252BSt%252BAgnes%252BHead_thumb_460x0.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK0ZcIsHLRW00uDiH3jaZf4kJE6WL4zYtOuEoxPQuicJvHNW4ttbOcbj5plP1bhGl6WR8ajGReuDPS4t_ima8e3BmW29f74oZ1IWNRSDAebJ1M-ebKzuLn_Kkln0II9XGKODaR0aFzU54/s1600/209_29_940+St+Agnes+Head_thumb_460x0.jpg" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-31847162483354776552015-03-30T14:30:00.000+01:002015-06-01T09:35:14.663+01:00Mythical Creatures: Giants of Wales - Part OneWelsh legend
and folklore is full of giants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most are
bad tempered and cruel, some are black, and some are even ghostly apparitions
of giants long dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all are
eventually defeated, sometimes through some kind of heavenly intervention and
often by the mythical King Arthur who is so popular in Welsh tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next two posts we will learn about
these giants of Wales and their stories, along with their eventual defeat.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Culhwch (or
Kilhwch) and Olwen, often referred to as ‘the Oldest Arthurian tale’, was
written in c1090 and is the oldest and the longest to appear in the Welsh
Mabinogion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Set in the court of Arthur,
the story tells of the feats which the hero, Culhwch, must accomplish in order
to win Olwen, whose father is Ysbaddaden, the Chief Giant, whose eyes are so
heavy that they need to be propped up with forks or spears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another giant to play a minor role within the
tale is Gwrnach, whose sword is needed to complete one of the tasks set by
Ysbaddaden. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the original tale is a good 19 pages long,
I’ll give you one version here, but if you want to read the original in its
entirety you can find it <a href="http://manmythmagic.blogspot.co.uk/p/kilhwch-andolwen-or-twrch-trwyth-kilydd.html">here</a>. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfd28pQ6dkiNZERfLO5jGIObVKz0fZF1rwnJwLOs_Ggvc1BRsFwGlODrx6SzVuZV0vu5h2lPYgpF6R1jbNdUrF4z8Xyb4L959GsWNuZrn1O77oWYxogyceTMNUCUQIz9P6qWA3GuXGqrE8/s1600/ysbaddaden+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfd28pQ6dkiNZERfLO5jGIObVKz0fZF1rwnJwLOs_Ggvc1BRsFwGlODrx6SzVuZV0vu5h2lPYgpF6R1jbNdUrF4z8Xyb4L959GsWNuZrn1O77oWYxogyceTMNUCUQIz9P6qWA3GuXGqrE8/s1600/ysbaddaden+(2).jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://studentaccess.emporia.edu/~jbowen2/arthurwales.html">Ysbaddaden Chief Giant by Alan Lee </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Culhwch and
Olwen<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Culhwch was
the son of Cilydid and Goleuddydd and the cousin of the famous King
Arthur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Goleuddydd died, Cilydid
took another wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new wife thought
Culhwch would make a good husband to her own daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Culhwch refused her request, she became
very angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She laid a curse on him that
the only woman he could ever marry was Olwen, daughter of the fearsome giant
Yspaddaden Pencawr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yspaddaden would not
allow any man to marry his daughter because an ancient curse promised he would
die on the wedding day.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Even so,
Culhwch blushed at the sound of Olwen’s name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He fell in love with the very idea of her and went to his father to ask
how he could win her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cilydid reminded
his son that he was King Arthur’s cousin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He suggested he go to Arthur’s court and ask for Olwen as a favour.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>After a long
journey, Culhwch arrived at the gates of Arthur’s palace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was late and the gates had been closed for
the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gatekeeper explained that
it was Arthur’s custom to keep the gates locked until morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Culhwch flatly refused this response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He demanded to be allowed in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He swore that if he were not, he would let
out a shriek so loud and so shrill that it would cause every pregnant woman in
the land to miscarry her child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
gatekeeper brought this news to Arthur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although several of his knights advised him against doing so, Arthur
went against custom and allowed Culhwch to enter.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>After
greeting each other, Arthur offered his cousin food and drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Culhwch explained that he was there for a
much greater purpose and that he had a favour to ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur promised to grant him whatever he
asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearing this Culhwch replied,
‘Then I ask for Olwen daughter of Chief Giant Ysbaddaden, and I invoke her in
the name of your warriors.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Neither
Arthur nor any of his knights had heard of Olwen, but they promised to help
Culhwch find her nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur
ordered his most skilled warriors to accompany Culhwch on his journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among the men who went along were Kai, who
could hold his breath for nine days and go without sleep for nine nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Kai came his constant companion Bedwyr,
who was as fast with a sword as he was beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The party was rounded out by Gwrhyr, who
could speak the language of any man or animal, Gwalchmei, who could leave no
adventure unachieved, and Menw, who could make himself and his companions
invisible.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec9JQghcvq0a1BzzGhAy72_Hf_KovKJyv481Kg4hwzjb7Dft4A45YLR38O0oybXHAGOOcdwss2TbG_tYVRe9i7tV9xfcRc7BNoA3qr2HfO55XRxNGO2jOQhiSuClEvWYfMncIUfOz0js6/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_culhwch%20and%20olwen_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec9JQghcvq0a1BzzGhAy72_Hf_KovKJyv481Kg4hwzjb7Dft4A45YLR38O0oybXHAGOOcdwss2TbG_tYVRe9i7tV9xfcRc7BNoA3qr2HfO55XRxNGO2jOQhiSuClEvWYfMncIUfOz0js6/s1600/alan%20lee_the%20mabinogion_culhwch%20and%20olwen_02.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/image.php?img=653">Culhwch and Olwen by Alan Lee</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>The party
travelled together until they saw a huge fortress on an open plain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feeding on the plain was a seemingly endless
number of sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were watched over
by a hulking shepherd and his huge dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Menw put a spell on the dog so that they could approach the shepherd
without harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The party asked the
shepherd his name and whose fortress it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He replied that he was Custennin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The fortress belonged to Ysbaddaden, who Custennin and his wife
hated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The evil giant had killed all but
one of their twenty-four sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kept
the only survivor hidden in a stone chest to keep him from harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kai offered to take the boy under his wing
and train him as a knight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In return for
his generous offer Custennin’s wife offered to secure a secret meeting between
Olwen and Culhwch.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Messengers
were dispatched and Olwen came down to the plain to wash her hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the poets of old:</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Her hair was
yellower than broom, her skin whiter than sea-foam…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither the eye of a mewer hawk nor the eye
of a thrice-mewed falcon was fairer than hers; her [skin was] whiter than the
breast of a white swan, her cheeks were redder than the reddest foxgloves, and
anyone who saw her would fall deeply in love.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Culhwch and
Olwen talked together at Custennin’s house and quickly fell in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Olwen stood up to return home, she told
Culhwch to ask her father for her hand in marriage and not to deny anything he
might ask of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In return, she
promised to spend the rest of her days with him.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>The next
day, the party made for Ysbaddaden’s castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They killed the nine gatekeepers and made their was straight to the
giant’s chambers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The giant glared at
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he would think about the
request and give them an answer the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As they turned to go, he grabbed a poisoned spear and threw it at
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Bedwyr, quick as lightning,
caught it and hurled it back, wounding the giant’s knee.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcQOhiY9b-kzPzkISBAcHQws1q2keyDWqp2GbIZczL80XbW7TNT_dynCrr4fEfZQqUGCepC88IYq7-707xlu3Yl7sFW12PsEvcAJXdObF5IEFN1rplDQU3CPzACL2nCxhP2nUbs0u0jEW/s1600/Ysbaddaden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcQOhiY9b-kzPzkISBAcHQws1q2keyDWqp2GbIZczL80XbW7TNT_dynCrr4fEfZQqUGCepC88IYq7-707xlu3Yl7sFW12PsEvcAJXdObF5IEFN1rplDQU3CPzACL2nCxhP2nUbs0u0jEW/s1600/Ysbaddaden.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culhwch_and_Olwen#/media/File:Ysbaddaden.jpeg">Culhwch at Ysbadadden's court by E. Wallcousins</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>The next day
the same thing happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ysbaddaden told
them to return and threw a second spear as they left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Menw caught the spear and this time pierced
the giant’s chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third day they
repeated the ritual once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
time, Culhwch caught the spear and threw it back so hard that it went through
Ysbaddaden’s eye and came out the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The giant finally agreed to sit down with Culhwch and his party to
discuss his daughter’s marriage.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Ysbaddaden
agreed to let Culhwch marry Olwen, but only after he had completed several
tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The giant then listed thirty-nine
tasks, each more impossible than the last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, Culhwch was to plow a vast hill in one day’s time, which
could only be achieved if they captured two magic oxen to lead the plow, which
could only be driven by a certain plowman, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Ysbaddaden named each feat to be
completed or item to be brought back, Culhwch simply responded, ‘It will be
easy for me to get that, though you think otherwise.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Culhwch and
his party made their way back to Arthur’s court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way, Kai fulfilled one of the trials
by tricking a giant named Gwrnach into giving him his sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they arrived at court, they explained to
the king what they must do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur
immediately promised his help and resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The group set out to accomplish the tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They realized that the most dangerous one
would be obtaining the comb and shears that rested between the ears of Twrch
Trwyth, a king transformed into a monstrous boar.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>On their way
to find the boar king, Arthur and his companions attempted to fulfil another of
their tasks – to find Mabon, the son of Modron who had been kidnapped when he
was only three days old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur
instructed Gwyhyr to ask an ancient Blackbird if he knew of Mabon’s
whereabouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Blackbird answered that
while he had been sitting in that spot long enough to peck an anvil to the size
of a nut, he had never heard anyone speak of the boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bird suggested that they ask a beast
older than he, the Stag of Rhedenwre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Stag could not help them, nor could an old Owl nor an ancient
Eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, though, they were
directed toward the Salmon of Lake Llyw who was said to have been the oldest
living creature in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Salmon
indeed knew where Mabon lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even
offered to take Kai and Gwrhyr there on his shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together they made their way to a stone
house, where they heard a terrible wailing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was Mabon, begging for his freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kai and Gwyhyr released Mabon, who then helped them fulfil many of their
tasks.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>After much
time, Arthur decided he and his men were ready to take on Twrch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They advanced to the castle where the boar
king lived with his seven young pig sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The companions fought Twrch for three days with little results.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJfGvXkBSIkvkI_KMQUqzR86N3aO4gK9BLLDHy7kpJU5UUncjmE2Z5rL68HtCbC9goMNQPC5IT2WjrIROrpdvidH3b6WOFJ9WcimIWjv0mHDHvesvUi0dMOxiIMTf2rObzVMXhhv0Szzh/s1600/the_end_of_the_quest_by_lelek1980-d4bx6q2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJfGvXkBSIkvkI_KMQUqzR86N3aO4gK9BLLDHy7kpJU5UUncjmE2Z5rL68HtCbC9goMNQPC5IT2WjrIROrpdvidH3b6WOFJ9WcimIWjv0mHDHvesvUi0dMOxiIMTf2rObzVMXhhv0Szzh/s1600/the_end_of_the_quest_by_lelek1980-d4bx6q2.jpg" height="400" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-End-of-the-Quest-261888842">The End of the Quest by Lelek1980</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Finally,
Arthur sent Gwrhyr in the shape of a bird to speak with Twrch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gwrhyr begged the board king to give up his
comb and scissors in order to put an end to all the fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twrch not only refused, he promised to do
even more damaged to the land and Arthur’s men.<o:p></o:p></em><em>Enraged,
Twrch and his pigs swarmed across the sea into Wales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur and his men followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They made their way all over Britain chasing
Twrch, encountering many adventures and even fulfilling other tasks in the
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over a long period of time, the
pig sons were killed one by one until Twrch alone remained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, they cornered the king and were able
to grab the comb and scissors – but not without great effort and cost on their
part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twrch managed to escape before
Arthur had a chance to kill him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>With the
comb in hand, Arthur had succeeded in helping Culhwch fulfil his trials as
promised. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They made their way back to
Ysbaddaden, bringing him every treasure he had required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gifts he had demanded turned out to be
his death wish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Culhwch asked if
Olwen was his, Ysbaddaden replied, ‘She is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you need not thank me, rather Arthur, who won her for you; of my own
will you would have never got her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
it is time for you to kill me.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>With that,
one of Arthur’s men grabbed the giant and beheaded him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ysbaddaden’s head was placed on a pole in the
wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur seized the fortress and all
the treasures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Culhwch, of course, took
Olwen and the couple was soon married.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Our next
giant, Rhitta Gawr, was alluded to by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote:<o:p></o:p></div>
<em>‘On the
ridge cold and vast,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>There the
giant Ricca lies.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
Rhitta Gawr,
sometimes referred to as Rhita Gawr, Rhitta Cawr, Rhicca, Ricca, or Rhicca
Gawr, was a ‘monstrous aggressive giant who… terrorized the countryside of Yr
Wyddfa Fawr, the Snowdon Mountain range, and challenged chieftains and kings to
do battle with him.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The giant seemed to
have something of a fetish for the beards of rulers, turning them into a mantle
for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tale below also
contains King Arthur and tells of a cairn built for the defeated giant, called
‘Rhita’s Cairn,’ which was, unfortunately destroyed some time ago to make way
for a hotel on the summit of the mountain.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRlPiArdqNeiFMdJ39jjpbO8-MQl41lzyvnPmzzchAhX1RcLE_HlZHYPM_Bqlgh6toHnIzkTIWyHGrTccjcwWDwffeoBMbNq9DlAeos28MeBLUpz2GlmCvtz73XMEg-jFoUY8NRSAI3UK/s1600/cairn-eryri-snowdonia.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRlPiArdqNeiFMdJ39jjpbO8-MQl41lzyvnPmzzchAhX1RcLE_HlZHYPM_Bqlgh6toHnIzkTIWyHGrTccjcwWDwffeoBMbNq9DlAeos28MeBLUpz2GlmCvtz73XMEg-jFoUY8NRSAI3UK/s1600/cairn-eryri-snowdonia.gif" height="237" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.celtnet.org.uk/legends/rhith_gawr.html">Cairn at the top of Eryri, Snowdonia, like that which Rhitta was buried under</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Mantle
of Kings’ Beards<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>There were
formerly two kings in Britain named Nynio and Peibio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One moonlit night, as they were walking the
fields, ‘See,’ said Nynio, ‘what a beautiful and extensive field I
possess.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Where is it?’ said
Peibio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘There it is,’ said Nynio, ‘the
whole sky, as far as vision can extend.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘And does thou see,’ said Peibio, ‘what countless herds and flocks of
cattle and sheep I have grazing in thy field?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Where are they?’ said Nynio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘There they are,’ said Peibio, ‘the whole host of stars which thou
seest, each of golden brightness, with the Moon for their shepherdess, to look
after their wanderings.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘They shall not
graze in my pasture,’ said Nynio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘They
shall,’ said Peibio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘They shall not,’
said the one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘They shall,’ said the
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From contention it came to
furious war, and the armies and subjects of both the kings were nearly all
destroyed.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Rhitta Gawr,
King of Wales, hearing of the desolation wrought by these mad monarchs,
determined to attack them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having
previously consulted the laws and his people, he marched against them,
vanquished them and cut off their beards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the other Kings of Britain, twenty-eight in number, heard of this,
they combined all their legions to avenge the degradation committed on the two
disbearded kings, and made a fierce onset on Rhitta the Giant and his forces,
and furiously bold was the engagement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Rhitta won the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘This is
my extensive field,’ said he then, and he shaved the beards of these kings
also, so that he now had the beards of thirty Kings of Britain.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KIuXvJDKdrSlv60LwgE-o3FaAIsV6gjdui-DTdWrGO9tRPGAC0i6_qf3ElPsz1kQ16IFVB6nAloTwzlXwHqtsFtxXzCIucMt0FvWdhx7vzOwbHxqlFrBhYSCeVNlBQQ2WForRKNn3L3-/s1600/fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KIuXvJDKdrSlv60LwgE-o3FaAIsV6gjdui-DTdWrGO9tRPGAC0i6_qf3ElPsz1kQ16IFVB6nAloTwzlXwHqtsFtxXzCIucMt0FvWdhx7vzOwbHxqlFrBhYSCeVNlBQQ2WForRKNn3L3-/s1600/fight.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.snowdonwales.co.uk/ryongawr.html">Arthur and Rhitta Gawr - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<em>When the
kings of the surrounding countries heard of the disgrace inflicted on all these
disbearded kings, they armed themselves against Rhitta and his men, and tremendous
was the conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Rhitta achieved a
decisive victory, and then exclaimed, ‘This is my immense field,’ and at once
ordered his men to shave off the beards of the kings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then pointing to them, ‘These,’ said he, ‘are
the animals that grazed my field, but I have driven them out: they shall no
longer depasture there.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that he
took up all the beards and trimmed with them a mantle for himself that extended
from head to heel: and Rhitta was twice as large as any other person ever seen.</em><br />
<em>Then Rhitta
sent a messenger to the Court of King Arthur to say that he had trimmed a
mantle with kings’ beards, and to command Arthur carefully to flay off his
beard and send it to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of respect
to his pre-eminence over other kings his beard should have the honour of the
principal place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if he refused to do
it, he challenged him to a duel, with this offer, that the conqueror should
have the mantle and the beard of the vanquished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then was Arthur furiously wroth and said:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>‘Were it
permitted to slay a messenger, thou shouldest not go back to thy lord alive,
for this is the most arrogant and villainous message that ever man sent to a
king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the faith of my body, Rhitta
shall lose his head.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Arthur
gathered his host and marched into Gwynedd and encountered Rhitta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The twain fought on foot, and they gave one
another blows so fierce, so frequent and so powerful, that their helmets were
pierced and their skullcaps were broken and their arms were shattered and the
light of their eyes was darkened by sweat and blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the last Arthur became enraged, and he
called to him all his strength: and boldly angry and swiftly resolute and
furiously determined, he lifted up his sword and struck Rhitta on the crown of
the head a blow so fiercely-wounding, severely-venomous and sternly-smiting
that it cut through all his head armour and his skin and his flesh and clove
him in twain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Rhitta gave up the
ghost, and was buried on the top of the highest mountain of Eryri, and each of
his soldiers placed a stone on his tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The place was afterwards known as Gwyddfa Rhitta, Rhitta’s Barrow, but
the English call it Snowdon.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwF1fBmJ22xl3cUj6NrjrDHClljowUXhhgNqJ1O-lvSDKv-U2hldSUD3okvjZ0AUE-jA-8ceHigyQ8Gp04bKmcvFN66OZ2H2sGi8kM-7Rb5qPV-4Aii1uwlvNuvMLOvzl51AJ56wQfAFL/s1600/095332_bfef677b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwF1fBmJ22xl3cUj6NrjrDHClljowUXhhgNqJ1O-lvSDKv-U2hldSUD3okvjZ0AUE-jA-8ceHigyQ8Gp04bKmcvFN66OZ2H2sGi8kM-7Rb5qPV-4Aii1uwlvNuvMLOvzl51AJ56wQfAFL/s1600/095332_bfef677b.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/95332">Garwed the Giant terrorized Craig-y-Ddinas</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our next
tale concerns Garwed the Giant, who spent his time praying on the local cattle,
leaving the people so distraught that they sought the help of King Arthur to
rid them of the giant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Arthur and
Garwed the Giant<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>The tale of
another of Arthur’s giant-killing episode is directly linked to the various
episodes linking Arthur to Craig-y-Ddinas near Pontneddfechan in the Vale of
Neath which according to some legends is Arthur’s final resting place.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>The tale
itself relates to Garwed the Giant who was terrorizing the neighbourhood around
Craig-y-Ddinas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was praying on the
local cattle herds and when the cattle were moved away or he had consumed them
all he terrorized the local people to supply him with live bullocks and
heifers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matters had become so desperate
that envoys were sent to Arthur’s court in Caerllion to request
assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just so happened that the
envoys arrived when Arthur was holding court at Caerllion and the Great Leader
heard their petition himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On hearing
of their troubles he personally vowed to rid their land of the marauding giant.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The
following morning Arthur arrayed himself in his armour and mounting his
favourite charger he rode out with Bedwyr and Cei at his side.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The horsemen
reached the outskirts of Pontneddfechan<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something whistled through the air above them
and the riders immediately halted their steeds; and only just in time as a
huge, damp, clod of earth thwacked wetly onto the path just ahead of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moments later and all three riders spurred
their steeds off the path and into the nearby woods as wattle fences, crumbling
sheets of daub, hunks of thatch and tree-trunk posts – now shredded to little
more than cordwood – darkened the skies and rained down upon them.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Barking an
order, Arthur, undaunted, led him compatriots onwards through the wooded verge
of the track and towards the source of the destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a while the thudding of their horses’
hooves and the whipping of the branches about them almost covered the sounds of
roaring and pounding ahead of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
soon enough, as they veered from the tree verge and back onto the path the
pounding became so pronounced that the very ground beneath them began to shake.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FKsqBgSZBZvTsByBU-eDHTL3IwTkvB7SeDXFPV0OuaVHwZtLKKdAV-wvWPrWjGW4u5mJt_iEo2our-dtFDakBsq65YhSu-gyg_Cqn6hSplA1vqVHYAgOOrUvOZtObffsMFptld84y9of/s1600/250fe78498e8f0242803cb2f83492698-d8d2n99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FKsqBgSZBZvTsByBU-eDHTL3IwTkvB7SeDXFPV0OuaVHwZtLKKdAV-wvWPrWjGW4u5mJt_iEo2our-dtFDakBsq65YhSu-gyg_Cqn6hSplA1vqVHYAgOOrUvOZtObffsMFptld84y9of/s1600/250fe78498e8f0242803cb2f83492698-d8d2n99.jpg" height="400" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/King-of-the-Britons-505687869">King of the Britons by theDURRRRIAN*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Within
instants they had broken through into a clearing, coming upon what had once
been a farmstead – but which was now little more than a ruined wreck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the midst of the ruination there was a
giant squatting upon his haunches within a crater of his own creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His hands wrapped around a byre which he held
up to the sky and rattled even as one roving eye peered within.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every now and then he would raise his hands
to rattle the byre, sending clouds of clay and whitewash drifting to the ground
by his feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he would tilt the
building upwards so that he could peer within once more.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Arthur and
his teulu reached within striking distance of the giant just as he crushed the
byre in his hands and hurled it spear-like into the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Halting his steed, Arthur dismounted and
handed the reins to Bedwyr before calmly walking towards the giant figure
before him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tilting his head upwards
Arthur addressed the giant, saying: ‘I am Arthur, protector of this realm – to
whom am I addressing?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Puny
mannikin,' replied the giant, inclining his head to look at the small figure
before him, 'I am Garwed and these are my feeding grounds. If you truly
are the protector of this realm, bring me kine before I start feeding on your
people.' <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Arthur
gathered himself to his full height and suddenly he seemed to grow in both
stature and majesty. 'Garwed,' he said, addressing the giant, 'you have
consumed all the fair beasts of the regions hereabouts...' <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The giant
roared at this and raised his hand as if to swat Arthur away. But Arthur raised
his own hand as if in a sign of appeasement. 'But...', he continued, '...there
is a realm close to this that is overflowing with fine white cattle.' <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'SHOW ME,'
thundered the giant. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Instead of
replying Arthur simply mounted his steed and with a wave of his hand indicated
that Garwed should follow the three mounted men. As they turned their steeds'
heads and cantered westwards the giant loped behind them, each footfall shaking
the ground as it impacted with the earth. They rode quietly for a good half
hour even as the giant's grumblings grew louder and louder behind them until
they eventually emerged into a clearing beside a river. Before them stood a single
imposing crag, rough inposing and shaped like a lopsided triangle. Arthur
simply slowed his steed, pointed at the crag and of Craig y Ddinas and began to
slowly ease his steed along the riverbank. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ1ohfNe7doQuvoZ0UsWDavKdEKlcRW_7-oAkeE2AkdzHaxFbpCKqXjlfLnDCFUfQtioa2rl3Yi7Ue72Jd0dnMlzUDH1IUbi-j2goxOqc9rTFCZt6C39upwHDwIk9yVkZiGWY7ctkWLJe/s1600/giant_by_jjpeabody-d8g92c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ1ohfNe7doQuvoZ0UsWDavKdEKlcRW_7-oAkeE2AkdzHaxFbpCKqXjlfLnDCFUfQtioa2rl3Yi7Ue72Jd0dnMlzUDH1IUbi-j2goxOqc9rTFCZt6C39upwHDwIk9yVkZiGWY7ctkWLJe/s1600/giant_by_jjpeabody-d8g92c3.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Giant-511026195">Giant by jjpeabodyB</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Eventually they veered from the
riverbank and began heading immediately towards the crag of Craig y Dinas and
Arthur urged his steed into a canter and then a gallop, forcing the giant to
enter into a long-legged lope to keep up with them. Within moments they were
passing an ancient gnarled hazel tree at the base of Craig y Ddinas, heading
for the outcrop itself. At the lower slope Arthur dismounted from his steed and
motioned his companions to do likewise. Then all three warriors waited for the
giant to catch-up with them. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Reaching
level with Arthur and his men, the giant towered over them and roared down at
them 'Where are my Kine?'. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Through
there', replied Aathur, pointing at the rock face of Craig-y-Ddinas. Beyond
that lies the gateway to the Summer Realm and there there are magical kine, the
fattest and most succulent that anyone has ever seen. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>'Hmph...'
harrumphed the giant... 'But where?' <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Simply dig
where I indicate, Arthur replied, and you will gain the Summer Realm. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The giant
viewed the three small humans with dubious uncertainty, but he turned to face
the mountain and began to tear at the soil and the rocks with his hands,
sending great chunks of mountainside arcing into the air over their heads.
Deeper and deeper the giant dug, until his head and then his shoulders and then
almost his entire torso vanished into the hole he was forming. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxVmojTL5LQShb36SY9tE0kymxI9jIYycDxjsLyPTOKLnkcO6-hvqWO_Cz1mqT6VO1cWI70ErLIb9J8Z9qvVtNELSvExqwnQN8zghwTYRkyOGRncQ2GuDpFa1C6PWgitZh3nLS_uAH2L5/s1600/fallen_giant_by_batatalion-d4whm9b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxVmojTL5LQShb36SY9tE0kymxI9jIYycDxjsLyPTOKLnkcO6-hvqWO_Cz1mqT6VO1cWI70ErLIb9J8Z9qvVtNELSvExqwnQN8zghwTYRkyOGRncQ2GuDpFa1C6PWgitZh3nLS_uAH2L5/s1600/fallen_giant_by_batatalion-d4whm9b.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Fallen-Giant-296434415">Fallen Giant by Batatalion</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>At that
point, Arthur shouted 'Now!' and he and his companions took up their spears and
rushed the giant. Still half-stuck in the hole he had digged, Garwed struggled
to back out, but he was wedged stuck and the three spears struck him deeply. So
mighty was Arthur's strike that his spear went through the giant's back,
straight into his heart and kept on going deep into the mountain. Indeed, it
caused a fissure from which emerged a spring, that spring which now feeds the
river which bears the giant's name, Afon Garwed. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>The giant's
heartblood was spilled and it trickled down the mountain side to the roots of
the gnarled hazel tree at its base. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Arthur
turned to his men and said to them: 'This is an enchanted place now, here, one
day we shall sleep the sleep of the ages.' <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Many years
passed, and the giant's body decayed and merged with the tunnel he had dug to
form a cave, a cave that the giant's blood enchanted to make it invisible from
the gaze of mortal men.</em> <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Sion Dafydd
Rhys, writing around c.1600, detailed several Welsh giants in his ‘<em>The Giants
of Wales and Their Dwellings</em>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
included Maylor, or Maelor Gawr and his sons Cornippin Gawn, Crygyn Gawr and
Bwba Gawr, and told of the capture of Maylor Gawr.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIvvqcY9IAe-8Rqg-L3zN95vRYJc6BHKfRi3nodDMmJseEmZLQW1-JYilYDI5Fqw3EAQIRt0nmTyr9nmzsZcVilQIAxE8n54SdP9jveWnearGrJoUKllsmKNAG68O02dv6viFWAbntZ39/s1600/Pen_Dinas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIvvqcY9IAe-8Rqg-L3zN95vRYJc6BHKfRi3nodDMmJseEmZLQW1-JYilYDI5Fqw3EAQIRt0nmTyr9nmzsZcVilQIAxE8n54SdP9jveWnearGrJoUKllsmKNAG68O02dv6viFWAbntZ39/s1600/Pen_Dinas.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_Dinas#/media/File:Pen_Dinas.jpg">'Dinas Maelor' or 'Maelor's Fort', Wales</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Capture
of Maylor Gawr<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>And in the
country of Aberteifi, before the coming of Brutus to this island, there
formerly lived Maylor Gawr, and the place where he lived is still called
Castell Maylor which was built on a high hill or high ridge called Y Dinas on the
one side of the river Ystwyth within the boundary of the town of Aber
Yystwhyth.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>To this
Maylor Gawr were three sons, namely, Cornippin Gawr, and Crygyn Gawr, and Bwba
Gawr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Corpinnin Gawr dwelt in a castle
which is still called after his own name, namely Castell Cornippin opposite the
parish of Llan Ychaiam within the commote of Meifienydd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it came to pass that Maylor Gawr was
taken prisoner in a place called Cyfeilog, about twelve miles from his own
castle: and when on the point of being put to death, he begged of his enemies
to permit him to blow his horn three times before suffering death, which thing
was allowed to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then he blew his
horn the first time until the hair on his head and beard fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on the second blast of his horn, so great
was the strength and force of the sounding that all his finger and toe-nails
fell off completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on the third
blast of his horn the intensity of the force of the sound caused the horn to be
broken into small pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then when
his son Cornippin was hunting, as he rode on his huge horse and leading his
hound by hand, and hearing the sound of his father’s horn, he saddened greatly,
and he longed beyond measure for his father: and that place, to this present
day is called <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DeXYAA69RGnt-KLMPtlNkhG3WIV-F5BguU7ZJV32L76H9gizz5fkZA8ceHigEX8Wq_9TEktGwqBw0Gx59ZSj6O_kEmG2_hghhxs2o5c3BppdA5iT-HYnqCLdNUbzk3kTzVOFq2my1qc9/s1600/2380f47177f5e58f2f4844ffc05ed582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DeXYAA69RGnt-KLMPtlNkhG3WIV-F5BguU7ZJV32L76H9gizz5fkZA8ceHigEX8Wq_9TEktGwqBw0Gx59ZSj6O_kEmG2_hghhxs2o5c3BppdA5iT-HYnqCLdNUbzk3kTzVOFq2my1qc9/s1600/2380f47177f5e58f2f4844ffc05ed582.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://500px.com/photo/88119083/ystwyth-river-by-matt-davies?utm_campaign=nativeshare&utm_content=web&utm_medium=pinterest&utm_source=500px">Ystwyth river by Matt Davies</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cefn Hiraethog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then
he began to return towards his father in seeking to help him: and in riding
with such haste and swiftness, he tore the head of his hound off its body,
until there only remained in the leash the head and mouth of the dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that place is still called to this day,
The Pass of the Dog’s Muzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when
he saw that, he spurred his steed until the horse leapt at one bound over the
Ystwyth River so that it was a great wonder to see such a length of leap, is
called to this hour Ol Carn y March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
in that manner Cornippin came up to his father, where after fighting he also
was killed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>And Crygyn
Gawr dwelt in Castell Grygyn within the parish of Llan Hilar, and in the same
commote.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Bwba Gawr
lived in the castle which still bears his name, namely, Castell Bwba, in the
parish of Llan Bodam Fawr in the middle commote.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>These giants
lived in Wales before Brutus came to this island, and their custom while they
lived was to kill whatever men should come to lodge within their strongholds
until at last the same man came and killed them both the same night by cunning.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Another
giant found within Sion’s writings is Cribwr Gawr, with the writing detailing
the death of his sisters at the hands of Arthur. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tale bears some resemblance to the tale
of Odysseus and Polyphemus, in which Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name
is Nobody – a trick which enabled Odysseus to both blind and escape Polyphemus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
country of Morgannwg was Cribwr Gawr in Castell Cefn Cribwr by Llan
Gewydd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur killed three sisters of
Cribwr by treachery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Arthur
nicknamed him(self) Hot Pottage to the first sister, and Warm Porridge to the
second sister (so the tale runs), and a Morsel of Bread to the third, and when
the first sister called for help against Hot Pottage Cribwr answered: Wench,
let him cool; and in the same manner he answered the second sister, when she
sought assistance against Warm Porridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the third sister called out that the Morsel of Bread was choking her,
and to this he answered, Wench, take a smaller piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when Cribwr reproached Arthur for killing
his sisters Arthur replied by an englyn milwr in this manner:<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl59kWfIwHYRUOfZ1xT_BlDStkdExxY-XuExrh1ls4sV9_P_H79pvAOwASbwLb2ZqYEl1SXwlIFaquJe3i_VHxazZnNho4SuasSeoj2exstg6ZhKjxL6hQDg7_tsqnuVfwQ9LXAo9N2pJY/s1600/y-cribarth_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl59kWfIwHYRUOfZ1xT_BlDStkdExxY-XuExrh1ls4sV9_P_H79pvAOwASbwLb2ZqYEl1SXwlIFaquJe3i_VHxazZnNho4SuasSeoj2exstg6ZhKjxL6hQDg7_tsqnuVfwQ9LXAo9N2pJY/s1600/y-cribarth_jpg.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kingswaycomputers.co.uk/ray-thomas-artist/slideshow/pages/y-cribarth_jpg.htm">Y Cribarth (The Sleeping Giant) by Ray Thomas</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Cribwr take
thy combs<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>And cease
with currish anger<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>If I get a
real chance – surely <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>What they
have had, thou shalt have too.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>No one could
kill the three sisters together, so great was their strength, but singly by
stealth Arthur killed them.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>And the
place is still called after his name Cribarth, namely, Garth Cribwr Gawr. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p>That's all for today. Tomorrow we will cover the rest of the giants of Wales, including Benlli Gawr, the Giant of Wales, and the black ghost giants of Welsh folklore and the Mabinogion.</o:p></div>
<br />
<strong>Useful Resources</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/mab/index.htm">The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest</a> </div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427287469&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters+%26+Dragons%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+Folklore%2C+Legend%2C+and+Myth+by+Carol+Rose">Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by CarolRose</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Guide-Literature-English/dp/0521429048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427287510&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Cambridge+Paperback+Guide+to+Literature+in+English+by+Ian+Ousby">The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Mythology-Rocks-Catherine-Bernard-ebook/dp/B0093DW3F0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427287555&sr=8-1&keywords=Celtic+Mythology+Rocks%21+By+Catherine+Bernard">Celtic Mythology Rocks! By Catherine Bernard</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Welsh-Fairy-Dover-Childrens-Classics/dp/0486417115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427287585&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Welsh+Fairy+Book+by+W.+Jenkyn+Thomas">The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas</a><br />
<a href="http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/giants_wales.html">The Giants of Wales and their Dwellings by Sion Dafydd Rhys</a> <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p></o:p> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-54069312190940277882015-03-25T11:51:00.000+00:002015-04-06T08:49:01.121+01:00Mythical Creatures: Giants of Greece and Rome - Part ThreeToday is the final post on the Giants of Greece and Rome, which will cover the Cyclopes, the giant one-eyed beings born of Gain and Ouranos, the Gigantes, born of Gaia and the blood of Uranus, and Typhon, the offspring of Gain and Tartaros.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfYQ3e7MG6tXVUGfqLpnNwpBaVQuHT9hwjpWn7xZUAiAnIb5J99YymqzPrHQtq3WSX_cscQu_GApZ-mwRoRU7J8cZbeEULkZlOorUTpRB7lDQXOd0QIrKHawoSt2_Syvk5iTzU3t17mmF/s1600/fenix___brontes_by_zebes-d3duod8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfYQ3e7MG6tXVUGfqLpnNwpBaVQuHT9hwjpWn7xZUAiAnIb5J99YymqzPrHQtq3WSX_cscQu_GApZ-mwRoRU7J8cZbeEULkZlOorUTpRB7lDQXOd0QIrKHawoSt2_Syvk5iTzU3t17mmF/s1600/fenix___brontes_by_zebes-d3duod8.jpg" height="320" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/FENIX-Brontes-204664796">FENIX - Brontes by ZEBES</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Cyclopes</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Cyclopes, sometimes spelled Kyklopes which means ‘Round Eyes’, were the
children of Gaia and Ouranos, or Uranus, with their siblings being the
Hundred-Handed Giants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The names of this
first generation of Cyclopes were Brontes, meaning ‘Thunder,’ Steropes, meaning
‘Lightning’, and Arges, meaning ‘Thunderbolt’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hesiod’s Theogony tells us:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>She further
bore the Kyklopes with exceeding forceful hearts,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Brontes and
Steropes and Arges mighty of spirit,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Who gave to
Zeus the thunder sound and fashioned the thunderbolt.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
They were
like the gods in all respects except<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The single
eye that lay in the middle of their foreheads.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
They are
named Kyklopes from this feature,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Because one
circular eye lay in the forehead of each.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Strong is
their brute force, and designs are upon their deeds.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPzH3yO5yEi5w13uhUBHa7Pec-yU-IZsBALuiRikp4DfCaDZInzxZmzG23eD49Mw2qrNRBjIAhYhM0CVVMG5Yo1gCpk26Ut1ZI375jPoOtYySiFEqz6DI1CyVQuktpWaV_Z-gCkBvBaU9/s1600/F7.1Hephaistos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPzH3yO5yEi5w13uhUBHa7Pec-yU-IZsBALuiRikp4DfCaDZInzxZmzG23eD49Mw2qrNRBjIAhYhM0CVVMG5Yo1gCpk26Ut1ZI375jPoOtYySiFEqz6DI1CyVQuktpWaV_Z-gCkBvBaU9/s1600/F7.1Hephaistos.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Kyklopes.html">Cyclopes at the forge of Hephaestus</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Cyclopes, like the Hundred-Handed Giants, were imprisoned by the Titans inside
Tartaros and were freed by Zeus before the battle between the gods and the
Titans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They repaid this kindness by
giving Zeus the thunderbolt and its sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the battle, they were given forges beneath Mount Etna, where they
forged weapons for the gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
mentioned again in Apollodorus’ <em>Library</em>, where they are killed by Apollo to
avenge the death of his son, Aesculapius, at the hands of Zeus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>…Leucippus
begat Arsinoe: with her Apollo had intercourse, and she bore Aesculapius…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And having become a surgeon, and carried the
art to a great pitch, he not only prevented some from dying, but even raised up
the dead; for he had received from Athena the blood that flowed from the veins
of the Gorgon, and while he used the blood that flowed from the veins on the
left side for the bane of mankind, he used the blood that flowed from the right
side for salvation, and by that means he raised the dead.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmon4z0YcXptL-yarKKka_2xzs20osLjJrDATMJLBG4HO-44pFnRCJHaaHPOLL1JO9CPMJTR_3tdr-jbsrt7ZQ16-fB9msJ5dlq1iKAW7hv3Ag7xXz8AkPuB8b7_L0m0hYIwYhtLNBfRF-/s1600/$T2eC16NHJIYE9qUcM7y6BRn1tSv,dQ~~60_57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmon4z0YcXptL-yarKKka_2xzs20osLjJrDATMJLBG4HO-44pFnRCJHaaHPOLL1JO9CPMJTR_3tdr-jbsrt7ZQ16-fB9msJ5dlq1iKAW7hv3Ag7xXz8AkPuB8b7_L0m0hYIwYhtLNBfRF-/s1600/$T2eC16NHJIYE9qUcM7y6BRn1tSv,dQ~~60_57.jpg" height="400" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/apollo-killing-the-cyclops/fAHTwpwYvqvQqw?projectId=art-project">Apollo killing the Cyclops by Domenichino and assistants </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But Zeus,
fearing that men might acquire the healing art from him and so come to the
rescue of each other, smote him with a thunderbolt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angry on that account, Apollo slew the
Cyclopes who had fashioned the thunderbolt for Zeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Zeus would have hurled him to Tartaros;
however, at the intercession of Latona he ordered him to serve as a thrall to a
man for a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he went to Admetus,
son of Pheres, at Pherae, and served him as a herdsman, and caused all the cows
to drop twins.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The <em>Odyssey</em>,
an epic tale written by Homer, tells of the hero Odysseus as he journeys home
after the Trojan War – a journey which takes him ten years to complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within this myth we find Polyphemus –
possibly the most well-known Cyclops of Greek mythology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and the nymph
Thousa, is of the second generation of Cyclops.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Odysseus and
Polyphemus<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>The war at
Troy was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Achaeans had burnt
the great city of Priam; and Odysseus and all the other princes set out in
their ships to go home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the winds
and storms carried them away to many lands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only a few reached the countries which they had left to go to Troy; and
these were tossed about for a long time on the sea, and went through great toil
and many dangers.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-88yW-U6iJnKzjhkJpW59O9-K7T729d7MwN0hZ1IoiLABw_yteTQQJ5C_p8fMLBB6IvE05r7EQIJ-3AhKdbAqLNzoFQnzvYfgMQEGVO6sZNYlaOxwX_tSHNjQYsuZNkX4wswcdye6Hjs/s1600/odysseus_and_poseidon_by_faolainillustration-d7te9on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-88yW-U6iJnKzjhkJpW59O9-K7T729d7MwN0hZ1IoiLABw_yteTQQJ5C_p8fMLBB6IvE05r7EQIJ-3AhKdbAqLNzoFQnzvYfgMQEGVO6sZNYlaOxwX_tSHNjQYsuZNkX4wswcdye6Hjs/s1600/odysseus_and_poseidon_by_faolainillustration-d7te9on.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Odysseus-and-Poseidon-472637831">Odysseus and Poseidon by faolainIllustration</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At first the
ships of Odysseus went on merrily with a fresh breeze: and the men thought that
they would soon come to rocky Ithaca, where their homes were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Athena was angry with Odysseus, and she
asked Poseidon, the lord of the sea, to send a great storm and scatter his
ships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the wind arose, and the waters
of the sea began to heave and swell, and the sky was black with clouds and
rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many days and many nights the
storm raged fiercely; and when it was over, Odysseus could only see four or
five of all the ships which had sailed with him for Troy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ships were drenched with the waves which
had broken over them, and the men were wet and cold and tired; and they were
glad indeed when they saw an island far away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So they sat down on the benches, and took the great oars and rowed the
ships towards the shore: and as they came near, they saw that the island was
very beautiful, with cliffs and rocks, and bays for ships to take shelter from
the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they rowed into one of
these quiet bays, where the water was always calm, and where they was no need
to let down an anchor, or to tie the ship by ropes to the ship by ropes to the
sea shore, for the ship lay there quite still of itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the head of the bay a stream of fresh
water trickled down from the cliffs, and ran close to the opening of a large
cave, and near the cave some willow trees drooped their branches over the
stream, which ran down towards the sea.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN7qbERANvZMqoJdeRnxfp6R44BplIpH0gOcKqhYOiGW7xp_pFnznhsUEv9eD75w6Gh1YcNZRGi3rT7uvVObIC_C48ptCXcEJHo6fNkKu59XehToqJv18k_AGfqdhD3lY-kMAN-61d_Vy/s1600/tumblr_mhwnsqb5iB1rqqedro1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN7qbERANvZMqoJdeRnxfp6R44BplIpH0gOcKqhYOiGW7xp_pFnznhsUEv9eD75w6Gh1YcNZRGi3rT7uvVObIC_C48ptCXcEJHo6fNkKu59XehToqJv18k_AGfqdhD3lY-kMAN-61d_Vy/s1600/tumblr_mhwnsqb5iB1rqqedro1_1280.jpg" height="320" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hadrian6.tumblr.com/post/42581115269/polyphemus-1524-34-detail-from-fresco-palazzo">Polyphemus, detail from fresco</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So they made
haste to go on shore; and when they had landed, they saw fine large plains on
which the corn might grow, but no one had taken the trouble to sow the seed;
and sloping hills for grapes to ripen on the vines, but none were planted on
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Odysseus thought that the
people who lived there must be very strange, because they had no corn and no
vines, and he could see no houses, but only sheep and goats feeding on the
hill-sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took his bow and
arrows, and shot many of the goats, and he and his men lay down on the ground
and had a merry meal, and drank the rich red wine which they had brought with
them from the ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when they had
finished eating and drinking they fell asleep, and did not wake up till the
morning showed its bright rosy light in the eastern sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then
Odysseus said that he would take some of his men and go to see who lived on the
island, while the others remained in the ship close to the sea-shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they set out, and at last they came to the
mouth of a great big cave, where many sheep and goats were penned up in large
folds; but they could see no one in the cave or anywhere near it; and they
waited a long while, but no one came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
they lit a fire, and made themselves merry, as they ate the cheese and drank
the milk which was stored up round the sides of the cave.</em><br />
<em>Presently
they heard a great noise of heavy feet stamping on the ground, and they were so
frightened that they ran inside the cave and crouched down at the end of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nearer and nearer came the Cyclops,
and his tread almost made the earth shake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At last he came, with many dry logs of wood on his back; and in came all
the sheep, which he milked every evening; but the rams and the goats stated
outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if Odysseus and his men
were afraid when they saw Polyphemus the Cyclops come in, they were much more
afraid when he took up a great stone, which was almost as big as the mouth of
the cave, and set it up against it for a door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the men whispered to Odysseus, and said, ‘Did we not beg and pray
you not to come into the cave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But would
you listen to us; and now how are we to get out again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, two-and-twenty waggons would not be able
to take away that huge stone from t</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZAbaf-YpknHtVJdv8F41lpmdT6JrZW9YghVu9B2qJV9rU8jaJGUWRUIMdoP8ZERFHppKY3DMWMtOoHLXU1ypI1jRcoztdUlg23CzjubWvYdzL_udBW8kOUwgHaViVzsTbJ_LXhW-fI5t/s1600/maloan_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZAbaf-YpknHtVJdv8F41lpmdT6JrZW9YghVu9B2qJV9rU8jaJGUWRUIMdoP8ZERFHppKY3DMWMtOoHLXU1ypI1jRcoztdUlg23CzjubWvYdzL_udBW8kOUwgHaViVzsTbJ_LXhW-fI5t/s1600/maloan_10.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20740/20740-h/20740-h.htm#Page_106">The One-Eyed Polyphemus - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>he mouth of the cave.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they were shut in now, and there was no
use in thinking of their folly for coming in.<o:p></o:p>
So there
they lay, crouching in the corner of the cave, and trembling with fear lest Polyphemus
should see them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Cyclops went on
milking all the sheep, and then he put the milk into the bowls round the sides
of the cave, and lit the fire to cook his meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the flame shot up from the burning wood to the roof of the cave, it
showed him the forms of Odysseus and his companions, where they lay huddled
together in the corner; and he cried out to them with a loud voice, ‘Who are
you that dare to come into the cave of Polyphemus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you come to rob me of my sheep, or my
cheese and milk that I keep here?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>Then
Odysseus said, ‘Oh! No, we are not come to do you any harm: we are Achaeans who
have been fighting at Troy to bring back Helen, whom Paris stole away from
Sparta, and we went there with the great King Agamemnon, who everybody knows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are on our way home to Ithaca, but
Poseidon sent a great storm, because Athena was angry with me; and almost all
our ships have been sunk in the sea, or broken to pieces on the rocks.’<o:p></o:p>
When he had
finished speaking, Polyphemus frowned savagely and said, ‘I know nothing of
Agamemnon, or Paris, or Helen;’ and he seized two of the men, and broke their
heads against the stones, and cooked them for his dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That day Polyphemus ate a huge meal, and
drank several bowls full of milk; and after that he fell fast asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, as he lay there snoring in his heavy
sleep, Odysseus thought how easy it would be to plunge his sword into his
breast and kill him; and he was just going to do it when he thought of the
great stone which </em><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIMbELF07f2owjKRTjCzlZ48aN5xinOVQN-3h0ENip5H3XW8IZtBbuQ-45ymCcTfIV-bBdRpbR7qPyEVUiPaBVTf4hHnsqjXD-rOi_6k9jiBT_7TyNBEpKFVUZdAQyB-N7A6UeMwEVlVS/s1600/57985250.MoscowDec05172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIMbELF07f2owjKRTjCzlZ48aN5xinOVQN-3h0ENip5H3XW8IZtBbuQ-45ymCcTfIV-bBdRpbR7qPyEVUiPaBVTf4hHnsqjXD-rOi_6k9jiBT_7TyNBEpKFVUZdAQyB-N7A6UeMwEVlVS/s1600/57985250.MoscowDec05172.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/image/57985250">Odysseus in the Cave of Polyphemus by Jacob Jordaens </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Polyphemus had placed at the mouth of the cave; and he knew
that if Polyphemus were killed no one else could move away the stone, so they
would all die shut up in that dismal place.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
So the hours
of the night went slowly son, but neither Odysseus nor his friends could seep,
for they thought of the men whom Polyphemus had eater, and how they would very
likely be eaten up themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At last
they could tell, from the dim light which came in between the top of the stone
and the roof of the cave, that the morning was come: and soon Polyphemus awoke
and milked all the sheep again; and when he had done this, he went to the end
of the cave and took up two more men and killed and ate them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he took down the great stone from the
mouth of the cave, and drove all the cattle out to graze on the soft grass of
the hills; and Odysseus began to hope that they might be able to get away
before Polyphemus came back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
Cyclops was not so silly as to let them go, for, as soon as the cattle were
gone out, he took up the big stone again as easily as if it had been a little
pebble, and put it up against the mouth of the cave; and there were Odysseus
and his friends shut up again as fast as ever.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then
Odysseus began to think more and more how they were to get away, for if they
stayed there they would soon be all killed, if Polyphemus went on eating four
of them every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At last, near the
sheep-fold, he saw a club of Polyphemus, which Polyphemus was going to use as a
walking stick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the whole trunk of
an olive tree, fresh and green, for he had only just cut it and left it to dry,
that he might carry if about when it was fit for use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There it lay like the mast of a ship, which
twenty men could hardly have lifted; and Odysseus cut off a bit from the end, as
much as a man could carry, and </em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTP85MgcT2mkT7P3TbBTEHamDr5_WmZtJqdhEDra2dPhtaAPLnYDXjujZswCvEtv2yAQJFfhicbtINtaM6CM8k36Ov8IxdZCI9VmU0H1NjuOR4BIF6_VWh0od2XhdNGBnt1wIYeVJg9M1/s1600/odysseus_and_polyphemus_by_2headedmonster-d6vfv2t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTP85MgcT2mkT7P3TbBTEHamDr5_WmZtJqdhEDra2dPhtaAPLnYDXjujZswCvEtv2yAQJFfhicbtINtaM6CM8k36Ov8IxdZCI9VmU0H1NjuOR4BIF6_VWh0od2XhdNGBnt1wIYeVJg9M1/s1600/odysseus_and_polyphemus_by_2headedmonster-d6vfv2t.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Odysseus-and-Polyphemus-415605269">Odysseus and Polyphemus by 2HeadedMonster</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>told the men to bring it to a very sharp point;
and when they had done this he hardened it in the fire, and then hid it away
till Polyphemus should come home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By and
by, when the sun was sinking down, they heard the terrible tramp of his feet,
and felt the earth shake beneath his tread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the great stone was taken down from the mouth of the cave, and in
he came, driving the sheep and goats and the great rams before him, for this
time he let nothing stay outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he
milked the sheep and the goats, as he had done the day before; and then he
killed two more men, and began to eat them for his supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Odysseus went toward him with a bottle
full of wine, and said, ‘Drink this wine, Polyphemus; it will make your supper
taste much nicer; I have brought it to you, because I want you to do me some
kindness in return.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the Cyclops
stretched out his hand to take the wine, and he drank it off greedily and asked
for more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Give me more of this
honey-sweet wine,’ he said; ‘surely no grapes on this earth could ever give
such wine as this: tell me your name, for I should like to do you a kindness
for giving me such wine as this.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
Odysseus said, ‘O Cyclops, I hope you will not forget to give me what you have
promised: my name is Nobody.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
Polyphemus said, ‘Very well, I shall eat up Nobody last of all, when I have
eaten up all his companions; and this is the kindness which I mean to do for
him.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by this time he was so stupid
with all that he had been eating and drinking that he could say no more, but fell
on his back fast asleep; and his heavy snoring sounded through the whole
cave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Odysseus cried to his
friends, ‘Now is the time; come and help me, and we will punish this Cyclops
for all that he has done.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took
the piece of the o<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4y4U4KsgO-m_sFQ7i5lv3HjwojrxZcQk2I_fUQBHU9xKQJsQ7muCY12aHt20IWPCT6mtNgwtyPOrpUbHJGCxKkIJfFXulb8O5_1jcov6qYiY3PT8lC4dRQHLXHOPmRuhfLK9klJ_v1Tp/s1600/1ce517354976bf8af8caf88ec052f83b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4y4U4KsgO-m_sFQ7i5lv3HjwojrxZcQk2I_fUQBHU9xKQJsQ7muCY12aHt20IWPCT6mtNgwtyPOrpUbHJGCxKkIJfFXulb8O5_1jcov6qYiY3PT8lC4dRQHLXHOPmRuhfLK9klJ_v1Tp/s1600/1ce517354976bf8af8caf88ec052f83b.jpg" height="400" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412360909604758627/">Polyphemus blinded by Odysseus and His Men - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
live tree, which had been made sharp, and put it into the
fire, till it almost burst into a flame; and then he and two of his men went
and stood over Polyphemus, and pushed the burning wood into his great eye as
hard and as far down as they could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was a terrible sight to see; but the Cyclops was so stupid and heavy in sleep
that as first he could scarcely stir; but presently he gave a great groan, so
that Odysseus and his people started back in fright, and crouched down at the
end of the cave: and then the Cyclops put out his hand and drew the burning
wood from his eye, and threw it from him in a rage, and roared out for help to
his friends, who lived on the hills round about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His roar was as deep and loud, and they heard
him shouting out so loud, and they said, ‘What can be the matter with
Polyphemus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never heard him make such
a noise before: let us go and see if he wants any help.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they went to the cave, and stood outside
the great stone which shut it in, listening to his terrible bellowings; and
when they did not stop, they shouted to him, and asked him what was the
matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Why have you waked us up in the
middle of the night with all this noise, when we were sleeping
comfortably?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is any one taking away your
sheep and goats, or killing you by craft and force?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Polyphemus said, ‘Yes, my friends, Nobody
is killing me by craft and force.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the others heard this they were angry, and said, ‘Well, then, if nobody is
killing you, why do you roar so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
are ill, you must bear it as best you can, and ask our father Poseidon to make
you well again;’ and then they walked off to their beds, and left Polyphemus to
make as much noise as he pleased.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It was of no
use that he went on shouting: no one came to him any more; and Odysseus laughed
because he had tricked him so cunningly by calling himself Nobody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Polyphemus got up at last, moaning and
groaning with the dreadful pain, and groped his was with his hands against the
sides of the cave until he came to the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then he took down the great stone, and sat with his arms stretched out
wide; and he said to himself, ‘Now I shall be sure to catch them, for no one
can get out without passing me.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolp-vE3EIX_-sXqjyKYroHDRD1HOY_ITKG8IMWKgm7qwj0SflRYz1EgaTMNvEchP-TlNDQ2iSj9Kl0eluw-z-GiBo2fP7XeO4t-S5ak-ZlKiEq4OsbZturVTyROmZo0gCepUegnl-PwWs/s1600/xjf105441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolp-vE3EIX_-sXqjyKYroHDRD1HOY_ITKG8IMWKgm7qwj0SflRYz1EgaTMNvEchP-TlNDQ2iSj9Kl0eluw-z-GiBo2fP7XeO4t-S5ak-ZlKiEq4OsbZturVTyROmZo0gCepUegnl-PwWs/s1600/xjf105441.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.magnoliabox.com/art/643590/ulysses-escaping-from-polyphemus-the-cyclops-engraved-by-ig">Ulysses Escaping from Polyphemus the Cyclops by I.G. Walker</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But Odysseus
was too clever for him yet; for he went quietly and fastened the great rams of
Polyphemus together by threes, and under the stomach of the middle one he tied
one of his men, until he had fastened them all up safely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he went and caught hold of the largest
ram of all, and clung on with his hands to the thick wool underneath his
stomach: and so they all waited in a great fright, lest after all the great
giant might catch and kill them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At last
the pale light of morning came into the Eastern sky, and very soon the sheep
and the goats began to go out of the cave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then Polyphemus passed his hands over the backs of all the sheep as they
passed by, but he did not feet the willow bands, because their wool was long
and thick, and he never thought that any one would be tied up underneath their
stomachs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last of all came the great ram
to which Odysseus was clinging: and when Polyphemus passed his hand over his
back, he stroked him gently and said, ‘Well, old sheep, is there something the
matter with you too, as there is with your master?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were always the first to go out of the
cave, and now today for the first time you are the last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure that horrible Nobody is at the
bottom of all this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, old man, perhaps
it is that you are sorry for your master, whose eye Nobody has put out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish you could speak like a man, and tell
me where he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I could but catch
him, I would take care that he never got away again, and then I should have
some comfort for all the evil which Nobody has done to me.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he sent the ram on; and when he had gone a
little way from the cave, Odysseus got up from under the ram, and went and
untied all his friends: and very glad they were to be free once more; but they
could not help crying, when they thought of the men whom Polyphemus had
killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Odysseus told them to make
haste and drive as many of the sheep and goats as they could to the ships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they drove them down to the shore and
hurried them into the ships, and began to row away: and soon they would have
been out of the reach of the Cyclops, if Odysseus could only have held his
tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he was so angry himself,
that he thought he would like to make Polyphemus also still more angry; so he
shouted to him, and said, ‘Oh, cruel Cyclops, did you think that you would not
be punished for eating up my friends?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
this the way in which you receive strangers who have been tossed about by many
storms upon the sea?’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPA_bZNhFm1h7zhRY8I1HdqIXNpOL4jUZxKonUhPg6y-TM8TuVyuV9wdeU4VXftGQJb9NXZafNd5RxcbNHwO7AdTjmRN5pkaRPHb47s3d56qHlIYClIl8mVXr1R0b-8bJISaxOHLszkCi/s1600/e57d0f7ad6295a16740804d5fa596a6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPA_bZNhFm1h7zhRY8I1HdqIXNpOL4jUZxKonUhPg6y-TM8TuVyuV9wdeU4VXftGQJb9NXZafNd5RxcbNHwO7AdTjmRN5pkaRPHb47s3d56qHlIYClIl8mVXr1R0b-8bJISaxOHLszkCi/s1600/e57d0f7ad6295a16740804d5fa596a6a.jpg" height="275" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://augusta-stylianou.artistwebsites.com/featured/odysseus-and-polyphemus-arnold-boecklin.html">Odysseus And Polyphemus by Arnold Boecklin </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then
Polyphemus was more furious than ever, and he broke off a great rock from the
mountain, and hurled it at Odysseus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
it came whizzing through the air, and fell just in front of the ship, and the
water was dashed up all over it; and there was a great heaving of the sea,
which almost carried them back to the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then they began to row again with all their might; but still, when they
had got about twice as far as they were before, Odysseus could not help
shouting out a few more words to Polyphemus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So he said, ‘If any one asks you how you lost your eye, remember, O
Cyclops, to say that you were made blind by Odysseus, the plunderer of cities,
the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2hR35zAo3NUUKd8lvo7ygV8GihvVQ9ZYV7ITSpR-LsUCKgcLOw_whXXfzEc68zuXg6oPJbmjb4Ml-0G3gMaCZlBMJZLKbtAIEPdP4WcSd4EQTloDl4MD5wqCYKMLP6h0x3QHl7hlBg-t/s1600/1ddad8778488f19077e0f5fc7e31fc1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2hR35zAo3NUUKd8lvo7ygV8GihvVQ9ZYV7ITSpR-LsUCKgcLOw_whXXfzEc68zuXg6oPJbmjb4Ml-0G3gMaCZlBMJZLKbtAIEPdP4WcSd4EQTloDl4MD5wqCYKMLP6h0x3QHl7hlBg-t/s1600/1ddad8778488f19077e0f5fc7e31fc1a.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=1761661&imageID=1621544&total=3&num=0&word=Boats%20--%20Greek%20--%20To%20499&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=2&k=1&lWord=greece&lField=2&sScope=Subject&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=1&e=w">The Cyclops Polyphemus tosses rocks at the fleeing Odysseus and his crew by Louis Frédéric Schützenberger</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Terrible
indeed was the fury of Polyphemus when he heard this, and he said: ‘Now I
remember how the wise Telemus used to tell me that a man would come here named
Odysseus, who would put my eye out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I thought he would have been some great strong man, almost as big as myself;
and this a miserable little wretch, whom I could almost hold in my hand if I
caught him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But stay, Odysseus, and I
will show you how I thank you for your kindness, and I will ask my father
Poseidon to send you a pleasant storm to toss you about upon the dark sea.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then
Polyphemus took up a bigger rock than ever and hurled it high into the air with
all him might.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this time it fell
just behind the ship of Odysseus and all his people, and almost sunk the ship
under the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it only sent them further
out of the reach of the Cyclops; and though he hurled more rocks after them,
they now fell far behind in the sea and did them no ham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even when they had rowed a long way, they
could still see Polyphemus standing on the high cliff, and shaking his hands at
them in rage and pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no one came
to help him for all his shouting, because he had told his friends that Nobody
was doing him harm.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QEXguFMPR-TdZibkMk30QXlhRBuNt0KqMLt-DK6NQEAB5vgmoY_2zCXnU0InvDLVdQWRsxc3spePPUFgII1Mr-wcBXXvB-BgVlKkjE8rJ8vAsMy-WJ215dX4hDAl4lzwDOC1bFKl17lm/s1600/giant___greek_mythology_by_kingovrats-d81okd8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QEXguFMPR-TdZibkMk30QXlhRBuNt0KqMLt-DK6NQEAB5vgmoY_2zCXnU0InvDLVdQWRsxc3spePPUFgII1Mr-wcBXXvB-BgVlKkjE8rJ8vAsMy-WJ215dX4hDAl4lzwDOC1bFKl17lm/s1600/giant___greek_mythology_by_kingovrats-d81okd8.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Giant-Greek-Mythology-486555164">Giant - Greek Mythology by KingOvRats</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><strong>The Gigantes</strong></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Gigantes,
Gegeneis, or Ge Geneis, from which the word ‘giant’ is derived and which is
translated as ‘earth-born’, are said to be the offspring of Gaia, or Ge, and
the blood of the wounded Uranus, or Ouranos, as in Hesiod’s Theogony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case, later versions of the Theogony
simply call them Giants, with them being born already wearing armor and armed
with spears:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>As many
drops of blood spurted forth,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
all of them
Gaia received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the revolving years,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
she bore the…
great Giants,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
gleaming in
their armor, holding long spears in their hands,…</em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The names of
these Gigantes are variously given as Agrius, meaning ‘Untameable’; Alcyoneus,
meaning ‘Brayer’; Aloeus, meaning ‘Of the Threshing Floor’; Clytius, meaning ‘Renowned’;
Enceladus, meaning ‘Buzzer’; Eurytus, meaning ‘Rapids’; Grathium, meaning ‘Grater’;
Hippolytus, meaning ‘Stampede’; Mimas, meaning ‘Mocker’; Pallas, meaning ‘Handsome’;
Polybutes, meaning ‘Cattle-lord’; Porphyrion, meaning ‘Purple One’; Thoas,
meaning ‘Fast’; and Titys, meaning ‘Risker’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The story of the Gigantes, however, does not appear in the Theogony and
is instead covered by Apollodorus in his Library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we are told of the battle between the
Gigantes and the Olympian gods after the Titans defeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apollodorus’ Gigantomachy tells us of how
these Gigantes were defeated by the Olympian gods with the help of Heracles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHPeo2TnEzgihJJV22crWtCK-QJK3Ld22liCGp-CLFk3g_-cMKR-ifvidFFSE0P9P99XFYxQtG_81Z6V-rCdZecb4lqAKPvOU9zpbok4soa1WKpCItAYkDsZyE4heoSkMcrrB1orkmNDy/s1600/GigantomachyVagas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHPeo2TnEzgihJJV22crWtCK-QJK3Ld22liCGp-CLFk3g_-cMKR-ifvidFFSE0P9P99XFYxQtG_81Z6V-rCdZecb4lqAKPvOU9zpbok4soa1WKpCItAYkDsZyE4heoSkMcrrB1orkmNDy/s1600/GigantomachyVagas.jpg" height="379" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Mythology/Paintings/en/GigantomachyPerinDelVagas.html">Gigantomachy by Perin del Vagas</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The
Gigantomachy</strong> <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>But Ge,
angry about what happened to the Titans, produced the Giants by Ouranos,
unsurpassed in bodily size, in power unconquerable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They looked frightful in countenance, with
thick hair hanging from their backs and chins, and they had serpent coils for
legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to some they were born
in Phlegrai, but according to others in Pallene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hurled rocks and flaming trees into
heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greatest of them all were
Prophyrion and Alcyoneus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alcyoneus was
immortal as long as he fought in the same land where he was born, and he even
drove the cattle of Helios out of Erytheia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It had been prophesied to the gods that none of the Giants could be
killed by gods, but that is a mortal fought as their ally, the Giants would
die. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Ge learned of this, she sought
a magic plant to prevent them from being killed even by a mortal, but Zeus
forbade Eos, Selene, and Helios to shine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHY6PfmlDk1wWimO67bYOvPNvt9bNdCRuo9gR_yCiSUlb4ZMxq84OLr9bmvAqAg4TRSZWvC5YyDNFJKgg2EMurvE75BjoOJLDAH-RFZqppBRGFZh1R2xaFc_kfS7EaRWa9Tic_iFtQ6zV/s1600/3e35096fb94ef0f1d11b3b95c378f500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHY6PfmlDk1wWimO67bYOvPNvt9bNdCRuo9gR_yCiSUlb4ZMxq84OLr9bmvAqAg4TRSZWvC5YyDNFJKgg2EMurvE75BjoOJLDAH-RFZqppBRGFZh1R2xaFc_kfS7EaRWa9Tic_iFtQ6zV/s1600/3e35096fb94ef0f1d11b3b95c378f500.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/355221489331594456/">Giants Battle with the Gods by Joseph Anton Koch</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Then he himself cut the plant before Ge could and had Athena call Heracles
to help them as an ally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heracles first
shot Alcyoneus, but when he fell onto the earth, he was reinvigorated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Athena’s direction, Heracles dragged him
outside of Pallene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, then, is how
he died; but Prophyrion moved against Heracles and Hera in the battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zeus put desire for Hera into him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She called for help when the Giant was
tearing her clothes in his desire to rape her, and after Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt,
Heracles shot and killed him with his bow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As for the other Giants, Apollo shot Ephialtes’ left eye out; Heracles
shot out the right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dionysos killed
Eurytos with his thyrsus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hecate killed
Clytios with torches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hephaistos killed
Mimas by hitting him with molten metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Athena threw the island of Sicily onto Encelados as he fled, and she cut
the skin off of Pallas and covered her own body with it during the battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polybotes was pursued by Poseidon across the
sea and came to Cos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poseidon broke off
a pieces of the island (called Nisyron) and threw it on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hermes, wearing Hades’ cap, killed Hippolytos
in the fight, while Artemis killed Gration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Moirai, fighting with bronze clubs, killed Agrios and Thoas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zeus destroyed the rest by hurling his thunderbolts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heracles shot all of them as they died.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
It is said
that those Gigantes who survived after this made a final attack at
Trapezus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here they were defeated and
put into great chasms within the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their bodies were then covered by mountains and volcanoes to stop them
from regenerating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said that, when
they stir, they cause earthquakes and tremors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some believe that ‘these myths were the creation of an explanation for
quantities of dinosaur bones that have been found continuously in the region of
Trapezus.’<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRQu6vfNCqsnnImZBGovOrJyDcpBGiXDJMPg5-WvSI9oIEE2fbHtkVcXhv7QKtPgvj26SNqTszPvnVrTrE_XCs8WrjMXgyu8tRxHL4jMlPFmiMo8vjPyGd_C43cA9J88u-XZmnHbh9Eq/s1600/Typhon_by_cottonintestine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRQu6vfNCqsnnImZBGovOrJyDcpBGiXDJMPg5-WvSI9oIEE2fbHtkVcXhv7QKtPgvj26SNqTszPvnVrTrE_XCs8WrjMXgyu8tRxHL4jMlPFmiMo8vjPyGd_C43cA9J88u-XZmnHbh9Eq/s1600/Typhon_by_cottonintestine.jpg" height="319" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Typhon-158336911">Typhon by notdanmartin</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While the
Gigantes were defeated by the Olympian gods and Heracles, they were not the
last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typhon, who is also known as
Typhoeus, Typheus, Typhaon, and Typhois, was created by Gaia, or Ge and
Tartaros according to Apollodorus, after the defeat of the Gigantes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apollodorus describes him as ‘a mix of man
and beast…taller than all the mountains’ which ‘bested in size and strength
everything that Ge had produced.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
giant man-beast had ‘a hundred dragon heads’ sprouting from his arms and ‘gigantic
viper coils’ from the thighs down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was ‘covered in wings’ and ‘belched a great blast of fire from his mouth.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typhon fought against Zeus and was eventually
defeated and buried beneath Mount Etna (Aima) where he is still said to cause
eruptions.<br />
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Typhon<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>When the
gods had defeated the Giants, Ge became more angry, copulated with Tartaros,
and bore Typhon in Cilicia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a
form that was a mix of man and beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
bested in size and strength everything that Ge had produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as the thighs he was man-shaped and of
such immense size that he was taller than all the mountains, and his head often
touched the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of his hands
stretched out to the west and one to the east, and from them stood out a
hundred dragon heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the thighs
down he had gigantic viper coils that, when stretched out, reached as far as
the very top of his head and produced a great hissing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His whole body was covered in wings, his
coarse hair was whipped away from his head and chin by the wind, and fire
flashed from his eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Such was Typhon,
so great was Typhon when he threw flaming rocks as he moved against heaven
itself with hissing noises and shouting, and he belched a great blast of fire
from his mouth.]<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2XtWYhFqfALikHrZaJSlFruZV0hXBEYZLcszJ9jMQqf6wVmY6JiaDjvQZOPmI1pXPUBsPCUTomgd_8RzBUELZCkE5IhTKEdQq-6w1y-j7UJqdu8nvamJPXVOPx7R0PQAi-1YCHQ4fDC9/s1600/typhon_rising_by_demodus-d4yan0x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2XtWYhFqfALikHrZaJSlFruZV0hXBEYZLcszJ9jMQqf6wVmY6JiaDjvQZOPmI1pXPUBsPCUTomgd_8RzBUELZCkE5IhTKEdQq-6w1y-j7UJqdu8nvamJPXVOPx7R0PQAi-1YCHQ4fDC9/s1600/typhon_rising_by_demodus-d4yan0x.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Typhon-rising-299468049">Typhon rising by Demodus</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When the
gods saw him attacking heaven, they took refuge in Egypt and, being pursued,
changed their forms into animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Zeus threw thunderbolts when Typhon was far off and cut him down with an
adamantite sickle when he came close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
doggedly pursued him as he fled to Mount Casios, which looks over Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There Zeus saw that Typhon was seriously
wounded and engaged him hand-to-hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Typhon wrapped his coils around Zeus and got him in a hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stripped away the sickle and cut out the
sinews of his hands and feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lifting
Zeus onto his shoulders, he carried him across the sea to Cilicia, and when he
arrived, he put him into the Corycian cave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Likewise, hiding the sinews in a bearskin, he stowed them there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He set the dragoness Delphyne to guard
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This girl was half-beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Hermes and Aigipan stole the sinews and
put them back in Zeus without being caught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Zeus, having gotten his strength back, suddenly flew down from heaven in
a chariot pulled by winged horses and threw thunderbolts at Typhon as he pursued
him to the mountain called Nysa, where the Moirai deceived him as he fled, and,
persuaded that he would be reinvigorated, he tasted the ephemeral fruits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the pursuit began again, he came to
Thrace and, fighting around Mount Haimos, hurled whole mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these were forced back on him by the
thunderbolt, and blood [‘haima’] gushed out onto the mountain, and they say
that it is from this that the mountain is called Haimos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Typhon tried to flee across the Sicilian
sea, Zeus threw Mount Aima in Sicily on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This mountain is enormous, and down to this day they say that the
eruptions of fire from it come from the thunderbolts that were hurled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But enough about that.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p>And that completes the Giants of Greece and Rome. In the next post we will explore the Giants of Norse mythology. </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apollodorus-Library-James-George-Frazer/dp/1144062713/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864010&sr=8-6&keywords=Library+by+Apollodorus">Library by Apollodorus</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Odyssey-Penguin-Classics-Homer/dp/0140449116/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864073&sr=8-2&keywords=Odyssey+by+Homer">Odyssey by Homer</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hesiods-Theogony-Hesiod/dp/145283640X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864112&sr=8-7&keywords=Theogony+by+Hesiod">Theogony by Hesiod</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Greek-Mythology-Primary-Source/dp/129477283X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864184&sr=8-2&keywords=Tales+from+Greek+Mythology+by+George+William+Cox">Tales from Greek Mythology by George William Cox</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anthology-Classical-Myth-Primary-Translation/dp/0872207218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864231&sr=8-1&keywords=Anthology+of+Classical+Myth%3A+Primary+Sources+of+Translation+by+Stephen+M.+Trzaskoma%2C+R.+Scott+Smith%2C+Stephen+Brunet+%26+Thomas+G.">Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources of Translation by Stephen M. Trzaskoma, R.Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet & Thomas G. Palaima</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424864307&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters+%26+Dragons%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+Folklore%2C+Legend%2C+and+Myth+by+Carol+Rose">Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by CarolRose</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-89422435296582273722015-03-17T08:58:00.000+00:002015-03-17T08:58:23.744+00:00Mythical Creatures: Biblical Giants<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXbkusK0H8WrmCH2qZ08aBcfIf3Db1p2AlJyXmz_1PIhUpanzfauzp706KrxwoOM8Byl2jnApSQYyqDJzojl_42yVgNNTw8LiJfjg1FULYseY4NNBOgrkM0Q7J5zOhM1DGKUuYWOF3Cec/s1600/resting_giant_by_merl1ncz-d424veo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXbkusK0H8WrmCH2qZ08aBcfIf3Db1p2AlJyXmz_1PIhUpanzfauzp706KrxwoOM8Byl2jnApSQYyqDJzojl_42yVgNNTw8LiJfjg1FULYseY4NNBOgrkM0Q7J5zOhM1DGKUuYWOF3Cec/s1600/resting_giant_by_merl1ncz-d424veo.jpg" height="374" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Resting-giant-245451264" target="_blank">Resting giant by merl1ncz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>There were giants on the earth in those days...</em><br />
<br />
Giants can be found within mythology in many different countries and within many different cultures around the world. A giant is <em>an imaginary or mythical being of human form but superhuman size</em>. Generally, giants have differing characteristics depending on the culture, region, and purpose of their existence. In this post we will look at the giants of the Bible and, while I am not trying to prove or disprove the idea that giants once existed, we will take the accounts written at face value.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTf0sTjlEyj1vMOHYnWdzztEiFZ54b_WK2olkbuL2RpMLzrK2bfz0c6zRww46BEHrKJZQ59C3csTpQowUQYimR8eApQC6m6ckpAq6-G3V3blMUUV0rhYJKgHKi7_S8_lmYqsEXo1DF9jy/s1600/Nephilim_by_ertacaltinoz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTf0sTjlEyj1vMOHYnWdzztEiFZ54b_WK2olkbuL2RpMLzrK2bfz0c6zRww46BEHrKJZQ59C3csTpQowUQYimR8eApQC6m6ckpAq6-G3V3blMUUV0rhYJKgHKi7_S8_lmYqsEXo1DF9jy/s1600/Nephilim_by_ertacaltinoz.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nephilim-97555329" target="_blank">Nephilim by ertacaltinoz.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Nephilim</strong><br />
<br />
The Nephilim are touched upon in the Hebrew scriptures as well as in the Old Testament. They were said to have lived in the Hebron Valley in Canaan before the time of the Flood and are described as being vast in size. The Nephilim were the sons of Anak and <em>may also be referred to as the Anakim</em>. According to Hugh of St. Cler's <em>Opera</em>,<em> after the Flood, these giant sons of Anak had been born in the Hebron valley, had traversed in Egypt , and were known as the Titans.</em><br />
<br />
<em>There were giants io the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.</em> <br />
Genesis 6:4<br />
<br />
For those that believe giants once walked the earth, this verse is one of the most important. However, it is not a direct translation from Hebrew into English.<br />
<br />
<em>The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of the 'Elohiym (Powers))' come to the daughters of the human and they brought forth to them, they are the courageous ones which are from a distant time, men of the title.</em><br />
<br />
Before we look for other passages within the Bible that may make mention of giants, we need to look at the etymology of the word Nephilim to see if there might be a reason for it having been translated to giants. It is generally agreed that Nephilim is derived from the word <em>nephal</em>. The most common meanings for the word<em> nephal</em> are:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNbHzKsNxk7NaLaWnebYebS1SXnK1Ph0HzlksqFF6Zm_nVs1x9Ro37OsqspMMhHHHeS4cbJtPezGTZlWelIeXkpgu5hGTm8gdFCvjNxuy4RSASGDBXbCgxccSzvAxjsKfWesqCl80pPaC/s1600/nephilim_by_makohazard-d4ek2q6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNbHzKsNxk7NaLaWnebYebS1SXnK1Ph0HzlksqFF6Zm_nVs1x9Ro37OsqspMMhHHHeS4cbJtPezGTZlWelIeXkpgu5hGTm8gdFCvjNxuy4RSASGDBXbCgxccSzvAxjsKfWesqCl80pPaC/s1600/nephilim_by_makohazard-d4ek2q6.jpg" height="320" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nephilim-266315982" target="_blank">Nephilim by JoelWhite</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
1. To fall (to the ground)<br />
2. To fall (as in battle)<br />
3. To be cast down<br />
4. To desert a location<br />
5. To fail<br />
<br />
So, the direct translation from <em>Nephilim</em>' to <em>giants</em> is a misinterpretation which was first used in the King James Version of the Bible. The most common translation used is <em>the Fallen Ones</em> which is, probably closer to the mark. The<em> </em>Septuagint translation uses the term<em> giantes' or 'earth-born' and this is the big reason our modern English translations translate the word giants for the Hebrew word Nephilim</em>. Another term used was <em>Hag Gibborim </em>which means <em>the mighty ones</em>.<br />
<br />
Genesis 6:4 is not the only passage to mention the Nephilim and, although they are not necessarily referred to as giants, the following verse does give the impression that the Nephilim were in fact giants. <br />
<br />
<em>And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.</em><br />
Numbers 13:33<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3PU0K8BqDf2lHl6h3WqXw_TrRozW-y314QfAUyiycP7jWYX27kdhJ3-87xVdXEx5WNDLZku1fjNPiQB1sWmzH1h7Iwm6nd6aG7GTRB4iN3qw8vC-dMMU3tahtMUJIeGg4xcrt_c4CSps/s1600/Nephilim_by_erenarik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3PU0K8BqDf2lHl6h3WqXw_TrRozW-y314QfAUyiycP7jWYX27kdhJ3-87xVdXEx5WNDLZku1fjNPiQB1sWmzH1h7Iwm6nd6aG7GTRB4iN3qw8vC-dMMU3tahtMUJIeGg4xcrt_c4CSps/s1600/Nephilim_by_erenarik.jpg" height="320" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nephilim-96828765" target="_blank">Nephilim by erenarik</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This verse may provide an additional reason for the view that the Nephilim were giants. Why else would those sent to Canaan to spy for Moses feel <em>like grasshoppers</em> in comparison to the Nephilim? Another passage which provides reason for the perception that the Nephilim were giants and, perhaps,<em> fallen ones</em> comes from the Book of Enoch, where it states:<br />
<br />
<em>And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed all the acquisition of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.</em><br />
<br />
These verses make it clear that the offspring of the<em> sons of god</em>, here being some two hundred angels <em>who descended [in the days] of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon', were giants and, in devouring 'mankind... one another's flesh, and drink[ing] the blood</em> they could also be considered as fallen ones. <br />
<br />
We also have the measurement of 3,000 ells to help give us an idea of the height of these giants. One ell was equivalent to six handbreadths, which equals 57.185375cm. This means that the Nephilim were around 5628ft tall - the size of mountains. It's hardly a surprise that one might feel like a grasshopper when stood next to a being the size of a mountain.<br />
<br />
<strong>Og, The King of Bashan</strong><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDAS7INZtFaNQ62IMgALiez75N33Hlq5MZKYqNlonwHoYt5G3KaQVGlwmH6DpS24s_W_3yzkBdJimPk_Lnm_pqX5z77tybhyphenhyphenpK1HqNjENYhPd6oip4TCQkNGaF_yPYwxwUgVaIcz35-eu/s1600/Og's_Bed_(crop).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDAS7INZtFaNQ62IMgALiez75N33Hlq5MZKYqNlonwHoYt5G3KaQVGlwmH6DpS24s_W_3yzkBdJimPk_Lnm_pqX5z77tybhyphenhyphenpK1HqNjENYhPd6oip4TCQkNGaF_yPYwxwUgVaIcz35-eu/s1600/Og's_Bed_(crop).jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Og#mediaviewer/File:Og%27s_Bed_(crop).jpg" target="_blank">Og’s bed (engraving) by Johann Balthasar Probst</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Og, the king of Bashan, was nothing close to the 3,000 ells tall giants from the Book of Enoch, but would still be considered a giant. King Og was 'also known as a Hapalit, meaning the 'Escapee' (i.e., from his delivery from the Flood). He is 'described as having multiple fingers and toes and being such an immense being that the waters only lapped by his ankles.' Some accounts have Og persuade Noah to 'allow him to sit astride the roof of the Ark.' He is said to have been exiled after attempting to seduce Noah's wife, Sarah. Og was later defeated by Moses, who chopped him 'at the ankles', and he 'became the mountain range from which they viewed the Promised Land.' Here, the verse of particular interest is the size of Og's bed.<br />
<br />
<em>(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron... Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth according to the common cubit.)</em><br />
Deuteronomy 3:11<br />
<br />
The first thing to take into account, when taking this story at face value, is that rephaim can be translated directly as giants. Next we have to look at the size of Og's bed. Nine cubits is equal to 16ft 4in and four cubits is equal to 7ft 3in. Now, if Og were the length and breadth of this bed, he could definitely be called giant. However, it is worth noting that he was a king and it might be considered normal for a bed to be larger than the person occupying it, especially a king.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
While most accounts make Og around nine feet in height, ‘in some accounts he is
said to have been taller, and according to the ‘Targum,’ he was ‘several miles’
in height.’<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01XI7Ks-_QJeclOnaU5EXZnz-C6NdbzX0v_YuiCEtz6GL9sMhp1mA1kcTwY-MZPVyJWxPJbUvbFPrpWcdPr8eWvwajjK2PoR6TlwAcLUcC94jqmh_JRIzwV0zndlAvCz6__xBmsp3ttnM/s1600/Goliath_by_Kilandranet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01XI7Ks-_QJeclOnaU5EXZnz-C6NdbzX0v_YuiCEtz6GL9sMhp1mA1kcTwY-MZPVyJWxPJbUvbFPrpWcdPr8eWvwajjK2PoR6TlwAcLUcC94jqmh_JRIzwV0zndlAvCz6__xBmsp3ttnM/s1600/Goliath_by_Kilandranet.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Goliath-165529350" target="_blank">Goliath by Kilandranet</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>David and Goliath</strong><br />
<br />
<em>Now the Philistines
gathered their armies for battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh
and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Saul
and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and
drew up in a line of battle against the Philistines stood on the mountain on
the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley
between them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there came out from
the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was
six cubits and a span.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a helmet
of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of
the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung
between his shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shaft of his
spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred
shekels of iron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his shield-bearer
went before him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stood and shouted at
the ranks of Israel, ‘Why have you come out to draw up for battle?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I not a Philistine, and are you not
servants of Saul?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose a man for
yourselves, and let him come down to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he is able to fight with me, then we will be your servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if I prevail against him and kill him,
then you shall be our servants and serve us.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Philistine said, ‘I defy the ranks of Israel this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give me a man, that we may fight together.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Saul and all Israel heard these words of
Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now David
