My Blog for Myth and Folklore

This is the second part of I the  Lang European Fairytales I Unit  by Andrew Lang. I Know What I Have Learned In this tale, a father has three daughters, each married to a troll. He visits them and at the first's, the troll hits his head in order to get meat for broth and is unharmed, at the second's, the troll lights his fingers for candles and is unharmed, at the third's, the troll jumps in the water and scops out fish with a ladle. Each troll gives the father a sack of money but he leaves it outside in order to inquire about his cow who is about to give birth and it gets stolen. Finally, the father tries to imitate what the troll does and dies. Lovely Ilonka A prince goes on a quest and gets a bulrush which turns into a beautiful woman. However, when he goes to fetch her, a swineherd throws her in the well and pretends his daughter is Ilonka. The prince knows something is wrong but accepts the swineherd's daughter. Later, a coachman draws water and finds a duck

This week I read the Lang European Fairytales I Unit by Andrew Lang. I knew the Puss in Boots story but I was unfamiliar with the others so it was fun to read some new tales. The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots In this story, a man dies and leaves his goods to his three sons. The first gets a mill, the second gets a donkey, and the third gets the cat. The boy with the cat thinks he will have to eat the cat and then die. However, the cat tells him to get him boots and a bag and he will help him. With these things he goes and catches game and takes it to the king, pretending it is from his master, a rich marquis. One day, he tells his owner to get in the river and as the king goes by, he cries out saying his master is drowning after thieves stole his clothes. The king dresses the "Marquis" and as they ride through the fields, Puss goes ahead and tells all the workers to tell the king that these are the marquis' lands. He reaches a castle owned by an ogre and challenges hi

In this class this week, I read the King Arthur unit. I know the stories like I am sure most people do. I have seen the Disney version and the BBC "Merlin" TV show. But I haven't actually read that many of the stories themselves. I found them very interesting, especially since I didn't realize how Christian and even Catholic they where. There was an interesting note in the unit about how the Holy Graal is a mixture of Christian and heathen tradition that has gotten mixed together.  As a Catholic, this week was a busy one. The Masses during Easter week are the longest of the year. The service on Good Friday was over two hours and the Easter Vigil was over three hours long! They are time-consuming, especially since the Church is an hour away from me but it was worth the drive. I think these are also the most beautiful services during the year as well.  Because of the amount of time I spent in the car and at Church, I had to do some finishing up this morning for m

Lady Bridget Lady Bridget, sister of Sir Percivale of King Arthur's round table, stood at the railing of the ship and looked out over the waves. She'd been on board the vessel for weeks now but still, she marveled at how all this came to be. She had been at her manor, following her ordinary habits when a shining knight, fully equipped in all white armor approached. Normally, she would have been frightened at such a sudden appearance, however, all she felt was peace and knew immediately this knight was not of this world. So she stood and waited until he neared and then he hailed her. "Lady Bridget, sister of Sir Percivale, I have a request to make of you. You have heard, I am certain, how one hundred and fifty knights left the round table in order to search for the Holy Graal, despite Arthur's sorrow and protests. They seek something many are not worthy of finding and they will die for it. But, three knights are worthy. Sir Galahad, the best and most virtuous of t

This is my second reading note for the  King Authur  by Andrew Lang unit: Sir Galahad and the White Knight Sir Galahad meets a few other knights that are seeking a shield that is said to one be able to be wielded by the best of the knights. They find it and one takes it but asks Galahad to wait and see what happens to him. He is struck down by a White Knight who sends the shield back to Galahad, saying he is the only one who can wield it. Sir Lancelot's Vision Sir Lancelot finds a chapel but is unable to enter it because he is not worthy. He falls asleep and another knight arrives and sees the Graal. However, Sir Lancelot is not able to wake up. The knight takes Lancelot's sword and Lancelot vows to be better. The Adventure of Sir Percivale  Sir Percivale has no horse, so a woman gives him one but when he does the sign of the cross it runs off and he realizes it is a demon. He goes on foot until he comes across a serpent killing a young lion. Percivale defeats the serp

This week I read King Authur by Andrew Lang. For the first part if the unit, we went through several stories: The Drawing of the Story Arthur draws the sword for his foster brother Sir Kay so that he will have a sword for the tournament. It is quickly realized that it is the sword in the stone and secretly, he is the son of the former king, Uther Pendragon. I was surprised that Arthur and Sir Kay got along, unlike the Disney version. The Questing Beast Arthur sees a strange beast that brays like hounds, chased by Sir Pellinore. Arthur wants to go after the beast himself but Pellinore says it will be either him or one of his line who kills it. Later, Merlin comes and speaks of his own death and of Arthur's. The Sword Excalibur In this story, Merlin helps Arthur get Excalibur from the lady in the lake who gives it to him in return for a gift of her choosing. She doesn't specify what that will be. The Round Table When Arthur decides he wants to marry Guenevere, the