La Gomera

La Gomera is one of the seven Canary Islands which are an autonomous community of Spain situated to the west of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean  The original inhabitants before the arrival of the Spanish were the Guanche people who were believed to be related to the Berber people of North Africa.   Although much of their culture has been lost some still exists and can be found in legends and traditions of the islands.  Roughly situated in the middle of the island is the Garajonay National Park which is a mountainous region of lush wild evergreen laurel forest. There is a folktale said to be of Guanche origin that tells how the Garajonay National Park was named after two lovers named Gara and Jonay.

The Legend of Gara and Jonay

Gara was a princess of Agula that was known as a place of water on La Gomera and looked across the sea to Mount Teide on Tenerife.  Jonay was a prince and the son of the Mencey of Adeje a ruler of Tenerife known as the place of fire.  This was because of the great volcano Mount Teide that the Guanches called Echeyde or Hell, that was situated on the the island.  Presented here is a retelling of the legend of Gara and Jonay garnered from several other versions.

Los Chorros de Epina

On La Gomera, there was a tradition that there were even places where magic waters could be found.  These waters had special properties beneficial to health and good fortune and were said to be able to foretell the future.   One such place was called Los Chorros de Epina which is a natural spring that local legend says has healing powers and can also reveal the future to an extent.  The spring water is fed through seven wooden tubes which turn the flow into seven jets of water each of which has different attributes.

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The Fox and the Angel of Death

In Jewish folklore when God created the world he made sure that every animal that walked upon the earth had a counterpart under the sea.  To complete his plan he allotted Malak – ha-Mawet the Angel of Death with the task of making sure they were all placed beneath the waters.   When the Angel came for the fox the fox began to cry and wail.  The surprised Angel asked the fox why he was crying.  The fox told him that his best friend had been placed in the water only the other day.   Standing on the shore and looking in the sea the fox pointed to his own reflection in the water.  When the Angel of Death saw the reflection he believed that a fox had already been placed under the water and so set him free.
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Azorean folklore is the folklore of the people of the Azores group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.    Although an  Autonomous Region of Portugal, the people of the Azores have evolved their own folklore, traditions and have many wonderful folktales and legends. Some of these explain how natural features of the landscape came to be.  There is a tradition in Azorean folklore that says the islands of the Azores were once the tops of the mountains of Atlantis before it was drowned below the sea.  The following folktale is a version of  “Princess Bluegreen and the Seven Cities,” collected by Elsie Spicer Eels which explains how two interlinked lakes known as the Lagoon of the Seven Cities on São Miguel Island originated and how the great catastrophe came about that doomed the legendary Atlantis.

The King and Queen of Atlantis

Once there was a great kingdom called Atlantis which was ruled by a king by the name of Brancopardo who was married to the beautiful, Queen Brancaroza.  Although they were the rulers of the great kingdom of Atlantis and lived in a gorgeous palace they were very sad.   You see the king and the queen both yearned with all their hearts for children and they had none and the palace was a cold, bleak, place without them.  King Brancopardo would lament, “Why is life so unkind?  Babies are born to poor peasants who can scarcely feed them and hear am I a King with great riches who remains childless.  It is not fair!”

And Queen Brancaroza would sigh, “If only I could have a baby of my own I would be so happy!  Poor women have many babies who they can barely afford to clothe, but here am I a rich queen in a beautiful palace, childless!”
She would weep day and night for what she did not have.  The king grew ever more unkind and his face became wizened and cruel whereas once it had been handsome, jolly and kind.  Once he had been a good and just king who was loved by his people but as time grew without a child his soul became more and more wrinkled.  The people became worried and prayed for him because they loved him and were his faithful subjects. They made offerings at all the shrines and holy places of Atlantis but the royal couple remained childless.  As the barren years unfolded Queen Brancaroza grew ever more melancholy and King Brancopardo became angrier, crueler and more and more unreasonable.  In his misery, he made the lives of his loyal subjects unbearable.
The Royal Palace had a glorious garden filled with many wondrous and beautiful flowers and trees where marvelous birds sang sweet songs of joy.  In that blessed place, the King and Queen often found peace despite the curse of barrenness that had fallen upon them.  One evening when the King and Queen were feeling especially downcast they went and  walked upon the terrace in the garden to watch the evening fall gently, watching quietly as the stars slowly blinked into life.