was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight
sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the days of Saul the man was
already old and advanced in years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the names of his three sons who went to
the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadah, and the third
Shammah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David was the youngest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three eldest followed Saul, but David
went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For forty days the Philistine came forward
and took his stand, morning and evening.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd-AU3SrR_cVkLcbQ_qMQihEDSXAFHKDGT0mM_Odh_ONHB11JF8OUUeaA4coHdwtz5UlPaW75FFEZiPn-eD5hHZTBsTwm21so-p9RxLfvIwt_5GX1M22CMEcqSGmxFyByCkIbqU1fGLCL/s1600/david_wip_critiques_plz__by_chorsahgryphon-d4fopyt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd-AU3SrR_cVkLcbQ_qMQihEDSXAFHKDGT0mM_Odh_ONHB11JF8OUUeaA4coHdwtz5UlPaW75FFEZiPn-eD5hHZTBsTwm21so-p9RxLfvIwt_5GX1M22CMEcqSGmxFyByCkIbqU1fGLCL/s1600/david_wip_critiques_plz__by_chorsahgryphon-d4fopyt.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/David-WIP-Critiques-plz-268212341" target="_blank">David WIP by tomato-bird</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And Jesse
said to David his son, ‘Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain,
and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also take these ten cheeses to the commander
of their thousand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See if your brothers
are well, and bring some token from them.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now Saul and
they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the
Philistines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David rose early in the
morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as
Jesse had commanded him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he came to
the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war
cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Israel and the Philistines drew
up for battle, army against army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the
ranks and went and greeted his brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath,
Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same
words as before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David heard him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
All the men
of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the men of Israel said, ‘Have you seen
this man who has come up?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely he has
come up to defy Israel.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andd David said
to the men who stood by him, ‘What shall be done for the man who kills this
Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
that he should defy the armies of the living God?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the people answered him in the same way, ‘So
shall it be done to the man who kills him.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
No Eliab his
eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, ‘Why have you
come down?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with whom have you left
those few sheep in the wilderness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come to see the
battle.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David said, ‘What have I
done now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it not but a word?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he turned away from him toward another,
and spoke the same way, and the people answered him again as before.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGrEsLtHkm5bM2UbuLmBZIgGIo1bEOcDSQSLlKpdMBAxVEsi37-p_ytAYFYNH4Nx1T4mX10CGqrYI41-QXgH5WmFZDfdj-R99OUK4ycXszMw1d732baufmgcoHMkUmaLiP_g8Q4pmDR5I/s1600/paw_of_the_bear_by_douglasramsey-d727o1e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGrEsLtHkm5bM2UbuLmBZIgGIo1bEOcDSQSLlKpdMBAxVEsi37-p_ytAYFYNH4Nx1T4mX10CGqrYI41-QXgH5WmFZDfdj-R99OUK4ycXszMw1d732baufmgcoHMkUmaLiP_g8Q4pmDR5I/s1600/paw_of_the_bear_by_douglasramsey-d727o1e.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Paw-of-the-Bear-426980210" target="_blank">Paw of the Bear by DouglasRamsey</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
When the
words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent
for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David said to Saul, ‘Let no
man’s heart fail because of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Sail said to David, ‘You are not able to
go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he
has been a man of war from his youth.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant used to keep sheep for his
father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when there came a lion, or a
bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and
delivered it out of his mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if he
arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your servant has struck down both lions and
bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has
defied the armies of the living God.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And David said, ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and
from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be
with you!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then Saul
clothed David with his armor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He put a
helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David
strapped his sword over his armor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with
these, for I have not tested them.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
David put them off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he took his
staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in
his shepherd’s pouch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sling was in
his hand, and he approached the Philistine.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkbns8RpS2mirodZGmUAACfZH-wZzsu4JtUW_EBhGcWCs-rwa772tqZKjAp9zbj10ZStVNMXnKCyxIJK74Gr7Nd5ic2SbU6kKu_6Zi5FLdesVtzUIGl4JvaMYpj2t-XM33sbjQQnzP1ME/s1600/goliath_by_soldatnordsken-d7w804a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkbns8RpS2mirodZGmUAACfZH-wZzsu4JtUW_EBhGcWCs-rwa772tqZKjAp9zbj10ZStVNMXnKCyxIJK74Gr7Nd5ic2SbU6kKu_6Zi5FLdesVtzUIGl4JvaMYpj2t-XM33sbjQQnzP1ME/s1600/goliath_by_soldatnordsken-d7w804a.jpg" height="276" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Goliath-477384346" target="_blank">Goliath by SoldatNordsken</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
And the
Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in
front of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when the Philistine
looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and
handsome in appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Philistine cursed David by his
gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Philistine said to David, ‘Come
to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of
the field.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then David said to the
Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin,
but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom you have defied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This day
the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off
your head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will give the dead
bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to
the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God
in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with
sword and spear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the battle is the
Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTskmWjjKteeUfxPgBzTLaWRokfsioS5pgnGMGkzbaAFyUQ78KhbYoAVKcnvPUfJB-NWwc9-MMXCsFVEWIwJ7vsXvK3oFwbiWsJdi7imw-f2UdLjBau-40WHhvFkUFlQDtv81l-4KTac4B/s1600/david_and_goliath_by_erikbragalyan-d89x0is.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTskmWjjKteeUfxPgBzTLaWRokfsioS5pgnGMGkzbaAFyUQ78KhbYoAVKcnvPUfJB-NWwc9-MMXCsFVEWIwJ7vsXvK3oFwbiWsJdi7imw-f2UdLjBau-40WHhvFkUFlQDtv81l-4KTac4B/s1600/david_and_goliath_by_erikbragalyan-d89x0is.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/David-and-Goliath-500386276" target="_blank">David and Goliath by ErikBragalyan</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When the
Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward
the battle line to meet the Philistine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and
struck the Philistine on the forehead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So David
prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the
Philistine and killed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no
sword in the hand of David.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then David
ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its
sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Philistines saw that their champion
was dead, they fled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the men of
Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath
and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from
Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered
their camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David took the head of
the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-9jt5VDsMG_n-Xj2dInGUUxH7o0JyLxoQmgzpJ8HKbJ-lUmJelQcihln02nCjKjB1Pz0MmP7EjXDkwXzJP-DzzKpqk6JKoe7skJtJa6Sx2hIj6I6B9J66-eyja3uvJcXWUjyudkv_stk/s1600/david_and_goliath_by_blindphoenix-d86g32g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-9jt5VDsMG_n-Xj2dInGUUxH7o0JyLxoQmgzpJ8HKbJ-lUmJelQcihln02nCjKjB1Pz0MmP7EjXDkwXzJP-DzzKpqk6JKoe7skJtJa6Sx2hIj6I6B9J66-eyja3uvJcXWUjyudkv_stk/s1600/david_and_goliath_by_blindphoenix-d86g32g.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/David-and-Goliath-494557576" target="_blank">David and Goliath by blindphoenix</a></td></tr>
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And soon as
Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander
of the army, ‘Abner, whose son is this youth?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Abner said, ‘As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the king said, ‘Inquire whose son the boy
is.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as soon as David returned from
the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before
Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Saul said to him, ‘Whose son are you,
young man?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David answered, ‘I am
the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
The story tells us that Goliath of Gath was six cubits and a span in height. Now, while this is nothing close to the height of the Nephilim, Goliath would and still is considered to be a giant. Six cubits and a span is six and a half cubits, which is equal to 11ft 9in - not quite as large as Og was said to be, but definitely taller than the average human.<br />
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The final thing I want to cover here are the dates that these accounts were written. While I cannot claim that the following dates are 100% accurate, they are the dates most accepted by the majority of scholars.<br />
<br />
The Biblical Flood - 24th century BC<br />
The Book of Numbers - 15th century BC<br />
The Book of Samuel - 8th to 7th century BC<br />
The Book of Deuteronomy - 7th century BC<br />
Book of Genesis - 5th century BC<br />
Book of Enoch - 2nd century BC<br />
<br />
As with many other myths and legends, the accounts of giants in the Bible may well be older, the stories having been passed down over the generations. Regardless, the accounts of the Nephilim, King Og, and Goliath of Gath are among the oldest written accounts in existence. <br />
<br />
Next time we will learn about the giants of Greek mythology, from the hundred-handed giants of Gaia to the Titans.<br />
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<br />
<strong>Useful Resources</strong><br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/" target="_blank">English Standard Version Bible</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/" target="_blank">King James Version Bible</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/index.htm" target="_blank">The Book of Enoch</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14821-weights-and-measures" target="_blank">Weights and Measurements</a> <br />
<a href="https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/timeline-for-the-flood/" target="_blank">Timeline of the Flood</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Translation-Book-Genesis-Literally/dp/1602640335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423825798&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Mechanical+Translation+of+the+Book+of+Genesis+by+Jeff+A.+Benner" target="_blank">A Mechanical Translation of the Book of Genesis by Jeff A. Benner</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gateway-Gods-Investigation-Nephilim-Alchemy/dp/097855910X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423825834&sr=8-1&keywords=Gateway+to+the+Gods+by+Craig+Hines" target="_blank">Gateway to the Gods by Craig Hines</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nephilim-Question-Biblical-Answers/dp/1490838651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423825874&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Nephilim+Question%3A+Biblical+Answers+by+Steve+McGee" target="_blank">The Nephilim Question: Biblical Answers by Steve McGee</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitchhikers-Guide-Armageddon-Lost-Cities/dp/0932813844/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423825910&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Hitchhiker%27s+Guide+to+Armageddon+by+David+Hatcher+Childress" target="_blank">A Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon b<span class="addmd">y David Hatcher Childress</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423825965&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters+%26+Dragons+by+Carol+Rose" target="_blank">Giants, Monsters & Dragons by Carol Rose</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-83911530794113646152015-03-13T09:10:00.000+00:002015-04-20T17:21:46.607+01:00Mythical Creatures: The Giants of England - Part One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Gog-and-Magog-147443897">Gog and Magog by TimeCrash07</a></td></tr>
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Stories of
giants in Britain may be a legacy from our Celtic ancestors who arrived in
Britain in around 300 BC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing the
great stone circles left by those who inhabited the land before their arrival,
the Celtic people imagined them to have been constructed by some superhuman
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helping to colour their legends of
ogres and giants, who were often credited with cannibalism, was their perception
of the native Britons, who they believed were cannibalistic savages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As time passed so their legends grew, with
the heroes of the Celtic people growing in size to match the terrible foes who
they hoped to vanquish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These tales
survived to be written down, and embellished, by Geoffrey of Monmouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his <em>History of the Kings of Britain</em>,
Monmouth writes of how the British Isles were first inhabited by a small number
of ferocious giants who are brought down by the Trojans and their leader,
Brutus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The leader of these giants was
called Gogmagog, also known as Goemagot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The name is believed to have come from the biblical Gog and Magog – Gog being
a giant from both Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and Magog being the place in
which he originates.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brutus_of_troy.jpg">Brutus of Troy</a></td></tr>
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<em>At that time
the name of the island was Albion, and of none was it inhabited save only of a
few giants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Natheless the pleasant
aspect of the land, with the abundance of fish in the rivers and deer in the
choice forests thereof did fill Brute and his companions with no small desire
that they should dwell therein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wherefore,
after exploring certain districts of the land, they drove the giants they found
to take refuge in the caverns of the mountains, and divided the country among
them by lot according as the Duke made grant thereof.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
… For nought
gave him greater pleasure than to wrestle with the giants, of whom was greater
plenty there than in any of the provinces that had been shared amongst his
comrades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among others was a certain
hateful one by name Goemagot, twelve cubits in height, who was of such
lustihood, that when he had once uprooted it, he would wield an oak tree as
lightly as it were a wand of hazel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a
certain day when Brute was holding high festival to the gods in the port
whereat he had first landed, this one, along with a score other giants, fell
upon him and did passing cruel slaughter on the British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howbeit, at the last, the Britons collecting
together from <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxwj17dmOBzRt3uzmTfsjwpQUdMTE0k_JKhR65-VKjUPl4bSLVcIYdRdGu3sgSxWJdLtiAoJyn7Mq_G1YyUIR19TTOrrRwB0n6g6NwTIquJKdpJXPHcK9pu-5U2CV_hV0Y07LIGgCEwkP/s1600/Corineus_the_Giant_in_Guildhall_1859.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxwj17dmOBzRt3uzmTfsjwpQUdMTE0k_JKhR65-VKjUPl4bSLVcIYdRdGu3sgSxWJdLtiAoJyn7Mq_G1YyUIR19TTOrrRwB0n6g6NwTIquJKdpJXPHcK9pu-5U2CV_hV0Y07LIGgCEwkP/s1600/Corineus_the_Giant_in_Guildhall_1859.png" height="320" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corineus#mediaviewer/File:Corineus_the_Giant_in_Guildhall_1859.png">Corineus, the Giant in Guildhall</a></td></tr>
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all quarters prevailed against them and slew them all, save
Geomagot only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Him Brute had commanded
to be kept alive, as he was minded to see a wrestling bout betwixt him and Corineus,
who was beyond measure keen to match himself against such monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Corineus, overjoyed at the prospect, girt
himself for the encounter, and flinging away his arms, challenged him to a bout
at wrestling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the start, on the one
side stands Corineus, on the other the giant, each hugging the other tight in
the shackles of their arms, both making the very air quake with their
breathless gasping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not long
before Geomagot, grasping Corineus with all his force, brake him three of his
ribs, two on the right side and one on the left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roused thereby to fury, Corineus gathered up
all his strength, heaved him up on his shoulders and ran with his burden as
fast as he could for the weight to the seashore nighest at hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mounting up to the top of a high cliff, and
disengaging himself, he hurled the deadly monster he had carried on his
shoulder into the sea, where, falling on the sharp rocks, he was mangled all to
pieces and dyed the waves with him blood, so that ever thereafter that place
from the flinging down of the giant hath been known as Lamgoemagot, to wit, ‘Goemagot’s
Leap,’ and is called by that name unto this present day.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
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An account of Albion's stand against the Trojans appeared in <em>The new history of the Trojan wars, and Troy's destruction</em> by Elkanah Settle, published in 1791. Here we are not only told of Albion's battle, but of how Gog and Magog, who are giants in the tale, are brought back to London as prisoners of Brute.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Trojan-Warrior-438711552">Trojan Warrior by travellerplanet</a></td></tr>
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<em>Brute,
having thus got footing in Britain, was preparing to improve the same, when
Albion, who had named this island after his own name, - by which it is
sometimes called at this day, - having intelligence thereof, raised his whole
power, being men of a gigantick stature, and vast strength, and bearing for
their arms huge clubs of knotty oak, battle axes, whirlbats of iron, and globes
full of spikes, fastened to a long pole by a chain; and with these encountering
Brute, a bloody battle was fought, wherein the Trojans were worsted and many of
them slain, and their whole army was forced to retire.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>Brute
hereupon considering the disadvantage between his men and the giants, devised a
stratagem to overthrow them, by digging in the night a very long and deep trench,
at the bottom impaling it with sharp stakes, and covering it with boughs and
rotten hurdles, on which he caused to be laid dried leaves and earth, only
leaving some firm passages, well known to his men by particular marks.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/M808366/Gog-and-Magog-at-the-Guildhall?img=5&search=Magog&bool=phrase">Gog and Magog at the Guildhall by Sir Walter Besant </a></td></tr>
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This being
done, he dared the giants to a second battle, which Albion readily accepted;
and the fight being begun, after some dispute, Brute seemed to retire;
whereupon the giants pressed on him with great fury; and the Trojans retiring
nimbly beyond their trench, made a stand, and ply’d them with a shower of darts
and arrows, which manner of fight they were unacquainted with, whereby many of
them were slain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Albion
encouraging his men to come to handy strokes with their enemies, they rushed
forward, and the vanguard immediately perished in the trenches; and the Trojans
continuing to shoot their arrows very thick, the giants were put to flight, and
pursued into Cornwall; where, in another bloody fight, Albion was slain by
Brute, fighting hand to hand; and his two brothers. Gog and Magog, giants of
huge stature, were taken prisoners and led in triumph to the place where now
London stands, and upon those risings on the side of the river Thames, founded
a city, which he called Troy-novant, or New Troy, and building a palace where
Guildhall stands, caused the two giants to be chained to the gate of it, as
porters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In memory of which it is held
that their effigies, after their deaths, were set up as they now appear in
Guildhall.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Albion-337653495">Albion by Mabus88</a></td></tr>
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Albion, according to Holinshed,
was the brother of Geomagot, or Gogmagog; also a giant and ‘a cruel tyrant’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Holinshed’s <em>Chronicles</em>, he was a
son of Neptune, or Poseidon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
following extract, Holinshed tells us of how Britain was once called Albion
after the giant and of how Albion first came to Britain:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<em>Afterward in
processe of time, when desire to rule began to take hold in the minds of men,
and ech prince endeavoured to enlarge his owne dominions: Albion the sonne of
Nepturne… hearing of the commodities of the countrie, and plentifulnesse of
soile here, made a voiage over, and finding the thing not onelie correspondent
unto, but also farre surmounting the report that went of this Iland, it was not
long after yer he invaded the same by force of armes, brought it to his
subjection in the 29. yeare after his grandfathers decease, and finallie
changed the name thereof into Albion, whereby the former denomination after
Samothes did grow out of mind, and fall into utter forgetfulnesse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And thus was this Iland bereft at on time
both of hir ancient name, and also of hir lawfull succession of princes
descended of the line of Japhet, under whom it had continued by the space of
341 yeres and nine princes, as by the Chronologie following shall easily appeere.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hercules-in-Battle-81040636">Hercules in Battle by wraithdt*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Albion,
along with his brother Bergion, was, according to Holinshed, killed by Hercules:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>…when the
said Albion governed here in this countrie by the space of seven years, it came
to passe that both he and his brother Bergion were killed by Hercules at the
mouth of Rhosanus, as the said Hercules passed out of Spaine by the Celtes to
go over into Itaie, and upon this occasion (as I gather among the writers) not unworthie
to be remembred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It happened in time of
Lucus king of the Celts, that Lestrigo and his issue… did exercise great
tyrannie, not onelie over his owne kingdome, but also in molestation of such
princes as inhabited round about him in most intolerable maner…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be short therefore, after the giants, and
great obstacle unto them in their tyrannous dealing; Hercules his sonne… proclaimed
open warres against them all, and going from place to place, he ceased not to
spoile their kingdoms, and therewithal to kill them with great courage that
fell into his hands…<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
In the meane
time Albion understanding how Hercules intended to make warres against his
brother Lestrigo, he thought good if it were possible to stop him that tide,
and therefore sending for his brother Bergion out of the Orchades (where he
also reigned as supreame lord and governour) they joined their powers, and
sailed over into France.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being arrived
there, it was not long yer the met with Hercules and his armie, neare unto the
mouth of the river called Roen (or the Rhodanus) where happened a cruell
conflict betweene them, in which Hercules and his men were like to have lost
the day, for that they were in maner wearied with long warres, and their
munition sore wasted in the last viage that he had made for Spaine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hereupon Hercules… it came suddenlie into his
mind to will each of them to defend himselfe by throwing stones at his enimie…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The policie was no sooner published than
hearkened unto and put in execution, whereby they so prevailed in the end, that
Hercules wan to field, their enimies were put to flight, and Albion and his brother
both slaine, and buried in that plot.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK9UvUtU4G8OE9YcJq_kAVWOQ4NKv3ociul78Mo4r0lKUoAJmFc3ASvuH0r9haDJLBjy12Pir8ynhMI9GOI9r1JLfbj7R_Mo0SigpdFjGh6857LC6__B3w0_hzSepvbaraZg4_8nTwKxb/s1600/White_Cliff_in_Dover_by_Mihalik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK9UvUtU4G8OE9YcJq_kAVWOQ4NKv3ociul78Mo4r0lKUoAJmFc3ASvuH0r9haDJLBjy12Pir8ynhMI9GOI9r1JLfbj7R_Mo0SigpdFjGh6857LC6__B3w0_hzSepvbaraZg4_8nTwKxb/s1600/White_Cliff_in_Dover_by_Mihalik.jpg" height="284" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/White-Cliff-in-Dover-114071320">White Cliff in Dover by Mihalik</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According to
Holinshed, even after the death of the giant, the name Albion, which some attribute to the White Cliffs of Dover, remained for
quite some time before it was renamed:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>But to go
forward, albeit that Albion and his power were thus discomfited and slaine, yet
the name that he gave unto this Iland died not, but still remained unto the
time of Brute, who arriving here in the 1116 before Christ and 2850 after the
creation of the world, not onelie changed it into Britaine (after it had beene
called Albion by the space of about 600 yeares)…<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
While Albion
met his demise at the hands of Hercules, he was not the last giant of Britain. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Geoffrey of Monmouth also mentions giants when
Merlin instructs Aurelius that a memorial for the ‘many noble warriors that had
died for their country.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stones which
were used to create Stonehenge were, according to Merlin, called ‘the Giant’s
Dance’ and had been taken by giants from Africa to Ireland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzna7_eelaFs2IbANwK9Wci_WFRgj4gZp9Ks1dQBwrEcRxwqqMhBRQerFcZLEqt1wyJalZHlCeVVzBS8RnOpkk4Jvp4zlju80YqQm1_3FJwFoOvIxH79Qs9BoMAEp2LQ-mfAXhexkp-zT/s1600/dc8ad80574ffd5d376bc0d91b8879fb5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzna7_eelaFs2IbANwK9Wci_WFRgj4gZp9Ks1dQBwrEcRxwqqMhBRQerFcZLEqt1wyJalZHlCeVVzBS8RnOpkk4Jvp4zlju80YqQm1_3FJwFoOvIxH79Qs9BoMAEp2LQ-mfAXhexkp-zT/s1600/dc8ad80574ffd5d376bc0d91b8879fb5.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Giant-s-Dance-112766089">Giant's Dance by vikingjon</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>'If thou be
fain to grace the burial-place of these men with a work that shall endure for
ever, send for the Dance of the Giants that is in Killaraus, a mountain in
Ireland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a structure of stones is
there that none of this age could raise save his wit were strong enough to
carry his art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the stones be big,
nor is there stone anywhere of more virtue, and, so they be set up round this
plot in a circle, even as they be now there set up, here shall they stand for
ever.'</em></div>
<em>
At this
words of Merlin, Aurelius burst out laughing… ‘Laugh not so lightly, King, for
not lightly are these words spoken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
in these stones is a mystery, and a healing virtue against many ailments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giants of old did carry them from the
furthest ends of Africa and did set them up in Ireland what time they did
inhabit therein…’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Jack and the
Beanstalk is a story which can be found throughout the world, with oral
versions having been collected from Jamaica to Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The oldest allusion to the story, however,
can be found in the second edition of ‘Round About Our Coal-Fire: On Christmas
Entertainments’ which was published in 1734, with the story itself appearing
under the heading ‘Enchantment Demonstrated in the Story of Jack Spriggins and
the Enchanted Bean’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later versions of
the story are completely different to the original tale – Jack does not sell
the family cow for five beans, there is no golden egg laying chicken, nor the
magic harp, nor is the Giant called Holdfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this original version, the giant is known as Gogmagog, and the magic,
or enchanted, bean comes from Jack’s Grandmother, who is a witch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJef9nhfyKppDi6zGXEueVFROiFRthmXAPC_L-IxD8sIMQGFYDZVC09aqVqZ0PMmYB7bpKkzEetiyhtHrVGPp9AK4ksVBufVm7GzVXTt8NojvThiQMmuCKKJgJH7VRDkiOm3Nr-nwvlHY/s1600/Jack_Et_Le_Haricot_Magique_by_Hoshii_K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJef9nhfyKppDi6zGXEueVFROiFRthmXAPC_L-IxD8sIMQGFYDZVC09aqVqZ0PMmYB7bpKkzEetiyhtHrVGPp9AK4ksVBufVm7GzVXTt8NojvThiQMmuCKKJgJH7VRDkiOm3Nr-nwvlHY/s1600/Jack_Et_Le_Haricot_Magique_by_Hoshii_K.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Jack-Et-Le-Haricot-Magique-106508126">Jack and the Magic Bean by Hoshii-K</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Enchantment
Demonstrated in the Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean</strong> <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Gaffer
Spriggins, who was an acute old farmer, who could leer of one eye and crack a
joke, began to tell about a comical lad of his family, of the name of Spriggins,
for he admired every one of his name, because he had no children of his own; and
this boy’s name was Jack, as we shall call him now.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Good folks,
says Gaffer Spriggins, there never was such a dirty, lazy, tatter-de-mallion
dog as Jack in the world; he was elevated in his Garret o’nights, and had the
Curse of Small Beer in his kitchen o’days, with an old enchantress for his Grandmother
and companion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I mention his apartment,
I ought in justice to let you know that the house was no more than a hovel or a
cottage; it consisted but of two rooms, if we may call them so, for really the
upper apartment, which was the next storey to the ground floor, was next to the
thatch, in which place he had often the benefit of contemplation; for though he
was a smart, large boy, his Grandmother controlled him, and between whiles the
good old woman instructed Jack in many things, and among the rest, Jack, says
she, as you are growing up to manhood, I must tell you, I have a bean in my
house which will make you a fortune; you shall be richer than an emperor, you
shall have the whole world at your command; and as you now grow strong and
lusty, I design to give it thee, my boy, one day or other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh! says Jack Dear Grandmother give me now
that bean, that I may try how rich I can be, and then how much I shall love my
dead Grandmother!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, child, says she,
should I do that, you would grow rich and turn rake, and you would never think
of your poor Grandmother again: But Sirrah, says she, if I was to know you
would play such tricks, I’d smack your saucy face for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nay, says Jack, Grandmother, don’t hurt
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, answers the Grandmother, you
lusty boy, you know I love you too well to hurt you: I love you as becomes me, and
you ought to take notice on’t; and so Jack made no words about the matter.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhxUXa7LYd4aNpJgV4F3abk5I49KNnZTwK0HGbBrtyOzFnXHnAX14PMKyX-FO4am8aNcGF3jLmLJHV4PZsIAl2Kaa6Rb_s12bZOiYIF7D0q6i-2Hyo4dNfTZhxUfU_4HnUjEgJ_XxeTUy/s1600/The_Cat_Familiar_by_Ferelwing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhxUXa7LYd4aNpJgV4F3abk5I49KNnZTwK0HGbBrtyOzFnXHnAX14PMKyX-FO4am8aNcGF3jLmLJHV4PZsIAl2Kaa6Rb_s12bZOiYIF7D0q6i-2Hyo4dNfTZhxUfU_4HnUjEgJ_XxeTUy/s1600/The_Cat_Familiar_by_Ferelwing.jpg" height="320" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Cat-Familiar-103165210">The Cat Familiar by FerelwingB</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the morning
as Jack was making his Grandmother’s fire, puss scratching among the ashes,
clawed out the enchanted bean, which his Grandmother had dropped out of her
leathern purse by accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Odds Budd,
says Jack, I’ll set it in our garden, and see what it will come to, for I
always loved beans and bacon; and then, what was wonderful! the bean was no
sooner put into the ground, but the sprout of it jumped out of the earth, and
grew so quick, that it gave Jack a fillip on the nose, and made him bleed
furiously: In he runs to his Grandmother, crying out, Dear Grandmother save me,
I am killed: No, says she, I now have only time to tell you, my enchantment
will be broke in an hour’s time, I know it, you have got my bean, and this
impertinence of yours will occasion my being transformed; yet if I am able I
will sufficiently thrash your jacket: but away runs Jack, and up the bean he
climbs, and the old woman after him, with the birch-broom in her hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bean was then about a mile high, and by
the time she got at it, Jack was straddled up near half a mile; and through her
vengeance and ill-nature, not being able to reach the boy, she fell down in a
fit for a time, and as soon as her hour was out, was turned into a monstrous
toad, and crawled into some neighbouring mud or cellar, in her way to the
shades: but Jack went on his gallop, though the bean grew more than a mile an
hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In truth, the bean grew forty
miles high, and while it was growing, <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUly9MtgS_AArHXyzQaIbHassr6oia4erhHuT7bOp9aV4GYdHcJGscvKj5_sW6aDacxw2drvasR5FMPbrvZ6km_VpeazOLuVTgYHNsc8dJ_KPi1Z3Z-BfT6tdpbSdIUDOfNnY2OloNGmO/s1600/the_beanstalk_by_joshcorpuz85-d7l22dw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUly9MtgS_AArHXyzQaIbHassr6oia4erhHuT7bOp9aV4GYdHcJGscvKj5_sW6aDacxw2drvasR5FMPbrvZ6km_VpeazOLuVTgYHNsc8dJ_KPi1Z3Z-BfT6tdpbSdIUDOfNnY2OloNGmO/s1600/the_beanstalk_by_joshcorpuz85-d7l22dw.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Beanstalk-458631572">The Beanstalk by JoshCorpuz85</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
some little towns were built upon the
leaves as he went up, for him to refresh himself at: he calls at one for a pot
of ale, at another for some bread and cheese, and at another which was near the
Giant’s Castle, for what he could get: this had a very promising aspect, for
the sign was as big as any on Ludgate-Hill: here he thought to rest for a time,
and goes on strutting like a crow in a gutter; What have you to eat Landlord,
says he; Everything in the world, Sir, says the Landlord: Why then, says Jack,
give me a neck of mutton and brother: Alas, says the Landlord, tomorrow is
market-day; how unfortunate it is I cannot get you a neck of mutton tonight if
it was to save my soul: Well then, get me something else, says Jack; Have you
any veal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No indeed, Sir, not at
present; but there is a fine calf fatting at Mr Jenkinson’s that will be killed
on Saturday next: But have you any beef in your house, says Jack; Why, truly, Sir,
says the Landlord, if you had been here on Monday last, I believe, though I say
it that should not say it, you never saw so fine a sirloin of beef as we had,
and plumb-pudding too, which the justices who dined here, and their clerks and
constables, entirely demolished; and though I got nothing by them, yet their
company was a credit to my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zounds,
says Jack, have you nothing in the house?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am hungry, I am starving; but I hear a cock crow, and from thence I am
sure you have some poultry; kill one of them and broil it: Yes Sir, says the
Landlord but that cock is the squire’s, he would not take forty guineas for
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well then, replied Jack, you may kill
a hen or a chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O Lord, Sir, I have
not chicken, answers the Landlord, and the two hens that I have belong to the
game cock, and they have incubated as I may say, their eggs a fortnight; but I
believe we shall have chickens a Wednesday hence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you no eggs in the house, says Jack: No
Sir, indeed, answers the landlord, but nest-eggs, which we make of chalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why then, says Jack, what the Devil have you
got?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why to tell you the truth, Sir, I
don’t know that I have anything in the house to eat, for the squire and his
huntsman called here this morning and devoured what we had, all our bacon, all
our cheese, and all our bread; but I could have got you some fine trouts from
the miller’s, only a little before you came in he sent all his fish up to Sir
John’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why then, says Jack, I find I
must go to bed supperless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aye, master,
answers the host.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then give me some
drink, says Jack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That I can do, for I
have just brewed; and if you love new drink, I can fit you to a tittle, for it
has not been in the tun half an hour.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus was
poor Jack plagued by the enchantment of his Grandmother, who was resolved to
lay him under her ill tongue so long as her power lasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just as he fell in with this starving
prospect, off goes the top of the house; the host was turned into a beautiful
lady, and in pops a dozen pretty youths, drest like pages in green satin, laced
with silver and white feathers in their caps, each of them <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GpMtcRiY1Ql8Crkt4QUTksfDZVzzRKHolE5StKeS5JC3TlO20z0cOBIkEfCIdXNs5wJFJ9ih0JymrTzbuKoLvmg3OPoiLWqDoNTCycccdOgYBePhb8ww9r_vGa0UyHEBuqzLJHrttvmN/s1600/empress_by_carlo_marcelo-d7zblyp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GpMtcRiY1Ql8Crkt4QUTksfDZVzzRKHolE5StKeS5JC3TlO20z0cOBIkEfCIdXNs5wJFJ9ih0JymrTzbuKoLvmg3OPoiLWqDoNTCycccdOgYBePhb8ww9r_vGa0UyHEBuqzLJHrttvmN/s1600/empress_by_carlo_marcelo-d7zblyp.jpg" height="320" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Empress-482591473">Empress by Carlo-Marcelo*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
mounted upon an
hobby-horse finely bedecked with ribbons, tinsel and feathers; they dismounted
immediately, and in full chorus most harmoniously addressed themselves to Jack,
saluting him with the titles of Sovereign Lord of the Mannor, and Invincible
Champion; ‘Tis this instant, great Sir, that your supposed Grandmother the
Queen of Pomonkey has taken her passage to the shades, her enchantment is
broke, and we bring you the full power of possessing all the pleasures you
desire: The fair lady that stands before you in Emp’ress of the Mountains of
the Moon; young as she seems to be, was your Grandmother’s black cat, and by
enchantment has worn that shape four hundred years: It was she that put it in
your mind to plant this wonderful bean by scratching in the ashes, and she is
now entirely at you Highness’s disposal whether she shall live or die: You have
a thousand Jack Catches now attending you without, with Halters and Hatchets to
make an end of her, when your Honour pleases to direct her execution; or else
you have a fiery dragon gaping for her, if you give but once the signal for her
death: This box, great Sir, bears you the absolute power over her, over us,
over Old Scratch or Nicholas the Ancient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your Grandmother, illustrious Sir, when she found the loss of her bean,
and the shortness of her power, invoked an assembly of inquietudes to attend
you, and so transformed this miracle of nature into the host you have been
talking with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why in troth, says Jack, I
thought it was a woman by filling me so full of expectation: But gentlemen,
have you got any bread and cheese in your pockets, for I am exceeding hungry? but
since it is all enchantment, as I begin now to find by alteration of my body, I
feel sprinklings of generosity flow in my veins for Grandmother’s dear pussy,
who has so often pur’d about me; I have nobleness of spirit to excuse my
innocent Landlord, and I now solemnly take this fair lady to be my lawful and
wedded wife.</em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQStKPqo1adrjbpX-BaoIRTiwJOO04bJrWwQrJ1LyEcUolfqjIic_GQ6JbLURuu56Q7QMgO0M7y1GOMT04IyreofWNdarcvQmdQ5i6KL6JwqYIWHsGtNWpW9bMmkYHpt27nv-XHDZe1QeP/s1600/wm6452i-estate-mens-jewelry-natural-star-ruby-ring-14k-gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQStKPqo1adrjbpX-BaoIRTiwJOO04bJrWwQrJ1LyEcUolfqjIic_GQ6JbLURuu56Q7QMgO0M7y1GOMT04IyreofWNdarcvQmdQ5i6KL6JwqYIWHsGtNWpW9bMmkYHpt27nv-XHDZe1QeP/s1600/wm6452i-estate-mens-jewelry-natural-star-ruby-ring-14k-gold.jpg" height="320" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://rubyringnovie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/natural-ruby-ring-gold.html">Ruby Ring</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>It requires
no more than, exalted Monarch, say the pages, but to put on the ring inclosed
in that box, and you will instantly possess five wishes, and on the top of the
ring your Highness will find a marble red stone given to your Grandmother by
the King of Strombola.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are
engaged in combat turn the stone to the north, and you may conquer Giants,
Dragons, and Basilisks; and while you keep it to the south you will flow in
plenty, and enjoy everything you desire.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Is that all
you have to say, says Jack; Yes and please your Honour, replied the pages; and
then put on the ring; at which moment the remaining part of the inn was changed
with a terrible crack into a delightful summer-house or pavilion, where a table
was spread with the most elegant dishes, and the sideboard furnished with the
richest wines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This says Jack, pleases
me above all things in the world; it is my first wish completely: But then he
espied his lady to be badly dressed; I wish Madam, says Jack, you was as well
cloathed as the greatest Queen in the world; when immediately she was adorned
in the gayest princely robes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, says
Jack, I wish for some good musick; and in an instant down came a dozen or two
of excelled fiddlers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then wished
them to play the Black-Joke, and so they went on for an hour ‘till he had
crammed his carcass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for the fifth
wish, as he was now sleepy, and as the laws of enchantment order it, a wish is
no sooner thought on but executed, so were our couple enchanted into a crimson
velvet bed, embroidered with gold and pearls; the room illuminated with an
hundred wax perfumed lights placed in glass sconces; the marble tables covered
with jessamine and orange flowers, and the small ones made of mahogany and
other fine wood, adorned with pyramids of sweetmeats and refreshing drams from
the true Barbadoes citron to the <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OWoLtqwyLGsw_96z62V_SpFchx81VO8I6qFkrB8_6LzIzmZ2K1_dtXqeGpC_fVh_krSwD0JswLdXtLvJ3nhTEoA5Vji3XwO_OXOEXoMHV0v7xqZxgMGY8nM-gagaGbt4wssu47FsTO3M/s1600/Winterhalter_Franz_Xavier_The_Empress_Eugenie_Surrounded_by_her_Ladies_in_Waiting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OWoLtqwyLGsw_96z62V_SpFchx81VO8I6qFkrB8_6LzIzmZ2K1_dtXqeGpC_fVh_krSwD0JswLdXtLvJ3nhTEoA5Vji3XwO_OXOEXoMHV0v7xqZxgMGY8nM-gagaGbt4wssu47FsTO3M/s1600/Winterhalter_Franz_Xavier_The_Empress_Eugenie_Surrounded_by_her_Ladies_in_Waiting.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winterhalter_Franz_Xavier_The_Empress_Eugenie_Surrounded_by_her_Ladies_in_Waiting.jpg">The Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
humble gin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I should have observed that when the Princess was conjured into the
wonderful apartment, she was attended by twelve damsels cloathed in silver
tissue, who flew to her assistance mounted upon as many rose-buds: These were
followed by an impudent shoe-boy, whose business it was to clean her ladyship’s
shoes against the morning: so that there was nothing wanting to complete the
happiness of the illustrious couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
soon fell asleep with fatigue and dreamt a dream, in which the patroness of the
enchantment appeared to him; and after having touched him and his Princess
three times with a wand, struck out of their memories all thoughts of what they
had been, and confirmed them in princely graces: Then whisking her wand three
times over her head, whispered Prince John of his progress to the top of his
bean, and how he should come to the Castle of Giant Gogmagog, by whom, himself
and his Princess should be favourably received, and entertained for three days
without danger, but he must be sure to keep the stone in is ring inclining to
the north, and his Princess on his north side, that then he should be in
seeming great danger of his life as well as his Princess; but by turning the
stone of his ring under the bent of his finger, the Princess should immediately
change into a basilisk, and kill all that were in reach of her eyes except
himself; and then as soon as he could assume himself of safety, it was only to
turn up his ring as it had been before, and then the Princess would resume her
shape, and he become master of all the Giant’s treasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mean time she placed an enchanted fly
upon the Princess’s left arm to convey her as a flying-horse would do, when she
happened to be weary with climbing, and so departed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWrBerypYD6bPVwWLDUc1yVfJ1q_4G1OOfVLqKrvR7-9fL-rzCvHlfHE_BDCIDkfkfqWpx0128XVktlR_RHz9OfskREHOPgCuJff7shzctRjl039BduPrmP3VcbyFnr9TvV60zOVzxc-f/s1600/Top_of_the_Beanstalk_by_Ih8orangepezzz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWrBerypYD6bPVwWLDUc1yVfJ1q_4G1OOfVLqKrvR7-9fL-rzCvHlfHE_BDCIDkfkfqWpx0128XVktlR_RHz9OfskREHOPgCuJff7shzctRjl039BduPrmP3VcbyFnr9TvV60zOVzxc-f/s1600/Top_of_the_Beanstalk_by_Ih8orangepezzz.jpg" height="320" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Top-of-the-Beanstalk-163923775">Top of the Beanstalk by Ih8orangepezzz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then Prince
John began to rub his eyes, and stretching himself with a yawn or two, turned
to his dear Princess, who just waked from the same dream he himself had; there
was the fly upon the arm of the lady, which they carefully took off and put
into a little gold cage, which they found placed on a table by them; and after
a merry joke or two, they disposed themselves for getting up, and were
immediately attended with pages and virgins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had a delightful breakfast, went dressed sumptuously, and set out
for a walk towards the enchanted castle, the pages leading their hobby-horses
in their hands, with one of an extraordinary kind and workmanship; for the Prince
and the virgins had each hold of their rose-buds; and as for the Princess’s
enchanted fly, she had hung it in its cage to the chain of her watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their progress it happened that the
company by means of the enchanted air, had got appetites like horses, and by
agreement the Prince and Princess set down under the side of an hill covered
with orange-trees and myrtles, the banks adorned with cowslips, primroses,
hyacinths, and violets; before them was a purling stream, and the woods
resounded with the harmonious notes of nightingales, linnets, canary and other
fine singing birds, when on a gentle breeze were wafted an hundred cupids, each
bearing a salver of gold furnished with the richest and most delicate meats;
while on the other hand the trouts, salmons, carp, and other inhabitants of the
stream leaped upon the banks; with a proper supply of nectar, ambrosia, burgundy,
champaign, hermitage, frontigniac, and tokay wines, not forgetting a dram or
two for the virgins of honour.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The Prince
and Princess were delightfully regaled, whilst the zephirs attended them with
refreshing air; and when their company had satisfied themselves, the remainder
of the entertainment vanished: And as it is not proper to walk much after a
hearty repast, the Prince judged it convenient to ride the rest of the way
towards the castle.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And now no
sooner was the fly let out of its cage, but itself and all the hobby-horses and
rose-buds were changed into palfreys, adorned with the richest trappings, and
away they go in the grandest manner, passing by many knights and ladies, and
were informed that there were many more before them; when on a sudden they
heard a voice cry out (for the could hear many miles further than any one
else),<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Fee-Faw-Fum!<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
I smell the
blood of an English-Man;<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Whether he
be alive or dead,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
I’ll grind
his bones to make my bread.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0OBlkFNLQAqAgYtq-6BMiWIZO1XAoQGL7ARvYlw0cdIP1J1HhI0H0xayaudFPC3bVHugWdnJsU56PwUim2jl8VgU42p707WANc6X-Q5IW9OuB6oOIi0_zfig5VjrVCSz_G4OJhpYLz0w/s1600/the_giants_s_house_by_jbrown67-d8b208h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0OBlkFNLQAqAgYtq-6BMiWIZO1XAoQGL7ARvYlw0cdIP1J1HhI0H0xayaudFPC3bVHugWdnJsU56PwUim2jl8VgU42p707WANc6X-Q5IW9OuB6oOIi0_zfig5VjrVCSz_G4OJhpYLz0w/s1600/the_giants_s_house_by_jbrown67-d8b208h.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Giants-s-House-502298801">The Giant's House by jbrown67</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>But this did
not trouble either the Prince or his lady or attendants; they all knew they had
safety enough in their hands, and gallop’d on ‘till they arrived at the Castle
of Wonders, when they soon espied the Giant Gogmagog, who was picking his teeth
with a great tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His tooth-pick case
was such another thing as the Monument in London; he had a bowl of punch as big
as St. Paul’s Church, and the cup that he drank out of was about the size of
the dome of St. Paul’s; for his tobacco-pipe he <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9k4JEFwqV3CugdvZB2YkT1NyFzrC_KXdSpv7xW_XWr87rkuXyqu0_uJPX6Hr6V6vf4IzZzUJ_mryHg8akxotlyi9wL5P3T-Tax5OR0atnfE_DtGuICiFa2-0WUcVHZuEfgvhP0Ez6Lvol/s1600/a958a9ddcf373a9b1ea6e76179c92eac-d7f99i8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9k4JEFwqV3CugdvZB2YkT1NyFzrC_KXdSpv7xW_XWr87rkuXyqu0_uJPX6Hr6V6vf4IzZzUJ_mryHg8akxotlyi9wL5P3T-Tax5OR0atnfE_DtGuICiFa2-0WUcVHZuEfgvhP0Ez6Lvol/s1600/a958a9ddcf373a9b1ea6e76179c92eac-d7f99i8.jpg" height="320" width="169" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Jack-amp-beanstalk-448889696">Jack and Beanstalk by NogalWag</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
had the exact model of the
piramidical building near the water-side in Southwark, where the damaged
tobacco is burnt; and his tobacco-stopper was like the water-engine belonging
to the York-Buildings Company; and his tobacco-box was about the size of
Westminster-Hall: But however, he rose up when the Prince and his retinue
appeared, and saluted them, bid them welcome, and offered them the best
entertainment he could give them, whilst the Prince for safety’s sake turned
the stone of his ring to the north; for he had never seen so huge a man before.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
They were
introduced into the castle through the richest apartments imaginable; and what
was extraordinary the great Giant shrunk into a common size, and appeared like
other men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The furniture was vastly
rich, the attendants without number, and the equipage magnificent, and nothing
was wanting to entertain our illustrious couple with splendour befitting their
rank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gardens were splendid as those
at Versailles, the parks of vast extent, and in a word, so well furnished with
all sorts of game, that no other could parallel them; which pleased the young
couple extreamly, knowing full well they would be soon at their own disposal.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But they had
now passed near the three days with the Giant, who grew desperately in love
with the Princess, and resolved to have her at any rate, even at the expence of
devouring her husband; which he could have done at a mouthful well enough, if
he had been a common man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
enchantment is a great help to men in such distress, and the Prince and his
lady went to bed well satisfied:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
were no sooner laid down on their pillows, but they heard a mighty sobbing and
moaning of many virgins sighing and grieving at their hard fortunes, that the
giant was to make a breakfast of them the next morning.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1wXn_zlB1QKXRp0DdiqnpZcb4DN9uq_oAavvgGRwH244FoWeGkor7j65Xen5YxpIg04Ndn5CTc7HNA9lwPX3NwInvrR5PcfDozN8ztx-N56uHzIBuPaaro7u3cE7r2xVyCT56hvy7hy7/s1600/basilisk_by_mysteryone617-d5ed4hi.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1wXn_zlB1QKXRp0DdiqnpZcb4DN9uq_oAavvgGRwH244FoWeGkor7j65Xen5YxpIg04Ndn5CTc7HNA9lwPX3NwInvrR5PcfDozN8ztx-N56uHzIBuPaaro7u3cE7r2xVyCT56hvy7hy7/s1600/basilisk_by_mysteryone617-d5ed4hi.png" height="273" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/basilisk-326457846">Basilisk by MysteryOne617</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now you must
know, the stone in the Prince’s ring being turned to the south, he could see
and know what he pleased; and having consulted with the Princess about the
destruction of the Giant, my dear (says he) shall I make the proof of changing
you into a cockatrice or basilisk, for there is a mouse in the room, and if
your looks kill the animal we shall be sure of the rest, for it may be multum in
parvo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experiment was made in an
instant, and the Princess, her eyes and whole body became so bright, that it
was even dazzling to her husband; and the mouse no sooner beheld her, but burst
with a prodigious crack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the ring was
turned again, and all wishes were in the Prince’s power; he immediately slipt
through the key-holes of doors and narrow crannies, ‘till he came to a large
gallery, where several thousand young ladies were tied up like calves o’fatting,
and bemoaning their hard case, alas, dear Prince, (say they) tomorrow early
shall we be broiled and crushed between the Giant, Gogmagog’s monstrous teeth,
if you do not save us; and there are ten thousand knights below in as bad a
condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are then all safe (says
the Prince) for the Giant will be destroyed as soon as the sun rises, and I
shall then take possession of my dominions.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He had no
sooner said this, but he released the ladies from their bridles, and summoned
the Princess’s virgins to attend them with such necessaries as they
wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he whisked through the
cracks and key-holes, ‘till he reached the place where the knights were
confined; and they like the ladies were tied up to their good behaviour, and
were moreover restrained the use of their hands, which he soon changed to their
satisfaction, and gave them the assistance of his pages, with the promise to
release them the next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then were
the rooms where these prisoners of both sexes were kept, illuminated and
furnished with every refreshing liquor; while the Prince returned to his lady
and related what had passed.</em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvVmPOGg59w1nni2wBxZ8PX1Az7qMV7u4CI2o5hr5jBLSh8T5xdEhGpY5918VEDIFSrm9Ivk1zgIjXgDjmGfi0MxbQKOoZKU2GdcxYCcKliXdk3ofXxXqd4ZImKB3Cmr-ZPJ440-mIUu9/s1600/cockatrice_by_cibana-d7wn4fk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvVmPOGg59w1nni2wBxZ8PX1Az7qMV7u4CI2o5hr5jBLSh8T5xdEhGpY5918VEDIFSrm9Ivk1zgIjXgDjmGfi0MxbQKOoZKU2GdcxYCcKliXdk3ofXxXqd4ZImKB3Cmr-ZPJ440-mIUu9/s1600/cockatrice_by_cibana-d7wn4fk.jpg" height="284" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Cockatrice-478089776">Cockatrice by Cibana*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>The day no
sooner broke, but up got the Prince and Princess, and walking into a bower,
refreshed themselves with some fruits, and the Giant appeared with a sword in
his hand; says he with an hoarse voice, Thou Prince of Pitty, this moment you
die, and he next instant will I solace myself in the delights of my gory
breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Prince and Princess
immediately got from their seats, and while the Prince was turning his ring
towards the north, the Giant his him a thundering stroke with his sword; but he
might as well have hit a rock of diamonds as wound the Prince; for by this time
the ring was in a proper station, and the Princess was changed into a
cockatrice or, basilisk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Giant at
this gave a great groan, fell on his knees, trembled, and fell down dead: Then
there was a great shout in the castle, the doors flew open, the knights and
ladies sallied forth to congratulate their Highnesses; and proclaim them as
their Sovereigns; they became their vassals, and attended them, in their
delightful palaces and royalty in the most perfect happiness.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
And so far
for the enchantment, which some old women first set afoot to amuse children,
and is now finished by the Author, with no other view but to assure his
readers, that enchantment proceeds from nothing but the chit-chat of an old
nurse, or maggots in a madman’s brain.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<strong>Useful Resources</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42506/42506-h/42506-h.htm">The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles by Raphaell Holinshed, William Harrison &Others</a> </div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Holinsheds-Chronicles-Handbooks-Literature-ebook/dp/B00BBUQZ0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425979308&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Oxford+Handbook+of+Holinshed%E2%80%99s+Chronicles+by+Paulina+Kewes%2C+Ian+W.+Archer+%26+Felicity">The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed’s Chronicles by Paulina Kewes, Ian W. Archer &Felicity Heal</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/gem/index.htm">Histories of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YDwPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP11&dq=Jack+Spriggins+enchanted+bean&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-Yn9VIPtLYGkUuHRgaAK&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=Jack%20Spriggins%20enchanted%20bean&f=false">1740 Christmas Entertainments</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-8528879248607470142015-03-02T09:30:00.000+00:002015-03-02T09:30:45.153+00:00Creation Mythology: Native America - North<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Today we are
going to explore the creation myths of the North Native Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>North America is the third largest of the
world’s continents and is often referred to as the New World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many Native American tribes within
North America, all with their own creation mythology. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Iroquois
people, including the Cayuga, Cherokee, Huron, Mohawk and Seneca tribes,
occupied territory around Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Erie, in what is now New
York and Pennsylvania as well as Ontario and Quebec in Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their name, Iroquois, is a derivation of the
French Irinakhoiw, meaning ‘rattlesnakes’, although they call themselves
Hodenosaunee, meaning ‘people of the longhouse’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following creation myth is widespread
throughout the Iroquois tribes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkStfjx2LeZCCljQEVha2wnoVFOUTz05SD29fYJzsn7j6vorvQNv3Uoi7V5qBImbBu3SwY-9FaxtgZocmy8Ni-PAERR4iPgv5nXSiEPd_ZSLvphBViCDVjeMTYJv84mPpdiwppNFrEA1p/s1600/268956_detail_eplv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkStfjx2LeZCCljQEVha2wnoVFOUTz05SD29fYJzsn7j6vorvQNv3Uoi7V5qBImbBu3SwY-9FaxtgZocmy8Ni-PAERR4iPgv5nXSiEPd_ZSLvphBViCDVjeMTYJv84mPpdiwppNFrEA1p/s1600/268956_detail_eplv.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://calendrier.espacepourlavie.ca/aataentsic-sky-woman" target="_blank">Aataentsic by Sylvie Paré & Robert Laliberté</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Turtle’s
Shell<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning, there was no land, only a wide, wide water that stretched as far as
the far horizons in every direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This watery world was not without life, for in it lived such creatures
as the muskrat, with its webbed feet and flat tail, and its cousin the
thick-furred beaver who builds log lodges in which to live and house its young,
and the otter who slides through the water like a snake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were salmon and other fish too, and
birds – ducks with speckled and iridescent plumage and gaggles of cackling
geese and diving birds with stick-like legs and pointed beaks.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
But in this
watery world there were no people and this is how, so the old story goes,
mankind first came into the world.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Up in
heaven, the Great Mother Aataentsic conceived in her womb the first man and the
first woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time passed, and soon, she
knew, the moment would come when she should be delivered of her children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one day, as she was walking about in
heaven, she tripped and stumbled and fell, and came tumbling, rumbling,
spiralling, and turning, like a feather twirling in the breeze, all the way
down through the limitless blue sky towards the wide, wide water below.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And as the
animals looked up the saw Aataentsic coming towards there, ever closer, and they
went scurrying hither and thither to find a piece of earth that they could
place under her to break her fall, for they did not want her to drown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The otter searched, the beaver searched, the
ducks, the geese, the salmon and all the other creatures searched, but in the
end it was the muskrat who found a clump of earth – not much bigger than a fist
– and quickly placed it on the back of the turtle who was swimming through the
water in his usual unhurried and ponderous way – and only just in time, too.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mecoX7VL9TEr2rxj_HVPpSRgp6z_-WjnM8s1JYkJNLoUvXn4034_gGOFEK5i1MqgUQhLaxPzeuykuHNLexvhOIohb7OzqxxT3JVztrYChAe5bmUwAMQeES8mUFWESAfmuQeOQe1poTLW/s1600/turtle_island_by_rowye-d7zn7ql.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mecoX7VL9TEr2rxj_HVPpSRgp6z_-WjnM8s1JYkJNLoUvXn4034_gGOFEK5i1MqgUQhLaxPzeuykuHNLexvhOIohb7OzqxxT3JVztrYChAe5bmUwAMQeES8mUFWESAfmuQeOQe1poTLW/s1600/turtle_island_by_rowye-d7zn7ql.jpg" height="400" width="348" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Turtle-Island-483132909" target="_blank">Turtle Island by Rowye</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>For at that very moment, the Great Mother
landed – with a gentle bounce – on the little piece of earth that had been
placed for her on the turtle’s back, and it was just enough to cushion her fall
for her landing was as soft as if she had been dropped into a featherbed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was here that she was delivered of the
first man and the first woman and it is their children and their children’s
children who are all the people in the world.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And as for
the clump of earth, that was no bigger than a fist, a very strange thing began
to happen, and you would have marvelled greatly if you had been there to
see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clump began to swell and grow
and to spread out over the wide, wide water until it became an island and then
a vast land that stretched north, south, east, and west, with hills and valleys
and forests and rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It became the
earth on which we walk, and because it still rests on the turtle’s shell, the
people call it Turtle Island.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And so it
is, when the sea is churned into a great swell of waves, that the people say
the turtle is stirring.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And so it
is, when the earth is shaken by tremors and rumblings and quakes, that the
people say the turtle is stretching its limbs.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Seneca ,
or ‘People of the Green Hill’, who once lived in what is now New York, have
their own version of the Turtle Island myth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unlike in the above version, where the first man and woman are the
children of Old Mother, it is Old Mother’s daughter who births the first
humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her children, Sky Holder and
Flint, or Good Mind and Bad Mind, complete the creation of the Earth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcomuDl9cHOZbuXdE_4IYeiJzQlIl5vbvM2q4GqWsSPcL7jH7mDVDqiRfl5doxYX975WnpeYxoyKFaDMsQy8KCD0x0TNOvpEiPPvIG6mM8zGf5yqQYmM9PCdhkiFqIfthqMvJFKsQ1kdI/s1600/IMG_7591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcomuDl9cHOZbuXdE_4IYeiJzQlIl5vbvM2q4GqWsSPcL7jH7mDVDqiRfl5doxYX975WnpeYxoyKFaDMsQy8KCD0x0TNOvpEiPPvIG6mM8zGf5yqQYmM9PCdhkiFqIfthqMvJFKsQ1kdI/s1600/IMG_7591.JPG" height="400" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jayjiiadventures.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/iroquois-indian-museum.html" target="_blank">Earth Holder & Old Woman - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Flint and
Sky Holder<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Earth
Holder, the Ancient One, lived in the sky world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the centre of this world grew a great tree
that bore flowers and fruit, and sustained all those who lived there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earth Holder took Old Woman to be his wife,
and she became pregnant by inhaling her husband’s breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Earth Holder became jealous and
suspicious and began to waste away.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
He dreamed
that the answer to his problems was to uproot the great tree, so he pulled it
out, leaving a gaping hole in the floor of the sky world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earth Holder called Old Mother to look
through the hole, and when she came he pushed her through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she fell, she grasped seeds from the tree
with one hand, and a tobacco-scented root with the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old Woman fell towards the water which then
covered the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ducks saw her
fall, and wove their wings together to catch her, and then the Great Turtle
rose from the underworld and, with the curve of his shell, made a resting place
for her above the water.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
A muskrat
dove under the water and brought up mud, which he smeared on to the Turtle’s
shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the surface began to expand,
Old Woman released the seed and the root that she was holding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Earth was soon covered with plants, and a
new tree grew from the root.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Old Woman
built herself a lodge beneath the tree, and there she gave birth to a daughter,
who in turn became pregnant by the Wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The daughter heard two voices inside her, arguing about which should be
born first; one was gentle, the other harsh and rough.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘If you
won’t let me out first,’ said the second voice, ‘I shall force my way
out.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the child with the rough voice
burst out of his mother’s armpit.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Old Woman’s
daughter had just enough strength to give birth to the other child before she
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was the first to die, and to
make a path from this world back to the sky world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy born from her armpit was called
Flint, and his heart was cold and hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The other boy, Sky Holder, was warm and loving.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO9kG8nCUVC2EEnK645mnOIV7ewt-eZG6DpKovCG2PjsT2JbEJsTTmDhPNyz530ptWUjEG1_NXThJEfGynHBfwzZX6a70NzXtcFllUiVGvoe8tDbHMpN5EBWgQ4Rok96NTcOBKzfO70An/s1600/Creation+story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO9kG8nCUVC2EEnK645mnOIV7ewt-eZG6DpKovCG2PjsT2JbEJsTTmDhPNyz530ptWUjEG1_NXThJEfGynHBfwzZX6a70NzXtcFllUiVGvoe8tDbHMpN5EBWgQ4Rok96NTcOBKzfO70An/s1600/Creation+story.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://iroquois-ojibway-h-l-c.blogspot.co.uk/2013_09_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Old Woman Falls - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>When the
boys were grown they decided to enlarge Turtle Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flint created the mountains and hills in the
west, while Sky Holder made the valleys and meadows in the east.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You’re making it too comfortable,’ said
Flint, and he did everything he could to spoil the new land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even stole the sun and hid it in the
southwest; although Sky Holder won it back, Flint had created winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sky Holder saw his own reflection in a pool
of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking some clay, he made six
pairs of humans in his own image – the first man and woman of six nations of
the Iroquois.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Sky Holder
taught the people how to live, but every good gift from Sky Holder was matched
by a bad gift from Flint, and so disease and evil came into the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever Sky Holder made a healing plant, for
example, Flint made a poisonous one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually Sky Holder challenged and beat Flint, imprisoning his brother
in a cave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sky Holder also vanquished
other enemies of humanity, such as the Whirlwind, the Wind, and the Fire
Beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made the stars, the sun, and
the moon and when his work was done, Sky Holder followed his mother’s path up
to the world in the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
This next
story is one of recreation and comes from the Algonquian Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Algonquian people are the most numerous
in North America, with hundreds of original tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They once inhabited the forest regions of the
Ottawa River vally and its tributaries in what is now Quebec and Ontario in
Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This creation myth tells of how
Michabo, also known as Lord Hare, with the help of muskrat, uses a piece of earth from the old world to
create a new world.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SZRpeJZzKwtkwTyQzeQHsWccS6avvUNQmIQ7EH1cWYMf27UHsfrIwDwJSsaiI_CCvOoHhZ67iL_kJnVNXknDdbIyaOVRYtlPzmuTfx72EowZhELohdaSL3bsNQY8p8JrNjnbSzeJOtvp/s1600/far_away_by_nerain-d5qkqhl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SZRpeJZzKwtkwTyQzeQHsWccS6avvUNQmIQ7EH1cWYMf27UHsfrIwDwJSsaiI_CCvOoHhZ67iL_kJnVNXknDdbIyaOVRYtlPzmuTfx72EowZhELohdaSL3bsNQY8p8JrNjnbSzeJOtvp/s1600/far_away_by_nerain-d5qkqhl.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Far-Away-346968345" target="_blank">Far Away by Nerain</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Michabo and
the Flood<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>One day
Michabo, lord of the east wind, was out hunting with his wolves when they came
to a vast lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stirred by the
excitement of the chase, the pack would not be turned from their course and
plunged headlong into the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
lake was deep and it was not long before all the beasts had been swallowed up,
leaving behind them no more than a few lingering ripples on the treacherously
calm face of the water.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Coming close
after them, Michabo saw what had befallen his beasts so he waded out into the
lake to try to rescue them, pitting all his great strength against the water
that slowed his path, to go ever deeper towards the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But so powerful was the movement of his limbs
and so wild the swirling of his breath that the lake was stirred to a storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waves lashed the shore and the water rose
higher and higher until it overflowed its banks and roared in turbulent
torrents over the land, carrying with it stones and rocks and stripping the
trees of all their branches.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGpeKr7MgFAjRAXja1_PqTJqq3mU-Py8FjghkQp4BkMmoAK3cz8uG-nfZFQcYIqGO8S80MfPV4-15Cx8RivA42M7NkdtFSspAAtl1AA8tPTWThk7b7iD-rWdkEfl5P01vhVptNZyQXpfc/s1600/coyote01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGpeKr7MgFAjRAXja1_PqTJqq3mU-Py8FjghkQp4BkMmoAK3cz8uG-nfZFQcYIqGO8S80MfPV4-15Cx8RivA42M7NkdtFSspAAtl1AA8tPTWThk7b7iD-rWdkEfl5P01vhVptNZyQXpfc/s1600/coyote01.jpg" height="247" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://janethulingsbleicken.com/coyote.html" target="_blank">Michabo and The Flood by Janet Hulings Bleicken</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>When the
flood finally abated and all was peaceful once more, the whole world had
disappeared beneath a blanket of shining water that stretched east, west,
north, and south, as far as the farthest horizons.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Try as he
might, nowhere could Michabo see one single spot of dry land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he resolved to make a new world from the
remains of the old – but he needed help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He called the raven:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Go out
across the water,’ he said, ‘and bring me back one grain of soil so that I may
make a new world from the remains of the old.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With a swish of wings and a croaking cry, the raven flew off to do the
Master’s bidding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when it returned,
it brought nothing.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So Michabo
called the otter:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Go out
across the water,’ he said again, ‘and bring me back one grain of soil so that
I may make a new world from the remains of the old.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a flip of its sleek body, the otter
dived into the water and was soon out of sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But when it returned, it brought nothing.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So Michabo
called the muskrat, and sent her off with the same instructions as before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How long she was gone no one can be sure – as
hour or a day or a year or more – but what is sure is that this time, when the
muskrat returned, she held between her teeth a tiny clod of earth, just big
enough to allow the Master to do his work.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Michabo took
the clod of earth and with his magic powers of creation, made it into an island
and sent it floating out on the water and the island grew and grew into a vast
land with hills and valleys and plains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And there were trees on this new land but they were bare of branches, so
Michabo loosed his arrows at the trunks, and they took root in the bark and
became new branches and burgeoned with fresh green leaves, and the world that
Michabo had made was more beautiful than you can imagine.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
As for the
muskrat who had helped to bring about this great work of creation, Michabo
rewarded her by making her his wife, and it is their children and their
children’s children and all the generations that followed who have been living
ever since in the wonderful new world that Michabo made from a tiny clod of
earth, long, long ago.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Coos
people, sometimes called the Hanis, once lived along the central and
southcentral Oregon coast, including the Coos Bay, Umpqua, and Siuslaw
estuaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They told the following tale
of creation:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDVjgnGOTXhxnxDqnoBFhWdLqtaflJYSoC2iDi-1xFztjTIGCfluE9Wh5RQuA_d7Sc6WlpG_-ieMRtllTGEFPOKA_3GWJUNKeufFMSBroFWMRSsLhS8g3bN4UiGdHiXQ0r-WqNk8BJ6Ol/s1600/Feather_Trees_by_rospberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDVjgnGOTXhxnxDqnoBFhWdLqtaflJYSoC2iDi-1xFztjTIGCfluE9Wh5RQuA_d7Sc6WlpG_-ieMRtllTGEFPOKA_3GWJUNKeufFMSBroFWMRSsLhS8g3bN4UiGdHiXQ0r-WqNk8BJ6Ol/s1600/Feather_Trees_by_rospberry.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Feather-Trees-171786363" target="_blank">Feather Trees by rospberry</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Arrow Young
Men (Creation of the World)<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Two
young men were travelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stopped
in the middle of their journey, and one of them said, "How would it be if
we two should try it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you think
about it?"--"It would be good if we two should try it," answered
the other one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"We ought to try it
with that soot here."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had five
pieces (disks) of soot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now they stopped
and dropped one piece into the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The world at that time was without land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything was covered with water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again they dropped one piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
ocean was rolling over the disk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
next day they dropped another disk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
they stopped at some small place and dropped another disk into the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They looked at it from above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now land began to appear, and they saw
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were very glad when they saw
the land coming up.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
next day they dropped another disk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Land
began to stick out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They looked
frequently at the waves that rolled back and forth continually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"What is your opinion?" said one of
the two men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shall we try it
again?"--"With what shall we try it?" asked the other one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The water was still rolling back and forth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Let us split this mat."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did so, and placed the two pieces over
the five disks of soot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now they went
down to examine it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still the land was
not solid enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So one of them said,
"Let us split this basket in two!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They split it, and put it on the sand beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The waves were held back now, since the water
was able to go down through the basket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now the young men went down and examined the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"This will do," said one of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"It's good that way."<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now
they began to look around the world which they had created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Suppose we set up some trees,"
said one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"It would be very
good," answered the other one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
they stuck into the ground the feathers of an eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The feathers began to grow, and developed
soon into fir-trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"All kinds of
trees shall grow," said the older man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the different kinds of trees commenced to grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Suppose we create animals," said
one of the young men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"It won't be
good if there shouldn't be any animals. The future generations ought to have
animals."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they created
animals.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLyq22dQt874rIDfEZcLy4UdT9VD9hPTrIfR6lrpOEABJ4VnRdkXZzG7cfXT60HAOSj43LwWcbERcTVSB3UCuE0dzK1it-TKdIvh7fzvb03dHEmmuO2z_O6LrrGduWLZlI9q46-kZcEKP/s1600/Medicine_Man_by_jfarsenault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLyq22dQt874rIDfEZcLy4UdT9VD9hPTrIfR6lrpOEABJ4VnRdkXZzG7cfXT60HAOSj43LwWcbERcTVSB3UCuE0dzK1it-TKdIvh7fzvb03dHEmmuO2z_O6LrrGduWLZlI9q46-kZcEKP/s1600/Medicine_Man_by_jfarsenault.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Medicine-Man-121614787" target="_blank">Medicine Man by jfarsenault</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Early
in the morning they went to look at the world they had created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly they saw tracks on the ocean
beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Whose tracks may these
be?" asked one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
followed the tracks, and soon came upon a person sitting on the top of a
snag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"You, indeed, must have made
these tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who are
you?"--"I am a medicine-man," answered the person whose face was
painted all over with red paint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"You have no right to travel here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is our world, we have made it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are you surely a medicine-man?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They seized the stranger and killed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then they spilled his blood in all directions, and said to him,
"You will be nothing, the last generation shall see you."<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Then
they turned back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly one of them
became pregnant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The child could not
come out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"What will become of
us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ought to have wives."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of them had done anything; nevertheless
he became pregnant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The child was all
the time trying to come out, but could not do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they sent some one to the north, and told
him, "There is a man living there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is a good man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bring him
here."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone went to get him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They went out in a canoe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To their surprise, there were no waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they wished that waves would come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Five times shall the north wind come
and bring five breakers."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so it
was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were waiting for the fifth
wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when this came, they went
ashore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They found the man, and brought
him to the pregnant person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as
he saw the pregnant man, he took out the child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From this girl all
the people took their origin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She caused
the people to multiply, and to inhabit the world.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-rySX95SlUUmfbRqpmn4Vxf0FdXjxWB6xltiB6OgAUHTN893X-yoszZXj_OlNIFYjYxSm0RhkggptXBFLY4YusGP9PND0gMqvWdcCL_BuSL-GUz2hhuRmA18BPrOCrUmstCJarXW-Xhy/s1600/Arrow_into_the_Sun_by_Medicinewolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-rySX95SlUUmfbRqpmn4Vxf0FdXjxWB6xltiB6OgAUHTN893X-yoszZXj_OlNIFYjYxSm0RhkggptXBFLY4YusGP9PND0gMqvWdcCL_BuSL-GUz2hhuRmA18BPrOCrUmstCJarXW-Xhy/s1600/Arrow_into_the_Sun_by_Medicinewolf.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ikaikadesign.deviantart.com/art/Arrow-into-the-Sun-170856091" target="_blank">Arrow into the Sun by IkaikaDesign*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now
the young men continued their journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They once more examined the world which they had created, and found it
to be good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything began to assume
its present appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">They
both had bows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"How would it be if
we should shoot towards the sky?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed, they began to shoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
looked at their arrows as they were shooting them. "You too ought to shoot
one arrow," said one of the young men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Shoot it so that it shall hit the shaft of mine, and it will look
as if it were one arrow; but don't shoot too hard!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shot and hit it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Shoot again!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their arrows became joined, and reached down
to the place where they were standing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Suppose we climb up
now!"--"All right!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
shook the, arrows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Are they
firm?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Won't they come apart?--Now you
try to climb up!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He climbed
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"This is very good
indeed." <span style="color: green;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Then
the other man climbed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They looked
down, and saw the beautiful appearance of the world which they had
created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody knows what became of the
two young men. Here the story ends.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Arikara
people of North America were originally from North and South Dakota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They called themselves Sanish, meaning ‘the
people’ and tell an emergence creation myth about Mother Corn, which reflects
their many migrations from East to West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The story is recited during the spring ceremonies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS1W-8TUxwj-k7iGvWwMpTe7ByzudP5gUvlcDtv6ZPtvHF2lZLtIysAA7wn27Znw2S51ydq2pJgp99wOQC2ihhoaFCzFyOjhngvSzYuIJw0yrmb088YUEpqWR_6e6sfrhJd7X4Onbvi7v/s1600/e0beda491d19da311c19506716e6d228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS1W-8TUxwj-k7iGvWwMpTe7ByzudP5gUvlcDtv6ZPtvHF2lZLtIysAA7wn27Znw2S51ydq2pJgp99wOQC2ihhoaFCzFyOjhngvSzYuIJw0yrmb088YUEpqWR_6e6sfrhJd7X4Onbvi7v/s1600/e0beda491d19da311c19506716e6d228.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sharonirla.com/irla-oil-paintings.html" target="_blank">The Corn Mother by Sharon Irla</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Mother Corn</strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning the great sky chief, Nishanu, made giants, but these creatures had no
respect for their maker and were destroyed by a great flood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only a few good giants were preserved as corn
kernels under the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nishanu also
planted some corn in the heavens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of
this corn came Mother Corn, who descended to the Earth to lead the people out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the people were still animals then,
they dug their way out with Mother Corn’s encouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the mother led the people from the east,
where they had emerged, to the west, where they are now.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Mother Corn
then went back the Heaven, but while she was gone the people made trouble and
started killing each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She returned
later with a leader for the people, named Nishanu after his maker, in whose
image he was made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The leader taught the
people how to fight enemies rather than each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mother Corn taught them the ceremonies.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Muskogean Indians include the Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole, Apalachee, and
Natchez tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They once lived in what
is now North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and
part of Tennessee and told the following creation myth in which the deity
Esaugetuh Emissee, the ‘Master of Breath’, creates the first men from clay.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOijzTBnEymxc9vfR351MuFISp8Si0db0acKECPU-msRHdEERhPvTqu7sCPcwl1sJrG85-YdR9RrKi120KS_pMiNxahSH4l-6RULgPfo4xzuqVF0XO3sWas9qysEfTKzXvZKtZkfmiOzlF/s1600/Nunne_Chaha.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOijzTBnEymxc9vfR351MuFISp8Si0db0acKECPU-msRHdEERhPvTqu7sCPcwl1sJrG85-YdR9RrKi120KS_pMiNxahSH4l-6RULgPfo4xzuqVF0XO3sWas9qysEfTKzXvZKtZkfmiOzlF/s1600/Nunne_Chaha.png" height="320" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://world-of-the-boxed.wikia.com/wiki/Nunne_Chaha" target="_blank">Nunne Chaha - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Esaugetuh
Emissee Creates Man<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning the primeval waste of waters alone was visible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the dreary expanse two pigeons (or
doves) flew hither and thither, and in course of time observed a single blade
of grass spring above the surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
solid earth followed gradually, and the terrestrial sphere took its present
shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great hill, Nunne Chaha, rose
in the midst, and in the centre of this was the house of the deity Esaugetuh
Emissee, the ‘Master of Breath.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took
the clay which surrounded his abode, and from it moulded the first men, and as
the waters still covered the earth he was compelled to build a great wall upon
which to dry the folk he had made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gradually the soft mud became transformed into bone and flesh, and
Esaugetuh was successful in directing the waters into their proper channels,
reserving the dry land for the men he had created.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Zuni
tribe of North America were found in what is now west-central New Mexico and
are one of the Pueblo Indian groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They tell the following emergence myth of creation, in which Awonawilona
creates Mother-earth and Father-sky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD_xWSRKSEhFPqAXJj3xNu49YvnTHRGQ4tGR__PXIjOue415gkNWnTnDInpOX18yrqJyTzYa2g4MKjwh_fsqJJnwLyxhBNrP-iJESKVh74qXp5JZ7rtadfToZFTh_zoMoHrTQbyjH2_x4/s1600/AWONAWILONA_by_DevilsJohnson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD_xWSRKSEhFPqAXJj3xNu49YvnTHRGQ4tGR__PXIjOue415gkNWnTnDInpOX18yrqJyTzYa2g4MKjwh_fsqJJnwLyxhBNrP-iJESKVh74qXp5JZ7rtadfToZFTh_zoMoHrTQbyjH2_x4/s1600/AWONAWILONA_by_DevilsJohnson.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/AWONAWILONA-37711609" target="_blank">Awonawilona by DevilsJohnson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation
and Emergence of Man</strong> <o:p></o:p></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Before the
beginning of the new-making, Awonawilona – the Maker and Container of All, the
All-father, Father – solely had being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was nothing else whatsoever throughout the great space of the ages
save everywhere black darkness in it, and everywhere void desolation.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
In the
beginning of the new-made, Awonawilona conceived within himself and thought
outward in space, whereby mists of increase, steams potent of growth, were evolved
and uplifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, by means of his
innate knowledge, the All-container made himself in person and form of the Sun,
whom we hold to be our father and, who thus came to exist and appear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With his appearance came the brightening of
the spaces with light, and with the brightening of the spaces, the great mist
clouds were thickened together and fell, whereby was evolved water in water,
yea, and the world-holding sea.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
With his
substance flesh outdrawn from the surface of his person, the Sun-father formed the
seed-stuff of twain worlds, impregnating therewith the great waters, and lo! in
the heat of his light these waters of the sea grew green and scums rose upon
them, waxing wide and weighty until, behold! they became ‘Awitelin Tsita’, the ‘Fourfold-containing
Mother-earth,’ and ‘Apoyan Tachu’, the ‘All-covering Father-sky.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
From the
lying together of these twain upon the great world waters, so vitalizing,
terrestrial life was conceived; whence began all beings of earth men and the
creatures, in the Fourfold Womb of the World, ‘Awiten Tehuhena Kwi’.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VFLF_6iLAOrRUfJHzKnM4b5MUJZ111wbXxdajp9J22UGZlo9AYUkYL9_3oEaxj3qKLZ1t9svDBTkwPvuwNLXkBpXhHU7tx-BXmkIWka2F8AoHNUL18QSnrQsByXJQWgGCWk5bxEGCNj6/s1600/Father_Sky_and_Mother_Earth_by_AmbiantNight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VFLF_6iLAOrRUfJHzKnM4b5MUJZ111wbXxdajp9J22UGZlo9AYUkYL9_3oEaxj3qKLZ1t9svDBTkwPvuwNLXkBpXhHU7tx-BXmkIWka2F8AoHNUL18QSnrQsByXJQWgGCWk5bxEGCNj6/s1600/Father_Sky_and_Mother_Earth_by_AmbiantNight.jpg" height="240" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ambiantnight.deviantart.com/art/Father-Sky-and-Mother-Earth-121898292" target="_blank">Father Sky and Mother Earth by AmbiantNight</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Thereupon
the Earth-mother repulsed the Sky-father, growing big and sinking deep into the
embrace of the waters below, thus separating from the Sky-father in the embrace
of the waters above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a woman
forebodes evil for her first-born ere born, even so did the Earth-mother
forebode, long withholding from birth her myriad progeny and meantime seeking
counsel with the Sky-father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘How,’ said
they to one another, ‘shall our children, when brought forth, know one place
from another, even by the white light of the Sun-father?’<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Now like all
the surpassing beings the Earth-mother and the Sky-father were changeable, even
as smoke in the wind; transmutable at thought, manifesting themselves in any
form at will, as dancers may by mask-making.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus, as a
man and woman, spake they, one to the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Behold!’ said the Earth-mother as a great terraced bowl appeared at
hand and within it water, ‘this is as, upon me, the homes of my tiny children
shall be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the rim of each world
country they wander in, terraced mountains shall stand, making in one region
many, whereby country shall be known from country, and within each, place from
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behold, again!’ said she as she
spat on the water and rapidly smote and stirred it with her fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foam formed, gathering about the terraced
rim, mounting higher and higher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Yea,’
said she, ‘and from my bosom they shall draw nourishment, for in such as this
shall they find the substance of life whence we were ourselves sustained, for
see!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then with her warm breath she blew
across the terraces; white flecks of the foam broke away, and floating over
above the water, were shattered by the cold breath of the Sky-father attending,
and forthwith shed downward abundantly fine mist and spray!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Even so, shall white clouds float up from
the great waters at the borders of the world, and clustering about the mountain
terraces of the horizons by borne aloft and abroad by the breaths of the
surpassing of soul-beings, and of the children shall hardened and broken be by
thy cold, shedding downward, in rain spray, the water of life, even into the
hollow places of my lap!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For therein
chiefly shall nestle our children mankind and creature-kind, for warmth in thy
coldness.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Lo! even the
trees on high mountains near the clouds and the Sky-father crouch low toward
the Earth-mother for warmth and protection!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Warm is the Earth-mother, cold the Sky-father, even as woman is the
warm, man the cold being!<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4hyphenhyphenudu6QUtF_u5DZ2WYxFeCxpoVrPt51jbaccA9Yzp35R-alIrvYjU4xNImQyh4NV040hHLsw6ExgGk6fKEPKYRLFP5DMOzdg6R4Y791Klt29G405-95pbPKBi-RT46xa3zlcxDdVofk/s1600/31805497_1_x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4hyphenhyphenudu6QUtF_u5DZ2WYxFeCxpoVrPt51jbaccA9Yzp35R-alIrvYjU4xNImQyh4NV040hHLsw6ExgGk6fKEPKYRLFP5DMOzdg6R4Y791Klt29G405-95pbPKBi-RT46xa3zlcxDdVofk/s1600/31805497_1_x.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/31805497_lloyd-moylan-zuni-creation-myth" target="_blank">Zuni Creation Myth by Lloyd Moylan </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
‘Even so!’
