My Blog for Myth and Folklore

Jason and the Giant's Gold Jason had always been a poor peasant, unknown by most. He had a job as a shepherd for the Lord of the lands and it provided for himself, his mothers, and his sisters and he was grateful for it. However, he was with the sheep night and day and was unable to do little else. If he didn't have this job, his family would have starved when his father died some years back and so Jason worked hard, both to support his family and from the gratitude he felt toward the Lord for trusting him with his flocks. However, some days back, he had left the sheep, for a little while, when he had come across a giant. He thought that would be the end of him and he briefly wondered who would take care of his family when he died but the giant hadn't killed him. It had needed his help and as a reward, it had taken him to a giant celebration. It had given him a belt of invisibility so he would be safe from the other giants and in this way, Jason had been able to witness

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

This week, I researched topics for my final story. I looked at a few Aesop's fables in order to determine my exact theme. Here are the stories I looked at, they are all pretty short but they share similar themes. Perhaps by looking at them, you can guess how my last story is going to go? Each of these stories were taken from Aesop's Fables by V.S. Vernon Jones. The Wolf and his Shadow In this story, a wolf sees his shadow and notices how large it is. He then thinks that he is huge and that he is greater than lions, however, at that moment, a lion comes by and pounces on him. The wolf realizes that he was foolish in thinking he was greater than lions just by the size of his shadow. The Cat and the Fox In this story, a fox brags about how many talents he has compared to a cat. However, a pack of dogs appears and, while the cat climbs a tree, the fox is killed by the dogs. The Stag and the Hunter   In this story, a stag sees his mighty horns in a reflection and realize

The Story of Beowulf  by Strafford Riggs  In the second half of the unit, Grendel attacks the hall and puts everyone into a magical sleep. Except, Beowulf wasn't asleep so he is able to fight against the spell. Grendel breaks in and kills one man but while he is devouring him, Beowulf wakes up and the two fight together. The are fairly well matched, until Beowulf is able to get a hold on one of Grendel's arms and rips it off. With that, Grendel runs away and the others wake up. The next day, they celebrate but that night, one of Hrothgar's men is killed and they realize that they forgot about Grendel's monster mother who has taken revenge for her son and will continue to kill them. Beowulf vows to fight her too, so he, his men and king Hrothgar and his men track Grendel's mother with hounds until they reach a murky pond. Beowulf jumps in alone and descends to the bottom. For a while, it is pitch black and he has to strike out blindly against things that pass h

For this week, I read Beowulf. I had read the story previously in high school but it has been a while and I am glad I get to revisit it and refresh my memory. The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs  We are first introduced to the Geats of Geatland, a mountainous country with a large expanse of coastline. The Geats are ruled by their king, Hygelac. There are many formidable warriors there who fend off the monsters lurking in the forest and the sea. His nephew is Beowulf, who is known for his strength, however, people see him as a sluggard because he hasn't proven himself and seems to only have favor with his king because of their kinship. Most of them are either disdainful of him or jealous and, therefore, he has grown up to be a solemn loner type. Finally, a Wanderer comes and tells them of the plight of their neighbors, the Danes in Daneland, where King Hrothgar and his people are being attacked by the monster, Grendel. For twelve years he has killed their warrior until on

The Attack on the Great Elk Jona reached the last of the trees and stopped just before he stepped out in the open. Out on the plain the Great Elk lay sleeping. It was a towering beast, capable of leveling mountains and flattening villages in one stride. Not only that, it was a killer. Hundreds of Jona's people had been taken by the beast. It didn't eat them, no, it was an herbivore. This thing killed for sport but that was over now. Years ago, Jona's mother had prayed to the Spirits for an end to the terrible beast. The Spirits had answered by giving her Jona. His entire life he had prepared for this and now, finally, his training had come to an end. His mother had finished making his powerful bow and his strong arrows. He had taken them up and trekked to the land where the Great Elk dwelt. Unfortunately, with the large plain between himself and the beast, there was no way to get close enough to kill it. The Elk was said to have impenetrable hide. Besides that, it had