Starlight
One star began gently twinkling brighter and brighter than all the others and began  moving nearer and nearer.  They watched in awe as it appeared in front of them in dazzling glory.  Queen Brancaroza placed her hands over her eyes but King Brancopardo bowed his head to his chest and they heard a gentle voice say,

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The Eight Immortals

In Chinese mythology, the Eight Immortal were a legendary group of eight individual beings who had transcended the human state to become endowed with divine and supernatural attributes or powers.  Each immortal is endowed with a power that can give life or help their fight against evil.  Most of the Eight Immortals were born during either the Tang or Song dynasties and venerated by Taoists and became popular in Chinese culture.  This work is a brief introduction to the Eight Immortals who were; He Xiangu, Cao Guojiu, Li Tieguai, Lan Caihe, Lü Dongbin, Han Xiangzi, Zhang Guolao and Zhongli Quan and concludes with an observation about their popularity.

Li Tieguai

Li Tieguai had a reputation of being irritable and bad-tempered but was seen as being compassionate and caring towards the poor, sick and those in need.   He carried a gourd in which he carried special medicine which he dispensed to those in need.  Li Tieguai is often depicted in a rather unattractive way as being an old man with a wispy beard and unkempt hair.  He used an iron crutch to aid his walking and was often depicted as a type of clown or beggar who used his powers to benefit those in need.  He could be found wherever the sick needed curing or the oppressed needed freeing.   Li had been the apprentice of Lao-Tzu the founder of Taoism.

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The Lais of Marie de France

Bisclavret (The Werewolf), is a Breton lai, by a medieval female writer and poet known as Marie de France.  It is one of twelve narrative poems known as The lais of Marie de France. Many of the lais were derived from Breton folklore and legends with Celtic influences and elements of the supernatural all interwoven together. She claimed the lais were based on ballads she had heard from troubadours and minstrels.

In the poem translated Judith P. Shoaf, Marie explains that  Garwalf is the Norman  name for a werewolf and Bisclavret, the Breton name.  However, Bisclavret, although still a werewolf, is significantly different from the Garwolf, displaying more restrained and disciplined behavior than the wild savagery  usually associated with such beasts. (1)
Marie’s lais tell stories that move in and out of the supernatural and real world exploring complex emotions and morals that wreak havoc in the human condition.  The lai of Bisclavret tells of a shape-shifting baron whose perfect world is marred by what he deems to be a terrible and shameful affliction.  To hide his shame and in a sense to protect his own humanity from the perceptions of others, he keeps this a secret. This work presents a discussion of what it means to be human and then provides a version of the story concluding with a discussion on the humanity and “beastliness” shown by the main characters.

Human or Beast?

The shifting of human to beast amid the dark, tangled forest explores some of our primal fears, challenging our concept of humanity.  Is it just the clothing we wear and the adornments, the accessories, and jewelry and the paraphernalia that we think give us status and make us attractive and carry with us that make us human?  Or is it our behavior, our manners, the way we conduct ourselves and the way we treat and think of other people that make us human or worthy of love, respect, and acceptance?

Marie de France lived in medieval times in medieval society with medieval culture and philosophy. Her lais utilize legends and folklore  of her time skilfully woven into narrative poems that tell stories that explore and challenge our understanding of the human condition and reflect the ethos of her times.  But that world of Marie has passed and we now live in the modern world with all its trappings, culture, and philosophy.  What can we make of Bisclavret (The Werewolf) by Marie de France today?

The Story of Bisclavret

There was once a most honorable and cultured baron who lived in Brittany many, many, years ago.  He was a great favorite of the king and was great friends with all the other barons and lords of the land and they all held him in high esteem.  He had a most beautiful wife who he loved dearly and she also loved him dearly.  All, in all he would seem to be living a perfectly happy and fulfilling life but unbeknown to anyone else he had a most terrible secret.

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On the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores there are two lakes known as the Lagoon of the Seven Cities, or Lagoa das Sete Cidades,  in Portuguese.  They are an important source of fresh water and the largest body of water on the islands.

Princess Antilia

A local legend tells that there was once a bad-tempered King whose wife had died and had been left to bring up his daughter named Antilia alone.  The King had greatly loved her mother and he doted upon his daughter.  When his wife had died he had almost exclusively taken on the care and upbringing of his daughter aided only by an elderly nurse.  He loved his daughter dearly and she was the source of all his pleasure and the pride and joy of his life and he wanted to keep her all for himself and kept her separate from other children and people.  Sadly, he would not let her speak or play with anyone else but him, or her nurse, who thought it a shame she could not mix and play with other children her own age.