said the Sky-father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Yet not alone
shalt thou helpful be unto our children, for behold!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he spread his hand abroad with the palm
downward and into all the wrinkles and crevices thereof he sent the semblance
of shining yellow corn grains; in the dark of the early world-dawn they gleamed
like sparks of fire, and moved as his hand was moved, over the bowl, shining up
from and also moving in the depths of the water therein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘See!’ said he, pointing to the seven grains
clasped by his thumb and four fingers, ‘by such shall our children be guided;
for behold, when the Sun-father is not nigh, and thy terraces are as the dark
itself (being all hidden therein), then shall our children be guided by lights –
like to these lights of all the six regions turning round the midmost one – as in
and around the midmost place, where these our children shall abide, lie all the
other regions of space!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yea! and even as
these grains gleam up from the water, so shall seed grains like to them, yet
numberless, spring up from thy bosom when touched by my waters, to nourish our
children.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus and in many other ways
devised they for their offspring.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Pawnee
Indians, sometimes known as Paneassa, Pari, or Pariki, could be found along the
Platte, Loup, and Republican Rivers of what is now Nebraska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They called themselves ‘chaticks-si-chaticks’
meaning ‘men of men’ and tell the tale of Tirawa Atius, the creator and the
Morning and Evening Stars.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHBEQ0gZnWyhajV2u-wcDvaYx_gFNpOxjd4Cph6ZlF1VyIWdU9VY6ogCrE8KDPPaNfx2PUqU5zW3qtOBGfbiZik8oMwiaQ7mfVswfJhVq1L3K_IzVwplBQNLrqe4RG3o5zxK1wYClyVgL/s1600/morning_star_by_goatshrine-d7w3ji6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHBEQ0gZnWyhajV2u-wcDvaYx_gFNpOxjd4Cph6ZlF1VyIWdU9VY6ogCrE8KDPPaNfx2PUqU5zW3qtOBGfbiZik8oMwiaQ7mfVswfJhVq1L3K_IzVwplBQNLrqe4RG3o5zxK1wYClyVgL/s1600/morning_star_by_goatshrine-d7w3ji6.png" height="320" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Morning-Star-477176190" target="_blank">Morning Star by GoatShrine</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>How Tirawa
Atius Created the World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Tirawa Atius
(atius meaning ‘lord’) is the great eternal God who created all things and
supplies the needs of all creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
created the Path of the Departing Spirits, known to the White Man as the Milky
Way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>East of the Path is the Male
Principle – the Morning Star, and to the west is the Female Principle – the Evening
Star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that has happened and will
happen has been ordained by Tirawa, and the stars are his servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the east the Morning Star began to
pursue Evening Star in order to make love to her, but she continued to elude
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She put hindrances in his path, but
continued to beckon him all the while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it was not yet time
to make living things on the earth; and females always tease and flirt with
males, as well as demand tests to prove men’s character.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
The number
ten has always had significance for human beings, and this is because Evening
Star placed ten obstacles in the way of her suitor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the hindrances was in the chaos
beneath them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was an endless sheet
of water presided over by the Great Serpent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Morning Star threw a ball of fire at the serpent, which caused the
serpent to flee beneath the waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the fire hit the water, enough of the water dried up to reveal earth and
rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From these materials, Morning
Star threw a pebble into the sea of chaos and it became the earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRg99zJMDwdjdi83HEZ3Bvb6NxFR63tWAW1mDhYiHdP9ZRj0v1CeE7G_dMi0j3T43R5DfChRw3Qm8W1xDDFDZY-2K0Yyy-yzE2ld4dcen0u_h3nJrhWokEDtb_xToKBMfxoNwhk1587p5/s1600/the_evening_star_by_saraplante-d69ibmw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRg99zJMDwdjdi83HEZ3Bvb6NxFR63tWAW1mDhYiHdP9ZRj0v1CeE7G_dMi0j3T43R5DfChRw3Qm8W1xDDFDZY-2K0Yyy-yzE2ld4dcen0u_h3nJrhWokEDtb_xToKBMfxoNwhk1587p5/s1600/the_evening_star_by_saraplante-d69ibmw.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Evening-Star-378768488" target="_blank">The Evening Star by SaraPlante</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>When the
earth was in its proper place, Tirawa appointed four lesser gods to administer
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were East, West, North, and
South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They joined hands at the edge of
the great sea on earth and a land mass emerged.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Eventually
Morning Star caught up with Evening Star and made love with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon Evening Star conceived a little
daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she gave birth to the
little girl, she placed the child on a cloud and sent her to earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High above the earth, Evening Star asked
Morning Star to water her celestial garden and, as a love gift, he made the
first rain.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In the
celestian gardens of Evening Star, there grew a great many plants, including
Mother Maize, the greatest of food plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Evening Star gave maize to her daughter as a gift to plant on the newly
emerged earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the Sun and the Moon
produced a sun, who married the daughter of Evening Star and Morning Star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daughter-of-Evening-and-Morning-Star and
Son-of-Sun-and-Moon are the parents of all living human beings, as well as the
first beings to cultivate maize.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p>That's all for today. Next time we will look at the creation mythology of South America. </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlyn-History-Myths-Retold-Ferguson/dp/0600594874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422534827&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamlyn+History%3A+Myths+Retold+by+Diana+Ferguson" target="_blank">Hamlyn History: Myths Retold by Diana Ferguson</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-Eyewitness-Companions-Philip-Wilkinson/dp/0756631548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422534861&sr=8-1&keywords=DK+Eyewitness+Companions%3A+Mythology+by+Philip+Wilkinson+%26+Neil+Philip" target="_blank">DK Eyewitness Companions: Mythology by Philip Wilkinson & Neil Philip</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coos-Texts-Leo-J-Frachtenberg/dp/0554101521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422534906&sr=8-1&keywords=Coos+Texts+by+Leo+J.+Frachtenberg" target="_blank">Coos Texts by Leo J. Frachtenberg</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422534935&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+by+David+Adams+Leeming" target="_blank">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/North-American-Indians-Myths-Legends/dp/1859580157/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422534974&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Myths+of+the+North+American+Indians+by+Lewis+Spence" target="_blank">The Myths of the North American Indians by Lewis Spence</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/North-American-Indian-Legends-Native/dp/0486419479/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422535006&sr=8-1&keywords=North+American+Indian+Legends+edited+by+Allan+A.+Macfarlan" target="_blank">North American Indian Legends by Allan A. Macfarlan</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parallel-Myths-John-Francis-Bierlein/dp/0345381467/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1422535051&sr=8-1-fkmr0" target="_blank">Parallel Myths by J. F. Biertein</a><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VFLF_6iLAOrRUfJHzKnM4b5MUJZ111wbXxdajp9J22UGZlo9AYUkYL9_3oEaxj3qKLZ1t9svDBTkwPvuwNLXkBpXhHU7tx-BXmkIWka2F8AoHNUL18QSnrQsByXJQWgGCWk5bxEGCNj6/s1600/Father_Sky_and_Mother_Earth_by_AmbiantNight.jpg" style="left: 392px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 6607px;" width="96" />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-7Y-_CI52nWE%2FVM9WzNqzCoI%2FAAAAAAAADn4%2Fk7ENZTu68F4%2Fs1600%2FFather_Sky_and_Mother_Earth_by_AmbiantNight.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VFLF_6iLAOrRUfJHzKnM4b5MUJZ111wbXxdajp9J22UGZlo9AYUkYL9_3oEaxj3qKLZ1t9svDBTkwPvuwNLXkBpXhHU7tx-BXmkIWka2F8AoHNUL18QSnrQsByXJQWgGCWk5bxEGCNj6/s1600/Father_Sky_and_Mother_Earth_by_AmbiantNight.jpg" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-80701404224477901702015-02-25T11:23:00.000+00:002015-03-30T14:18:55.290+01:00Mythical Creatures: The Giants of Greece and Rome - Part Two<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Today we are
going to learn about the second generation of Titans and look at some of the myths in which they appear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Hesiod’s Theogony:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Iapetos led
the daughter of Okeanos, beautiful-ankled</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Klymene and
went with her up to the same bed.</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>She gave
birth to Atlas and produced </em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>The exceedingly
glorious Menoitios and Prometheus,</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Changeful,
slippery-counseled, and erring minded Epimetheus</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Who proved
an evil for men who each what the soil yields.</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em></em> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOLVn86L1t2ibt9E-xaHbZAicPEKSHDN33uzdPU752Ok5rJnlq_4F2dwQjFQWQ-bKyp3WBhskLwGOlVhMmiqLjJQB_qFu-C-XhSPKNCUaaN0mBfhglQ9N6MytjOIdENRM4OBgL3XVz3eM/s1600/tumblr_mefb18Eyky1qfzhjlo1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOLVn86L1t2ibt9E-xaHbZAicPEKSHDN33uzdPU752Ok5rJnlq_4F2dwQjFQWQ-bKyp3WBhskLwGOlVhMmiqLjJQB_qFu-C-XhSPKNCUaaN0mBfhglQ9N6MytjOIdENRM4OBgL3XVz3eM/s1600/tumblr_mefb18Eyky1qfzhjlo1_1280.png" height="320" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://antiqueart.tumblr.com/post/37065239791/constantin-hansen-prometheus-creating-man-from">Prometheus Creating Man from Clay by Constantin Hansen </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Prometheus</strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Prometheus
is probably the most well-known second generation Titan, first appearing in
Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, and is credited by Apollodorus for the creation of man from clay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the Theogony tells us, Prometheus, meaning ‘forethought’, was born of Iapetos
and Klymene, also spelled Clymene, or Themis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unlike most of the Titans, he fought with the gods and was rewarded for
his part in the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hesiod tells us
that Prometheus helped to establish sacrifice amongst mankind by tricking Zeus:<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>For when
gods and mortal men were making a settlement<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
at Mekone,
at that time Prometheus divided with eager spirit<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
a great ox
and set it before him, seeking to beguile the mind of Zeus.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFYXIktb8797eM3P-BqJdPCJ5v2NptfwyS9cdVBI8TyhRfjN47eoSZpGd3b6qEUTFC-szJ1mCPTV_Ng0fhhJThAYX6InwDNZU9FrfRyMC13MvWiLuRXclqNKn60CxQzJ5SeWAOsHGVwnR/s1600/zeus_by_briankrobinson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFYXIktb8797eM3P-BqJdPCJ5v2NptfwyS9cdVBI8TyhRfjN47eoSZpGd3b6qEUTFC-szJ1mCPTV_Ng0fhhJThAYX6InwDNZU9FrfRyMC13MvWiLuRXclqNKn60CxQzJ5SeWAOsHGVwnR/s1600/zeus_by_briankrobinson.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></em><em>For him,
Prometheus covered flesh and innards rich in fat<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
with the ox’s
stomach and set them down wrapped in the hide.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
For them, he
covered the ox’s white bones with shining fat<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
and, well
arranging them for his cunning trick, set them down.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then the
father of men and gods addressed him:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Son of
Iapetos, most conspicuous of all lords,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
dear sir,
how partially you divide the portions.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus spoke
Zeus who knows imperishable counsels, chiding him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Again,
Prometheus of crooked counsel addressed him,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
smiling slightly,
and he did not forget his cunning trick:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Very noble
Zeus, greatest of the gods who are for always,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
choose whichever
of these the spirit in your breast bids you.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He spoke,
planning cunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zeus who knows imperishable
counsels<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
recognized and
was not ignorant of the cunning, but he eyed evils<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
with his
mind for mortal men, that he intended to fulfil.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
With both
hands, he took the white fat,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
and grew
angry around his breast, and bitter bile entered his mind<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
when he saw
the ox’s white bones in a cunning trick.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
From then
on, for the immortals the tribes of men on earth<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
burn white
bones on fragrant altars.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMgZn_yiVrVn-CYt_iMwhrOBX5pXYuF32gxBcag4b2K3mVAUqOEn4vHdl-Fm8p6_pGJShkdtE3IbmbPHM608euFWqp4dfco9dwd06JUskBKoTAbfkUxd0Oln9drQn2TFJ7AojeBYOTLgC/s1600/Prometheus-Del-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMgZn_yiVrVn-CYt_iMwhrOBX5pXYuF32gxBcag4b2K3mVAUqOEn4vHdl-Fm8p6_pGJShkdtE3IbmbPHM608euFWqp4dfco9dwd06JUskBKoTAbfkUxd0Oln9drQn2TFJ7AojeBYOTLgC/s1600/Prometheus-Del-L.jpg" height="320" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.illusionsgallery.com/Prometheus-Delville.html">Prometheus by Jean Delville </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Zeus is
infuriated by Prometheus’ trickery, but does not punish him until Prometheus
steals fire for humans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>From this
time, always mindful of his wrath,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
He would not
give the strength of weariless fire<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
To the ash
trees for mortal men who dwell on earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But good son
of Iapetos deceived him,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Stealing the
far-seen beam of weariless fire<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In a hollow
fennel stalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stung anew Zeus<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
High thunderer
in his spirit, and he raged in his heart <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
When he saw
among men the far-seen beam of fire.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The theft of fire was a wrong that Zeus could not ignore and he sought to punish
Prometheus, who was chained and repeatedly attacked by an eagle, which pecked out his liver. Being immortal, Prometheus' liver regrew, allowing the eagle to remove it again and again.</div>
<br />
<em>…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He bound<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The changeful-planning
Prometheus with unbreakable fetters,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Painful bonds,
and drove them through the middle of a pillar.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And he sent
a long-winged eagle upon him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further,
it ate<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
His deathless
liver, but there grew back all over during the night<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
As much as
the bird of long wings had eater during the whole day.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhcwEFbGjIaG1pGPUNnWPb3ucs3o0xRUJBaOJWZs56xiYmrcIarM0Uw-M8KanbHEmKX4np5OPkW9upgeR2zMHzNmBsGV38VKwCxe-XEDAN0tkauKZE2LidSz_A29S_bX_1P55kFvXc4bc/s1600/the_liberation_of_prometheu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhcwEFbGjIaG1pGPUNnWPb3ucs3o0xRUJBaOJWZs56xiYmrcIarM0Uw-M8KanbHEmKX4np5OPkW9upgeR2zMHzNmBsGV38VKwCxe-XEDAN0tkauKZE2LidSz_A29S_bX_1P55kFvXc4bc/s1600/the_liberation_of_prometheu.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sjhcalvin.com/carl-bloch/the-liberation-of-prometheu.html">The Liberation of Prometheus by Carl Bloch</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Prometheus
is later granted his freedom when he helps Heracles in his eleventh labour:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>The stout
son of Alkmene of the beautiful ankles,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Heracles,
slew it, and warded off the evil sickness<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
For Iapetos’s
son and released him from troubles,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Not against
Olympian Zeus’s will, who was contriving on high<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In order
that the renown of Theban-born Heracles<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Might be
more than before over the much-nourishing earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So
respecting him, he honoured his conspicuous son.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Although
angry, he let off the wrath he had before against<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Prometheus
because he rivalled the very mighty Kronios in designs.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The following
myth tells us of Prometheus’ theft of fire.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Prometheus and the Theft of Fire<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>There once
lived a race of huge giants called Titans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These giants were fierce, turbulent, and lawless – always fighting among
themselves and against Jupiter, the king of the gods.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
One of the
Titans, whose name was Prometheus, was wiser than the rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He often thought about what would be likely
to happen in the future.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLMq_-_L8D-mP_iDQSj0BovkUtiypjFCjzM4DaVjRbPLCIz7KVoOX-srgRkQESBg4Aq5qfSe6ieVcnNlefzhWSdVqNVEPRrpvXDKwPBexQTRUfGy_axtKNgQ0-lCaEZ_2X_Ga1wWgUBKb/s1600/painting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLMq_-_L8D-mP_iDQSj0BovkUtiypjFCjzM4DaVjRbPLCIz7KVoOX-srgRkQESBg4Aq5qfSe6ieVcnNlefzhWSdVqNVEPRrpvXDKwPBexQTRUfGy_axtKNgQ0-lCaEZ_2X_Ga1wWgUBKb/s1600/painting1.jpg" height="254" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_60115/Joachim-Wtewael-(Uytewael)/The-Battle-Between-the-Gods-and-the-Titans-1600">The Battle Between the Gods and the Titans 1600 - Joachim Wtewael</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One day,
Prometheus said to his brother Titans: ‘What is the use of wasting so much
strength?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, wisdom and
forethought will win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are going to
fight against the gods, let us choose a leader and stop quarrelling among
ourselves.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The Titans
answered him by a shower of great rocks and uprooted trees.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Prometheus,
after escaping unhurt, said to his youngest brother: ‘Come, Epimetheus, we can
do nothing among these Titans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they
keep on, they will tear the earth to pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let us go and help Jupiter overcome them.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Epimetheus
agreed to this, and the two brothers went over to Jupiter, who called the gods
together and began a terrible battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Titans tore up enormous boulders and cast them at the gods, while
Jupiter hurled his thunderbolts and his lightnings in all directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the sky was a sheet of flame, the sea
boiled, the earth trembled, and the forests took fire and began to burn.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
At last the
gods – partly by the help of the wise counsel of Prometheus – conquered the
Titans, took them to the ends of the earth, and imprisoned them in a deep
underground cavern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neptune, the
sea-god, made strong bronze gates with heavy bolts and bars, to keep the giants
down, while Jupiter sent Briareus and his brothers, three giants with fifty
heads and a hundred hands each, to stand guard over them.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
All but one
of the Titans who had fought against the gods were imprisoned in this
cavern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one who was not shut in with
the others was Atlas, whose enormous strength was greater than that of his
brothers, while his disposition was less quarrelsome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was made to stand and hold up the sky on
his head and hands.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
As the
Titans could now make no more trouble, there was comparative peace and quiet on
the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, Jupiter said
that, although the men who remained on the earth were not so strong as the
Titans, they were a foolish and wicked race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He declared that he would destroy them - sweep them away, and have done
with them, forever.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
When their
king said this, none of the gods dared to say a word defence of mankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Prometheus, the Titan, who was earth-born
himself, and loved these men of the earth, begged Jupiter so earnestly to spare
them, that Jupiter consented to do so.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVQTV8WvKRQHa4hwn_zCNV0f6dpYKq8_G-nfBVFwPnfpEGOiVDi6tzbdPFsOWJ_Aruue_aqfQRy-gOGh8Kj9RuAMkO77CzwAZkq62tAkvCzbeNPqWdtQexswUh_EFKEYmNXsm7FgdvhmI/s1600/gift_of_the_titans_by_alprz-d47g34u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVQTV8WvKRQHa4hwn_zCNV0f6dpYKq8_G-nfBVFwPnfpEGOiVDi6tzbdPFsOWJ_Aruue_aqfQRy-gOGh8Kj9RuAMkO77CzwAZkq62tAkvCzbeNPqWdtQexswUh_EFKEYmNXsm7FgdvhmI/s1600/gift_of_the_titans_by_alprz-d47g34u.jpg" height="268" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alprz.deviantart.com/art/Gift-of-the-Titans-254372574">Gift of the Titans by alprz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At this
time, men lived in dark, gloomy caves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their friend, Prometheus, taught them to build simple houses, which were
much more comfortable than the caves had been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a great step forward, but men needed more help yet from the Titan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beasts of the forest, and the great birds
that built their nests on the rocks, were strong but men were weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lion had sharp claws and teeth; the eagle
had wings; the turtle had a hard shell; but man, although he stood upright with
his face towards the stars, had no weapon with which he could defend himself.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Prometheus
said that man should have Jupiter’s wonderful flower of fire, which shone so
brightly in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took a hollow
reed, went up to Olympus, stole the red flower of fire, and brought it down to
earth in his reed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
After this,
all the other creatures were afraid of man, for this red flower had made him
stronger than they.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man dug iron out of
the earth, and by the help of his new fire made weapons that were sharper than
the lion’s teeth; he tamed the wild cattle by the fear of it, yoked them
together, and taught them how to draw the plough; he sharpened strong stakes,
hardening them in its heat, and set them around his house as a defence from his
enemies; he did many other things besides with the red flower that Prometheus
had made to blossom at the end of the reed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiRso_XYpMN7UUkIkvR2mnDdNL5ks-5FjIvM57Z3FpGLdIYEcxVlB-eyIc6DnokdekLOY4SvllwTBQVA-zH-PHqkZLOTHYnpbRwK2WY7I69E5CpzqkfW_ZnNmy2llREScfuSQ0HQgURbS/s1600/Prometheus_by_midoriharada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiRso_XYpMN7UUkIkvR2mnDdNL5ks-5FjIvM57Z3FpGLdIYEcxVlB-eyIc6DnokdekLOY4SvllwTBQVA-zH-PHqkZLOTHYnpbRwK2WY7I69E5CpzqkfW_ZnNmy2llREScfuSQ0HQgURbS/s1600/Prometheus_by_midoriharada.jpg" height="400" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://midoriharada.deviantart.com/art/Prometheus-120930069">Prometheus by midoriharada</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Jupiter,
sitting on his throne, saw with alarm how strong man was becoming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day he discovered the theft of his
shining red flower, and knew that Prometheus was the thief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was greatly displeased at this act.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Prometheus
loves man too well,’ said he.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘He shall
be punished.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he called his two
slaves, Strength and Force, and told them to take Prometheus and bind him fast
to a great rock in the lonely Caucasian Mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time he ordered Vulcan, the lame
smith-god, to rivet the Titan’s chains – in a cunning way that only Vulcan
knew.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
There
Prometheus hung on the rock for hundreds of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun shone on him pitilessly, by day –
only the kindly night gave him shade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
heard the rushing wings of the sea-gulls, as they came to feed their young who
cried from the rocks below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
sea-nymphs floated up to his rock to give him their pity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A vulture, cruel as the king of the gods,
came daily and tore him with its claws and beak.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But this
frightful punishment did not last forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Prometheus himself knew that some day he should be set free, and this
knowledge made him strong to endure.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
At last the
time came when Jupiter’s throne was in danger, and Prometheus, pitying his
enemy, told him a secret which helped him to make everything safe again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this, Jupiter sent Hercules to shoot
the vulture and to break the Titan’s chains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So Prometheus was set free.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRP6D5ErryqN0MrXjzRc66MPwMDzwQrogCJUG081rU8OgtLZ8xzO8E7JTwglaBLfOoddAhqd1iItriFRnwT4Quwumi6sbLbtF04ugO3xfveN10hkf-hvLNNZs5AxSkYTA9Ct6zi8QL_sD/s1600/the_burden_of_atlas_by_alexeei-d4e45rx.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRP6D5ErryqN0MrXjzRc66MPwMDzwQrogCJUG081rU8OgtLZ8xzO8E7JTwglaBLfOoddAhqd1iItriFRnwT4Quwumi6sbLbtF04ugO3xfveN10hkf-hvLNNZs5AxSkYTA9Ct6zi8QL_sD/s1600/the_burden_of_atlas_by_alexeei-d4e45rx.png" height="320" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alexeei.deviantart.com/art/The-Burden-of-Atlas-265573437">The Burden of Atlas by Alexeei</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Atlas</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Atlas,
meaning ‘the Bearer’ or ‘Daring’ or ‘Sufferer’, was the son of Iapetus and
Clymene and himself fathered the Pleiades, Hyades, and Hesperides by Aethra, a
daughter of Oceanos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the war
between the Titans and the gods, Atlas was the ruler of Atlantis, which was flooded
and destroyed by the newly emerging gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In vengeance, Atlas fought against the gods and, when the Titans lost,
Zeus punished Atlas by ordering him to bear the weight of the world on his
shoulders.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Atlas holds
wide Heaven beneath powerful necessity,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Standing on
the boundaries of the Gaia before the clear-toned<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Hesperides, on
his head and weariless arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
portion <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Counsellor Zeus
distributed to him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
While Atlas
was punished for his role in the war, he does gain brief freedom from his
duties when he appears in the eleventh labour of Heracles, in which Heracles is
given the task of obtaining the golden apples of the Herperides.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJeiRRaNIpFC3_w50TGYsEJpsOWswB6IjeFgNjw6GfZiznvjfrI-QPfvEv_om441_apPgadK91UIAR60uk3eLV8Cv9USxfdsGHBr_aC3x1dpDDpkknUwcZfmy1w1FAd5tCxVlHxaPACZ2/s1600/heracles_by_jumbod-d5s87xn.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJeiRRaNIpFC3_w50TGYsEJpsOWswB6IjeFgNjw6GfZiznvjfrI-QPfvEv_om441_apPgadK91UIAR60uk3eLV8Cv9USxfdsGHBr_aC3x1dpDDpkknUwcZfmy1w1FAd5tCxVlHxaPACZ2/s1600/heracles_by_jumbod-d5s87xn.png" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Heracles-349743659">Heracles by Jumbod</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Eleventh
Labour: the apples of the Hesperides<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>The eleventh
task imposed by Eurystheus was to bring him the golden apples of the
Hesperides, which grew on a tree presented by Gaea to Hera, on the occasion of
her marriage with Zeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sacred tree
was guarded by four maidens, daughters of Night, called the Herperides, who
were assisted in their task by a terrible hundred-headed dragon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This dragon never slept, and out of his
hundred throats came a constant hissing sound, which effectually warned off all
intruders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what rendered the undertaking
still more difficult was the complete ignorance of the hero as to the locality
of the garden, and he was forced, in consequence, to make many fruitless journeys
and to undergo many trials before he could find it.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fOG40aAT1ID-CMnhER9dw1ynVRLzItj6bei_ZIm_1wKYhzMEYVAdNCumwtdgqqgJLylTQmxtQ_VrGMTcQadYBXuUf5wyZbZBhtATPOdfj7WEPxHJsM47rmL7xkbY1fW72m_F41VJvUvn/s1600/179c6328ece05d1c002aa70fd0d8ee35-d5wcatc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fOG40aAT1ID-CMnhER9dw1ynVRLzItj6bei_ZIm_1wKYhzMEYVAdNCumwtdgqqgJLylTQmxtQ_VrGMTcQadYBXuUf5wyZbZBhtATPOdfj7WEPxHJsM47rmL7xkbY1fW72m_F41VJvUvn/s1600/179c6328ece05d1c002aa70fd0d8ee35-d5wcatc.jpg" height="320" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Apples-of-Hesperides-356652480">Apples of Hesperides by RavenclawRadiance</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He first
travelled through Thessaly and arrived at the river Echedorus, when he met the
giant Cycnus, the son of Ares and Pyrene, who challenged him to single
combat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this encounter Heracles completely
vanquished his opponent, who was killed in the contest; but now mightier
adversary appeared on the scene, for the war-god himself came to avenge his
son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A terrible struggle ensued, which
had lasted some time, when Zeus interfered between the brothers, and put an end
to the strife by hurling a thunderbolt between them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heracles proceeded on his journey, and reached
the banks of the river Eridanus, where dwelt the Nymphs, daughters of Zeus and
Themis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On seeking advice from them as
to his route, they directed him to the old sea-god Nereus, who alone knew the
way to the Garden of the Hesperides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Heracles found him asleep, and seizing the opportunity, held him so
firmly in his powerful grasp that he could not possibly escape, so that
notwithstanding his various metamorphoses he was at last compelled to give the
information required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hero then
crossed over to Libya, where he engaged in a wrestling-match with king Anteos,
son of Poseidon and Gaea, which terminated fatally for his antagonist.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThm6132yl8Q9n_rzjG_OtPhJS9kRRAIyNuEpPEepjUDGY-UVD_fIL2nQqfwuW12bfACCxFD2W5iVO_Q7H87q6-6hFlfJomuccLeOs30XWAvw9ippWPQvEoGLHuB15MHaLHhZodcnZNzay/s1600/hercules_2_by_charter_magic-d5nufc4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThm6132yl8Q9n_rzjG_OtPhJS9kRRAIyNuEpPEepjUDGY-UVD_fIL2nQqfwuW12bfACCxFD2W5iVO_Q7H87q6-6hFlfJomuccLeOs30XWAvw9ippWPQvEoGLHuB15MHaLHhZodcnZNzay/s1600/hercules_2_by_charter_magic-d5nufc4.jpg" height="320" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hercules-2-342381604">Hercules.2 by LauraTolton</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
From thence
he proceeded to Egypt, where reigned Busiris, another son of Poseidon, who
(acting on the advice given by an oracle during a time of great scarcity)
sacrificed all strangers to Zeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Heracles arrived he was seized and dragged to the altar, but the powerful
demi-god burst asunder his bonds, and then slew Busiris and his son.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Resuming his
journey he now wandered on through Arabia until he arrived at Mount Caucasus,
where Prometheus groaned in unceasing agony. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was at this time that Heracles… shot the
eagle which had so long tortured the noble and devoted friend of mankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Full of gratitude for his deliverance,
Prometheus instructed him how to find his way to that remote region in the far
West where Atlas supported the heavens on his shoulders, near which lay the
Garden of the Hesperides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also warned
Heracles not to attempt to secure the precious fruit himself, but to assume for
a time the duties of Atlas and to despatch him for the apples.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
On arriving
at his destination Heracles followed the advice of Prometheus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atlas, who willingly entered into the
arrangement, contrived to put the dragon to sleep, and then, having cunningly
outwitted the <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ93SkcRu4yZl3elibQTEmcHqS1Tt9HX7bLq2fS4Ed1FEj04thRQg0tgO-EGOBU786cpIO66VSCf1VmP9r-IFncA9Gxu0BPpxQmdJVN2_x8slKIH46i59qPE657_qLjklezZg3sGJ0C8WZ/s1600/Golden_Apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ93SkcRu4yZl3elibQTEmcHqS1Tt9HX7bLq2fS4Ed1FEj04thRQg0tgO-EGOBU786cpIO66VSCf1VmP9r-IFncA9Gxu0BPpxQmdJVN2_x8slKIH46i59qPE657_qLjklezZg3sGJ0C8WZ/s1600/Golden_Apples.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://junpierre.net/heracles_11.html">The Golden Apples of the Hesperides by Jun-Pierre Shiozawa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Herperides, carried off three of the golden apples, which he
brought to Heracles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when the latter
was prepared to relinquish his burden, Atlas, having once tasted the delights
of freedom, declined to resume his post, and announced his intention of being
himself the bearer of the apples to Eurystheus, leaving Heracles to fill his
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this proposal the hero feigned
assent, merely begging that Atlas would be kind enough to support the heavens
for a few moments whilst he contrived a pad for his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atlas good-naturedly threw down the apples
and once more resumed his load, upon which Heracles bade him adieu, and
departed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
When
Heracles conveyed the golden appled to Eurystheus the latter presented them to
the hero, whereupon Heracles placed the sacred fruit on the altar of
Pallas-Athene, who restored them to the garden of the Hesperides.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu3Z-mCZsQmAmCzKiGcSiLiqayAR5pL5mzJFAFx4Lnkk_HucJXHgj3WBL0MgrG-A9Jy0WJxbnBkY7UWLTPdGjx0n1dlcUV8iVdlYM26jsXnaHKXvPeH7lRXlfHZLM1hq6GLlYX2NF0g8L/s1600/menoetius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu3Z-mCZsQmAmCzKiGcSiLiqayAR5pL5mzJFAFx4Lnkk_HucJXHgj3WBL0MgrG-A9Jy0WJxbnBkY7UWLTPdGjx0n1dlcUV8iVdlYM26jsXnaHKXvPeH7lRXlfHZLM1hq6GLlYX2NF0g8L/s1600/menoetius.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/titans-mythology/menoetius.htm">Menoitius, during the War of the Titans - artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Menoitios</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Like
Atlas, Menoitios fought against the gods in the war against the Titans. This titan is somewhat obscure. Very little is known about him and the little that is known comes from Hesiod's Theogony. The Theogony tells us that Zeus punishes him
for his role in the war, by sending condemning him to the eternal darkness of
Erebus. Most scholars tend to assume that Menoitios' imprisonment was due to his part in the war between the gods and the Titans. Unfortunately later authors haven't provided any further information.</div>
<br />
<em>…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wide-seeing Zeus sent insolent Menoitios down<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Into Erebos,
striking him with smoldering lightning,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Because of
his rashness and excessive manliness.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><strong>Epimetheus</strong></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Epimetheus
is credited with having endowed the creatures of the earth with certain
attributes, such as speed and strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He also helped his brother Prometheus with forming the attributes of humans,
as well as encouraging Prometheus to steal fire from the gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Epimetheus was married to Pandora and, according to Hesiod, was in part responsible for the damage wrought by Pandora's curiosity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>...changeful, slippery-counselled, and erring-minder Epimetheus</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>who proved an evil for men who eat what the soil yields.</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>He was first to receive under his roof Zeus's molded woman</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>virgin.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pCoeR2POxN9F7HZNXLtzEe-Z_NscqaCaGpcGTkZNP8tkt6JCpZEMvzoHfB4JxGOB3DfFxjWPoyVOrzS2S8U2MR9EXeQeunDFa7x84bE-9rf8No5Zxsu9BjOCEpxD5h47TihJClc8whpp/s1600/cdn_sjs_sm_p5_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pCoeR2POxN9F7HZNXLtzEe-Z_NscqaCaGpcGTkZNP8tkt6JCpZEMvzoHfB4JxGOB3DfFxjWPoyVOrzS2S8U2MR9EXeQeunDFa7x84bE-9rf8No5Zxsu9BjOCEpxD5h47TihJClc8whpp/s1600/cdn_sjs_sm_p5_large.jpg" height="304" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/epimetheus-receiving-pandora-123991">Epimetheus Receiving Pandora by Henry Howard</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p>Epimetheus can be found in the following myth of Pandora and the box of troubles.</o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>How Troubles
Came into the World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>A very long
time ago, in the Golden Age, everyone was good and happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was always spring; the earth was covered with
flowers and only gentle winds blew to set the flowers dancing.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
No one had
any work to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People lived on mountain
strawberries, which were always to be had for the gathering, and on wild grapes,
blackberries, and sweet acorns, which grew plentifully in the oak forests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rivers flowed with milk and nectar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the bees did not need to lay up honey,
for it fell in tiny drops from the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was abundance everywhere.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In all the
whole world, there was not a sword, nor any weapon by means of which men might
fight with one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one had ever
heard of any such thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the iron
and the gold were buried deep underground.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7216twgLtUBm3QVvFBqQkqDhnVo49C6210FuYgFV630IQrtPP8lmhnh_5lomDl1cUCml479GZOjoYhmTaW4ve0eO4Qmfgb3PqvFxM09YtHO6yYuUMbVWNgVbNo63_6bg1Tjb4PIo20BO/s1600/Pandora+and+Hermes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7216twgLtUBm3QVvFBqQkqDhnVo49C6210FuYgFV630IQrtPP8lmhnh_5lomDl1cUCml479GZOjoYhmTaW4ve0eO4Qmfgb3PqvFxM09YtHO6yYuUMbVWNgVbNo63_6bg1Tjb4PIo20BO/s1600/Pandora+and+Hermes.jpg" height="320" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://aclassicaday.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/curse-of-lycaon.html">Hermes bears Pandora to Epimetheus by Jean Alaux</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Besides,
people were never ill; they had no troubles of any kind; and never grew old.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The two
brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, lived in those wonderful days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After stealing the fire for man, Prometheus
knowing that Jupiter would be angry, decided to go away for a time on a distant
journey; but before he went, he warned Epimetheus not to receive any gifts from
the gods.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
One day,
after Prometheus had been gone for some time, Mercury came to the cottage of
Epimetheus, leading by the hand a beautiful young woman, whose name was
Pandora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had a wreath of partly
opened rosebuds on her head, a number of delicate gold chains twisted lightly
around her neck, and wore a filmy veil which fell nearly to the hem of her
tunic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mercury presented her to
Epimetheus, saying the gods had sent this gift that he might not be lonesome.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Pandora had
such a lovely face that Epimetheus could not help believing that the gods had
sent her to him in good faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he
paid no heed to the warning of Prometheus, but took Pandora into his cottage,
and found that the days passed much more quickly and pleasantly when she was
with him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Soon, the
gods sent Epimetheus another gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was a heavy box, which the satyrs brought to the cottage, with directions that
it was not to be opened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Epimetheus let
it stand in a corner of his cottage; for by this time he had begun to think
that the caution of Prometheus about receiving gifts from the gods was
altogether unnecessary.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aagb6V15mKCVZsLh2Z3nVkSVQXhGpQy1nJwXZGeuxuNITT-GrryTvpm9_OI3QMV_3BYrARotmC-Aavp_9IG71DMAhXfymhrFztoemrb6AE3hAEfuIBQM0dJ-dQk67OlhjCtWUPUcRSEJ/s1600/Pandora__s_Box_by_LMessecar+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aagb6V15mKCVZsLh2Z3nVkSVQXhGpQy1nJwXZGeuxuNITT-GrryTvpm9_OI3QMV_3BYrARotmC-Aavp_9IG71DMAhXfymhrFztoemrb6AE3hAEfuIBQM0dJ-dQk67OlhjCtWUPUcRSEJ/s1600/Pandora__s_Box_by_LMessecar+(2).jpg" height="640" width="361" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Pandora-s-Box-44312118">Pandora's Box by LMessecar</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Often,
Epimetheus was away all day, hunting or fishing or gathering grapes from the
wild vines that grew along the river banks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On such days, Pandora had nothing to do but to wonder what was in the
mysterious box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day her curiosity
was so great that she lifted the lid a very little and peeped in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result was similar to what would have
happened had she lifted the cover of a beehive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Out rushed a great swarm of little winged creatures, and before Pandora
knew what had happened, she was stung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She dropped the lid and ran out of the cottage, screaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Epimetheus, who was just coming in at the
door, was well stung, too.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The little
winged creatures that Pandora had let out of the box were Troubles, the first
that had ever been seen in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They soon flew about and spread themselves everywhere, pinching and stinging
whenever they got the chance.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
After this,
people began to have headaches, rheumatism, and other illnesses; and instead of
being always kind and pleasant to one another, as they had been before the
Troubles were let out of the box, they became unfriendly and quarrelsome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They began to grow old, too.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Nor was it
always spring any longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fresh
young grasses that had clothed all the hillsides and the gay-coloured flowers
that had given Epimetheus and Pandora so much pleasure, were scorched by hot
summer suns, and bitten by the frosts of autumn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, it was a sad thing for the world, when
all those wicked little Troubles were let loose!<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9ox_hDFio1ndxw-dW0uodbHkoe4Rxqa-wjYr_EG_IPa72Y5lQXGsIqnM-S3Rdggioo6fToS3_XEkrg4ZS_LxVbWDYrLp54Ahi6eHkMwlV8Ce7uT1bug83IGryhHv_QhhyyOV5g75G5gR/s1600/pandora_s_hope_by_bloodmoonequinox-d53in3l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9ox_hDFio1ndxw-dW0uodbHkoe4Rxqa-wjYr_EG_IPa72Y5lQXGsIqnM-S3Rdggioo6fToS3_XEkrg4ZS_LxVbWDYrLp54Ahi6eHkMwlV8Ce7uT1bug83IGryhHv_QhhyyOV5g75G5gR/s1600/pandora_s_hope_by_bloodmoonequinox-d53in3l.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Pandora-s-Hope-308239473">Pandora's Hope by BloodMoonEquinox</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All the
Troubles escaped from the box, but when Pandora let the lid fall so hastily,
she shut in one little winged creature, a kind of good fairy whose name was
Hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This little Hope persuaded Pandora
to let her out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as she was free,
she flew about the world, undoing all the evil that the Troubles had done, that
is, as fast as one good fairy could undo the evil work of such a swarm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what evil thing had happened to
poor mortals, she always found some way to comfort them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She fanned aching heads with her gossamer wings;
she brought back the colour to pale cheeks; and, best of all, she whispered to
those who were growing old that they should one day be young again.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So this is
the way that Troubles came into the world, but we must not forget that Hope
came with them.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p>That's all for today. In the next post, we will look at the last of the giants of Greek mythology.</o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Favorite-Greek-Myths-Yesterdays-Classics/dp/1599152614/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700083&sr=8-1&keywords=Favorite+Greek+Myths+Lilian">Favorite Greek Myths by Lilian Stoughton Hyde</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sasquatch-Hairy-Giants-Hatcher-Childress-ebook/dp/B004XJ4YMO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700107&sr=8-1&keywords=Yetis%2C+Sasquatch+%26+Hairy+Giants+by+David+Hatcher+Childress">Yetis, Sasquatch & Hairy Giants by David Hatcher Childress</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Ancient-Greece-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B004KABBTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700151&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends+of+Ancient+Greece+and+Rome+by+E.M.+Berens">Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M. Berens</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theogony-Works-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/019953831X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700183&sr=8-1&keywords=theogony+by+hesiod">Theogony by Hesoid</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Greek-Beliefs-Perry-Westmoreland/dp/0979324815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700389&sr=8-1&keywords=Ancient+Greek+Beliefs+by+Perry+L.+Westmoreland">Ancient Greek Beliefs by Perry L. Westmoreland</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424700392&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters%2C+and+Dragons%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+Folklore%2C+Legend%2C+and+Myth+by+Carol+Rose">Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-8898475253591229752015-02-21T16:22:00.005+00:002015-03-23T11:44:47.776+00:00Mythical Creatures: The Giants of Greece and Rome - Part One<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;">
</div>
Today we are
going to learn about the giants of Greek and Roman mythology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us begin with the Titans rebellion
against the tyranny of their father, Ouranos, or Uranus and then the rebellion of the gods
against their father, Cronus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This myth gives
us a good starting point when exploring the giants of ancient Greece, including
the hundred-handed giants, the Titans and the Cyclopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I first touched on these mythical beings in
<a href="http://manmythmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/creation-mythology-greece.html" target="_blank">Greek Creation Mythology</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here I will cover them in more detail. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdQxvAqXL6dEpNfdjk3_7zwLtAXlHNL9gl8GAGSvNvwPlAsxMGyXlcUa7vMvHEgn7b8uxudvarD9aXZaMcsQWv1UbCYLKNAb0UdsXnjkTsW47EPNrt7nJ2jt6JEtvgzG7eW4z2WaKTqqM/s1600/52113e4e35baaf284c7b85dec7b1d5a5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdQxvAqXL6dEpNfdjk3_7zwLtAXlHNL9gl8GAGSvNvwPlAsxMGyXlcUa7vMvHEgn7b8uxudvarD9aXZaMcsQWv1UbCYLKNAb0UdsXnjkTsW47EPNrt7nJ2jt6JEtvgzG7eW4z2WaKTqqM/s1600/52113e4e35baaf284c7b85dec7b1d5a5.png" height="640" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Gaia-and-Uranus-143906759" target="_blank">Gaia and Uranus by esurio08</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>The
Rebellious Titans and Gods<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Before the
beginning of time, there was nothing but emptiness called Chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of the darkness emerged three beings who
became known as Gaea, Tartarus and Eros.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Gaea, the
earth goddess wished for some company, so she gave birth to Uranus, the god of
the sky, and he surrounded her on all sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next, the mountains and the sea sprang from Gaea, shaping the landscape
of the world.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Soon, Gaea
and Uranus created three children together – giants, each with fifty heads and
one hundred arms!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after, three
more children were born to them – again giants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But this time, they each had just one eye in the middle of their
forehead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They came to be known as the
Cyclopes.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
With such
immense strength and power, Uranus became fearful that the children would
eventually try to overthrow him and take control of the universe
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So one by one, Uranus seized
them, throwing them down into the depths of Tartarus, the underworld, from
where they could not possibly threaten him.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Furious and
devastated, Gaea began to hate Uranus for him cold-hearted, ruthless
actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With time, she gave birth to
thirteen more children – the immortal Titans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Among them were the god of the sun Helios, the goddess of the moon
Selene, the god of the waters Oceanus, the goddess of prophecy Themis, the
strongest Titan Atlas, and finally Prometheus – the most intelligent Titan, who
created the human race out of soft clay.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Yet Gaea’s
bitterness towards Uranus only increased with time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day came when she put a mighty, curved
sickle into the hands of her youngest Titan son, Cronus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I want to punish your cruel father and free
your brothers and sisters from their underground banishment,’ she explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘If you kill your father, you can rule in his
place.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
His eyes
gleaming greedily, Cronus did what he was told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Across the universe echoed his father’s cries of agony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rivers of blood flowed from his wounds, and
from this stream of wickedness sprang forth three evil creatures, the Furies,
and a race of terrifying warrior giants.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Being
immortal, Uranus couldn’t die, so Cronus threw his father’s body into the
ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Now I reign over all things!’
Cronus roared.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
To Gaea’s
despair, Cronus proved to be just as much a tyrant as her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relishing his control over the universe, he
refused to free the hundred-handed giants and the Cyclopes from Tartarus.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Outraged,
Gaea warned, ‘Your cruelty will come full circle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day will come when your children will
destroy you, just as you have destroyed your own father.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Cronus
simply sneered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his arrogance, he
thought that he could cheat the prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He would make sure that he had no children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he had none, then how could they vanquish
him?<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWl7C6wjjPFgN-U64PTAt6AhRRsjjH1fWCEWrnMcaesfBzvGhhtBEfekK2yOvNw32QsX_m09a10SuXss1fWRKDaZh4ssCo1rwmuG9HVwkt2deumyZ0jKX75e4oot5sTb9SnnJchKvlm6e/s1600/640px-Rubens_saturn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWl7C6wjjPFgN-U64PTAt6AhRRsjjH1fWCEWrnMcaesfBzvGhhtBEfekK2yOvNw32QsX_m09a10SuXss1fWRKDaZh4ssCo1rwmuG9HVwkt2deumyZ0jKX75e4oot5sTb9SnnJchKvlm6e/s1600/640px-Rubens_saturn.jpg" height="640" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronus#mediaviewer/File:Rubens_saturn.jpg" target="_blank">Cronus devouring one of his children by Peter Paul Rubens</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cronus was married
to his sister, Rhea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In due course, a
baby daughter Hestia was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cronus
didn’t hesitate in swallowing her whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To Rhea’s horror and misery, Cronus did exactly the same with the next
four babies – Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time Rhea was due to give birth to the
fifth child, her heart was breaking with grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She went to Gaea and begged for help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Mother,’ she sobbed, ‘how can I fool Cronus so I can keep my baby?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t stand to lose another!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Gaea eagerly
came up with a plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hid Rhea away
in a mountainside cave on the island of Crete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There, unseen, Rhea gave birth to a baby boy called Zeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rhea left Zeus in Gaea’s care, and hurried
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she wrapped a rock in a blue
blanket and presented it to Cronus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Here
is your new born son!’ she proclaimed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cronus didn’t spare a second look at the infant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He simply opened his jaws and gulped the
bundle down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smirking with satisfaction,
he thought of how he had defeated his destiny once again…<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And so,
unknown to his father, Zeus grew up safely into a strong, courageous god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he came of age, he disguised himself as
one of Cronus’ servants and waited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, when one day Cronus called for a drink to be brought to him, the
disguised Zeus carefully took him a chalice of sweet-tasting poison instead.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In one gulp,
Cronus drained the drink – and immediately realized that something was
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clutching and clawing at his
stomach, cramps and spasms stabbed inside him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Suddenly, up came the rock he had swallowed, followed by Poseidon,
Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia – who were all fully grown – and furious!<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Behold your
son, Zeus, and all your other children!’ Rhea said proudly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘They are ready to rule in your place, with
justice and wisdom, instead of cruelty and tyranny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your fate has come!’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘You will
regret this because this means war!’ bellowed Cronus, striding away to prepare
for battle.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
While Cronus
was rousing all the other Titans to fight at his side, Zeus sped down to
Tartarus with his brothers and sisters to release the hundred-handed giants and
the Cyclopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the monsters
were so grateful that they immediately pledged their allegiance to the gods and
goddesses and vowed to fight for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the Cyclopes presented Zeus and his brothers with special gifts to
help them in their mighty task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Zeus,
they gave the weapons of thunder and lightning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To Poseidon, they gave a magic trident for stirring up sea-storms and
creating earthquakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Hades, they
gave a helmet of invisibility.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It was now
time for the gods and goddesses to return to the upper world and begin the
battle for the universe.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ff6spHk1Cfvj6ly2u62f4T5xP79OL8Qe50fE_wGi1XD1WyjOB4K-WT9cjGB5sG6MAr5YZZYphjtuUsruTpAOgoD2wGtuyiDG9bR_iKSyJjVGzwzl71CxfOSueyVsm_tF11fF3umUbwLh/s1600/zeus_vs_kronos_by_zollzwerg-d5ors4j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ff6spHk1Cfvj6ly2u62f4T5xP79OL8Qe50fE_wGi1XD1WyjOB4K-WT9cjGB5sG6MAr5YZZYphjtuUsruTpAOgoD2wGtuyiDG9bR_iKSyJjVGzwzl71CxfOSueyVsm_tF11fF3umUbwLh/s1600/zeus_vs_kronos_by_zollzwerg-d5ors4j.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Zeus-VS-Kronos-343937827" target="_blank">Zeus VS Kronos by ZollZwerg</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Enraged, the
Titans were ready and waiting, forming a formidable flank behind Cronus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With blood-curdling war cries, they flung
themselves forwards across the heavens into the attack.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
As the
Titans advanced, the hundred-handed giants tore great chunks of rock off the
mountains and hurled them at the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The two sides clashed together, in an embroiled mass of arrows, spears,
and swords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blows of the mighty
warriors made the earth tremble and shake until the awful rumblings were heard
down in the depths of Tartarus itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cries and groans of the injured echoed around the mountains and
across the heavens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And still the Titans
and the gods fought, inflicting terrible wounds on each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As immortals, none of them could die.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhytM_mfvVFM1LF2SW5h8-swe7IStcZklO6fiFtrVnkG9fq1DISc5YMCeqjRpdHarz6c_Wld5Q7rVzgbgLkwLlyoPCSIYConqhEyjH7fCJgUjry6Vx7bJ1-nawLUyvoCKy5b0b6F_R8ac/s1600/the_olympian_big_three___zeus__poseidon__hades_by_tomzj1-d5vm88a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhytM_mfvVFM1LF2SW5h8-swe7IStcZklO6fiFtrVnkG9fq1DISc5YMCeqjRpdHarz6c_Wld5Q7rVzgbgLkwLlyoPCSIYConqhEyjH7fCJgUjry6Vx7bJ1-nawLUyvoCKy5b0b6F_R8ac/s1600/the_olympian_big_three___zeus__poseidon__hades_by_tomzj1-d5vm88a.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Olympian-Big-Three-Zeus-Poseidon-Hades-355436074" target="_blank">The Olympian Big Three - Zeus, Poseidon, Hades by tomzj1</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When Zeus
unleashed his ear-splitting thunderclaps and blinding lightning bolts, the
stench of smouldering flesh filled the air as the Titans were set alight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Titans threw themselves into the
sea, trying to quench the burning flames, the hundred-handed giants saw their
chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seizing the howling Titans one
by one, the giants dragged them below the earth down to the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, they bound them in the strongest of
chains and left them for all eternity.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
How the
victorious gods and goddesses rejoiced!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At last, tyranny had been overthrown and they would rule together,
spreading fairness and heroism throughout the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gods decided upon their kingdoms – Hades won
the underworld and became the king of the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Poseidon won the sea and became the lord of the oceans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Zeus won the sky, and became ruler of the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three leaders determined not
only to keep peace and harmony among immortal beings, but also to teach humans
how to live prosperous lives – to respect their fellow people, all other living
creatures, and above all, the gods themselves.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Contented,
the gods and goddesses made their own home on Mount Olympus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here they have ruled ever since.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcyJVHXkKHjrB-vPwg6ySpuWn46hZrc5h2g9cg-xt9GPyIzlovj48Jzh_RFhwIY_cLsPgff3KNkT1_0HJHHGww2Ya1aqehFVbAYncuAtGo4JP0TxTrO_PM7yglUHe_81Z9Ja92Di5oXXC/s1600/hecatoncheire_by_solidsnakevian-d6ur311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcyJVHXkKHjrB-vPwg6ySpuWn46hZrc5h2g9cg-xt9GPyIzlovj48Jzh_RFhwIY_cLsPgff3KNkT1_0HJHHGww2Ya1aqehFVbAYncuAtGo4JP0TxTrO_PM7yglUHe_81Z9Ja92Di5oXXC/s1600/hecatoncheire_by_solidsnakevian-d6ur311.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hecatoncheire-414449173" target="_blank">Hecatoncheire by SolidSnakeVian</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The
Hundred-Handed Giants<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Hundred-Handed Giants were the three original sons of Gaia and Ouranos or
Uranus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also known as Hecatoncheires in
Greek and Centimanes in Roman, both meaning ‘having a hundred hands’, these
beings were vast in size and were described as having fifty heads and a hundred
arms and hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Hesiod’s
Theogony, the original three hundred-handed giants were called Kottus (Cottus)
and Briareos (Briareus) and Gyges, and they were ‘exceedingly arrogant children’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Theogony further says:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em></em><br />
<em>A hundred
arms shot forth from their shoulders, <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
not to be
molded into an image, and on each fifty heads <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
grew upon
the fifty shoulders on sturdy limbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Strong,
immense, powerful in their shape.</em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
At their
birth, the Hundred-Handed Giants were imprisoned by their father, who they
hated:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>As soon as
one of them was born,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Ouranos
would conceal them all in hiding place in Gaia and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
did not sent
them back into the light, and he delighted in his<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
evil deed.</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUG_CXsgqDpZRMYfqrNqOALSrZLi2ImR_UKYT7RkufiPUirXbmiYzHFq6dJTyZYUnkZM1UFV6y57yptZ2sohVnbB6LSUFwuNg1SUVj4ZDCP5xF8qOiMjMeQsoBoLxtYxsydWKlFz8wXhGI/s1600/Hecatoncheires____Cottus_by_mad1ba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUG_CXsgqDpZRMYfqrNqOALSrZLi2ImR_UKYT7RkufiPUirXbmiYzHFq6dJTyZYUnkZM1UFV6y57yptZ2sohVnbB6LSUFwuNg1SUVj4ZDCP5xF8qOiMjMeQsoBoLxtYxsydWKlFz8wXhGI/s1600/Hecatoncheires____Cottus_by_mad1ba.jpg" height="320" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mad1ba.deviantart.com/art/Hecatoncheires-Cottus-116803171" target="_blank">Hecatoncheires:Cottus by mad1ba</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite
their imprisonment, the Hundred-Handed Giants played a key part in the later
defeat and imprisonment of the Titans, where they: <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>settled
themselves against the Titans in the dire fray, <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
holding huge
rocks in their sturdy hands.</em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
As the
battle commenced:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Three
hundred rocks from their sturdy hands <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
they were
hurling, one on another, and they cast shadows <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
over the
Titans with missiles.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Upon the
defeat of the Titans, the Hundred-Handed Giants helped to imprison them in
Tartaros, the Greek underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>They sent
them beneath <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
broad-wayed
earth and bound them in painful bonds, <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
having
conquered them by hands, though they were bold, <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
as far
beneath the earth as Ouranos is above Gaia <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
so far from
earth to murky Tartaros.</em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Once they
helped to defeat and imprison the Titans, the Hecatoncheines were given the
task of guarding Tartaros, where they are said to remain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0_-hMfCGxQEFa3I7vvccKmSym2zncc2XfNi6brc6UHIcsRqqrZq9882P9PQUTKwngeeNN8C_etnAFT2kjXRpFZqnPn21bMlBH54vQAi4l8rgjRRzd-V6eKuH1C5Su73usVkZPJtrQcPV/s1600/coeus_by_chamakoso-d3h1lzp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0_-hMfCGxQEFa3I7vvccKmSym2zncc2XfNi6brc6UHIcsRqqrZq9882P9PQUTKwngeeNN8C_etnAFT2kjXRpFZqnPn21bMlBH54vQAi4l8rgjRRzd-V6eKuH1C5Su73usVkZPJtrQcPV/s1600/coeus_by_chamakoso-d3h1lzp.jpg" height="320" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Coeus-210027157" target="_blank">Coeus by chamakoso</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Titans
and Titanides<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The first
generation of Titans, also the children of Gaia and Ouranos, or Uranus, were
twelve in number, with six being male and six being female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sons, known as Titans, were named
Coeus/Koios, Crius/Kreios, Cronus, Hyperion, Japetus/Iapetus, and Okeanus/Oceanus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The daughters, known as Titanides, were
called Mnemosyne, Phoebe/Phiobe, Rhea/Rheia, Tethys, Theia, and Themis. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Coeus,
meaning ‘intelligent’, was the father of Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crius, meaning ‘ram’, had no children. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cronus, meaning ‘crow’, was later wrongly
associated with time and became known as ‘Old Father Time’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we have already seen, he castrated his
father, Ouranos, and was later defeated by Zeus and his <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hyperion was the father of Eos of the dawn,
Helios of the sun, and Silene of the moon as wells as the nymphs Lampetie and
Phaethusa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Japetus fathered a second
generation of Titans – Atlas, Epimetheus, Mencetius, and Prometheus – who we
will learn about it <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oceanus, meaning ‘swift’, fathered the nymphs, known as the Oceanids, and
all the rivers of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He often
represents the cosmic waters.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN9NywODgEVz0aF0vz-E2KXoBHbniBdwqMKmeD7CRz7T07b9RFwne66WpbpVwIeMs523AEVOcMB2kHoIhshysjxyg1eYOd6vdJjZy4CBLJvzVo6SAT8xmJVPTB0IrPSwkv-7V38DQLEr/s1600/crius__titan_of_herds__the_cold_and_winter__by_skcreation-d8ifixv.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN9NywODgEVz0aF0vz-E2KXoBHbniBdwqMKmeD7CRz7T07b9RFwne66WpbpVwIeMs523AEVOcMB2kHoIhshysjxyg1eYOd6vdJjZy4CBLJvzVo6SAT8xmJVPTB0IrPSwkv-7V38DQLEr/s1600/crius__titan_of_herds__the_cold_and_winter__by_skcreation-d8ifixv.png" height="320" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Crius-Titan-of-herds-the-cold-and-winter-514686883" target="_blank">Crius by SKcreation</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mnemosyne,
meaning ‘memory’, bore the nine Muses by Zeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Phoebe, meaning ‘brightness’, bore Latona, Asteria, and Leto by her
sibling Coeus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rhea, as we have already
seen, was the mother of the Olympic gods, keeping Zeus safe so he could defeat
his father, Cronus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tethys bore the
Oceanids with her brother Oceanus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theia
was the wife of Hyperion and mother to the gods Eosm Helios, and Silene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Themis was the mother of the Parcae and the
Horae.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is often depicted as the
bringer of justice, with her eyes blindfolded while holding scales in one hand
and a sword in the other.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
According to
Theogony:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Father
great Ouranos, quarrelling with the children<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
he sired
himself, gave them the name Titans, Stretchers.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He said that
they stretched with a great recklessness to accomplish<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><em>A huge deed,
and for it retribution be laid up for the future.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCja5C7IsEL6bl_aq28ASHWGG6mCXxRGbjj7WaGS-zjIj2scAmSUWzRBSElH-WkN46h2VlvwHc_aSTTzBW0Gr2eLpxZrSOI9uonOX6e8QE5ZoROuX0U8_6Kx94rGjPAnUALySJacdMqwtB/s1600/kronos_by_ivansevic-d8fjll6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCja5C7IsEL6bl_aq28ASHWGG6mCXxRGbjj7WaGS-zjIj2scAmSUWzRBSElH-WkN46h2VlvwHc_aSTTzBW0Gr2eLpxZrSOI9uonOX6e8QE5ZoROuX0U8_6Kx94rGjPAnUALySJacdMqwtB/s1600/kronos_by_ivansevic-d8fjll6.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Kronos-509838090" target="_blank">Kronos by IvanSevic</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Titans
and Titanides, like the Hundred-Handed Giants, were imprisoned by their father
and eventually rebelled when Gaia gave the youngest Titan, Cronus, a sickle
with which he castrates his father.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Monstrous
Gaia was groaning within,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
congested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She conceived a cunning, evil trick.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Quickly, she
made the element of grey adamant and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
fashioned a
great sickle and showed it to her children.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then she
spoke, encouraging them, though sorrowing in her heart.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNvzzItNcPdH9gVMQEhGtusoWtcd3RDaTrVwFH7JMS_v9VYLnW5VOiwKxV35V-HCC8lhpAR7THJ7ePoAnWWSDqPBxb8lOiTYla2lbaSg6xSD5DOCMM4G5H4byMxrQGxlnDiaS9JeE2yf8/s1600/hyperion___titan_of_vision_and_astral_fire_by_hernanfotografias-d8f6nxt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNvzzItNcPdH9gVMQEhGtusoWtcd3RDaTrVwFH7JMS_v9VYLnW5VOiwKxV35V-HCC8lhpAR7THJ7ePoAnWWSDqPBxb8lOiTYla2lbaSg6xSD5DOCMM4G5H4byMxrQGxlnDiaS9JeE2yf8/s1600/hyperion___titan_of_vision_and_astral_fire_by_hernanfotografias-d8f6nxt.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hernanfotografias.deviantart.com/art/Hyperion-Titan-of-Vision-and-Astral-Fire-509234609">Hyperion - Titan of Vision and Astral Fire by HernanFotografias</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<em>'My children
with a reckless father, if only you agree<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
to obey
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would avenge the evil outrage of
this father <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
of yours,
for he first devised unseemly deeds.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>…Then great
Kronos of crooked counsel,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
embolden,
quickly addressed his dear mother with words:<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Mother, I
promise that I will bring to completion,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1H4t7GkZd6dpkAAUF5MSKmlP4q6CMkK8FRCUyuHqjCXlpgslWvV_iDrpvaR7JJpjfVgBZ-nMjeGhx5ekrhEx7HwKjx-qwQg5H1Vp2PcnFtMRq_VxuxCmBTqE4_BL738Frj3JLP-I-ION/s1600/iapetus__titan_of_the_west_by_ledemonderazgriz-d57a71l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1H4t7GkZd6dpkAAUF5MSKmlP4q6CMkK8FRCUyuHqjCXlpgslWvV_iDrpvaR7JJpjfVgBZ-nMjeGhx5ekrhEx7HwKjx-qwQg5H1Vp2PcnFtMRq_VxuxCmBTqE4_BL738Frj3JLP-I-ION/s1600/iapetus__titan_of_the_west_by_ledemonderazgriz-d57a71l.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ledemonderazgriz.deviantart.com/art/Iapetus-Titan-of-the-West-314563881">Iapetus: Titan of the West by LeDemonDeRazgriz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
this deed,
since I do not care for that ill-named father<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
of ours…<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>She hid him
in an ambush and placed in his hands<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
a serrated
sickle, and apprised him of her whole cunning.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<br />
<em>Great
Ouranos came…</em><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>
…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His son reach out from ambush<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>
with his
left hand, and in his right he held the sickle,</em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>
long and
serrated and the genitals of his father<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>
he quickly
reaped and threw them behind his back<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>
to be
carried away.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kB57ZWQChrCsagNWalnk7vaqg3q5qtnwLXYzegQXmcJJrWHlHga7qH3ugWCpzPWJsxuO6TFWA9EebKTGi9Yjq4BLvlPiQisYVi3eqxxLY4xahbX9uJvr5oF0j4Ang3ys_ha_6wT7mXzh/s1600/oceanus_by_bonnysaintandrew-d3fij07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kB57ZWQChrCsagNWalnk7vaqg3q5qtnwLXYzegQXmcJJrWHlHga7qH3ugWCpzPWJsxuO6TFWA9EebKTGi9Yjq4BLvlPiQisYVi3eqxxLY4xahbX9uJvr5oF0j4Ang3ys_ha_6wT7mXzh/s1600/oceanus_by_bonnysaintandrew-d3fij07.jpg" height="320" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Oceanus-207457207">Oceanus by BonnySaintANdrew</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
But Cronus
was no better than Ouranos and was determined that none of his children would
rule.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Great Kronos
kept swallowing them as each<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
arrived at
his mother’s knees from her sacred womb,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
intending
that no other one of the illustrious children<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
of Ouranos hold
the kingly province among the immortals<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
for he
learned from Gaia and starry Ouranos<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
that it was
fated for him to be subdued by his son, although<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
he himself
was powerful, through the plans of great Zeus,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Therefore,
he kept blind vigilance but awaiting each,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
he would
swallow his children.</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
While Cronus
did all he could to prevent his loss of power, Rhea, his sister and wife,
concealed the birth of Zeus with the help of Gaia and fooled Cronus into believing
that he had swallowed his new-born son.<br />
<br />
<br />
<em>Holding
him in her arms, she hid<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
him in a high
cave, beneath the ways of divine Gaia,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
on densely
wooded Mount Aigiaon.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZB6j7-xEY5hSk5o_Dfascsih_bkDyltYEtOiE8DoAlS-sfhOnVv_hxo9JFIosAwWpilyj3aY-8Xx14q9Q2UzB-U5la0wFTewNurCJS0HpIIoL3Y0eOKMdjNroy_2LYd4Gua8x1FrEDfme/s1600/mnemosyne____mother_of_muses_by_la_voisin-d8hoyjz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZB6j7-xEY5hSk5o_Dfascsih_bkDyltYEtOiE8DoAlS-sfhOnVv_hxo9JFIosAwWpilyj3aY-8Xx14q9Q2UzB-U5la0wFTewNurCJS0HpIIoL3Y0eOKMdjNroy_2LYd4Gua8x1FrEDfme/s1600/mnemosyne____mother_of_muses_by_la_voisin-d8hoyjz.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mnemosyne-Mother-of-Muses-513447407">Mnemosyne - Mother of Muses by la-voisin</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
She wrapped a
stone in swaddling clothes entrusted it</em><br />
<em>
to Ouranos’
son and great lord, king of gods before,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He took it
and put it down into his womb, cruel one, and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
he did not
realize it in his mind, so that in return for a stone,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
his son
remained unconquered and unconcerned,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
who was
going to subdue him by brute force and his hand </em><em>and drive
him from his province and lord among immortals.</em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQZeMGwA4nPH_WjRAQDrdkSLmecz4Wt-Ld_Y6lojhyphenhypheng-nN5so3i7wvlkIIiCIPQI7mqMppQZUrVd7B3YXggAYKFOiJynrO1Yfr7sdqezdnT0v_mjvL8ovJ_KL2KQm6osW704X-aiDi668/s1600/phoebe_by_vladlena111-d8hem5s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQZeMGwA4nPH_WjRAQDrdkSLmecz4Wt-Ld_Y6lojhyphenhypheng-nN5so3i7wvlkIIiCIPQI7mqMppQZUrVd7B3YXggAYKFOiJynrO1Yfr7sdqezdnT0v_mjvL8ovJ_KL2KQm6osW704X-aiDi668/s1600/phoebe_by_vladlena111-d8hem5s.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vladlena111.deviantart.com/art/Phoebe-512964784">Phoebe by Vladlena111</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Zeus
remained hidden until he was fully grown and strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, with the help of Gaia, Zeus
freed his brothers and sisters from the prison of their father, Cronus, before
freeing his father’s brothers, the Hundred-Handed Giants and Cyclopes, who
would help him to defeat Cronus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Rapidly,
the strength and the limbs in their glory<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
of the lord
grew, and when the year in its cycle<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
came around,
deceived by Gaia’s sagacious advice,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Kronos of
crooked counsel sent up his offspring again,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
conquered by
the schemes and brute force of his son.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He vomited
the stone first, swallowing it last.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
…<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He loosened
his father’s brothers from destructive bonds,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
sons of
Ouranos, whom their father bound in his folly.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
They remembered
gratitude for his benefactions and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
gave him
thunder and gleaming lightning<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
and flash.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
And so the
final battle between the Titans and the offspring of Cronus commenced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVR9P-ni2P3O0sJlj5XsqnkfuHKLGhAKoxXRU7vjSbjYVhH_nUzDVVE4bopzm9-DomOyn5636upvbqzoyDPwUahTcdxmPy9E1zxg6OqAGtmsqlMft8xqNOHUgc6p5BX9Hy1sukbS4fmL-/s1600/titaness_rhea_by_touchofartistry-d8g65l9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVR9P-ni2P3O0sJlj5XsqnkfuHKLGhAKoxXRU7vjSbjYVhH_nUzDVVE4bopzm9-DomOyn5636upvbqzoyDPwUahTcdxmPy9E1zxg6OqAGtmsqlMft8xqNOHUgc6p5BX9Hy1sukbS4fmL-/s1600/titaness_rhea_by_touchofartistry-d8g65l9.jpg" height="265" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Titaness-Rhea-510890445">Titaness Rhea by TouchofArtistry</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeIlbiraum56wItuOnoNd_lB6q_etORUndKXnpSo0YjEgyS5prFL7Ys_iBhnLnQVkXUFnqVSgszmgXtrpb8CMDw6ky5lnP9Aneu-gB9jaSs6k6bzebYJ3Z1Vd-WI-ra5Yqi1uk_xi1ICm/s1600/tethys_by_amethystmoonsong-d8gz2fq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeIlbiraum56wItuOnoNd_lB6q_etORUndKXnpSo0YjEgyS5prFL7Ys_iBhnLnQVkXUFnqVSgszmgXtrpb8CMDw6ky5lnP9Aneu-gB9jaSs6k6bzebYJ3Z1Vd-WI-ra5Yqi1uk_xi1ICm/s1600/tethys_by_amethystmoonsong-d8gz2fq.jpg" height="400" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Tethys-512239382">Tethys by amethystmoonsongB</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>From the
other side, the Titans strengthened their ranks<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
eagerly, and
both sides were revealing the works of forceful<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
hands, and
the boundless sea resounded dreadfully, and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
the earth
screamed loudly, and wide Ouranos groaned, when<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
heaved, and
from the foundations lofty Olympus shook<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
beneath the
fury of the immortals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heavy
pounding <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
of their
feet reached murky Tartaros, as did the shrill screams<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
of the
terrible pursuit and powerful missiles.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus they
hurled mournful darts at one another.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The sound of
both reached starry Ouranos<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
as they
cried out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They clashed with a great war
cry.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
No longer
did Zeus restrain his might but straightaway<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
his heart
filled with might, and he showed all<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
his brute
force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Ouranos and Olympus together<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
he came
striding, flashing lighting constantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His bolts<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
were flying
in close array with thunder and flash <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
from his sturdy
hands, whirling the flame<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
thickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life-bearing Gaia screamed as she burned, and<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
the immense
forest crackled loudly all round.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-IUcZCdZfxF-LjSLDrzMYbH0H58MLizkFbWgX11iL7jb95vAhdQvqiZqN1qfsvVTJPxXKl35v-wbLwL2tIotkmS6uiUpvTuAgggOt5umBxboICzuMutCsCHCSEKTjygo8aAUxCswJTrS/s1600/themis_by_karaat-d49gbbw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-IUcZCdZfxF-LjSLDrzMYbH0H58MLizkFbWgX11iL7jb95vAhdQvqiZqN1qfsvVTJPxXKl35v-wbLwL2tIotkmS6uiUpvTuAgggOt5umBxboICzuMutCsCHCSEKTjygo8aAUxCswJTrS/s1600/themis_by_karaat-d49gbbw.jpg" height="400" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://karaat.deviantart.com/art/Themis-257742428">Themis by karaat</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>All the
earth was boiling as well the streams of Ouranos<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
and the
unplowed sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His blasts encompassed<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
the nether
Titans, and immense flame reached<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
the shining
aether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the Titans were
stalwart,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
the gleaming
light of lightning and flash deprived<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
them of
their eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ineffiable heat gripped
Chawos.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It seemed to
the eyes for the seeing and ears for the hearing<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
exactly as
if Gaia and the wide Ouranos from above <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
were drawing
near one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a loud din would
rise up<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
with Gaia
being fallen upon and Ouranos </em><em>f</em><em>alling from above.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Such was the
din that sounded and whipped up dust, and <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
abetted thunder
and flashing and gleaming lightning,<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
shafts of
Great Zeus, and they carried swift uproar and clamor<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
into the
midst of both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A terrible din
arose from their<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
dreadful wrath,
and the work of power was revealed.</em><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQJXAvw-Lzum6Cn2ogh20JCqU5_Lo5X_2uiMq1DmvJiLD1O9q3BmVdI1r-qME85TyJ_V_B_cKz9qSw1xNctSd-uqJBAKPohk69kUIBkYEcLZ7ssAWcawXultsR5B7ucyv2GtDFifr-u2I/s1600/theia_by_kuldi-d8hsplj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQJXAvw-Lzum6Cn2ogh20JCqU5_Lo5X_2uiMq1DmvJiLD1O9q3BmVdI1r-qME85TyJ_V_B_cKz9qSw1xNctSd-uqJBAKPohk69kUIBkYEcLZ7ssAWcawXultsR5B7ucyv2GtDFifr-u2I/s1600/theia_by_kuldi-d8hsplj.jpg" height="269" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Theia-513622423">Theia by Kuldi</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At this
point the Titans are defeated when Kottos, Briareos and Gyges, the Hundred-Handed Giants take them to
Tartaros and trap them there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the
first generation of Titans were defeated, there was a second generation of
Titans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These we will cover in the next
post, along with the Cyclopes and Gigantes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Fact-Fiction-Parker/dp/B00DO8KTSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424535522&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends%3A+Fact+%26+Fiction+by+Vic+Parker">Myths and Legends: Fact & Fiction by Vic Parker</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theogony-Works-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/019953831X/ref=sr_1_2_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424535560&sr=8-2&keywords=Theogony+by+Hesiod">Theogony by Hesiod</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Monsters-Dragons-Encyclopedia-Folklore/dp/0393322114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424535618&sr=8-1&keywords=Giants%2C+Monsters+%26+Dragons%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+Folklore%2C+Legend%2C+and+Myth+by+Carol+Rose">Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose</a><br />
<img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN9NywODgEVz0aF0vz-E2KXoBHbniBdwqMKmeD7CRz7T07b9RFwne66WpbpVwIeMs523AEVOcMB2kHoIhshysjxyg1eYOd6vdJjZy4CBLJvzVo6SAT8xmJVPTB0IrPSwkv-7V38DQLEr/s1600/crius__titan_of_herds__the_cold_and_winter__by_skcreation-d8ifixv.png" style="left: 187px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 4280px;" width="75" />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-4GPNxiWVeHg%2FVOXNCwA1g5I%2FAAAAAAAADz0%2Fj6VMon6oMKI%2Fs1600%2Fcrius__titan_of_herds__the_cold_and_winter__by_skcreation-d8ifixv.png&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN9NywODgEVz0aF0vz-E2KXoBHbniBdwqMKmeD7CRz7T07b9RFwne66WpbpVwIeMs523AEVOcMB2kHoIhshysjxyg1eYOd6vdJjZy4CBLJvzVo6SAT8xmJVPTB0IrPSwkv-7V38DQLEr/s1600/crius__titan_of_herds__the_cold_and_winter__by_skcreation-d8ifixv.png" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-76016301467984477532015-02-18T10:29:00.000+00:002015-02-18T10:29:05.225+00:00Creation Mythology - Greece<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Greek mythology is considered to be one of the most complex
and in order to look at it in full one must look at its development over many
stages, starting in the Bronze Age, through the Helladic period and up to the
Archaic and Classical periods. Many Greek
creation myths contain elements of the early Pelasgian myth, which is named
after Pelasgus and can be dated back to around 4000 BC. The Pelasgians worshipped goddesses and their
creation myth is dominated by a female creator.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SWBJC4HdUFNduQ5acbK3At-ywldXd1HEpby9hSFYQwnVLOcbsZ6cAQZhBdPPvrK6jpTiBe9jX0RdCDCGBiaeuF8wdJVvwkHpYSuSQKHkYDtW5PPn1PAQMF5aBHeSSgQSqYfpWFxbOGb6/s1600/eurynome_and_ophion_by_nathanspotts-d7aiyqo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SWBJC4HdUFNduQ5acbK3At-ywldXd1HEpby9hSFYQwnVLOcbsZ6cAQZhBdPPvrK6jpTiBe9jX0RdCDCGBiaeuF8wdJVvwkHpYSuSQKHkYDtW5PPn1PAQMF5aBHeSSgQSqYfpWFxbOGb6/s1600/eurynome_and_ophion_by_nathanspotts-d7aiyqo.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Eurynome-and-Ophion-440944224?hf=1">Eurynome and Ophion by nathanspotts</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the beginning there was the Eurynome, the Goddess of All
Things. She emerged, naked, from chaos
and, finding nothing on which to rest her feet, she split the water from the
sky and danced across the waves. As
Eurynome danced she created the wind. She
captured the north wind and, rubbing it between her hands, transformed it into
the serpent Ophion, who is also known as Boreas. Ophion and Eurynome coupled and then, as a
dove, Eurynome, laid the world egg.
Ophion, as instructed by Eurynome, encircled the world egg until it
hatched, bringing the sun, moon, stars, and earth into being along with all of
its plants and creatures. Eurynome and
Ophion lived peacefully on Olympus together, but Ophion became arrogant and
tried to claim ownership of the universe. Eurynome was forced to banish him,
head flattened and teeth broken, to the darkness beneath the earth. Sometime later, Eurynome created the Titans
and Titanesses who were given control of the planet and then she made the first
man, Pelasgus.<o:p></o:p>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9BldQpnav7uQuXFA1AJW6R5-4O7QUmFZDNff0wydsH-XYDbTC6JPRHLftm4yhI1sWaGUYmuIT2RicHd6aVVaEu-X5ovz8in3UNxtYk0vTGMuKCrlv8ptu1sjOMmzED2JaNQP4OXvzFRE/s1600/08b478afab0658bd07d9cbf1b78643a5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9BldQpnav7uQuXFA1AJW6R5-4O7QUmFZDNff0wydsH-XYDbTC6JPRHLftm4yhI1sWaGUYmuIT2RicHd6aVVaEu-X5ovz8in3UNxtYk0vTGMuKCrlv8ptu1sjOMmzED2JaNQP4OXvzFRE/s1600/08b478afab0658bd07d9cbf1b78643a5.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://500px.com/photo/87866945/oceanus-and-tethys-mosaic-by-erkan-ad%C4%B1g%C3%BCzel-?utm_campaign=nativeshare&utm_content=web&utm_medium=pinterest&utm_source=500px">Oceanus and Tethys Mosaic by Erkan Adıgüzel </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Homer in the Iliad, which was written in during the 8th
century BC, credits Oceanus and Tethys, a Titaness, with the creation of the
first gods and the world. Tethys was the
ruler of the sea, while Oceanus surrounded the universe. Homer’s version of events follows a similar
theme to that found in the Pelasgian myth of creation<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em><o:p>For lo! </o:p>I haste to
those remote abodes,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>Where the great parents (sacred source of gods!)<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>On the last limits of the land and deep.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>In their kind arms my tender years were past;<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>What time old Saturn, from Olympus cast,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>Of upper heavens to Jove resign’d to reign,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>Whelm’d under the huge mass of earth and main.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<em>Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Then, in the late 8th century BC, we find Hesiod
of Boetia and the first fully formed Greek myth of creation contained within
his Theogony and Works and Days.
Theogony, meaning ‘birth of the gods’ is a thousand line poem which is
presented to the reader as a hymn to Zeus and details the origin of the world
and of the gods. I will give you a
summary of the poem, but if you want to read Theogony in full, you can do so
<a href="http://manmythmagic.blogspot.co.uk/p/hesiods-theogony.html">here</a>. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZtRak4zHG3dzTi_PXTz7_gn50rOI2N75ucRFSnFESo2Mc83E6uNdK5-35yh0cwNaGCQTIYEGfwWezuFom_pIrE2WsEGmLctH-u0XyrGb8WeUj9Vsa_6bX2a_Hzde7Yt5tzVTL9060aRv/s1600/the__goddess__gaia_by_thefantasim-d6qjs7r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZtRak4zHG3dzTi_PXTz7_gn50rOI2N75ucRFSnFESo2Mc83E6uNdK5-35yh0cwNaGCQTIYEGfwWezuFom_pIrE2WsEGmLctH-u0XyrGb8WeUj9Vsa_6bX2a_Hzde7Yt5tzVTL9060aRv/s1600/the__goddess__gaia_by_thefantasim-d6qjs7r.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Goddess-Gaia-407390103">The Goddess Gaia by thefantasim`</a></td></tr>
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In the beginning there was Chaos and from Chaos comes Gaia,
who was the earth; Tartarus, who was the Underworld; Eros, who was love, Erebus;
who was darkness; and Night. Gaia
created Ouranos, or Uranus, who was the sky and from their coupling came the
three Cyclopes, or Kyklopes; the three Hecatoncheires, who were strong and
monstrous creatures known as the ‘hundred-handed’; and the twelve Titans: six
brothers and six sisters. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBQr4tPqBf22I6OvhTeDJkJt2DAWOepOV8WFClG5U0RypWvpUyh1X2jQDpnQxpP_XfS_6dMMoARae7KLuGcdVYLs8fKRO8Q2waiuZybwKzTqmCR3mgZ5NJ5c1tzQQp2iTN5gLFy9JfNCc/s1600/hecatonchire_by_orion35-d534kix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBQr4tPqBf22I6OvhTeDJkJt2DAWOepOV8WFClG5U0RypWvpUyh1X2jQDpnQxpP_XfS_6dMMoARae7KLuGcdVYLs8fKRO8Q2waiuZybwKzTqmCR3mgZ5NJ5c1tzQQp2iTN5gLFy9JfNCc/s1600/hecatonchire_by_orion35-d534kix.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hecatonchire-307582953">Hecatonchire by Orion35</a></td></tr>
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The Titan Oceanus was the stream of Ocean which encircled
the disc of the earth in early concepts of geography. Oceanus fathered three thousand daughters and
three thousand sons who were called the Oceanids. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tQlY6oKyesfJXyeLaGaco1cpH3N-TErLknRyh_UQH41P2lhIggyaXqTa1eLhTmnxRrLXhfZwQCOLsm1zAdnLdlnuAA1cMqerLfIImOaV5XzmVwBUDSAcnCUJuRJNy4qCWWFygPMyfGOW/s1600/oceanids_by_cirrusmin0r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tQlY6oKyesfJXyeLaGaco1cpH3N-TErLknRyh_UQH41P2lhIggyaXqTa1eLhTmnxRrLXhfZwQCOLsm1zAdnLdlnuAA1cMqerLfIImOaV5XzmVwBUDSAcnCUJuRJNy4qCWWFygPMyfGOW/s1600/oceanids_by_cirrusmin0r.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Oceanids-144720293">Oceanids by cirrusmin0r</a></td></tr>
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The Titan Hyperion fathered Helius, or Helios, and both were
gods of the sun. The sun god lived in
the East, and every day he crossed the dome of the sky in a four horse drawn
chariot and descended in the West – into Oceanus, who encircled the earth –
before sailing back to the East to begin a new day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrtFfoXL_DvbR9k87REjHYjnah_Ksu6hq-l2O6YuqsHsasN6MQi20YBTVLQKLWoPxa8t5lSjo4vqBDEfihKhflyTXBTv9w5BzWCYZrz-PvsWpEd6WJCyxKzbZ824sUg0as7ip8RhSuXwO/s1600/hyperion_by_heartfullofhell-d3iedd5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrtFfoXL_DvbR9k87REjHYjnah_Ksu6hq-l2O6YuqsHsasN6MQi20YBTVLQKLWoPxa8t5lSjo4vqBDEfihKhflyTXBTv9w5BzWCYZrz-PvsWpEd6WJCyxKzbZ824sUg0as7ip8RhSuXwO/s1600/hyperion_by_heartfullofhell-d3iedd5.jpg" height="287" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Hyperion-212302121?hf=1">Hyperion by heartfullofhell</a></td></tr>
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Phaethon, sometimes son of Hyperon or Helius or Apollo,
wanted to find out if the Sun was truly his father, so he visited the palace of
the Sun to find out. Here the sun god
reassured Phaethon that he was his father and that he could have anything he
might desire. Phaethon asked to drive
the sun-chariot for one day and was granted his wish. However, Phaethon was inexperienced and
unable to control the horses. He caused
absolute havoc and met his death at the hands of Zeus or Jupiter.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpldUOufsRDTmn7CZj4_0VnAtLRELAz9dGOZmmuYf6jvNP1vwD1VVI6kNF73eP2ztwfYd3R6InnX-8_vPzDksIpLNoJw6Nx3-cenOt9gotVOWho88R3s_arSfppw99Ch1ara8wLQ9c-iOC/s1600/Selene_and_Endymion_by_Umina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpldUOufsRDTmn7CZj4_0VnAtLRELAz9dGOZmmuYf6jvNP1vwD1VVI6kNF73eP2ztwfYd3R6InnX-8_vPzDksIpLNoJw6Nx3-cenOt9gotVOWho88R3s_arSfppw99Ch1ara8wLQ9c-iOC/s1600/Selene_and_Endymion_by_Umina.jpg" height="287" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Selene-and-Endymion-50732370">Selene and Endymion by Umina</a></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
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Another daughter of Hyperion was Selene, a goddess of the
moon who drove a two-horse chariot. The
goddess of the moon later became Artemis or Diana. Selene fell head over heels in love with the
hunter Endymion and would abandon her duties to visit the cave where Endymion
lived. Endymion was eventually granted
endless sleep and eternal youth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOzIiYkgBAXuBsFlHN-uM8_iVYLpPCaRWOObqg6VJ0VOn8Ahl596RmoZdwTR936HeYwSKB5GaD4BbvnRD5JpXZkjFbw8DLLJqaDO-95rg7se8DfFCfMOX9ldZNRF6ocCfc2H5B9AvWr92/s1600/eos_by_vildamir-d1x9nh6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOzIiYkgBAXuBsFlHN-uM8_iVYLpPCaRWOObqg6VJ0VOn8Ahl596RmoZdwTR936HeYwSKB5GaD4BbvnRD5JpXZkjFbw8DLLJqaDO-95rg7se8DfFCfMOX9ldZNRF6ocCfc2H5B9AvWr92/s1600/eos_by_vildamir-d1x9nh6.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Eos-116343834">Eos by Vildamir</a></td></tr>
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The goddess of the dawn was Eos or Aurora. She was the third child of Hyperion and, like
Selene, drove a two-horse chariot. Eos
fell in love with the human Tithonus, or Tithonos, and stole him away. Zeus granted her wish and made Tithonus
immortal, but Eos forgot to ask that Tithonus be given eternal youth and he
grew old. While Eos remained devoted to
him, her love cooled. Eos and Tithonus
had a son, Memnon, who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan saga. Eos stole away other lovers, including
Cephalus who later became the husband of Procris.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6uHTlDrrOM1j_KhI7oIMFb7j2AX8_zyJcD063z71TdQvuwW0l4KX2i6viw4ghEmdKKC3cFRhopq7akQajxMBHHGLZ5OvtzK3adVonC4N3ao9GsmsWF4Mo2EepTzLE2qNJBb0lBP0-11t/s1600/titan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6uHTlDrrOM1j_KhI7oIMFb7j2AX8_zyJcD063z71TdQvuwW0l4KX2i6viw4ghEmdKKC3cFRhopq7akQajxMBHHGLZ5OvtzK3adVonC4N3ao9GsmsWF4Mo2EepTzLE2qNJBb0lBP0-11t/s1600/titan.jpg" height="400" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.taringa.net/posts/ciencia-educacion/10103544/Los-titanes-Mitologia-Griega.html">Ouranos</a></td></tr>
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Ouranos hated his children and, as they were about to be
born, he hid them inside Gaia. Gaia was
very angry with Ouranos and wished for revenge.
Her appeal was granted by Cronus, who accepted a sickle fashioned by his
mother and castrated Ouranos, his father.
The severed genitals of Ouranos were cast into the ocean and from them
grew Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love.</div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/185632815865299446/">Cronus devours one of his offspring by Peter Paul Rubens</a></td></tr>
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Cronus, or Kronos, or Saturn, and Rhea, had several children
who were eaten by their father Cronus.
Cronus became afraid that he would meet his end at the hands of one of
his children. Rhea was aware of Cronus’
fear and, when Zeus was to be born, she hid the birth from Cronus. Zeus was taken to Crete while Cronus was
given a stone wrapped in baby’s clothes to eat.
Rhea hid Zeus in a cave and he eventually grew up to overthrow his
father. Zeus went on to marry his sister
Hera, or Juno, and they became the king and queen of the gods.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another Greek creation myth came from the religious system
Orphism, named after the mythological poet and musician Orpheus. The Orphic cult developed during the late 7th
century BC. In contrast to Homer’s
Olympian religion, Orphism was mostly concerned with the destiny of the soul. The following poem is an account of creation,
where time makes the silver egg of the cosmos and from the egg come the Orphic. He was the first god and was known as
Protogonos. Protogonos was bisexual and
from him came the seeds of all gods and men.
The poem is a parallel of Iranian religion, who put much emphasis on
Zurvan, the god of time. Time creates
the egg from which comes Phanes-Dionysus.
Phanes, the creator, makes Nyx (the night), his daughter and he is both
her mother and father. Nyx is the only
one lucky enough to behold the creator and over much time she join with Phanes
and brought Gaea (earth), Uranus (heaven), and Cronus (light) into being.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tumblr.hrmtc.com/post/31812309621/theworkingtools-phanes">Greek Relief 'Phanes'</a></td></tr>
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<strong>The Sixth Orphic Hymn<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
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<em>O mighty first-begotten, hear my orayer,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Twofold, egg born, and wandering through the air;<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
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<em>Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
From whom the race of Gods and mortals springs.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
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<o:p> </o:p></em><br />
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<em>Ericapius, celebrated power,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Ineffable, occult, all shining flower.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
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<o:p> </o:p></em><br />
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<em>‘Tis thine from darksome mists to purge the sight,</em></div>
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<em>All-spreading splendour, pure and holy light;<o:p></o:p></em></div>
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<o:p></o:p><em>Hence Phanes called the glory of the sky,<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
On waving pinions through the world you fly.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
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It was said that Zeus swallowed Phanes-Dionysus and, in capturing
the source of being in his belly, was able to make the world anew. The Orphics also told of Dionysus being eaten
by the Titans. Once the Titans were destroyed,
mankind was able to emerge from their ashes.
And so manking contained both the evil of the Titans and the goodness of
Dionysus. In some Orphic myths, Dionysus
is brought back by Persephone and/or Demeter.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s all for today.
Next time we will continue on with creation mythology – this time from
the East.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
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<o:p>Useful Resources</o:p><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Ancient-Deities-Charles-Russell/dp/1579582702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419868066&sr=8-1&keywords=Encyclopedia+of+Ancient+Deities+by+Charles+Russell+Coulter+%26+Patricia+Turner">Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities by Charles Russell Coulter& Patricia Turner</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Creation-Oxford-Paperback-Reference/dp/0195102754/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419868103&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Dictionary+of+Creation+Myths+by+David+Adams+Leeming">A Dictionary of Creation Myths by David Adams Leeming<o:p></o:p></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419868352&sr=8-1&keywords=david+a+leeming+encyclopedia">Creation Myths of the World: An Encylopedia by David A. L.eeming</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6130/6130-pdf.pdf">Iliad by Homer</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Faces-Creation-History-Universe/dp/0595284116/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419868223&sr=8-1&keywords=the+many+faces+of+creation">The Many Faces of Creation: A History of Man's Search for His Place and Purpose by Vern A. Westfall</a><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-32620803109619870442015-02-06T17:41:00.000+00:002015-03-09T08:52:14.305+00:00Creation Mythology: South AmericaToday we are
going to explore the creation myths of South America. South America is the fourth largest continent in the world and its mythology is diverse and vast. Here we will look at the creation myths of Mesoamerica and some of the tribes which can be found throughout the region.<br />
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The Mayan
civilization lasted from around 500BC to 1200AD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The creation myth of the Mayans can be found
in the ancient hieroglyphic Popol Vuh, meaning <em>Book of Counsel</em>, <em>Book of the
Community</em>, or <em>Book of the People</em>. The following myth tells of how Tepeu and Gucumatz created the world through conversation with one another.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkxBMccfPbAKH0i3GD4mUhnnZ2mNH91r5tkCH1DfSMF0_x7n7A1qrrOASHYZv1EnOhfT7TdffTO2bpXNlynrDP5rxR6I5v7cYkYNBMLQvGLfUL0uG4fBjb1V4Cqao6oD9v3jOCVBFiFij/s1600/8e51a64aebfd8241b0847edf0c930c0a-d5wwchv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkxBMccfPbAKH0i3GD4mUhnnZ2mNH91r5tkCH1DfSMF0_x7n7A1qrrOASHYZv1EnOhfT7TdffTO2bpXNlynrDP5rxR6I5v7cYkYNBMLQvGLfUL0uG4fBjb1V4Cqao6oD9v3jOCVBFiFij/s1600/8e51a64aebfd8241b0847edf0c930c0a-d5wwchv.jpg" height="58" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mayan-Creation-Myth-357587779" target="_blank">Mayan Creation Myth by TheK40*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>How Tepeu
and Gucumatz Made the World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<em>This is the
account of how all was in suspense, all calm, in silence, all motionless,
still, and the expanse of the sky was empty.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
This is the
first account, the first narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was neither man, nor animal, birds, fishes, crabs, trees, stones,
caves, ravines, grasses, nor forests; there was only the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The surface
of the earth had not appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was
only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
There was
nothing brought together, nothing which could make a noise, nor anything which
might move, or tremble, or could make noise in the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
There was
nothing standing; only the calm water, the placid sea, alone and tranquil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing existed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAx6aZ-ruMG96ub_5zfwIVKDG1lYxd1LCW7AD0HCzZ5oV1kXO83zIce5LThuunJSO4PUltSZJ9-5oSlHeEqLfyNIunaF6AgQHV0PRtZvmgxBgRiVNbIZ50Hm3IqD-LP0MOeGJ2GTS0Lal_/s1600/Gucumatz_by_Ranubis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAx6aZ-ruMG96ub_5zfwIVKDG1lYxd1LCW7AD0HCzZ5oV1kXO83zIce5LThuunJSO4PUltSZJ9-5oSlHeEqLfyNIunaF6AgQHV0PRtZvmgxBgRiVNbIZ50Hm3IqD-LP0MOeGJ2GTS0Lal_/s1600/Gucumatz_by_Ranubis.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Gucumatz-86872241" target="_blank">Gucumatz by Ranubis</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was
only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz,
the Forefathers, were in the water surrounded by light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were hidden under green and blue
feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By nature they were great sages and great thinkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this manner the sky existed and also the
Heart of Heaven, which is the name of God and thus He is called.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then came
the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tepeu and Gucumatz came
together in the darkness, in the night, and Tepeu and Gucumatz talked
together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They talked then, discussing
and deliberating; they agreed, they united their words and their thoughts.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then while
they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must
appear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they planned the creation,
and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the
creation of man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus it was arranged in
the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracan.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BOAn1g2HhSzE23DgLQ7FhbbtYPN6vVBRJb-MFP-inY3AnFQjgDEeh-j3EPUm-2lkghzi_1OBVZkbiHaTQmEW0DkIPCWWdJgWxhbmHQMuTNMUGa3cxuS1cOW3X5KTPEpl41LXPBPw5d4b/s1600/213537122-14651b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BOAn1g2HhSzE23DgLQ7FhbbtYPN6vVBRJb-MFP-inY3AnFQjgDEeh-j3EPUm-2lkghzi_1OBVZkbiHaTQmEW0DkIPCWWdJgWxhbmHQMuTNMUGa3cxuS1cOW3X5KTPEpl41LXPBPw5d4b/s1600/213537122-14651b.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yessy.com/jackfeldman/gallery.html?i=21693" target="_blank">Huracan: Heart of Sky by Jack Feldman</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first is
called Caculha Huracin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second in Chipi-Caculha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third is Raxa-Caculha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these three are the Heart of Heaven.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then Tepeu
and Gucumatz came together; then they conferred about life and light, what they
would do so that there would be light and dawn, who it would be who would
provide food and sustenance.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus let it
be done!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the emptiness be
filled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the water recede and make a
void, let the earth appear and become solid; let it be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus they spoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let there be light, let there be dawn in the
sky and on the earth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There shall be
neither glory nor grandeur in our creation and formation until the human being
is made, man is formed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they spoke.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then the
earth was created by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was, in
truth, that they created the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Earth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they said, and instantly
it was made.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Like the
mist, like a cloud, and like a cloud of dust was the creation, when the
mountains appeared from the water, and instantly the mountains grew.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Only by a
miracle, only by magic art were the mountains and valleys formed; and instantly
the groves of cypresses and pines put forth shoots together on the surface of
the earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOisc6blA4FJ_js4RQ6952dpcQNKybk0JPXWnyYTCplRyagqKvR8x9rodWCadV089a1zfHw0zOu1crzyB5epvKhEfRW5u65cya9uzsb0Tx0kP1K2LkfbFRH8RNZNM_x9qmHVWUAkiXRZcN/s1600/The_Heart_of_eARTh_by_belez.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOisc6blA4FJ_js4RQ6952dpcQNKybk0JPXWnyYTCplRyagqKvR8x9rodWCadV089a1zfHw0zOu1crzyB5epvKhEfRW5u65cya9uzsb0Tx0kP1K2LkfbFRH8RNZNM_x9qmHVWUAkiXRZcN/s1600/The_Heart_of_eARTh_by_belez.png" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://belez.deviantart.com/art/The-Heart-of-eARTh-98264642" target="_blank">The Heart of Earth by belezr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>And thus
Gucumatz was filled with joy, and exclaimed: ‘Your coming has been fruitful,
Heart of Heaven; and you, Huracan, and you, Chipi-Caculha, Raxa-Caculha!’<o:p></o:p></em><em>
‘Our work,
our creation shall be finished,’ they answered.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
First the
earth was formed, the mountains and the valleys, the currents of water were
divided, the rivulets were running freely between the hills, and the water was
separated when the high mountains appeared.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thus was the
earth created, when it was formed by the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth,
as they are called who first made it fruitful, when the sky was in suspense,
and the earth was submerged in the water.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So it was
that they made perfect the work, when they did it after thinking and meditating
upon it.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Several
creation stories can be found in Aztec mythology, with some originating from
early Mexica and others from other Mesoamericans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most well known, however, is the story of
the Five Suns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tells of how the
battles for supremacy between the brothers Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
brought about both the destruction of the first four suns and the creation of
the fifth sun.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7D3FCVO-SmRFIZzh7azU8czHcgEv9hDTPEJy-bqJq09gw3WCgeR8ODhvFNeBuZAsnx1iUzQi-lVDOOVrXwpYjqxI-7SoaHQ-8KafWB7gEAD5lD2s7G7tA-OpvWl43KW1EXNA-OgIdX6k/s1600/ometeotl_by_rainbow_country_crew-d4gnxeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7D3FCVO-SmRFIZzh7azU8czHcgEv9hDTPEJy-bqJq09gw3WCgeR8ODhvFNeBuZAsnx1iUzQi-lVDOOVrXwpYjqxI-7SoaHQ-8KafWB7gEAD5lD2s7G7tA-OpvWl43KW1EXNA-OgIdX6k/s1600/ometeotl_by_rainbow_country_crew-d4gnxeg.jpg" height="320" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ometeotl-269854936" target="_blank">Ometeotl by rainbow-country-crew</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation
of the World – The Five Suns<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning there was Ometeotl, the Creator Pair, or the Lord and Lady of
Duality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The male and female aspects of
Ometeotl coupled and from their union brought forth Texcatlipoca and
Quetzalcoatl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
During the
time of the First Sun, giants roamed the Earth, eating rocks and acorns, and
Tezcatlipoca ruled supreme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took it
upon himself the honor of carrying the Sun on its daily journey through the
heavens, lighting the sky above and the Earth below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With great pride, he daily led the Sun in its
fiery, celestial path.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Quetzalcoatl
was jealous of Tezcatlipoca and his great honor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a terrible fit of anger he climbed into
the sky and gave Tezcatlipoca a mighty blow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The blow stunned Tezcatlipoca, and he fell tumbling from the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he crashed to Earth, Tezcatlipoca
transformed himself into his sacred animal spirit, the jaguar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the jaguar, he destroyed all living
creatures on the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time of the
First Sun of the Earth came to an end, and darkness covered the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Aztecs marked this day of the Earth’s
first destruction with the name 4 Jaguar.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAV68d2ayvQBYif263L1bPbHqooMpNRA0D5hnEwxvCnW7IGorUT8w-_1TlMzRy4iSlaUokIMxNb8AVz-fBucykXfuJ486LnkprVAgCt-rLdGydRGn3GoPQLvr5A9uOswGdc7hkEoUwirL/s1600/z9_Tezcatlipoca_by_halonacc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAV68d2ayvQBYif263L1bPbHqooMpNRA0D5hnEwxvCnW7IGorUT8w-_1TlMzRy4iSlaUokIMxNb8AVz-fBucykXfuJ486LnkprVAgCt-rLdGydRGn3GoPQLvr5A9uOswGdc7hkEoUwirL/s1600/z9_Tezcatlipoca_by_halonacc.png" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/z9-Tezcatlipoca-97470823" target="_blank">z9 Tezcatlipoca by SHiNiGAMi-Xiii*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>
Quetzalcoatl
now reigned supreme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was his divine
honor to lead the Sun on its daily journey to defeat the powers of darkness on
the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Earth existed again for a
second time – the time of the Second Sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During this time, the Earth was populated with monkeys who existed on
pine nuts.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now, it was
Tezcatlipoca’s turn to be jealous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was determined to regain his dominance over Quetzalcoatl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was Tezcatlipoca this time who rose into
the sky and delivered a smashing blow to Quetzalcoatl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quetzalcoatl could not survive the blow and
came roaring to Earth with such force that a great windstorm destroyed all living
creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the second time, the age
of the Sun had ended with the destruction of the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Aztec called this day 4 Wind.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81sUyOYi2rlu4m5wxh6jRLlELUQ_qHj92GeRms-yFbtUgo6sGcEje0N0GoXPyg4RUg2l-cgQ2QQfzXCk6pjBW9hroQFmeGZsjqVkKJDe2L7fz_1UJ0TBgd23WdsSwavqQp2GtgAKAvkUp/s1600/quetzalcoatl_by_vandervals-d72yqxp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81sUyOYi2rlu4m5wxh6jRLlELUQ_qHj92GeRms-yFbtUgo6sGcEje0N0GoXPyg4RUg2l-cgQ2QQfzXCk6pjBW9hroQFmeGZsjqVkKJDe2L7fz_1UJ0TBgd23WdsSwavqQp2GtgAKAvkUp/s1600/quetzalcoatl_by_vandervals-d72yqxp.jpg" height="295" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Quetzalcoatl-428243677" target="_blank">Quetzalcoatl by vandervals</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The gods
were angry at this destructive battle between Quetzalcoatl and
Tezcatlipoca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They decided that another
god should have the honor of carrying the Sun across the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They chose the rain god Tlaloc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tlaloc ruled supreme during this third
creation of the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His fall of
nourishing waters brought back life to the Earth, covering it with rivers,
lakes, and oceans.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
This time,
both Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca began to plot against Tlaloc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together they attached Tlaloc and caused a
fierce rain of celestial fire to fall on the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time of the Third Sun ended in the destruction
of the Earth by scorching fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Aztecs marked the end of this third age of the Sun with the name 4 Rain.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Once again,
the gods intervened to recreate the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During this time of the Fourth Sun, Tlaloc’s sister, the god
Chalchiuhtlicue, the Goddess of Water, fell to the Earth, the sky opened up
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwPG5U0A5g6wBVtzR9sB5xWn7kCSNpb5Cuj5zJUFHROYLGm9ZTZTqY5xDwfAfB-_a9gqYhLEcKosrErYusjgey3VmZ0CMuE7wVutZ9utJE8a1dS_U7TWtnwddtAW1FW5iJH6jKIyEZQTt/s1600/ae09e775abddbb8fc77aaf6c586846b4-d3054cx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwPG5U0A5g6wBVtzR9sB5xWn7kCSNpb5Cuj5zJUFHROYLGm9ZTZTqY5xDwfAfB-_a9gqYhLEcKosrErYusjgey3VmZ0CMuE7wVutZ9utJE8a1dS_U7TWtnwddtAW1FW5iJH6jKIyEZQTt/s1600/ae09e775abddbb8fc77aaf6c586846b4-d3054cx.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Tlaloc-181637457" target="_blank">Tlaloc by Kamazotz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
with a deluge of heavenly waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
great flood covered the Earth and destroyed it for a fourth time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Aztecs marked this day with the name 4
Water.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
After fourth
destruction of the Earth, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca felt remorse for their
battles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
looked down upon the darkened and flooded Earth and knew that their time of
battle must come to an end if there was to be another Sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They abandoned their fierce fighting and
together created the Earth for a fifth time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Fifth Sun, the sun of motion, is the sun of our present age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to this Aztec myth, the age of the
Fifth Sun will one day end in a cataclysm of earthquakes.</em> <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
The Inca
established their capital at Cuzco, Peru in the 12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their creation story tells of Viracocha, also
spelled Huiracocha or Wirapoca, the creator deity who made the sun and moon on
Lake Titicaca.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7a3bJ39wX54UFCqb2KABFmRB_JBq-NOVpc81tNObcerIf9Au6QlTiOepb0Hc9mfj1jQZh0fnjNjM3nZifJUa2L1eI52Vc-9kh2iVdFM0Utiwk6fUbgxhE4CqBtWKKGYVdKFJzskgdDfX/s1600/viracocha_and_his_son_inti_by_maycurydealor-d7m28wz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7a3bJ39wX54UFCqb2KABFmRB_JBq-NOVpc81tNObcerIf9Au6QlTiOepb0Hc9mfj1jQZh0fnjNjM3nZifJUa2L1eI52Vc-9kh2iVdFM0Utiwk6fUbgxhE4CqBtWKKGYVdKFJzskgdDfX/s1600/viracocha_and_his_son_inti_by_maycurydealor-d7m28wz.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Viracocha-and-his-son-Inti-460319651" target="_blank">Viracocha and his son Inti by MaycuryDealor</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Children of
the Sun<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Viracocha
emerged into the primal dark from the sacred waters of Lake Titicaca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He created a race of giants, but they angered
him, so he drowned them and turned them to stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next he called the sun, the moon, and the
stars out of the Island of the Sun in the centre of the lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He picked up stones by the lakeside and
shaped these into the first man and women, painting them with clothes, and
giving each nation its own language, songs, and foods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Viracocha and his sons travelled among the
peoples, teaching them how to live, before walking away across the Pacific
Ocean.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Among the
Keres speaking Pueblo people of southwestern America, the original creator was
Sus’sistinako, or Thinking Woman, the spider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In some versions she creates the world from a discarded clot of blood
and in others from her own thoughts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Thinking
Woman<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufh49QzmtHGkx4lW2r1EX3jaY1nSdtWBk8hVYZPOVZupnwpBhf7hlVBNTuR9WJ2d-WiS6EPKUzGu55INSDBaYKQr4nWvXPw5J_R2dllagClstc8LxOrn-7ot3Q0L72RFLNJgZfspoIAPV/s1600/e0302925c84de0aea73594dfa8d467f3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufh49QzmtHGkx4lW2r1EX3jaY1nSdtWBk8hVYZPOVZupnwpBhf7hlVBNTuR9WJ2d-WiS6EPKUzGu55INSDBaYKQr4nWvXPw5J_R2dllagClstc8LxOrn-7ot3Q0L72RFLNJgZfspoIAPV/s1600/e0302925c84de0aea73594dfa8d467f3.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/9288742952321160/" target="_blank">The Pueblo's Spider Woman - Artist Unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>At first
there was only one being, a spider called Sus’sistinako, meaning ‘Thinking
Woman’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sussistinako sent her thoughts
outward into space, and used them to weave the fabric of the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beneath the Earth she placed Iatiku the Corn
Mother, also known as ‘the breath of life’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was Iatiku who created all the elements that make up the world – even
fun, in the shape of the clown Koshare, whom she shaped from rubbings of her
skin in order to make people laugh.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Iatiku had
two aspects: one who remained underground, and to whom the dead returned; and
another who travelled up to the world, bringing the gift of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had two daughters, to whom she gave
baskets filled with seeds and images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were to use these to bring life into the world.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The first
daughter was named Iatiku, after her mother, because they so closely resembled
one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second daughter was not
given a name.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The two
daughters travelled up to the Earth, and when they emerged, the world was still
dark, so they decided to create light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Singing
a creation song, they created the sun from shells and red stone, then they
travelled east, carried the sun up a high mountain, and dropped it over the
other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next morning the sun
rose for the first time.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZb6tbo7GtuLiLVAbOfvao2fatgwsMMaf-PQ-VuYT0GXB_xP0BmWCW7CEYps5k3Z1cxa6eIjFNiToCbDgSDPLpz8jNT4vkv9ADXKHxtkVpKkdkzVUmS0smyNz41tlbe8mnKgjIjl3-41YG/s1600/untitled_drawing_by_twitchhh-d786yyo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZb6tbo7GtuLiLVAbOfvao2fatgwsMMaf-PQ-VuYT0GXB_xP0BmWCW7CEYps5k3Z1cxa6eIjFNiToCbDgSDPLpz8jNT4vkv9ADXKHxtkVpKkdkzVUmS0smyNz41tlbe8mnKgjIjl3-41YG/s1600/untitled_drawing_by_twitchhh-d786yyo.png" height="259" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/MOTHER-CORN-437025408" target="_blank">MOTHER CORN by TWitchhh</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Iatiku and
her sister continued to scatter the seeds and images from their baskets, and
each thing came alive as it fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
made the moon, and then the stars, which were all in perfect groups until a
little girl peeped into the bundle of stars and let them out, scattering them
randomly across the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Iatiku
noticed that her sister’s basket was more richly filled than her own, so she
decided to name her sister ‘Nautsiti’, meaning ‘more everything in her basket’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two sisters then held a contest to see
which of them should have precedence in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iatiku won because Thinking Woman sat on her
shoulder in spider form and whispered to her, telling her what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the victor, Iatiku stayed to become the
mother of the Indians, while Nautsiti went away, to become the mother of the
whites.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Huitoto
or Uitoto Indians can be found deep in the Peruvian Amazon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tell the following ex nihilo myth of how
Father Naimuena created the world from dreams.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Father
Naimuena Creates the World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning, the word gave origin to the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A phantasm, nothing else existed in the beginning; the Father touched an
illusion, he grasped something mysterious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the
agency of a dream our Father Naimuena kept the mirage to his body, and he
pondered long and thought deeply.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1IYldh-mF64XLQFM7CwrJamSgQrm4wXgItGNoQVxD-55JI1Dq_uTRg8cIAHObSXHvirc5aXRAXwY8j86VhSnfUMKtou4OzQQp2pQZENmtRjLSX6_8mYce1u_iLKFQIQD8gLvWQUnsBL0/s1600/Phantasm_by_JoeJesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1IYldh-mF64XLQFM7CwrJamSgQrm4wXgItGNoQVxD-55JI1Dq_uTRg8cIAHObSXHvirc5aXRAXwY8j86VhSnfUMKtou4OzQQp2pQZENmtRjLSX6_8mYce1u_iLKFQIQD8gLvWQUnsBL0/s1600/Phantasm_by_JoeJesus.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Phantasm-99332930" target="_blank">Phantasm by JoeyJazz</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Nothing
existed, not even a stick to support the vision: our Father attached the
illusion to the thread of a dream and kept it by the aid of his breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sounded to reach the bottom of the
appearance, but there was nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing existed indeed.<o:p></o:p></em><em>
Then the
Father again investigated the bottom of the mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tied the empty illusion to the dream
thread and pressed the magical substance upon it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus by the aid of his dream he held it like
a wisp of raw cotton.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then he
seized the mirage bottom and stamped upon it repeatedly, sitting down at last
on his dreamed earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The
earth-phantasm was now his, and he spat out saliva repeatedly so that the
forests might grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he lay down
upon his earth and covered it with the roof of heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he was the owner of the earth he placed
above it the blue and the white sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Thereupon
Rafuema, ‘the man who has the narratives,’ sitting at the base of the heavens,
pondered, and he created this story so that we might listen to it here upon the
earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Pima can
be found in the deserts of southern Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They tell the following ex nihilo myth of Juhwertamahkai, the Doctor
of the Earth, who creates the earth from perspiration and people from the
shadow of his eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>The Story of
the Creation<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning there was no earth, no water – nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was only a Person, ‘Juh-wert-a-Mah-kai
(The Doctor of the Earth).<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
He just
floated, for there was no place for him to stand upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no sun, no light, and he just
floated about in the darkness, which was Darkness itself.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWGiNRfRPD8I_dA4pvnhmZDJfmzMODH6xyOMIdjOeqWXpdarOTCz4B9ED9RXBStiPbY1QukOUdEfSC9TTO-222IvxYlRwkmY4VjT09NV-yUNFK54DfbAm03rkrZUIwaBSBJowOKiqNNaA/s1600/hold_on_by_butterflycollector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWGiNRfRPD8I_dA4pvnhmZDJfmzMODH6xyOMIdjOeqWXpdarOTCz4B9ED9RXBStiPbY1QukOUdEfSC9TTO-222IvxYlRwkmY4VjT09NV-yUNFK54DfbAm03rkrZUIwaBSBJowOKiqNNaA/s1600/hold_on_by_butterflycollector.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/hold-on-40423884" target="_blank">hold on by butterflycollector</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He wandered
around in nowhere till he thought he had wandered enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he rubbed on his breast and rubbed out ‘moah-haht-tack’,
that is perspiration, or greasy earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This he rubbed out on the palm of his hand and held out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tipped over three times, but the fourth
time it staid straight in the middle of the air and there it remains now as the
world.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The first
bush he created was the greasewood bush.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And he made
ants, little tiny ants, to live on that bush, on its gum which comes out of its
stem.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But these
little ants did not do any good, so he created white ants, and these worked and
enlarged the earth; and they kept on increasing it, larger and larger, until at
last it was big enough for himself to rest on.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then he
created a Person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made him out of his
eye, out of the shadow of his eyes, to assist him, to be like him, and to help
him in creating trees and human beings and everything that was to be on the
earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The name of
this being was ‘Noo-ee’ (the Buzzard).<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Nooee was
given all power, but he did not do the work he was created for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not care to help Juhwertmahkai, but
let him go on by himself.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And so the
Doctor of the Earth himself created the mountains and everything that has seed
and is good to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For if he had
created human beings first they would have had nothing to live on.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But after
making Nooee and before making mountains and seed for food, Johwertamahkai made
the sun.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In order to
make the sun he first made water, and this he placed in a hollow vessel, like
an earthen dish (‘hwas-hah-ah’) to harden into something like ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this hardened ball he placed in the
sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First he placed it in the North,
but it did not work; then he placed it in the West, but it did not work; then
he placed it in the South, but it did not work; then he placed it in the East
and there it worked as he wanted it to.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And the moon
he made in the same way and tried in the same places, with the same results.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsv03zP5Kwg3k0MbRdSWZ76WVlAWEFR40lGYrWZahyphenhyphentR3lJT59pqUwTXaAR1fiqeiHVxlV4qoMPu1taZqZNpnOZUYlwkNsfShesvQJLJye-IhRm-1RA-mcgYWGJNl403uBo86kFPbOGAd/s1600/6c1767de757d7fae795a23a89d001365-d4b2ugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsv03zP5Kwg3k0MbRdSWZ76WVlAWEFR40lGYrWZahyphenhyphentR3lJT59pqUwTXaAR1fiqeiHVxlV4qoMPu1taZqZNpnOZUYlwkNsfShesvQJLJye-IhRm-1RA-mcgYWGJNl403uBo86kFPbOGAd/s1600/6c1767de757d7fae795a23a89d001365-d4b2ugs.jpg" height="400" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Diamonds-In-The-Sky-260473276" target="_blank">Diamonds In The Sky by Mizth</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But when he
made the stars he took the water in his mouth and spurted it up into the
sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the first night his stars did
not give light enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took the
Doctor-stone (diamond), the ‘tone-dum-haw-the’, and smashed it up, and took the
pieces and threw them into the sky to mix with the water in the stars, and then
there was light enough.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And now
Juhwertamahkai, rubbed again on his breast, and from the substance he obtained
there made two little dolls, and these he laid on the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they were human beings, man and woman.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And now for
a time the people increased till they filled the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first parents were perfect, and there
was no sickness and no death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when
the earth was full, then there was nothing to eat, so they killed and ate each
other.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But
Juhwertamahkai did not like the way his people acted, to kill and eat each
other, and so he let the sky fail to kill them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But when the sky dropped he, himself, took a staff and broke a hole
thru, thru which he and Nooee emerged and escaped, leaving behind them all the
people dead.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And Juhwertamahkai,
being now on the top of this fallen sky, again made a man and a woman, in the
same way as before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this man and
woman became grey when old and their children became grey still younger, and
their children became grey younger still, and so on till the babies were grey
in their cradles.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And
Juhwertamahkai, who had made a new earth and sky, just as there had been
before, did not like his people becoming grey in their cradles, so he let the
sky fall on them again, and again made a hole and escaped, with Nooee, as
before.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And
Juhwertamahkai, on top of this second sky, again made a new heaven and a new
earth, just as he had done before, and new people.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But these
new people made a vice of smoking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before human beings had never smoked till they were old, but now they
smoked younger, and each generation still younger, till the infants wanted to
smoke in their cradles.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN78SAv6LsHidkpKVdmAYonx17E7UXR3ZtPmEvnbFxZB5CI2yPTTsclPHS8cH5ubkNRA9NByNeHEvmO3CsAFEPvZdfrbLpECUs3y5SSRUB2i_Jyuf-CpoK-W2Ut2-1S652FOLja9MGTBf/s1600/The_Sky_Is_Falling_by_gamesandgigs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN78SAv6LsHidkpKVdmAYonx17E7UXR3ZtPmEvnbFxZB5CI2yPTTsclPHS8cH5ubkNRA9NByNeHEvmO3CsAFEPvZdfrbLpECUs3y5SSRUB2i_Jyuf-CpoK-W2Ut2-1S652FOLja9MGTBf/s1600/The_Sky_Is_Falling_by_gamesandgigs.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Sky-Is-Falling-146816831" target="_blank">The Sky Is Falling by gamesandgigs</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And
Juhwertamahkai did not like this, and let the sky fall again, and created
everything new again in the same way, and this time he created the earth as it
is now.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But as first
the whole slope of the world was westward, and tho there were peaks rising from
this slope there were no true valleys, and all the water that fell ran<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>away and there was no water for the people to
drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Juhwertamahkai sent Nooee to
fly around among the mountains, and over the earth, to cut valleys with his
wings, so that the water could be caught and distributed and there might be
enough for the people to drink.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now the sun
was male and the moon was female and they met once a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the moon became a mother and went to a
mountain called ‘Tahs-my-et-than Tow-ahk’ (sun striking mountain) and there was
born her baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she had duties to
attend to, to turn around and give light, so she made a <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrihYB7CvzZvC478K7xVJdK4GuYhdKeNxbc2An6Olo3CnXQSrARcdVwzBQ75X_7Vixophy-YdE9tFJJ_6cif4GwNEYf3WSnkR0KhZJj7e-FcUwH3ckz-KwXA5AIchuz9nc40kJXUhlo7cO/s1600/Coyote_by_RichardatUK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrihYB7CvzZvC478K7xVJdK4GuYhdKeNxbc2An6Olo3CnXQSrARcdVwzBQ75X_7Vixophy-YdE9tFJJ_6cif4GwNEYf3WSnkR0KhZJj7e-FcUwH3ckz-KwXA5AIchuz9nc40kJXUhlo7cO/s1600/Coyote_by_RichardatUK.jpg" height="320" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Coyote-114409398" target="_blank">Coyote by RichardatUK</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
place for the child by
tramping down the weedy bushes and there left it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the child, having no milk, was nourished
on the earth.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And this
child was the coyote, and as he grew he went out to walk and in his walk came
to the house of Juhwertamahkai and Nooee, where they lived.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And when he
came there Juhwertamahkai knew him and called him ‘Toe-hahvs’, because he was
laid on the weedy bushes of that name.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
But now out
of the North came another powerful personage, who has two names, ‘See-ur-huh’
and ‘Ee-ee-toy’.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now Seeurhuh
means older brother, and when this personage came to Juhwertamahkai, Nooee and
Toehahvs he called them his younger brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But they claimed to have been here first, and to be older than he, and
there was a dispute between them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
finally, because he insisted so strongly, and just to please him, they let him
be called older brother.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Sanema
people live in the upper Caura region of Venezuela and tell this creation myth
of Omao who creates people from wood.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLmI5cOhaYcOO121ze6JuQbIDzxK-82Yr6OJE-dK3Fx5VOR_RbxgRSFqd8k0FXJqFyuF3JhgQAntRSRot_GP2DCxbZiZp1djYnyPB8TloYkSF0RdWLd7T6Pub-kMSmDwfKYfYml82C9d8/s1600/Jaguar___Its_Dinner_Time_by_m3_k3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLmI5cOhaYcOO121ze6JuQbIDzxK-82Yr6OJE-dK3Fx5VOR_RbxgRSFqd8k0FXJqFyuF3JhgQAntRSRot_GP2DCxbZiZp1djYnyPB8TloYkSF0RdWLd7T6Pub-kMSmDwfKYfYml82C9d8/s1600/Jaguar___Its_Dinner_Time_by_m3_k3.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Jaguar-Its-Dinner-Time-160461288" target="_blank">Jaguar - Its Dinner Time by m3-k3</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><strong>Omao Creates Man</strong> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Once there
lived Curare-woman and Original Jaguar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jaguar was very fond of meat and one day he caught Waipili the
frog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jaguar made Curare-woman cut up
Waipili and Jaguar ate the frog up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Curare-woman saved two tadpoles called Omao and Soawe and hid them in a
pot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Curare-woman
kept Omao and Soawe safe from Jaguar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Omao and Soawe grew fast, but Original Jaguar was still a danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one day, by some clever tricks, Omao was
able to fool Jaguar into climbing a tree, which, when released from the hold of
a vine, threw Jaguar up into the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
fell to the ground and was killed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Omao was
very hungry because he did not know how to grow yuca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only Lalagi-gi, the cosmic anaconda, knew how
to grow the plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Omao was
very frightened of the giant anaconda, he wanted to learn how to grow yuca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he gave some meat to the snake and in
return Lalagi-gi brought yuca cuttings, yams, maize, and other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it had not been for Lalagi-gi, people
would not have learned how to grow crops.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It was long,
long ago when Omao created the Sanema ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He decided to use hardwood trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Omao had great difficulty in finding
them, so he asked his brother, Soawe, to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soawe was lazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of
hardwood trees, he cut down softwood trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Omao returned, he was very angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘I was going to make humans from the hardwood trees,’ he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Then they could live <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TOTO_FndHE8vxPqVZ_uI0P-l-sr_847QzatmBTQZ-lSlDe-xBq11bwYCpXfOSSgJs_WN9qyApo2Au0yGwT4CK1iNF_AUsbIBL1fZGXZWV1LIy6U2yb8qZ5z25ejesqw08cdlcYLGhxYh/s1600/Yellow_knobbed_Curassow_by_gracek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TOTO_FndHE8vxPqVZ_uI0P-l-sr_847QzatmBTQZ-lSlDe-xBq11bwYCpXfOSSgJs_WN9qyApo2Au0yGwT4CK1iNF_AUsbIBL1fZGXZWV1LIy6U2yb8qZ5z25ejesqw08cdlcYLGhxYh/s1600/Yellow_knobbed_Curassow_by_gracek.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Yellow-knobbed-Curassow-103803332" target="_blank">Yellow-knobbed Curassow by gracek</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
forever, just casting
off their old skins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was going to make
the anacondas from softwood trees, so they would be weak and die young.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Omao made the Sanema from the softwood trees,
which is why people are weak and do not live forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he made the anacondas from the tough
bark of the hardwood trees, which is why anacondas shed their skins and live
for a very long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Omao was still so
angry that he left the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went
down the river, to the bottom of the sky.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It was night
when the animal and Sanema ancestors appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sunrise did not come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great
curassow bird cried out all night – and still dawn did not come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ancestors realized that it was the
curassow bird that stopped the dawn, so they shot the bird with arrows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The feathers of the dying bird fell and transformed
into all the birds that now live in the forest. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
And then the
dawn came.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Popol-Vuh-Book-Ancient-Maya/dp/0486427013/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423146027&sr=8-2-fkmr3&keywords=Popol+Vuh%3A+The+Sacred+Book+of+the+Ancient+Quiche+Maya+by+Delia+Goez+%26+Sylvanus+G.+Morley" target="_blank">Popol Vuh:The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiche Maya by Delia Goez & Sylvanus G.Morley</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Companion-World-Mythology/dp/0195387082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423146105&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Oxford+Companion+to+World+Mythology+by+David+Leeming" target="_blank">The Oxford Companion to World Mythology by David Leeming</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eagle-Cactus-Traditional-Stories-Folklore/dp/1563087030/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423146133&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Eagle+on+the+Cactus%3A+Traditional+Stories+from+Mexico+by+Angel+Vigil" target="_blank">The Eagle on the Cactus: Traditional Stories from Mexico by Angel Vigil</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-Eyewitness-Companions-Philip-Wilkinson/dp/0756631548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423146190&sr=8-1&keywords=DK+Eyewitness+Companions%3A+Mythology+by+Philip+Wilkinson+%26+Neil+Philip" target="_blank">DK Eyewitness Companions: Mythology by Philip Wilkinson & Neil Philip</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/sa/cau.htm" target="_blank">The Creation Account of the Uitoto of Columbia, South America</a> </div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aw-Aw-Tam-Indian-Nights-Legends-Arizona/dp/B008G0Q4GK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423146238&sr=8-1&keywords=Aw-aw-tam+Indian+Nights+%28Myths+and+Legends+of+the+Pima_+by+J.+William+Lloyd" target="_blank">Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights (Myths and Legends of the Pima_ by J. William Lloyd</a><br />
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/sa/cau.htm" target="_blank">Yanomamo Sanema Creation Story</a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-32734238527723417802015-01-23T11:24:00.000+00:002015-02-23T12:53:20.350+00:00Creation Mythology: Native America - Plains Indians<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Today we are
going to be looking at the creation mythology of the Plains Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Plains Indians lived on the Great Plains
of North America and include the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, Lakota, Kiowa
Apache, and Tonkawa tribes, amongst others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Blackfoot,
or Blackfeet, tribe are made up of three groups: the Piegan, or Piikuni; the
Blood, or Kainah; and the Siksika, or Blackfoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lived in what is now Alberta, Canada,
and in the state of Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today there
are three reserves in Alberta and one in Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Blackfoot of the U.S. are officially
known as the Blackfeet Nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tell
the following story of creation, which they call the Blackfoot Genesis.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPol_9AwsDmugkWFxeiSKnGW6UdbUVSLHQd1Dy_5GmznjMtqPM090IG9eGbA0bGbdjar0o4oEwuGegFwoW4Xj7NWmxkWxtMHFg5YLOPDagFsKW7szz6o7q5ddwIK5ppZ7QH-U3bHiK9xX1/s1600/writing-on-stone-landscape1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPol_9AwsDmugkWFxeiSKnGW6UdbUVSLHQd1Dy_5GmznjMtqPM090IG9eGbA0bGbdjar0o4oEwuGegFwoW4Xj7NWmxkWxtMHFg5YLOPDagFsKW7szz6o7q5ddwIK5ppZ7QH-U3bHiK9xX1/s1600/writing-on-stone-landscape1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://enlivenedlearning.com/category/red-crow-community-college/" target="_blank">Milk River, sandstone hoo-doos and prairie Photo taken by Kelly</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>The
Blackfoot Genesis<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>All animals
of the Plains at one time heard and knew him, and all birds of the air heard
and knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All things that he had
made understood him, when he spoke to them, - the birds, the animals, and the
people.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Old Man was
travelling about, south of here, making the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He came from the south, travelling north,
making animals and birds as he passed along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He made the mountains, prairies, timber, and brush first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he went along, travelling northward,
making things as he went, putting rivers here and there, and falls on them,
putting red paint here and there in the ground – fixing up the world as we see
it today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made the Milk River (the
Teton) and crossed it, and, being tired, went up on a little hill and lay down
to rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he lay on his back,
stretched out on the ground, with arms extended, he marked himself out with
stones – the shape of his body, head, legs, arms, and everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There you can see those rocks today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After he had rested, he went on northward,
and stumbled over a knoll and fell down on his knees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he said, ‘You are a bad thing to be
stumbling against’; so he raised up two large buttes there, and named them the
Knees, and they are called so to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He went on further north, and with some of the rocks he carried with him
he built the Sweet Grass Hills.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMNaEdSRJIUik3d-jNTCYFyLmEm4dJ9hywfTfOMUoyQt51PLVJGOklXg-gphcp6ezujqTvwKSb48UVWnWNQ6UnaLB1kPrH__eFKKV3dDLID4PYfmZYrXMcIhOeg31fzbj7cMaD2imFF5i/s1600/6034651_f520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMNaEdSRJIUik3d-jNTCYFyLmEm4dJ9hywfTfOMUoyQt51PLVJGOklXg-gphcp6ezujqTvwKSb48UVWnWNQ6UnaLB1kPrH__eFKKV3dDLID4PYfmZYrXMcIhOeg31fzbj7cMaD2imFF5i/s1600/6034651_f520.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ziyena.hubpages.com/hub/Ode-To-A-Blackfoot-Warrior" target="_blank">Sweet Grass Hills</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Old Man
covered the plains with grass for the animals to feed on. He marked off a piece
of ground, and in it he made to grow all kinds of roots and berries,—camas,
wild carrots, wild turnips, sweet-root, bitter-root, sarvis berries, bull
berries, cherries, plums, and rosebuds. He put trees in the ground. He put all
kinds of animals on the ground. When he made the bighorn with its big head and
horns, he made it out on the prairie. It did not seem to travel easily on the
prairie; it was awkward and could not go fast. So he took it by one of its
horns, and led it up into the mountains, and turned it loose; and it skipped
about among the rocks, and went up fearful places with ease. So he said,
"This is the place that suits you; this is what you are fitted for, the
rocks and the mountains." While he was in the mountains, he made the antelope
out of dirt, and turned it loose, to see how it would go. It ran so fast that
it fell over some rocks and hurt itself. He saw that this would not do, and
took the antelope down on the prairie, and turned it loose; and it ran away
fast and gracefully, and he said, "This is what you are suited to."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
One day Old
Man determined that he would make a woman and a child; so he formed them
both—the woman and the child, her son—of clay. After he had moulded the clay in
human shape, he said to the clay, "You must be people," and then he
covered it up and left it, and went away. The next morning he went to the place
and took the covering off, and saw that the clay shapes had changed a little.
The second morning there was still more change, and the third still more. The
fourth morning he went to the place, took the covering off, looked at the
images, and told them to rise and walk; and they did so. They walked down to
the river with their Maker, and then he told them that his name was Na´pi,
Old Man.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNJILpFnH2I3lyqdsAMT0F_UMq_RylQjoaD4hztCNtTyl6uvrGZtZQ8W2OqH6Enjsp4gmv9cEct630TNIoRR3MOyfiPanwKLxKLW5rtYZN7V9DEhDqR4t1MeExyATqtnrZ2Ri3O5wqC6B/s1600/The_Sculptor_and_the_Clay_by_ChristianKitsune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNJILpFnH2I3lyqdsAMT0F_UMq_RylQjoaD4hztCNtTyl6uvrGZtZQ8W2OqH6Enjsp4gmv9cEct630TNIoRR3MOyfiPanwKLxKLW5rtYZN7V9DEhDqR4t1MeExyATqtnrZ2Ri3O5wqC6B/s1600/The_Sculptor_and_the_Clay_by_ChristianKitsune.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Sculptor-and-the-Clay-74578305" target="_blank">The Sculptor and the Clay by ChristianKitsune</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>As they were
standing by the river, the woman said to him, "How is it? will we always
live, will there be no end to it?" He said: "I have never thought of
that. We will have to decide it. I will take this buffalo chip and throw it in
the river. If it floats, when people die, in four days they will become alive
again; they will die for only four days. But if it sinks, there will be an end
to them." He threw the chip into the river, and it floated. The woman
turned and picked up a stone, and said: "No, I will throw this stone in
the river; if it floats we will always live, if it sinks people must die, that
they may always be sorry for each other." </em><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="fr_24"></a><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pla/blt/blt22.htm#fn_24"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: blue;"><em>1</em></span></span></a><em> The woman threw the stone
into the water, and it sank. "There," said Old Man, "you have
chosen. There will be an end to them."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
It was not
many nights after, that the woman's child died, and she cried a great deal for
it. She said to Old Man: "Let us change this. The law that you first made,
let that be a law." He said: "Not so. What is made law must be law.
We will undo nothing that we have done. The child is dead, but it cannot be
changed. People will have to die."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
That is how
we came to be people. It is he who made us.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The first
people were poor and naked, and did not know how to get a living. Old Man
showed them the roots and berries, and told them that they could eat them; that
in a certain month of the year they could peel the bark off some trees and eat
it, that it was good. He told the people that the animals should be their food,
and gave them to the people, saying, "These are your herds." He said:
"All these little animals that live in the ground—rats, squirrels, skunks,
beavers—are good to eat. You need not fear to eat of their flesh." He made
all the birds that fly, and told the people that there was no harm in their
flesh, that it could be eaten. The first people that he created he used to take
about through the timber and swamps and over the prairies, and show them the
different plants. Of a certain plant he would say, "The root of this
plant, if gathered in a certain month of the year, is good for a certain
sickness." So they learned the power of all herbs.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In those
days there were buffalo. Now the people had no arms, but those black animals
with long beards were armed; and once, as the people were moving about, the
buffalo saw them, and ran after them, and hooked them, and killed and ate them.
One day, as the Maker of the people was travelling over the country, he saw
some of his children, that he had made, lying dead, torn to pieces and partly
eaten by the buffalo. When he saw this he was very sad. He said: "This
will not do. I will change this. The people shall eat the buffalo."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He went to
some of the people who were left, and said to them, "How is it that you
people do nothing to these animals that are killing you?" The people said:
"What can we do? We have no way to kill these animals, while they are
armed and can kill us." Then said the Maker: "That is not hard. I
will make you a weapon that will kill these animals." So he went out, and
cut some sarvis berry shoots, and brought them in, and peeled the bark off
them. He took a larger piece of wood, and flattened it, and tied a string to
it, and made a bow. Now, as he was the master of all birds and could do with
them as he wished, he went out and caught one, and took feathers from its wing,
and split them, and tied them to the shaft of wood. He tied four feathers along
the shaft, and tried the arrow at a mark, and found that it did not fly well.
He took these feathers off, and put on three; and when he tried it again, he
found that it was good. He went out and began to break sharp pieces off the
stones. He tried them, and found that the black flint stones made the best
arrow points, and some white flints. Then he taught the people how to use these
things.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiXahHg_qQmQbytZErv8NFQoJmVEr4lhUw0W4P2XRidqxu4_uu63n0wPfLpTIKNsc_5qCqOGC1_XOU91MoYMcFfDmZk9U4JSCEPDTfBLLilzQehulX3HPXpxElOZUvLP5BSuMenpWlGGm/s1600/hunting_lesson_by_rafunsel-d5g8alj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiXahHg_qQmQbytZErv8NFQoJmVEr4lhUw0W4P2XRidqxu4_uu63n0wPfLpTIKNsc_5qCqOGC1_XOU91MoYMcFfDmZk9U4JSCEPDTfBLLilzQehulX3HPXpxElOZUvLP5BSuMenpWlGGm/s1600/hunting_lesson_by_rafunsel-d5g8alj.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hunting-Lesson-329591719" target="_blank">Hunting Lesson by Rafunsel</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Then he
said: "The next time you go out, take these things with you, and use them
as I tell you, and do not run from these animals. When they run at you, as soon
as they get pretty close, shoot the arrows at them, as I have taught you; and
you will see that they will run from you or will run in a circle around
you."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now, as
people became plenty, one day three men went out on to the plain to see the
buffalo, but they had no arms. They saw the animals, but when the buffalo saw
the men, they ran after them and killed two of them, but one got away. One day
after this, the people went on a little hill to look about, and the buffalo saw
them, and said, "Saiyah, there is some more of our food," and
they rushed on them. This time the people did not run. They began to shoot at
the buffalo with the bows and arrows Na´pi had given them, and the
buffalo began to fall; but in the fight a person was killed.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
At this time
these people had flint knives given them, and they cut up the bodies of the
dead buffalo. It is not healthful to eat the meat raw, so Old Man gathered soft
dry rotten driftwood and made punk of it, and then got a piece of hard wood,
and drilled a hole in it with an arrow point, and gave them a pointed piece of
hard wood, and taught them how to make a fire with fire sticks, and to cook the
flesh of these animals and eat it.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
They got a
kind of stone that was in the land, and then took another harder stone and
worked one upon the other, and hollowed out the softer one, and made a kettle
of it. This was the fashion of their dishes.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Also Old Man
said to the people: "Now, if you are overcome, you may go and sleep, and
get power. Something will come to you in your dream, that will help you.
Whatever these animals tell you to do, you must obey them, as they appear to
you in your sleep. Be guided by them. If anybody wants help, if you are alone
and travelling, and cry aloud for help, your prayer will be answered. It may be
by the eagles, perhaps by the buffalo, or by the bears. Whatever animal answers
your prayer, you must listen to him."</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WI4n1c_yHHAPsHXNEvX9wgJni8R54RXZ65MmmcaEzYI9NdamrnISFD_moxT1HzvdwE8m1_J5dM1pjCnB2gzzf9Y7Y92hMYhQOyJ8CLE9i23jHw3e7pPtIfmhC8mZgH8W_SuUoiMCt0HZ/s1600/Native_Dreams___0001_by_art137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WI4n1c_yHHAPsHXNEvX9wgJni8R54RXZ65MmmcaEzYI9NdamrnISFD_moxT1HzvdwE8m1_J5dM1pjCnB2gzzf9Y7Y92hMYhQOyJ8CLE9i23jHw3e7pPtIfmhC8mZgH8W_SuUoiMCt0HZ/s1600/Native_Dreams___0001_by_art137.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Native-Dreams-0001-45667058" target="_blank">Native Dreams - 0001 by art137</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>That was how
the first people got through the world, by the power of their dreams.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
After this,
Old Man kept on, travelling north. Many of the animals that he had made
followed him as he went. The animals understood him when he spoke to them, and
he used them as his servants. When he got to the north point of the Porcupine
Mountains, there he made some more mud images of people, and blew breath upon
them, and they became people. He made men and women. They asked him, "What
are we to eat?" He made many images of clay, in the form of buffalo. Then
he blew breath on these, and they stood up; and when he made signs to them,
they started to run. Then he said to the people, "Those are your
food." They said to him, "Well, now, we have those animals; how are
we to kill them?" "I will show you," he said. He took them to
the cliff, and made them build rock piles like this, <b>></b>; and he made
the people hide behind these piles of rock, and said, "When I lead the
buffalo this way, as I bring them opposite to you, rise up."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
After he had
told them how to act, he started on toward a herd of buffalo. He began to call
them, and the buffalo started to run toward him, and they followed him until
they were inside the lines. Then he dropped back; and as the people rose up,
the buffalo ran in a straight line and jumped over the cliff. He told the
people to go and take the flesh of those animals. They tried to tear the limbs
apart, but they could not. They tried to bite pieces out, and could not. So Old
Man went to the edge of the cliff, and broke some pieces of stone with sharp
edges, and told them to cut the flesh with these. When they had taken the skins
from these animals, they set up some poles and put the hides on them, and so
made a shelter to sleep under. There were some of these buffalo that went over
the cliff that were not dead. Their legs were broken, but they were still
alive.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The people
cut strips of green hide, and tied stones in the middle, and made large mauls,
and broke in the skulls of the buffalo, and killed them.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_2P7jThlVLJFkp7ZEb76j3eqcj-RErmwrXPuCCAcyUhhe0f_ZbYj2wWpp1stGUW4hRaCV0FsgPx3y0CNg1NPTu9bsweKgL6aYY3Ts6icpj-NqM5H_7zPNropzFUK0U-d41jiXoWqBVIO/s1600/033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_2P7jThlVLJFkp7ZEb76j3eqcj-RErmwrXPuCCAcyUhhe0f_ZbYj2wWpp1stGUW4hRaCV0FsgPx3y0CNg1NPTu9bsweKgL6aYY3Ts6icpj-NqM5H_7zPNropzFUK0U-d41jiXoWqBVIO/s1600/033.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://arc.lib.montana.edu/schultz-0010/item/34" target="_blank">Glacier National Park and Several Blackfeet Indian Tipis</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>After he had
taught those people these things, he started off again, travelling north, until
he came to where Bow and Elbow rivers meet. There he made some more people, and
taught them the same things. From here he again went on northward. When he had
come nearly to the Red Deer's River, he reached the hill where the Old Man
sleeps. There he lay down and rested himself. The form of his body is to be
seen there yet.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
When he
awoke from his sleep, he travelled further northward and came to a fine high
hill. He climbed to the top of it, and there sat down to rest. He looked over
the country below him, and it pleased him. Before him the hill was steep, and
he said to himself, "Well, this is a fine place for sliding; I will have
some fun," and he began to slide down the hill. The marks where he slid down
are to be seen yet, and the place is known to all people as the "Old Man's
Sliding Ground."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
This is as
far as the Blackfeet followed Old Man. The Crees know what he did further north.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In later
times once, Na´pi said, "Here I will mark you off a piece of
ground," and he did so. </em><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="fr_25"></a><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pla/blt/blt22.htm#fn_25"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: blue;"><em>1</em></span></span></a><em> Then he said: "There
is your land, and it is full of all kinds of animals, and many things grow in
this land. Let no other people come into it. This is for you five tribes
(Blackfeet, Bloods, Piegans, Gros Ventres, Sarcees). When people come to cross
the line, take your bows and arrows, your lances and your battle axes, and give
them battle and keep them out. If they gain a footing, trouble will come to
you."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Our
forefathers gave battle to all people who came to cross these lines, and kept
them out. Of late years we have let our friends, the white people, come in, and
you know the result. We, his children, have failed to obey his laws.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The
Jicarilla Apache, meaning ‘Little Baskets,’ once lived in what is now Northern
New Mexico and Eastern Colorado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to
their nomadic life and their reliance on the hunting of Buffalo they are
grouped with the Plains Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite
this, a large portion of the Jicarilla also inhabited mountainous areas.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4170Q-qkNTowrHV2NEcyp1g3KRlpK39sRn_VJttqBQzOhScExhSB0Bmz2dYYwKK3-YMrQo8Osqn9YHoOyh1vfGpSKWpVBBGllmBCud8wScILLaZv7L2uyIvpW5RBkrEwRQkrJKvYuLgg/s1600/first-black-hactcin-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4170Q-qkNTowrHV2NEcyp1g3KRlpK39sRn_VJttqBQzOhScExhSB0Bmz2dYYwKK3-YMrQo8Osqn9YHoOyh1vfGpSKWpVBBGllmBCud8wScILLaZv7L2uyIvpW5RBkrEwRQkrJKvYuLgg/s1600/first-black-hactcin-thumb.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theplatelady.com/gallery.htm" target="_blank">First Black Hactcin Female by Jonnie Chardonn</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Emergence<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<o:p><span style="background-color: white;"><i>In the beginning there was nothing - no earth, no living beings. There were only darkness, water, and Cyclone, the wind. There were no humans, but only the Hactcin, the Jicarilla supernatural beings. The Hactcin made the earth, the underworld beneath it, and the sky above it. The earth they made as a woman who faces upward, and the sky they made as a man who faces downward. The Hactcin lived in the underworld, where there was no light. There were mountains and plants in the underworld, and each had its own Hactcin. There were as yet no animals or humans, and everything in the underworld existed in a dream-like state and was spiritual and holy.</i></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="background-color: white;"><em></em></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="background-color: white;"><em></em></span></o:p><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>The most powerful of the Hactcin in the underworld was Black Hactcin. One day Black Hactcin made the first animal with four legs and a tail made of clay. At first he thought it looked peculiar, but when he asked it to walk and saw how gracefully it walked, he decided it was good. Knowing this animal would be lonely, he made many other kinds of animals come from the body of the first. He laughed to see the diversity of the animals he had created. All the animals wanted to know what to eat and where to live, so he divided the foods among them, giving grass to the horse, sheep, and cow, and to others he gave brush, leaves, and pine needles. He sent them out to different places, some to the mountains, some to the deserts, and some to the plains, which is why the animals are found in different places today.</i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLySkbBb6SIi7HrExecsFt57TuPPHh7_s618dqT5kyb7aq75qMZO0oZ2vqR8lKBjOjTFspIQlr-xjipLkqdGbosKez9jhRWYgU6AWi-7o0pLuqX4t9JLMmcACDMse0lXMoewjVL4AUiK0k/s1600/mudbird2-500x333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLySkbBb6SIi7HrExecsFt57TuPPHh7_s618dqT5kyb7aq75qMZO0oZ2vqR8lKBjOjTFspIQlr-xjipLkqdGbosKez9jhRWYgU6AWi-7o0pLuqX4t9JLMmcACDMse0lXMoewjVL4AUiK0k/s1600/mudbird2-500x333.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://allycondie.com/new-year-mud-bird" target="_blank">Mud Bird by Brook Andreoli</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Next Black Hactcin held out his hand and caught a drop of rain. He mixed this with some earth to make mud and made a bird from the mud. At first he wasn't sure he would like what he had made. He asked the bird to fly, and when it did he liked it. He decided the bird too would be lonely, so he grabbed it and whirled it rapidly clockwise. As the bird became dizzy, it saw images of other birds, and when Black Hactcin stopped whirling it, there were indeed many new kinds of birds, all of which live in the air because they were made from a drop of water that came from the air. Black Hactcin sent the birds out to find places they liked to live, and when they returned he gave each the place that they liked. To feed them, he threw seeds all over the ground. To tease them, however, he turned the seeds into insects, and he watched as they chased after the insects. At a river nearby, he told the birds to drink. Again, however, he couldn't resist teasing them, so he took some moss and made fish, frogs, and the other things that live in water. This frightened the birds as they came to drink, and it is why birds so often hop back in fright as they come down to drink. As some of the birds took off, their feathers fell in the water, and from them came the ducks and other birds that live in the water.</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><em></em></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Black Hactcin continued to make more animals and birds. The animals and birds that already existed all spoke the same language, and they held a council. They came to Black Hactcin and asked for a companion. They were concerned that they would be alone when Black Hactcin left them, and Black Hactcin agreed to make something to keep them company. He stood facing the east, and then the south, and then the west, and then the north. He had the animals bring him all sorts of materials from across the land, and he traced his outline on the ground. He then set the things that they brought him in the outline. The turquoise that they brought became veins, the red ochre became blood, the coral became skin, the white rock became bones, the Mexican opal became fingernails and teeth, the jet became the pupil, the abalone became the white of the eyes, and the white clay became the marrow of the bones. Pollen, iron ore, and water scum were used too, and Black Hactcin used a dark cloud to make the hair.</i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUa-VGkUnlymDqqTOAlvYYLPbvurWqg8H5I03kCyFtDVARRCSoPfse0BcHQZQLpRUip88iULR8mIWBjRBS8fi4bkFzgCKNW5IejLy6jaNBS1RLyovQQIqERj9SRNa2c82seSdT2cpxfevB/s1600/image110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUa-VGkUnlymDqqTOAlvYYLPbvurWqg8H5I03kCyFtDVARRCSoPfse0BcHQZQLpRUip88iULR8mIWBjRBS8fi4bkFzgCKNW5IejLy6jaNBS1RLyovQQIqERj9SRNa2c82seSdT2cpxfevB/s1600/image110.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.terrificator.com/horror-news.php?id=110" target="_blank">Black Hactcin with Ancestral Man and Woman</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>The man they had made was lying face down, and it began to rise as the birds watched with excitement. The man arose from prone, to kneeling, to sitting up, and to standing. Four times Black Hactcin told him to speak, and he did. Four times Black Hactcin told him to laugh, and he did. It was likewise with shouting. Then Black Hactcin taught him to walk, and had him run four times in a clockwise circle.</i></span><br />
<em><span style="background-color: white;">The birds and animals were afraid the man would be lonely, and they asked Black Hactcin give him company. Black Hactcin asked them for some lice, which he put on the man's head. The man went to sleep scratching, and he dreamed that there was a woman beside him. When he awoke, she was there. They asked Black Hactcin what they would eat, and he told them that the plants and the cloven-hoofed animals would be their food. They asked where they should live. He told them to stay anywhere they liked, which is why the Jicarilla move from place to place.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></em><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>These two, Ancestral Man and Ancestral Woman, had children, and the people multiplied. In those days no one died, although they all lived in darkness. This lasted for many years. Holy Boy, another Apache spirit, was unhappy with the darkness, and he tried to make a sun. As he worked at it, Cyclone came by and told him that White Hactcin had a sun. Holy Boy went to White Hactcin, who gave him the sun, and he went to Black Hactcin, who gave him the moon. Black Hactcin told Holy Boy how to make a sacred drawing on a buckskin to hold the sun and moon, and Holy Boy, Red Boy, Black Hactcin, and White Hactcin held a ceremony at which White Hactcin released the sun and Black Hactcin released the moon. The light grew stronger as the sun moved from north to south, and eventually it was like daylight is now.</i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmQFLR_DpxXjq1OXXGKrgWJVMB0j8kczdFAxS9zUp-qWRGAkYJCGQEEk4wctEnAxGAMV6YmL6pSfYxEPVKumklOS54coEf289PTD7BJBp47Havm-r2PU-_855PkVdz65Y2t_F88e7B6eY/s1600/first-white-hactcin-female-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmQFLR_DpxXjq1OXXGKrgWJVMB0j8kczdFAxS9zUp-qWRGAkYJCGQEEk4wctEnAxGAMV6YmL6pSfYxEPVKumklOS54coEf289PTD7BJBp47Havm-r2PU-_855PkVdz65Y2t_F88e7B6eY/s1600/first-white-hactcin-female-.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theplatelady.com/gallery.htm" target="_blank">First White Hactcin Female by Jonnie Chardonn</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>The people didn't know what this was, and the shamans each began to claim that they had power over the sun. On the fourth day, there was an eclipse. After the sun had disappeared, the Hactcins told the shamans to make the sun reappear. The shamans tried all kinds of tricks, but they couldn't make the sun come back. To solve the problem, White Hactcin turned to the animals and had them bring the foods they ate. With the food and some sand and water, they began to grow a mountain. The mountain grew, but it stopped short of the hole in the sky that led from the underworld to the earth. It turned out that two girls had gone up on the mountain and had trampled the sacred plants and even had defecated there. White Hactcin, Black Hactcin, Holy Boy, and Red Boy had to go up the mountain and clean it. When they came down and the people sang, and the mountain grew again. It stopped, however, just short of the hole, and when the four went up again they could only see to the other earth. They sent up Fly and Spider, who took four rays of the sun and built a rope ladder to the upper world. Spider was the first one to climb to the upper world, where the sun was bright.</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>White Hactcin, Black Hactcin, Holy Boy, and Red Boy climbed up the ladder, and they found much water on the earth. They sent for the four winds to blow the water away, and Beaver came up to build dams to hold the water in rivers. Spider made threads to catch the sun, and they made the sun go </i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>from east to west to light the entire world, not just one side. Hactcin called for the people to climb up, and for four days they climbed the mountain. At the top they found four ladders. Ancestral Man and </i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Ancestral Woman were the first people to climb up, and the people climbed up into the upper world </i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbJ-TPnvZfvuGUh1wR0u7XXsEPFfcm4pN71HTl6mXXNpxOix1ugcsXJaZ8CQgNI4sumXznYr-NudpDBic8u3f8Dqho8yy5BB7qJptUpEXLiIVQWBwvi_Hzvl5uPkkJlkfEYGc1oKxCTG0/s1600/Escape_from_the_Underworld_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbJ-TPnvZfvuGUh1wR0u7XXsEPFfcm4pN71HTl6mXXNpxOix1ugcsXJaZ8CQgNI4sumXznYr-NudpDBic8u3f8Dqho8yy5BB7qJptUpEXLiIVQWBwvi_Hzvl5uPkkJlkfEYGc1oKxCTG0/s1600/Escape_from_the_Underworld_2.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://according-to-god.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/creation-and-emergence-jicarilla-apache.html" target="_blank">Escape from the Underworld by Micke Nikander</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>that we know today. Thus the earth is our mother, and the people climbed up as from a womb. Then the animals came up, and before long the ladders were worn out. Behind the animals came an old man and an old woman, and they couldn't climb the ladders. No one could get them up, and finally the two realized they had to stay in the underworld. They agreed to stay but told the others they must come back to the underworld eventually, which is why people go to the underworld after death.</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Everything in the upper world is alive - the rocks, the trees, the grass, the plants, the fire, the water. Originally they all spoke the Jicarilla Apache language and spoke to the people. The Hactcin, however, decided that it was boring to have all these things speaking the same, so they gave all these things and all the animals different voices.</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Eventually the people travelled out clockwise across the land. Different groups would break off and stay behind, and their children would begin to play games in which they used odd languages. The people in these groups began to forget their old languages and use these new ones, which is why now there are many languages. Only one group kept on traveling in the clockwise spiral until they reached the center of the world, and these are the Jicarilla Apaches.</i></span><br />
<br />
The Osage Indians lived along the
Osage and Missouri rivers in what is now western Missouri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were once known as the Ni-u-kon-ska,
meaning ‘mid-waters.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their creation
myth, the Osage people came from the sky to live upon the earth.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjld5fqfsOMFZMRgSFOgtRJLTzmtibzp7eDenqrUmWORX7Rh3ygTSS-eOdutucaTtwjGaADZuzY5dS5SCIyBTNAkownFAntPdLskboKS-YGfqzLBhmnA0Lf1-p8rvyVTbp1F78QcKkGncWZ/s1600/Father_Sun_by_stardrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjld5fqfsOMFZMRgSFOgtRJLTzmtibzp7eDenqrUmWORX7Rh3ygTSS-eOdutucaTtwjGaADZuzY5dS5SCIyBTNAkownFAntPdLskboKS-YGfqzLBhmnA0Lf1-p8rvyVTbp1F78QcKkGncWZ/s1600/Father_Sun_by_stardrop.jpg" height="320" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Father-Sun-94948890" target="_blank">Father Sun by stardrop</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation</strong>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Way beyond,
once upon a time, some of the Osages lived in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did not know where they came from, so
they went to the Sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said, ‘From
where did we come?’<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
He said, ‘You
are my children.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then they
wandered still further and came to the Moon.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Moon said, ‘I
am your mother; Sun is your father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
must go away from here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You must go down
to the earth and live there.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So they came
to the earth but found it covered with water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They could not return up above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They wept, but no answer came to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They floated about in the air, seeking help from some god; but they
found none.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now all the
animals were with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elk was the
finest and most stately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all
trusted Elk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they called to Elk, ‘Help
us.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then Elk
dropped into the water and began to sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then he called to the winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
winds came from all sides and they blew until the waters went upwards, as in a mist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now before that the winds had travelled in
only two directions; they went from north to south and from south to
north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when Elk </em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KwZ2_AEpD3IXFV55gyJQmkr57tCVGBYWCZsUOMoU-OQbzz0G7RayDJbfaGzrtAPnp8_XzRFYL4KGha8Bh2J8tXRb2W58yxCINLMuBWK3mQ4v2xHtXYmLi7hf2PJKKfQlPMB4kROg96qq/s1600/acallinthenightsmallpix1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KwZ2_AEpD3IXFV55gyJQmkr57tCVGBYWCZsUOMoU-OQbzz0G7RayDJbfaGzrtAPnp8_XzRFYL4KGha8Bh2J8tXRb2W58yxCINLMuBWK3mQ4v2xHtXYmLi7hf2PJKKfQlPMB4kROg96qq/s1600/acallinthenightsmallpix1.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://westernpaintings.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">A Call in the Night by Jennifer Morrison Godshalk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>called to them, they
came from the east, from the north, from the west, and from the south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They met at a central place; then they
carried the waters upwards.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now at first
the people could see only the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
they travelled on the rocky places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
nothing grew there and there was nothing to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the waters continued to vanish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At last the people could see the soft
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Elk saw the earth, he was so
joyous, he rolled over and over on the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then all the loose hairs clung to the soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the hairs grew, and from them sprang
beans, corn, potatoes, and wild turnips, and at last all the grasses and trees.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Now the
people wandered over the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
found human footsteps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They followed
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They joined with them, and
travelled with them in search of food.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Lakota
tribe, also known as Teton, meaning ‘prairie dwellers’, were found on the Great
Plains of North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a part
of seven Sioux tribes and tell the following myth of recreation after the
Creating Power becomes displeased with the people and floods the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAlcPnq6lvtsgnypx-oEZqwAu0YMF_hfnk4GmNFdYIl9XEiiXpf5wXEj2b_Y1CTPjwCEaoPJnhDKDFbnhxYtKp60vS7Trt8AXE7Tfu87-EP5xPgIqE-z2v1z8DZ50NDmdBezwS8QJhiwM/s1600/kangi-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAlcPnq6lvtsgnypx-oEZqwAu0YMF_hfnk4GmNFdYIl9XEiiXpf5wXEj2b_Y1CTPjwCEaoPJnhDKDFbnhxYtKp60vS7Trt8AXE7Tfu87-EP5xPgIqE-z2v1z8DZ50NDmdBezwS8QJhiwM/s1600/kangi-web.jpg" height="400" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.magicalworldart.com/" target="_blank">Kangi Iya Wakan (Crow Speaks Sacred) by Allison Jones</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Recreating
the World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>There was
once another world, but the people of this world displeased their creator and
so the Creating Power decided the remake the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sang the songs to bring rain and with each
song the rain became heavier and heavier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Upon singing the fourth song, the earth split apart and water rose up
through the many cracks, flooding the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By now the rain had ceased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
of the people and most of the animals were drowned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only Kangi, the Crow, survived.<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Kangi begged
the Creating Power to make him a new place where he could rest and the Creating
Power thought that now was the time to remake the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From his pipe bag, which contained all
animals and birds, the Creating Power chose four animals which were capable of
staying beneath the water for long stretches of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sent each of them to retrieve mud from
beneath the waters that now covered the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First the loon dove deep into the deep flood waters, but it could not
reach the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The otter tried next,
but also found he was unable to reach the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Beaver used his flat tail to propel him
deep into the water, but he brought nothing back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And finally the Turtle had his turn.</em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m9scS-IfSbNSk8lolXbCKMLM9gF0kA7oet7noNILVSfhwbZuLDNHwXZ8dNRTFMus5dX5bm_wwlNy3YaVgaJoNxUGsl9wT5VKsPoptcGjJP3O3XduPM_huq8JSuxPrGDPHZa_ws9U9IZ9/s1600/5202a8db13e033b5b683647049282bcd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m9scS-IfSbNSk8lolXbCKMLM9gF0kA7oet7noNILVSfhwbZuLDNHwXZ8dNRTFMus5dX5bm_wwlNy3YaVgaJoNxUGsl9wT5VKsPoptcGjJP3O3XduPM_huq8JSuxPrGDPHZa_ws9U9IZ9/s1600/5202a8db13e033b5b683647049282bcd.jpg" height="400" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/508414245406520737/" target="_blank">Green Turtle Dving by Chris Mason-Parker</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Turtle
remained beneath the water for so long that everyone believed he had
drowned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much to their surprise, Turtle
broke the surface of the water, and he brought back the mud needed to remake
the world in his feet, beneath his claws, and in the cracks between his
shells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creating Power took the mud
and began to sing, shaping the mud in his hands and spreading it across the
flood waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It mad new land, just
enough for the Creating Power and the Crow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Creating Power then took two eagle feathers and shook them over the
mud, which spread and overcame the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the land was dry and lifeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Creating Power was sad and cried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His tears became the oceans, streams, and lakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This new land the Creating Power called
Turtle Continent, in honor of the turtle who had retried the mud from which it
was formed.</em><br />
<em>The Creating
Power then took from his great pipe bag the many animals and birds which now
populate the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From red, black,
white and yellow earth, he made men and women to whom he gave his sacred pipe
which the people were to live by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
then warned the people about the fate of those that came before them and
promised that all would be well if all living beings could live together in
harmony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they made the world ugly and
bad, it would be destroyed again.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Crow
tribe, or Apsaalooke in their own Siouan language, lived in the Yellowstone
River valley, which runs from what is now Wyoming, through Montana and into North
Dakota..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are federally recognized
as the Crow Tribe of Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
following myth gives a good view of their culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The creator is Old Man, which is how the
people once referred to the Sun, and is ‘identical with Old Man Coyote.’<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3nOKvSVcN1jSrrTWrin1p7HXpRUs-2lP9AluDitHhwjwU35R41sARGnbPsFmko0T3maj9F9CqmOrYYocVZqfVaUnsdg8uEElHYkIvW_YFqt3-pXDYc8-BWoRjSR-gMHUdMUmzyfg0YJb/s1600/Duck_diving_by_pcburger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3nOKvSVcN1jSrrTWrin1p7HXpRUs-2lP9AluDitHhwjwU35R41sARGnbPsFmko0T3maj9F9CqmOrYYocVZqfVaUnsdg8uEElHYkIvW_YFqt3-pXDYc8-BWoRjSR-gMHUdMUmzyfg0YJb/s1600/Duck_diving_by_pcburger.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Duck-diving-85128652" target="_blank">Duck Diving by PeterDeBurger*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation
of the Crow World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>Long before
there was any land and before there was anything except four little ducks, the
Creator, whom we call Old Man, came and said to the ducks, ‘Which one of you is
brave?’<o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
‘I am the
bravest,’ replied one duck.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘Dive into
the water,’ Old Man said to the duck, ‘and get some dirt from the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will see what I can do with it.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
The brave
duck went down and was gone a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It came up again carrying in its beak some dirt that it gave to Old
Man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He held it in his hand until it
became dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he blew the dirt in all
directions and thus made the land and the mountains and the rivers.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Old Man, who
was all-powerful, was asked by the ducks to make other living things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took more dirt in his hand and, after
it had dried, he blew it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there
stood and man and a woman, the first Crow Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old Man explained to them how to increase
their number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first they were blind;
when their eyes were opened and they saw their nakedness, they asked for
something with which to clothe themselves.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
So that they
might have food and clothing, Old Man took the rest of the dirt brought up by
Duck and made animals and plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
he killed one of the buffalo he had made, broke a rock, and with one of the
pieces cut up the animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he
explained its parts and told the man and woman how to use them.</em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw8g5sGhrQrf3jMYOwvJ3Fqbh_1TWcVh9OWqg1QAdDdGZceY5T69QGLQ_waAdl54se0dirPbZOwEa6-wGsVrJjRZijj7429CJ4UN1_AybmTLrfd0ZTnhdcwCgAwcLdA11SAwVziNgToul/s1600/2812b60d06ead6cd48a9792305971806-d4iyssh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw8g5sGhrQrf3jMYOwvJ3Fqbh_1TWcVh9OWqg1QAdDdGZceY5T69QGLQ_waAdl54se0dirPbZOwEa6-wGsVrJjRZijj7429CJ4UN1_AybmTLrfd0ZTnhdcwCgAwcLdA11SAwVziNgToul/s1600/2812b60d06ead6cd48a9792305971806-d4iyssh.jpg" height="320" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Buffalo-Hunter-273721409" target="_blank">Buffalo Hunter by RickyCrabbit</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>‘To carry
water,’ he said, ‘take the pouch from the inside of the buffalo and make a
bucket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make drinking cups from its
horns and also from the horns of the mountain sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Use the best pieces of buffalo for food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you have had enough to eat, make a robe
from the hide.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then he
showed the woman how to dress the skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He showed the man how to make arrowheads, axes, knives, and cooking
vessels from hard stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘To make a
fire,’ said Old Man, ‘take two sticks and place a little sand on one of them
and also some of the driest buffalo chips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then take the other stick and roll it between your hands until fire
comes.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Old Man told
them to take a large stone and fasten to it a handle made from hide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘With it you can break animal bones to get
the marrow for making soup,’ he said to the woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also showed her how to scrape skins with a
bone from the foreleg of an animal, to remove the hair.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
At first,
Old Man gave the man and woman no horses; they had only dogs for carrying their
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later he told them how to get
horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘When you go over that hill
there, do not look back, no matter what you hear.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For three days they walked without looking
back, but on the third day they heard animals coming behind them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They turned around and saw horses, but the
horses vanished.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Old Man told
them how to build a sweat lodge and also explained its purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he told the man how to get dreams and
visions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Go up in the mountains,’ he
said, ‘cut a piece of flesh from yourself, and give it to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not eat while you are there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you will have visions that will tell you
what to do.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
‘This land
is the best of the lands I have made,’ Old Man said to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Upon it you will find everything you need –
pure water, vegetation, timber, game animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have put you in the center of it, and I have put people around you as
your enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had made you in large
numbers, you would be too powerful and would kill the other people I have created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are few in number, but you are brave.’<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Kiowa
Apache, or Plains Apache, live on the Southern Plains of North America which
are, today, centered in Southwestern Oklahoma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their creation myth tells of the One Who Lives Above who made the world
with thought, much like in the stories of the Australian Aborigines.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS247ioGlf9LwXOgA2RkI87jGU_9qowAc9JICJfPmVGYxFf5-DLPJKF1FDUyMqAcdin-zOw75LMXTzL7ajonH3HrYiv-WL-tivGdY01Ju_-eSc4vZwr8Xgyk92uCHoHYOQLkRIL1zhlNh/s1600/_sunrise__by_kellu.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS247ioGlf9LwXOgA2RkI87jGU_9qowAc9JICJfPmVGYxFf5-DLPJKF1FDUyMqAcdin-zOw75LMXTzL7ajonH3HrYiv-WL-tivGdY01Ju_-eSc4vZwr8Xgyk92uCHoHYOQLkRIL1zhlNh/s1600/_sunrise__by_kellu.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/sunrise-27126589" target="_blank">Sunrise by kellu</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The One Who
Lives Above Creates The World<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em>In the
beginning nothing existed--no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon, only darkness was
everywhere. <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<em>
Suddenly
from the darkness emerged a thin disc, one side yellow and the other side
white, appearing suspended in midair. Within the disc sat a small bearded man,
Creator, the One Who Lives Above. As if waking from a long nap, he rubbed his
eyes and face with both hands.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
When he
looked into the endless darkness, light appeared above. He looked down and it
became a sea of light. To the east, he created yellow streaks of dawn. To the
west, tints of many colours appeared everywhere. There were also clouds of
different colours. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
wiped his sweating face and rubbed his hands together, thrusting them downward.
Behold! A shining cloud upon which sat a little girl. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Stand
up and tell me where are you going," said Creator. But she did not reply.
He rubbed his eyes again and offered his right hand to the
Girl-Without-Parents. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Where
did you come from?" she asked, grasping his hand. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"From
the east where it is now light," he replied, stepping upon her cloud. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Where
is the earth?" she asked. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Where
is the sky?" he asked, and sang, "I am thinking, thinking, thinking
what I shall create next." He sang four times, which was the magic number.
<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
brushed his face with his hands, rubbed them together, then flung them wide
open! Before them stood Sun-God. Again Creator rubbed his sweaty brow and from
his hands dropped Small- Boy. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
All four
gods sat in deep thought upon the small cloud. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"What
shall we make next?" asked Creator. "This cloud is much too small for
us to live upon." <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RWee4rzTDIhthdRxi6maUdp-8oc_EZaXYg7TCYdI9Cm9aD4IvjmiDyebTyDXT0GonARQD6n75Bmw65L6Z-gWQBPrq1fKcl1DoV0DW-8O1dQdPsy-pBbD29nQyLEHQXKjE10vruKY_Q1w/s1600/to_be_created_by_tvlookplay-d1xk7u1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RWee4rzTDIhthdRxi6maUdp-8oc_EZaXYg7TCYdI9Cm9aD4IvjmiDyebTyDXT0GonARQD6n75Bmw65L6Z-gWQBPrq1fKcl1DoV0DW-8O1dQdPsy-pBbD29nQyLEHQXKjE10vruKY_Q1w/s1600/to_be_created_by_tvlookplay-d1xk7u1.jpg" height="320" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tvlookplay.deviantart.com/art/To-Be-Created-116836777" target="_blank">To Be Created by tvlookplay*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</em><br />
<em>Then he
created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-Maker, and some western clouds
in which to house Lightning-Rumbler, which he just finished. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator sang,
"Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, earth; I am
thinking of the earth," he sang four times. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
All four
gods shook hands. In doing so, their sweat mixed together and Creator rubbed
his palms, from which fell a small round, brown ball, not much larger than a
bean. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
kicked it, and it expanded. Girl-Without-Parents kicked the ball, and it
enlarged more. Sun-God and Small-Boy took turns giving it hard kicks, and each
time the ball expanded. Creator told Wind to go inside the ball and to blow it
up. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Tarantula
spun a black cord and, attaching it to the ball, crawled away fast to the east,
pulling on the cord with all his strength. Tarantula repeated with a blue cord
to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With
mighty pulls in each direction, the brown ball stretched to immeasurable
size--it became the earth! No hills, mountains, or rivers were visible; only
smooth, treeless, brown plains appeared. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers together and there appeared
Hummingbird. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"Fly
north, south, east, and west and tell us what you see," said Creator. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"All is
well," reported Hummingbird upon his return. "The earth is most
beautiful, with water on the west side." <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22CNozJNH2nqNLRmi4dTBZDV6m30HHUTDZccrUyalvEwOAuMog1FQT4rQNZZrMW4_4U0QfHkWfvwkY49i_q6V52StbWSPXNhtvXBUQ1ao0BHnGcSEVAD5zKeQfPuGr9Nm8xnmPpLB2Uj1/s1600/towering_column_by_nuukeer-d5jh7ot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22CNozJNH2nqNLRmi4dTBZDV6m30HHUTDZccrUyalvEwOAuMog1FQT4rQNZZrMW4_4U0QfHkWfvwkY49i_q6V52StbWSPXNhtvXBUQ1ao0BHnGcSEVAD5zKeQfPuGr9Nm8xnmPpLB2Uj1/s1600/towering_column_by_nuukeer-d5jh7ot.jpg" height="400" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Towering-Column-335046701" target="_blank">Towering Column by Nuukeer</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>But the
earth kept rolling and dancing up and down. So Creator made four giant
posts--black, blue, yellow, and white to support the earth. Wind carried the
four posts, placing them beneath the four cardinal points of the earth. The
earth sat still. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
sang, "World is now made and now sits still," which he repeated four
times. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Then he
began a song about the sky. None existed, but he thought there should be one.
After singing about it four times, twenty- eight people appeared to help make a
sky above the earth. Creator chanted about making chiefs for the earth and sky.
<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
He sent
Lightning-Maker to encircle the world, and he returned with three uncouth
creatures, two girls and a boy found in a turquoise shell. They had no eyes,
ears, hair, mouths, noses, or teeth. They had arms and legs, but no fingers or
toes. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Sun-God sent
for Fly to come and build a sweathouse. Girl- Without-Parents covered it with
four heavy clouds. In front of the east doorway she placed a soft, red cloud
for a foot-blanket to be used after the sweat. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Four stones
were heated by the fire inside the sweathouse. The three uncouth creatures were
placed inside. The others sang songs of healing on the outside, until it was
time for the sweat to be finished. Out came the three strangers who stood upon
the magic red cloud-blanket. Creator then shook his hands toward them, giving
each one fingers, toes, mouths, eyes, ears, noses and hair. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator
named the boy, Sky-Boy, to be chief of the Sky-People. One girl he named
Earth-Daughter, to take charge of the earth and its crops. The other girl he
named Pollen-Girl, and gave her charge of health care for all Earth-People. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Since the
earth was flat and barren, Creator thought it fun to create animals, birds,
trees, and a hill. He sent Pigeon to see how the world looked. Four days later,
he returned and reported, "All is beautiful around the world. But four
days from now, the water on the other side of the earth will rise and cause a
mighty flood." </em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<em>Creator made
a very tall pinon tree. Girl-Without-Parents covered the tree framework with
pinon gum, creating a large, tight ball. <o:p></o:p></em></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcl_UinZxeo1XmHitHbH8vJMLuM12cKx_WTJt_FYhBbjyFtXrP5_C12-BV-RFjvT2pa_z9yJDBS1zPHIyC2ffBJLkZWUEXU8akBDhOyrkONQbfJd5MefJPH_00oUro1l5d3LdI_p2F4H5_/s1600/The_Big_Flood_by_a1calypso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcl_UinZxeo1XmHitHbH8vJMLuM12cKx_WTJt_FYhBbjyFtXrP5_C12-BV-RFjvT2pa_z9yJDBS1zPHIyC2ffBJLkZWUEXU8akBDhOyrkONQbfJd5MefJPH_00oUro1l5d3LdI_p2F4H5_/s1600/The_Big_Flood_by_a1calypso.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Big-Flood-118961539" target="_blank">The Big Flood by a1calypso</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>In four
days, the flood occurred. Creator went up on a cloud, taking his twenty-eight
helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents put the others into the large, hollow
ball, closing it tight at the top. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
In twelve
days, the water receded, leaving the float-ball high on a hilltop. The rushing
floodwater changed the plains into mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers.
Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out from the float-ball onto the new earth.
She took them upon her cloud, drifting upward until they met Creator with his
helpers, who had completed their work making the sky during the flood time on
earth. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Together the
two clouds descended to a valley below. There, Girl- Without-Parents gathered
everyone together to listen to Creator. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"I am
planning to leave you," he said. "I wish each of you to do your best
toward making a perfect, happy world. </em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkF2Oq8sOiF5CLP-r4iLeFw7E9aLmw_j21bD4Wb3IxzEIFqTZQ7iaJbFLzoEgS4q7bGQPaEaELPFFYzD3y9cEsSzO66jsSiNbjcR0CzV3w-7TdPttZYJ_hDiCg-ZwY3aVNTF_ARvgFzwMU/s1600/bigdipper_carboni_c46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkF2Oq8sOiF5CLP-r4iLeFw7E9aLmw_j21bD4Wb3IxzEIFqTZQ7iaJbFLzoEgS4q7bGQPaEaELPFFYzD3y9cEsSzO66jsSiNbjcR0CzV3w-7TdPttZYJ_hDiCg-ZwY3aVNTF_ARvgFzwMU/s1600/bigdipper_carboni_c46.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060317.html" target="_blank">The Big Dipper Cluster by Noel Carboni </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>"You,
Lightning-Rumbler, shall have charge of clouds and water. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"You,
Sky-Boy, look after all Sky-People. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"You,
Earth-Daughter, take charge of all crops and Earth-People. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"You,
Pollen-Girl, care for their health and guide them. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
"You,
Girl-Without-Parents, I leave you in charge over all." <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Creator then
turned toward Girl-Without-Parents and together they rubbed their legs with
their hands and quickly cast them forcefully downward. Immediately between them
arose a great pile of wood, over which Creator waved a hand, creating fire. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Great
billowy clouds of smoke at once drifted skyward. Into this cloud, Creator
disappeared. The other gods followed him in other clouds of smoke, leaving the
twenty-eight workers to people the earth. <o:p></o:p></em><br />
<em>
Sun-God went
east to live and travel with the Sun. Girl-Without- Parents departed westward
to live on the far horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made cloud homes in the
south. Big Dipper can still be seen in the northern sky at night, a reliable
guide to all.<o:p></o:p></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<strong>Useful
Resources<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackfoot-Lodge-Tales-George-Grinnell/dp/1934451975/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422011871&sr=8-1&keywords=Blackfoot+Lodge+Tales+by+George+Bird+Grinnell" target="_blank">Blackfoot Lodge Tales by George Bird Grinnell</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jicarilla-Apache-Texts-Pliny-Goddard/dp/0559119194/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422011919&sr=8-1&keywords=Jicarilla+Apache+Texts+by+Pliny+Earle+Goddard" target="_blank">Jicarilla Apache Texts by Pliny Earle Goddard</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Plains-Katharine-Judson/dp/1437508375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422011953&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends+of+the+Great+Plains+by+Katharine+Berry+Judson" target="_blank">Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson</a><br />
<a href="http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/LakotaCreationMyth-Lakota.html" target="_blank">First People – Lakota Creation Myth</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Indian-Legends-Northern-Rockies-Clark/dp/0806107014/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422012021&sr=8-1&keywords=Indian+Legends+from+the+Northern+Rockies+by+Ella+Elizabeth+Clark" target="_blank">Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies by Ella Elizabeth Clark</a><br />
<a href="http://www.indians.org/welker/creation.htm" target="_blank">Indians.org – Apache Creation Story</a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-39409717623965270832015-01-20T13:26:00.000+00:002015-02-16T12:07:17.291+00:00Creation Mythology: Native America - California<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Today we are
going to begin looking at the creation myths of Native America, starting with
the myths from the tribes of Native California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were once hundreds of small tribes of Native California, many of
which were decimated by disease and the Spanish Missionaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the loss of these tribes, much of
their culture, mythology, and religion is available to us thanks to the
anthropologists of the late 19ths and early 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
The
Hool-poom’-ne Miwok tribe lived on the east side of the lower Sacramento River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following myth on the creation of man
speaks of Ol'-le, the Coyote-man who is the Creator, Mol’-luk the Condor and
Wek’-wek the Falcon, who is the son of Mol’-luk and grandson of Ol'-le. Here people are created using the feathers of Choo'-hoo the Turkey Buzzard, Kok'-kol the Raven, and Ah-wet'-che the Crow.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN5yb_gfBZUdQ-DHMJDhSbf7ZwdHoVyjUNz7h5p8rh2flJygNW4KtNJX-A2qimQ9SoKPEmR_0KXcjd2CW3aRlyONtmxtfZY1S2UAQbRyJPYom5vMA4Bc_wfyKK2g1CDn4VjvJ3PZZB2wt/s1600/40cbb096670e11a8d5a3ce65df78014f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN5yb_gfBZUdQ-DHMJDhSbf7ZwdHoVyjUNz7h5p8rh2flJygNW4KtNJX-A2qimQ9SoKPEmR_0KXcjd2CW3aRlyONtmxtfZY1S2UAQbRyJPYom5vMA4Bc_wfyKK2g1CDn4VjvJ3PZZB2wt/s1600/40cbb096670e11a8d5a3ce65df78014f.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/86764730293854713/" target="_blank">Ol'-le or Coyote-Man</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation
of Man<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
After a
while the world cooled off and <i>Wek'-wek</i> came back to <i>Oo'-yum-bel'-le</i>
(Mount Diablo) to see his father <i>Mol'-luk</i> and his grandfather <i>Ol'-le</i>.