Nevertheless, years passed by as years will do and the young princess grew into a beautiful young woman.  As a beautiful young woman, Antilia attracted the attention of many handsome young men, as beautiful young women will do.  Her father was jealous of their interest towards his daughter and seeking to keep her solely for himself banned her entirely from leaving the limits of his castle and grounds.  Antilia was disappointed with this ban because she was at an age when she wanted to be out and about exploring the world and making friends with young men and women of her own age.

Every day after his dinner at midday the King would fall asleep and spend rest of the afternoon snoring until evening came and it was time for tea. Every now and then, with the help of her old nurse, Antilia would escape the confines of the castle and its grounds and go and explore the towns and villages that surrounded the castle.  She loved these times of escape and each one seemed like an exciting adventure to her.

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A folktale from the Azores tells how there was once a Girl of Oranges who lived a solitary and lonely life in a world full of sorrow and dreams.  You see there was once a time when she had been in love with a handsome prince.  They had loved each other with all their hearts and had believed they had been made for each other and were full of happiness and hope for their future together.  Sadly he was taken from her by unfortunate circumstances beyond either his or her control and although life went on for the Girl of Oranges it was never as it had once been.

This had a devastating effect on her and she came to believe that she could never love again.  She looked around and saw lovers walking and holding hands, getting married and raising children and she worried about being on her own for the rest of her life.  It seemed to her the door to happiness had been forever slammed shut and she became anxious and depressed.

She dreamed many dreams and in those dreams created many wonderful scenes of love and came to live in a fantasy world but she could not escape the real world. The strange thing was that the real world she imagined became gray and sad but the beautiful world she dreamed in her dream world never materialized and hope began to fade in her heart.

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World Folklore: The Child Cast Adrift

Many myths and legends from many cultures around the world revolve around the theme of a child deliberately abandoned in the wilds or cast adrift on the ocean or a river.  The story involves a  helpless and defenseless baby committed by adults to take their chances of survival but against all odds and often with the help of divine intervention the baby survives to grow up and play a significant part in the culture of a society.  More often than not they become great leaders saving or inspiring their people.

Usually, those that cast the helpless babe adrift are not doing so with the intention of actually killing the child but are offering up for the chance of divine intervention, or luck, in the hope that the baby will survive the ordeal.  Sometimes it is the only chance the baby will have of survival because it has been rejected in some way by those who have power over it or others who wish it harm.  Presented here are four ancient examples from folklore and mythology around the world concluding with an example from modern fiction.   Read More

The Aboriginal people of Australia developed an astronomy where figures from their mythology were represented  by the dark patches, stars and other features of the night sky. These figures came from familiar animals and objects from their immediate environment that often had stories attached to them explaining their origin or function.

In the night skies above Australia is the Southern Cross which has a dark patch or cloud next to it called the Coalsack Nebula.  This dark place is associated with the “Emu in the Sky” with the Coalsack representing the head and the body and legs formed by the dust trails that reach out across the Milky Way. Presented here is a brief description of Australian Aboriginal Astronomy followed by the folktale of The Blind Man and the Emu. Then follows  a look at the rock engraving of the Emu in the Sky and the celestial orientation in the night sky of the Emu before concluding with the importance of both of these to the Aboriginal people.   Read more

African Folklore: The Lightning Bird

The lightning bird is a mythical bird in the folklore and traditions of different peoples of South Africa, such as the Zulu, Pondo, and Xhosa people.  Sometimes it is called the impundulu, thewane, izulu, and also the inyoni yezulu.  It is supposed to have the ability to call up thunder and lightning with its talons and wings.

According to African folklore and tradition it is strongly associated with witchcraft. It is said to be a vampire bird that is often a servant, confidant, or a familiar of a witch, or witch doctor. The lightning bird cannot be killed by shooting or stabbing and it cannot be drowned or poisoned.  The only way it can be killed is by burning with fire if it can be caught, otherwise it is said to be immortal and outlives its masters. Legend says that it is inherited from mother to daughter in the family of the witch or witch doctor to whom it belongs and will do the bidding of its current master.  Read more