He said to <i>Mol'-luk</i>, "O father;" and <i>Mol'-luk</i> answered,
"What is it my son?"<o:p></o:p></div>
<i>Wek'-wek</i>
asked, "How can we make <i>Mew'-ko</i> (Indian people) and have them in
the country?"<o:p></o:p><br />
His father replied, "I cannot
tell you; ask your grandfather, he can tell you."<o:p></o:p><br />
So <i>Wek'-wek</i> asked his grandfather,
<i>Ol'-le</i>, how they were going to make people.<o:p></o:p><br />
<i>Ol'-le</i> answered,
"Hah-hah, it will take you a good while to do that. If you are going to do
that you must have a head. If people are coming you must first put out
[provide] everything everywhere so they can live. If you want to do this I will
think about it."<o:p></o:p><br />
"I want to see it done,"
answered <i>Wek'-wek</i>.<o:p></o:p><br />
"All right," said <i>Ol'-le</i>,
"I know how. I must catch the three birds--<i>Choo'-hoo</i> the Turkey
Buzzard, <i>Kok'-kol</i> the Raven, and <i>Ah-wet'-che</i> the Crow. The only
way to catch these birds is to make-believe dead."<o:p></o:p><br />
So <i>Wek'-wek</i> and <i>Ol'-le</i>
went out on the plain together and <i>Ol'-le</i> lay down on the ground and
pretended he was dead. He opened his mouth and let his tongue out and relaxed
himself so <i>Choo'-hoo</i> the Buzzard would think he was dead. He told <i>Wek'-wek</i>
he would call if he caught the birds; and <i>Wek'-wek</i> went away.<o:p></o:p><br />
Soon <i>Choo'-hoo</i> the Turkey
Buzzard came sailing over and saw the dead Coyote-man and circled around and
lit on the ground beside him. <i>Kok'-kol</i> the Raven and <i>Ah-wet'-che</i>
the Crow saw <i>Choo'-hoo</i> go down and knew that he had found something to
eat, so they too hastened to the place. just as all three began to eat, <i>O-let'-te</i>
suddenly sprang up and caught them. He then called <i>Wek'-wek</i> to come, and
told him to pick off the feathers and be careful not to lose a single one. This
<i>Wek'-wek</i> did; he picked all the feathers from the three birds and. took
them all home.<o:p></o:p><br />
Then he asked his grandfather,
"What are we going to do next?"<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9vUEnYwgkTK85y5Wx4y-l4cZjWVZHdaokcFlm1zSzD8PauuApwmw7f-5Uiye-vRrr22HKGyMOvSGK-Mtdqd5bSLVdbQc7pRLCswNE7a2CTNXIO0hhjXWKIR9ocVxS__tuaiR4ZWZEsrx/s1600/14100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9vUEnYwgkTK85y5Wx4y-l4cZjWVZHdaokcFlm1zSzD8PauuApwmw7f-5Uiye-vRrr22HKGyMOvSGK-Mtdqd5bSLVdbQc7pRLCswNE7a2CTNXIO0hhjXWKIR9ocVxS__tuaiR4ZWZEsrx/s1600/14100.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/dawn_of_the_world/27.html" target="_blank">Ol'-le, Coyote-man and Wek'-wek, Falcon at their Roundhouse </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Make people," answered <i>O-let'-te</i>.<o:p></o:p><br />
"All right," said <i>Wek'-wek</i>,
"do you know how?"<o:p></o:p><br />
"Yes," answered <i>O-let'-te</i>.<o:p></o:p><br />
<i>Wek'-wek</i> then told <i>Mol'-luk</i>
his father that they were going to make people. <i>Mol'-luk</i> answered,
"All right."<o:p></o:p><br />
Next morning <i>Ol'-le</i> and <i>Wek'-wek</i>
took the feathers and traveled over all the country. They picked out the places
where they wanted Indian villages to be, and in each place stuck up three feathers--one
for <i>Chā'-kah</i> the Chief, one for <i>Mi'-yum</i>, the head woman or Woman
Chief, and one for <i>Soo-lā-too</i> the poor. And they gave each place its
name--the name it has always had and bears today.<o:p></o:p><br />
The next morning the three feathers
at each place stood up and came to life and became <i>Mew'-ko</i> [Indian
People]. This is the way people were made in the beginning and this is the way
all the different rancherias or villages were named.<o:p></o:p><br />
After that <i>Ol'-le</i> said to
<i>Wek'-wek</i>, "Now we also are going to change; I am going to be a
hunting animal and you are going to be a hunting bird." So <i>Ol'-le </i>the Coyote-man, whose form up to this time we do not know, changed to the
Coyote, a furry hunting animal and became the first furry animal. And <i>Wek'-wek</i>
changed to the Falcon, a hunting bird.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
The Luiseno, or Payomkawichum, are
a Native American people who lived in the coastal area of southern
California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The name Luiseno comes from
the Spanish, who called them this because of their proximity to the Mission San
Luis Rey de Francia (The Mission of Saint Louis King of France).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the following myth Ké-vish-a-ták-vish, the
first being, is the creator of the world.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong>Ké-vish-a-ták-vish Creates the World</strong></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
In the beginning all was empty
space. Ké-vish-a-ták-vish was the only being. This period was called
Óm-ai-yá-mal signifying emptiness, nobody there. Then came the time called
Há-ruh-rúy, upheaval, things coming into shape. Then a time called Chu-tu-taí,
the falling of things downward; and after this, Yu-vaí-to-vaí, things working
in darkness without the light of sun or moon. Then came the period Tul-múl
Pu-shún, signifying that deep down in the heart or core of earth things were
working together.<o:p></o:p></div>
Then came Why-yaí Pee-vaí, a gray
glimmering like the whiteness of hoar frost; and then, Mit-aí Kwai-raí, the
dimness of twilight. Then came a period of cessation, Na-kaí Ho-wai-yaí,
meaning things at a standstill. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="fr_5"></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Szlq3KIeoSVTMzgMuf28llIemYNNEE6L6TTWnfOcbRgNsovbJt3Lgvih49zBBM66TSVyktvXoMZlGlK1VjXKWxOHzGj7dvxoTLVVz_ycC_-5y6PIYpXe99_U9dmuRf8fZeVmnzJZ47pL/s1600/3674430_f260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Szlq3KIeoSVTMzgMuf28llIemYNNEE6L6TTWnfOcbRgNsovbJt3Lgvih49zBBM66TSVyktvXoMZlGlK1VjXKWxOHzGj7dvxoTLVVz_ycC_-5y6PIYpXe99_U9dmuRf8fZeVmnzJZ47pL/s1600/3674430_f260.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mother-Earth-441215475" target="_blank">Mother Earth by myjavier007</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then Ké-vish-a-ták-vish made a man,
Túk-mit, the Sky; and a woman, To-maí-yo-vit, the Earth. There was no light,
but in the darkness these two became conscious of each other.<o:p></o:p><br />
"Who are you?" asked the
man.<o:p></o:p><br />
"I am To-maí-yo-vit. And
you?"<o:p></o:p><br />
"I am Túk-mit."<o:p></o:p><br />
"Then you are my
brother."<o:p></o:p><br />
"You are my sister."<o:p></o:p><br />
By her brother the Sky, the Earth
conceived and became the Mother of all things. Her first-born children were, in
the order of their birth, See-vat and Pá-ve-ut, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="fr_6"></a> Ush-la
and Pik-la, Ná-na-chel and Patch'-ha-yel, Tópal and Tam'-yush. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="fr_7"></a><o:p></o:p><br />
Then came forth all other things,
people, animals, trees, rocks, and rivers, but not as we see them now. All
things then were people.<o:p></o:p><br />
But at first they were heavy and
helpless and could not move about, and they were in darkness, for there was no
light. But when the Sun was born he gave a tremendous light which struck the
people into unconsciousness, or caused them to roll upon the ground in agony;
so that the Earth-Mother, seeing this, caught him up and hid him away for a
season; so then there was darkness again.<o:p></o:p><br />
After the Sun was born there came
forth another being called Chung-itch'-nish (spelled Chin-ig-chin-ich by
Boscana), a being of power, whose voice sounded as soon as he was born, while
all the others rolled helplessly upon the ground, unable to utter a word. The
others were so terrified by his appearance that the Earth-Mother hid him away,
and ever since he has remained invisible.<o:p></o:p><br />
The rattlesnake was born at this
time, a monster without arms or legs.<o:p></o:p><br />
When all her children were born,
the Earth-Mother left the place and went to Ech'-a-mo Nóy-a-mo. The people
rolled, for like newborn babies they could not walk. They began then to crawl
on hands and knees, and they talked this way: Chák-o-lá-le, Wá-wa, Tá-ta. This
was all that they could say. For food they ate clay. From there they moved to
Kak-wé-mai Po-lá-la, then to Po-és-kak Po-lá-lak.<o:p></o:p><br />
They were growing large now and
began to recognize each other. Then the Earth-Mother made the sea so that her
children could bathe in it, and so that the breeze from the sea might fill
their lungs, for until this time they had not breathed.<o:p></o:p><br />
Then they moved farther to a place
called Na-ché-vo Po-mé-sa-vo, a sort of a cañon which was too small for their
abiding-place; so they returned to a place called Tem-ech'-va Tem-eck'-o, and
this place people now call Temecula, for the Mexicans changed the Indian name to
that.<o:p></o:p><br />
Here they settled while everything
was still in darkness. All this time they had been travelling about without any
light.<o:p></o:p><br />
The Earth-Mother had kept the sun
hidden away, but now that the people were grown large enough and could know
each other she took the Sun out of his hiding-place, and immediately there was
light. They could all see each other; and while the Sun was standing there
among them they discussed the matter and decided that he must go east and west
and give light all over the world; so all of them raised their arms to the sky
three times, and three times cried out Cha-cha-cha (unspellable guttural), and
he rose from among them and went up to his place in the sky.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7H-XTr9_qvq_TaebY9VK4JCVYsEw3ptZSR5QiSf-S9DUiRUDvcmljOPeefFxyq4oZGJwOollVKl4GR5ogtnibJb4Z8Ab9oxq9lPKoeIi7-X9Owf3jTQOJpUEunnaE11ue0gJF7NfiAZm/s1600/Messenger_by_thanfiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7H-XTr9_qvq_TaebY9VK4JCVYsEw3ptZSR5QiSf-S9DUiRUDvcmljOPeefFxyq4oZGJwOollVKl4GR5ogtnibJb4Z8Ab9oxq9lPKoeIi7-X9Owf3jTQOJpUEunnaE11ue0gJF7NfiAZm/s1600/Messenger_by_thanfiction.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Messenger-118494512" target="_blank">Messenger by thanfiction</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After this they remained at
Temecula, but the world was not big enough for them, and they talked about it
and concluded that it must be made larger. So this was done, and they lived
there as before.<o:p></o:p><br />
It was at Temecula that the
Earth-Mother taught her children to worship Chung-itch'-nish. Although he could
not be seen, he appointed the Raven to be his messenger, flying over the heads
of the people to watch for any who had offended against him. Whenever the Raven
flew overhead, they would have a big fiesta and dance.<o:p></o:p><br />
The bear and the rattlesnake were
the chosen avengers for Chung-itch'-nish; and any who failed to obey would
suffer from their bite. When a man was bitten by a rattlesnake it was known
that he had offended Chung-itch'-n ish, and a dance would be performed with
religious ceremonies to beg his forgiveness.<o:p></o:p><br />
The stone bowls, Tam'-yush, were
sacred to his worship; so were the toloache and mock-orange plants. All the
dances are made for his worship, and all the sacred objects, stone pipes, eagle
feathers, tobacco, etc., were used in this connection.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
The Yokuts were the Indians of the
San Joaquin Valley and were unique in California in that they were divided into
true tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Tachi Yokuts were one
of those true tribes and they tell the following myth of the chief, eagle, who
oversees the creation of the world.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdn-UmZtPxUqJbI2eAYITYiMnw0rbvLZSIXYB2HugyhsUZSOpoLjZVxOOdp3GfNG1_gMevydnykxF1StGX0CixL2WBLe13mWkCgPJU5HW61fn1zATXpwGK3Jmrvg96gwex-vLB03tn_N7/s1600/chief_eagle_by_steffiesilva-d6gbvs9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdn-UmZtPxUqJbI2eAYITYiMnw0rbvLZSIXYB2HugyhsUZSOpoLjZVxOOdp3GfNG1_gMevydnykxF1StGX0CixL2WBLe13mWkCgPJU5HW61fn1zATXpwGK3Jmrvg96gwex-vLB03tn_N7/s1600/chief_eagle_by_steffiesilva-d6gbvs9.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Chief-Eagle-390225321" target="_blank">Chief Eagle by SteffieSilva*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Truhohi Tokuts. The Beginning of
the World</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Far in the south was a
mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the only land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything else was water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle was the chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people had nothing to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were eating the earth and it was nearly
gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Coyote said: ‘Can we not
obtain earth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we not make mountain?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle said: ‘I do not know how?<o:p></o:p></div>
Coyote said: ‘There is a man that
we will ask.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they got the
magpie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle said: ‘Can we obtain
earth?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The magpie said: ‘Yes.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Where?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Right below us.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then all the
ducks dived and tried to bring up the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some were gone half a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
could not reach the bottom and died and floated up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle said: ‘When you reach the ground
take hold of it and bite it, and fill your nose and ears.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For six days they dived and found
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was only one more to go
down, the mudhen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the eagle said: ‘Now
you go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us see if you can find the
earth.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mudhen said: ‘Good.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it dived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was gone for a day and a night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the morning it came up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They looked it over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had earth
in its nails, its ears, its nose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
they made the earth from this ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They mixed it with chiyu seeds and from this they made the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After six days the eagle said to the wolf: ‘Now
go around.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the wolf went where the
Sierra Nevada now is and around to the west and came back along where the Coast
Range is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle said: ‘Do not touch
it for six days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let it dry first.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the people said: ‘Very well, we will let
it become dry.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But soon Coyote said: ‘I
will try it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is getting hard now.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He travelled where the Sierras are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why these are rough and broken
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is from his running over the
soft earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he turned west and went
back along the Coast Range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why
there are mountains there also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coyote
made it so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the eagle sent out the
prairie falcon and the raven (Khotoi).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He told them: ‘Go around the world and see if the earth is hard yet.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the prairie falcon went north along
Sierra Nevada and Khotoi went north along the Coast Range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each came back the way he had gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No at first the Sierra Nevada was not so high
as the Coast Range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the two
returned the eagle said: ‘How is the earth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is it hard?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Yes,’ they
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the prairie falcon said: ‘Look
at my mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are the highest,’
but Khotoi said: ‘No, mine are higher.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The prairie falcon said: ‘No, yours do not amount to anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are low.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the eagle and Coyote sent the people to
different places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said: <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd7nU4OqFVsTVtEnjmmzLrDIbSZHYTDUCgozFLQDWyfZfNC7Ew_8HFcCee1JzFVbCWPeZsEfeuX6-7pI9iLwzCi8e1g2KODjKQVdFmZKR-V2NJqe8Q7xToMBg1R9Dy8zvNAnitZprGDJy/s1600/coyote_sky_by_celesmeh-d33qfpz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVd7nU4OqFVsTVtEnjmmzLrDIbSZHYTDUCgozFLQDWyfZfNC7Ew_8HFcCee1JzFVbCWPeZsEfeuX6-7pI9iLwzCi8e1g2KODjKQVdFmZKR-V2NJqe8Q7xToMBg1R9Dy8zvNAnitZprGDJy/s1600/coyote_sky_by_celesmeh-d33qfpz.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Coyote-Sky-187670807" target="_blank">Coyote Sky by Celesmeh</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
‘You go to
that place with your people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go to
that spring.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they sent them off, and
the people went to the different places where they are now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were still animals, but they became
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a little while after they
had all gone the eagle and Coyote stayed there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then Coyote said: ‘Where will you go?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The eagle said: ‘I am thinking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think I will go up.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coyote
said: ‘Where shall I live?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle
said: ‘Here.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Coyote said: ‘No, I
will go with you.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle told him: ‘No,
you must stay here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will have to
look after this place here.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they
talked for six days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the eagle took
all his things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Goodbye,’ he said, ‘I
am going.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coyote looked up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said: ‘I am going too.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You have no wings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cannot,’ said the eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I will go,’ said Coyote, and he went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now they are together in the sky above.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The following myth comes from the
Yana of California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They once inhabited
the north-eastern Sacramento region of California and have mythology which is
similar to their neighbours, the Maidu, the Shasta, and the Wintun, and also to
the Australian dream-time myths.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxHTNCZkV2-HZxbxlyMnRH9JYrQAl966qmZuMQvYVSm2d3TGIwnAZal6-4XIuX9hlVUn03epT2wStraUvTW_Cbws91H07f9SUovjmu-bVkG2XD4zdnZA47-ERomD2c4qsaRFAYsh5L4NC/s1600/leopard_lizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxHTNCZkV2-HZxbxlyMnRH9JYrQAl966qmZuMQvYVSm2d3TGIwnAZal6-4XIuX9hlVUn03epT2wStraUvTW_Cbws91H07f9SUovjmu-bVkG2XD4zdnZA47-ERomD2c4qsaRFAYsh5L4NC/s1600/leopard_lizard.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.animal-dino.com/north_american_wildlife.html" target="_blank">Blunt-nosed Leopard lizard by Jack the Lizard </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>The Creation of Men</strong> </div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Lizard, Grey Squirrel, and Coyote
lived in a big sweat-house at Wamā'rawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had no wives or children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Coyote wanted to make people, but the others thought that they
themselves were enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally Lizard
agreed, ‘We’ll make people, different kinds of people.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Lizard went out and cut three sticks like
gambling sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The others wanted to
know how he was going to make people out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lizard said, ‘I’ll show you.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One stick he took for the Hat Creeks, one for
the Wintun, and one for the Pit Rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When he looked at them he said, ‘There is something lacking.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coyote asked, ‘Who has been left out?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lizard said, ‘The Yana.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he took any kind of a stick, broke it up
into little pieces, and put them in a pile for the Yana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stick for the Hat Creeks he places in the
east, the stick for the Wintun in the west, the stick for the Pit Rivers in the
north.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjLg8q8Q9fR5reOV5vmdvUxGzvDDDt1CVo_GAs8JT6noHjm4OQriwTg4-CWDdfs0giVvUWglumleCMLkmwVcw7sRGzCvd_szOUCLK7Qs7sZDEDNg9wOGL3kW52rJ1rBeBa-rtrehzc-VD/s1600/grey_squirrel_by_wimke-d6699jf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjLg8q8Q9fR5reOV5vmdvUxGzvDDDt1CVo_GAs8JT6noHjm4OQriwTg4-CWDdfs0giVvUWglumleCMLkmwVcw7sRGzCvd_szOUCLK7Qs7sZDEDNg9wOGL3kW52rJ1rBeBa-rtrehzc-VD/s1600/grey_squirrel_by_wimke-d6699jf.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Grey-squirrel-373307019" target="_blank">Grey squirrel by wimke</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All three, Lizard, Gray Squirrel,
and Coyote, then made a big basket, heated rocks, put water in the basket, and
heated the water by putting hot rocks into the basket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Lizard put the sticks into the boiling
water, put in more hot rocks to boil the sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All then went to sleep, after setting the
basket outside on the roof and covering it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before they slept Lizard said, ‘Early in the morning you will hear
someone when the basket turns over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
will be because there are people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
must keep still, must not move or snore.’<o:p></o:p></div>
Early in the morning they heard people
falling down, heard the basket turn over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By and by they heard the people walking about outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They got up, then covered the door with a
large rock to keep the people out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
did not talk or answer those outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For a long time the people were talking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One called out, ‘Where is the door?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Coyote said, ‘Keep still, that talk does not sound right.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others then spoke, asked also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Coyote said, ‘Now it sounds right,’ and
then they opened the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then all the
people came crowding in, all came into the sweat-house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the three said, ‘It is well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are people.’<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The following myth comes from the
Achomawi, who once lived in the north-eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and
tells of how Silver-Fox created the world from the hair of Coyote.<o:p></o:p></div>
<strong></strong><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong></strong><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOjFCyc_XfdtmRL6bVhvFjwTk7p2A5EeIUh_VfVKYXkGpxqoN0UzuZI55okIRu395999OyY1P6pmxN9aeBxgk-b6rxUtyqAbBslDwtFK7ESC6YDjc4klcoKotCtHUeG9sPSYsOF_gvS4u/s1600/The_Fox_and_The_Coyote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOjFCyc_XfdtmRL6bVhvFjwTk7p2A5EeIUh_VfVKYXkGpxqoN0UzuZI55okIRu395999OyY1P6pmxN9aeBxgk-b6rxUtyqAbBslDwtFK7ESC6YDjc4klcoKotCtHUeG9sPSYsOF_gvS4u/s1600/The_Fox_and_The_Coyote.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kyoht.deviantart.com/art/The-Fox-and-The-Coyote-2729209" target="_blank">The Fox and the Coyote by kyoht</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>How Silver-Fox Created the World</strong></div>
<br />
In the beginning all was water. In all directions the sky was clear and
unobstructed. A cloud formed in the sky, grew lumpy, and turned into Coyote.
Then a fog arose, grew lumpy, and became Silver-Fox. They became persons. Then
they thought. They thought a canoe, and they said, "Let us stay here, let
us make it our home." Then they floated about, for many years they
floated; and the canoe became old and mossy, and they grew weary of it.<o:p></o:p><br />
"Do you go and lie down," said Silver-Fox to Coyote, and he did
so. While he slept, Silver-Fox combed his hair, and the combings he saved. When
there was much of them, he rolled them in his hands, stretched them out, and
flattened them between his hands. When he had done this, he laid them upon the
water and spread them out, till they covered all the surface of the water. Then
he thought, "There should be a tree," and it was there. And he did
the same way with shrubs and with rocks, and weighted the film down with
stones, so that the film did not wave and rise in ripples as it floated in the
wind. And thus he made it, that it was just right, this that was to be the
world. And then the canoe floated gently up to the edge, and it was the world.
Then he cried to Coyote, "Wake up! We are going to sink!" And Coyote
woke, and looked up; and over his head, as he lay, hung cherries and plums; and
from the surface of the world he heard crickets chirping. And at once Coyote
began to eat the cherries and the plums, and the crickets also.<o:p></o:p><br />
After a time Coyote said, "Where are we? What place is this that we
have come to?" And Silver-Fox replied, "I do not know. We are just
here. We floated up to the shore." Still all the time he knew; but he
denied that he had made the world. He did not want Coyote to know that the
world was his creation. Then Silver-Fox said, "What shall we do? Here is
solid ground. I am going ashore, and am going to live here." So they
landed, and built a sweat-house and lived in it. They thought about making
people; and after a time, they made little sticks of service-berry, and they
thrust them all about into the roof of the house on the inside. And by and by
all became people of different sorts, birds and animals and fish, all but the
deer, and he was as the deer are to-day. And Pine-Marten was the chief of the
people; and Eagle was the woman chief, for she was Pine-Marten's sister. And
this happened at Ilā'texcagēwa.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2Ptu3cY1tWbOqTLcw73k0osqxVcmrO_yuawe70j8-n5wEfZsPZ2fyHUHPKvphcQihJ_wPSTzc2N9PBkk7V8lLVHYZA0OwkZ1BYioTdLPhf2Zq_abRh6QXAaTqor_v5WhrVtqwSI1JMZP/s1600/333e764e9913ce54903b71688cf9683b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2Ptu3cY1tWbOqTLcw73k0osqxVcmrO_yuawe70j8-n5wEfZsPZ2fyHUHPKvphcQihJ_wPSTzc2N9PBkk7V8lLVHYZA0OwkZ1BYioTdLPhf2Zq_abRh6QXAaTqor_v5WhrVtqwSI1JMZP/s1600/333e764e9913ce54903b71688cf9683b.jpg" height="640" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sunriseartgallerymt.com/Giclee_Prints.php" target="_blank">On The Rocks by Lance Johnson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And people went out to hunt from the sweat-house. And they killed deer, and
brought them home, and had plenty to eat. Arrows with pine-bark points were
what they used then, it is said, for there was no obsidian. And
Ground-Squirrel, of all the people, he only knew where obsidian could be found.
So he went to steal it. To Medicine Lake he went, for there Obsidian-Old-Man
lived, in a big sweat-house. And Ground-Squirrel went in, taking with him roots
in a basket of tules. And he gave the old man some to eat; and he liked them so
much, that he sent Ground-Squirrel out to get more. But while he was digging
them Grizzly-Bear came, and said, "Sit down! Let me sit in your lap. Feed
me those roots by handfuls." So Ground-Squirrel sat down, and fed
Grizzly-Bear as he had asked, for he was afraid. Then Grizzly-Bear said,
"Obsidian-Old-Man's mother cleaned roots for some one," and went
away. Ground-Squirrel went back to the sweat-house, but had few roots, for
Grizzly-Bear had eaten so many. Then he gave them to the old man, and told him
what the bear had said about him, and how he had robbed him of the roots. Then
Obsidian-Old-Man was angry. "To-morrow we will go," he said. Then
they slept. In the morning they ate breakfast early and went off, and the old
man said that Ground-Squirrel should go and dig more roots, and that he would
wait, and watch for Grizzly-Bear. So Ground-Squirrel went and dug; and when the
basket was filled, Grizzly-Bear came, and said, "You have dug all these
for me. Sit down!" So Ground-Squirrel sat down, and fed Grizzly-Bear roots
by the handful. But Obsidian-Old-Man had come near. And Grizzly-Bear got up to
fight, and he struck at the old man; but he turned his side to the blow, and
Grizzly-Bear merely cut off a great slice of his own flesh. And he kept on
fighting, till he was all cut to pieces, and fell dead. Then Ground-Squirrel
and Obsidian-Old-Man went home to the sweat-house, and built a fire, and ate
the roots, and were happy. Then the old man went to sleep.<o:p></o:p><br />
In the morning Obsidian-Old-Man woke up, and heard Ground-Squirrel groaning.
He said, "I am sick. I am bruised because that great fellow sat upon me.
Really, I am sick." Then Obsidian-Old-Man was sorry, but Ground-Squirrel
was fooling the old man. After a while the old man said, "I will go and
get wood. I'll watch him, for perhaps he is fooling me. These people are very
clever." Then he went for wood; and he thought as he went, "I had
better go back and look." So he went back softly, and peeped in; but
Ground-Squirrel lay there quiet, and groaned, and now and then he vomited up
green substances. Then Obsidian-Old -Man thought, "He is really
sick," and he went off to get more wood; but Ground-Squirrel was really
fooling, for he wanted to steal obsidian. When the old man had gotten far away,
Ground-Squirrel got up, poured out the finished obsidian points, and pulled out
a knife from the wall, did them up in a bundle, and ran off with them. When the
old man came back, he carried a heavy load of wood; and as soon as he entered
the sweat-house, he missed Ground-Squirrel. So he dropped the wood and ran
after him. He almost caught him, when Ground-Squirrel ran into a hole, and, as
he went, kicked the earth into the eyes of the old man, who dug fast, trying to
catch him. Soon Ground-Squirrel ran out of the other end of the hole; and then
the old man gave chase again, but again Ground-Squirrel darted into a hole; and
after missing him again, Obsidian-Old-Man gave up, and went home.<o:p></o:p><br />
Ground-Squirrel crossed the river and left his load of arrow-points, and
came back to the house and sat down in his seat. He and Cocoon slept together.
Then his friend said, "Where have you been?" And Ground-Squirrel
replied, "I went to get a knife and to get good arrow-points. We had
none." Then the people began to come back with deer. And when they cooked
their meat, they put it on the fire in lumps; but Ground-Squirrel and Cocoon
cut theirs in thin slices, and so cooked it nicely. And Weasel saw this, and
they told him about how the knife had been secured. In the morning
Ground-Squirrel went and brought back the bundle of points he had hidden, and
handed it down through the smoke-hole to Wolf. Then he poured out the points on
the ground, and distributed them to everyone, and all day long people worked,
tying them onto arrows. So they threw away all the old arrows with bark points;
and when they went hunting, they killed many deer.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The Shasta tribe of Northern
California tell the following myth of Chareya, Old Man Above, who made the
world as it is after he descended from the sky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJPpJxgEU0i-NG390Fvzm_N1mjry0SP1TpKYufB1Zlw4LSw7aaB2E83PtITeW5KjqLXgI89rJfs2F7EJS1VFQVQtXj_VIZENc7ejW_kLXfgI-tf4_mkwSima9Zm95EumDIgh6yvQFM4qH/s1600/bb-hb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJPpJxgEU0i-NG390Fvzm_N1mjry0SP1TpKYufB1Zlw4LSw7aaB2E83PtITeW5KjqLXgI89rJfs2F7EJS1VFQVQtXj_VIZENc7ejW_kLXfgI-tf4_mkwSima9Zm95EumDIgh6yvQFM4qH/s1600/bb-hb1.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/art/boo.htm" target="_blank">Mount Shasta by H.C. Best</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>How Old Man Above Created the World<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Long, long ago, when the world was
so new that even the stars were dark, it was very, very flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chareya, Old Man Above, could not see through
the dark to the new, flat earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither
could he step down to it because it was so far below him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a large stone he bored a hole in the
sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then through the hole he pushed
down masses of ice and snow, until a great pyramid rose from the plain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old Man Above climbed down through the hole
he had made in the sky, stepping from cloud to cloud, until he could put him
foot on top the mass of ice and snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then with one long step he reached the earth.<o:p></o:p></div>
The sun shone through the hole in
the sky and began to melt the ice and snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It made holes in the ice and snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When it was soft, Chareya bored with his finger into the earth, here and
there, and planted the first trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Streams from the melting snow watered the new trees and made them
grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he gathered the leaves which
fell from the trees and blew upon them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They became birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took a
stick and broke it into pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of
the small end he made fishes and placed them in the mountain streams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the middle of the stick, he made all the
animals except the grizzly bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
the big end of the stick came the grizzly bear, who was made master of
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grizzly was large and strong and
cunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the earth was new he
walked upon two feet and carried a large club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So strong was Grizzly that Old Man Above feared the creature he had
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, so that he might be
safe, Chareya hollowed out the pyramid of ice and snow as a tepee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There he lived for thousands of snows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Indians knew he lived there because they
could see the smoke curling from the snoke hole of his tepee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the pale-face came, Old Man Above went
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no longer any smoke from
the smoke hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White men call the tepee
Mount Shasta<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
<strong>Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dawn-World-Indians-California-Classic/dp/B008GNWXIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421665997&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Dawn+of+the+World+by+C.+Hart+Merriam" target="_blank">The Dawn of the World by C. Hart Merriam</a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-Mission-Indians-Forgotten-Books/dp/1605068500/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421666033&sr=8-1&keywords=Mythology+of+the+Mission+Indians+by+Constance+Goddard+Du+Bois" target="_blank">Mythology of the Mission Indians by Constance Goddard Du Bois</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Indian-myths-South-Central-California/dp/B009WS7QWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421666425&sr=8-1&keywords=Indian+Myths+of+South+Central+California+by+A.+L.+Kroeber" target="_blank">Indian Myths of South Central California by A. L. Kroeber</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Texts-Forgotten-Books-Edward-Earle/dp/1605068438/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1421666471&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Yana Texts by Edward Sapir</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/ACHOMAWI-ATSUGEWI-Roland-Paperback-Nov-2009/dp/B007S6AFM2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421666522&sr=8-3&keywords=Achomawi+and+Atsugewi+Tales+by+Roland+B.+Dixon" target="_blank">Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales by Roland B. Dixon</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-California-Old-Southwest/dp/0559062818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421666584&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends+of+California+and+the+Old+Southwest+by+Katherine+Berry+Judson#customerReviews" target="_blank">Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katherine Berry Judson</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-7222417784510243932015-01-16T11:18:00.000+00:002015-02-09T16:25:32.138+00:00Creation Mythology: South & West Africa<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today we are going to explore the creation myths of the people of Southern and Western Africa. As with East and Central Africa, the mythology of the south and west is varied, differing from tribe to tribe. Here I will give you five myths from the south and five myths from the west.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>The Creation Myths of South Africa</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></strong><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6AJSQm1AEskBqXHS8bbVSwin-aD6cHS-idau0CXNIr9zhkfgfHIWylzF8EzSSAVymn0IWL-nSkofwJr7oag-5-zNYzYt38iYbJNq5r6Te77ekRYxlw_gjzhlUBQnig8vhwvNDceO_ai5/s1600/south-africa-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6AJSQm1AEskBqXHS8bbVSwin-aD6cHS-idau0CXNIr9zhkfgfHIWylzF8EzSSAVymn0IWL-nSkofwJr7oag-5-zNYzYt38iYbJNq5r6Te77ekRYxlw_gjzhlUBQnig8vhwvNDceO_ai5/s1600/south-africa-1.png" height="249" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://12.000.scripts.mit.edu/mission2017/case-studies/water-access-in-south-africa/" target="_blank">South Africa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">South Africa is
the mother of various Bantu speaking tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These include the Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Pedi, Ndebele and Tsonga, amongst
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s take a look at some of the
creation myths of South Africa’s tribal people.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Ndebele tribe of South Africa are one of the smallest groups of
people living in South Africa and belong to the larger group Nguni peoples,
which include the Zulu, Swazi, and Xhosa tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that they migrated from Natal
in around the 15<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> or 16<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Ndebele tribe tell the following myth
about the origin of death and of how the chameleon got his skin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPaEIdGmPiTjL_eRmCQMefIXffX4e7DTy4yIsSNqRvbCn_wGidA6094jQV1pcbcZ9UO98-rTXIEJDtJ14IwRSjcYCoxkoIaTUTBjKhPFqEySW9C9XmBrX2OMbO704JPU9Ty4dyXHh3O5M/s1600/chameleon_by_ruslankadiev-d5hwsrh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPaEIdGmPiTjL_eRmCQMefIXffX4e7DTy4yIsSNqRvbCn_wGidA6094jQV1pcbcZ9UO98-rTXIEJDtJ14IwRSjcYCoxkoIaTUTBjKhPFqEySW9C9XmBrX2OMbO704JPU9Ty4dyXHh3O5M/s1600/chameleon_by_ruslankadiev-d5hwsrh.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Chameleon-332414621" target="_blank">Chameleon by RuslanKadiev</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Chameleon and First Man<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>In the beginning, when the Creator was completing his plans for the
world, he wished to give the gift of immortality to First Man.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Creator sent Chameleon to First Man with the message that First Man
must drink from a stream that he had blessed with heavenly knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After doing so, humankind would live forever.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was many, many days before Chameleon, or ‘Slow Walker’ as he is also
known, completed his task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chameleon
would place one foot in front of the other, then pull it back to ponder on
whether he should go forward or backward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chameleon would do this two, three, or even four times before eventually
taking a step forward.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Travelling in such a manner, it took Chameleon a very, very long time
to reach the house of First Man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he
told him of the Creator’s gift, First Man rushed down to the stream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he saw no sign of water, only a dry river
bed.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First Man found a damp patch of sand and pressed his lips to it, but no
water came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next he pressed the palms of
his hands and the soles of his feet to the damp sand, but no water would come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First Man even sucked on damp pebbles, but
there was no way he could get enough moisture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He had lost the gift of immortality.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First Man was angry with Chameleon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His slowness meant the loss of everlasting life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his rage, he killed Chameleon.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To this day, many people still kill chameleons on sight, remembering
their loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Creator took pity on
Chameleon and gave him the gift of a skin that could change colour, as if by
magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This now helps the ‘Slow Walker’
to hide from the people’s wrath.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to traditional elders in South Africa, the Creator made four
Spirits which then completed the task of creation.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQrYescY8K0xPMafm1S9LZ4YpwPeLYFNBOqgF-QyugMJP7MqMiuEb8UvGKdVoAPyh8BGq_-DCzGs9Bi8eSalokfs69IuzBHhGWcfrD0LGVB7nGmCUWyvrSIioOgjVIMH4sCE57XThZUZM/s1600/Wind_Spirit_by_shaggy6963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQrYescY8K0xPMafm1S9LZ4YpwPeLYFNBOqgF-QyugMJP7MqMiuEb8UvGKdVoAPyh8BGq_-DCzGs9Bi8eSalokfs69IuzBHhGWcfrD0LGVB7nGmCUWyvrSIioOgjVIMH4sCE57XThZUZM/s1600/Wind_Spirit_by_shaggy6963.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://shaggy6963.deviantart.com/art/Wind-Spirit-116785940" target="_blank">Wind Spirit by shaggy6963</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><strong>The Four Spirits of Creation</strong></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>In the beginning there was only the Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator looked upon itself and said,
‘This is not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not good for
me to be all alone in existence.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so
the Creator cast off a piece of itself and from this piece began to
create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator made four Spirits
and with its breath gave them life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
each Spirit came to life, the Creator named them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You are Wind,’ it said to the first of the
creations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second Spirit was named
Sun, as the life-giving breath filled its being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third Spirit was called Water, and the
fourth of the creations was Earth.<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When this was done, the Creator said to the four Spirits, ‘Go out and
create as you see fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give life as I
have given you life, make a home for yourselves and create Keepers who will
look after it.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so each of the four
Spirits went out into the darkness and began to create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of the Earth created the land as
its home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It created </span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxdCyCoRc3-XIAV4fI1HfRWzF3pJjZrcZcw-6YB7FJpm8hZ1ngI-mDe0_LmZ1z0T1J9LPeJlPBUGAtN-Yb0sd85pqOz-ws5Gat_FbHJdOU025kg1GYjYMThu4kRjXl8DGOGWQtqYNnqwL/s1600/The_sun_by_satiiiva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxdCyCoRc3-XIAV4fI1HfRWzF3pJjZrcZcw-6YB7FJpm8hZ1ngI-mDe0_LmZ1z0T1J9LPeJlPBUGAtN-Yb0sd85pqOz-ws5Gat_FbHJdOU025kg1GYjYMThu4kRjXl8DGOGWQtqYNnqwL/s1600/The_sun_by_satiiiva.jpg" height="300" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-sun-100050588" target="_blank">The Sun by satiiiva</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Calibri;">mountains, rocks,
flat plains, and caves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each of these
places a Keeper was placed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You will be
the Keeper of this place, my home,’ commanded Earth as the Spirit Keeper came
to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘All who come here must abide
by the laws that you will be given by me.’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While the Spirit of the Earth was busy creating, the other three
Spirits were also busy with their own creations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of Water created the ocean, the
lakes, and the rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each of these
places, Water placed a Spirit Keeper and commanded them to keep the place in good
order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of the Wind in its
turn created a mighty ocean of air with which it encircled the land that the
Earth had created as its home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Wind
also created Keepers of the sky to do its bidding and to maintain the law of
the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of the Sun looked
upon the creations of the other three Spirits and said, ‘I will create a great
cooking fire and place it in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With this great fire I will bring light and warmth to the land, the sky,
and the ocean.’</span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qT71nMYQm4mbjbo17kEANzDXSp-4gItznYd5neGU96mAfz3TOQAXlB6uThowEUeZxzlfpPrvrrcRTZ9Jh2IoT6kEKPZ9FMkYjVrYapa58kants76oZl14r3FOBTrIA_NNV1882zNim2A/s1600/water_spirit_by_aster_phire-d483fml.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qT71nMYQm4mbjbo17kEANzDXSp-4gItznYd5neGU96mAfz3TOQAXlB6uThowEUeZxzlfpPrvrrcRTZ9Jh2IoT6kEKPZ9FMkYjVrYapa58kants76oZl14r3FOBTrIA_NNV1882zNim2A/s1600/water_spirit_by_aster_phire-d483fml.png" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Water-Spirit-255461853" target="_blank">Water Spirit by Aster-phire</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the Spirits of the Earth, the Water, the Sun, and the Wind were
finished, the Keepers set to work to create helpers who would maintain the
creations of the four great ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Keepers of the land created all the animals and reptiles who would roam the
land and help to keep it in good order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They also created all the trees and the grass that grows on the
plains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Keepers of Water created the
fish and all the creatures who lie in the rivers, the lakes, and the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Keepers of the Wind created the birds and
even the tiny flying insects for whom the sky would be home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Keepers of Fire brought warmth and life
to the world, and brought rain to the land with the fiery power of lightning.</span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgvAFdAqHtKXbJc9aJzPOsSTKi4mmB36BMWjtxjNUYN9YRg0U_dclm2wCj_r3JTT1v11hjuzvmo3kP-g3KfGrEhr-r3KGfgR_jhbVhmNfS4OBu9U-DJVDBtqh7NfZm4vskqDt68NEB3cf/s1600/Earth_Spirit_by_beyondwonderwall.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgvAFdAqHtKXbJc9aJzPOsSTKi4mmB36BMWjtxjNUYN9YRg0U_dclm2wCj_r3JTT1v11hjuzvmo3kP-g3KfGrEhr-r3KGfgR_jhbVhmNfS4OBu9U-DJVDBtqh7NfZm4vskqDt68NEB3cf/s1600/Earth_Spirit_by_beyondwonderwall.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Earth-Spirit-154577720" target="_blank">Earth Spirit by beyondwonderwall</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Great Creator of All Things looked upon the creations and was
happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its only sadness was that none of
its creations ever returned to visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, one day, to the Creator’s surprise and joy, the Spirit of Earth
came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You have remembered me!’ the
Creator cried joyfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘For this I will
reward you with a gift.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator
gave the Spirit of Earth a small bundle and said, ‘Place this deep within your
womb; hide it there so that the others cannot see that I have given you a gift,
for if they see it they too will want gifts and I have none to give them.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so Earth took the bundle and hid it deep
within her womb.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The bundle contained the first ancestors of the human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ancestors lived within the womb of the
Earth and gave birth to children and grandchildren, who in turn gave birth to
great-grandchildren, until there were villages of people living deep within the
Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Kalahari Bushmen, also known as the San, Saan, or Bazarwa are
hunter-gatherers who have territory in Botswana, Nambia, Angola, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, and South Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
believed to be the oldest inhabitants of South Africa, where they have lived
for at least 20,000 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we find
a creation story which tells of how people and animals once lived beneath the
surface of the Earth with the Lord of Life, known as Kaang or Kang. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YDtVrL5yXNpgD-C6mlVPejL0RVTvsTmPWqHkWs136XDbynR2KIR2iCGqtTew_prYHNFQ1-OqPBcxQcf-h3uB8sL1CtCZyegidnSY-RwkQjiGLOoNIPzXA3TwbYZ_mDXQviMrKrADwNif/s1600/we_could_live_in_caves__by_neocromagnum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YDtVrL5yXNpgD-C6mlVPejL0RVTvsTmPWqHkWs136XDbynR2KIR2iCGqtTew_prYHNFQ1-OqPBcxQcf-h3uB8sL1CtCZyegidnSY-RwkQjiGLOoNIPzXA3TwbYZ_mDXQviMrKrADwNif/s1600/we_could_live_in_caves__by_neocromagnum.jpg" height="182" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/we-could-live-in-caves-43101106" target="_blank">We Could Live in Caves by ArtofTrent</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Kaang Creates the World Above</strong></span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>It was the golden age, an age of happiness, when there was no
quarrelling or warfare and everything was bathed in a light which did not come
from the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Kaang decided to make
a more wonderful world above ground.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>He created a great tree whose branches stretched out across the whole
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under its roots he made a
passageway down to the place where people and animals were living comfortably
together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he led the first man up
to the surface, followed by the first woman, and then all the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that he brought up the animals, who
rushed out eagerly, and some of them swarmed up into the branches of the tree.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Kaang gave them all instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were to continue to live together peacefully, people and
animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave especially firm
instructions to the people not to build fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they built fires evil would come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They promised and he left them to their lives, moving away but
continuing to watch over them.<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1pdCUL94JtMjTanHVp-VSl8LPlryw1DkeGwpxfMMQE6vtGQZoR9OXFZ8YzN_tE1kGCknClO4-shkwVwhW2bxlBIjagZdJ0PPe9CYTn8ZGQPrdci2__lU4r9kj_6QXYmnB0kG8dncPyxT/s1600/gb03fire2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1pdCUL94JtMjTanHVp-VSl8LPlryw1DkeGwpxfMMQE6vtGQZoR9OXFZ8YzN_tE1kGCknClO4-shkwVwhW2bxlBIjagZdJ0PPe9CYTn8ZGQPrdci2__lU4r9kj_6QXYmnB0kG8dncPyxT/s1600/gb03fire2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://paleotechnics.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/fire-chess-a-fire-learning-game/" target="_blank">Fire in the Night</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>In their underground world it had always been mysteriously light, but
above ground the sun set and it grew dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The people were frightened because they could not see what was happening
and, lacking the fur the animals wore, the humans felt cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone suggested building a fire to give
light and heat, forgetting Kaang’s warning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the fire frightened the animals, who ran away to live in mountains
and caves, and people and animals lost the ability to talk to one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People and animals now lead lives of mutual
suspicion and antagonism and there is no more peace.<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, with an
estimated 10-11 million people living in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and
smaller numbers living in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are believed to descend from a chief
from the Congo area and are said to have migrated south in the 16<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Zulu people tell the
following creation myth of the sky-god Umvelinqangi and the ancestor
Unkulunkulu. Some versions have it that the supreme god is Unkulunkulu rather than Umvelinqangi.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe0CKkKENSrM4M2-3z_hTArSpiOc_BodLMsN5uDQ08iouLtMAi4mVpyRSMDuolgRzLux7PDpM1p9MEk6WLLeaSo395KzerlpL8OXJHk6c2vhcGKEEnrcZMgy0lItQFCl7LkKQaiFVpuVd/s1600/Unkulunkulu_by_FrancisWarhol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe0CKkKENSrM4M2-3z_hTArSpiOc_BodLMsN5uDQ08iouLtMAi4mVpyRSMDuolgRzLux7PDpM1p9MEk6WLLeaSo395KzerlpL8OXJHk6c2vhcGKEEnrcZMgy0lItQFCl7LkKQaiFVpuVd/s1600/Unkulunkulu_by_FrancisWarhol.jpg" height="320" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Unkulunkulu-146489599" target="_blank">Unkulunkulu by FrancisWarhol*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>People of the Reeds</strong></span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>In the beginning there was a large swamp in the lands to the North,
called Uhlanga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this swamp there grew
many types of reeds and rushes, each with its own colour.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>One morning the sky-god Umvelinqangi descended from heaven and married
Uhlanga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of this vast valley he
‘broke off’ many reeds of different colours and made them into people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made them in pairs, a man and a woman he
made from every type of reed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
original people were all called Unkulunkulu ‘ancestor’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each pair became the parents of a tribe of
human beings, each tribe having its own colour, just as one finds stems and
stalks in different shades of brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
the people of this Earth were created from waterplants, which grew up from the
valley with which Umvelinqangi lived in creative union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each nation was born from the wet earth, and
every Unkulunkulu brought his own medicine, i.e. his won secret charm of life.<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Shona tribe are Zimbabwe’s largest indigenous group, numbering
around 9 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can be found in
Zimbabwe, Botswana and southern Mozambique in South Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the Shona, the Supreme Being is
Mwari.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mwari is both male and
female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The female aspect of their
creator ‘is merged in the pool with its darkness and mystery; this is the god
of below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The male aspect of Mwari
manifests himself in lightning or in a shooting star and is ‘owner of the skies,
the god of light, the father of creation… this is the god above.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mwari is the god of fertility and is also
known as Dzivaguru, meaning great pool, as he is the bringer of rain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mwari and his Creation, Musikavanhu</strong></span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Mwari put his creation, Musikavanhu, into a deep sleep and the let him
drop from the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he fell,
Musikavanhu awoke and, in the distance, saw a white stone which was also
dropping from the sky at great speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Musikavanhu fell softly onto the stone, and the first spot his feet
touched softened and emitted water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Musikavanhu, bored, began to wander about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When night fell, he sat </em></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyUbCyznbKP7Nk4oatBb8TD9vokhK_f8uFEHdk23M5rGOiRC8gv_eh3STawIrbza5EjilcVt5RaHeEE0gtpQ2rUaeGw4htBl_Rl6xJ-vdpCVUuZtvQUxvGVpD_CndQ5V04ba1T4muKeKf/s1600/189255_mwari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyUbCyznbKP7Nk4oatBb8TD9vokhK_f8uFEHdk23M5rGOiRC8gv_eh3STawIrbza5EjilcVt5RaHeEE0gtpQ2rUaeGw4htBl_Rl6xJ-vdpCVUuZtvQUxvGVpD_CndQ5V04ba1T4muKeKf/s1600/189255_mwari.jpg" height="320" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://forum.bioware.com/topic/513859-visiting-various-shonazimbabwean-ruins-these-things-are-everywhere/page-2" target="_blank">Musikavanhu, Artist Unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>down near the stone
from which God had spoken, and slept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
a dream, he saw the birds in the air, and many animals on the earth that were
jumping from stone to stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Musikavanhu awoke, he was surprised to see that all he had just dreamt had
become reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God told Musikavanhu
what he was allowed to eat, and what food was forbidden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was free to eat vegetables and fruit from
trees, but not to kill and eat animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nor were the animals allowed to eat each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, while Musikavanhu slept, a snake
crept over his loins and left its marks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When he woke up, he was overcome by a strange feeling; he had trouble
breathing and his penis moved like a snake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A voice told him to go to the pool and the pain would pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On his way there, he saw a beautiful young
woman sitting on a stone near the pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She looked like him, but she could neither speak nor move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again Musikavanhu heard a voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It told him to touch the woman with his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did, and the young woman came to
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A snake moved across her loins too
and she was overcome by the same emotions as Musikavanhu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voice spoke and told Musikavanhu to be
kind to his wife and to all the animals too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was also told to set aside one day a month for the honor of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Musikavanhu had completed the tasks set
by God, he had to return to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before he left, Musikavanhu told his children to observe the laws of God
or that same God would punish them.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>The Creation Myths of Western Africa</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Wn1beyGAeQ77v8bPassspLFlTk9-Qki7qVkqu_2Mpc4jGP8_zYS0eZbJA3kQV_9QyZOwprnPI0LCyA6Ew91Y08J0slBhLQQMZSqsJkURPrHKDJPUGFKpgKu-1Z9Ta4Lc4rItzWtb84C5/s1600/wamap_web_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Wn1beyGAeQ77v8bPassspLFlTk9-Qki7qVkqu_2Mpc4jGP8_zYS0eZbJA3kQV_9QyZOwprnPI0LCyA6Ew91Y08J0slBhLQQMZSqsJkURPrHKDJPUGFKpgKu-1Z9Ta4Lc4rItzWtb84C5/s1600/wamap_web_large.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gowestafrica.org/explore/" target="_blank">West Africa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">West Africa is
home to many tribes, some of which date back thousands of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These include the Ashanti, Fulani, Dogon,
Yoruba, Mande, and Fon tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s
take a look at some of their creation myths.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></o:p> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Yoruba are one of the three largest ethnic groups of Nigeria, with
smaller groups being found in Benin and northern Togo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their supreme being is Olorun and he is
assisted by a number of beings called orishas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNBPIk7Hc70V_1UwUfdO3Xa459iGKScmybpmHS5yOSzXFKs9FaPcu1ByUg8gyiGGG9t2JBr648RWMawi0oNrQ1o3RBV0cOlHV-mozEThvNdQ_hyphenhyphenbIbyvInylERPHdmH-wNkwvv8oTnLHa/s1600/olorun_by_kriizi-d80fybm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNBPIk7Hc70V_1UwUfdO3Xa459iGKScmybpmHS5yOSzXFKs9FaPcu1ByUg8gyiGGG9t2JBr648RWMawi0oNrQ1o3RBV0cOlHV-mozEThvNdQ_hyphenhyphenbIbyvInylERPHdmH-wNkwvv8oTnLHa/s1600/olorun_by_kriizi-d80fybm.png" height="221" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Olorun-484473730" target="_blank">Olorun by Kriizi</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Obatala and the Golden Chain</strong> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>In the beginning there was only the sky above, and water and marshland
below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The all-powerful, supreme god
Olorun ruled the sky, and the goddess Olokun ruled what was below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was another god, Obatala, who thought that
something more should be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
reflecting on the situation, Obatale went to Olorun and asked for permission to
create dry land so all manner of creatures might live upon it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olorun gave him permission and he sought the
advice of Orunmila, who was the eldest son of Olorun and the god of
prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obatala was told that he would
need a golden chain which was long enough to reach below; a snail shell filled
with baobab powder and sand; palm nuts; maize; and the egg, which contained the
personalities of all <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">orishas </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454;">spirits which reflect one of the manifestations of God in
the Yoruba religion), all of which he was to carry in a bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the gods gave what gold they had,
while Orunmila supplied the items for the bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When all was ready, Obatala hung the chain from a corner of the sky,
placed the bag over his shoulder, and </span></span></span></em></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_jNXj9_LzcPopmavcZZcJsjiO_Lwqx24wNTF8hYFw67JeIPsnQ8qoXLtoIWPAJDKj0MDmBt_q9ZwX8tCFVcG8UnAI6VZJomiUA3qQj8W0y7pHTFaZy-eUTHIfjmyteH7eWZo2jprNt1O/s1600/OBATALA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_jNXj9_LzcPopmavcZZcJsjiO_Lwqx24wNTF8hYFw67JeIPsnQ8qoXLtoIWPAJDKj0MDmBt_q9ZwX8tCFVcG8UnAI6VZJomiUA3qQj8W0y7pHTFaZy-eUTHIfjmyteH7eWZo2jprNt1O/s1600/OBATALA.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/obatala-festival-honoring-orisha-deity.html" target="_blank">Obatala Artist Unkmown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454;">s</span></span></span></em></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454;">tarted to climb down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he reached the end of the chain he saw
that he still have further to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
high above he heard Orunmila instruct him to pour the sand from the snail’s
shell and to break the egg to free Sankofa (in this case, a bird).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obatala did as he was told to, pouring out
the sand and shattering the egg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon
landing, the bird began to scratch and scatter the sand and, wherever the sand
landed, it formed dry land, with the larger piles becoming hills and the
smaller piles becoming valleys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obatala
jumped to a hill and named it Ife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
he began to plant palm nuts and watched them grow to maturity in only
seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Months passed and Obatala grew
bored with the routine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He decided to
create other beings like himself to keep him company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Digging into the sand, Obatala soon reached
clay which he began to mold into figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Time passed and Obatale grew tired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He took a break, making wine from a nearby palm tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He drank a bowl, then another, then
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, not realizing how
intoxicated the wine had made him, Obatala returned to his task but the figures
he created were misshapen and imperfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Obatala was unaware of their imperfection and called for Olorun to
breathe life into the clay figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wasn’t until the following day that Obatala realized his mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He swore to never drink again and promised to
care for those who were deformed, becoming Protector of the Deformed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obatala’s creations built huts, much as their
creator had, and thrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other gods
were pleased with what Obatala had done and visited the new land often, all but
Olokun, who ruled all below the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Fulani of
Mali, also known as the Fula or Fulbe, can be found throughout Africa, although
they predominantly inhabit West Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They tell the following poem of creation which involves their supreme
god Doondari.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxQwZ6-snmAFfEoS0YwBL59z-AFapW5pZJ9OEu5zrSfu4mlUR-h1zd9FAOSsY_meYX6enrkD971MGuoOrWT7li6y0-cRc3AJyGFGtTy1mhIYE6rfDW0ahOABSGIfbaByHnSTO_LDtBfK1/s1600/a_drop_of_milk_by_marcgc-d4fnd18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxQwZ6-snmAFfEoS0YwBL59z-AFapW5pZJ9OEu5zrSfu4mlUR-h1zd9FAOSsY_meYX6enrkD971MGuoOrWT7li6y0-cRc3AJyGFGtTy1mhIYE6rfDW0ahOABSGIfbaByHnSTO_LDtBfK1/s1600/a_drop_of_milk_by_marcgc-d4fnd18.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/A-Drop-Of-Milk-268148924" target="_blank">A Drop of Milk by MarcGC</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>How the World Was
Created From A Drop of Milk<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>At the beginning
there was a huge drop of milk.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Then Doondari
came and he created the stone.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Then the stone
created iron;<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And iron created
fire;<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And fire created
water;<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And water created
air.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Then Doondari descended
the second time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he took the five
elements<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And he shaped
them into man.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But man was
proud.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Then Doondari
created blindness and blindness defeated man.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But when
blindness became too proud,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Doondari created
sleep, and sleep defeated blindness;<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But when sleep
became too proud,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Doondari created
worry, and worry defeated sleep;<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But when worry
became too proud,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Doondari created
death, and death defeated worry.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But when death
became too proud,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Doodari descended
for the third time,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And he came as
Gueno, the eternal one,<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>And Gueno
defeated death.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to the
Fon people of Dahomey, Benin, the creator is Mawu-Lisa, a god with two
faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first face is Mawu, a woman,
whose eyes are the moon; the second face is Lisa, a man, whose eyes are the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mawu is the ruler of the night, where Lisa is
the ruler of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To aid the god in
its creation of the world is Aido-Hwedo, the serpent, who is a twinned
male-female form, with one half living in the sky and the other half living in
the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh639frHDHWtIkFj05QYNDhajAs_RZB4Cotri499ecNpj9d1gL6l0RjQWO-G24T7uZyUXtBlw2UMwmdHdj7zETtbhg6BeupCHJdF0Q9vFEZNvXaAKHCI1xyqyyb0HuOF4utvGTtnwxNNKvn/s1600/bbff375c06150d3a197c13099176983e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh639frHDHWtIkFj05QYNDhajAs_RZB4Cotri499ecNpj9d1gL6l0RjQWO-G24T7uZyUXtBlw2UMwmdHdj7zETtbhg6BeupCHJdF0Q9vFEZNvXaAKHCI1xyqyyb0HuOF4utvGTtnwxNNKvn/s1600/bbff375c06150d3a197c13099176983e.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/458663543273733155/" target="_blank">Mawu, African Goddess Of The Moon by Shella Goh| </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mawu and the Rainbow Serpent</strong> </span></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>When Mawu was
making the world, Aido-Hwedo, the rainbow serpent, was her servant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said that he came into existence with
the first man and woman, Adanhu and Yewa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aido-Hwedo carried Mawu in his mouth wherever she wanted to go, which is
why the Earth curves and winds: it was carved from the sinuous movements of the
serpent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wherever they rested there are
now mountains, which are the excrement of Aido-Hwedo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for this reason that great riches
(metals) can now be found within the mountain today.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>When Mawu
finished her work of creation, she saw that she had made too many things: too
many trees, too many mountains, too much of everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Earth could not bear the weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she told Aido-Hwedo to coil himself into a
circle beneath the Earth, to support it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aido-Hwedo does not like heat, so Mawu made the cold sea as a home for
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Earth chafes him,
Aido-Hwedo shifts, and causes earthquakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He eats iron bars, forged for him by red monkeys that live beneath the
sea, and when the iron runs out, Aido-Hwedo will begin to starve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In desperation he will gnaw through his own
tail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will convulse, and the Earth
and all its burdens will tip into the sea.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Dogon can be found
in Mali and are believed to be of Egyptian descent. They tell the following
creation myth about their one true god, Amma, and spirits called Nummo, who are
referred to as serpents and, sometimes, water spirits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eqcOTHCXdiSQ_CuBldahBK7Gkdiur2WTOHzm54FEdgMCNL8aUmvx5YCrduQFfJjZ5BX28thRJdBOQHAlc5OE2aKSWBWJHIBKL-uPNgArw5BxopAcJKmA_1UFcmN6B1_uo6cy5GBVW2se/s1600/Side_Striped_Jackal_as_Totem_by_Ravenari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eqcOTHCXdiSQ_CuBldahBK7Gkdiur2WTOHzm54FEdgMCNL8aUmvx5YCrduQFfJjZ5BX28thRJdBOQHAlc5OE2aKSWBWJHIBKL-uPNgArw5BxopAcJKmA_1UFcmN6B1_uo6cy5GBVW2se/s1600/Side_Striped_Jackal_as_Totem_by_Ravenari.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Side-Striped-Jackal-as-Totem-110376034" target="_blank">Side-Striped Jackal as Totem by Ravenari.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Amma and the Nummo</strong> </span></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>The Dogon say
that the stars were created from pellets of earth flung out into space by the
one true god, Amma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun and moon
were created by a process much like that of making pottery, which was the first
known invention of god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun is like
a pot that has been fired until it is white-hot, then surrounded by a spiral of
copper with eight turns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To create the
Earth, Amma squeezed a lump of clay in his hand and threw it away from himself
in the same manner as he did the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The clay spread to the north and to the south (the top and the bottom)
in a movement that was horizontal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
nature, the Earth is female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking at
it flat and considering the cardinal points of the compass as her appendages,
it is like a woman lying on her back with her arms and legs spread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The anthill is her female organ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the course of time, Amma tried to
fertilize her, but this flawed union between god and Earth created only one
being, the jackal, which became the symbol of disorder and the difficulties of
god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, having overcome the
difficulty, god had intercourse with the Earth again, this time
successfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water, which is the divine
seed, entered the womb of the Earth and resulted in the birth of twins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two beings were formed, which god created
like water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were green in colour
and were half human, half serpent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
bodies were green and sleek all over and shiny like </em></span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOBHWgIpo9k2qfouYcKC4u5dcX7hO9I3745DX1rmQME4sNE5gEPtB-0SP1rnIzA-FqCzm3bAy80XaFLXVLn1bZ-LGcE5usOQ8oLJ6H_OW6et1kGwdNnsxu9-lYaq8oaMHKU4NwmnjLAtl/s1600/47e63faea38d35ddf991c0c9fd625a61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOBHWgIpo9k2qfouYcKC4u5dcX7hO9I3745DX1rmQME4sNE5gEPtB-0SP1rnIzA-FqCzm3bAy80XaFLXVLn1bZ-LGcE5usOQ8oLJ6H_OW6et1kGwdNnsxu9-lYaq8oaMHKU4NwmnjLAtl/s1600/47e63faea38d35ddf991c0c9fd625a61.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.corbinkosak.com/lore-of-inception#9" target="_blank">Nommo of Sirius (Dogon Creation Myth) © Corbin Kosak 2014</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>the surface of the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These spirits were called Nummo, and they
were born perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had eight members,
and their member was eight, which is also the symbol of speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were of divine essence, which is the
life force of the world, and is water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The name Nummo is synonymous in the Dogon language with the word for
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the Dogon, Nummo is water, and
the Nummon pair is present in all water – whether it is drinking water, water
of the river, or water of the storm.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Mande people
can be found throughout West Africa, although they are primarily located on the
savannah plateau of western Sudan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
creation myth tells of Mangala and the trickster Pemba. The myth can be considered an example of a world egg,
creation from chaos myth which begins as an ex nihilo myth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ86BnuVXJn_tOtQ6lB8T9HAIWTGroAk0EJrwVVO1GYydjxbX1LjvJrnkciDswBPrreQeer_Ikw4xFke-WOQSLVxwP8EHnTZemTh8OuzonRFOk-lhpy48b4YEXjAntHdGa-5-rXMvlsD83/s1600/The_Cosmic_Egg_by_armawolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ86BnuVXJn_tOtQ6lB8T9HAIWTGroAk0EJrwVVO1GYydjxbX1LjvJrnkciDswBPrreQeer_Ikw4xFke-WOQSLVxwP8EHnTZemTh8OuzonRFOk-lhpy48b4YEXjAntHdGa-5-rXMvlsD83/s1600/The_Cosmic_Egg_by_armawolf.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Cosmic-Egg-55394634" target="_blank">The Cosmic Egg by armawolf</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mangala and Pemba</strong> </span></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Before the Earth
was created there was Mangala, and he was alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside Mangala there were four divisions and
each one represented the four days of the week, the four elements, and the four
directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also carried two sets of
twins inside him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Mangala soon grew
tired of holding all of these things inside him, so he put it all inside a
seed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seed was his creation of the
world, but the seed wasn’t strong enough and split apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mangala was dissatisfied with this world he
had created and he quickly destroyed it.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Mangala decided
to try again, this time with two sets of twin seeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He planted these inside an egg-shaped womb
where they gestated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mangala continued
to add twin seeds to the egg-shaped womb until there were eight sets of
seeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside the womb, the seeds
transformed into fish and the words Mangala had made was successful.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>But while Mangala
tried to keep his creation perfect, it was not to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the male twins tried to escape to egg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was Pemba and he was the chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pemba as a trickster, and his first trick was
to steal a piece of the womb’s placenta, which he threw down, creating the
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Pemba tried to refertilize
the remainder of the womb, committing incest against his mother, who was the
womb.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Something had to
be done to save Mangala’s creation, so he took Farro, who was Pemba’s brother,
castrated him and then killed him, before bringing him back to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, Mangala took the placental and
transformed it into the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since that
time Pemba has been associated with darkness and the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farro became a human and Mangala taught him
the language of creation so he might defeat Pemba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farro and his twins came to the Earth and
married one another, becoming the horonw.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st1"><span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>It was then that
Sourakate came from the sky, carrying the sacred drum, hammer, and the
sacrificed skull of Farro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sourakate
played the drum and sang for the first rains to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This being was able to control nature and he
taught these skills to Farro and his followers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sourakate is the origin of the nyamakalaw.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #545454; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> That's all for today. Next time</span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Lion-Could-Fly-Africa/dp/0718828879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421327696&sr=8-1&keywords=When+Lion+Could+Fly%3A+And+Other+Tales+from+Africa+by+Nick+Greaves" target="_blank">When Lion Could Fly: And Other Tales from Africa by Nick Greaves<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article2846-creation-story.html" target="_blank">Resurgence & Ecologist (Creation Story by Collin Campbell)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Light-Creation-Gilgamesh-God-particle/dp/1780761554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421327945&sr=8-1&keywords=First+Light%3A+A+History+of+Creation+Myths+from+Gilgamesh+to+the+God+Particle+by+G.+R.+Evans" target="_blank">First Light: A History of Creation Myths from Gilgamesh to the God Particleby G. R. Evans</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XPwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&dq=Bantu+Myths+and+Other+Tales+edited+by+Jan+Knappert&source=bl&ots=UbsI_0YmKD&sig=2c9BxuHSoyT3tkhq0Fpl_rHeP2w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oL63VOqRNZLmaPGNgsAO&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Bantu Myths and Other Tales edited by Jan Knappert<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://africana.library.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/imported/lecture/kirby.p" target="_blank">Creation Stories: Africana Library – Cornell University by J. KirbyJr</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/origin-life-death-African-creation/dp/B0007K9536/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421328293&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Origin+of+Life+and+Death%3A+African+Creation+Myths+by+Ulli" target="_blank">The Origin of Life and Death: African Creation Myths by Ulli Beier<cite><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></cite></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-Eyewitness-Companions-Philip-Wilkinson/dp/0756631548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421328350&sr=8-1&keywords=DK%3A+Eyewitness+Companions+%E2%80%93+Mythology+by+Philip+Wilkinson+%26+Neil+Philip" target="_blank">DK: Eyewitness Companions – Mythology by Philip Wilkinson & NeilPhilip</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Dogon-Decoding-African-Tradition/dp/1594771332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421328410&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Science+of+the+Dogon%3A+Decoding+the+African+Mystery+Tradition+by+Laird+Scranton" target="_blank">The Science of the Dogon: Decoding the African Mystery Tradition byLaird Scranton</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.alamo.edu/nvc/programs/humanities/huma/pages/divine_westAfrica.htm" target="_blank">West Africa Cosmogony: Origin Myths of Mande & Yoruba by Neil Lewis</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YDtVrL5yXNpgD-C6mlVPejL0RVTvsTmPWqHkWs136XDbynR2KIR2iCGqtTew_prYHNFQ1-OqPBcxQcf-h3uB8sL1CtCZyegidnSY-RwkQjiGLOoNIPzXA3TwbYZ_mDXQviMrKrADwNif/s1600/we_could_live_in_caves__by_neocromagnum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-61821264014531302452015-01-13T17:50:00.000+00:002015-02-02T12:09:01.614+00:00Creation Mythology: East & Central Africa<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Today we are going to explore the creation mythology from the tribes of
East and Central Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Central Africa includes
Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, the Congo, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Angola.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>East Africa includes Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every tribe has its own distinct language,
culture, and religion and, as such, their views and stories of creation are
many and varied.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Efe people found in what is today the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, are known as Bambuti or, more commonly, Pygmies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have lived in the area since around
2250BC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the Egyptian Pharaoh
Nefrikare they were known as either ‘dancing dwarves’ or ‘people of the trees’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgx4qQ_S6A98wZEY2L_f-wtdO9GzVCuOL-S5dkZZkWzC7kbVpCb_lRAHdBrs_Nvbiu8RP1k-WxR1vD3adrcf8EaAYZfZFWlIE-ZGv60gIbeaT-88DHeUChQX2K8153o4mbzaxH_qUH4-W/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgx4qQ_S6A98wZEY2L_f-wtdO9GzVCuOL-S5dkZZkWzC7kbVpCb_lRAHdBrs_Nvbiu8RP1k-WxR1vD3adrcf8EaAYZfZFWlIE-ZGv60gIbeaT-88DHeUChQX2K8153o4mbzaxH_qUH4-W/s1600/untitled.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jan/27/canoeing-the-congo-river?INTCMP=SRCH" target="_blank">Canoeing the Congo River by Phil Harwood</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Creation of Humans<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The creator, Khvum, lived alone in his village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He passed his time smoking, but he got
bored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no one to prepare his
food, or to share it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He decided to
create people to keep him company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
went into the forest and collected many, many ‘nkula’ nuts, so that they filled
his game-bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he returned to his
village and went to the waterfront, where he had left his canoe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got into the canoe and called his
crocodile; the crocodile came, and he fastened a harness on it and told it to
pull the canoe far out into the waters.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The crocodile swam far, far out, until there was nothing but water all
around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There Khvum told it to
stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He removed a nut from his bag and
rubbed it in his hands for some time, then blew on it and threw it back towards
the land, saying, ‘You shall be the first man.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The next nut, he called a woman, and so on until all the nuts from his
bag had been sent back towards the land.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">When he reached the shore, all the people were waiting for him in the
village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave them their places, and
for a time he lived with them there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was a wonderful time.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another Pygmy origin story is much like that found in Genesis,
revolving around a monotheistic God who resides in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, while similar, it is clearly not
derived from the Biblical account, and reflects Pygmy culture and surroundings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been suggested that this ‘Garden of
Eden’ creation myth is much earlier that the Biblical account and, possibly,
the earliest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8woq8eHV25FUhphJIyfrTIoz0_ba02xVk_HnpKjUFZBXZLOBw0MtxUtyXgAHCbIuZpDb0Ftno67h1IswcEGi1k4yJmdki5bH_XeJyYz3FbQ2vO_jtZawaeqSA2zoPoPuyTZOFo1rH1c17/s1600/54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8woq8eHV25FUhphJIyfrTIoz0_ba02xVk_HnpKjUFZBXZLOBw0MtxUtyXgAHCbIuZpDb0Ftno67h1IswcEGi1k4yJmdki5bH_XeJyYz3FbQ2vO_jtZawaeqSA2zoPoPuyTZOFo1rH1c17/s1600/54.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.askart.com/askart/p/george_mnyalaza_milwa_pemba/george_mnyalaza_milwa_pemba.aspx" target="_blank">Garden of Eden by George Mnyalaza Milwa Pemba </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Pygmy Garden of Eden</strong> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>One fine day in heaven, God told his chief helper to make the first
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The angel of the moon
descended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He modelled the first man
from earth, wrapped a skin around the earth, poured blood into the skin, and
punched holes for the nostrils, eyes, ears, and mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made another hole in the first man’s
bottom, and put all the organs in his insides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then he breathed his own vital force into the little earthen
statue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He entered into the body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It moved… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sat up…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It stood up…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It walked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was Efe, the first man and father of all
who came after.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">God said to Efe, ‘Beget children to people my forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shall give them everything they need to be
happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will live forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is only one thing I forbid them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now listen well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give my words to your children, and tell them
to transmit this commandment to every generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tahu tree is absolutely forbidden to
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You must never, for any reason,
violate this law.’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Efe obeyed these instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He and his children never went near the tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many years passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then God called to Efe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Come up to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need your help.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Efe went up to the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After he left, the ancestors lived in
accordance with his laws and teachings for a long, long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, one terrible day. A pregnant woman said
to her husband, ‘I want to eat the fruit of the tahu tree.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The husband told her, ‘You know that is
wrong.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wife asked why and he told
her it was against the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘That is a
silly law,’ she said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Do you care more
for me or for some silly law?’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">They fought and fought, but the husband eventually gave in and sneaked
into the forest, heart pounding with fear, to the forbidden tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He picked the tahu fruit and peeled it,
hiding the peel beneath a pile of leaves, and then he returned to camp to give
his wife the fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She tasted it, then
urged her husband to taste it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he
did, then all other Pygmies followed their example and tasted the forbidden
fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They believed that God would
never find out.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">But the angel of the moon saw them and went to God, telling him, ‘’The
people have eaten the fruit of the tahu tree!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God was furious and he told the ancestors, ‘You have disobeyed my
orders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this you will die!’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another version of this myth can be found among the Mbuti or Bambuti,
who are also an indigenous pygmy group found in the Congo region of Africa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWOd9SCMAj2VG-uzAGcYKYAC29O6Rdvjp8Wqbr0fJ112XDp2TP-_KVG8FporyQou0q4UJB9HhXkaIzT-TNsP9BOXhFn4ECq81eWOVW0o0dSC9DHQ8w972NKS_Asj11nBqoWCUbeci9it6/s1600/469f8aa91ef82ae2cb2856f6327b97a4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWOd9SCMAj2VG-uzAGcYKYAC29O6Rdvjp8Wqbr0fJ112XDp2TP-_KVG8FporyQou0q4UJB9HhXkaIzT-TNsP9BOXhFn4ECq81eWOVW0o0dSC9DHQ8w972NKS_Asj11nBqoWCUbeci9it6/s1600/469f8aa91ef82ae2cb2856f6327b97a4.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/422564377507126934/" target="_blank">Garden of Eden</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Mbuti Garden of Eden</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>God made the first man and woman and put them in a forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had everything, including an abundance
of food, at their fingertips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God told
them that they should have children and that all humanity would live
forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He warned them not to eat the
fruit of the tahu tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the man and
woman agreed that they would leave the fruit untouched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man was uninterested in the tahu fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, during her pregnancy, the woman
found that she had a terrible craving for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So the man stole the fruit for her, and together they peeled and ate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hid the peels beneath a pile of
leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But God created a wind and
uncovered the peels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was very angry
that the y would break their promise and, turning to the woman, God said that
woman would suffer pain in childbirth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God then told the couple that from that moment on they would both have
to work hard, suffer illness, and would eventually die.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Kuba people of the Congo tell the story of Mbombo, their supreme god, who created the world with vomit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9dr7HGWokeLwk602qIbAxlkALnV25vPRF3CffPbPUVwvR_mAWPELXyGC75LZkWiDvIj6aG2OijU_AbqMcAaSXa9V2rj7RONZUIdtwW3PWPn10vKS0iccrl1LGZDk-tBaBj6-8sqWr4O0/s1600/Mbombo_by_dreamsnotover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9dr7HGWokeLwk602qIbAxlkALnV25vPRF3CffPbPUVwvR_mAWPELXyGC75LZkWiDvIj6aG2OijU_AbqMcAaSXa9V2rj7RONZUIdtwW3PWPn10vKS0iccrl1LGZDk-tBaBj6-8sqWr4O0/s1600/Mbombo_by_dreamsnotover.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mbombo-146181980" target="_blank">Mbombo by dreamsnotover</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Mbombo Creates the World</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness and water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All were ruled by the god Mbombo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, he had a terrible pain in his
stomach and vomited up the sun, the moon, and the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was light everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rays of the sun made some of the water
turn to steam and rise up to make clouds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dry hills emerged as the level of the water dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mbombo vomited once again, and trees, then
animals and people emerged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among
everything there was one trouble-maker and that was lightning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It caused so much trouble that it was
eventually chased into the sky.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A similar myth comes from the Boshongo people of Central Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this creation story it is Bumba, not
Mbombo, who creates the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
version has Bumba create Koy Bumba, the leopard; Ganda Bumba, the crocodile;
and the Kono Bumba, the tortoise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men
were created last, including Yoko Yima, who was white like Bumba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The animals that were created by Bumba
created other animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the
crocodile created snakes and the heron created birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This myth also includes the trouble maker, lightning,
known here as Tsete, who was confined to the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is said to occasionally strike her old
home in anger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Efik people of present day Nigeria and parts of Cameroon tell of
Abassi who created the world and Atai, his wife, who created death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following myth is about the creation of
man and the origin of death.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38GH5pCPNWeVS2DrP2shJNj36shyphenhyphenmoGn1uAYBGpwuUWHF0MY9ebw586lrviCfvc-mto4oBbvfxypjTNhYppDfe__14ygE9B7bUmMPZt3rmDhbUo6DyjcSDFtnOQCGoqQZQkv9HXA_rh_E/s1600/577803aa672914c7dc4ed01d327de06c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38GH5pCPNWeVS2DrP2shJNj36shyphenhyphenmoGn1uAYBGpwuUWHF0MY9ebw586lrviCfvc-mto4oBbvfxypjTNhYppDfe__14ygE9B7bUmMPZt3rmDhbUo6DyjcSDFtnOQCGoqQZQkv9HXA_rh_E/s1600/577803aa672914c7dc4ed01d327de06c.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/157344580703812697/" target="_blank">Atai: Goddess of Creation & Death</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Creators of Life and Death</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Abassi created the world and the first man and woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Abassi did not want anyone to compete
with him, he decided that the people he had created could not be allowed to
live on Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wife, Atai, disagreed
with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She insisted that Abassi allow
the couple to settle on Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abassi
finally permitted them to do so but with two conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could neither grow their own food nor
have children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make it unnecessary
for the couple to grow crops or hunt, Abassi rang a bell to summon them to the
sky, where they ate all their meals with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The woman, however, began to till the soil and produce food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her husband agreed that the food she grew was
better than the food Abassi gave them, so he joined her in the fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The couple stopped having meals with
Abassi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In time, they also began to have
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atai reassured him that humans
would never be his equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep people
in their place, she sent Death into the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Death slew the human couple and caused disagreements among their
children.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Fang or Fan tribe who inhabit areas of what is now Gabon, Cameroon,
and Equatorial Guinea have the following ex nihilo myth which tells of creation
and the fall of humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Nzame: God of Three Parts</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>In the beginning there was only Nzame, who was God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was made up of three parts: Nzame, Mebere,
and Nkwa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nzame created the universe and
the earth, which he breathed life into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then Nzame called upon Mebere and Nkwa to view his creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘What do you think?’ he asked them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Is there anything else I need to make?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mebere and Nkwa both agreed that Nzame needed
to create a chief for the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Nzame created the elephant, the leopard, and the monkey who he made joint
chiefs of the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he found
himself unsatisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Nzame, Mebere,
and Nkwa created a creature which resembled them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The creature took his strength from Nzame,
his leadership from </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Mebere, and his beauty from Nkwa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three-parted God named this created Fam,
meaning Power, and ordered him to take charge of the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God then returned to the place above the
world.</em></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGXyNKL0VLSnKyZaM8G2iQf9F-VhlqD_csrd7QRjgcpba_0C75OtwKquH9Fa6d4S0F33LDZr8fsTemlZffA8fiGrgx1g1cB_mzYpQZGFjOREhVdgDy-r01li34Kc8-OGj3Fx130hpoYBe/s1600/Nzame_creates_the_first_rulers_by_FireGlass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGXyNKL0VLSnKyZaM8G2iQf9F-VhlqD_csrd7QRjgcpba_0C75OtwKquH9Fa6d4S0F33LDZr8fsTemlZffA8fiGrgx1g1cB_mzYpQZGFjOREhVdgDy-r01li34Kc8-OGj3Fx130hpoYBe/s1600/Nzame_creates_the_first_rulers_by_FireGlass.jpg" height="332" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nzame-creates-the-first-rulers-34815615" target="_blank">Nzame creates the first rulers by FireGlass</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">For a time there was peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
first three chiefs – the elephant, the leopard, and the monkey – obeyed the
orders of Fam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Fam soon grew to become
arrogant and proud and cruel to the animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He stopped worshipping Nzame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Let
Nzame be where he is; I rule here,’ Fam sang and, when Nzame heard the son, he
became angry and demanded to know who was singing the song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Look for him,’ Fam responded rudely,
enraging Nzame, who brought down thunder and lightning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He destroyed everything on earth except Fam,
who had been promised life without death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Fam still remains, unseen, and creates trouble whenever he wishes.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Looking down at the now barren earth, Nzame decided that something
needed to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the three-parted
God applied a new layer of soil to the ground and when a tree sprouted from it
he made it drop seeds to make new trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the leaves fell into water, they transformed into fish and when
they fell upon the earth, the leaves transformed into animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the earth was as we now know it and, if
you dig down far enough you willo find the old burned earth, which we know to
be coal.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">After this, Nzame decided to make a new Fam, only this one would one
day experience death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know this
creature as the ancestor Sekume.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sekume
created Mbongwe, the first woman, from a tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These first ancestors were made with Body and Soul, with Soul giving life
to Body as well as its shadow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Body
dies, Soul doesn’t die with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soul is
the tiny spot in the middle of the eye; a spot like a star in the heavens or
the fire in the hearth.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sekume and Mbongwe had many children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were always wary of Fam, who was always tunnelling up from the
place beneath the earth where Nzame had put him to do evil things to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why the people tell their children to
think before they speak in case Fam is listening, at the ready to bring them
trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Buganda people of Uganda tell the following creation myth of Kintu,
the first man, and Ggulu, the creator.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mv6bPYINMkq7UGX-_X4UuwV3OWm7ZSY2ck7IYax4e6nK4zfLe8jg7FZSzzlRnYRM5p9Q7M7oQNPx4qG81xnluc5dLIyi4l1RsSS3RICvHPfG3ZQ3dzxyATP41ARAFE_aBOe7ZCK1GECG/s1600/14-kintu-and-nambi-gloria-ssali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mv6bPYINMkq7UGX-_X4UuwV3OWm7ZSY2ck7IYax4e6nK4zfLe8jg7FZSzzlRnYRM5p9Q7M7oQNPx4qG81xnluc5dLIyi4l1RsSS3RICvHPfG3ZQ3dzxyATP41ARAFE_aBOe7ZCK1GECG/s1600/14-kintu-and-nambi-gloria-ssali.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/featured/14-kintu-and-nambi-gloria-ssali.html" target="_blank">Kintu and Nambi by Gloria Ssali</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Kintu, the First Man</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>In a distant past, Kintu was the only person on the earth, living alone
with his cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ggulu, the creator of all
things, lived up in heaven with his many children, who occasionally came down
to earth to play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one of these
occasions, Ggulu’s daughter Nambi and some of her brothers encountered Kintu
and his cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nambi instantly liked Kintu
and made the decision to stay and to marry him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her brothers, however, pleaded with her to return to heaven so she could
ask her father for his blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nambi
eventually agreed and, with Kintu, went to heaven to ask for Ggulu’s permission
to marry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ggulu was not pleased, but he
gave the couple his blessing and advised them to leave heaven secretly to
prevent Walumbe, who was ‘that which causes sickness and death’, from insisting
that he go with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was feared that
he would bring them misery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Kintu and
Nambi set off for earth the next morning, taking Nambi’s chicken with
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, during their journey, Nambi
realized that she’d forgotten the millet which he chicken liked to eat and
while Kintu tried to stop her, Nambi returned to get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way back Nambi met Walumbe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She refused to tell him where she was going
but Walumbe was filled with curiosity and followed her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so Walumbe is the origin of all sickness,
death, and suffering on earth.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another creation myth of Uganda comes from the Lugbara tribe, who can
also be found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2xsjWOo7XRTHPsYKrsNnHHUfAbZm_SlhoXnQSMhUcuUYM17hKT76g-xw4KmkWmYuEwxxErUQBfcZ1ucnd0-O3rhRMgKlSKZ8zLzY37xA-SiiuI0ievCz8HwQ08Z7QBYYNcDGeXUAxhu7/s1600/africanspirit11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2xsjWOo7XRTHPsYKrsNnHHUfAbZm_SlhoXnQSMhUcuUYM17hKT76g-xw4KmkWmYuEwxxErUQBfcZ1ucnd0-O3rhRMgKlSKZ8zLzY37xA-SiiuI0ievCz8HwQ08Z7QBYYNcDGeXUAxhu7/s1600/africanspirit11.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/" target="_blank">African Spirit Series II by Ricardo Chávez-Méndez</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Gborogboro and Meme</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The people are all of one blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The creator, Adronga ‘ba o’bapiri, made this blood ex nihilo for the
first two creatures he placed here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
were Gborogboro, meaning Sky Person, and Meme, meaning Big Body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together they were a form of Heaven and
Earth, and the two were married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meme
was full of wild animals and these sprang out from her womb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this, the creator filled her womb with
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other versions have Gborogboro
and Meme couple, with Meme conceiving a boy and a girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the boy and girl coupled and brought
forth another boy and girl, who did the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is sometimes said that some of these brother-sister pairs never
coupled, with the women becoming pregnant when goat’s blood was poured over
their legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People also tell of how
humans and their creator were eventually separated and that the people, who all
carry the same blood, were separated into black and white.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Maasai can be found in Kenya and Tanzania and number around
400,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here the creator is known as
Enkai.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Enkai the Creator</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>When time began, there was Enkai, who created the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From a tree, which he split into three parts,
Enkai created humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From one part he
made the father of the Maasai, who he gave a stick with which animals could be
herded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the other two parts Enkai
created the Kikuyu and Kamba fathers, giving the Kikuyu a hoe with which to
farm the land and giving the Kamba a bow and arrow with which to hunt.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another Maasai account of creation tells of Ngai, meaning sky, who the
creator of everything , who is neither male nor female, but has two main
manifestations who are Ngai Narok and Ngai Na-nyokie: Ngai Narok is black, good,
and benevolent where Ngai Na-nyokie is red and angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is due </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9br8IQ_BVOwRmSGjJZDHFruMugGiteWAbi8EOOF4OIAU1rDbZZ_hC752Q2sUtSEKz-WAhMA01BqkmOLQzHkRJPzOEhLnFfju7HyyKHmaWh5VTJVVMgtmEH2dEhA-KBkk2ru9z-wo8Fp0/s1600/ngai_by_sirregynald-d7xboln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9br8IQ_BVOwRmSGjJZDHFruMugGiteWAbi8EOOF4OIAU1rDbZZ_hC752Q2sUtSEKz-WAhMA01BqkmOLQzHkRJPzOEhLnFfju7HyyKHmaWh5VTJVVMgtmEH2dEhA-KBkk2ru9z-wo8Fp0/s1600/ngai_by_sirregynald-d7xboln.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ngai-479235659" target="_blank">Ngai by SirRegynald</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to the following story that the
cattle and fig trees are sacred to the Maasai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Small ceremonies take place whenever they pass a fig tree – handfuls of
grass are placed between the roots in the belief that it will attract more
cattle from the heavens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The soil is
also considered sacred as it produces the grass on which the cattle feed and,
as such, the Maasai are unwilling to break the ground, even to bury their dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Ngai Sends the Sacred Cattle</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>In the beginning, Ngai was one with the earth, and owned all the cattle
that lived upon it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day the earth
separated from the sky, also separating Ngai and the cattle from man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the cattle needed grass from the earth to
survive, so Ngai sent to cattle to earth and to the Maasai, who he asked to
look after the cattle, using the roots of the sacred wild fig tree</em>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Hadza of Tanzania, who number just under 1,000, have a creation
myth to explain how the Hadza people came to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1r6rR7IYV2IoM4UFJUPUPJN8gc9kaJzETQLjIU7TfSEa4ogeDb_4_NLW0hmrov44UfgxWb0yWG28-4LTzaoSZUAw-8HqmAcAQxVXxv_kouE4fKK_bRz8inGCIgkU6L6NQRnR0YasF1Ti/s1600/giraffe_and_giant_baobab_by_deskridge-d6axeui.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1r6rR7IYV2IoM4UFJUPUPJN8gc9kaJzETQLjIU7TfSEa4ogeDb_4_NLW0hmrov44UfgxWb0yWG28-4LTzaoSZUAw-8HqmAcAQxVXxv_kouE4fKK_bRz8inGCIgkU6L6NQRnR0YasF1Ti/s1600/giraffe_and_giant_baobab_by_deskridge-d6axeui.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Giraffe-and-Giant-Baobab-381152106" target="_blank">Giraffe and Giant Baobab by deskridge*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>How the Hadza Came To Be</strong></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Humans descended to the earth on the neck of a giraffe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other versions say that humans climbed down
from a baobab tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A giant ancestor,
known as Hohole, and his wife, Tsikaio, lived at Dungiko in a cave beneath the
rocks where the sun god Haine was unable to follow them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hohole would hunt elephants, giving them one
blow with his stick and putting them in his belt, much like the Hadza carry
home the hyrax they have killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes Hohole walked hundreds of miles and returned home with six
elephants beneath his belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day when
Hohole was hunting, a cobra bit him on his little toe and Hohole died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tsikaio found him and fed on his leg for five
days until she felt strong enough to carry his body to Masako.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here she left him to be devoured by the
birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Tsikaio left to live in a
giant baobab tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After spending six
days in the baobab tree, Tsikaio gave birth to Konzere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hadza are the children of Konzere and his
mother Tsikaio.</em> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The final myth I want to share with you today comes from the Wapangwa
of Tanzania who tell a story of the creation of the Earth by the excrement of tree
ants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here the catalyst of creation is ‘the
Word’, who is the ultimate creator.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WFoTTN1mC5CnC4JuilAQEf79geqeWYlg8qoipajgX3-YPQcHKzYYZ52vfGFbBRcSWcDY_RfGb0N6Yh_nZ4V83277dVEC0QG_9nwOTrnmux3rcOfzcKa4zteN_boJECk6_elIG6potkXG/s1600/leaf_cutter_ants_01___june_12_by_mszafran-d596qjg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WFoTTN1mC5CnC4JuilAQEf79geqeWYlg8qoipajgX3-YPQcHKzYYZ52vfGFbBRcSWcDY_RfGb0N6Yh_nZ4V83277dVEC0QG_9nwOTrnmux3rcOfzcKa4zteN_boJECk6_elIG6potkXG/s1600/leaf_cutter_ants_01___june_12_by_mszafran-d596qjg.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Leaf-Cutter-Ants-01-June-12-317761756" target="_blank">Leaf Cutter Ants by mszafran</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Word – Origin of the Earth<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The sky was large, white, and very clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was empty; there were no stars and no
moon; only a tree stood in the air and there was no wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tree fed on the atmosphere and ants
lived on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wind, tree ants, and
atmosphere were controlled by the power of the Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Word was not something that could be
seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a forces that enabled on
thing to create another.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One day the wind was annoyed about the tree, as it stood in tis
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It blew with all its force until it
carried away a branch carrying white ants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This branch was carried through the air for a while, then it left the
air current, and fell down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the ants
were left with little food, because they fed on the leaves of the tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They decided to eat all the leaves at once
and so, leaving a large leaf to excrete on, they ate all the other leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their excrement became a large heap.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">When they found themselves without food, they began to eat their own
excrement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They chewed it until it was
twice as big as before; and they continued to re-chew and digest their
excrement until it became an enormous mountain, that grew and grew and finally approached
the tree of origin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the mountain
rested on the tree and the ants had leaves enough to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they had become so used to the new form
of life that they could not abandon it now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They continued to chew their excrement until they had created an
enormous object – the Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Still the wind blew and it was so strong that parts of the excrement
began to harden into stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the
Word sent snow and, after this, a warmer wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This melted the snow and brought an immense flood which killed the ants
and flooded the Earth.</span></em><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMDLywQ0Se0vtJHnpJn-evN1a4WxI9UQueET1ji4JnmUrGxlsTna4LPF38h_REZQQpMSkmta3SErSpc9xtzXWK0EV_D_t3ybbAuVHOU5h5tQPjfeOovwtduhvt4FlGtku_EroGWSYWE3T/s1600/tree_of_life_by_ferdinandladera-d6pkq22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMDLywQ0Se0vtJHnpJn-evN1a4WxI9UQueET1ji4JnmUrGxlsTna4LPF38h_REZQQpMSkmta3SErSpc9xtzXWK0EV_D_t3ybbAuVHOU5h5tQPjfeOovwtduhvt4FlGtku_EroGWSYWE3T/s1600/tree_of_life_by_ferdinandladera-d6pkq22.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Tree-of-life-405754346" target="_blank">Tree of Life by FerdinandLadera*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Time passed and the earth joined with the world tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other trees and plants began to grow; rivers
and oceans began to form; and the air birthed new beings which flew above the
land singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These creatures soon
descended to the Earth where they transformed into animals, birds, and humans.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">These new beings found that they were hungry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The animals wished to eat the Tree of Life,
but the humans fiercely defended it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
difference in opinion brought war between humans and animals, and it is this that
led to humans eating animals and vice versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The war was so brutal that pieces of the earth broke away and flew off
into space, gaining heat and transforming into the sun, moon, and stars.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">When the war came to an end new gods came into being, along with rain,
thunder, and lightning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another creature
was also created: a long-tailed sheep with a single horn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This creature was so happy that the war had
ended that it leapt into the air and catching fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She became the source of thunder and
lightning.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The new gods were very harsh on humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They told the people that the sheep of thunder and lightning had killed
the Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As punishment, the people
would be shrunk and would ultimately be consumed by fire.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">That's all for today. Next time we will continue in our exploration of the creation mythology of Africa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/African-Myths-Origin-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421146063&sr=8-1&keywords=African+Myths+of+Origin+by+Stephen+Belcher" target="_blank">African Myths of Origin by Stephen Belcher<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/African-Mythology-Around-World/dp/1404207686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421146100&sr=8-1&keywords=African+Mythology+by+Sandra+Giddens+%26+Owen+Giddens" target="_blank">African Mythology by Sandra Giddens & Owen Giddens<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/African-Mythology-Patricia-Ann-Lynch/dp/1604134151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421146158&sr=8-1&keywords=African+Mythology+A+to+Z+by+Patricia+Ann+Lynch" target="_blank">African Mythology A to Z by Patricia Ann Lynch</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hadza-Hunter-Gatherers-Tanzania-Origins-Behavior/dp/0520253426/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421146198&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Hadza%3A+Hunter-gatherers+of+Tanzania+by+Frank+Marlowe" target="_blank">The Hadza: Hunter-gatherers of Tanzania by Frank Marlowe</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421146236&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World+by+David+Adams+Leeming" target="_blank">Creation Myths of the World by David Adams Leeming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://freethoughtnation.com/garden-of-eden-originally-a-pygmy-myth/" target="_blank">Freethought Nation</a></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/africa/Republic_of_Uganda/index.html" target="_blank">Glance at Africa<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://prezi.com/_4su9h-jbbcm/the-maasai-tribe/" target="_blank">The Maasai Tribe by Katie Panichella</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/beliefs.htm" target="_blank">Maasai – Religion and Beliefs</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~jh8h/Foundations/theword.html" target="_blank">Foundations of Modern Cosmology </a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-61751720206293084812015-01-09T12:47:00.001+00:002015-01-26T13:10:53.291+00:00Creation Mythology: Polynesia - Part Two<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yesterday we looked at several creation myths from some of the islands
of Polynesia – New Zealand, Nauru, and Tonga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today we will further explore the creation mythology of some more of
these islands; namely Samoa, Hawaii and Tahiti.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Samoan Creation Mythology<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">People began to settle on Samoa in around 1000 BC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of their creation myths are very similar
with that found in Tonga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following
creation story is an ex nihilo, or from nothing, myth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjY4zxnLv1_dS5vlofVps4fOecq_IBxYUfhrJVa_RaDSTG_pECKJRF99IhyphenhyphenGW2-zC2fohhXd6-2soY57-amxxdwxDj2BOQ7Adf9f0nPfXNYEFmcrrIAxtCBVTy3ropXsApZs-RGAwgCjHd/s1600/tangaloa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjY4zxnLv1_dS5vlofVps4fOecq_IBxYUfhrJVa_RaDSTG_pECKJRF99IhyphenhyphenGW2-zC2fohhXd6-2soY57-amxxdwxDj2BOQ7Adf9f0nPfXNYEFmcrrIAxtCBVTy3ropXsApZs-RGAwgCjHd/s1600/tangaloa.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://glitternight.com/2013/04/30/the-top-deities-in-samoan-mythology/" target="_blank">Tangaloa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tangaloa-fa’atutupu’nu’u Creates Samoa<o:p></o:p></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>High in space Tangaloa-fa’atutupu-nu’u paced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was very much alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he stood still, a rock began to
grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaloa commanded the rock to
split and it did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon other rocks
formed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the words and ideas
of the Samoans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tanaloa-fa’atutupu-nu’u
hit the first rock and it brought forth the Earth and the Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rocks began to speak to one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tanagloa the Creator, however, spoke on many
occasions with the first rock, which soon brought forth the sky, space, fresh
water, maleness, femaleness, Man, Spirit, Heart, Will, and Thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then that Tangaloa told the rock that
Spirit, Thought, Will, and Heart should combine within Man, and so they
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaloa decreed that Man would
join with Earth to bring forth a couple, who were Fatu and ‘Ele-ele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two were to populate a particular part
of the Earth.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'Chief-to-Prop-up-the-Sky,’ was commanded to hold the
sky above the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While, in the
beginning he was unsuccessful, he soon learned to make posts to complete his
task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, at this time only
Immensity and Space existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
Immensity and Space who made Night and Day, who were called Po and Ao.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These made the nine heavens.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">After this Tangaloa-the-Creator created Tangaloa-the-Immovable, who was
chief of the sky, and Tangaloa-the-Messenger, who acted as the Creator’s
ambassador to the other heavens.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Night and Day lived in a lower heaven, where they brought forth Manu’a,
Samoa, Sun, and Moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Night and Day,
along with their offspring, were summoned by the Messenger to attend a council
with the Creator and the Immovable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
they were told that Manu’a and Samoa were to descend where they would become
chief of the descendants of Fatu and ‘Ele-ele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first lands upon the Earth were the Samoan, Fiji, and Tonga
islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To populate these places with
people, the Creator took worms found on harvested Fue, the ‘People-making plant’
and fashioned humans.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another Samoan creation myth finds Tangaloa-Langi, the creator, in a
cosmic egg, from which he hatches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
pieces of the egg shell are said to have fallen into the ocean where they
became the Samoan Islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A myth that
stemmed from this is that of Tangaloa’s son, Tuli.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is considered as a creation from chaos
and an ex nihilo creation myth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
versions have the Creator drop a stone to create the earth; others have the
Creator bring the stone up from beneath the primordial waters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVj2diVg0JHhuLlsR9r0sMmBrDaseo5w-XdNIsOBjC0FLh8svNwWvPVO-fXPkKwRA8NyT6zSptJASFw2tAQ6JPmZmkogycWW3LeAUTSmVAt3e2ro6I6gwSchySnNxaZk5CPHBtQs5NE8_/s1600/750px-Prosthemadera_novaeseelandiae_-Waikawa,_Marlborough,_New_Zealand-8_(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVj2diVg0JHhuLlsR9r0sMmBrDaseo5w-XdNIsOBjC0FLh8svNwWvPVO-fXPkKwRA8NyT6zSptJASFw2tAQ6JPmZmkogycWW3LeAUTSmVAt3e2ro6I6gwSchySnNxaZk5CPHBtQs5NE8_/s1600/750px-Prosthemadera_novaeseelandiae_-Waikawa,_Marlborough,_New_Zealand-8_(2).jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://birdingforpleasure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mystery-of-orange-headed-starling.html" target="_blank">Tuli</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Creation of Gods and Men<o:p></o:p></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning, the High Rocks, Papatu, united with the Earth Rocks,
Papa’ele, and from them the gods were born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These included Saolevao, who was god of the earth and Saveasi’uleo, who
was god of the underworld, or Pulutu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was in the seventh generation that Tangaloa, who became known as the Creator, came
into being and he had a son, Tuli, a kind of plover bird.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One day, Tuli descended to the primordial waters but there was nowhere
for him to land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Tuli returned to his
father and asked for his help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Creator dropped a stone and the stone transformed into the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here Tuli landed, but he found the rock was
constantly being submerged by the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So Tuli went again to his father and asked for help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator used a fish hook and raised the
rock above the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon other rocks
began to appear on the surface of the water and soon brought forth ‘fue’, which
is a kind of grass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Tuli was still
not satisfied, for there was no one to populate the rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again he asked for his father’s help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The Creator told Tuli to pull up some fue and to allow it to rot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuli did as his father said and soon
discovered two grubs on the rotting grass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the grubs, Tangaloa formed two male beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day the two men went fishing, but
something went wrong and one of them died from an injury caused by Io, a little
fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuli flew back to his father and
told him what had happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaloa
sent his messenger, Ngai-tosi, down to the earth to bring the man back to
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, before doing so, Tangaloa
first changed the sex of the dead man into that of a female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the being was reanimated, it was a
woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two humans came together and
became the parents of the entire human race.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The Creation Myths of Hawaii<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Wondering minds and wandering keels<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When space turned around, the earth heated<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When space turned over, the sky reversed<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the sun appeared standing in shadows<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To cause light to make bright the moon,<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the Pleiades are small eyes in the night,<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the source in the slime was the earth formed<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the source in the dark was darkness formed</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>From the source in the night was the night formed<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the depths of the darkness, darkness so deep<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Darkness of day, darkness of night<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of night alone<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did night give birth<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was Kumulipo in the night, a male<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Born was Ko’ele in the night, a female</em>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><strong>A
Kumulipo chant from 18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century Hawaii<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>
</strong></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMd2MUyzWvK66GSdslYOu_fnAUkG7cyOyX738WEoxlenOjJ9LUSb33Wboqa2C_JlEWBzYfCRPCRy95eob9PftihddyfCAwqbD-mG7KaAVmEMuc-kbqfQ_AoCb_W2SiR9Ba-CZcBO2ruV2B/s1600/beginnings_from_darkness_i_by_zesuri-d5pe036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMd2MUyzWvK66GSdslYOu_fnAUkG7cyOyX738WEoxlenOjJ9LUSb33Wboqa2C_JlEWBzYfCRPCRy95eob9PftihddyfCAwqbD-mG7KaAVmEMuc-kbqfQ_AoCb_W2SiR9Ba-CZcBO2ruV2B/s1600/beginnings_from_darkness_i_by_zesuri-d5pe036.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Beginnings-from-Darkness-I-344974578" target="_blank">Beginning from Darkness by Zesuri</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The following creation myth comes from the Polynesian natives of Hawaii
and can be found in a sacred poem called the Kumulipo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Kumulipo ‘is a genealogical creation
chant’ which was composed in the 18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century for the chief, Ka-‘l-i-mamao.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story contains animistic and emergence
elements and was once chanted at the births of royal children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This signified a new beginning and the relationship
between the child and the plants and animals of the first creation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Creation According to the Kumulipo<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>First out of the very nothing, there was born Kumulipo, who was male
and the essence of darkness, and Po’ele, who was female and the darkness
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave birth to the children
of darkness, shellfish, and the plants that grow from the dark earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon many kinds of creatures of this kind
existed and a bit of light appeared in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The god Kane-i-ka-wai-ola watered the plants.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then deep darkness (male) and darkness with a little light (female)
came into being and bore the fish of the sea, which multiplied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, there was little light to be seen in
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Po’el’ele (who was dark
night and male) was born along with Pohahha, who was female: night becoming
dawn.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this very dim light, Popanopano and Polalowehi came about and gave
rise to the animals like turtles that come to the land from the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, another male and female pair of beings
was born and they gave rise to the pig, Kamapua’a, dark and beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His people, the pigs, began to root around
and cultivate the islands that were now flourishing in the dim light.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet another pair gave rise to Pilo’i the rat, and this was a
mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the rat people scratched
and ate and began to damage the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next, a male and female pair arose whose names meant ‘night leaving’ and
‘night pregnant.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave birth to
dawn, as well as wind… and the dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was Po-kini and Po’he’enalu who gave birth to the time when humans came into
the world, and into this time La’ila’a, the woman, and Ki’I, the man, were
born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was daytime in our world.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5csn_BcjvrfFfJ96CDjNqPEfIypfyNYurGH7DdyjhVxePLGkTR_x6XYtuM9eWdciGztckfMmjIIMqOyf-GW_rK75HvgcenFnWv0JNKWaZgrHBkLxpoE3VXM4DyP5lEkIO0hroXafFu9N6/s1600/Wai-Puna-n_-K_ne-239x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5csn_BcjvrfFfJ96CDjNqPEfIypfyNYurGH7DdyjhVxePLGkTR_x6XYtuM9eWdciGztckfMmjIIMqOyf-GW_rK75HvgcenFnWv0JNKWaZgrHBkLxpoE3VXM4DyP5lEkIO0hroXafFu9N6/s1600/Wai-Puna-n_-K_ne-239x300.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kupiheahawaiianart.com/art-work/pencil-and-ink" target="_blank">Kane by Print Logic Inc.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kane was known as the leading god to those of Hawaii when missionaries
began to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was considered the god
of procreation and, according to the Kumuhonua legend, he formed the three
worlds: the upper heaven of the gods, the lower heaven above the earth, and the
earth itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was done with the
help of the powerful gods Ku and Lono.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Kane Creates the Earth and Man<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Ever so long before the memories of mankind, the great gods, Kane,
Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono came forth out of the night and created the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sea, however, had always been.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kane, God of Creation, picked up a vast calabash floating in the sea,
and tossed it high into the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its top
flew off and became the curved bowl, sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Two great pieces of the calabash broke away; one became the sun, the
other the moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seeds scattered and
became stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remainder became the
earth and fell back into the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The great God of Creation Kane told the others, ‘I shall make a chief
to rule over this earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us together
provide for all of his needs.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kanaloa, god of the forever endless seas, said, ‘I will fill the waters
with living things, creatures of the sea for the chief’s use and delight.’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOo0LUXsXdTgYbGafu6Bz2StoltrM5RHjamsAFLzLUhLK6T9aHW0ESav-sGpCAUmDlNiDn_vV_hDh3xxKsO0K56c3jQijC7SajlT1jE24JXg1TW53V0G7DvSMR9td6jk1BkqgCUGji2dMd/s1600/molokai_linda_johnston_pono.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOo0LUXsXdTgYbGafu6Bz2StoltrM5RHjamsAFLzLUhLK6T9aHW0ESav-sGpCAUmDlNiDn_vV_hDh3xxKsO0K56c3jQijC7SajlT1jE24JXg1TW53V0G7DvSMR9td6jk1BkqgCUGji2dMd/s1600/molokai_linda_johnston_pono.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://molokai-art-hawaii.com/art-prints.html" target="_blank">Pono Passage, Kanaloa, by Linda Kanani Johnston</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Born was the coral,<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the starfish,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the conch shell;<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the fish,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the porpoise,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the shark in the oceans there swimming.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Ku, god of forests, said, ‘I shall make trees grow, trees to provide
wood for the chief.’</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-ZXDtkBKdVEqzJW5jzpVu-8aWoVNlY8HH0X_k0Bj8HvmHh0Lh5gMMLHcmXOuPdbokGnU6_X1ogfcbYRuB_zzQ2J_lCzwpvQs7WJV4BmmQ6ktj0-PsSH1S0M_JAiwJTZoV6rYE3vg-2dQ/s1600/Ku-God-of-Strength-01-950-pix-72-dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-ZXDtkBKdVEqzJW5jzpVu-8aWoVNlY8HH0X_k0Bj8HvmHh0Lh5gMMLHcmXOuPdbokGnU6_X1ogfcbYRuB_zzQ2J_lCzwpvQs7WJV4BmmQ6ktj0-PsSH1S0M_JAiwJTZoV6rYE3vg-2dQ/s1600/Ku-God-of-Strength-01-950-pix-72-dpi.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-pmrRrS7_ydvYqT5viyavq4viek8fSh5WMreXJD-DBxqkDoSa6xbu9nxOjWnrwUiN5z7jyxKgmSUPYBXOcIOib8AWw1uGlziZm3po2JZQeEcw69rAGqIEM7ShVTgykjVKrTUTPFaWjCj/s1600/Ku-God-of-Strength-01-950-pix-72-dpi.jpg" target="_blank">Ku, by Keith Tuehen</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Thick grew the forests:<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The koa and candlenut;<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thick grew the forests:<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hau, wiliwili and sandalwood.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koa for paddles,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hau for lashings,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soft wiliwili for outrigger floats;<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Woods for the chief’s canoe, swift as an arrow.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Candlenut torches, to light the chief’s way.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandalwood to make a fragrance to rest around the chief’s heart.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Lono, god of growing things, said, ‘I will make food plants to grow
food for the chief with flowers to beautify and please him.’<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Green blades came sprouting:<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Coconut, breadfruit, sweet potato, sugar cane,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taro, banana, arrowroot, yam.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Colourful and fragrant blossoms came sprouting:<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kiele, lehua, ie’ie, maile, iini, tiere, ginger, orchid, Hibiscus,
hala, plumeria.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Kane said, ‘I will fill the earth with living things, land creatures
for the chief’s dominion and use.’<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uqakyijYOAXCuNkhePC3Ed43DTeZ8Ag9ailXHl2CAl3tetyEu7nw9DovbozYhaE0AWFTBbPwBPYB0ZMUi14vNCbgB_7oSUCL2OfIyje4usUUUju2N7nxTiFKhWVDmKIfCX4PjUOL-Gr0/s1600/lono_by_rvxen-d7u0wok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uqakyijYOAXCuNkhePC3Ed43DTeZ8Ag9ailXHl2CAl3tetyEu7nw9DovbozYhaE0AWFTBbPwBPYB0ZMUi14vNCbgB_7oSUCL2OfIyje4usUUUju2N7nxTiFKhWVDmKIfCX4PjUOL-Gr0/s1600/lono_by_rvxen-d7u0wok.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Lono-473694068" target="_blank">Lono by rvxen</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Born was the caterpillar, the parent;<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Out came the child, a butterfly and flew.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born was the egg, the parent;<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Out came its child, the bird and flew.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Land birds were born, birds that fly in a flock,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shutting out the sun.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The sea crept up to the land,<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crept backward, crept forward,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Producing the family of crawlers:<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The rough-backed turtles,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The sleek-skinned geckos,<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mud-dwellers and track-leavers.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>All these things the gods did and it was so.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once all was ready and the earth and seas had been filled with those
things a chief would need, Kane said, ‘It is now the time to go forth and find
what is needed to make a chief.’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Quickly, to the North, South, East, and West went the gods and the
search began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the side of a hill near
the sea, they found a mound of rich, red earth that shone brightly in the
sunrise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They took this to Kane to make
the chief, the one who would rule the earth.</span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IRS0Um5yBoR9GnLAeZZ3YR3eS_-67PCLMhvrkeUjTPFeZV3aUCUVGHpoW1iUuxfOFcf0CS-DVfRuJZ_BaU2aT_88W9U3figdlTOCRqn8ka6aMMT8AoC2zzZ8ndB3dz_rehEo7zlnvbQt/s1600/Linda_Namaka-213x213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IRS0Um5yBoR9GnLAeZZ3YR3eS_-67PCLMhvrkeUjTPFeZV3aUCUVGHpoW1iUuxfOFcf0CS-DVfRuJZ_BaU2aT_88W9U3figdlTOCRqn8ka6aMMT8AoC2zzZ8ndB3dz_rehEo7zlnvbQt/s1600/Linda_Namaka-213x213.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lindarowellstevens.com/paintings/namaka/" target="_blank">Namakaoaha’i by Linda Rowell Stevens</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now Nemakaokaha’i, a sea goddess, was not at all pleased that a chief
should live on the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She felt that
the one who ruled should be of the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yet no matter how she pleaded, Kane would not change his mind.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So it was from the red earth that the great Kane dormed the figure of a
man and breathed life into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I have
shaped this dirt,’ said Kane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Live,
live!’ responded Ku and Lono.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man
spoke, walked about, kneeled, and praised his creators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They named him Ke-li’i-ku-honua, meaning made
from the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave him a delightful
garden in which to live, this was called ‘Great Hawaii of the green back and mottled
seas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gods were pleased.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is all except Namakaoaha’i.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With the help of her sisters; Hi’iaka, goddess of Lightning, and Pele,
goddess of Volcanoes; </span></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTs-ihkdprmyCvbtp9J7LAaGs1BRcP4dn1idAuThq4U6X5Bq8VYNyZlO-1L6sFULS-6f4wPkJBGUnn53I8iOfkqcnM08RAD0xeI_3EtNr82PxQZ9Ltm7l72Zeu2MfcfbHduKqNv4O2DotZ/s1600/055a3c5b358efe8113025c7adf59b4a6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTs-ihkdprmyCvbtp9J7LAaGs1BRcP4dn1idAuThq4U6X5Bq8VYNyZlO-1L6sFULS-6f4wPkJBGUnn53I8iOfkqcnM08RAD0xeI_3EtNr82PxQZ9Ltm7l72Zeu2MfcfbHduKqNv4O2DotZ/s1600/055a3c5b358efe8113025c7adf59b4a6.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/05/5a/3c/055a3c5b358efe8113025c7adf59b4a6.jpg" target="_blank">Hi'iaka & Pele</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">and secretly Kanaloa, Namakaokaha’I stole away a piece of
the rich, red earth that Kane used to make the chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She mixed it with the sands of the oceans taken
from the very bottom of the endless sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With the combined strengths and powers of sea, lightning and volcano,
Namakaokaha’I, Hi’iaka, and Pele brought forth light into the figure they had
formed, the ruler of the sea… and, maybe, someday she would also rule the land.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The Creation Mythology of Tahiti<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tahiti is one of the French Polynesian islands and is at the centre of
Polynesian culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their creation myths
have an animistic quality and, starting with the cosmic egg, have qualities
of an ex nihilo creation myth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The Great God Taaroa</strong> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning of time, before the earth was formed, the great god
Taaroa simply existed in space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
became the universe and was the very start of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taaroa is within, under, above and the
universe is his shell.</em></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-xIwfdMmpxXjuFPGftnbVkhPmXlfU4mE0V9AFxP4sG8-GbExS2qEwKwaZJKVarWqGdGYbyquN-9zetPnB9LzWlhKg6DFONKNNJZwNYSY2qUmBrMU58rixm7W1DztKhltEc4hgIt9T00F/s1600/3f23e10ddaf10a196009ea3281cdd8d3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-xIwfdMmpxXjuFPGftnbVkhPmXlfU4mE0V9AFxP4sG8-GbExS2qEwKwaZJKVarWqGdGYbyquN-9zetPnB9LzWlhKg6DFONKNNJZwNYSY2qUmBrMU58rixm7W1DztKhltEc4hgIt9T00F/s1600/3f23e10ddaf10a196009ea3281cdd8d3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/3f/23/e1/3f23e10ddaf10a196009ea3281cdd8d3.jpg" target="_blank">Taaroa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was said that Taaroa lived in an egg-like shell and that, when he
broke free of the shell, he held up this shell to make Rumia, the
dome-sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earth he made of
himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His spine was transformed into
a range of mountains; his ribs became the hills; his fingernails transformed to
become shells and scales, and his feathers became trees and plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing the great god kept was his
head.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then Taaroa made the gods and many other things, an, d, just as the
great god had a shell, so d all other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The sky is a shell, the earth is a shell for all that lives upon it, and
woman is the shell for human beings, for we are all born of woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And Taaroa soon brought a man out of the earth, which is to say out of
himself, for Taaroa is the rock of the earth’s centre and the earth’s
surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This man became known as Ti’i.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taaroa also created the first woman and her name
was Hina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Hina could see backwards
and forwards and she was good, where Ti’I was bad, for he felt malice toward
humans.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon war broke out amongst the gods in Heaven and amongst men on Earth,
making both Taaroa and his assistant Tu furious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two cursed creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was Hima who prevented the world’s
destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, when a storm forms in
the sky, it is Hima who makes it disperse, and wwhen leaves fall from the
trees, it is Hima who makes new leaves grow.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s all for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next time
we will begin to explore the creation mythology of Africa.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806311&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+by+David+Adams+Leeming" target="_blank">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Polynesian-Mythology-World/dp/1576078949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806384&sr=8-1&keywords=Handbook+of+Polynesian+Mythology+by+Robert+D.+Craig" target="_blank">Handbook of Polynesian Mythology by Robert D. Craig<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Folktales-America-Anthology/dp/0195117840/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806429&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths%2C+Legends%2C+and+Folktales+of+America%3A+An+Anthology+by+David+Leeming" target="_blank">Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology by David Leeming<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pacific-Islands-Encyclopedia-Lal/dp/082482265X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806471&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Pacific+Islands%3A+An+Encyclopedia%2C" target="_blank">The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1 edited by Brij V. Lal& Kate Fortune</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GBTXlAtNqXgC&pg=PR3&lpg=PR3&dq=A+Hawai%E2%80%99i+Anthology+edited+by+Joseph+Stanton&source=bl&ots=54jfHL8i40&sig=j9saKrYsmjHZC1jNJ7Z-abu3xBA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qsmvVNK_OcvpaMG-gtgE&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=A%20Hawai%E2%80%99i%20Anthology%20edited%20by%20Joseph%20Stanton&f=false" target="_blank">A Hawai’i Anthology edited by Joseph Stanton<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Mermaids-Waiahuakua-Kohana-Au/dp/1770675663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806631&sr=8-1&keywords=Tales+of+the+Mermaids+of+Waiahuakua+by+Kohana+Au" target="_blank">Tales of the Mermaids of Waiahuakua by Kohana Au<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawaiian-Myths-Earth-Kolowalu-Books/dp/0824811712/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806690&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Hawaiian+Myths+of+Earth%2C+Sea%2C+and+Sky+by+Vivian+Lauback+Thompson" target="_blank">Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Vivian Lauback Thompson<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Polynesian-Mythology-Robert-Craig/dp/0313258902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420806748&sr=8-1&keywords=Dictionary+of+Polynesian+Mythology+by+Robert+D.+Craig" target="_blank">Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology by Robert D. Craig<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-995177269096001092015-01-08T09:44:00.000+00:002015-01-23T11:24:22.008+00:00Creation Mythology: Polynesia - Part One<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today we are going to begin looking at the creation mythology of the
Polynesians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polynesia itself means ‘many
islands’ and the area of the Polynesian Triangle covers roughly 16 million
square miles of Pacific ocean, including thousands of islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These islands include Hawaii, Samoa, New
Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, and Tonga, although there are many, many more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Polynesian creation mythologies have
many similarities, they also have many differences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlWPyEAz8TnZxTfRmBKT7mzSIiaygsPwJgikjCjrNVGfIBePnXwuFXjUPhATyE6H0aWtHbZGesAbHuJGSgT7J5phAlFUgPmpEZQiHU7KkhUG9dc-YlazT4Rs3eNQb2CCv6vQL8Is704il/s1600/Pacific_Culture_Areas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlWPyEAz8TnZxTfRmBKT7mzSIiaygsPwJgikjCjrNVGfIBePnXwuFXjUPhATyE6H0aWtHbZGesAbHuJGSgT7J5phAlFUgPmpEZQiHU7KkhUG9dc-YlazT4Rs3eNQb2CCv6vQL8Is704il/s1600/Pacific_Culture_Areas.jpg" height="416" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia#mediaviewer/File:Pacific_Culture_Areas.jpg" target="_blank">Map of Polynesia, Micronesia & Melanesia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>New Zealand and Maori Creation Mythology<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Maori people have inhabited the island of New Zealand since the
1200s and their mythology concerns ‘profound spiritual matters and the nature
of Being itself.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following creation
story involves the union of Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth), with some versions
including the supreme being Io.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9m6xi6rPjdaVbjpsw3XRdvz7XSSZ5Sm0J8zr1352zYxRHRbpRHoLVfSULizpILY-2wHNs08Ee0rU4vyCuu6YKmV5wfQ6IZnLOz5Hr7wUUs-b9mWPBgienwM7e98rCxcF_fZGOkJPhI93/s1600/Rangi_and_Papa_by_dreamsnotover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9m6xi6rPjdaVbjpsw3XRdvz7XSSZ5Sm0J8zr1352zYxRHRbpRHoLVfSULizpILY-2wHNs08Ee0rU4vyCuu6YKmV5wfQ6IZnLOz5Hr7wUUs-b9mWPBgienwM7e98rCxcF_fZGOkJPhI93/s1600/Rangi_and_Papa_by_dreamsnotover.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Rangi-and-Papa-146183672" target="_blank">Rangi and Papa by dreamsnotover</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Papa and Rangi<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>At the beginning of time, Rangi and Papa, the sky and the earth, were
lovers, and a number of children were born from their union but remained
confined between their two bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Papa
gave them refuge in the roomiest places between her breasts and under her
armpits, and she became known as Mother Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the children grew, they became extremely frustrated by the darkness
and their cramped position and began complaining to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the children, there were six that
dominated the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tanagra (the fish),
Rongomatane (the ‘Kumara’, or sweet potato), Haumiariketike (the rhizome of the
bracken fern), Tanemahura (the trees and birds), Tawhirimatea (the wind), and
Tuamataunega (the human).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuamatauenga
was ferocious and suggested that the parents be killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first this suggestion was well received,
but Tane felt compassion for his parents and, after skilful oration to the
council, had the proposal changed to separating the two from each other.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> But not everyone agreed and Tawhitimatea whistled out his
disapproval: ‘You are playing with foolish ideas here between the two; we are
hidden and safe from harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haven’t you
already said they are our mother and father?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be careful Tane, you speak words that shame us.’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Others spoke in turn and said that they wanted light and room to
stretch their cramped limbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘We need
freedom and space,’ they shouted.<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The children eventually agreed to have Rangi pushed away into the
distance so that they could remain with the earth-mother.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tawhirimatea blew as hard as he could, but with little effect, so the
council pushed the Wind aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rongomatane, the father of cultivation, stood up and, pressing his
shoulders against Rangi, their sky-father, tried to straighten himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They heard him puff and pant in the darkness,
but nothing happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Tangaroa, the
sea, added his strength, and then Haumiatiketike (wild food), and finally
Tuamatauenga (war) assisted, but to no avail.</span></em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34pfJqoxOlBJxdoe7Cue0-Ks5Fggma-u2RVUB3vm0-ZL9zR0XXyLz6laAwrHpYLSTnwISuGIyY0Z0ScFc6ks_1nFVTUffpe2EzjhWJYhXOGZOdtGWq_CCGJxorwTXNNR9_qGo1sxZRdK5/s1600/taneupclose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34pfJqoxOlBJxdoe7Cue0-Ks5Fggma-u2RVUB3vm0-ZL9zR0XXyLz6laAwrHpYLSTnwISuGIyY0Z0ScFc6ks_1nFVTUffpe2EzjhWJYhXOGZOdtGWq_CCGJxorwTXNNR9_qGo1sxZRdK5/s1600/taneupclose.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.artfind.co.nz/artwork/taneupclose" target="_blank">Tane Mahuta's Triumph by Jane Crisp </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tane, the forest, rose to his feet, and for as long as he could hold
his breath, he stood silent and still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, gathering all his strength, Tane stood upside down and, with his
hands on Papa and his feet firmly placed against Rangi, straightened his back
to thrust upwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A low moan was heard
through the earth-mother as Rangi’s arms were wrenched loose from grasping his
lover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a loud scream, Rangi was
hurled upwards, and the angry winds rushed in to fill the space that opened
between Rangi and Papa, sky-father and earth-mother.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, as Tane and his brothers looked around, the brightness of the
light swept across the landscape and they saw for the first time the beauteous
curves of their mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as Rangi
grieved for her, his tears dropped upon her and a silver mist came to cover her
bare shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Tane had
separated his parents, he loved them both and set to work to clothe his mother
with a beauty that had not been known before, not even in their dream during
the time in the darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being creative
was all new to him, and he made numerous mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tane brought his own children, the trees, and
set them upon her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was as a child
without education, whose wisdom had not been born out of experience, and he
planted some trees with their tops in the soil and their bare white roots in
the air, and these were stiff and unmoving in the breeze.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the tired Tane rested against one of these trees, he frowned at the
strange sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where could he put the
birds and insects that would bring glowing colours, joy, and laughter to the
forest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took a giant kauri tree and
pushed it over, planting its roots firmly in the soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There the kauri spread a glorious crown of
leaves that made music in the breeze, and Tane knew this was right.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So the earth became a beautiful place, and the Maori people emerged
from the bush to live happily in the open spaces. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Tane saw that Rangi was cold, grey,
and miserable, thrust out into space as he was, and he felt sorry for his
desolate father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tane took the red sun
and placed it one Rangi’s back and attached the silver moon to his front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still there was something missing, Tane
thought, and he searched up and down the ten heavens until he found a
bright-red cloak.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, being exhausted after the long search, he rested for seven
days before he took the cloak and spread it over the earth from east to west
and north to south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still Tane was not
satisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Rangi glowed
brightly, Tane felt that the cloak was not worthy of his father, so he stripped
it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A portion of the cloak had
somehow become stuck to Rangi, and it tore off, and it is this piece that can
be seen during some sunsets and some dawns.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rangi and Papa were happy except for a time at night when Marama, the
moon, was slow to appear and everything became dark again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one such time, Tane told them that he
would go and search for some adornment to brighten them both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he heard a mysterious sigh from above,
Tane knew that they were well pleased and set off in his search.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tane wondered what jewels he could find for his parents, and he
remembered the Shining Ones, who played in the great mountains at the very end
of all things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He travelled quickly to
the end of the world, and even further out into the unknown, from where he
could not see even the smiling face of Papa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There on the great mountain Mauganui he met his brother Uru, and
together they watched Uru’s children, the Shining Ones, playing in the sand at
the foot of the mountain.</span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_tFW7AdGEHNEhmj2w5rxWFUqV92qnam6wqsmTDVWpZVZiVHcdGqRdHRI9dIDGFB4mEGeW9CXPXHlr02DC1T5JsUOerxJ8Zbhy_kLNymTg_kmbAZHl7AGXK0i5ESXZBAQnGnxyW8G3PyI/s1600/abstract-art-background-basket-brick-collecting-Favim.com-39223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_tFW7AdGEHNEhmj2w5rxWFUqV92qnam6wqsmTDVWpZVZiVHcdGqRdHRI9dIDGFB4mEGeW9CXPXHlr02DC1T5JsUOerxJ8Zbhy_kLNymTg_kmbAZHl7AGXK0i5ESXZBAQnGnxyW8G3PyI/s1600/abstract-art-background-basket-brick-collecting-Favim.com-39223.jpg" height="319" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://favim.com/image/39223/" target="_blank">A Basket Full of Stars artist unknown</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Tane told Uru all that had happened, he too was deeply moved and
roared out so that a sound like thunder rolled down the mountainside, and the
Shining Ones came running up the slope towards the two brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Tane watched them glowing, twinkling, and
lighting up the mountain grotto, he smiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing what delight the children gave to Tane, Uru gave him a basket
stuffed with the glowing lights.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Tane picked the basket up and flew swiftly towards his father,
Rangi, and placed a sacred light in each corner of the sky, and five glowing
ones he placed in the form of a cross on Rangi’s chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other tiny children of light he attached to
Rangis cloak, but he left the rest in the basket, which can be seen hanging in
the heavens with all the soft lights.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That next night, and every other night since, when the sun sank to have
its rest, Tane lay on his back and watched his father shake out his robe till
the heavens were filled with these adornments, the beauty of Rangi and the
glory of the Shining Ones.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Creation Mythology of Nauru<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next myth we will look at comes from the Polynesian island of Nauru.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The myth tells of Areop-Enap, the spider god
of Micronesia, who created the heavens and the earth, and resembles the ‘earth-divider’
creation myths of several North American Indian and Central Asian peoples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some versions of this myth have Old Spider
swallowed by the clam shell; sometimes she enters the shell on her own;
sometimes Old Spider is helped by a caterpillar; other versions have a worm
help her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIWNUIA7RoO26fNzQNyxgxN3HHNW6Zs4dietZvtwk55A_5Hzn3Tp1wS57QQXeK17TvEVNezdpiAQzXfcwwsyBdFpzXSeZW6_htj3kO4LqsM6ft8zzN8tprSDjNfRG1bZ7h3x0H3jAJmcj/s1600/tumblr_mebi2ex2Ck1qimk09o1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIWNUIA7RoO26fNzQNyxgxN3HHNW6Zs4dietZvtwk55A_5Hzn3Tp1wS57QQXeK17TvEVNezdpiAQzXfcwwsyBdFpzXSeZW6_htj3kO4LqsM6ft8zzN8tprSDjNfRG1bZ7h3x0H3jAJmcj/s1600/tumblr_mebi2ex2Ck1qimk09o1_400.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fuckyeahstrangemythology.tumblr.com/post/37130687795/ottoosworth-illustration-by-alan-baker-the" target="_blank">Areop-enap by Alan Baker</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Old Spider and the Clam Shell – Version 1<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Before the sun and the moon and the land were made, there was nothing
but sea and a vast emptiness above, and in this vast emptiness floated Old
Spider.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One day, looking down from her lofty position in space, Old Spider saw
a giant clam shell, drifting on the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She reached down and examined the curious object to see if she could
open it, but she could not, so she tapped it to see what was inside, and the
shell made a hollow sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old Spider
chanted a magic charm over the shell and the two halves of the shell parted
like the unfurling of a flower bud, and Old Spider slipped inside.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inside the shell all was dark as pitch for there was no sun or moon to
light it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was cramped, too, so that
Old Spider could not stand up and hat to bend herself double to fit into the
small space in which she found herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She began to explore the interior and feeling her way in the dark, she
at last came upon a smooth, rounded object with a coil-like form – it was a snail.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She took the snail, and, in order that some of her magical power might
pass into it, she placed it under her arm and slept with it there for three
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this time, she set it free
to wend its slimy way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she hunted
around the interior of the clam shell once more, and this time she found
another snail, even bigger than the first, and she treated it in the same
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she turned to the first snail,
who had not gone far for, as you know, snails are very slow, and she asked it:<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Can you make this room a little bigger so that we can stand up?’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The snail said it could, and no sooner said than done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The halves of the clam shell parted just
enough to allow Old Spider to stretch her legs at last.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it was still very dark inside the shell, so Old Spider took the
first snail and set it in the upper half-shell of the clam, and made it into
the moon, setting it in the place where the moon rises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now there was a little silvery light to see
by, and in this light Old Spider saw a large worm.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She asked the worm the same question she had asked the snail:<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Can you make this room a little bigger so that we can stand up?’<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQixP1dGwzYRWeuWM5tWpFflcJ7Ng8jx7pUsmEAytFo4HeJxuGrlUMjdHnvV50xIdjplOE1IoN2CKDkIJPksxvzc1ur3R1QfpkknV3zlcU2yZZmczzHgZVdme_ZuQ8Kk8eA3b6uRQlH2Jq/s1600/whole_clam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQixP1dGwzYRWeuWM5tWpFflcJ7Ng8jx7pUsmEAytFo4HeJxuGrlUMjdHnvV50xIdjplOE1IoN2CKDkIJPksxvzc1ur3R1QfpkknV3zlcU2yZZmczzHgZVdme_ZuQ8Kk8eA3b6uRQlH2Jq/s1600/whole_clam.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://naplesseashellcompany.com/tridacna_gigas_clam_whole_sea_shell.html" target="_blank">A Giant Tridacna Gigas Clam</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></em><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">The worm said it could, and no sooner commanded than begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all the strength of his mighty body, the
worm pushed and stretched and heaved until gradually, bit by bit and with a
good deal of creaking and groaning in the joints and sockets of the shell, he
had prised the halves wide open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
upper half, raised high above his head, became the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lower half became the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The effort of this work caused the worm to
sweat profusely, and his salty sweat ran from his body and collected in the
lower shell, where it became the saltwater sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At last, with his task accomplished, the worm felt his strength ebbing
away from him and he lay down and died.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now sky and moon, sea and land were formed, but there was still one
thing wanting, and that was the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Old Spider took the second snail, the one that was larger than the first, and
placed it in the east of the sky, in the place where the dawn first comes, and
it became the sun that lights the day.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is how, so the people of the islands tell, Old Spider made the
world from a clam shell, many, many years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></o:p><br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZnZgR3YormoQ5zbUnUXWS1MsAxbAUwBuhdv4wmTjooYQr4BQomu1v_wzU-7Cf45rEGrZt6fuexJuwdnLsfx9-lLd-M1GR4QuU70Ch2xh43QCsgbBOU6GWW_q_Bd3fL_HBjnHUBeqwh8B/s1600/twig_mimic_caterpillar_by_melvynyeo-d7iblvc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZnZgR3YormoQ5zbUnUXWS1MsAxbAUwBuhdv4wmTjooYQr4BQomu1v_wzU-7Cf45rEGrZt6fuexJuwdnLsfx9-lLd-M1GR4QuU70Ch2xh43QCsgbBOU6GWW_q_Bd3fL_HBjnHUBeqwh8B/s1600/twig_mimic_caterpillar_by_melvynyeo-d7iblvc.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Twig-Mimic-Caterpillar-454037880" target="_blank">Twig Mimic Caterpillar by melvynyeo</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Old Spider and the Clam Shell – Version 2<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>At the beginning of creation, Areop-enap was shuffling around looking
for food in the darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here she came
across a clam which swallowed her and she found herself trapped inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clam refused to open its shell, but, as
luck would have it, Areop-enap encountered Rigi the caterpillar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The spider cast a spell upon Rigi to make him
strong, and he pushed up against the upper shell with his legs against the
lower shell, but still the clam would not open its shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigi became hot and his sweat pouring into
the lower shell, making the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
salty sweat made clam thirsty and clam had to open its shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Areop-enap made the sky from the upper shell,
and the Earth from the lower shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
snail which had also been trapped in clam’s shell was set high in the sky to
become the moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Areop-enap used clam’s
flesh to form the islands, weaving them with silk to create the plants and
trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, Rigi, exhausted from his
battle with clam, drowned in the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Areop-enap wove a cocoon of silk around his body and set him in the sky
as the Milky Way.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Creation Mythology from the Islands of Tonga<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The islands of Tonga lie some 400 miles southeast of the Fiji
Islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are believed to have
arrived in around 1000BC and are possibly descended from the people of
Fiji.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are very few Togan creation
myths and, quite unlike the creation myths of many other cultures, in all of
them the main elements of the Earth – the sky, moon, sun, stars, sea and land –
are already in existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These myths
also include Pulotu, the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<strong>The Birth of the Gods and the Creation of the Land</strong></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning Limu (seaweed) and Kele (vase or receptacle) floated
upon the surface of the ocean, entwined with one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The floated like this until they reached
Pulotu and here they gave birth to Touiafutuna (a large female, metallic
stone).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Touiafutuna awoke there and made
a sound which can be likened to a thunderbolt across the great sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she made the sound, Touiafutuna split apart
and a set of twins emerged – the male was called Piki and the female Kele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time passed and again Touiafutuna began to
tremble and groan, and she this time she brought forth three sets of twins –
Atugaki (male) and Maimoa-alogona (female), Tonu-uta (male) and Tonu-tai
(female), Lupe (a dove) and Tuku-hali (a sea turtle or snake).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first set of twins came together in union
and brought forth a son called Tau-fuli-fonua, and a daughter called
Havea-lolo-fonua.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second set of
twins also came together in union and brought forth two daughters, who they
called Vele-lahi and Vele-sii.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last
pair, Lupe and Tuku-hali had no children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tau-fuli-fonua and Havea-lolo-fonua came together in union and brought
forth a son, Hikuleo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then that
Vele-lahi and Vele-sii realized that they had no husbands and so they became
the wives of Tau-fuli-fonua.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave
birth to sons, Tagaloa and Maui.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmalZmeuBMGVbkMC4gaTudYBO9y90mG8gF4VW35ktXnmTVefxdRAZCVDZQUtpC79UiL7skYIhf8k8aSx8P_Li4TZwmITS_6gKh8GMWLG-fMeCy27GnMnuH4Qejg_yEAPVq6WaBAKmm6Egr/s1600/tagaloa_by_munzies-d6wg3r1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmalZmeuBMGVbkMC4gaTudYBO9y90mG8gF4VW35ktXnmTVefxdRAZCVDZQUtpC79UiL7skYIhf8k8aSx8P_Li4TZwmITS_6gKh8GMWLG-fMeCy27GnMnuH4Qejg_yEAPVq6WaBAKmm6Egr/s1600/tagaloa_by_munzies-d6wg3r1.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Tagaloa-417296125" target="_blank">Tagaloa by Munzies</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">The three grandsons made the decision to divide the world between
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hikuleo took Pulotu, Tagaloa took
the sky, and Maui took the earth, and they became the gods of each – although Hikuleo
had power that spread across the earth as well as Polotu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They, between them, commanded Tuku-hali to
live in the sea and Lupe to live upon the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And this is the origin of the gods.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tagaloa looked down on the earth from his place in the heavens and
became tired of just looking upon water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He commanded his son, Tangaloa Tufunga, a woodworker, to throw his
leftover wood chips down to earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
a time, Tagaloa sent Tagaloa ‘Atulongolongo, his pet bird, down to the earth
to see if he could find land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
third attempt, the bird spotted the beginnings of an island forming in the
great ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This island was called ‘Eua,
and all the other islands were also formed from Tangaloa Tufunga’s leftover
wood chips.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On another occasion, Tangaloa ‘Atulongolongo, as he flew through the
sky, dropped a seed which fell upon the island of ‘Ata.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it grew into the creeping vine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the bird returned, it found the vine had
rotted and within the rotting mass was a fat, juicy worm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bird pecked the worm into two pieces and
from the pieces came the first two men of Tonga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were Kohai and Koau.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another small piece of the work transformed
into another man, Momo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The god Maui saw
that the men were without wives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
travelled to Polotu and found the three men wives, and these couples became the
ancestors of the Tongan people.<o:p></o:p></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih69WEOjwNYgaBbPnC-HL7d0rKjX6UWlSvJGe3ev7MccjOO0eLWjHENnx_JRQlUmv0yupPh4wXYkwnlnhSuNRjCskYWvrI_rqlF9n4NPAg6IPi3l4TnwPLIa0mLz-pnyUf_yyoNU-d_GWk/s1600/maui_by_g0b1in-d5e8oi5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih69WEOjwNYgaBbPnC-HL7d0rKjX6UWlSvJGe3ev7MccjOO0eLWjHENnx_JRQlUmv0yupPh4wXYkwnlnhSuNRjCskYWvrI_rqlF9n4NPAg6IPi3l4TnwPLIa0mLz-pnyUf_yyoNU-d_GWk/s1600/maui_by_g0b1in-d5e8oi5.jpg" height="640" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/maui-326250509" target="_blank">Maui by g0b1in</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are differing versions of the myth in which Maui, Tangaloa, or
Tangaroa created the islands by fishing them out of the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said that the islands would have formed
as one great land had the god’s line not broken, leaving his act
incomplete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another, Maui fished the
land from the ocean as a single mass and hung it from a rope, only the rope
snapped, leaving the mas broken from its fall and so forming the islands of
Tonga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that the islands
would have sunk back beneath the sea, if Maui hadn’t slid beneath them prop
them up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another myth from the islands of Tonga is perceived as ‘somewhat
gruesome’ and is ‘an example of creation through the division of a primordial
entity.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the myth ‘serves to
establish the sacredness of the sun and moon,’ which embody the divine child of
the creators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Divine Child</span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the beginning, all was dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the darkness Vatea and Tonga-iti fought one another over a
child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both gods said that the child was
theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After much argument, they
finally managed to come to an agreement – they would cut the child in
half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vatea took the top half of the
child and squeezed it into a ball before launching it into the sky, where it
transformed into the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tonga-iti took
the second half and repeated the process, squeezing it into a ball and throwing
it into the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Tonga-iti’s half of
the child lay upon the ground, bleeding for some days and this is why the moon
is pale.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s all for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow
we will continue looking at the creation mythology of the Polynesian people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Creation, Myths Old and New by Collin Jamieson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Oxford Companion to World Mythology by David Leeming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Mythology Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Tales by Sarah
Bartlett<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Handbook of Polynesian Mythology by Robert D. Craig<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and
Australia by Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong & William Flood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Religion and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia, Volume 1 by Robert W.
Williamson<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-7456028106785014692015-01-07T09:21:00.000+00:002015-01-20T13:06:24.829+00:00Creation Mythology: Australia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje2O-CJiLquW949iCwUoKusCSe8RUDBzU6L8TfM8DOgc5p3LA3I2MwCtLXDcbozF6PedBCkXSSHYOOHnmbmhd9naCmczuiY8NL3jDyJxzX-t36W6UFiEguDeLPuGMm0NrN5v00lbHVBp0/s1600/Cave_Paintings_Kakadu_Rock_Paintings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOUWBo8vkXgD0tSFcXweN-QSUfo_LQL1orhqqh4k9rXJNbU-JPUsPuWn11bvMyB_gBd-mczy_j-FgwsTUHPDCY48EZF7RrvjkJjEwL23CrD4_JZty4TXnpnZa_2Sb3qnv_7tLRK_daJsx/s1600/Dreamtime_by_ForlornSon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOUWBo8vkXgD0tSFcXweN-QSUfo_LQL1orhqqh4k9rXJNbU-JPUsPuWn11bvMyB_gBd-mczy_j-FgwsTUHPDCY48EZF7RrvjkJjEwL23CrD4_JZty4TXnpnZa_2Sb3qnv_7tLRK_daJsx/s1600/Dreamtime_by_ForlornSon.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Dreamtime-28798601">Dreamtime by ForlornSon</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today we are going to look at the
creation mythology from the Australian Aborigines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The belief system of the Aboriginal tribes is
known as Dreamtime or Dreaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dreamtime often refers to the ‘<em>time before time’</em> or ‘<em>the time of the
creation of all things</em>,’ and Dreaming usually means the beliefs of an
individual or a particular group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>‘The Dreamtime contains many parts:
It is the story of things that have happened, how the universe came to be, how
human beings were created, and how the Creator intended for humans to function
within the cosmos…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Aboriginal
worldview, every meaningful activity, event, or life process that occurs at a
particular place leaves behind a vibrational residue in the earth, as plants
leave an image of themselves as seeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The shape of the land – its mountains, rocks, riverbeds, and waterholes –
and its unseen vibrations echo the events that brought that place into
creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything in the natural
world is a symbolic footprint of the metaphysical beings whose actions created
our world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with a seed, the potency
of an earthly location is wedded to the memory of its origin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Aborigines called this potency the ‘Dreaming’
of a place…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only in extraordinary states
of consciousness can one be aware of, or attuned to, the inner dreaming of the
earth’</em> (Lawlor, 1991)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCJLsEi-f8NoBs1m3dnn5uQl4OeJ7cnNhrn7IVsq1FUJKnMGmPciqBiLGbcF2fOmgjReEqKPBUAQlXVLFi6MrNW4ihb29dcVlu7dCsYolUuMzGeCsK4k8QSUKf4MSEgqKbiCKTh_s_KZC/s1600/1cc472e100e6986a8c19669e1439a546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCJLsEi-f8NoBs1m3dnn5uQl4OeJ7cnNhrn7IVsq1FUJKnMGmPciqBiLGbcF2fOmgjReEqKPBUAQlXVLFi6MrNW4ihb29dcVlu7dCsYolUuMzGeCsK4k8QSUKf4MSEgqKbiCKTh_s_KZC/s1600/1cc472e100e6986a8c19669e1439a546.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/357614026636150547/">Totem Poles of Stanley Park</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first myth I want to share with
you today comes from the Arandan tribe, indigenous to the Upper Fiske River in
Central Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The myth includes
many aspects of Aboriginal life – dreamtime, the totem pole, and the
bull-roarer, which is a decorated wooden object, found in many societies, which
makes a humming sound when swung around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The sound it makes is known as ‘God’s Voice’ and the object is used in
sacred ceremonies to ward off evil spirits, to cure illness, to lure animals
into traps and, in this myth, to create new beings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The myth of Karora is an example of
an ex nihilo, or from nothing, creation myth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It contains elements of creation from chaos and emergence, as well as
creation by thought which is a popular theme in Australian Aboriginal
mythology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also includes elements of
creation gone wrong – a popular theme the world over, where a flood is sent to
cleanse the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this myth of the
Arandan tribe, we find the ratline bandicoot, a creature who is considered
sacred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <em>tnatantja</em> pole creates the
world centre, or axis mundi – again found in other world mythology.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Karora Dreams</strong></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUtSZApUTTRsSeruRcig_BH8RXDT3g4zss9-DbkmkR2vV7BXP8lAY9nC2CCK5gfngtcL1yj59KioDK10MG2FOfnv0czgVxRSYOAELR5NG8wncYKbSZE-xi1wU3ZGIR4MWOMCpNHoKMHYw/s1600/karora_by_clarabacou-d4ru723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUtSZApUTTRsSeruRcig_BH8RXDT3g4zss9-DbkmkR2vV7BXP8lAY9nC2CCK5gfngtcL1yj59KioDK10MG2FOfnv0czgVxRSYOAELR5NG8wncYKbSZE-xi1wU3ZGIR4MWOMCpNHoKMHYw/s1600/karora_by_clarabacou-d4ru723.jpg" height="400" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Karora-288623163">Karora by ClaraBacou*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning the creator, Karora,
lay sleeping in the place we now call Ilbalintja.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here he was covered with soil, flowers, and
other plant life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All lay in
darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the centre of the ground
above Karora a great living tnatantja pole, beautifully decorated, rose toward
the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karora’s head lay on the roots
of this pole and somehow his thoughts came into reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he dreamed, huge bandicoots emerged from
his navel and armpits, breaking through the soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their doing so caused the sun to rise over
Ilbalintja.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light woke Karora and he
too burst out from beneath the soil, his emergence leaving a great hole in the
earth, known as the Ibalintja soak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
hole soon filled with honeysuckle juice the colour of blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon leaving the earth, Karora lost his
magical power and he became hungry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
caught hold of two bandicoots which had emerged from his body and roasted them
in the heat of the new sun.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>As the sun set, decked out in
necklaces and a veil of hair strings, the great ancestor began to think about a
helper, but he soon fell asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
he slept, a bull-roarer emerged from his armpit and transformed into a young
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the sun rose the next day,
Karora awoke to discover this young man beside him, although he had no
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great ancestor, body
decorated, made the sacred Raiankintja call and the sound of the call gave life
to his child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon the waking of the
young man, father and son did a ceremonial dance.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Throughout the following nights
Karora brought many new sons into being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All were hungry and they ate the bandicoots until there were none
left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Karora sent out his sons to
find more bandicoots on the plains, but none could be found and all returned
hungry. <o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>On the third day Karora’s sons heard
what they believed to be the sound of a bull-roarer and went in search of
bandicoot nests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An odd hairy animal
hopped out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘It’s a sand hill wallaby,’
the sons cried, and they broke one of its legs with their sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘You have lamed me, yet I am no animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am Tjenterama, a man like you.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karora’s sons backed away as the wallaby
limped off.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>On their arrival home, the sons met
their father and he led them to Ilbalintja soak, ordering them to sit in a ring
around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon doing so, the juice of
the honeysuckle rose from the sink and swept them away into the underground,
where the injured Tjenterama, their new leader, lay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here they remained for eternity and, to those
people that came later, they became objects of worship.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The great ancestor, Karora, returned
to his sleeping place in the soak and people still visit this place to drink
and to honour him with gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karora
sleeps on, smiling and happy to have the people visit him.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-hEpHfnXHvitGvkTN3ypzY9sA1-PbG22a0VSd8NMZ7ehtPenmOPWBizBjp1D52ZLrBCN7sqPxClzlxD_mqGJRop3iPbW5I122x-Wlm5FGz66MeHJfF62ewXK5dNyNd8N-03k1aAucyLe/s1600/kakadu2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-hEpHfnXHvitGvkTN3ypzY9sA1-PbG22a0VSd8NMZ7ehtPenmOPWBizBjp1D52ZLrBCN7sqPxClzlxD_mqGJRop3iPbW5I122x-Wlm5FGz66MeHJfF62ewXK5dNyNd8N-03k1aAucyLe/s1600/kakadu2.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://donsmaps.com/aboriginals.html">A Kakadu cave painting photo by Don Hitchcock</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next myth comes from the Kakadu,
a name applied to the aboriginal groups found within the Kakadu National Park
in northern Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed
that the people have inhabited these areas for as long as 50,000 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within this myth we find the creation from
chaos theme, although there are also elements of the Australia dreamtime, with
the Great Mother Imberombera taking the primary role in the process of creative
dreaming.<o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong> The Journey of Wuraka and Imberombera</strong></span></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>‘Wuraka came from the west, walking
through the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His feet were on the
bottom but he was so tall that his head was well above the surface of the
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He landed at a place called
Allukaladi, between what are now known as Mts. Bidwell and Roe, both of which
he made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His first sleeping place, after
coming out on to land, was at Woralia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He then came on to Umurunguk and so to Adjerakuk and Aruwurkwain, at
each of which he slept one night.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The woman, Imberombera, also walked
through the sea and landed at what is now known as Malay Bay, the native name
being Wungaran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She met Wuraka at
Arakwurkwain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imberombera said to him, ‘Where
are you going?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, ‘I am going
straight through the bush to the rising sun.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first language they spoke was Iwaidja, that is, the language of the
people of Port Essington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wuraka carried
his penis, or parla, over his shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said to Imberombera, ‘ngainma parla nungeroboama,’ my penis is too
heavy; ‘ngainma wilalu jirongadda’, my camp is close by; ‘ngeinyimma ngoro
breikul’, you go a long way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At that time there were no
black-fellows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imberombera wanted Wuraka
to come with her, but he was too tired and his penis was too heavy, so he sat
down where he was, and a great rock, called by the natives Wuraka, and by the
white men Tor Rock, arose to mark the spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Imberombera had a huge stomach in which she carried many children, and
on her head she wore a bamboo ring from which hung down numbers of dilly bags
full of yams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also carried a very
large stick or wairbi.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At a place called Marpur, close to
where she and Wuraka met, she left boy and girl spirit children and told them
to speak Iwaidja.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also planted many
yams there and said to the children whom she left behind, ‘ungatidda jaw’,
these are good to eat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She went on to Muruni, leaving yams
and spirit children, and told them also to speak Iwaidja.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Muruni she went on, by way of Kumara, to
Areidjut, close to Mamul, on what is now called Cooper’s Creek, which runs into
the sea to the north of the mouth of the East Alligator River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Mamul she left children, one boy being
called Kominuuru, and told them to speak the Umoriu language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only food supply she left here was
Murarowa – a Cyprus bulb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She crossed
the creek and went on to Yiralka but left no children there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was close to the East Alligator River
which she crossed and then came, in succession, to Jeri Kumboyu, Munguruburaira
and Uramaijino, where she opened up her dilly bags and scattered yams
broadcast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She went on to Jaiyipali,
where again she left </span></span></em><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje2O-CJiLquW949iCwUoKusCSe8RUDBzU6L8TfM8DOgc5p3LA3I2MwCtLXDcbozF6PedBCkXSSHYOOHnmbmhd9naCmczuiY8NL3jDyJxzX-t36W6UFiEguDeLPuGMm0NrN5v00lbHVBp0/s1600/Cave_Paintings_Kakadu_Rock_Paintings.jpg" height="213" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://impressivemagazine.com/2014/12/24/amazing-prehistoric-cave-paintings/">Kakadu rock painting</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje2O-CJiLquW949iCwUoKusCSe8RUDBzU6L8TfM8DOgc5p3LA3I2MwCtLXDcbozF6PedBCkXSSHYOOHnmbmhd9naCmczuiY8NL3jDyJxzX-t36W6UFiEguDeLPuGMm0NrN5v00lbHVBp0/s1600/Cave_Paintings_Kakadu_Rock_Paintings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">food </span></span></em><em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">supplies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
searched around for a good camping place and, first of all, sat down in a water
pool but the leeches came in numbers and fastened themselves on her, so she
came out of the water and decided to camp on dry land, saying that she would go
into the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accordingly, she did so
and camped at Inbinjairi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here she threw
the seeds of the bamboo, ‘Koulu’, in all directions and also left children, one
of whom was a boy named Kalangeit Nuana.</span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As she travelled along, Imberombera
sent out various spirit children to different parts of the country, telling
them to speak different languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
sent them to ten places, in each case instructing them as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>1. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gnaruk ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoyo Koranger.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>2. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watta ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Kurnboyu.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>3. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kakadu ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro
Munganillida.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>4. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witji ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Miortu.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>5. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Puneitja ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Jaijipali.
{p. 278}<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>6. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Koarnbut
ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Kapalgo.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>7. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ngornbur
ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Illari.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>8. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Umbugwalur
ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Owe.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Djowei ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro Nauillanja.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>10. Geimbio ngeinyimma tjikaru, gnoro
Waimbi.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>
</em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The first word in each of these is
the name of language which the children were to speak, ngeinyimma means you or
yours, tjikaru is talk or language; gnorro is go, and the last word is the name
of the place to which she sent them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each
of these places is regarded as the central camping ground of their respective
tribes.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Imberombera is thus supposed to have
been the founder of the ten tribes above named, all of whom, at present day,
inhabit the Coburg Peninsula and the country east and west of this, for some
distance, along the coast line, as well as the inland parts drained by the
East, South, and West Alligator Rivers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another creation myth comes from the
Aboriginal Kokowarra people of Queensland, who have inhabited the area for
thousands of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, technically,
a creation from chaos myth as well as an emergence creation myth.<o:p></o:p></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<strong>The Giant Anjir<br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span></strong><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning Anjir was lying in the shadow of a thickly-leaved tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a blackfellow with very large buttocks, but peculiar in that there was no sign of any orifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yalpan, or Jalpan, happened to be passing by at the time, and noticing this anomaly, made a cut in the usual place by means of a piece of quartz-crystal, with the result that the evacuations were expelled and spread over the surface of the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All blacks were thus originally born from Anjir’s dung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yalpan went southwards, and has never been heard of since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anjir was buried underground after he had ‘breeded’ – the interpreter’s expression - all he wanted to.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1b9h-dcXby5WxstGSKLAYfRFaxrfP6bB0PnOTRFGBGQixGbWvtgg5hGBPWNcrwzcwLTPjkIBv4sf_RNCCcadVx3A8gCfHC4dhW4AkcgJ1ovSXU9hvaUC7iwRq6Kf4_5QeDpHmVl3fk9aM/s1600/murray-2low-res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1b9h-dcXby5WxstGSKLAYfRFaxrfP6bB0PnOTRFGBGQixGbWvtgg5hGBPWNcrwzcwLTPjkIBv4sf_RNCCcadVx3A8gCfHC4dhW4AkcgJ1ovSXU9hvaUC7iwRq6Kf4_5QeDpHmVl3fk9aM/s1600/murray-2low-res.jpg" height="269" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://keeveneo.com/tag/ngurunderi/">Ngurunderi tries to spear the cod by Keeve Neo</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The following creation myth comes
from the Ngarrindjeri people and features one of the great ancestral Dreaming ‘heroes’,
Ngurunderi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This particular version was
given to anthropologist Ronald Berndt in 1939 by the last initiated
Ngarrindjeri men.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The Ancestor Ngurunderi</strong> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The ancestral hero Ngurunderi paddled
his bark canoe down the small creek which was later to become the River
Murray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had come from the Darling,
following the giant Murray cod.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As this
swam, its tail swept aside the water, widening the river to the size it is
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Ngurunderi paused to rest,
the cod swam on into the Lake, and he gave up all hope of catching it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The he thought of his ‘wife’s brother’,
Nepele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quickly getting into his canoe
he quickly rowed to Bumongdung, and from there called out to Nepele, who was
sitting on a red cliff named Rawugung, Point McLeay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nepele pushed out his canoe, rowed it to some
shoals, and waited with spear in hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cod swam down towards Nepele, who speared it opposite Rawugung and
placed it on a submerged sandbank there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Ngurunderi arrived they cut the cod into many small pieces,
throwing each into the water and naming the fish it was to become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally they threw the remaining part into
the lake saying, ‘Keep on being a Murray cod.’<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ngurunderi continued his travels.
Eventually he reached Bamundang, where he disembarked and pulled up his canoe: his
footprints are still there. Carrying the canoe he walked to Larangangel, where
he left two large mounds of freshwater mussels. One day, on his way back from
granangung, he saw some people at a place called Ngirlungmurnang. They were
frightened of him and hid in the reeds. But Ngurunderi could hear them
whispering, and he transformed them into a species of blue bird. At this
juncture Ngurunderi's two wives appeared. They were at Gurelbang cooking the
dugeri (silver bream), taboo to women, and the breeze from that direction
carried the smell to him. Having no further use for his canoe, he stood on the
2 mounds of Larlangangel, and lifting it up, placed it in the sky where it
became the Milky Way. He then set off for Gurelbang. In the meantime, the two
women, thinking Ngurunderi might smell the fish, had made their escape on a
reed raft, poling their way across Lake Albert to Thralrum, on the western
side. There they left the raft, which was metamorphosed into the reeds and
yaccas found at that point today, and continued down into the Coorong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Ngurunderi reached Gurelbang and
found them gone he too made a raft, and followed them into the Coorong. Here he
met a malignant spirit named Barambari. Ngurunderi asked whether he had seen
the two wives. But Barambari started a quarrel and speared him in the thigh.
Ngurunderi laughed, pulled it out and threw it away. Then he threw his club,
knocking Barambari unconscious, and thinking he was dead turned to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Baramberi regained consciousness, and
manipulated his magical spear-thrower in such a way as to stop Ngurunderi from
walking on. Ngururderi returned and killed him with his club. He lifted some
large gums and other trees, piled them into a heap and set them alight, then
lifted Barambari's body and placed it on top of the blazing pyre so it would be
completely consumed. Turning around he tried again to walk away, but again
could not do so. He picked up all the congealed blood and threw it on the fire,
and after that he was able to continue. At Wunjurem, he dug a waterhole in the
sand to get fresh water, kneeling down to drink he put his head against the
sand, and this impression was transformed into rock.</span></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cIwA9qV2Y6xSjkSrfsx64XYxiMwGx1xUfcZa7E61hxA675u6HJXfhmAAriHAW465c2fC6u7qjPpGeXI0sUj19TJQvgHJH5vm3iInLrlpTYi2la1EZHALoGP3U9mKIOyFPOlt8Pb4UUJ4/s1600/Ngurrunderi-legend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cIwA9qV2Y6xSjkSrfsx64XYxiMwGx1xUfcZa7E61hxA675u6HJXfhmAAriHAW465c2fC6u7qjPpGeXI0sUj19TJQvgHJH5vm3iInLrlpTYi2la1EZHALoGP3U9mKIOyFPOlt8Pb4UUJ4/s1600/Ngurrunderi-legend.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.murrayriver.com.au/about-the-murray/ponde-dreamtime/">The Ngurunderi Dreaming by Jacob Stengle</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eventually he came to
Ngurunduwurgngirl ('Ngurunderi's home'), where he lived for some time, giving
up all hope of finding his wives. Later he continued his wanderings down the
coast along Encounter Bay, and after a number of adventures was about to cross
over from the mainland to Kangaroo Island when he saw his wives starting to do
so. It was possible, at that time, to walk across to the island. When they
reached the centre Ngurunderi called out in a voice of thunder, 'fall on them,
you waters'. Immediately the sea rose and they were drowned; but they were
metamorphosed into Meralang 'two sisters', now called The Pages, northeast of
Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island. Ngurunderi then went to Kangaroo Island,
called Ngurungaui, meaning 'on Ngurunderi track', referring to the path taken
by all spirits on their way to the spirit world. He made a large Casuarina
tree, under which he rested. Then he walked down to the western side of the
island, and threw away his spear into the sea; rocks came up at that place.
Finally he dived into the sea to cleanse himself of his old life, and went up
into the sky, Waieruwar, the spirit world. But before disappearing he told the
Jaraldi people that the spirits of their dead would always follow the tracks he
had made, and eventually join him in the sky-world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final Australian creation myth I
want to share with you today, which happens to be one of my favourites, is that of the Rainbow Serpent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stories about this creature are especially
popular in Arnhem Land which lies in the Northern Territory around Darwin and
images depicting it can be found as rock art dating back to before 6000BC.</span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></strong><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaqxvf1z8Q0Anevbj0eJtPdu_yiT7MAGL4wZbG5j-sIVy3VuIRwwEHNNTLW0ANUOMcN1UrgDFlY8nNXCeoKeA_Ewjw4nYEe574NRxzjGLusvsPRhxz_VVk96k3W0PjChrvcIw0WZwO_Bb/s1600/a624e576c5da9a8edd59f837253c8125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaqxvf1z8Q0Anevbj0eJtPdu_yiT7MAGL4wZbG5j-sIVy3VuIRwwEHNNTLW0ANUOMcN1UrgDFlY8nNXCeoKeA_Ewjw4nYEe574NRxzjGLusvsPRhxz_VVk96k3W0PjChrvcIw0WZwO_Bb/s1600/a624e576c5da9a8edd59f837253c8125.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/324399979380723764/">The Rainbow Serpent</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Beginning of Life<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Long, long ago was the
Dreamtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everywhere was bare, flat,
and empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was only stillness and
quietness all over the surface of the world.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<em>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, underneath the surface, deep
in the earth’s crust, all sorts of creatures were sleeping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Animals, birds, and reptiles lay cocooned in
the land, dreaming peacefully.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One day the Rainbow Serpent opened
her eyes and found herself in complete darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flexing and stretching her coils, she began
to push her way through the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, she broke through the surface, bursting out into the
sunlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The featureless land stretched
in all directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She set off to
explore.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Slithering all over the land, the
Rainbow Serpent’s strong winding body carved out valleys and heaped up land
into ridges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She journeyed for many
moons, travelling over the whole earth until she arrived back where she had
started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exhausted, she coiled herself
up and rested.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a long nap, it occurred to her
that all the other creatures were still asleep deep inside the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With as much energy as she could summon, the
Rainbow Serpent called and called, and gradually, her voice penetrated the
layers of the earth and began to stir the creatures from their deep slumbers.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The frogs awoke first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly, they began to move up through the
earth, with their bodies full of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Delighted, the Rainbow Serpent tickled the frogs, making them laugh so
hard that they coughed up their stores of water, which flowed out over the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the water gushed into channels and
pits formed by the Rainbow Serpent’s wanderings, creating streams, rivers,
waterfalls, and lakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other trickles of
water ran away over the soil and were absorbed by the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these places, tiny green shoots
appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, in all directions there
were patches of soft grass, clumps of leafy bushes, and bright flowers, and
clusters of tall, spreading trees.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the land sprang to life, all the
other reptiles, birds, and animals burst out from under the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Rainbow Serpent led them across the earth
and they all found suitable homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
birds were delighted to swoop through the skies and nest in the treetops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reptiles were comfortable sheltering
among cool stones and damp, shady nooks and crannies.</span></span></em><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJMfaPuzXquPXeoc3Th44a6TL2_eaBDgiRJ0bhfgYC-0JLTTRuzl9jTiSqjVEiJHzsG30qSmi1LjpFXJuOg7BwwJgH7b83lxLvFRGMMt7ubMcumJLFCxKCy7pX7Ezepty0H4EEunomflF/s1600/myth_of_the_rainbow_serpent_by_aerroscape-d829afn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJMfaPuzXquPXeoc3Th44a6TL2_eaBDgiRJ0bhfgYC-0JLTTRuzl9jTiSqjVEiJHzsG30qSmi1LjpFXJuOg7BwwJgH7b83lxLvFRGMMt7ubMcumJLFCxKCy7pX7Ezepty0H4EEunomflF/s1600/myth_of_the_rainbow_serpent_by_aerroscape-d829afn.jpg" height="400" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Myth-Of-The-Rainbow-Serpent-487522067">Myth of the Rainbow Serpent by aerroscape*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Rainbow Serpent was acknowledged
by all as the mother of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She set
laws, so that all the creatures could thrive together and the earth remain
healthy forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As time passed, the
Rainbow Serpent noticed that some creatures were particularly excellent at
keeping her laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave these
creatures human form and told them that they were in charge of looking after
the land and everything that lived in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each human had a totem pole of the tribe they came from, whether from an
animal, reptile, or bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Rainbow
Serpent instructed all the tribes that they were allowed to eat creatures from
any totem pole except their own – that way, there would be enough food for
everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Rainbow Serpent chose other
creatures that she was very pleased with and turned them into rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were sent to stand forever as hills and
mountains, acting as the guardians of the tribes living on the land.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And so the tribes and the land lived
and prospered together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man called
Biami grew to be an exceptionally wise human. Knowledgeable, honest, and kind,
he took great care of the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he
became old the Rainbow Serpent did not let him die, but gave him a spirit form
so he could live forever among the tribe as protector.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/ntna/index.htm" target="_blank">Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia by Baldwin Spencer</a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coming-Being-Among-Australian-Aborigines/dp/1138010235/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1420621981&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Coming into Being Among the Australian Aborigines by Ashley Montagu</a></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fabulous-Creatures-Mythical-Monsters-Symbols/dp/0275994252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420622058&sr=8-1&keywords=Fabulous+Creatures%2C+Mythical+Monsters%2C+and+Animal+Power+Symbols%3A+A+Handbook+by+Cassandra+Eason" target="_blank">Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols: A Handbook by Cassandra Eason</a></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Fact-Fiction-Parker/dp/B00DO8KTSI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420622264&sr=8-2&keywords=Myths+and+Legends%3A+Fact+or+Fiction+by+Vic+Parker" target="_blank">Myths and Legends: Fact or Fiction byVic Parker</a></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Religion_in_Schools.html?id=thrb4GpBIGoC" target="_blank">Religion in Schools: ControversiesAround the World by Robert Murray Thomas</a></span></span>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420621869&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+by+David+Adams+Leeming" target="_blank">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-36719453434010693762015-01-07T09:00:00.000+00:002015-01-07T09:00:10.315+00:00Creation Mythology: Babylonian<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4HF8OPLt7-3BC_gE4ivr1UYgmY_NqJ33iV_rzbP1hZg366aCyUOV__Cd-fYG-JUIUnlWalkto1fpZRXlolQth6wFMYFzeK0-_0IL6-MVUUZuWrbxyH88g5qZ5302zQZjX5jotxKYNpYV/s1600/cropwm.jpg" height="640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="478" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.art.com/products/p14177241-sa-i2944652/roger-payne-religious-rites-being-performed-before-the-gilded-statue-of-the-god-marduk.htm">Religious Rites Being Performed Before the Gilded Statue of the God Marduk by Roger Payne</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
There are quite a few different versions of the Babylonian creation myth. The best known, however, is contained within the Enuma Elish, or the Epic of Creation, with Enuma Elish meaning 'when on high'. It is believed to have been recorded in around 1100 BC to celebrate King Nebuchadnezzar's capture of the city's statue of Marduk, the hero of the following story.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Enuma Elish was first written in Akkadian, with parts of the poem also being present on clay tablets in cuneform from around 2500 BC. It has been suggested that much of the Enuma Elish is based on earlier </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sumerian texts. The Babylonian myth of creation is one of the oldest creation stories in existence and also one of the most famous. </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDeNsYQnBLeu7C0vJ2-1TzzueM7UtQOLwpuOuQmNd-UJsNwipRYl1Xm5CbBreR8yetXQoPc_tV72_iwVrz2goug01ii8677P9_UWAgoGs9yh8PJ9hSgPHjExquQsfUQHtG6XMfQMKWmku/s1600/enuma_elish01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDeNsYQnBLeu7C0vJ2-1TzzueM7UtQOLwpuOuQmNd-UJsNwipRYl1Xm5CbBreR8yetXQoPc_tV72_iwVrz2goug01ii8677P9_UWAgoGs9yh8PJ9hSgPHjExquQsfUQHtG6XMfQMKWmku/s1600/enuma_elish01.jpg" height="400" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i-cias.com/e.o/enuma_elish.htm">Tablets from the Enuma Elish</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While the story is influenced by the Sumerians, the landscape that the Babylonians lived in is another possible inspiration. The Babylonians lived in an unpredictable river valley bordered by the Persian Gulf, called the Fertile Crescent, which is now Iraq. Their creation myth, which glorifies Marduk's control over the natural forces of the universe, reflects the Babylonian dominance over the region in which they lived. Added to this are the cultural changes within Mesopotamia: from an agricultural, earth-based society ruled by a king which had descended from the last, to a society ruled by a military power.<br />
<br />
In the beginning there was only the primordial ocean, Apsu, and the tubulent sea, Tiamat and from the blending of the two, three generations of gods were born. There was Mummu, spirit of the waves and the serpents Lakhmu and Lakhamu, and from them came Anshar and Kishar. And from Anshar and Kishar came Anu, Ea, and the deities of the sky, the earth, and the underearth. <br />
<br />
However, these new gods were rowdy and unruly. No matter how hard he tried, Apsu could find no peace and, whether it be night or day, he could not rest or sleep.<br />
<br />
'By day I cannot rest, by night I cannot lie down in peace,' Apsu complained to his wife Tiamat. 'Let us destroy them so we can lie down again in peace.'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP_q3VXxBgYfObGyCVafwRJF30wcUgf8FHGtEMQ4P3YDBXyb5JcBH7BpmG2i-KfmtXxVgk4sESGJ-KCBGE9ySmuwoHcKdgn7YNYdG0nqKPlrE-uLGN7yEfnivydlgPQfq_6m5QHHis_Nb/s1600/tiamat_by_buechnerstod-d54wto8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP_q3VXxBgYfObGyCVafwRJF30wcUgf8FHGtEMQ4P3YDBXyb5JcBH7BpmG2i-KfmtXxVgk4sESGJ-KCBGE9ySmuwoHcKdgn7YNYdG0nqKPlrE-uLGN7yEfnivydlgPQfq_6m5QHHis_Nb/s1600/tiamat_by_buechnerstod-d54wto8.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Tiamat-310580792?hf=1"> Tiamat by Mitchellnolte</a></td></tr>
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But Tiamat was incensed by her husband's proposal and she demanded to know how they could possibly destroy that which they had created.<br />
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Knowing that Tiamat would never agree to his plan, Apsu made his own furtive plans to kill the new gods. Ea, who knows all and sees all, foresaw what Aspu planned and imprisoned Mummu and Apsu with magic. He took Apsu's crown, stealing all the glory for himself before slaying Apsu and building a palace upon his back.<br />
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Tiamat was enraged by what Ea had done and her fury was so great that she brought forth many monsters to aid her in what would be her revenge for the murder of her husband. From her body Tiamat created all manner of monsters to aid her in battle. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIlwPyOJIwBJGfYNdZ1cI2iIHm9JEj7jDwhvKhdJZcjjINwwuydmt9lJC7B6qbLYTlYP0mhpLxx-oVCJDfwR3eeC6nwwiuvWCxVkH4kPweeGY0wy90Ul8WAL4OlLAKdZgJDgyxDufq9Y-/s1600/Tiamat__sea_goddess_by_Mephmmb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIlwPyOJIwBJGfYNdZ1cI2iIHm9JEj7jDwhvKhdJZcjjINwwuydmt9lJC7B6qbLYTlYP0mhpLxx-oVCJDfwR3eeC6nwwiuvWCxVkH4kPweeGY0wy90Ul8WAL4OlLAKdZgJDgyxDufq9Y-/s1600/Tiamat__sea_goddess_by_Mephmmb.jpg" height="640" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mephmmb.deviantart.com/art/Tiamat-sea-goddess-163415079">Tiamat, sea goddess by Mephmmb</a></td></tr>
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'<i>She spawned monster-serpents, sharp of tooth, and merciless of fang; with poison, instead of blood, she filled their bodies. Fierce monster-vipers she clothed with terror, with splendor she decked them, she made them of lofty stature. Whoever beheld them, terror overcame him, their bodies reared up and none could withstand their attack. She set up vipers and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, and hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men, and mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams; they bore cruel weapons, without fear of a fight. Her commands were mighty, none could resist them; after this fashion, huge of stature, she made eleven </i>[kinds of] <i>monsters</i>.'<br />
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Surrounded by this horrifying array of monsters and a group of faithful gods, Tiamat set out to do battle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCZCHjOzkeH-GhdvfdN-BcHIkMILp4PbNBZz5bY3hv_5UIGycuAXAiIWJ4F_vjNqxq_Fs55CTaSy0hhuPuVuKBrDv_X8Z7ZQNQLok2V7RnZXWRSraM1aIQOSkyXVAAVrbXDY9jTSzkmnv/s1600/marduk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCZCHjOzkeH-GhdvfdN-BcHIkMILp4PbNBZz5bY3hv_5UIGycuAXAiIWJ4F_vjNqxq_Fs55CTaSy0hhuPuVuKBrDv_X8Z7ZQNQLok2V7RnZXWRSraM1aIQOSkyXVAAVrbXDY9jTSzkmnv/s1600/marduk.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hudsonfla.com/2hst.htm">The chief god of Babylon dominated Mesopotamia- Marduk</a></td></tr>
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When the other gods saw Tiamat and her army of monsters, they were filled with fear. First, Anshar sent his eldest son, Anu, against Tiamat, but Anu was not brave enough to stand against her and quickly returned. Ea tried next to repel her but, like Anu, he hadn't the courage. At last Ea summoned his son Marduk, who he sent to Anshar in preparation for his confrontation with the great all-mother.<br />
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However, upon presenting himself to Anshar, Marduk demanded that he be given command over all the gods, to rule over as he wished, if he were to slay Tiamat. A deal was struck and Marduk was given the throne, the sceptre, the royal ring, and the thunderbolt. He set to work, building a net in which he would entrap his enemy and collecting the weapons which he would use in battle - the lightning, the hurricane, and the winds of the four corners of the earth. Once done, Marduk mounted his storm chariot, drawn by the four horses, Killer, Pitiless, Trampler, and Flier, and went to do battle with Tiamat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoHemIiB7E4eN90QQoF0FzWblQXOCBohIfp8p7VNaJFgJMrNjZYmqaqDMU7tEbozQt99YtQ0MkX527Lv2cz-gQD3mhWpvwCUMnAt9o_H9ClX8qwXYK7JgWqZ0DYekEGLrmQ5CqKjDJSfy/s1600/TiamatAndMarduk1ab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoHemIiB7E4eN90QQoF0FzWblQXOCBohIfp8p7VNaJFgJMrNjZYmqaqDMU7tEbozQt99YtQ0MkX527Lv2cz-gQD3mhWpvwCUMnAt9o_H9ClX8qwXYK7JgWqZ0DYekEGLrmQ5CqKjDJSfy/s1600/TiamatAndMarduk1ab.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pedrosillustrationfactory.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/tiamat-and-marduk.html">Tiamat and Marduk by P Tinkler</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJsjgkOlId9w9vRlrnQf697jZcJwsIY6JzRtTGDl_w03lCbG5_NJ6Jut0KXfwhHaNaRmYAMaf0b8ESfCl4GKBhurJ5e6ih_wEmGUpjCBxNBQRBIDUnhAEHBVQoR-nuqQjF_gDhd5SNPN3/s1600/tiamat+marduk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJsjgkOlId9w9vRlrnQf697jZcJwsIY6JzRtTGDl_w03lCbG5_NJ6Jut0KXfwhHaNaRmYAMaf0b8ESfCl4GKBhurJ5e6ih_wEmGUpjCBxNBQRBIDUnhAEHBVQoR-nuqQjF_gDhd5SNPN3/s1600/tiamat+marduk.jpg" height="320" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://paganroots.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Marduk5.jpeg">Marduk battles Tiamat</a></td></tr>
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Marduk managed to entangle Tiamat in his net and loosed a great wind against her. Tiamat opened her mouth wide, attempting to swallow Marduk. But Marduk would not be swallowed. He drove the 'evil wind' into her mouth and it filled her belly. Then, seizing his spear, Marduk sliced open her belly, severed her inner parts, and pierced her heart. Tiamat fell lifeless and her host, who had been so fierce in the beginning, trembled with fear and took flight to save their lives. Alas, they were surrounded and Marduk took them captive in his net before breaking their weapons to pieces.<br />
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Once done with Tiamat's army, Marduk returned to the corpse of the once great all-mother. He smashed her skull and cut through her arteries, which the North wind took away to secret places. He then divided up Tiamat's flesh, splitting her into halves. One half he made 'as a covering for heaven' and with the second half he formed the earth. Next, Marduk made 'the stations for the great gods; the stars, their images, as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed.' He fixed the length of the year, dividing it into months. Finally Marduk fashioned mankind using his own blood and bone. This he did so that man could build temples to worship their gods.<br />
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Useful Resources<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Myths-Retold-Retelling-Well-Known/dp/0753702924/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418119445&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=Hamilton+History+myths+retold+diana+ferguson">Hamilton History: Myths Retold by Diana Ferguson</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418119498&sr=8-1&keywords=creation+myths+of+the+world">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David A. Leeming</a><br />
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm">Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation translated by L. W. King </a><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width=""></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-30020637485381204672015-01-05T18:52:00.001+00:002015-01-17T13:37:20.321+00:00Creation Mythology: India<span style="font-family: inherit;">India probably has more creation stories than any other culture. Some of these come from the<em> Rig Veda</em>; one of the earliest and most important religious texts of ancient India. It is the oldest of four collections of hymns and other sacred texts, which are known as the <em>Vedas</em>. As with many cultures, the information contained within the <em>Rig Veda</em> was first spread orally for hundreds of years before being written down between 1500 and 1000 BC. The following hymn, known as the <em>Nasadiya</em>, doesn’t give an explanation of creation, it merely speculates and questions before concluding that perhaps no one knew of how it all came into existence.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/NON-EXISTENT-6089260">Non-Existent by DKF</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Then was not non-existent nor existent:<br /> there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.<br />What covered in, and where? And what gave shelter?<br /> Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?<br />Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal:<br />no sign was there, the day’s and night’s divider.<br />That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature:<br /> apart from it was nothing whatsoever.<br />Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness<br /> this All was indiscriminated chaos.<br />All that existed then was void and form less:<br /> by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning,<br /> Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.<br />Sages who searched with their heart’s thought<br /> discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent.<br />Transversely was their severing line extended:<br /> what was above it then, and what below it?<br />There were begetten, there were mighty forces,<br /> free action here and energy up yonder.<br />Who verily knows and who can here declare it,<br /> whence it was born and whence comes this creation?<br />The Gods are later than this world’s production.<br /> Who knows then whence it first came into being?<br />He, the first origin of this creation,<br /> whether he formed it all or did not form it,<br />Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven,<br /> he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.</em><br /><br /><br />The <em>Taittiriya Brahmana</em>, dating to between 900 and 700 BC, tells a creation myth where Prajapati is credited for creation. Prajapati is sometimes interchanged with Brahma.<br /> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9eWcKJqR7k3dNDGGzn1sDap70JsL2PDClG8QyKpYe492y31Sf9Wdrk2ctiD9h4_-zsrH_GJqRB2t8D29fCtTJXUXfKoiw1qX83nxedtHcB4e8hHrAofxjLFVQfrvTv9gUTpjIXFzVf_D/s1600/brahma-prajapati.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9eWcKJqR7k3dNDGGzn1sDap70JsL2PDClG8QyKpYe492y31Sf9Wdrk2ctiD9h4_-zsrH_GJqRB2t8D29fCtTJXUXfKoiw1qX83nxedtHcB4e8hHrAofxjLFVQfrvTv9gUTpjIXFzVf_D/s1600/brahma-prajapati.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://enowning.blogspot.co.uk/2006_11_01_archive.html">Prajapati/ Brahma</a></td></tr>
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<strong>The Tears of Prajapati</strong><br />
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<em>Prajapati emerged, but as soon as he was conscious, the Lord of All Creatures wept, for he could see no purpose in his existence. As he cried, his falling tears became the Earth. The tears he wiped away became the air, and those he brushed upwards became the overarching sky. He wanted offspring and settled down to practice religious austerities. He gave birth to demons, then put aside his body, which became night. He created himself anew, made men and women and cast his body aside, which became the moon. He then assumed a new self, creating the seasons from his armpits and the dusk and dawn from his body. Finally he made the gods from his mouth, and when he put aside this next body, it became the day.</em><br /><br /><br />Another creation myth, which can be found in the Rig Veda, Prajapati begins the process of creation by bringing Brahma, the creator god, into existence.<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Creation of Brahma</strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2peVEsMKiaU_sViKWzHY8y9waGFrkqDlxWrS1UxT3goZNR3OO5LGdHoIxVHBrQo0V2Gh4sOAFhr8RrKDcb2yYvq6Mw0R34cpVYqQVpGVqS1MZ7ipDY1v_ioh6lDnoVsFvgQfYG7BYG9Uc/s1600/lotus_flower_by_divinelightangels-d4tuyg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2peVEsMKiaU_sViKWzHY8y9waGFrkqDlxWrS1UxT3goZNR3OO5LGdHoIxVHBrQo0V2Gh4sOAFhr8RrKDcb2yYvq6Mw0R34cpVYqQVpGVqS1MZ7ipDY1v_ioh6lDnoVsFvgQfYG7BYG9Uc/s1600/lotus_flower_by_divinelightangels-d4tuyg1.jpg" height="250" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Lotus-Flower-292017889">Lotus Flower by DivineLightAngels</a></td></tr>
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<em>Prajapati, Lord of the Universe, meditated, and as he meditated a seed appeared in his navel. A lotus tree sprouted from the seed and as it grew, the tree was bathed in brilliant light. From this lotus and the light around it, Brahma was born. The light spread out through the cosmos and Brahma spread with it and mixed with it, so that Brahma became the essence of all things and the power contained within them. Brahma also became the essence of time – a single day of his life lasts 4,320 million human years. When these millions of years have passed, the cycle of creation will start again and a new age of the cosmos will begin.</em><br /><br /><br />Other Indian creation myths tell of how Prajapati or Brahma, depending on the version, emerged from a golden egg to begin creation. The following myth comes from the Satapatha Brahmana.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong></strong></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxjGf0gHkhfbWtMHYJ7QtsfOZhxHToYXLmwfbplfhN7tFKOf4iDvkbUMCici-22qNtwndr9mvIXt9ez7b0Df0F8Zf2SSNiNqqKkOM-Yl8rv3jZrotkVYlitFJXbHnQMKCESMu-5h3G5u9/s1600/b2bead8bab1f76fe908e77d2b9f0b4e9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxjGf0gHkhfbWtMHYJ7QtsfOZhxHToYXLmwfbplfhN7tFKOf4iDvkbUMCici-22qNtwndr9mvIXt9ez7b0Df0F8Zf2SSNiNqqKkOM-Yl8rv3jZrotkVYlitFJXbHnQMKCESMu-5h3G5u9/s1600/b2bead8bab1f76fe908e77d2b9f0b4e9.jpg" height="400" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/b2/be/ad/b2bead8bab1f76fe908e77d2b9f0b4e9.jpg">The Golden Egg</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The Golden Egg</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning there was only the primeval sea – the waters. It was the waters who wished to reproduce, and through devotions became heated enough to produce a golden egg that floated about for a time. Then from the egg came Prajapati. It took a year for him to come, and so it takes about that amount of time for a woman or a cow to give birth. After he broke out of the egg, Prajapati rested on its shell for another year or so before he tried to speak. The sound he made – the Word, his sounded breath – became Earth. His next sound became sky. Other sounds became the seasons. After waiting another year Prajapati stood in his shell. He could see even then from the beginning of his life to its end in one thousand years. Prajapati gave himself the power of reproduction. Some say he created the fire god, Agni, out of himself. With his hot breathing up into the sky (div), he created the gods (devas). With his breathing down Prajapati created the Asuras and the darkness of the earth. To avoid the cosmic struggle between light and dark, Prajapatti overcame the Asuras with evil. Now there were, however, day and night.<br />Prajapati realized that by creating beings he had created time, and we know that Prajapati is, in a sense, time.</em></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEhv2pt1fnnIDKG7DS6pJSibf38C6H4SIr0UdDzvCPBEYcSNURQIX-tVUcSBV_WVnIdxFYwMzct-H_6bRE2Qc0GHy6IaZihHWoU61nYgt73m0-gs2OEkv4DZfqKqOHP-lva0KsUxy8Bhy/s1600/brahma_god_of_creation_by_molee-d4tkg58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEhv2pt1fnnIDKG7DS6pJSibf38C6H4SIr0UdDzvCPBEYcSNURQIX-tVUcSBV_WVnIdxFYwMzct-H_6bRE2Qc0GHy6IaZihHWoU61nYgt73m0-gs2OEkv4DZfqKqOHP-lva0KsUxy8Bhy/s1600/brahma_god_of_creation_by_molee-d4tkg58.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Brahma-God-of-Creation-291527612">Brahma - God of Creation by molee*</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A similar myth, or perhaps a reworking of the above myth, comes from the <em>Upanishads</em>, or learning sessions, written between 800 and 400 BC. Here Prajapati becomes the creator god Brahma.<br /><br /><br /> <em>There was only Non-Being in the beginning. Non-Being developed into an egg. After a year the egg broke into two parts, one silver, one gold. The silver part is earth; the gold part is the sky. The various inside parts of the egg are the mountains, rivers, clouds, and so forth. The sun was born from the egg. At his birth, everything rose toward him. The sun is Brahma</em>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While there are many different myths within Hindu mythology, one of the most well known involves the creator god, Brahma, who here uses both meditative power and his sexuality to create everything in existence.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Prajapati-117506897">Prajapati by Aguaplano</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Brahma and the Dawn</strong><br /><br /> <em>First of all Brahma contemplated the cosmos, which was nothing but swirling chaos without shape. As Brahma meditated, the cosmos began to take shape; order started to be revealed from chaos. But the creator realized that he still did not know what the universe would be like, and his very ignorance turned into a dark being, which Brahma then threw away in disappointment. This being turned into Night. Some say that as he continued to meditate, Brahma produced a succession of further beings, from the stars to the gods, before he produced a beautiful daughter, the Dawn.<br />When Brahma saw his beautiful daughter the Dawn, he became sexually aroused. He made advances to her, but she turned herself into a deer. Brahma responded by transforming himself into a stag. According to one version of the story, Brahma’s daughter would still not let him mate with her; he spilled his seed on the ground and this grew into the first man and the first woman. In the other version of the myth, the pair mated again and again, continuously changing their form, so that their children became the first members of every animal species on the planet. When creation was complete, Brahma took up his dwelling on top of Mount Meru, although he is said to be everywhere. He continues to meditate to give strength to the universe.</em><br /><br />Another version of this myth states that the universe had always existed as the spirit of the universal man, Purusha.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Purusha-59988915">Purusha by amorphouskat</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Purusha come into being when he became self-conscious and declared ‘I am.’ He had the shape of a man and, looking around, felt the sensation of being entirely along. Purusha longed for a partner – his desire brought a wife into existence and from their union the first humans were born. But the union had been incestuous and Purusha’s wife was ashamed. She fled, transforming herself into a succession of animals. But every time she transformed, Purusha assumed the same form and mated with her. The process continued until all the species of animal on earth had been created</em>.<br /><br />Purusha can be found in another Hindu myth of creation. The following myth, called Purusha shukta or ‘Hymn to the Person’ (Hymn to the Primeval Man) tells of the sacrifice of Purusha and the following creation of the universe.<br /><br /><strong>Purusha shukta: Hymn to the Person</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong></strong></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><em>The three quarters that are set down in secret they do not bring<br /> into movement. The fourth quarter of the Holy Utterance is what men<br />speak.<br />The Purusha has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a<br /> thousand feet. He, encompassing the world on all sides, stood out<br />ten fingers’ length beyond.<br />The Purusha alone is all this universe, what has been and what<br />is to be. He rules likewise over immortality and also what grows<br />for food.<br />Such is his greatness, greater indeed than this is Purusha than this.<br />A quarter of him is all beings, three quarters are the immortal in<br />heaven.<br />Being born he projected himself behind the earth as also before<br />it.</em></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.talentshare.org/~mm9n/articles/purusha/4.htm">Purusha: The Beast of Sacrifice</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>When the gods performed the sacrifice with Purusha as the oblation,<br />the spring was its clarified butter, the summer the sacrificial ritual,<br />and the autumn the oblation.<br />The sacrificial victim, namely Purusha, born at the very beginning,<br />they sprinkled with sacred water upon the sacrificial grass. With<br />him as oblation gods performed the sacrifice, and also the Sadhyas<br />and the rishis.<br />From that wholly offered sacrificial oblation were born the verses<br />and the sacred chants; from it were born the meters; the sacrificial<br /> formula was born from it.<br />From it horses were born and also those animals that have double<br /> rows of teeth; cows were born from it, from it were born goats and<br /> sheep.<br />When they divided the Purusha into how many parts did they<br />arrange him? What did his mouth become? What his two arms?<br />What were two thighs and his two feet called?<br />His mouth became Brahman (priest), his two arms the rajenya (ruler),<br />his two thighs the vaishyas, from his two feet Shudra were<br /> born.<br />The moon was born from his mind, the sun from his eyes, from his<br />mouth Indra and Agni, from his breath Vayu (wind) was born.<br />From his navel rose the atmosphere, from his head the heaven,<br />from his two feet the earth, from his ear the directions, thus they<br /> fashioned the world.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>With Sacrifice the gods sacrificed to sacrifice – these were the first<br />of the sacred laws.<br />These might beings reached the sky, where are the eternal spirits<br />the gods.</em><br /><br />The final myth of creation from India that I have for you today is not a creation myth, per se. According to Hindu mythology there are endlessly repeating cycles of creation and destruction. This famous myth describes how one of these creations was missing particular elements and how the gods managed to retrieved these elements in order to continue the cycle.<br /><br /><strong></strong></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesandiegomuseumofartcollection/6125106488/in/set-72157627618651448">The Churning of the Ocean of Milk Edwin Binney 3rd Collection</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Churning of the Ocean of Milk</strong><br /><br /><em>Throughout all the cycles of creation, thoughout all the ages of time, the devas and asuras have been enemies. Throughout all the cycles of creation, throughout all the ages of time, those same gods and demons have needed the offerings of amrita, the butter of immortality, to ensure their continues power.<br />Now it so happened, at the beginning of the second cycle, that the new universe that arose was incomplete, for from it were missing fourteen precious things, among which was the amrita. Anxious that without the sacred butter they would lose their supremacy, the gods conferred as to what they should do. There was only one solution: they would have to churn the great ocean of milk until they brought out of it all the precious things that were missing.<br />The gods knew, however, that they could not accomplish this task unaided, so they asked the demons to help them in churning the milky ocean, promising a share of the amrita in return. Enticed by this thought, the demons agreed. But a fish is soon caught that nibbles at the first bait, and if the demons had not been so greedy they would have realized that the gods had no intention of sharing anything with them.<br />And so the great work began. For a churning stick the gods and the demons uprooted Mount Mandara, and wound around it Vasuki, King of the Serpents, to use as a rope to rotate the mountain. Then, with the demons at his head and the gods at his tail, the assembled company began to haul on Vasuki, pulling first one way and then the other, until slowly, with much creaking and groaning, the huge mountain began to revolve.<br />As the gods and demons pulled harder and harder the mountain began to turn faster and faster. And so great was the heat from its spinning that it set the mountain slopes alight, and the fire would have consumed every plant, every animal, every birth there, had not Indra, Lord of the Rain and the Storm, sent a rainstorm to quench the blaze.</em></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Vedic-Creation-Myth-281612211">Vedic Creation Myth by Eduardo-Tarasca</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>And so great was the weight of the mountain that it would have broken through the earth itself, had not Vishnu the Preserver assumed the form of Kurma the turtle and borne on his back the weight of the mountain. And Vishnu was both the turtle beneath the mountain and the god sitting in glory on top.<br />And so great was the labour of Vasuki King of the Serpents that a torrent of venom began to pour from his jaws that would have killed gods, demons and all living things, had not Shiva the Destroyer drunk the poison and so saved the world. But as Shiva swallowed the poison, a little of it burnt his throat leaving a blue mark, which is why he is called Nilakantha, which means ‘blue throat’.<br />And at the end of a thousand years of churning, the gods and demons were at last rewarded, for the precious missing things began to appear out of the ocean of milk. First came the great cow Surabhi, wetnurse of everything living, and then other treasures followed – Varuni, Goddess of Wine; Parijata the Tree of Paradise, whose scented flowers perfumed all the world; the Apsuras, Nymphs of Grace and Beauty: Out of the milky sea, too, rose the sun and Soma, God of the Moon and of Amrita. And there also, floating on the creamy waves, seated in a lotus blossom and crowned with flowers, was Lakshmi, radiant Goddess of Fortune and Plenty, and consort to Vishnu.</em></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.artoflegendindia.com/2010_10_01_archive.html">Dhanvantari holding the amrita</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Finally came the treasure that all the gods and demons had been waiting for – the amrita itself, contained in a cup held by the physician god Dhanvantari. As soon as the demons saw him, they lunged at him and would have made away with the amrita, had Vishnu not assumed yet another form, this time that of a voluptuous woman named Mohini. Seduced by her beauty and filled with desire for her, the demons agreed to allow her to share out the amrita. But no sooner had the gods received their portion than Mohini mysteriously vanished, with the faintest echo of a tinkling laugh, leaving the demons empty-handed.<br />And that is how the gods kept the amrita for themselves, and how they continued to reign supreme over all of creation.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em></em></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />That’s all for today. Next time we will explore the creation mythology of Australia.<br /><br /><br /><strong></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Useful Resources</strong></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Gods-Hinduism-believers-non-believers/dp/1481825526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483144&sr=8-1&keywords=Gods+of+Hinduism+by+Swami+Achuthananda">Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism by Swami Achuthananda</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythology-Eyewitness-Companions-Philip-Wilkinson/dp/0756631548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483292&sr=8-1&keywords=DK+Eyewitness+Companions%3A+Mythology+by+Philip+Wilkinson+%26+Neil+Philip">DK Eyewitness Companions: Mythology by Philip Wilkinson & Neil Philip</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Indias-Myths-Beliefs-Mythologies/dp/1448859905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483335&sr=8-1&keywords=Ancient+India%E2%80%99s+Myths+and+Beliefs+by+Charles+Phillips%2C+Michael+Kerrigan+%26+David+Gould">Ancient India’s Myths and Beliefs by Charles Phillips, Michael Kerrigan & David Gould</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exploring-India-Civilizations-World-Rosen/dp/1435856155/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483629&sr=8-2&keywords=Exploring+the+Life%2C+Myth%2C+and+Art+of+India">Exploring the Life, Myth, and Art of India by Chakravarthu Ram-Prasad</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/From-Bharata-India-Volume-Chrysee/dp/1475907656/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483664&sr=8-1">From Bharata to India: Chrysee the Golden by M. K. Agarwal</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483697&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+by+David+Adams+Leeming">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlyn-History-Myths-Retold-Ferguson/dp/0600594874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420483749&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamlyn+History%3A+Myths+Retold+by+Diana+Ferguson">Hamlyn History: Myths Retold by Diana Ferguson</a><br /><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/index.htm">Th</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/index.htm">e Rig Veda translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith</a> </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-41179793282178772242015-01-05T09:21:00.000+00:002015-01-05T09:21:28.976+00:00Creation Mythology: NorseToday we are going to begin looking at Creation mythology from around the world, starting with that from Scandinavia. The mythology of Scandinavia is reflective of their harsh landscape - the ice covered earth and snow-capped mountains which thawed for only a few months a year. At the same time, there was the immense heat and fire from the numerous volcanoes. Here the people were faced with dark days and bitterly cold nights, with frosts occurring even during the summer months. This harsh landscape gave birth to many stories and served as a way for the people to explain the natural phenomena around them. Many of these stories came from Iceland, including the Norse myth of their creation.<br />
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The Norse creation myth as we know it is contained within the Icelandic Younger Edda, or the Prose Edda, which was put together by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic historian, in around 1220. Sturluson's work was based on much older stories from oral tradition and the Elder Edda, or Poetic Edda, sometimes called the Edda of Saemund as it was wrongly attributed with Saemund Sigfusson, a writer of the 12th century, which was first written down between the 9th and 12th centuries. <br />
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<b>The Norse Myth of Creation</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Fall-Through-Ginnungagap-206597195?hf=1">The Fall Through Ginnungagap by Skrubhjert</a></td></tr>
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In the beginning there was nothingness. No land, no ocean, no sky. There was only a vast emptiness, which they call Ginnungagap. One day, far in the north of Ginnungagp, cloud and shadow and a freezing mist started to form, swirling in the emptiness like ghosts long forgotten. In the frigid north the moisture froze, turning into far reaching sheets of snow and ice. Right in the centre of this endless frozen landscape a spring burst forth, which they call Niflheim or the Land of Ice, and from here flowed twelve rivers.<br />
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At the same time, in the great heat of the south, small sparks of fire were kindled into life. The specks of light danced and flitted through the darkness. Here the sparks came together to form a vast, smoldering, churning ocean of fire. This they call Muspell, the Land of Fire.<br />
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But still there remained an emptiness between the two lands. The twelve rivers from Hvergelmir, bitter with poison, flowed into this great void and here they thickened into immense layers of ice. The rising vapours of these rivers settled and froze into a heavy frost, making northern Ginnungagap a desolate, empty landscape covered in nothing but an icy wasteland, while in southern Ginnungagap blazed and flared with the light and heat of Muspell.<br />
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But of course, fire melts ice while ice quells fire so, at the centre of Ginnungagap there was neither the bitter cold of the north, nor the scalding heat of the south. Instead it was like a gentle summer's day, where the warm breeze blowing in from the south melted the ice of the north. It was here that the first seeds of life came into being.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiIO8Vc7FDaXcbMzx9xAGywSgRFSsY4sL1hyHGk8El79S1m8jGBRBAxQOXUkpqzq3A2S4C7ZUyux1c3OY0W1LdGazCqQ1hfEh7jhTixLHyX9MzUqM69QLZaYyK4oJRhd_W741oj760OC9/s1600/ymir__the_first_jotunn_by_gregstevens-d39oiig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiIO8Vc7FDaXcbMzx9xAGywSgRFSsY4sL1hyHGk8El79S1m8jGBRBAxQOXUkpqzq3A2S4C7ZUyux1c3OY0W1LdGazCqQ1hfEh7jhTixLHyX9MzUqM69QLZaYyK4oJRhd_W741oj760OC9/s1600/ymir__the_first_jotunn_by_gregstevens-d39oiig.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Ymir-the-first-Jotunn-197658808?hf=1"> Ymir, the first Jotunn by GregStevens</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Droplets of water from the melting ice and snow began to collect into a puddle on the ground, which soon swelled and grew into a giant of a man. The giant surged up, stretching his great arms as if he had awoken from a long, deep slumber. Placing a great foot on the icy ground, the giant turned his head and surveyed the land around him. The name of this giant was Ymir.<br />
<br />
One day, whilst this great giant lay sleeping, he began to sweat and from the sweat of Ymir's left armpit a man and woman, both giants, were born. Ymir had become the father of the frost giants. <br />
<br />
As the warm winds of the south continued to thaw the snow and ice of the north, the melt waters took on another form - that of the cow, Audumla. Audumla fed on the salt found within the ice, while Ymir drank from the four rivers of milk provided by Audumla. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpwRwx2uTWBBlCzf9yvgw1goRbGBnh_RyyRgI1szs1n25dlm2qI_XgdsFyPKH117yRPQEbKGJ6oPAw6whfzlKLhyLWGtLGRbin30ZGQXG2q-RkybMK078iB5lcukwntE2KibZg_FqHsoL/s1600/audumbla_and_ymir_by_orm_z_gor-d4u0puh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpwRwx2uTWBBlCzf9yvgw1goRbGBnh_RyyRgI1szs1n25dlm2qI_XgdsFyPKH117yRPQEbKGJ6oPAw6whfzlKLhyLWGtLGRbin30ZGQXG2q-RkybMK078iB5lcukwntE2KibZg_FqHsoL/s1600/audumbla_and_ymir_by_orm_z_gor-d4u0puh.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Audumbla-and-Ymir-292286681?hf=1">Audumbla and Ymir by Orm-Z-Gor</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As Audumla licked at the ice, searching out the salt, the hair of a man began to emerge. Audumla continued to lick at the ice and soon his whole head appeared, soon followed by his body. This man was Buri who had a son named Bor. Bor married Bestla, a daughter of the frost giants, and they had three sons of their own - Odin, later to become the father of the gods, Vili, and Ve. These were the first gods, half-giant and half-man.<br />
<br />
The sons of Bor and Bestla soon developed a hatred for the frost giants, who were rough and unruly. A war broke out between them and soon Ymir was slaughtered. So much blood flowed from his body that it flooded Ginnungagap, drowning the frost giants but sparing Bergelmir and his wife, who managed to escape the tidal wave of blood in a small boat. From this couple a new generation of giants would be born.<br />
<br />
Odin, Vili, and Ve carried the great body of Ymir to the centre of Ginnungagap and from it they moulded the world. From his flesh they made the soil; from his unbroken bones they made the mountains; from his shattered bones they made the rocks and stones; from his skull they made the sky; his brains were fashioned into clouds; and his blood became the ocean which made a huge ring around the world.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkrSe7jqKjJtIvc3OBE2pNmNfOAviufv4_njQSYD6t5Nx3oRQhUzMn9eCLs1hwZtwi2L8EoqABYOfFKTgi_HbaCwEytesGxugUAZPCRL8hpHG1tNgEnh3XrIFCJcXnQt1zxzIPeLrA_2O/s1600/ymir_by_patrickplos-d7nzuek.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkrSe7jqKjJtIvc3OBE2pNmNfOAviufv4_njQSYD6t5Nx3oRQhUzMn9eCLs1hwZtwi2L8EoqABYOfFKTgi_HbaCwEytesGxugUAZPCRL8hpHG1tNgEnh3XrIFCJcXnQt1zxzIPeLrA_2O/s1600/ymir_by_patrickplos-d7nzuek.png.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
Next Odin, Vili, and Ve took the dancing sparks and the hot, burning embers from Muspell and sent them to the sky where they became the sun, moon, and stars. Odin gifted the dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed giant, Night, and her son, the fair-skinned, fair-haired giant, Day, with chariots in which they could ride across the sky. And there were the two wolves, Hati and Skoll, who chased them: Hati runs after the Moon, while Skoll chases the Sun, both in the hope that they will catch and swallow their prize, and one day they will succeed in their wish.<br />
<br />
Beneath the four corners of the earth, Odin placed a dwarf which the three gods had fashioned from the maggots which had fed upon the body of Ymir. They now live beneath the hills and within the hollows of the earth. Their names were North, South, East, and West.<br />
<br />
In the great ocean, which was too wide for any man to cross, floated the mighty world serpent Jormungand, who was so huge he could wrap himself around the world and still put his tail in his mouth.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDyPknraYvLdHhyphenhyphenAn0f_nTJRmBTBKUrCZBgWA4DyR91_IQnyHAO7YAjGiGLmi5byJ0KYmLYHrtDBJPVIHgptpHdaZjM4HD5KT1ZNzNsHwl_jV7lN3rSY2T1N8_ujFZRJ3EDqggdvPoHbB/s1600/ask_and_embla_by_hrefngast-d3dvwu1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDyPknraYvLdHhyphenhyphenAn0f_nTJRmBTBKUrCZBgWA4DyR91_IQnyHAO7YAjGiGLmi5byJ0KYmLYHrtDBJPVIHgptpHdaZjM4HD5KT1ZNzNsHwl_jV7lN3rSY2T1N8_ujFZRJ3EDqggdvPoHbB/s1600/ask_and_embla_by_hrefngast-d3dvwu1.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Ask-and-Embla-204722425?hf=1">Ask and Embla by Hrefngast</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then, one day, Odin, Vili, and Ve, as they walked along the shore, stumbled upon two fallen trees: an ash tree and an elm tree. Odin breathed life into them, Vili gave them hearts, souls, and the ability to think for themselves, and Ve gave them eyes and ears so they could see and hear. And so the first mortal man and woman came into being, and their names were Ask and Embla.<br />
<br />
In order to keep Ask and Embla safe and happy, Odin, Vili, and Ve took the eyebrows of Ymir and fashioned a vast enclosure at the centre of the world. This they called Midgard or Middle Earth. Here Ask and Embla made there home and it is here that mankind has stayed ever since. <br />
<br />
The gods also fashioned their own home, high above Midgard, which they called Asgard. To link the two worlds they made the Bifrost, a bridge of fire which man calls the rainbow, from three colours - gold, red, and blue - which were considered to symbolize the three social divisions of nobles, freemen, and slaves.<br />
<br />
When the gods were done with their work, creation had been ordered into nine worlds: three above, three below, and three beneath.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGRbofEef4rnGX6z11eCmRlth-0CSSLpYTb7kuVAhpg77qFcUBAReEFto0r09p-FlHBuEIF58zdCV0v4z94pvj13u2oDTdlZ4sflnvrbGOjVOa_KQdloz7A54uVMPSspqUivKUnHpfySo/s1600/map_of_yggdrasil__nine_worlds__by_solaroid-d4t9xqq.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGRbofEef4rnGX6z11eCmRlth-0CSSLpYTb7kuVAhpg77qFcUBAReEFto0r09p-FlHBuEIF58zdCV0v4z94pvj13u2oDTdlZ4sflnvrbGOjVOa_KQdloz7A54uVMPSspqUivKUnHpfySo/s1600/map_of_yggdrasil__nine_worlds__by_solaroid-d4t9xqq.png.jpg" height="640" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Map-of-Yggdrasil-Nine-Worlds-291037202?hf=1">Map of Yggdrasil (Nine Worlds) by solaroid</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Above was Asgard, the home of Odin and the warrior gods, the Aesir; Vanaheim, which was the home of the fertility gods, also known as Vanir; and Alfheim, the 'elf-home' of the light elves.<br />
<br />
Below was Midgard, home to mankind; Jotunheim, the home of the giants; Nidavellir, the 'dark home' of the dwarves; and Svartalfheim, the 'black elf home' of the dark elves.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2cGSKTSmtX6XDXzuPgqsg2gfLiPYmQcvUenuX9cHpuVoeTR23n5zFqBMdKRBS7GIZ9yCt41QLdG2daaCxF5yfgkNP50qErmayZiARL1fdNYr4C8zkGhpFmG5ViPVye2vK5Sqa63hOCOK/s1600/yggdrasil_sm_by_sandpaperdaisy-d7cew68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2cGSKTSmtX6XDXzuPgqsg2gfLiPYmQcvUenuX9cHpuVoeTR23n5zFqBMdKRBS7GIZ9yCt41QLdG2daaCxF5yfgkNP50qErmayZiARL1fdNYr4C8zkGhpFmG5ViPVye2vK5Sqa63hOCOK/s1600/yggdrasil_sm_by_sandpaperdaisy-d7cew68.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Yggdrasil-444113504?hf=1">Yggdrasil by sandpaperdaisy.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Beneath was the frozen land of Niflheim and Hel, home to the dead.
There was also Muspellheim, the land of fire, which is sometimes
included and sometimes not.<br />
<br />
Surrounding, supporting, and passing through these worlds was Yggdrasil, the world tree, which is regarded as the 'axis mundi, meaning the axis or pivot of the world. Yggdrasil was a great ash tree which stands with one root in Niflheim, beside the spring of Hvergelmir, another root in Jotunheim beside Mimir, the Spring of Wisdom, and one root in Asgard, beside the Well of Fate which is watched over by the Norns - the three ancient sisters of weird.<br />
<br />
This is how the world was made according to the Norse men and women from long, long ago.<br />
<br />
That's all for today. Next time we will learn about the Babylonian myth of creation. Do remember to check out some of the artists featured here. Just follow the links.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Useful Resources</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlyn-History-Myths-Retold-Ferguson/dp/0600594874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418042921&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamlyn+History+Myths+Retold+by+Diana+Ferguson">Hamlyn History Myths Retold by Diana Ferguson</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Legends-Fact-Fiction-Parker/dp/184810118X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418042970&sr=8-1&keywords=Myths+and+Legends%3A+Fact+and+Fiction+by+Vic+Parker">Myths and Legends: Fact and Fiction by Vic Parker</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Meaning-Art-Science-Symbolism/dp/0500282153/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418043007&sr=8-1&keywords=Color+and+Meaning%3A+Art%2C+Science%2C+and+Symbolism+By+John+Gage">Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism by John Gage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418043078&sr=8-3&keywords=Creation+Myths+David+Adams+Leeming">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary">by </span><span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary">David A. Leeming</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-35153245118079339282015-01-02T15:05:00.000+00:002015-01-15T12:32:25.114+00:00Creation Mythology: Japan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wZZPxEQpmYc27bsG90jH_T8sVVBlGs_mDFq9i5XQiDlq9XmWePhgtO_vsBWLzcHuDpIlpnp8J9CE9ZpRPZznhPt-U-HJPCe6oq59I4tztU1dRfuIVUCpysvYFjSmhAdEr8xzTsCbrMUS/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lazyyukki-d7jo05l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Ainu
were the oldest inhabitants of Japan and, while they were once widespread, they
now only inhabit a small area of the country – mostly on Hokkaido and the
Kurile Islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The myths of the Ainu
differ from those of the southern Japanese islands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According
to the Ainu creation myth, the universe is made up of six skies and six
worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the top one would find Kamui
the Great God, with the lesser gods below him, and demons could be found in the
lowest levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong></strong></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Kamui the
Great God and the Water Wagtail</strong></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></strong><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmYguIZlQQh-_aW4htObbRyLrGse4dGaqMHhfFE4fTCPs0R52LM4VWVlavCO6Fy9FEBK1aWU-LTZ0xPBcdTtcZWCbndqFGAowcW8mgEcRdin1wKKrTjyx1jcd6q6dOBpDeLJeNMbTeQ96/s1600/asian-myth-ainu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmYguIZlQQh-_aW4htObbRyLrGse4dGaqMHhfFE4fTCPs0R52LM4VWVlavCO6Fy9FEBK1aWU-LTZ0xPBcdTtcZWCbndqFGAowcW8mgEcRdin1wKKrTjyx1jcd6q6dOBpDeLJeNMbTeQ96/s1600/asian-myth-ainu.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.read-legends-and-myths.com/ainu-creation-myth.html">Ainu Creation</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>In the beginning the universe was a slimy ooze on the back of a giant trout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing could live here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the dark fog of the lower skies were the demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the high skies, where the stars shone and the clouds drifted, were the lower gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the highest skies, surrounded by mighty metal walls and a single iron gate, was Kamui the Great God and his servants.</em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kamui made the world a great round ocean which sat atop the back of a giant trout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This giant trough sucks in the ocean and spits it back out, creating the tides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His every movement brings an earthquake.</span></span></em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>One day Kamui looked down upon this watery world he had created and decided that something more should be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he sent down a water wagtail to do the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></em></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wZZPxEQpmYc27bsG90jH_T8sVVBlGs_mDFq9i5XQiDlq9XmWePhgtO_vsBWLzcHuDpIlpnp8J9CE9ZpRPZznhPt-U-HJPCe6oq59I4tztU1dRfuIVUCpysvYFjSmhAdEr8xzTsCbrMUS/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lazyyukki-d7jo05l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04hvSVvce7ZfAJHqQ_1UyPnuWLpnP2UthfA9qa9lbPQLtYQHd8KTjnNA7205n-Hr0mGh8PMNvtz1CZ5aUlBqJXJ6Yu5uqWcN2fAu4O6dxXOsUaPVMk7wFt3dIjSdKlujZs3TpG5de7vQD/s1600/37841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04hvSVvce7ZfAJHqQ_1UyPnuWLpnP2UthfA9qa9lbPQLtYQHd8KTjnNA7205n-Hr0mGh8PMNvtz1CZ5aUlBqJXJ6Yu5uqWcN2fAu4O6dxXOsUaPVMk7wFt3dIjSdKlujZs3TpG5de7vQD/s1600/37841.jpg" height="201" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.easyart.com/prints/winifred-austen/water-wagtail-restrike-etching-37841#37841">Water Wagtail (Restrike Etching) by Winifred Austen</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>The
wagtail arrived and was confronted with a mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was unsure how he should proceed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After much deliberation, the wagtail fluttered his wings, dragging mud
and sand from the waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tramped it
down with his feet and tail, creating dry land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon islands began to emerge from the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even today, the wagtail is still at work,
beating the ground with his tail.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span>
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The world
that Kamui and the water wagtail had created was so beautiful that the animals
that lived in the sky begged Kamui to allow them to live there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apart from these sky animals who were given
permission to live on the beautiful world, Kamui created other beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first people were the Ainu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their bodies were made of earth, their hair
of chickenweed, and their spines made of willow sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Kamui sent the Divine Man, Aioina, to
teach the people how to hunt and cook.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Japanese or Shinto creation myth is contained within two important
sources: the <em>Kojiki</em>, or Records of Ancient Matters, commissioned by Emperor
Gemmyo and written by O no Yasumuro in 712, and the <em>Nihongi</em>, or Chronicles of
Japan, which dates to 720 and was also written by O no Yasumuuro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both sources were influenced by Chinese
beliefs and reflect the animistic Shinto religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <em>Kojiki</em> and <em>Nihongi </em>provide a three-tiered
cosmology: Heaven, the World, and the Underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanami and Izanagi, the central figures of
the following creation myth, are considered by many to personify the Chinese
yin and yang.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">According to the <em>Kojiki</em>, there was only chaos at the beginning of
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon the separation of Heaven and
Earth the Three High Deities created Izanami, meaning Female who Inspires, and
Izanagi, meaning Male who Invites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
were the first ancestors who would be the makers and the basis of all
creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entering the light, Izanagi
washed his eyes, releasing the sun and the moon, and bathed in the primordial
sea, releasing the gods of the earth and sky.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The creation myth described in the <em>Nihongi</em> is more complex than the myth
contained within the <em>Kojiki</em>.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Izanagi and Izanami Shape the World</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the chaos which was before the beginning, three
distinguish and invisible deities emerged on the Plain of Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were Ame-No-Minaka-Nushi-No-Kami,
Taka-Mi-Musubi-No-Kami, and Kami-Musubi-No-Kami.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After them came many other generations of
gods, and the last of them were Izanagi and Izanami, who were brother and
sister.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">At this point the earth was young and without form
– nothing more than a bed of reeds afloat on the primordial ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi and Izanami were chosen by the other
gods to give this floating world a shape and they were given a magical jewelled
spear to aid them in their task.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wZZPxEQpmYc27bsG90jH_T8sVVBlGs_mDFq9i5XQiDlq9XmWePhgtO_vsBWLzcHuDpIlpnp8J9CE9ZpRPZznhPt-U-HJPCe6oq59I4tztU1dRfuIVUCpysvYFjSmhAdEr8xzTsCbrMUS/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lazyyukki-d7jo05l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wZZPxEQpmYc27bsG90jH_T8sVVBlGs_mDFq9i5XQiDlq9XmWePhgtO_vsBWLzcHuDpIlpnp8J9CE9ZpRPZznhPt-U-HJPCe6oq59I4tztU1dRfuIVUCpysvYFjSmhAdEr8xzTsCbrMUS/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lazyyukki-d7jo05l.jpg" height="400" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Izanagi-and-Izanami-456295881">Izanagi and Izanami by LazyYukki</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Izanagi and Izanami took this magical jewelled
spear and, upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it into the ocean
and began to stir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The water began to
congeal and crystals began to form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the two lifted the spear out of the water, droplets of brine dripped from the
spear and transformed into the first dry land, known as Onokoro, meaning
naturally coagulated.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Descending to Onokoro, Izanagi and Izanami joined
to become husband and wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here they
created the other islands of Japan and brought forth the gods who would rule
the natural world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the womb of
Izanami came the god of wind, the god of mountains, the god of trees, and many
other divine beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly the birth of
Hi-Nu-Kagu-Tsuchi, the god of fire, was too much for Izanami.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His passage into the world was so fiery that
he burned her body and she died.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Izanami descended into the underworld of the dead,
Yomi, while Izanagi remained above, mourning the loss of his sister and
wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wept so much that his tears
transformed into the goddess Moaning-river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When his tears ran dry, Izanagi decided to travel to Yomi to bring back
Izanami.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the entrance of Yomi Izanami
told Izanagi that she could not return, for she had already consumed the food of
the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She begged Izanagi not
to enter the underworld of the dead and to not look at her in this place, but
Izanagi would not listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he looked
upon his wife he was horrified, for she revealed herself as a rotting,
decomposing and worm-eaten corpse, watched over by the Eight Thunders which had
emerged from her body when she died.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LrvViucI_a4s0p3gTNeqs7gt2lEsc7YPzonpaysxevJEjUVbswkv9eYkgBWw_S38uCmS57q7wkP6ESP0zEENSm_KByhcTjKL5UkENOCHfhFvx_VoCCKUpQ5Pei9jbqxZWjiFADz1Pepz/s1600/Izanami_by_Noxypia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LrvViucI_a4s0p3gTNeqs7gt2lEsc7YPzonpaysxevJEjUVbswkv9eYkgBWw_S38uCmS57q7wkP6ESP0zEENSm_KByhcTjKL5UkENOCHfhFvx_VoCCKUpQ5Pei9jbqxZWjiFADz1Pepz/s1600/Izanami_by_Noxypia.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Izanami-125447607">Izanami by Noxypia*</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Humiliated that her husband should see her thusly,
Izanami sent the demons of the underworld after Izanagi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi fled, chased by the Hags of Hell, the
Eight Thunders, and the Soldiers of Hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somehow he managed to reach the gates to the upper world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here he plucked three peaches which he three
at the demons soldiers, and this enabled him to make his escape.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Back in the upper world, Izanagi threw himself into
the ocean to cleanse himself of the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He washed his left eye, and Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, emerged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi sent her to the Plain of Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He washed his right eye and Tsuki-Yumi, god
of the moon, emerged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi sent him
to the Kingdom of Night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he washed
his nose and Susano-Wo, god of storms, emerged, who Izanagi gave to the Plain
of the Seas.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And so Izanagi lived on in the realm of the living,
while Izanami became a goddess of the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From then until time reaches its end, the two have agreed to remain
forever apart.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Some versions of this myth have a distinct Chinese influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, however, distinctly Japanese due to
its focus on formality a taboos within relationships between men and
women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also forms the basis of the
relationship between the emperor and Amaterasu</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>Izanami and Izanagi Shape the World: Version 2</strong></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLSE-kk2xMQ-q6IaF6ckYRCud5fr4QYWL7Dkx9PXgWHnSzjSSy-i4hDZLD-6NUiawoIlWiWGe1bmxRuX0FKheniqGxvKqn4vtxZzkSifBcOA30bFyQMU4xSDG1z0yh39Nj5-KwOYM71cj/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lady_voldything-d33neq8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLSE-kk2xMQ-q6IaF6ckYRCud5fr4QYWL7Dkx9PXgWHnSzjSSy-i4hDZLD-6NUiawoIlWiWGe1bmxRuX0FKheniqGxvKqn4vtxZzkSifBcOA30bFyQMU4xSDG1z0yh39Nj5-KwOYM71cj/s1600/izanagi_and_izanami_by_lady_voldything-d33neq8.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Izanagi-and-Izanami-187529552">Izanagi and Izanami by lady-voldything</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the beginning, Heaven and Earth, the In (yin)
and Yo (yang) were one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was only
the egg-like chaos which held the seeds of creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pure parts of the mass were Heaven, while
the heavier parts of the mass were Earth, so Heaven rose while the islands of
the Earth began to form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between the
pure Heaven and the heavier Earth a strange plantlike form evolved into a great
god and he was followed by two other gods, all formed by the will of Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this, six kami, or deities, formed, and
then came Izanami and Izanagi.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfhDYfc9TKoV-InoRPipG23D7woeXWivDkq4nwwkijCQiyy5I5N0T8-Xz__OkM84CoVdvlr6ODBjLsiWWrjMIznlWr7nbZlwc8j0-up409RVwkxBtgZBABp1gq6wBczICYL1856HVhK0r/s1600/Amaterasu_by_tattereddreams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfhDYfc9TKoV-InoRPipG23D7woeXWivDkq4nwwkijCQiyy5I5N0T8-Xz__OkM84CoVdvlr6ODBjLsiWWrjMIznlWr7nbZlwc8j0-up409RVwkxBtgZBABp1gq6wBczICYL1856HVhK0r/s1600/Amaterasu_by_tattereddreams.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Amaterasu-44501557">Amaterasu by JessiBeans</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">These two wandered the Earth and pushed the great
jewelled spear of Heaven into the sea and began to stir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they lifted the great jewelled spear from
the water, the liquid which had collected at the tip of the spear formed the
island Onogoro-jima, meaning Spontaneously Conceived Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanami and Izanagi descended onto the island
and built a land where Onogoro-jima was its central pillar.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now Izanami and Izanagi wished to marry and came up
with a plan where each would travel in opposite directions around the axle of
the world which was the central pillar until they met again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they met, Izanami said, ‘What a
beautiful youth I have met.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Izanagi
objected to having not been the first to speak and so the process began
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, upon their meeting,
Izanagi said, ‘What a beautiful maiden I have met.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi wanted to know how Izanami’s body was
and she told him that a part of her was empty; a part which was the very basis
of her feminity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izanagi said that a
part of his body was excessive and was the very basis of his masculinity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both thought that their masculine and
feminine parts might be joined and that this might make procreation
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they became one as man
and wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">From their union came islands and they had soon
created the Great Eight Island Country (Japan), along with Amaterasu, or
Ohohiro-me-no muchi, the sun goddess and queen of the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amaterasu was so radiant that Izanami and
Izanagi sent her to Heaven where she could rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they brought the moon god, who would be
their daughter’s consort, into being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some of their children were dangerous, especially the Impetuous One who
was the god of fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first they exiled
to Yomi, the underworld, and the second burned his mother to death, although
she first brought Midzuhano-me, the water goddess, and Haniyama-hime, the earth
goddess into being.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Distraught by the loss of his wife, Izanagi went to
Yomi to search for her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he was too
late and she had already eaten the food of the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Izanami ordered her husband not to look
upon her, Izanagi lit a torch and saw that his wife was decomposing.</span></i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPY_Ys9LpbVbtKvR6-3rJBWIKBOedznzkTIhzpALKSkQRYlc6y_XBt7y8QOY0yfoHkDb_XXYuYpHF191rw7jVwt0bTXgGCZt0h1ovhAnmmwyex8TY-Y4U4CjJLZ91fitoY18_ZMYXFtSZ/s1600/izanagi-izanami-yomi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPY_Ys9LpbVbtKvR6-3rJBWIKBOedznzkTIhzpALKSkQRYlc6y_XBt7y8QOY0yfoHkDb_XXYuYpHF191rw7jVwt0bTXgGCZt0h1ovhAnmmwyex8TY-Y4U4CjJLZ91fitoY18_ZMYXFtSZ/s1600/izanagi-izanami-yomi.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/aikido-hiroshi-tada-yachimata-part-4/izanagi-izanami-yomi/">Izanami pursues Izanagi from the land of the dead.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Angered by Izanagi’s disregard of her wished,
Izanami and the Ugly Females of Yomi, who were the Furies, chased Izanagi back
to the land’s entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Izanagi
had escaped, he was plagued by bad luck for he had been to the land of the
dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After cleansing himself in the
sacred water of the sea, Izanagi hid himself away on a faraway island for the
rest of his days, while Izanami became queen of the underworld.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While the myth of Izanami and Izanagi is the main creation myth of the
Japanese people, there are other myths for every new territory discovered to
explain outstanding features in the landscape, such as the hills, rocks, trees,
and freshwaters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes these new
territories were said to be formed as a refuge for gods or great heroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The island of Enoshima was said to be created
as a reward for the sea goddess Benten, who stopped a dragon from devouring all
of the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other myths involve
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVULiy_aKpwTiQd4fmufJk-4HtY0x1zti6p9putNnRn8aDEm2QuODCzAskTP0nDWP6c58_E6f-J_4ElrP8uqRaYfjCVHrWAuWjQZq-rEaFEE1YeZKB1x1RCMrqlgAMuv71jaarwkwxLiQ/s1600/il_570xN.361166649_bhyy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVULiy_aKpwTiQd4fmufJk-4HtY0x1zti6p9putNnRn8aDEm2QuODCzAskTP0nDWP6c58_E6f-J_4ElrP8uqRaYfjCVHrWAuWjQZq-rEaFEE1YeZKB1x1RCMrqlgAMuv71jaarwkwxLiQ/s1600/il_570xN.361166649_bhyy.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/105642984/japanese-goddess-of-sea-and-song-w-sea">Benten Goddess of the Sea</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">legendary people creating new landforms with unusual methods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, Omi-tsu-mi, the ruler of Izumo
used a rope to enlarge his land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Izamo
was situated on a narrow strip of land which was separated from Japan by a
mountain range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Omi-tsu-mi tied one end
of rope to a mountain and the other to islands within the Sea of Japan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His people pulled the rope and managed to
pull off chunks of land from the islands and attached them to the coast of
Izumo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That’s all for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next time
we will look at the creation mythology of India.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Useful Resources<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlyn-History-Myths-Retold-Ferguson/dp/0600594874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420202173&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamlyn+History+Myths+retold">Hamlyn History: Myths Retold by Diana Ferguson</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420202218&sr=8-1&keywords=Creation+Myths+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+by+David+Adams+Leeming">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Nature-Myths-Tamra-Andrews/dp/0195136772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420202287&sr=8-1&keywords=Dictionary+of+Nature+Myths+Tamra+Andrews">Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky by TamraAndrews</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span id="goog_5088349"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/">Japanese Mythology A to Z by Jeremy Roberts<span id="goog_5088350"></span></a></span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-61684028371342066082014-12-31T12:27:00.000+00:002015-01-13T12:59:54.346+00:00Creation Mythology: China<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bKvkk9hBXxBshkK2kIkMIKxBXMOwnP76-qO1QMB26g4RrCT-2hh96uz_zoW3mvQtdgKm6WyLLnW2vtN1_9XCU0yx8Ql7jy5B_3i1C8HwjUUVv1s89sCgsHcWT9jjUzcpyTU_5rub4rAS/s1600/the_universe__creation_by_suntwirl-d5z062h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bKvkk9hBXxBshkK2kIkMIKxBXMOwnP76-qO1QMB26g4RrCT-2hh96uz_zoW3mvQtdgKm6WyLLnW2vtN1_9XCU0yx8Ql7jy5B_3i1C8HwjUUVv1s89sCgsHcWT9jjUzcpyTU_5rub4rAS/s1600/the_universe__creation_by_suntwirl-d5z062h.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Universe-Creation-361125305">The Universe: Creation by suntwirl</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today we are going to look at the creation mythology of China. With developed mythology dating to at least the Shang dynasty (1766BC – 1123 BC), it has been suggested that the development of this mythology could have started as early as 2205 BC, during the Xia dynasty. However, there is very little evidence to support this. Within China’s vast documentation of history one can find many creation narratives. Some of these include the ‘<em>Chuci</em>’, written in the 4th century BC; the ‘<em>Shanhaijing Huainanzi’</em>, written in 139BC; and the <em>‘Zhuangzi’</em>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbxodD7LRX8YttnYEC0YFra_RBc3hD90ZrVu3lpS3HxdDo0JokZiw5NKGiBQ5PXpkeDvaH1UEjiUuJEqGd-sGLbE-7Z9_myJgBC52DM5mJ0Dm325ev2DGihwBsm1MKrFpgAq5GK4YRTvo/s1600/Yin_Yang_by_Xer0392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbxodD7LRX8YttnYEC0YFra_RBc3hD90ZrVu3lpS3HxdDo0JokZiw5NKGiBQ5PXpkeDvaH1UEjiUuJEqGd-sGLbE-7Z9_myJgBC52DM5mJ0Dm325ev2DGihwBsm1MKrFpgAq5GK4YRTvo/s1600/Yin_Yang_by_Xer0392.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Yin-Yang-56580795">Yin-Yang by Infinidium</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The earliest account of a Chinese creation myth dates back to the 4th century BC and can be found in a work called ‘<em>Questions of Heaven’</em>, which is written in a question and answer format. In this account the primal mist made up of the opposing forces of yin and yang. From these two opposing forces the world began to take shape. The Heavens were held up by eight pillars in the Earth. The sun, moon and stars all move in an ordered way and numbers are used in such a way as to suggests that they have some special significance. Here the number eight is linked with harmony and the number two suggests interactions between yin and yang.<br />
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One creation myth which appears in many Chinese sources is that which involves the giant Pan Gu, or P’an Ku. It has survived in China’s texts since the 3rd century. While there are other creation myths contained within China’s texts, this myth remains one of the most popular and involves reducing chaos to order, which is a common theme in Chinese mythology.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkZY3YJ5f0FqeHRohtltZsZY007xYcOhkHFTlnSzlYanK-q5w76icv1u02SQcVvNu1J-huJq7-no33nqFdHJ3BzXuKcWYTaBmZDpv1dTS3wmY3_9VR5WFc8ZJXYEMG_QBNDGaTQiY7vv2/s1600/51a1887bdddba713974857b94f1a1a8d.600x426x1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkZY3YJ5f0FqeHRohtltZsZY007xYcOhkHFTlnSzlYanK-q5w76icv1u02SQcVvNu1J-huJq7-no33nqFdHJ3BzXuKcWYTaBmZDpv1dTS3wmY3_9VR5WFc8ZJXYEMG_QBNDGaTQiY7vv2/s1600/51a1887bdddba713974857b94f1a1a8d.600x426x1.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://genius.com/3211733/Bjork-cosmogony/And-hey-say-back-then-our-universe-was-a-cold-black-egg-until-the-god-inside-burst-out-and-from-its-shattered-shell-he-made-what-became-the-world-we-know">Pangu Cracks the Cosmic Egg</a></td></tr>
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<strong>Pangu Creates the Sky and the Earth</strong><br />
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<em>Long, long ago, at the beginning of time, there was Chaos. Heaven and earth were all mixed up and all was the same. The universe was vast and empty, formless. It was said that this Chaos was shaped like a giant egg and at the very heart of the egg Pangu was born. Pangu was the first of all beings, a child of the universe itself.<br /><br />For countless ages Pangu slept within the egg, growing and growing. When he awoke and stretched his arms, the egg cracked. The lightest parts of the egg floated up and became the sky, while the heavy parts of the egg sank down to become the earth.</em><br />
<em>Pangu was most pleased by the separation of the earth and the sky, but he was afraid that they wouldn’t stay parted. So he stood up and his head supported the sky, while his feet remained on the earth. As time passed, Pangu continued to grow. The sky rose higher and the earth sank deeper. </em><br />
<em>For 18,000 years Pangu stood like a pillar. The sky rose ten feet higher and the earth sank ten feet deeper as each day passed. And every day Pangu grew until he was an enormous giant.<br /><br />The sky eventually reached its highest point and the earth eventually reached its lowest point. Pangu saw that the sky and earth were firmly fixed in place and was reassured that the world would never again fall into chaos.</em><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2riTy4clIXXNKsFDgybcnlpOjFc8h7C_57V989Vc8HGwiJ7PEJwloUShO0lTJinYbHXFP6_YxPUlzDi0ds7PcPefM43MRc86u-LYfgCEtvksvcVBKOB4Zr-kSJR2JS_a73eN588Z_D8dV/s1600/Pangu-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2riTy4clIXXNKsFDgybcnlpOjFc8h7C_57V989Vc8HGwiJ7PEJwloUShO0lTJinYbHXFP6_YxPUlzDi0ds7PcPefM43MRc86u-LYfgCEtvksvcVBKOB4Zr-kSJR2JS_a73eN588Z_D8dV/s1600/Pangu-02.jpg" height="400" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ilcrepuscolo.altervista.org/php5/index.php/Immagine:Pangu-02.jpg">Pangu separates Heaven from Earth</a></td></tr>
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<em>With much relief, Pangu lay down to rest and, taking one last deep breath, he drifted off into a peaceful death. As he died, his breath transformed into the wind and clouds. His voice became the thunder. His left eye rose to become the sun and his right eye rose to become the moon. The hairs on his head became the stars and his sweat streamed down as life-giving rain.<br /><br />Pangu’s body became the features of the earth. His trunk and limbs became the sacred mountains of the five directions: north, south, east, west, and center. His flesh became fertile fields. His muscles and veins became the paths that humans would travel. The hair of his body transformed into the grass, plants, and trees. His blood flowed into the seas, lakes, and rivers. His teeth and bones transformed into rocks and metals, while the marrow hardened into pearls and jade. Pangu’s body also gave rise to living beings when ‘the tiny specks on his skin sprang forth as the fish and animals.’</em><br />
<em>And so it was this child of the universe, the giant Pangu who brought order to the chaos and filled the heavens and earth with the all their beauty and splendor.</em><br />
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Some Chinese myths say that Pangu not only created the heavens and the earth, but also humans. Others credit the goddess Nu Gua with the creation of humans. Nu Gua was a shape-shifter and her most common form was either a serpent or a dragon. At the beginning of the world Nu Gua molded the first people from yellow earth and these perfectly formed people were to be the ancestors of the rulers of Chinese society. Later creations which were made sloppily were to become the common people.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQzKLyYyWqYpjpbDR6EheThqj3cIcyPEgKPljSjS2WUNDaKJ2dlqs0T0H1n9qScg9IUQZevtA7Ny2qQwBbWhac5zXsjvjaqup_gNY7tCA85WqU_Eht-0WoIISHncg1NnopFXpTWNNrItx/s1600/Nu_Gua_by_nuu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQzKLyYyWqYpjpbDR6EheThqj3cIcyPEgKPljSjS2WUNDaKJ2dlqs0T0H1n9qScg9IUQZevtA7Ny2qQwBbWhac5zXsjvjaqup_gNY7tCA85WqU_Eht-0WoIISHncg1NnopFXpTWNNrItx/s1600/Nu_Gua_by_nuu.jpg" height="400" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nu-Gua-79286001">Nu-Gua by nuu</a></td></tr>
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<strong>Nu Gua Creates the First People</strong><br />
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<em>When the earth was first made, Nu Gua came down from heaven to gaze upon this creation. In one of her favourite forms, a serpent with the head of a woman, she slithered across the peaceful landscape. Here she saw mountains, rivers and forests filled with animals and fish. While she thought this creation beautiful, Nu Gua found it somehow empty and she felt alone.<br /><br />On the bank of a river, Nu Gua suddenly had an idea. With her divine power she would create some companions. She scooped up a handful of yellow clay and molded a small figure and when she was finished she set the first human down on the ground and watched as it danced with happiness. Pleased with her creation she made another and another, and these perfect little men and women laughed and danced around their great mother. Nu Gua was no longer lonely.<br /><br />Throughout the day and night Nu Gua worked hard to fill this new world with her children until she was too tired to complete the task. She decided that she needed to simplify her work so it could be done faster. So she pulled a vine from the riverbank and dragged it through a muddy ditch. Then she cracked the vine like a whip, scattering drops of mud around her and, as each drop of mud touched the earth it was transformed into a human. And this is why we have nobles and commoners. The rich and lucky nobles were each formed carefully by the hands of a goddess and the poor and humble commoners were formed without care and the simple flick of a vine whip dragged through the mud.</em><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kC0k3GnDUvFS8pQuEYjTz8fvOmejD0_Au4dsXbu8K5ma2oLN9d50CECboa3MdlukV2SXcXYG0h6o_J3fdwd_SfStArsrvFohqXdYhYp00njznFspV5_N-J7dqydRsF32pNrwpwEB4geu/s1600/9558349_f520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kC0k3GnDUvFS8pQuEYjTz8fvOmejD0_Au4dsXbu8K5ma2oLN9d50CECboa3MdlukV2SXcXYG0h6o_J3fdwd_SfStArsrvFohqXdYhYp00njznFspV5_N-J7dqydRsF32pNrwpwEB4geu/s1600/9558349_f520.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://susanne-iles.hubpages.com/hub/nukuagoddess#">Nu Kua by Susanne Iles</a></td></tr>
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<em>At last Nu Gua’s task was complete and the world was full of her children. But these people made of clay and mud could not live forever. What was to become of them when they grew old and died? After much deliberation, Nu Gua called the people together and taught them how to marry and have children. Now her children could make children of their own.<br /><br />As time passed Nu Gua took a husband – her brother Fu Xi, who became the first emperor. Fu Xi was a great god who not only showered his people with blessings, but taught them how to hunt and fish and write and divine and make music. He also gave them the gift of fire.</em><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsXVdDqJgHvrsfNC9Sm9vl06HrSt4-Bu32YlYPzD6XLlwatkYtONb2bJYlwHQC6uRfCjzpITKyQqvbN5TJbvcKTjlyAPmdKh8Kg9nA_ekgqq_UcnF8XzLhggYdHVfjRfpCr4-S8vGlHRN/s1600/nu_gua_and_fu_xi_by_daimyo_koikoi-d4kalv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsXVdDqJgHvrsfNC9Sm9vl06HrSt4-Bu32YlYPzD6XLlwatkYtONb2bJYlwHQC6uRfCjzpITKyQqvbN5TJbvcKTjlyAPmdKh8Kg9nA_ekgqq_UcnF8XzLhggYdHVfjRfpCr4-S8vGlHRN/s1600/nu_gua_and_fu_xi_by_daimyo_koikoi-d4kalv3.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Nu-Gua-and-Fu-Xi-275951919">Nu-Gua and Fu-Xi by Daimyo-KoiKoi</a></td></tr>
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<em>The people honoured Fu Xi and their mother Nu Gua, building temples and singing of their greatness. And for many years the people lived in peace and happiness.</em><br />
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That’s all for today. Next time we will explore the creation myths from Japan.<br />
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Useful Resources<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-Mythology-Around-World/dp/1404207694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420027108&sr=8-1&keywords=Chinese+Mythology+by+Owen+Giddens+%26+Sandra+Giddens">Chinese Mythology by Owen Giddens & Sandra Giddens</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Chinese-People-World/dp/0531167372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420027150&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Ancient+Chinese+by+Virginia+Schomp">The Ancient Chinese by Virginia Schomp</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-Mythology-Z-Jeremy-Roberts/dp/1604134364/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420027190&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Chinese+Mythology+A-Z%3A+%5BA+Young+Reader%E2%80%99s+Companion%5D+by+Jeremy+Roberts">Chinese Mythology A-Z: [A Young Reader’s Companion] by Jeremy Roberts</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Myths-World-David-Leeming/dp/1598841742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419868352&sr=8-1&keywords=david+a+leeming+encyclopedia">Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia by David Adams Leeming</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-49024758514153037042014-12-20T11:12:00.000+00:002014-12-24T08:51:19.861+00:00From Christmas Past: A Lost Tradition of the Victorians<br />
In the previous three posts I have covered the origins of many of our modern Christmas traditions: from Santa Claus to Mistletoe. Today I want to share with you one of the lost traditions of Christmas Eve. In the times of the Victorians, families and friends would gather around a roaring fire, where they would sing, play games like charades, read poetry, and they would tell stories. The most popular where ghost stories.<br />
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In his introduction to an anthology of Christmas ghost stories titled 'Told After Supper', Jerome K. Jerome wrote, 'Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories. Nothing satisfies un on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about specters.'<br />
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The most well-known ghost story told during Christmas is probably Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. Some have argued that Dickens' story single-handedly saved Christmas from dying out during the Industrial Revolution. It was a time when England had stop celebrating the holiday. However, when 'A Christmas Carol' was published in 1843, the celebration of Christmas began once more. <br />
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So, in the spirit of traditions long past, here are three popular stories which might have been told around the fire on Christmas Eve in the time of the Victorians.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgeomxUnqwI2-D6Mz2Vjym8Fyj1itt0AwuUuH7o77k3SWfpVu2J5BWZKboqnmwviOLbeyj1Pz6IjFKCSSrLACjDZSaeZgcc4DgJdwvPNjBbUMQb6RdXW6Q3v8QWIq4L8KHICVvUusyRRp/s1600/The_Legend_Of_Sleepy_Hollow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgeomxUnqwI2-D6Mz2Vjym8Fyj1itt0AwuUuH7o77k3SWfpVu2J5BWZKboqnmwviOLbeyj1Pz6IjFKCSSrLACjDZSaeZgcc4DgJdwvPNjBbUMQb6RdXW6Q3v8QWIq4L8KHICVvUusyRRp/s1600/The_Legend_Of_Sleepy_Hollow.jpg" height="400" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Legend-Of-Sleepy-Hollow-9072830?hf=1">The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by satirick</a></td></tr>
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<b>The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving </b>(1820)<br />
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In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of Saint Nicholas, there lies a small market town which is generally known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given by the good housewives of the adjacent country from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley among high hills which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook murmurs through it and, with the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks the uniform tranquillity.<br />
From the listless repose of the place, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of Sleepy Hollow. Some say that the place was bewitched during the early days of the Dutch settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power that holds a spell over the minds of the descendants of the original settlers. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs, are subject to trances and visions, and frequently hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions.<br />
The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever seen by the countryfolk, hurrying along in the gloom of the night as if on the wings of the wind. Historians of those parts allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the yard of a church at no great distance, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head; and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow is owing to his being in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak. The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.<br />
It is remarkable that this visionary propensity is not confined to native inhabitants of this little retired Dutch valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by everyone who resides there for a time. However wide-awake they may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching influence of the air and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, and see apparitions.<br />
In this by-place of nature there abode, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, a native of Connecticut, who "tarried" in Sleepy Hollow for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. He was tall and exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, and feet that might have served for shovels. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.<br />
His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs. It stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a woody hill, witha brook running close by, and a formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils' voices, conning over their lessons, might be heard on a drowsy summer's day, interrupted now and then by the voice of the master in a tone of menace or command; or by the appalling sound of the birch as he urged some wrongheaded Dutch urchin along the flowery path of knowledge. All this he called "doing his duty," and he never inflicted a chastisement without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting urchin, that "he would remember it, and thank him for it the longest day he had to live."<br />
When school hours were over, Ichabod was even the companion and playmate of the larger boys; and on holiday afternoons would convoy some of the smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty sisters, or good housewives for mothers, noted for the comforts of the cupboard. Indeed it behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils. The revenue arising from his school would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda. To help out his maintenance he was, according to custom in those parts, boarded and lodged at the homes of his pupils a week at a time; thus going the rounds of the neighborhood, with all his worldly effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief.<br />
That this might not be too onerous for his rustic patrons, he assisted the farmers occasionally by helping to make hay, mending the fences, and driving the cows from pasture. He laid aside, too, all the dominant dignity with which he lorded it in the school, and became wonderfully gentle and ingratiating. He found favor in the eyes of the mothers by petting the children, particularly the youngest, and he would sit with a child on one knee, and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours together.<br />
In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright shillings by instructing the young folks in psalmody. Thus, by divers little makeshifts, the worthy pedagogue got on tolerably enough and was thought, by all who understood nothing of the labor of headwork, to have a wonderfully easy life of it.<br />
The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood, being considered a kind of idle, gentlemanlike personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to the rough country swains. How he would figure among the country damsels in the churchyard, between services on Sundays! - gathering grapes for them from the wild vines that overran the surrounding trees; reciting for their amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones; while the more bashful bumpkins hung sheepishly back, envying his superior elegance and address.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFiSrbWlp2Yp7NV1L5tErA7SriEwgLM0r84fVY4JPS9m4DQXb4tzetnCBpPr-rB0YOefbX4Q6-HsizNi_VhfnlCZwPQAfeiOoqX8c3rSrDvnrQEGEx7GAoPQpXdQUO6rGUHDVi2DfpToX/s1600/63044811e86d925c95e74bc64c48288a.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFiSrbWlp2Yp7NV1L5tErA7SriEwgLM0r84fVY4JPS9m4DQXb4tzetnCBpPr-rB0YOefbX4Q6-HsizNi_VhfnlCZwPQAfeiOoqX8c3rSrDvnrQEGEx7GAoPQpXdQUO6rGUHDVi2DfpToX/s1600/63044811e86d925c95e74bc64c48288a.jpg" height="640" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/election-day#supersized-artistPaintings-247698">Ichabod Crane by Norman Rockwell </a></td></tr>
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He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's 'History of New England Witchcraft'. His appetite for the marvelous was extraordinary. It was often his delight, after his school was dismissed, to stretch himself on the clover bordering the little brook and there con over old Mather's direful tales in the gathering dusk. Then, as he wended his way to the farmhouse where he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature, the boding cry of the tree toad, the dreary hooting of the screech owl, fluttered his excited imagination. His only resource on such occasions was to sing psalm tunes; and the good people of Sleepy Hollow were often filled with awe at hearing his nasal melody floating along the dusky road.<br />
Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they sat spinning by the fire, with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and listen to their marvelous tales of ghosts and goblins, haunted bridges and haunted houses, and particularly of the headless horseman. But if there was a pleasure in all this while snugly cuddling in the chimney corner, it was dearly purchased by the terrors of his subsequent walk homeward. How often did he shrink with curdling awe at some rushing blast, howling among the trees of a snowy night, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian of the Hollow!<br />
All these, however, were mere phantoms of the dark. Daylight put mend to all these evils. He would have passed a pleasant life of it if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was -- a woman.<br />
Among the musical disciples who assembled, one evening in each week, to receive his instructions in psalmody was Katrina Van Tassel, the only child of a substantial Dutch farmer. She was a blooming lass of fresh eighteen, plump as a partridge, ripe and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches, and universally famed, not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. She was withal a little of a coquette, as might be perceived in her dress. She wore ornaments of pure yellow gold to set off her charms, and a provokingly short petticoat to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBp3YA__ocz-X4ZXv0EcwURneyauRXcaxaTMuO0uBW33FbZeXICRQQPybdskB0pXKoNknNMvNXwfYxWC00xxNR3Lzg0BwYIijzGSxWo-ny7qHppsLge71Z0WulxqNzRycmjNlgkdmtVbPx/s1600/Sleepy_Hollow__Van_Tassel_farm_by_ArtemisiaSynchroma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBp3YA__ocz-X4ZXv0EcwURneyauRXcaxaTMuO0uBW33FbZeXICRQQPybdskB0pXKoNknNMvNXwfYxWC00xxNR3Lzg0BwYIijzGSxWo-ny7qHppsLge71Z0WulxqNzRycmjNlgkdmtVbPx/s1600/Sleepy_Hollow__Van_Tassel_farm_by_ArtemisiaSynchroma.jpg" height="268" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Sleepy-Hollow-Van-Tassel-farm-20984907?hf=1">Sleepy Hollow: Van Tassel farm by ArtemisiaSynchroma</a></td></tr>
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Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart toward the sex; and it is not to be wondered at that so tempting a morsel soon found favor in his eyes, more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion. Old Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented, liberal-hearted farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm; but within those everything was snug, happy, and abundant.<br />
The Van Tassel stronghold was situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so fond of nestling. A great elm tree spread its broad branches over it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring of the softest and sweetest water. Hard by the farmhouse was a vast barn, every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth with the treasures of the farm. Rows of pigeons were enjoying the sunshine on the roof. Sleek unwieldy porkers were grunting in the repose and abundance of their pens. A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond, convoying whole fleets of ducks; regiments of turkeys were gobbling through the farmyard.<br />
The pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring mind's eye he pictured to himself every roasting pig running about with an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust.<br />
As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadowlands, the rich fields of wheat, rye, buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchard, burdened with ruddy fruit, which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, and his imagination expanded with the idea how they might be readily turned into cash, and the money invested in immense tracts of wild land, and shingle palaces in the wilderness. His busy fancy already presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with household trumpery; and he beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Lord knows where.<br />
When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete. It was one of those spacious farmhouses, with high-ridged but low-sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch settlers, the projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front. From the piazza the wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the center of the mansion. Here, rows of resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one corner stood a huge bag of wool ready to be spun; ears of Indian corn and strings of dried apples and peaches hung in gay festoons along the walls; and a door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs and dark mahogany tables shone like mirrors. Mock oranges and conch shells decorated the mantelpiece; strings of various colored birds' eggs were suspended above it, and a corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and well-mended china.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCejT50Dj4A5zhjhKyIgDrUn8PM0B1kUfQyTPUyHE34Klw0bQ-A0yQQHDqY8QiQbPj2Jfe0EZcZje-vxqltMCpwmYj8PzWopv_xE6T8EcgHMvACQj29fUEDGm1YwEnjgsDvC-ZKkId7VY/s1600/Yearning_by_DStrombeck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCejT50Dj4A5zhjhKyIgDrUn8PM0B1kUfQyTPUyHE34Klw0bQ-A0yQQHDqY8QiQbPj2Jfe0EZcZje-vxqltMCpwmYj8PzWopv_xE6T8EcgHMvACQj29fUEDGm1YwEnjgsDvC-ZKkId7VY/s1600/Yearning_by_DStrombeck.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Yearning-97667572?hf=1">Yearning by DStrombeck</a></td></tr>
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From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of
delight, the peace of his mind was at an end, and his only study was how
to win the heart of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this
enterprise, however, he had to encounter a host of rustic admirers, who
kept a watchful and angry eye upon each other, but were ready to fly out
in the common cause against any new competitor. Among these the most
formidable was a burly, roaring, roistering blade of the name of Brom
Van Brunt, the hero of the country round, which rang with his feats of
strength and hardihood. He was broad-shouldered, with short curly black
hair, and a bluff but not unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air
of fun and arrogance. From his Herculean frame, he had received the
nickname of "Brom Bones." He was famed for great skill in horsemanship;
he was foremost at all races and cockfights; and, with the ascendancy
which bodily strength acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all
disputes. He was always ready for either a fight or a frolic, but had
more mischief and good humor than ill will in his composition. He had
three or four boon companions who regarded him as their model, and at
the head of whom he scoured the country, attending every scene of feud
or merriment for miles round. Sometimes his crew would be heard dashing
along past the farmhouses at midnight, with whoop and halloo, and the
old dames would exclaim, "Aye, there goes Brom Bones and his gang!"<br />
This hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the
object of his uncouth gallantries; and though his amorous toyings were
something like the gentle caresses of a bear, yet it was whispered that
she did not altogether discourage his hopes. Certain it is, his advances
were signals for rival candidates to retire; insomuch that, when his
horse was seen tied to Van Tassel's paling on a Sunday night, all other
suitors passed by in despair.<br />
Such was the formidable rival with
whom Ichabod Crane had to contend. Considering all things, a stouter
man than he would have shrunk from the competition. Ichabod had,
however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature;
he was in form and spirit like a supplejack - though he bent, he never
broke. <br />
To have taken the field openly against his rival would have been madness. Ichabod, therefore, made his advances in a quiet and gently insinuating manner. Under cover of his character of singing master, he had made frequent visits at the farmhouse, carrying on his suit with the daughter by the side of the spring under the great elm, while Balt Van Tassel sat smoking his evening pipe at one end of the piazza and his little wife plied her spinning wheel at the other.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIol5dnmwPFoGOe76MHEanBf7k4PDXmeRgyz9PvKFHHxDzT-bXPnCGfmPkxGma0cs23Sn4WQaY-Ab2I1zFqd2M3tPUQ5AV5YPOJxB-Lgfguz78NTxgWI6Fa-zQlcyrTwLCggwBaFxo4clw/s1600/Brom+Van+Brunt+&+Ichabod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIol5dnmwPFoGOe76MHEanBf7k4PDXmeRgyz9PvKFHHxDzT-bXPnCGfmPkxGma0cs23Sn4WQaY-Ab2I1zFqd2M3tPUQ5AV5YPOJxB-Lgfguz78NTxgWI6Fa-zQlcyrTwLCggwBaFxo4clw/s1600/Brom+Van+Brunt+&+Ichabod.jpg" height="400" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://beta.imaginefx.com/gallery/user/leonefabio/ichabold-crane-brom-van-brunt">Ichabod Crane & Brom Van Brunt by LeoneFabio</a></td></tr>
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I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. But certain it is that from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances, the interests of Brom Bones declined; his horse was no longer seen tied at the paiings on Sunday nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow. Brom would fain have carried matters to open warfare, and Ichabod had overheard a boast by Bones that he would "double the schoolmaster up, and lay him on a shelf of his own schoolhouse"; but Ichabod was too wary to give him an opportunity. Brom had no alternative but to play off boorish practical jokes upon his rival. Bones and his gang of rough riders smoked out Ichabod's singing school by stopping up the chimney; broke into the schoolhouse at night and turned everything topsy-turvy. But what was still more annoying, Brom took opportunities of turning him to ridicule in presence of his mistress, and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most ludicrous manner, and introduced as a rival of Ichabod's to instruct Katrina in psalmody.<br />
In this way matters went on for some time. On a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on the lofty stool whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little schoolroom. His scholars were all busily intent upon their books, or slyly whispering behind them with one eye kept upon the master; and a kind of buzzing stillness reigned. It was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a Negro, mounted on the back of a ragged colt. He came clattering up to the school door with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a merrymaking to be held that evening at Mynheer Van Tassel's.<br />
All was now bustle and hubbub in the lately quiet schoolroom. The scholars were hurried through their lessons, without stopping at trifles; those who were tardy had a smart application now and then in the rear to quicken their speed, and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual time.<br />
The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet, brushing and furbishing up his only suit, of rusty black. That he might make his appearance in the true style ofa cavalier, he borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was staying. The animal was a broken-down plow horse that had outlived almost everything but his viciousness. He was gaunt and shaggy, with a ewe neck and a head like a hammer; his rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burrs; one eye had lost its pupil, and was glaring and spectral, but the other had the gleam of a genuine devil. In his day he must have had fire and mettle, if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder.<br />
Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers'; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand, like a scepter, and, as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings. A small wool hat rested nearly on the top of his nose, and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out almost to the horse's tail.<br />
Around him nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. As he jogged slowly on his way, his eye ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast stores of apples gathered into baskets and barrels for the market, others heaped up in rich piles for the cider press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun. He passed the fragrant buckwheat fields, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel. It was toward evening that Ichabod arrived at the castle of the Eleer Van Tassel, which he found thronged with the pride and flower of the adjacent country. Old farmers, a spare leathern-faced race, in homespun coats and breeches, blue stockings, huge shoes, and magnificent pewter buckles. Their brisk withered little dames, in close crimped caps, longwaisted short gowns, homespun petticoats, and gay calico pockets hanging on the outside. Buxom lasses, almost as antiquated in dress as their mothers, excepting where a straw hat, a fine ribbon, or perhaps a white frock gave symptoms of city innovation. The sons, in short square-skirted coats with rows of stupendous brass buttons, and their hair generally queued with an eelskin in the fashion of the times, eelskins being esteemed as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the hair. Brom Bones, however, was the hero of the scene, having come to the gathering on his favorite steed, Daredevil, a creature, like himself, full of mettle and mischief, and which no one but himself could manage.<br />
Ichabod was a kind and thankful creature, whose spirits rose with eating as some men's do with drink. He could not help rolling his large eyes round him on the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea table in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such heaped-up platters of cakes and crullers of various kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! And then there were apple pies and peach pies and pumpkin pies, besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and, moreover, delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces, not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor from the midst. Ichabod chuckled with the possibility that he might one day be lord of all this scene of almost unimaginable luxury and splendor. Then, he thought, how soon he'd turn his back upon the old schoolhouse and snap his fingers in the face of every niggardly patron!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/170362798380123581/">Ichabod dancing with Katrina vanTassel by F.O.C. Darley</a></td></tr>
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And now the sound of the music from the hall summoned to the dance. The musician was an old gray-headed Negro, who had been the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood for more than half a century. His instrument was as old and battered as himself. He accompanied every movement of the bow with a motion of the head, bowing almost to the ground and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to start.<br />
Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers. Not a limb, not a fiber about him was idle as his loosely hung frame in full motion went clattering about the room. How could the flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and joyous! The lady of his heart was his partner in the dance, and smiling graciously in reply to all his amorous oglings; while Brom Bones, sorely smitten with love and jealousy, sat brooding by himself in one corner.<br />
When the dance was at an end, Ichabod was attracted to a knot of the sager folks, who, with old Van Tassel, sat smoking at one end of the piazza, gossiping over former times, and drawing out long stories about ghosts and apparitions, mourning cries and wailings, seen and heard in the neighborhood. Some mention was made of the woman in white, who haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite specter of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late near the bridge that crossed the brook in the woody dell next to the church; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard.<br />
The tale was told of old Brouwer, a most heretical disbeliever in ghosts, how he met the horseman returning from his foray into Sleepy Hollow, and was obliged to get up behind him; how they galloped over hill and swamp until they reached the church bridge. There the horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton, threw old Brouwer into the brook, and sprang away over the treetops with a clap of thunder.<br />
This story was matched by Brom Bones, who made light of the Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that, on returning one night from a neighboring village, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should have won it, too; but just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash of fire.<br />
The revel now gradually broke up. The old farmers gathered together their families in their wagons, and were heard for some time rattling along over the distant hills. Some of the damsels mounted behind their favorite swains, and their lighthearted laughter, mingling with the clatter of hoofs, echoed along the silent woodlands. Ichabod only lingered behind, according to the custom of country lovers, to have a tete-a-tete with the heiress, fully convinced that he was now on the highroad to success. Something, however, I fear me, must have gone wrong, for he sallied forth, after no very great interval, with an air quite desolate and chopfallen. Oh, these women! these women! Was Katrina's encouragement of the poor pedagogue all a mere trick to secure her conquest of his rival! Let it suffice to say, Ichabod stole forth with the air of one who had been sacking a henroost, rather than a fair lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left, he went straight to the stable, and with several hearty cuffs and kicks, roused his steed most uncourteously.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61K-HWSxkwulNIIabDMOnhEDSGMNi-CXbmYcGVAZwdli9JM7y_tlPNKnZaIOIiTCze8Rlyq7h7RFnQmCz5iFON3tTAi94AC3ZmtbB-rxhOrEcJSTGDuLTvBfpgkJVWyi3z9NOrWafTT6i/s1600/_Ichabod____Portrait__by_Jurei_chan.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61K-HWSxkwulNIIabDMOnhEDSGMNi-CXbmYcGVAZwdli9JM7y_tlPNKnZaIOIiTCze8Rlyq7h7RFnQmCz5iFON3tTAi94AC3ZmtbB-rxhOrEcJSTGDuLTvBfpgkJVWyi3z9NOrWafTT6i/s1600/_Ichabod____Portrait__by_Jurei_chan.jpg" height="400" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Ichabod-Portrait-137842047?hf=1">Ichabod - Portrait by TownOfWolves</a></td></tr>
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It was the very witching time of night that Ichabod, heavyhearted and crestfallen, pursued his travel homeward. Far below, the Tappan Zee spread its dusky waters. In the dead hush of midnight he could hear the faint barking of a watchdog from the opposite shore. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from his sight. He had never felt so lonely and dismal.<br />
All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard earlier now came crowding upon his recollection. He would, moreover, soon be approaching the very place where many of the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid.<br />
Just ahead, where a small brook crossed the road, a few rough logs lying side by side served for a bridge. A group of oaks and chestnuts, matted thick with wild grapevines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. Ichabod gave Gunpowder half a score of kicks in his starveling ribs, and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge; but instead of starting forward, the perverse old animal only plunged to the opposite side of the road into a thicket of brambles. He came to a stand just by the bridge, with a suddenness that nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just at this moment, in the dark shadow on the margin of the brook, Ichabod beheld something huge, misshapen, black, and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveler.<br />
The hair of the affrighted schoolteacher rose upon his head, but, summoning up a show of courage, he demanded in stammering accents, "Who are you!" He received no reply. He repeated his demand in a still more agitated voice. Still there was no answer. Once more he cudgeled the sides of the inflexible Gunpowder and, shutting his eyes, broke forth with involuntary fervor into a psalm tune. Just then the shadowy object of alarm put itself in motion and, with a scramble and a bound, stood at once in the middle of the road. He appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame. He kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder, who had now got over his waywardness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIIyxgSSqR0S_-bhIsA9CoV6Xhyphenhyphenv_3QYxePY5dc6lBPzgjXC-GKie4UQESQ5QgaNFCwQeIaP9U9g5BPISQhDE8U-bkp9VCtUv8_TJ8XJ2BqP4MNTToq8fxKSsD8Cgrdrfz8sdjVul64PV/s1600/Hessian_Horseman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIIyxgSSqR0S_-bhIsA9CoV6Xhyphenhyphenv_3QYxePY5dc6lBPzgjXC-GKie4UQESQ5QgaNFCwQeIaP9U9g5BPISQhDE8U-bkp9VCtUv8_TJ8XJ2BqP4MNTToq8fxKSsD8Cgrdrfz8sdjVul64PV/s1600/Hessian_Horseman.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Hessian-Horseman-3079692?hf=1">Hessian Horseman by EbilSoki</a></td></tr>
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Ichabod quickened his steed, in hopes of leaving this midnight companion behind. The stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind - the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him. There was something in the stranger's moody silence that was appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow traveler in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horrorstruck on perceiving that he was headless! But his horror was still more increased on observing that the stranger's head was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle.<br />
Ichabod's terror rose to desperation; he rained a shower of kicks and blows upon Gunpowder, hoping to give his companion the slip, but the specter started full jump with him. Away then they dashed, stones flying and sparks flashing at every bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered in the air, as he stretched his long lank body away over his horse's head in the eagerness of his flight.<br />
They had now reached that stretch of the road which descends to Sleepy Hollow, shaded by trees for about a quarter of a mile, where it crosses the famous church bridge just before the green knoll on which stands the church.<br />
Gunpowder, who seemed possessed with a demon, plunged headlong downhill. As yet his panic had given his unskillful rider an apparent advantage in the chase; but just as he had got halfway through the hollow, the girths of the saddle gave way, and Ichabod felt it slipping from under him. He had just time to save himself by clasping old Gunpowder round the neck when the saddle fell to the earth. He had much ado to maintain his seat, sometimes slipping on one side, sometimes on another, and sometimes jolted on the high ridge of his horse's backbone, with a violence that he feared would cleave him asunder.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm25PefDsyDrjyTIa5B0fsWF-meIZNYaoC2EgTyPOfqj0TrVEkHz_C5gGd_v3e7EY7PPm0bO1QAKjnJNvD0oODUhznstoiqvz-7D4CN7OnOidxUcjD3eKkjx41Nbz6zgrCi_chIq3dzEv/s1600/the_chase_by_t_razz-d6ata2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm25PefDsyDrjyTIa5B0fsWF-meIZNYaoC2EgTyPOfqj0TrVEkHz_C5gGd_v3e7EY7PPm0bO1QAKjnJNvD0oODUhznstoiqvz-7D4CN7OnOidxUcjD3eKkjx41Nbz6zgrCi_chIq3dzEv/s1600/the_chase_by_t_razz-d6ata2b.jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-chase-380959283?hf=1">The chase by T-razz</a></td></tr>
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An opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. He saw the whitewashed walls of the church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the place where Brom Bones's ghostly competitor had disappeared. "If I can but reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, "I am safe." Just then he heard the black steed panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied that he felt his hot breath. Another convuisive kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the resounding planks; he gained the opposite side; and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash - he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider passed by like a whirlwind.<br />
The next morning old Gunpowder was found without his saddle, and with the bridle under his feet, soberly cropping the grass at his master's gate. Ichabod did not make his appearance at breakfast; dinner hour came, but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the schoolhouse, and strolled idly about the banks of the brook; but no schoolmaster. An inquiry was set on foot, and after diligent investigation they came upon the saddle trampled in the dirt. The tracks of horses' hoofs deeply dented in the road were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank of a broad part of the brook, was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin. The brook was searched, but the body of the schoolmaster was not to be discovered.<br />
The mysterious event caused much speculation at the church on the following Sunday. Knots of gazers were collected in the churchyard, at the bridge, and at the spot where the hat and pumpkin had been found. They shook their heads, and came to the conclusion that Ichabod had been carried off by the Galloping Hessian. As he was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head anymore about him. It is true, an old farmer who had been down to New York on a visit several years after brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still alive; that he had only changed his quarters to a distant part of the country, had kept school and studied law at the same time, had turned politician, and finally had been made a justice of the Ten Pound Court. Brom Bones too, who shortly after his rival's disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin, which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell.<br />
The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural means. The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe, and that may be the reason why the road has been altered of late years, so as to approach the church by the border of the millpond. The schoolhouse, being deserted, soon fell to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the the ghost of the unfortunate teacher; and the plowboy, loitering homeward of a still summer evening, has often fancied Ichabod's voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow. <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell</b> (1852)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZPR4XuEd8SOURcWaFik1PLinfKk9xdfte0LGh_xwpnjEP9FMM3zRaiekToJqvu79tvav99v0sNfZEPWyyvhB-sqd6NTwpn6oBryJ_5OFOyc4cf8A7tGmbhHGdFL15KLUHmPMbbj9PjHO/s1600/mother-and-child2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZPR4XuEd8SOURcWaFik1PLinfKk9xdfte0LGh_xwpnjEP9FMM3zRaiekToJqvu79tvav99v0sNfZEPWyyvhB-sqd6NTwpn6oBryJ_5OFOyc4cf8A7tGmbhHGdFL15KLUHmPMbbj9PjHO/s1600/mother-and-child2.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://iamachild.wordpress.com/category/day-francis/">Mother and Child by Francis Day</a></td></tr>
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You know, my dears, that your mother was an orphan, and an only child; and I dare say you have heard that your grand-father was a clergyman up in Westmoreland, where I come from. I was just a girl in the village school, when, one day, your grandmother came in to ask the mistress if there was any scholar there who would do for a nurse-maid; and mighty proud I was, I can tell ye, when the mistress called me up, and spoke to my being a good girl at my needle, and a steady, honest girl, and one whose parents were very respectable, though they might be poor I thought I should like nothing better than to serve the pretty, young lady, who was blushing as deep as I was, as she spoke of the coming baby, and what I should have to do with it. However, I see you don't care so much for this part of my story, as for what you think is to come, so I'll tell you at once. I was engaged and settled at the parsonage before Miss Rosamond (that was the baby, who is now your mother) was born. To be sure, I had little enough to do with her when she came, for she was never out of her mother's arms, and slept by her all night long; and proud enough was I sometimes when missis trusted her to me. There never was such a baby before or since, though you've all of you been fine enough in your turns; but for sweet, winning ways, you've none of you come up to your mother. She took after her mother, who was a real lady born; a Miss Furnivall, a granddaughter of Lord Furnivall's, in Northumberland. I believe she had neither brother nor sister, and had been brought up in my lord's family till she had married your grandfather, who was just a curate, son to a shopkeeper in Carlisle - but a clever, fine gentleman as ever was - and one who was a right-down hard worker in his parish, which was very wide, and scattered all abroad over the Westmoreland Fells. When your mother, little Miss Rosamond, was about four or five years old, both her parents died in a fortnight - one after the other. Ah! that was a sad time. My pretty young mistress and me was looking for another baby, when my master came home from one of his long rides, wet, and tired, and took the fever he died of; and then she never held up her head again, but lived just to see her dead baby, and have it laid on her breast before she sighed away her life. My mistress had asked me, on her death-bed, never to leave Miss Rosamond; but if she had never spoken a word, I would have gone with the little child to the end of the world.<br />
The next thing, and before we had well stilled our sobs, the executors and guardians came to settle the affairs. They were my poor young mistress's own cousin, Lord Furnivall, and Mr Esthwaite, my master's brother, a shopkeeper in Manchester; not so well to do then, as he was afterwards, and with a large family rising about him. Well! I don't know if it were their settling, or because of a letter my mistress wrote on her death-bed to her cousin, my lord; but somehow it was settled that Miss Rosamond and me were to go to Furnivall Manor House, in Northumberland, and my lord spoke as if it had been her mother's wish that she should live with his family, and as if he had no objections, for that one or two more or less could make no difference in so grand a household. So, though that was not the way in which I should have wished the coming of my bright and pretty pet to have been looked at - who was like a sunbeam in any family, be it never so grand - I was well pleased that all the folks in the Dale should stare and admire, when they heard I was going to be young lady's maid at my Lord Furnivall's at Furnivall Manor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTK8mtNncqQz325NRKUaFEBvsW9QFy-r3rBS83eq4c7Gig99oIXFKXn5y8EQZHZwkF0vgE-ogyLaiUepCSy8emS7x1GBilrcm0aZoh27It06GPqOcQDO7JoQwt5C4PDlXtA6gQcJ0Kp-Z5/s1600/Cumberland+Fells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTK8mtNncqQz325NRKUaFEBvsW9QFy-r3rBS83eq4c7Gig99oIXFKXn5y8EQZHZwkF0vgE-ogyLaiUepCSy8emS7x1GBilrcm0aZoh27It06GPqOcQDO7JoQwt5C4PDlXtA6gQcJ0Kp-Z5/s1600/Cumberland+Fells.jpg" height="251" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/on-the-cumberland-fells-75613">On the Cumberland Fells by Alfred Walter Williams</a></td></tr>
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But I made a mistake in thinking we were to go and live where my lord did. It turned out that the family had left Furnivall Manor House fifty years or more. I could not hear that my poor young mistress had ever been there, though she had been brought up in the family; and I was sorry for that, for I should have liked Miss Rosamond's youth to have passed where her mother's had been.<br />
My lord's gentleman, from whom I asked as many questions as I durst, said that the Manor House was at the foot of the Cumberland Fells, and a very grand place; that an old Miss Furnivall, a great-aunt of my lord's, lived there, with only a few servants; but that it was a very healthy place, and my lord had thought that it would suit Miss Rosamond very well for a few years, and that her being there might perhaps amuse his old aunt.<br />
I was bidden by my lord to have Miss Rosamond's things ready by a certain day. He was a stern proud man, as they say all the Lords Furnivall were; and he never spoke a word more than was necessary. Folk did say he had loved my young mistress; but that, because she knew that his father would object, she would never listen to him, and married Esthwaite; but I don't know. He never married at any rate. But he never took much notice of Miss Rosamond; which I thought he might have done if he had cared for her dead mother. He sent his gentleman with us to the Manor House, telling him to join him at Newcastle that same evening; so there was no great length of time for him to make us known to all the strangers before he, too, shook us off; and we were left, two lonely young things (I was not eighteen), in the great old Manor House. It seems like yesterday that we drove there. We had left our own dear parsonage very early, and we had both cried as if our hearts would break, though we were travelling in my lord's carriage, which I thought so much of once. And now it was long past noon on a September day, and we stopped to change horses for the last time at a little, smoky town, all full of colliers and miners. Miss Rosamond had fallen asleep, but Mr Henry told me to waken her, that she might see the park and the Manor House as we drove up. I thought it rather a pity; but I did what he bade me, for fear he should complain of me to my lord. We had left all signs of a town, or even a village, and were then inside the gates of a large, wild park - not like the parks here in the south, but with rocks, and the noise of running water, and gnarled thorn-trees, and old oaks, all white and peeled with age. <br />
The road went up about two miles, and then we saw a great and stately house, with many trees close around it, so close that in some places their branches dragged against the walls when the wind blew; and some hung broken down; for no one seemed to take much charge of the place; - to lop the wood, or to keep the moss-covered carriage-way in order. Only in front of the house all was clear. The great oval drive was without a weed; and neither tree nor creeper was allowed to grow over the long, many-windowed front; at both sides of which a wing projected, which were each the ends of other side fronts; for the house, although it was so desolate, was even grander than I expected. Behind it rose the Fells, which seemed unenclosed and bare enough; and on the left hand of the house, as you stood facing it, was a little, old-fashioned flower-garden, as I found out afterwards. A door opened out upon it from the west front; it had been scooped out of the thick dark wood for some old Lady Furnivall; but the branches of the great forest trees had grown and overshadowed it again, and there were very few flowers that would live there at that time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1V-bFJyzXCrvRyUdoG6lH9CCB75B4VYKhiEPvJDNJniZCBd4UxbKLHaB7VL5EOxs3gRC5EMerY1r_J8U3G3HHLOCQt9ZNQHhV80yFIlgzND1uJSBHpfaS8PM4Kk6kzPQ6XfY9_r2dhU65/s1600/elizabeth_gaskell___the_old_nurse_s_story_by_mgkellermeyer-d7kcegi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1V-bFJyzXCrvRyUdoG6lH9CCB75B4VYKhiEPvJDNJniZCBd4UxbKLHaB7VL5EOxs3gRC5EMerY1r_J8U3G3HHLOCQt9ZNQHhV80yFIlgzND1uJSBHpfaS8PM4Kk6kzPQ6XfY9_r2dhU65/s1600/elizabeth_gaskell___the_old_nurse_s_story_by_mgkellermeyer-d7kcegi.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mgkellermeyer.deviantart.com/art/Elizabeth-Gaskell-The-Old-Nurse-s-Story-457434162">Elizabeth Gaskell - The Old Nurse's Story by mgkellermeyer</a></td></tr>
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When we drove up to the great front entrance, and went into the hall I thought we should be lost - it was so large, and vast, and grand. There was a chandelier all of bronze, hung down from the middle of the ceiling; and I had never seen one before, and looked at it all in amaze. Then, at one end of the hall, was a great fireplace, as large as the sides of the houses in my country, with massy andirons and dogs to hold the wood; and by it were heavy, old-fashioned sofas. At the opposite end of the hall, to the left as you went in - on the western side - was an organ built into the wall, and so large that it filled up the best part of that end. Beyond it, on the same side, was a door; and opposite, on each side of the fire-place, were also doors leading to the east front; but those I never went through as long as I stayed in the house, so I can't tell you what lay beyond.<br />
The afternoon was closing in and the hall, which had no fire lighted in it, looked dark and gloomy, but we did not stay there a moment. The old servant, who had opened the door for us bowed to Mr Henry, and took us in through the door at the further side of the great organ, and led us through several smaller halls and passages into the west drawing-room, where he said that Miss Furnivall was sitting. Poor little Miss Rosamond held very tight to me, as if she were scared and lost in that great place, and as for myself, I was not much better. The west drawing-room was very cheerful-looking, with a warm fire in it, and plenty of good, comfortable furniture about. Miss Furnivall was an old lady not far from eighty, I should think, but I do not know. She was thin and tall, and had a face as full of fine wrinkles as if they had been drawn all over it with a needle's point. Her eyes were very watchful to make up, I suppose, for her being so deaf as to be obliged to use a trumpet. Sitting with her, working at the same great piece of tapestry, was Mrs Stark, her maid and companion, and almost as old as she was. She had lived with Miss Furnivall ever since they both were young, and now she seemed more like a friend than a servant; she looked so cold, and grey, and stony, as if she had never loved or cared for any one; and I don't suppose she did care for any one, except her mistress; and, owing to the great deafness of the latter, Mrs Stark treated her very much as if she were a child. Mr Henry gave some message from my lord, and then he bowed good-bye to us all, - taking no notice of my sweet little Miss Rosamond's outstretched hand - and left us standing there, being looked at by the two old ladies through their spectacles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBGjTcO2TqLZvhLHuBhfACVodgGDS-lKVbD3gUJTRDs4Na8ITFU0iK4NPR0fN63x9-tVeibbY8PgS3NcEdLo2xoIinhOQWdS95EvZ_iUzIJA7e1SjVqZUPK5A_F2ua9OGrZjQhUloWJtz/s1600/nursery_mid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBGjTcO2TqLZvhLHuBhfACVodgGDS-lKVbD3gUJTRDs4Na8ITFU0iK4NPR0fN63x9-tVeibbY8PgS3NcEdLo2xoIinhOQWdS95EvZ_iUzIJA7e1SjVqZUPK5A_F2ua9OGrZjQhUloWJtz/s1600/nursery_mid.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset59279_180-.html">Victorian Nursery by Diane Earl</a></td></tr>
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I was right glad when they rung for the old footman who had shown us in at first, and told him to take us to our rooms. So we went out of that great drawing-room, and into another sitting-room, and out of that, and then up a great flight of stairs, and along a broad gallery - which was something like a library, having books all down one side, and windows and writing-tables all down the other - till we came to our rooms, which I was not sorry to hear were just over the kitchens; for I began to think I should be lost in that wilderness of a house. There was an old nursery, that had been used for all the little lords and ladies long ago, with a pleasant fire burning in the grate, and the kettle boiling on the bob, and tea things spread out on the table; and out of that room was the night-nursery, with a little crib for Miss Rosamond close to my bed. And old James called up Dorothy, his wife, to bid us welcome; and both he and she were so hospitable and kind, that by and by Miss Rosamond and me felt quite at home; and by the time tea was over, she was sitting on Dorothy's knee, and chattering away as fast as her little tongue could go. I soon found out that Dorothy was from Westmoreland, and that bound her and me together, as it were; and I would never wish to meet with kinder people than were old James and his wife. James had lived pretty nearly all his life in my lord's family, and thought there was no one so grand as they. He even looked down a little on his wife; because, till he had married her, she had never lived in any but a farmer's household. But he was very fond of her, as well he might be. They had one servant under them, to do all the rough work. Agnes they called her; and she and me, and James and Dorothy, with Miss Furnivall and Mrs Stark, made up the family; always remembering my sweet little Miss Rosamond! I used to wonder what they had done before she came, they thought so much of her now. Kitchen and drawing-room, it was all the same. The hard, sad Miss Furnivall, and the cold Mrs Stark, looked pleased when she came fluttering in like a bird, playing and pranking hither and thither, with a continual murmur, and pretty prattle of gladness. I am sure, they were sorry many a time when she flitted away into the kitchen, though they were too proud to ask her to stay with them, and were a little surprised at her taste; though to be sure, as Mrs Stark said, it was not to be wondered at, remembering what stock her father had come of. The great, old rambling house was a famous place for little Miss Rosamond. She made expeditions all over it, with me at her heels; all, except the east wing, which was never opened, and whither we never thought of going. But in the western and northern part was many a pleasant room; full of things that were curiosities to us, though they might not have been to people who had seen more. The windows were darkened by the sweeping boughs of the trees, and the ivy which had overgrown them: but, in the green gloom, we could manage to see old China jars and carved ivory boxes, and great, heavy books, and, above all, the old pictures!<br />
Once, I remember, my darling would have Dorothy go with us to tell us who they all were; for they were all portraits of some of my lord's family, though Dorothy could not tell us the names of every one. We had gone through most of the rooms, when we came to the old state drawing-room over the hall, and there was a picture of Miss Furnivall; or, as she was called in those days, Miss Grace, for she was the younger sister. Such a beauty she must have been! but with such a set, proud look, and such scorn looking out of her handsome eyes, with her eyebrows just a little raised, as if she wondered how any one could have the impertinence to look at her; and her lip curled at us, as we stood there gazing. She had a dress on, the like of which I had never seen before, but it was all the fashion when she was young: a hat of some soft, white stuff like beaver, pulled a little over her brows, and a beautiful plume of feathers sweeping round it on one side; and her gown of blue satin was open in front to a quilted, white stomacher.<br />
'Well, to be sure!' said I, when I had gazed my fill. 'Flesh is grass, they do say; but who would have thought that Miss Furnivall had been such an out-and-out beauty, to see her now?'<br />
'Yes,' said Dorothy. 'Folks change sadly. But if what my master's father used to say was true, Miss Furnivall, the elder sister, was handsomer than Miss Grace. Her picture is here somewhere; but, if I show it you, you must never let on, even to James, that you have seen it. Can the little lady hold her tongue, think you?' asked she.<br />
I was not so sure, for she was such a little, sweet, bold, open-spoken child, so I set her to hide herself; and then I helped Dorothy to turn a great picture, that leaned with its face towards the wall, and was not hung up as the others were. To be sure, it beat Miss Grace for beauty; and, I think, for scornful pride, too, though in that matter it might be hard to choose. I could have looked at it an hour, but Dorothy seemed half frightened at having shown it to me, and hurried it back again, and bade me run and find Miss Rosamond, for that there were some ugly places about the house, where she should like ill for the child to go. I was a brave, high-spirited girl, and thought little of what the old woman said, for I liked hide-and-seek as well as any child in the parish; so off I ran to find my little one.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://janegs.com/Gaskell/The%20Old%20Nurse%27s%20Story/Gaskell_The_Old_Nurses_Story.htm">An Old Organ</a></td></tr>
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As winter drew on, and the days grew shorter, I was sometimes almost certain that I heard a noise as if some one was playing on the great organ in the hall. I did not hear it every evening; but, certainly, I did very often; usually when I was sitting with Miss Rosamond, after I had put her to bed, and keeping quite still and silent in the bed-room. Then I used to hear it booming and swelling away in the distance. The first night, when I went down to my supper, I asked Dorothy who had been playing music, and James said very shortly that I was a gowk to take the wind soughing among the trees for music: but I saw Dorothy look at him very fearfully, and Agnes, the kitchen-maid, said something beneath her breath, and went quite white. I saw they did not like my question, so I held my peace till I was with Dorothy alone, when I knew I could get a good deal out of her. So, the next day, I watched my time, and I coaxed and asked her who it was that played the organ; for I knew that it was the organ and not the wind well enough, for all I had kept silence before James. But Dorothy had had her lesson I'll warrant, and never a word could I get from her. So then I tried Agnes, though I had always held my head rather above her, as I was even to James and Dorothy, and she was little better than their servant. So she said I must never, never tell; and if I ever told, I was never to say she had told me; but it was a very strange noise, and she had heard it many a time, but most of all on winter nights, and before storms; and folks did say, it was the old lord playing on the great organ in the hall, just as he used to do when he was alive; but who the old lord was, or why he played, and why he played on stormy winter evenings in particular, she either could not or would not tell me. Well! I told you I had a brave heart; and I thought it was rather pleasant to have that grand music rolling about the house, let who would be the player; for now it rose above the great gusts of wind, and wailed and triumphed just like a living creature, and then it fell to a softness most complete; only it was always music, and tunes, so it was nonsense to call it the wind I thought at first, that it might be Miss Furnivall who played, unknown to Agnes; but, one day when I was in the hall by myself, I opened the organ and peeped all about it and around it, as I had done to the organ in Crosthwaite Church once before, and I saw it was all broken and destroyed inside, though it looked so brave and fine; and then, though it was noon-day, my flesh began to creep a little, and I shut it up, and run away pretty quickly to my own bright nursery; and I did not like hearing the music for some time after that, any more than James and Dorothy did. All this time Miss Rosamond was making herself more and more beloved. The old ladies liked her to dine with them at their early dinner; James stood behind Miss Furnivall's chair, and I behind Miss Rosamond's all in state; and, after dinner, she would play about in a corner of the great drawing-room, as still as any mouse, while Miss Furnivall slept, and I had my dinner in the kitchen. But she was glad enough to come to me in the nursery afterwards; for, as she said, Miss Furnivall was so sad, and Mrs Stark so dull; but she and I were merry enough; and, by-and-by, I got not to care for that weird rolling music, which did one no harm, if we did not know where it came from.<br />
That winter was very cold. In the middle of October the frosts began, and lasted many, many weeks. I remember, one day at dinner, Miss Furnivall lifted up her sad, heavy eyes, and said to Mrs Stark, 'I am afraid we shall have a terrible winter,' in a strange kind of meaning way. But Mrs Stark pretended not to hear, and talked very loud of something else. My little lady and I did not care for the frost; not we! As long as it was dry we climbed up the steep brows, behind the house, and went up on the Fells, which were bleak, and bare enough, and there we ran races in the fresh, sharp air; and once we came down by a new path that took us past the two old, gnarled holly-trees, which grew about half-way down by the east side of the house. But the days grew shorter, and shorter; and the old lord, if it was he, played away more, and more stormily and sadly on the great organ. One Sunday afternoon, - it must have been towards the end of November - I asked Dorothy to take charge of little Missey when she came out of the drawing-room, after Miss Furnivall had had her nap; for it was too cold to take her with me to church, and yet I wanted to go. And Dorothy was glad enough to promise, and was so fond of the child that all seemed well; and Agnes and I set off very briskly, though the sky hung heavy and black over the white earth, as if the night had never fully gone away; and the air, though still, was very biting and keen.<br />
'We shall have a fall of snow,' said Agnes to me. And sure enough, even while we were in church, it came down thick, in great, large flakes, so thick it almost darkened the windows. It had stopped snowing before we came out, but it lay soft, thick and deep beneath our feet, as we tramped home. Before we got to the hall the moon rose, and I think it was lighter then, - what with the moon, and what with the white dazzling snow - than it had been when we went to church, between two and three o'clock. I have not told you that Miss Furnivall and Mrs Stark never went to church: they used to read the prayers together, in their quiet, gloomy way; they seemed to feel the Sunday very long without their tapestry-work to be busy at. So when I went to Dorothy in the kitchen, to fetch Miss Rosamond and take her up-stairs with me, I did not much wonder when the old woman told me that the ladies had kept the child with them, and that she had never come to the kitchen, as I had bidden her, when she was tired of behaving pretty in the drawing-room. So I took off my things and went to find her, and bring her to her supper in the nursery. But when I went into the best drawing-room, there sat the two old ladies, very still and quiet, dropping out a word now and then, but looking as if nothing so bright and merry as Miss Rosamond had ever been near them. Still I thought she might be hiding from me; it was one of her pretty ways; and that she had persuaded them to look as if they knew nothing about her; so I went softly peeping under this sofa, and behind that chair, making believe I was sadly frightened at not finding her.<br />
'What's the matter, Hester?' said Mrs Stark sharply. I don't know if Miss Furnivall had seen me, for, as I told you, she was very deaf, and she sate quite still, idly staring into the fire, with her hopeless face. 'I'm only looking for my little Rosy-Posy,' replied I, still thinking that the child was there, and near me, though I could not see her.<br />
'Miss Rosamond is not here,' said Mrs Stark. 'She went away more than an hour ago to find Dorothy.' And she too turned and went on looking into the fire.<br />
My heart sank at this, and I began to wish I had never left my darling. I went back to Dorothy and told her. James was gone out for the day, but she and me and Agnes took lights and went up into the nursery first, and then we roamed over the great large house, calling and entreating Miss Rosamond to come out of her hiding place, and not frighten us to death in that way. But there was no answer; no sound.<br />
'Oh!' said I at last. 'Can she have got into the east wing and hidden there?'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOV-okighZh-Uykt-NGHPtivr67yUz4YVCf5_pwjAiBxzDzLOu4hY-PqD0q4vneICrEAgmESbGFO7JlCqUhekadoWV8_dmF1IlM-fGkblee0rt3hLKw8ukfCmeuY9TlW-FrJRUHSCfuOdW/s1600/footprints_in_the_snow_by_niophee-d36bdpt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOV-okighZh-Uykt-NGHPtivr67yUz4YVCf5_pwjAiBxzDzLOu4hY-PqD0q4vneICrEAgmESbGFO7JlCqUhekadoWV8_dmF1IlM-fGkblee0rt3hLKw8ukfCmeuY9TlW-FrJRUHSCfuOdW/s1600/footprints_in_the_snow_by_niophee-d36bdpt.jpg" height="400" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/footprints-in-the-snow-192007217?hf=1"> footprints in the snow by Niophee</a></td></tr>
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But Dorothy said it was not possible, for that she herself had never been in there; that the doors were always locked, and my lord's steward had the keys, she believed; at any rate, neither she nor James had ever seen them: so, I said I would go back, and see if, after all, she was not hidden in the drawing-room, unknown to the old ladies; and if I found her there, I said, I would whip her well for the fright she had given me; but I never meant to do it. Well, I went back to the west drawing-room, and I told Mrs Stark we could not find her anywhere, and asked for leave to look all about the furniture there, for I thought now, that she might have fallen asleep in some warm, hidden corner; but no! we looked, Miss Furnivall got up and looked, trembling all over, and she was no where there; then we set off again, every one in the house, and looked in all the places we had searched before, but we could not find her. Miss Furnivall shivered and shook so much, that Mrs Stark took her back into the warm drawing-room; but not before they had made me promise to bring her to them when she was found. Well-a-day! I began to think she never would be found, when I bethought me to look out into the great front court, all covered with snow. I was up-stairs when I looked out; but, it was such dear moonlight, I could see quite plain two little footprints, which might be traced from the hall door,<br />
and round the corner of the east wing. I don't know how I got down, but I tugged open the great, stiff hall door; and, throwing the skirt of my gown over head for a cloak, I ran out. I turned the east corner, and there a black shadow fell on the snow; but when I came again into the moonlight, there were the little footmarks going up - up to the Fells. It was bitter cold; so cold that the air almost took the skin off my face as I ran, but I ran on, crying to think how my poor little darling must be perished, and frightened. I was within sight of the holly-trees, when I saw a shepherd coming down the hill, bearing something in his arms wrapped in his maud. He shouted to me, and asked me if I had lost a bairn; and, when I could not speak for crying, he bore towards me, and I saw my wee bairnie lying still, and white, and stiff, in his arms, as if she had been dead. He told me he had been up the Fells to gather in his sheep, before the deep cold of night came on, and that under the holly-trees (black marks on the hill-side, where no other bush was for miles around) he had found my little lady - my lamb - my queen - my darling - stiff, and cold, in the terrible sleep which is frost-begotten. Oh! the joy, and the tears, of having her in my arms once again! for I would not let him carry her; but took her, maud and all, into my own arms, and held her near my own warm neck, and heart, and felt the life stealing slowly back again into her little, gentle limbs. But she was still insensible when we reached the hall, and I had no breath for speech. We went in by the kitchen door.<br />
'Bring the warming-pan,' said I; and I carried her up-stairs and began undressing her by the nursery fire, which Agnes had kept up. I called my little lammie all the sweet and playful names I could think of, - even while my eyes were blinded by my tears; and at last, oh! at length she opened her large, blue eyes. Then I put her into her warm bed, and sent Dorothy down to tell Miss Furnivall that all was well; and I made up my mind to sit by my darling's bedside the live-long night. She fell away into a soft sleep as soon as her pretty head had touched the pillow, and I watched by her till morning light; when she wakened up bright and clear - or so I thought at first - and, my dears, so I think now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/86483255315921566/">Watching the Snow</a></td></tr>
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She said, that she had fancied that she should like to go to Dorothy, for that both the old ladies were asleep, and it was very dull in the drawing-room; and that, as she was going through the west lobby, she saw the snow through the high window falling - falling - soft and steady; but she wanted to see it lying pretty and white on the ground; so she made her way into the great hall; and then, going to the window, she saw it bright and soft upon the drive; but while she stood there, she saw a little girl, not as old as she was, 'but so pretty,' said my darling, 'and this little girl beckoned to me to come out; and oh, she was so pretty and so sweet, I could not choose but go.' And then this other little girl had taken her by the hand, and side by side the two had gone round the east corner.<br />
'Now, you are a naughty little girl, and telling stories,' said I. 'What would your good mamma, that is in heaven, and never told a story in her life, say to her little Rosamond, if she heard her - and I dare say she does - telling stories!'<br />
'Indeed, Hester,' sobbed out my child, 'I'm telling you true. Indeed I am.'<br />
'Don't tell me!' said I, very stern. 'I tracked you by your foot-marks through the snow; there were only yours to be seen: and if you had had a little girl to go hand-in-hand with you up the hill, don't you think the foot-prints would have gone along with yours?'<br />
'I can't help it, dear, dear Hester,' said she, crying, 'if they did not; I never looked at her feet, but she held my hand fast and tight in her little one, and it was very, very cold. She took me up the Fell-path, up to the holly trees; and there I saw a lady weeping and crying; but when she saw me, she hushed her weeping, and smiled very proud and grand, and took me on her knee, and began to lull me to sleep; and that's all, Hester - but that is true; and my dear mamma knows it is,' said she, crying. So I thought the child was in a fever, and pretended to believe her, as she went over her story - over and over again, and always the same. At last Dorothy knocked at the door with Miss Rosamond's breakfast; and she told me the old ladies were down in the eating parlour, and that they wanted to speak to me. They had both been into the night-nursery the evening before, but it was after Miss Rosamond was asleep; so they had only looked at her - not asked me any questions.<br />
'I shall catch it,' thought I to myself, as I went along the north gallery. 'And yet,' I thought, taking courage, 'it was in their charge I left her; and it's they that's to blame for letting her steal away unknown and unwatched.' So I went in boldly, and told my story. I told it all to Miss Furnivall, shouting it close to her ear; but when I came to the mention of the other little girl out in the snow, coaxing and tempting her out, and her up to the grand and beautiful lady by the holly-tree, she threw her arms up - her old and withered arms - and cried aloud, 'Oh! Heaven, forgive! Have mercy!'<br />
Mrs Stark took hold of her; roughly enough, I thought; but she was past Mrs Stark's management, and spoke to me, in a kind of wild warning and authority.<br />
'Hester! keep her from that child! It will lure her to her death! That evil child! Tell her it is a wicked, naughty child' Then, Mrs Stark hurried me out of the room; where, indeed, I was glad enough to go; but Miss Furnivall kept shrieking out, 'Oh! have mercy! Wilt Thou never forgive! It is many a long year ago - '<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9a56l6KeiaDWqZIfwRXn194ymY_nWsbBXaXrPMHELx6VenlQ1RK0_NjHbe1ArLZyEJceu9lakpg22gME7Vp2Snj0TswCN2-llmFyXrlZ0JCa3TCqnJoxhKAQDcxqhZgcebu0hMXdnX69z/s1600/PissarroChestnetTreesSnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9a56l6KeiaDWqZIfwRXn194ymY_nWsbBXaXrPMHELx6VenlQ1RK0_NjHbe1ArLZyEJceu9lakpg22gME7Vp2Snj0TswCN2-llmFyXrlZ0JCa3TCqnJoxhKAQDcxqhZgcebu0hMXdnX69z/s1600/PissarroChestnetTreesSnow.jpg" height="233" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jimandellen.org/gothic/Ghost.GaskellOldNurse.html">Chestnut Trees at Louveciennes byCamille Pissarro</a></td></tr>
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I was very uneasy in my mind after that. I durst never leave Miss Rosamond, night or day, for fear lest she might slip off again, after some fancy or other; and all the more, because I thought I could make out that Miss Furnivall was crazy, from their odd ways about her; and I was afraid lest something of the same kind (which might be in the family, you know) hung over my darling. And the great frost never ceased all this time; and, whenever it was a more stormy night than usual, between the gusts, and through the wind, we heard the old lord playing on the great organ. But, old lord, or not, wherever Miss Rosamond went, there I followed; for my love for her, pretty, helpless orphan, was stronger than my fear for the grand and terrible sound. Besides, it rested with me to keep her cheerful and merry, as beseemed her age. So we played together, and wandered together, here and there, and everywhere; for I never dared to lose sight of her again in that large and rambling house. And so it happened, that one afternoon, not long before Christmas day, we were playing together on the billiard-table in the great hall (not that we knew the right way of playing, but she liked to roll the smooth ivory balls with her pretty hands, and I liked to do whatever she did); and, by-and-by, without our noticing it, it grew dusk indoors, though it was still light in the open air, and I was thinking of taking her back into the nursery, when, all of sudden, she cried out, -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJVceK1HS0UVJ7zpuKdJd-gAvnQB-uiPddc92gBE1ddmuWW7hzGxsteMV9Gq1Y8xksl_CmPrCjwrv2-ny72_a_lkMvoUgQCddfZB7LXpFtoChVScyc4rhkAEz6RiVfZYQCLro1kyWfbyY/s1600/b28eef0dff68aa6d3841b00e89293cf1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJVceK1HS0UVJ7zpuKdJd-gAvnQB-uiPddc92gBE1ddmuWW7hzGxsteMV9Gq1Y8xksl_CmPrCjwrv2-ny72_a_lkMvoUgQCddfZB7LXpFtoChVScyc4rhkAEz6RiVfZYQCLro1kyWfbyY/s1600/b28eef0dff68aa6d3841b00e89293cf1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.henrisenders.nl/index2.php?pagina=portfolio&cat=54&f=3">by Henri Senders</a></td></tr>
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'Look, Hester! look! there is my poor little girl out in the snow!'<br />
I turned towards the long, narrow windows, and there, sure enough, I saw a little girl, less than my Miss Rosamond dressed all unfit to be out-of-doors such a bitter night - crying, and beating against the window-panes, as if she wanted to be let in. She seemed to sob and wail, till Miss Rosamond could bear it no longer, and was flying to the door to open it, when, all of a sudden, and close upon us, the great organ pealed out so loud and thundering, it fairly made me tremble; and all the more, when I remembered me that, even in the stillness of that dead-cold weather, I had heard no sound of little battering hands upon the window-glass, although the Phantom Child had seemed to put forth all its force; and, although I had seen it wail and cry, no faintest touch of sound had fallen upon my ears. Whether I remembered all this at the very moment, I do not know; the great organ sound had so stunned me into terror; but this I know, I caught up Miss Rosamond before she got the hall-door opened, and clutched her, and carried her away, kicking and screaming, into the large, bright kitchen, where Dorothy and Agnes were busy with their mince-pies.<br />
'What is the matter with my sweet one?' cried Dorothy, as I bore in Miss Rosamond, who was sobbing as if her heart would break.<br />
'She won't let me open the door for my little girl to come in; and she'll die if she is out on the Fells all night. Cruel, naughty Hester,' she said, slapping me; but she might have struck harder, for I had seen a look of ghastly terror on Dorothy's face, which made my very blood run cold.<br />
'Shut the back kitchen door fast, and bolt it well,' said she to Agnes. She said no more; she gave me raisins and almonds to quiet Miss Rosamond: but she sobbed about the little girl in the snow, and would not touch any of the good things. I was thankful when she cried herself to sleep in bed. Then I stole down to the kitchen, and told Dorothy I had made up my mind I would carry my darling back to my father's house in Applethwaite; where, if we lived humbly, we lived at peace. I said I had been frightened enough with the old lord's organ-playing; but now that I had seen for myself this little, moaning child, all decked out as no child in the neighbourhood could be, beating and battering to get in, yet always without any sound or noise - with the dark wound on its right shoulder; and that Miss Rosamond had known it again for the phantom that had nearly lured her to her death (which Dorothy knew was true); I would stand it no longer.<br />
I saw Dorothy change colour once or twice. When I had done, she told me she did not think I could take Miss Rosamond with me, for that she was my lord's ward, and I had no right over her; and she asked me, would I leave the child that I was so fond of, just for sounds and sights that could do me no harm; and that they had all had to get used to in their turns? I was all in a hot, trembling passion; and I said it was very well for her to talk, that knew what these sights and noises betokened, and that had, perhaps, had something to do with the Spectre-Child while it was alive. And I taunted her so, that she told me all she knew, at last; and then I wished I had never been told, for it only made me more afraid than ever.<br />
She said she had heard the tale from old neighbours, that were alive when she was first married; when folks used to come to the hall sometimes, before it had got such a bad name on the country side: it might not be true, or it might, what she had been told.<br />
The old lord was Miss Furnivall's father - Miss Grace, as Dorothy called her, for Miss Maude was the elder, and Miss Furnivall by rights. The old lord was eaten up with pride. Such a proud man was never seen or heard of; and his daughters were like him. No one was good enough to wed them, although they had choice enough; for they were the great beauties of their day, as I had seen by their portraits, where they hung in the state drawing-room. But, as the old saying is, 'Pride will have a fall'; and these two haughty beauties fell in love with the same man, and he no better than a foreign musician, whom their father had down from London to play music with him at the Manor House. For, above all things, next to his pride, the old lord loved music. He could play on nearly every instrument that ever was heard of: and it was a strange thing it did not soften him; but he was a fierce, dour, old<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQr3FHugO1qMLUHUbuHxLPJAaJMpSA2biZ_kVBBrJXkIVQ8zRCk1lWV1w3QCJ82mv0CNZY2ui2N3ktpOe2b20npdhAVH5bTTMy-fAcuxoOxSwqUMX8OtT1XgqxXC7YTHrX_VKXa1JnSsuI/s1600/Cesar_Franck_At_Organ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQr3FHugO1qMLUHUbuHxLPJAaJMpSA2biZ_kVBBrJXkIVQ8zRCk1lWV1w3QCJ82mv0CNZY2ui2N3ktpOe2b20npdhAVH5bTTMy-fAcuxoOxSwqUMX8OtT1XgqxXC7YTHrX_VKXa1JnSsuI/s1600/Cesar_Franck_At_Organ.jpg" height="320" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cesar_Franck_At_Organ.jpg">Cesar Franck At Organ by Jeanne Rongier</a></td></tr>
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man, and had broken his poor wife's heart with his cruelty, they said. He was mad after music, and would pay any money for it. So he got this foreigner to come; who made such beautiful music, that they said the very birds on the trees stopped their singing to listen. And, by degrees, this foreign gentleman got such a hold over the old lord, that nothing would serve him but that he must come every year; and it was he that had the great organ brought from Holland, and built up in the hall, where it stood now. He taught the old lord to play on it; but many and many a time, when Lord Furnivall was thinking of nothing but his fine organ, and his finer music, the dark foreigner was walking abroad in the woods with one of the young ladies; now Miss Maude, and then Miss Grace.<br />
Miss Maude won the day and carried off the prize, such as it was; and he and she were married, all unknown to any one; and before he made his next yearly visit, she had been confined of a little girl at a farm-house on the Moors, while her father and Miss Grace thought she was away at Doncaster Races. But though she was a wife and a mother, she was not a bit softened, but as haughty and as passionate as ever; and perhaps more so for she was jealous of Miss Grace, to whom her foreign husband paid a deal of court - by way of blinding her - as he told his wife. But Miss Grace triumphed over Miss Maude, and Miss Maude grew fiercer and fiercer, both with her husband and with her sister; and the former who could easily shake off what was disagreeable, and hide himself in foreign countries - went away a month before his usual time that summer, and half-threatened that he would never come back again. Meanwhile, the little girl was left at the farm-house, and her mother used to have her horse saddled and gallop wildly over the hills to see her once every week, at the very least - for where she loved, she loved; and where she hated, she hated. And the old lord went on playing - playing on his organ; and the servants thought the sweet music he made had soothed down his awful temper, of which (Dorothy said) some terrible tales could be told. He grew infirm too, and had to walk with a crutch; and his son - that was the present Lord Furnivall's father - was with the army in America, and the other son at sea; so Miss Maude had it pretty much her own way, and she and Miss Grace grew colder and bitterer to each other every day; till at last they hardly ever spoke, except when the old lord was by. The foreign musician came again the next summer, but it was for the last time; for they led him such a life with their jealousy and their passions, that he grew weary, and went away, and never was heard of again. And Miss Maude, who had always meant to have her marriage acknowledged when her father should be dead, was left now a deserted wife - whom nobody knew to have been married - with a child that she dared not own, although she loved it to distraction; living with a father whom she feared, and a sister whom she hated. When the next summer passed over and the dark foreigner never came, both Miss Maude and Miss Grace grew gloomy and sad; they had a haggard look about them, though they looked handsome as ever. But by-and-by Miss Maude brightened; for her father grew more and more infirm, and more than ever carried away by his music; and she and Miss Grace lived almost entirely apart, having separate rooms, the one on the west side, Miss Maude on the east - those very rooms which were now shut up. So she thought she might have her little girl with her, and no one need ever know except those who dared not speak about it, and were bound to believe that it was, as she said, a cottager's child she had taken a fancy to. All this Dorothy said, was pretty well known; but what came afterwards no one knew, except Miss Grace, and Mrs Stark, who was even then her maid, and much more of a friend to her than ever her sister had been. But the servants supposed, from words that were dropped, that Miss Maude had triumphed over Miss Grace, and told her that all the time the dark foreigner had been mocking her with pretended love - he was her own husband; the colour left Miss Grace's cheek and lips that very day for ever, and she was heard to say many a time that sooner or later she would have her revenge; and Mrs Stark was for ever spying about the east rooms.<br />
One fearful night, just after the New Year had come in, when the snow was lying thick and deep, and the flakes were still falling - fast enough to blind any one who might be out and abroad - there was a great and violent noise heard, and the old lord's voice above all, cursing and swearing awfully, - and the cries of a little child, - and the proud defiance of a fierce woman, - and the sound of a blow, - and a dead stillness, - and moans and wailing's dying away on the hill-side! Then the old lord summoned all his servants, and told them, with terrible oaths, and words more terrible, that his daughter had disgraced herself, and that he had turned her out of doors, - her, and her child, - and that<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/505740233127985334/">A Victorian Mother Holding Her Dead Child</a></td></tr>
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if ever they gave her help, - or food, - or shelter, - he prayed that they might never enter Heaven. And, all the while, Miss Grace stood by him, white and still as any stone; and when he had ended she heaved a great sigh, as much as to say her work was done, and her end was accomplished. But the old lord never touched his organ again, and died within the year; and no wonder! for, on the morrow of that wild and fearful night, the shepherds, coming down the Fell-side, found Miss Maude sitting, all crazy and smiling, under the holly-trees,nursing a dead child, - with a terrible mark on its right shoulder. 'But that was not what killed it,' said; 'it was the frost and the cold; - every wild creature was in its hole, and every beast in its fold, - while the child and its mother were turned out to wander on the Fells! And now you know all! and I wonder if you are less frightened now?'<br />
I was more frightened than ever; but I said I was not. I wished Miss Rosamond and myself well out of that dreadful house for ever; but I would not leave her, and I dared not take her away. But oh! how I watched her, and guarded her! We bolted the doors, and shut the window-shutters fast, an hour or more before dark, rather than leave them open five minutes too late. But my little lady still heard the weird child crying and mourning; and not all we could do or say, could keep her from wanting to go to her, and let her in from the cruel wind and the snow. All this time, I kept away from Miss Furnivall and Mrs Stark, as much as ever I could; for I feared them - I knew no good could be about them, with their grey hard faces, and their dreamy eyes, looking back into the ghastly years that were gone. But, even in my fear, I had a kind of pity - for Miss Furnivall, at least. Those gone down to the pit can hardly have a more hopeless look than that which was ever on her face. At last I even got so sorry for her - who never said a word but what was quite forced from her - that I prayed for her; and I taught Miss Rosamond to pray for one who had done a deadly sin; but often when she came to those words, she would listen, and start up from her knees, and say, 'I hear my little girl plaining and crying very sad - Oh! let her in, or she will die!'<br />
One night - just after New Year's Day had come at last, and the long winter had taken a turn, as I hoped - I heard the west drawing-room bell ring three times, which was the signal for me. I would not leave Miss Rosamond alone, for all she was asleep - for the old lord had been playing wilder than ever - and I feared lest my darling should waken to hear the spectre child; see her I knew she could not. I had fastened the windows too well for that. So, I took her out of her bed and wrapped her up in such outer clothes as were most handy, and carried her down to the drawing-room, where the old ladies sate at their tapestry work as usual. They looked up when I came in, and Mrs Stark asked, quite astounded, 'Why did I bring Miss Rosamond there, out of her warm bed?' I had begun to whisper, 'Because I was afraid of her being tempted out while I was away, by the wild child in the snow,' when she stopped me short (with a glance at Miss Furnivall), and said Miss Furnivall wanted me to undo some work she had done wrong, and which neither of them could see to unpick. So, I laid my pretty dear on the sofa, and sate down on a stool by them, and hardened my heart against them, as I heard the wind rising and howling.<br />
Miss Rosamond slept on sound, for all the wind blew so; and Miss Furnivall said never a word, nor looked round when the gusts shook the windows. All at once she started up to her full height, and put up one hand, as if to bid us listen.<br />
'I hear voices!' said she. 'I hear terrible screams - I hear my father's voice!'<br />
Just at that moment, my darling wakened with a sudden start: 'My little girl is crying, oh, how she is crying!' and she tried to get up and go to her, but she got her feet entangled in the blanket, and I caught her up; for my flesh had begun to creep at these noises, which they heard while we could catch no sound. In a minute or two the noises came, and gathered fast, and filled our ears; we, too, heard voices and screams, and no longer heard the winter's wind that raged abroad. Mrs Stark looked at me, and I at her, but we dared not speak. Suddenly Miss Furnivall went towards the door, out into the ante-room, through the west lobby, and opened the door into the great hall. Mrs Stark followed, and I durst not be left, though my heart almost stopped beating for fear. I wrapped my darling tight in my arms, and went out with them. In the hall the screams were louder than ever; they sounded to come from the east wing - nearer and nearer - close on the other side of the locked-up doors - close behind them. Then I noticed that the great bronze chandelier seemed all alight, though the hall was dim, and that a fire was blazing in the vast hearth-place, though it gave no heat; and I shuddered up with terror, and folded my darling closer to me. But as I did so, the east door shook, and she, suddenly struggling to get free from me, cried, 'Hester! I must go! My little girl is there; I hear her; she is coming! Hester, I must go!'<br />
I held her tight with all my strength; with a set will, I held her. If I had died, my hands would have grasped her still, I was so resolved in my mind. Miss Furnivall stood listening, and paid no regard to my darling, who had got down to the ground, and whom I, upon my knees now, was holding with both my arms clasped round her neck; she still striving and crying to get free.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/redgrave/paintings/4.html">The Outcast by Richard Redgrave</a></td></tr>
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All at once, the east door gave way with a thundering crash, as if torn open in a violent passion, and there came into that broad and mysterious light, the figure of a tall, old man, with grey hair and gleaming eyes. He drove before him, with many a relentless gesture of abhorrence, a stern and beautiful woman, with a little child clinging to her dress.<br />
'Oh Hester! Hester!' cried Miss Rosamond. 'It's the lady! the lady below the holly-trees; and my little girl is with her. Hester! Hester! let me go to her; they are drawing me to them. I feel them - I feel them. I must go!'<br />
Again she was almost convulsed by her efforts to get away; but I held her tighter and tighter, till I feared I should do her a hurt; but rather that than let her go towards those terrible phantoms. They passed along towards the great hall-door, where the winds howled and ravened for their prey; but before they reached that, the lady turned; and I could see that she defied the old man with a fierce and proud defiance; but then she quailed - and then she threw her arms wildly and piteously to save her child - her little child - from a blow from his uplifted crutch.<br />
And Miss Rosamond was torn as by a power stronger than mine, and writhed in my arms, and sobbed (for by this time the poor darling was growing faint).<br />
'They want me to go with them on to the Fells - they are drawing me to them. Oh, my little girl! I would come, but cruel, wicked Hester holds me very tight.' But when she saw the uplifted crutch she swooned away, and I thanked God for it. Just at this moment - when the tall, old man, his hair streaming as in the blast of a furnace, was going to strike the little, shrinking child - Miss Furnivall, the old woman by my side, cried out, 'Oh, father! father! spare the little, innocent child!' But just then I saw - we all saw - another phantom shape itself, and grow clear out of the blue and misty light that filled the hall; we had not seen her till now, for it was another lady who stood by the old man, with a look of relentless hate and triumphant scorn. That figure was very beautiful to look upon, with a soft, white hat drawn down over the proud brows, and a red and curling lip. It was dressed in an open robe of blue satin. I had seen that figure before. It was the likeness of Miss Furnivall in her youth; and the terrible phantoms moved on, regardless of old Miss Furnivall's wild entreaty, and the uplifted crutch fell on the right shoulder of the little child, and the younger sister looked on, stony and deadly serene. But at that moment, the dim lights, and the fire that gave no heat, went out of themselves, and Miss Furnivall lay at our feet stricken down by the palsy - death-stricken.<br />
Yes! she was carried to her bed that night never to rise again. She lay with her face to the wall, muttering low, but muttering always: Alas! alas! what is done in youth can never be undone in age! what is done in youth can never be undone in age!' <br />
<br />
<b>The Phantom Coach by Amelia Edwards</b> (1864)<br />
<br />
The circumstances I am about to relate to you have truth to recommend them. They happened to myself, and my recollection of them is as vivid as if they had taken place only yesterday. Twenty years, however, have gone by since that night. During those twenty years I have told the story to but one other person. I tell it now with a reluctance which I find it difficult to overcome. All I entreat, meanwhile, is that you will abstain from forcing your own conclusions upon me. I want nothing explained away. I desire no arguments. My mind on this subject is quite made up, and, having the testimony of my own senses to rely upon, I prefer to abide by it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASuvpaPt9JEWzWkc6xAePMR1cFE1rz3HXKjg9EnNomQymUX8pZ9iHJxizAsUjWlTEBi5Uhb7Qu3fgEuta82uLsj8U4eRht_Hl2IjVhh6nLujw3DNZ02ZtQ6HIoQStlqx0NBSZYgDnZjUS/s1600/076-Lealholm-Moor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASuvpaPt9JEWzWkc6xAePMR1cFE1rz3HXKjg9EnNomQymUX8pZ9iHJxizAsUjWlTEBi5Uhb7Qu3fgEuta82uLsj8U4eRht_Hl2IjVhh6nLujw3DNZ02ZtQ6HIoQStlqx0NBSZYgDnZjUS/s1600/076-Lealholm-Moor.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wildsight.co.uk/wordpress/tag/heather/">Lealholm Moor</a></td></tr>
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Well! It was just twenty years ago, and within a day or two of the end of the grouse season. I had been out all day with my gun, and had had no sport to speak of. The wind was due east; the month, December; the place, a bleak wide moor in the far north of England. And I had lost my way. It was not a pleasant place in which to lose one's way, with the first feathery flakes of a coming snowstorm just fluttering down upon the heather, and the leaden evening closing in all around. I shaded my eyes with my hand, and staled anxiously into the gathering darkness, where the purple moorland melted into a range of low hills, some ten or twelve miles distant. Not the faintest smoke-wreath, not the tiniest cultivated patch, or fence, or sheep-track, met my eyes in any direction. There was nothing for it but to walk on, and take my chance of finding what shelter I could, by the way. So I shouldered my gun again, and pushed wearily forward; for I had been on foot since an hour after daybreak, and had eaten nothing since breakfast.<br />
Meanwhile, the snow began to come down with ominous steadiness, and the wind fell. After this, the cold became more intense, and the night came rapidly up. As for me, my prospects darkened with the darkening sky, and my heart grew heavy as I thought how my young wife was already watching for me through the window of our little inn parlour, and thought of all the suffering in store for her throughout this weary night. We had been married four months, and, having spent our autumn in the Highlands, were now lodging in a remote little village situated just on the verge of the great English moorlands. We were very much in love, and, of course, very happy. This morning, when we parted, she had implored me to return before dusk, and I had promised her that I would. What would I not have given to have kept my word!<br />
Even now, weary as I was, I felt that with a supper, an hour's rest, and a guide, I might still get back to her before midnight, if only guide and shelter could be found.<br />
And all this time, the snow fell and the night thickened. I stopped and shouted every now and then, but my shouts seemed only to make the silence deeper. Then a vague sense of uneasiness came upon me, and I began to remember stories of travellers who had walked on and on in the falling snow until, wearied out, they were fain to lie down and sleep their lives away. Would it be possible, I asked myself, to keep on thus through all the long dark night? Would there not come a time when my limbs must fail, and my resolution give way? When I, too, must sleep the sleep of death. Death! I shuddered. How hard to die just now, when life lay all so bright before me! How hard for my darling, whose whole loving heart but that thought was not to be borne! To banish it, I shouted again, louder and longer, and then listened eagerly. Was my shout answered, or did I only fancy that I heard a far-off cry? I halloed again, and again the echo followed. Then a wavering speck of light came<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGl94xHNVO_wGfGnqS2M_7ndXD7C2-eXRIgWoj-LizHnl8jFgNZr2oDeqnHJGyPw2QIEuwML4Q8FFd8oUWWNOOqerZHbTDHrJVqOvm4iir8wyrQ6c9kY-H_lsBzvFsCkUWzvPQneSowaD/s1600/lost_in_the_storm_by_proghy-d3euxh5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGl94xHNVO_wGfGnqS2M_7ndXD7C2-eXRIgWoj-LizHnl8jFgNZr2oDeqnHJGyPw2QIEuwML4Q8FFd8oUWWNOOqerZHbTDHrJVqOvm4iir8wyrQ6c9kY-H_lsBzvFsCkUWzvPQneSowaD/s1600/lost_in_the_storm_by_proghy-d3euxh5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Lost-in-the-storm-206356217?hf=1">Lost in the storm by progHy</a></td></tr>
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suddenly out of the dark, shifting, disappearing, growing momentarily nearer and brighter. Running towards it at full speed, I found myself, to my great joy, face to face with an old man and a lantern.<br />
"Thank God!" was the exclamation that burst involuntarily from my lips.<br />
Blinking and frowning, he lifted his lantern and peered into my face.<br />
"What for?" growled he, sulkily.<br />
"Well -- for you. I began to fear I should be lost in the snow."<br />
"Eh, then, folks do get cast away hereabouts fra' time to time, an' what's to hinder you from bein' cast away likewise, if the Lord's so minded?"<br />
"If the Lord is so minded that you and I shall be lost together, friend, we must submit," I replied; "but I don't mean to be lost without you. How far am I now from Dwolding?"<br />
"A gude twenty mile, more or less."<br />
"And the nearest village?"<br />
"The nearest village is Wyke, an' that's twelve mile t'other side."<br />
"Where do you live, then?"<br />
"Out yonder," said he, with a vague jerk of the lantern.<br />
"You're going home, I presume?"<br />
"Maybe I am."<br />
"Then I'm going with you."<br />
The old man shook his head, and rubbed his nose reflectively with the handle of the lantern.<br />
"It ain't o' no use," growled he. "He 'ont let you in -- not he."<br />
"We'll see about that," I replied, briskly. "Who is He?"<br />
"The master."<br />
"Who is the master?"<br />
"That's nowt to you," was the unceremonious reply.<br />
"Well, well; you lead the way, and I'll engage that the master shall give me shelter and a supper to-night."<br />
"Eh, you can try him!" muttered my reluctant guide; and, still shaking his head, he hobbled, gnome-like, away through the falling snow. A large mass loomed up presently out of the darkness, and a huge dog rushed out, barking furiously.<br />
"Is this the house?" I asked.<br />
"Ay, it's the house. Down, Bey!" And he fumbled in his pocket for the key.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5T6dlFDqdCKN5ucdtvZOVzFgOCCnTc5VEC_2Cm7R1dX0By9GU4T6mJ5a-kJuplqIlqVoNnJRxbTHaU3PSrP40vzDbmpm5G9DMiCLUCkOL9-QUT5ZpzDLCOTgVH_K3k7zY3b_T8rOw1GJ/s1600/the_old_house_on_the_moor_by_icelandknight-d6qrz7k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5T6dlFDqdCKN5ucdtvZOVzFgOCCnTc5VEC_2Cm7R1dX0By9GU4T6mJ5a-kJuplqIlqVoNnJRxbTHaU3PSrP40vzDbmpm5G9DMiCLUCkOL9-QUT5ZpzDLCOTgVH_K3k7zY3b_T8rOw1GJ/s1600/the_old_house_on_the_moor_by_icelandknight-d6qrz7k.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Old-House-on-the-Moor-407772416?hf=1">The Old House on the Moor by icelandknight</a></td></tr>
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I drew up close behind him, prepared to lose no chance of entrance, and saw in the little circle of light shed by the lantern that the door was heavily studded with iron nails, like the door of a prison. In another minute he had turned the key and I had pushed past him into the house.<br />
Once inside, I looked round with curiosity, and found myself in a great raftered hall, which served, apparently, a variety of uses. One end was piled to the roof with corn, like a barn. The other was stored with flour-sacks, agricultural implements, casks, and all kinds of miscellaneous lumber; while from the beams overhead hung rows of hams, flitches, and bunches of dried herbs for winter use. In the centre of the floor stood some huge object gauntly dressed in a dingy wrapping-cloth, and reaching half way to the rafters. Lifting a corner of this cloth, I saw, to my surprise, a telescope of very considerable size, mounted on a rude movable platform, with four small wheels. The tube was made of painted wood, bound round with bands of metal rudely fashioned; the speculum, so far as I could estimate its size in the dim light, measured at least fifteen inches in diameter. While I was yet examining the instrument, and asking myself whether it was not the work of some self-taught optician, a bell rang sharply.<br />
"That's for you," said my guide, with a malicious grin. "Yonder's his room."<br />
He pointed to a low black door at the opposite side of the hall. I crossed over, rapped somewhat loudly, and went in, without waiting for an invitation. A huge, white-haired old man rose from a table covered with books and papers, and confronted me sternly.<br />
"Who are you?" said he. "How came you here? What do you want?"<br />
"James Murray, barrister-at-law. On foot across the moor. Meat, drink, and sleep.<br />
He bent his bushy brows into a portentous frown.<br />
"Mine is not a house of entertainment," he said, haughtily. "Jacob, how dared you admit this stranger?"<br />
"I didn't admit him," grumbled the old man. "He followed me over the muir, and shouldered his way in before me. I'm no match for six foot two."<br />
"And pray, sir, by what right have you forced an entrance into my house?"<br />
"The same by which I should have clung to your boat, if I were drowning. The right of self-preservation."<br />
"Self-preservation?"<br />
"There's an inch of snow on the ground already," I replied, briefly; "and it would be deep enough to cover my body before daybreak."<br />
He strode to the window, pulled aside a heavy black curtain, and looked out.<br />
"It is true," he said. "You can stay, if you choose, till morning. Jacob, serve the supper."<br />
With this he waved me to a seat, resumed his own, and became at once absorbed in the studies from which I had disturbed him.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeXqCTILBH8sycomfUTMltQFCGbSNOK__Q0YbGoqNHQeoM_kl6r2BFLJ4UzGrRNvgqvAEIJrT90YRhQ-o6FPtys1QelBc3N8C52x0S8hZWKtF0jFf5Ik02nahRk8pC7EATvqFeqNY0irc/s1600/memoirs_by_lordofthepirates-d5t8t9i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeXqCTILBH8sycomfUTMltQFCGbSNOK__Q0YbGoqNHQeoM_kl6r2BFLJ4UzGrRNvgqvAEIJrT90YRhQ-o6FPtys1QelBc3N8C52x0S8hZWKtF0jFf5Ik02nahRk8pC7EATvqFeqNY0irc/s1600/memoirs_by_lordofthepirates-d5t8t9i.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Memoirs-351450918">Memoirs by lordofthepirates</a></td></tr>
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I placed my gun in a corner, drew a chair to the hearth, and examined my quarters at leisure. Smaller and less incongruous in its arrangements than the hall, this room contained, nevertheless, much to awaken my curiosity. The floor was carpetless. The whitewashed walls were in parts scrawled over with strange diagrams, and in others covered with shelves crowded with philosophical instruments, the uses of many of which were unknown to me. On one side of the fireplace, stood a bookcase filled with dingy folios; on the other, a small organ, fantastically decorated with painted carvings of medieval saints and devils. Through the half-opened door of a cupboard at the further end of the room, I saw a long array of geological specimens, surgical preparations, crucibles, retorts, and jars of chemicals; while on the mantelshelf beside me, amid a number of small objects, stood a model of the solar system, a small galvanic battery, and a microscope. Every chair had its burden. Every corner was heaped high with books. The very floor was littered over with maps, casts, papers, tracings, and learned lumber of all conceivable kinds.<br />
I stared about me with an amazement increased by every fresh object upon which my eyes chanced to rest. So strange a room I had never seen; yet seemed it stranger still, to find such a room in a lone farmhouse amid those wild and solitary moors! Over and over again, I looked from my host to his surroundings, and from his surroundings back to my host, asking myself who and what he could be? His head was singularly fine; but it was more the head of a poet than of a philosopher. Broad in the temples, prominent over the eyes, and clothed with a rough profusion of perfectly white hair, it had all the ideality and much of the ruggedness that characterises the head of Louis von Beethoven. There were the same deep lines about the mouth, and the same stern furrows in the brow. There was the same concentration of expression. While I was yet observing him, the door opened, and Jacob brought in the supper. His master then closed his book, rose, and with more courtesy of manner than he had yet shown, invited me to the table.<br />
A dish of ham and eggs, a loaf of brown bread, and a bottle of admirable sherry, were placed before me.<br />
"I have but the homeliest farmhouse fare to offer you, sir," said my entertainer. "Your appetite, I trust, will make up for the deficiencies of our larder."<br />
I had already fallen upon the viands, and now protested, with the enthusiasm of a starving sportsman, that I had never eaten anything so delicious.<br />
He bowed stiffly, and sat down to his own supper, which consisted, primitively, of a jug of milk and a basin of porridge. We ate in silence, and, when we had done, Jacob removed the tray. I then drew my chair back to the fireside. My host, somewhat to my surprise, did the same, and turning abruptly towards me, said:<br />
"Sir, I have lived here in strict retirement for three-and-twenty years. During that time, I have not seen as many strange faces, and I have not read a single newspaper. You are the first stranger who has crossed my threshold for more than four years. Will you favour me with a few words of information respecting that outer world from which I have parted company so long?"<br />
"Pray interrogate me," I replied. "I am heartily at your service."<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-DICYk4yBKJ-ilwTUYS7d9tyd3lU6DFa9UwS1sw4QExb41sdU6bed1dwKOXvkwXCGyF3svSIQRTiQ_3Vjjx9WEfyOmkJgnVBbzvz_YsWn1D4fSLGXOfZNdmvyxG4xKOwyz9KmyQQZWKe/s1600/the_talk_by_dendydm-d72m141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-DICYk4yBKJ-ilwTUYS7d9tyd3lU6DFa9UwS1sw4QExb41sdU6bed1dwKOXvkwXCGyF3svSIQRTiQ_3Vjjx9WEfyOmkJgnVBbzvz_YsWn1D4fSLGXOfZNdmvyxG4xKOwyz9KmyQQZWKe/s1600/the_talk_by_dendydm-d72m141.jpg" height="227" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Talk-427650337?hf=1">The Talk by dendydm</a></td></tr>
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He bent his head in acknowledgment; leaned forward, with his elbows resting on his knees and his chin supported in the palms of his hands; stared fixedly into the fire; and proceeded to question me.<br />
His inquiries related chiefly to scientific matters, with the later progress of which, as applied to the practical purposes of life, he was almost wholly unacquainted. No student of science myself, I replied as well as my slight information permitted; but the task was far from easy, and I was much relieved when, passing from interrogation to discussion, he began pouring forth his own conclusions upon the facts which I had been attempting to place before him. He talked, and I listened spellbound. He talked till I believe he almost forgot my presence, and only thought aloud. I had never heard anything like it then; I have never heard anything like it since. Familiar with all systems of all philosophies, subtle in analysis, bold in generalisation, he poured forth his thoughts in an uninterrupted stream, and, still leaning forward in the same moody attitude with his eyes fixed upon the fire, wandered from topic to topic, from speculation to speculation, like an inspired dreamer. From practical science to mental philosophy; from electricity in the wire to electricity in the nerve; from Watts to Mesmer, from Mesmer to Reichenbach, from Reichenbach to Swedenborg, Spinoza, Condillac, Descartes, Berkeley, Aristotle, Plato, and the Magi and mystics of the East, were transitions which, however bewildering in their variety and scope, seemed easy and harmonious upon his lips as sequences in music. By-and-by -- I forget now by what link of conjecture or illustration -- he passed on to that field which lies beyond the boundary line of even conjectural philosophy, and reaches no man knows whither. He spoke of the soul and its aspirations; of the spirit and its powers; of second sight; of prophecy; of those phenomena which, under the names of ghosts, spectres, and supernatural appearances, have been denied by the sceptics and attested by the credulous, of all ages.<br />
"The world," he said, "grows hourly more and more sceptical of all that lies beyond its own narrow radius; and our men of science foster the fatal tendency. They condemn as fable all that resists experiment. They reject as false all that cannot be brought to the test of the laboratory or the dissecting-room. Against what superstition have they waged so long and obstinate a war, as against the belief in apparitions? And yet what superstition has maintained its hold upon the minds of men so long and so firmly? Show me any fact in physics, in history, in archæology, which is supported by testimony so wide and so various. Attested by all races of men, in all ages, and in all climates, by the soberest sages of antiquity, by the rudest savage of to-day, by the Christian, the Pagan, the Pantheist, the Materialist, this phenomenon is treated as a nursery tale by the philosophers of our century. Circumstantial evidence weighs with them as a feather in the balance. The comparison of causes with effects, however valuable in physical science, is put aside as worthless and unreliable. The evidence of competent witnesses, however conclusive in a court of justice, counts for nothing. He who pauses before he pronounces, is condemned as a trifler. He who believes, is a dreamer or a fool."<br />
He spoke with bitterness, and, having said thus, relapsed for some minutes into silence. Presently he raised his head from his hands, and added, with an altered voice and manner, "I, sir, paused, investigated, believed, and was not ashamed to state my convictions to the world. I, too, was branded as a visionary, held up to ridicule by my contemporaries, and hooted from that field of science in which I had laboured with honour during all the best years of my life. These things happened just three-and-twenty years ago. Since then, I have lived as you see me living now, and the world has forgotten me, as I have forgotten the world. You have my history."<br />
"It is a very sad one," I murmured, scarcely knowing what to answer.<br />
"It is a very common one," he replied. "I have only suffered for the truth, as many a better and wiser man has suffered before me."<br />
He rose, as if desirous of ending the conversation, and went over to the window.<br />
"It has ceased snowing," he observed, as he dropped the curtain, and came back to the fireside.<br />
"Ceased!" I exclaimed, starting eagerly to my feet. "Oh, if it were only possible -- but no! it is hopeless. Even if I could find my way across the moor, I could not walk twenty miles to-night."<br />
"Walk twenty miles to-night!" repeated my host. "What are you thinking of?"<br />
"Of my wife," I replied, impatiently. "Of my young wife, who does not know that I have lost my way, and who is at this moment breaking her heart with suspense and terror."<br />
"Where is she?"<br />
"At Dwolding, twenty miles away."<br />
"At Dwolding," he echoed, thoughtfully. "Yes, the distance, it is true, is twenty miles; but -- are you so very anxious to save the next six or eight hours?"<br />
"So very, very anxious, that I would give ten guineas at this moment for a guide and a horse."<br />
"Your wish can be gratified at a less costly rate," said he, smiling. "The night mail from the north, which changes horses at Dwolding, passes within five miles of this spot, and will be due at a certain cross-road in about an hour and a quarter. If Jacob were to go with you across the moor, and put you into the old coach-road, you could find your way, I suppose, to where it joins the new one?"<br />
"Easily -- gladly."<br />
He smiled again, rang the bell, gave the old servant his directions, and, taking a bottle of whisky and a wineglass from the cupboard in which he kept his chemicals, said:<br />
"The snow lies deep, and it will be difficult walking to-night on the moor. A glass of usquebaugh before you start?"<br />
I would have declined the spirit, but he pressed it on me, and I drank it. It went down my throat like liquid flame, and almost took my breath away.<br />
"It is strong," he said; "but it will help to keep out the cold. And now you have no moments to spare. Good night!"<br />
I thanked him for his hospitality, and would have shaken hands, but that he had turned away before I could finish my sentence. In another minute I had traversed the hall, Jacob had locked the outer door behind me, and we were out on the wide white moor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gWBXQOVQQ2qNnxa0f8S28sXg-Sm-9vgf6wVHEtY14T2c8OTEBkaGa08vmiOUSaMnQcLWihjFTTN5CQyw15NcuOYSQwWA2ovRc6jDhC5jl-qoS84yVoFFRQDcY-x_0aM1OhRVAVfHiDa_/s1600/falling_snow_by_mar_jus-d2pnt5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gWBXQOVQQ2qNnxa0f8S28sXg-Sm-9vgf6wVHEtY14T2c8OTEBkaGa08vmiOUSaMnQcLWihjFTTN5CQyw15NcuOYSQwWA2ovRc6jDhC5jl-qoS84yVoFFRQDcY-x_0aM1OhRVAVfHiDa_/s1600/falling_snow_by_mar_jus-d2pnt5a.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Falling-Snow-164033614?hf=1">Falling Snow by Mar-jus</a></td></tr>
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Although the wind had fallen, it was still bitterly cold. Not a star glimmered in the black vault overhead. Not a sound, save the rapid crunching of the snow beneath our feet, disturbed the heavy stillness of the night. Jacob, not too well pleased with his mission, shambled on before in sullen silence, his lantern in his hand, and his shadow at his feet. I followed, with my gun over my shoulder, as little inclined for conversation as himself. My thoughts were full of my late host. His voice yet rang in my ears. His eloquence yet held my imagination captive. I remember to this day, with surprise, how my over-excited brain retained whole sentences and parts of sentences, troops of brilliant images, and fragments of splendid reasoning, in the very words in which he had uttered them. Musing thus over what I had heard, and striving to recall a lost link here and there, I strode on at the heels of my guide, absorbed and unobservant. Presently -- at the end, as it seemed to me, of only a few minutes -- he came to a sudden halt, and said:<br />
"Yon's your road. Keep the stone fence to your right hand, and you can't fail of the way."<br />
"This, then, is the old coach-road?"<br />
"Ay, 'tis the old coach-road."<br />
"And how far do I go, before I reach the cross-roads?"<br />
"Nigh upon three mile."<br />
I pulled out my purse, and he became more communicative.<br />
"The road's a fair road enough," said he, "for foot passengers; but 'twas over steep and narrow for the northern traffic. You'll mind where the parapet's broken away, close again the sign-post. It's never been mended since the accident."<br />
"What accident?"<br />
"Eh, the night mail pitched right over into the valley below -- a gude fifty feet an' more -- just at the worst bit o' road in the whole county."<br />
"Horrible! Were many lives lost?"<br />
"All. Four were found dead, and t'other two died next morning."<br />
"How long is it since this happened?"<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUu-6l-OJ1kCXEBNHnY65cJ1AFIY3AuEdD9UymWBlcFxhsA8OfY6G36EwIU72KO0RJBZeX0gwWIlTIPSccC49LzlE4Ek42kEoTYzWH0Mzs0mpkKpb2ZDCNIpV78MZ9dy8oeiE9ujGt3cJb/s1600/moonlit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUu-6l-OJ1kCXEBNHnY65cJ1AFIY3AuEdD9UymWBlcFxhsA8OfY6G36EwIU72KO0RJBZeX0gwWIlTIPSccC49LzlE4Ek42kEoTYzWH0Mzs0mpkKpb2ZDCNIpV78MZ9dy8oeiE9ujGt3cJb/s1600/moonlit.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/417286721695447045/">Snowy Road</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Just nine year."<br />
"Near the sign-post, you say? I will bear it in mind. Good night."<br />
"Gude night, sir, and thankee." Jacob pocketed his half-crown, made a faint pretence of touching his hat, and trudged back by the way he had come.<br />
I watched the light of his lantern till it quite disappeared, and then turned to pursue my way alone. This was no longer matter of the slightest difficulty, for, despite the dead darkness overhead, the line of stone fence showed distinctly enough against the pale gleam of the snow. How silent it seemed now, with only my footsteps to listen to; how silent and how solitary! A strange disagreeable sense of loneliness stole over me. I walked faster. I hummed a fragment of a tune. I cast up enormous sums in my head, and accumulated them at compound interest. I did my best, in short, to forget the startling speculations to which I had but just been listening, and, to some extent, I succeeded.<br />
Meanwhile the night air seemed to become colder and colder, and though I walked fast I found it impossible to keep myself warm. My feet were like ice. I lost sensation in my hands, and grasped my gun mechanically. I even breathed with difficulty, as though, instead of traversing a quiet north country highway, I were scaling the uppermost heights of some gigantic Alp. This last symptom became presently so distressing, that I was forced to stop for a few minutes, and lean against the stone fence. As I did so, I chanced to look back up the road, and there, to my infinite relief, I saw a distant point of light, like the gleam of an approaching lantern. I at first concluded that Jacob had retraced his steps and followed me; but even as the conjecture presented itself, a second light flashed into sight -- a light evidently parallel with the first, and approaching at the same rate of motion. It needed no second thought to show me that these must be the carriage-lamps of some private vehicle, though it seemed strange that any private vehicle should take a road professedly disused and dangerous<br />
There could be no doubt, however, of the fact, for the lamps grew larger and brighter every moment, and I even fancied I could already see the dark outline of the carriage between them. It was coming up very fast, and quite noiselessly, the snow being nearly a foot deep under the wheels.<br />
And now the body of the vehicle became distinctly visible behind the lamps. It looked strangely lofty. A sudden suspicion flashed upon me. Was it possible that I had passed the cross-roads in the dark without observing the sign-post, and could this be the very coach which I had come to meet?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IlXq5aG_e5Yu5XkKZJS6fS3LWUjQxEToaO8MsJnhftenG8aa8ZqMHvkTk73upn1-vJmwfxs6MIFNbAKguHtO5HsfM4yTZQt-AYUsRXA2rMbtQbqdgF1Zr6sNq8qFSTFMLjFeAl4RQPrc/s1600/amelia_b__edwards___the_phantom_coach_by_mgkellermeyer-d7mcsb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IlXq5aG_e5Yu5XkKZJS6fS3LWUjQxEToaO8MsJnhftenG8aa8ZqMHvkTk73upn1-vJmwfxs6MIFNbAKguHtO5HsfM4yTZQt-AYUsRXA2rMbtQbqdgF1Zr6sNq8qFSTFMLjFeAl4RQPrc/s1600/amelia_b__edwards___the_phantom_coach_by_mgkellermeyer-d7mcsb2.jpg" height="640" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mgkellermeyer.deviantart.com/art/Amelia-B-Edwards-The-Phantom-Coach-460811342">Amelia B. Edwards - The Phantom Coach by mgkellermeyer</a></td></tr>
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No need to ask myself that question a second time, for here it came round the bend of the road, guard and driver, one outside passenger, and four steaming greys, all wrapped in a soft haze of light, through which the lamps blazed out, like a pair of fiery meteors.<br />
I jumped forward, waved my hat, and shouted. The mail came down at full speed, and passed me. For a moment I feared that I had not been seen or heard, but it was only for a moment. The coachman pulled up; the guard, muffled to the eyes in capes and comforters, and apparently sound asleep in the rumble, neither answered my hail nor made the slightest effort to dismount; the outside passenger did not even turn his head. I opened the door for myself, and looked in. There were but three travellers inside, so I stepped in, shut the door, slipped into the vacant corner, and congratulated myself on my good fortune.<br />
The atmosphere of the coach seemed, if possible, colder than that of the outer air, and was pervaded by a singularly damp and disagreeable smell. I looked round at my fellow-passengers. They were all three, men, and all silent. They did not seem to be asleep, but each leaned back in his corner of the vehicle, as if absorbed in his own reflections. I attempted to open a conversation.<br />
"How intensely cold it is to-night," I said, addressing my opposite neighbour.<br />
He lifted his head, looked at me, but made no reply.<br />
"The winter," I added, "seems to have begun in earnest."<br />
Although the corner in which he sat was so dim that I could distinguish none of his features very clearly, I saw that his eyes were still turned full upon me. And yet he answered never a word.<br />
At any other time I should have felt, and perhaps expressed, some annoyance, but at the moment I felt too ill to do either. The icy coldness of the night air had struck a chill to my very marrow, and the strange smell inside the coach was affecting me with an intolerable nausea. I shivered from head to foot, and, turning to my left-hand neighbour, asked if he had any objection to an open window?<br />
He neither spoke nor stirred.<br />
I repeated the question somewhat more loudly, but with the same result. Then I lost patience, and let the sash down. As I did so, the leather strap broke in my hand, and I observed that the glass was covered with a thick coat of mildew, the accumulation, apparently, of years. My attention being thus drawn to the condition of the coach, I examined it more narrowly, and saw by the uncertain light of the outer lamps that it was in the last stage of dilapidation. Every part of it was not only out of repair, but in a condition of decay. The sashes splintered at a touch. The leather fittings were crusted over with mould, and literally rotting from the woodwork. The floor was almost breaking away beneath my feet. The whole machine, in short, was foul with damp, and had evidently been dragged from some outhouse in which it had been mouldering away for years, to do another day or two of duty on the road.<br />
I turned to the third passenger, whom I had not yet addressed, and hazarded one more remark.<br />
"This coach," I said, "is in a deplorable condition. The regular mail, I suppose, is under repair?"<br />
He moved his head slowly, and looked me in the face, without speaking a word. I shall never forget that look while I live. I turned cold at heart under it. I turn cold at heart even now when I recall it. His eyes glowed with a fiery unnatural lustre. His face was livid as the face of a corpse. His bloodless lips were drawn back as if in the agony of death, and showed the gleaming teeth between.<br />
The words that I was about to utter died upon my lips, and a strange horror -- a dreadful horror -- came upon me. My sight had by this time become used to the gloom of the coach, and I could see with tolerable distinctness. I turned to my opposite neighbour. He, too, was looking at me, with the same startling pallor in his face, and the same stony glitter in his eyes. I passed my hand across my brow. I turned to the passenger on the seat beside my own, and saw -- oh Heaven! how shall I describe what I saw? I saw that he was no living man -- that none of them were living men, like myself! A pale phosphorescent light -- the light of putrefaction -- played upon their awful faces; upon their hair, dank with the dews of the grave; upon their clothes, earth-stained and dropping to pieces; upon their hands, which were as the hands of corpses long buried. Only their eyes, their terrible eyes, were living; and those eyes were all turned menacingly upon me!<br />
A shriek of terror, a wild unintelligible cry for help and mercy; burst from my lips as I flung myself against the door, and strove in vain to open it.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJI5a_FvbHP4jIfHXHcAnKiyUoJ0sGEwAgCR6sJXZc_OSDfQY9M9v503d2jP-K4GvAqSzhfHpuLLkMwWzkwfYNlDmoord-U0xbpiKiFI0eLSugtLvnW5f3ndHmccqBizOCSKaq9dpFX4p/s1600/accident.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJI5a_FvbHP4jIfHXHcAnKiyUoJ0sGEwAgCR6sJXZc_OSDfQY9M9v503d2jP-K4GvAqSzhfHpuLLkMwWzkwfYNlDmoord-U0xbpiKiFI0eLSugtLvnW5f3ndHmccqBizOCSKaq9dpFX4p/s1600/accident.jpg" height="241" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39978/39978-h/39978-h.htm">MAIL-COACH ACCIDENT NEAR ELVANFOOT, LANARKSHIRE</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In that single instant, brief and vivid as a landscape beheld in the flash of summer lightning, I saw the moon shining down through a rift of stormy cloud -- the ghastly sign-post rearing its warning finger by the wayside -- the broken parapet -- the plunging horses -- the black gulf below. Then, the coach reeled like a ship at sea. Then, came a mighty crash -- a sense of crushing pain -- and then, darkness.<br />
It seemed as if years had gone by when I awoke one morning from a deep sleep, and found my wife watching by my bedside I will pass over the scene that ensued, and give you, in half a dozen words, the tale she told me with tears of thanksgiving. I had fallen over a precipice, close against the junction of the old coach-road and the new, and had only been saved from certain death by lighting upon a deep snowdrift that had accumulated at the foot of the rock beneath. In this snowdrift I was discovered at daybreak, by a couple of shepherds, who carried me to the nearest shelter, and brought a surgeon to my aid. The surgeon found me in a state of raving delirium, with a broken arm and a compound fracture of the skull. The letters in my pocket-book showed my name and address; my wife was summoned to nurse me; and, thanks to youth and a fine constitution, I came out of danger at last. The place of my fall, I need scarcely say, was precisely that at which a frightful accident had happened to the north mail nine years before.<br />
I never told my wife the fearful events which I have just related to you. I told the surgeon who attended me; but he treated the whole adventure as a mere dream born of the fever in my brain. We discussed the question over and over again, until we found that we could discuss it with temper no longer, and then we dropped it. Others may form what conclusions they please -- I know that twenty years ago I was the fourth inside passenger in that Phantom Coach. <br />
<br />
That's all for today. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH7sbrT2SPFl0dNasZnBRfPFW2xW57oVEiaS-CQucfaNR9SaXLa08ktJv_yctFtQqrXu_4d1py5sUDbt6renDxPlH7pnYFyJO5149sICRKYH9M87-y3Xld033FJwdJHTAKoi2y-5PugayL/s1600/christmas_eve_by_bootsa81-d5n3v4z.png" height="379" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/Christmas-Eve-341142371">Christmas Eve by bootsa81</a></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175381908237512131.post-26606651055317754742014-12-19T08:59:00.000+00:002014-12-19T08:59:31.304+00:00The Origin of Santa Claus and the Customs of Christmas: Part One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp_KhgzVhiO8f2xD1JcpZ_f6gqJLZ6pdElePcVChWLQgtx94-my4CIczM8NcU_GkOVw_MKui2GuJwkebNF-pIsSBjcY6kuZIhw-slnsm1yf9BCN46eyLHQhpQwtLd31c_Z_eW3orAX9f_/s1600/santa_claus_with_little_girl_by_pure_lily-d34j3c0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp_KhgzVhiO8f2xD1JcpZ_f6gqJLZ6pdElePcVChWLQgtx94-my4CIczM8NcU_GkOVw_MKui2GuJwkebNF-pIsSBjcY6kuZIhw-slnsm1yf9BCN46eyLHQhpQwtLd31c_Z_eW3orAX9f_/s1600/santa_claus_with_little_girl_by_pure_lily-d34j3c0.jpg" height="266" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/Santa-Claus-with-Little-Girl-189007776?hf=1">Santa Claus with Little Girl by MeeranUhm</a></td></tr>
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Everyone loves Santa Claus - the jolly bearded man dressed in red and white who comes down the chimney to deliver presents on Christmas Eve. He has many names, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Kris Kringle to name a few. But where did Santa Claus come from and how did the tradition of Christmas begin? Lets look back through time and trace the origins of Santa Claus and the customs of Christmas.<br />
<br />
Popular opinion states that Santa Claus was inspired by Saint Nicholas - a kind hearted and generous bishop. So this is where we will start our search for the origin of Santa. <br />
<br />
<b>The Legend of Saint Nicholas</b><br />
<br />
'Long ago, in a far off land known today as Turkey, there was a
boy named Nicholas. Nicholas was a person who created numerous
miracles and accomplished many good deeds. As a teenager, Nicholas
inherited a vast fortune, but he had no idea what to do with it.
Wanting to help those less fortunate than himself, Nicholas set out to
make the wishes of others come true. While Nicholas knew the
townspeople needed his held, he was also aware that they were a very
proud people, so Nicholas decided to help his friends secretly.<br />
Each night, Nicholas would disguise himself and deliver such items as
food, clothing, and money to the people of his village. Of all the
townspeople, Nicholas felt the closest bond with one specific family.
In this family, there were three daughters. Sadly, the family was very
poor and the father felt much pain over the fact that he couldn't afford
the weddings of each daughter. In his desire to help the family,
Nicholas left a bag of gold on the father's doorstep as the wedding of
the eldest daughter approached. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvhGuXGp0sB-F9UvaNqS_QSzl7BqkPAWPcWOMf_X4nRHJtm0Hqp7VP7rFOGTQbkMBvO6DzRZFm5_TOBqygS5LV1sLevACoFB1dvy6yfx0T_v2v3Fxq1zlojTWqTqZJT027TgI5V12_fng/s1600/nicholas-shuck-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvhGuXGp0sB-F9UvaNqS_QSzl7BqkPAWPcWOMf_X4nRHJtm0Hqp7VP7rFOGTQbkMBvO6DzRZFm5_TOBqygS5LV1sLevACoFB1dvy6yfx0T_v2v3Fxq1zlojTWqTqZJT027TgI5V12_fng/s1600/nicholas-shuck-350.jpg" height="320" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/middle-school-activity/">Saint Nicholas of Myra by Vicki Shuck</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When it was time for the second daughter to marry, Nicholas again visited the family. He threw another bag of gold into the family's chimney. The family greatly appreciated the individual who was providing them with such a fortune, but they had no idea who this person could be. As the third daughter's wedding neared, the father decided to stand guard so he could identify this generous stranger who had given his family such happiness. Nicholas arrived and tossed a bag of gold through an open window and, upon hearing the bag of gold land on the floor, the father chased Nicholas until he caught him<br />
Nicholas didn't want the father to make his identity known and had the man promise to keep it a secret. However, the father's gratitude was so great that he was unable to keep his promise and soon the whole town knew that Nicholas was responsible for the acts of generosity which had been happening throughout the entire town.<br />
Every year, in December, Nicholas took it upon himself to reward all the girls and boys who had been good during the year by giving them gifts. And he is still remembered today for his kindness, generosity and love for the children. In honour of this great saint, countries across the world give gifts to children on the day of Saint Nicholas, December 6th.<br />
<br />
<b>Who was Saint Nicholas?</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikLo6hJSkzuhzl5cmWlxKXHTegsvx9U9-H6_2gaWOUAWMtUjjXqIbZRSD3a3aBfkOVsWIUES6gH5RgZ8rj4o1Mv_7d3db2oIBB6mpHJ1C2Tmh6-bK_vUC0vjBP70Y4FC3nop6ypWh3jm3/s1600/saint-nicholas-of-myra-06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikLo6hJSkzuhzl5cmWlxKXHTegsvx9U9-H6_2gaWOUAWMtUjjXqIbZRSD3a3aBfkOVsWIUES6gH5RgZ8rj4o1Mv_7d3db2oIBB6mpHJ1C2Tmh6-bK_vUC0vjBP70Y4FC3nop6ypWh3jm3/s1600/saint-nicholas-of-myra-06.jpg" height="640" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-nicholas-of-myra-gallery/">Stained Glass Window of St. Nicholas & a Chorister</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While the legend of Saint Nicholas is prevalent throughout the world, there are very few surviving documents of Saint Nicholas. Much of what we think we know is little more than legend, passed down through the generations and growing with every telling. But what do we really know about Saint Nicholas?<br />
<br />
The first known reference of Saint Nicholas dates back to between 510 and 515, with the writer Theodor, lector of Byzantinum, in the book 'Tripartite History. This literature is entirely dependant on three 5th century historians: Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodor. His name appears within Theodor's list of participants of the Council of Nicaea, where it says, 'Nicholas of Myra of Lycia.'<br />
<br />
Several churches were built in his name - Emperor Theodosius II (401-550) had a church constructed in Myra which became known as the Church of St. Nicholas, while the Roman Emperor Justinian (527-565) restored a St. Nicholas church just outside of the summer palace of Blachernes. The most significant documentation of Saint Nicholas appears in the biography of bishop Nicholas of Sion, where we are told, 'And going down to the metropolis of Myra, he went off to the martyrium of the glorious Saint Nicholas.' This is considered to be 'confirmation that the man who would become Santa once existed.' <br />
<br />
While we know that he existed, Saint Nicholas remains elusive, even to the scholars who dedicate much of their life to studying him. It is believed that Saint Nicholas served as a bishop in the 4th century in the town of Myra. The first known 'biography' of this saint dates to the 8th or 9th century, long after his death, when a collection of tales about him was compiled by a Greek monk known as Michael the Archimadrite.<br />
<br />
Those that have attempted to piece his life together have little to go on and rely on traditions and the few clues which remain from the times in which he lived. Most of what we think we know is legend with no historical record. <br />
<br />
<b>Other Legends of the Good Saint Nicholas</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymyi_1grmcLQSUyxYGZRItkrD-aJ-MT00cebfW2AxjkxWG8gs5V9vxEz4to75x7pTlT1xK_c0L-sA6NfVuEwlycVAVCzInggV95Lvz9tJcYX621iO3-mrE9Wiv1zvudBlSx7WmIseE44N/s1600/Santa-Claus-HD-Wallpapers+(8).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymyi_1grmcLQSUyxYGZRItkrD-aJ-MT00cebfW2AxjkxWG8gs5V9vxEz4to75x7pTlT1xK_c0L-sA6NfVuEwlycVAVCzInggV95Lvz9tJcYX621iO3-mrE9Wiv1zvudBlSx7WmIseE44N/s1600/Santa-Claus-HD-Wallpapers+(8).jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.maryxmas2014.com/2014/12/top-10-santa-claus-hd-wallpapers-free-download-merry-christmas.html">Santa Claus</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now that we at least know that Saint Nicholas was a real man, lets take a look at the other legends detailing the generosity of this saint. The most well-known legend of Nicholas's generosity is the one I have detailed in the legend of Saint Nicholas above: that of the gifts of gold he left for a father who could not afford to give his daughters a dowry. Some say that the daughter's father was preparing to sell his children into slavery and that Nicholas wished to save them from this fate. In some accounts one of the bags of gold rolled into a stocking, while another was thrown down the chimney, and this is said to be the origin for Santa Claus coming down the chimney and filling a stocking or shoes with gifts. The image of Santa Claus carrying a sack of presents is also said to originate with this legend.<br />
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Another legend explains how Nicholas became a bishop. It is said that Nicholas believed that God would want him to live amongst the people, so he travelled to Myra, where the Archbishop had recently died. Here the bishops were trying to choose a successor. According to the legend the oldest bishop dreamed that he had been commanded to watch the doors of the cathedral the following morning and the first person to enter with the name Nicholas should be made bishop. On the following morning Nicholas entered the cathedral and was immediately consecrated as Archbishop of Myra.<br />
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Throughout much of Europe Nicholas is known as the patron saint of schoolboys. According to one legend, the devil came to the gates of a school in the middle of Saint Nicholas's feast day disguised as a beggar and a father, who honoured Saint Nicholas, sent his son to give this beggar money. However, the boy was strangled by the demon. Heartbroken, the father took his dead son into the house, crying, 'Saint Nicholas, is this my reward for the honours I have given you?' Saint Nicholas heard the man and resurrected his son.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XwHqqxYCAOmd2pvVRgiVLKQH82O7uqm2aESDeFqIsd6HyFLmX9jm-OZnOyjBbK8A0XgZLR_jU65CXmlf7DK8BUJY67TZwFjFOly0uoV4DdAHJK4uXTzQWMR3WnptPLOn0_hTih-925K-/s1600/NicholasOfMyra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XwHqqxYCAOmd2pvVRgiVLKQH82O7uqm2aESDeFqIsd6HyFLmX9jm-OZnOyjBbK8A0XgZLR_jU65CXmlf7DK8BUJY67TZwFjFOly0uoV4DdAHJK4uXTzQWMR3WnptPLOn0_hTih-925K-/s1600/NicholasOfMyra.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.episcopalnet.org/Saints/Dec6Nicholas.html">Nicholas of Myra</a></td></tr>
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Another tale tells of how Nicholas brought three dismembered students back to life. An Asian father sent his sons to a school in Athens, telling them to stop in Myra to receive blessings from Nicholas. However, during a night's stay at an inn in Myra, the innkeeper and his wife killed the boys, cut up their bodies, and his the pieces inside barrels intended for salting meat. They meant to sell them as pickled pork. But Nicholas somehow sensed what had happened and accused the couple of murder. The innkeeper and his wife were overwhelmed by this great saint and immediately felt remorse for what they had done. Nicholas forgave the couple and the boys rose from the brine, whole and alive.<br />
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Other legends of Saint Nicholas are set during a trip by sea to Egypt and Palestine. During a storm, Nicholas is said to have calmed to ocean. When a sailor fell from a ship's mast and died, he was brought back to life by Nicholas. Another tale tells of how an immoral sea captain tried to kidnap Nicholas but failed when a storm pushed the ship towards Myra, where Nicholas simply stepped off the ship and walked across the water back to land.<br />
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And the legends of his kindness don't end with his death. The Crusaders from over seven hundred years after the death of Saint Nicholas credited him with freeing them from prison, restoring their health, and form blessing them with visions when they prayed to him.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://minmaxsunt.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/christmas-in-alaska/">St. Nicholas Saving Those in Danger at Sea</a></td></tr>
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So Nicholas became the patron saint of children and, in addition, he is also said to have watched over seafarers, with 'several stories about him... [sounding] remarkably like activities previously attributed to Poseidon or Neptune.' As seafarers were most often both travellers and merchants, Nicholas 'also became the patron saint of travellers in general, and merchants, and bankers, and even pawnbrokers.'<br />
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Throughout his life, Nicholas gained a reputation for his acts of kindness. He is said to have saved the people of the city from famine and, when he died on December 6th 343, the people believed him to be a worker of miracles. During the years following his death, Nicholas gained in popularity. In around 1000 AD the legends of Saint Nicholas were taken to Russia, Lapps and Samoyeds. He became the patron saint of Russia, amongst other countries and the custom of giving gifts on Nicholas' saint day, December 6th and the day of his death, came into being.<br />
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<b>Judgement and Punishment </b><br />
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While Saint Nicholas is most often portrayed as generous and kind, some of the legends tell us that he was also a stern disciplinarian. In 14th century French monastic schools, a monk dressed as Saint Nicholas would question and reprimand children, rewarding good children with sweets and cane the bad children with traditional birch twigs. Over the next century this tradition of judgement, reward, and punishment spread to common households. <br />
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Naughty children were often left a birch rod, with the people of Holland giving the following explanation: 'The monks of a certain church wanted the responses of Saint Nicholas sung in church. The abbot refused, saying, 'I consider this music worldly and profane, and shall never give permission for it to be used in my church.' The good saint, long dead and living in heaven, heard these words. Nicholas... was so angered by the abbot's words that he descended from heaven in a rage, dragged the abbot out of bed by the hair, and beat him with a birch rod until he was nearly dead. The point was well taken: from that day, the responses were included in the service.'<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://tipsforknowledge.wordpress.com/tag/bizarre/">Sinterklaas and Black Pete</a></td></tr>
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The Dutch people called Saint Nicholas <i>Sinterklaas</i>, who would arrive on December 5th, the eve of Saint Nicholas's Day. The children probably viewed this time with both trepidation and fear. Their Christmas-season ritual would begin with the preparation for a visit from Saint Nicholas. The children would be drilled on their church lessons with a hope that they would be able to answer any questions the saint had for them. The reward would be sweets or gifts, while the punishment for wrong answers was sticks and pieces of coal. The children in Holland would sing a song to give thanks for his goodness and to welcome him, then sweets were thrown through the doorway to signal his arrival. Saint Nicholas would enter, followed by his servant, Black Peter, who the Dutch called Zwarte Piet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsFVzk4NmNgrUa98xWRnOIwvFnsLyCnSZ0DdkybVYPIMNMB_9FTKaYpTW4fYhyphenhyphen6QBp2vWGZVpP284Yzx28pLRx-cAcApDQaNx3hEoJULBCHcVBthE9IBaGE-uJJtPN2GbH0Scw_tcpYr3/s1600/the_saint__s_companion_by_nashoba_hostina-d35llb0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsFVzk4NmNgrUa98xWRnOIwvFnsLyCnSZ0DdkybVYPIMNMB_9FTKaYpTW4fYhyphenhyphen6QBp2vWGZVpP284Yzx28pLRx-cAcApDQaNx3hEoJULBCHcVBthE9IBaGE-uJJtPN2GbH0Scw_tcpYr3/s1600/the_saint__s_companion_by_nashoba_hostina-d35llb0.jpg" height="400" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Saint-s-Companion-190803996?hf=1"> The Saint's Companion by Nashoba-Hostina</a></td></tr>
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This was the source of the children's fear, for Black Peter was terrifying to behold. He was a 'hairy, chained, horned, blackened, devilish monster' and he had a very simple job. While the children were drilled on their knowledge of the Bible, Black Pete would glare at the children, holding a gaping sack in his hairy claws and, every now and again, he would flash his enormous, razor-sharp canines at the children. Then he would leap towards the children, growling and threatening to beat them with his rod. If a child was particularly naughty, Nicholas would warn them that Black Pete might stuff him in his sack and carry them off to some hell until the following Christmas. While Saint Nicholas always rescued the naughty children, giving them sticks or ashes as a punishment, this did not make for a lighthearted festival.<br />
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So far Saint Nicholas seems to have little connection with Christmas. Legend states that he was generous but was also judgemental of naughty children, and would punish them, whether it was with a birch stick or a piece of coal. We also have something of an origin for sitting on Santa's knee while he asks you if you've been good or bad. However, he is connected with the eve and day of December 6th, not December 25th, with the only connection being the month of December. And what of the red suit, the beard, the reindeer, the elves, and Santa's sleigh? And what of Black Peter? <br />
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It is commonly believed that the Dutch brought Saint Nicholas with them to America. However, Saint Nicholas did not appear in America until after Santa Claus became established and the legend that the Dutch brought this figure with them to America was 'invented by Washington Irving in an 1809 satire, the fictional 'Knickerbocker History', and has no basis in fact.' Evidently there are aspects of the legends of Saint Nicholas within modern Christmas customs, but we are still missing many of the details. <br />
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Next time we will further explore the origins of Santa and our modern Christmas customs and traditions, including a closer look at Zwarte Piet and some of the other figures who may factor into our modern perception of Santa Claus.<br />
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<b>Useful Resources</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-Nicholas-Christian-Encounters-Wheeler-ebook/dp/B0047O2BFC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575553&sr=8-1&keywords=Saint+Nicholas+by+Joe+Wheeler">Saint Nicholas by Joe Wheeler</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/True-Saint-Nicholas-Matters-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00AXZB9E8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575581&sr=8-1&keywords=The+True+Saint+Nicholas%3A+Why+He+Matters+to+Christmas">The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas by William J. Bennett<span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary"></span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Santas-Creepy-Christmas-Characters/dp/1471129861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575636&sr=8-1&keywords=Bad+Santas%3A+and+other+creepy+Christmas+characters+by+Paul+Hawkins">Bad Santas: and other creepy Christmas characters by Paul Hawkins</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-History-Bruce-David-Forbes/dp/0520258029/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575670&sr=8-1&keywords=Christmas%3A+A+Candid+History+by+Bruce+David+Forbes">Christmas: A Candid History by Bruce David Forbes</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Explorers-Fortunes-Letters-Mount-Press/dp/0962536857/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575698&sr=8-1">Explorers, Fortunes and Love Letters by New Netherland Institute</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Its-Carols-Customs-Legends/dp/1163153281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575726&sr=8-1&keywords=Christmas%3A+Its+Carols%2C+Customs+and+Legends">Christmas: Its Carols, Customs and Legends by Ruth Heller</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Santa-Claus-Last-Wild-Men/dp/0786429585/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575768&sr=8-1&keywords=santa+claus%2C+last+of+the+wild+men+by+phyllis+siefker">Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men by Phylis Siefker</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157858869194781296noreply@blogger.com0