Myth and Folklore

The Soldier and the Devil -A soldier is going home with threepence -He distributes each coin to a different beggar, each one in worse shape than the one before -When he left the forest he was granted three bonns by the Lord for his charity -He chose a pipe always full of tobacco, a purse always full of gold, and a knapsack that he could easily capture anyone in with a few simple words -He went to a mill and asked for lodging, but the only available room they told him was haunted by a devil -The devil appears and plays cards with him -When the devil tries to tear him apart, the soldier captures him in his knapsack -He leaves with it in the morning and asks a blacksmith to give the devil a good beating before he lets him go -He hears of a lady who plays cards and always wins -She is frustrated that she cannot win all the money from the soldier and steals his three magic gifts during the night -He goes along his way, eats half an apple and grows horns, and then eats half a pear...

Sleepy John -Sleepy John slept everywhere -One day he fell asleep in a cart, whose owners returned and put him in a cask, which they left in the forest -When John awake there were wolves surrounding the cask, and John feared for his life -When one of the wolves stuck its tail through a hole in the barrel, John grabbed on -As the wolf ran, the cask trampled along and frightened the wolves, who ran away -He meets a hermit in the mountains who offers him shelter -The hermit says he will die in three days and asks John to bury him -The hermit then gives him gifts -A stick: wherever he points the stick with a desire to go, he will find himself there -A knapsack: whatever he desires will be inside -A cap: that will make him invisible -John hears how the Queen's dancing slippers are being worn down every night -He goes to the King to accept the challenge of tracing her -Once she thinks he is asleep in a room adjacent to hers, she sets off -John is able to follow because of ...

A Mad Tea-Party -The March Hare and Mad Hatter are having tea at a large table outside of a house -The doormouse is asleep between them, and they are using him as a cushion to rest their elbows on  -They are huddled together at one corner of the table screaming "no room!" when in fact there are many open chairs -Alice sits down at the end of the table and is offered wine -Not seeing any, Alice inquires where it is, and the March Hare boldly declares there is none -Alice is annoyed by his lack of manners -The Hatter declares Alice's hair "wants cutting" (hair personification??) and Alice remarks he should not make personal comments -The Hatter asks "why is the raven like the writing desk?" -Alice is delighted to have a riddle to solve, but is berated by the two other tea partiers for how she goes about declaring she will solve it -Even the door mouse chimes in despite his drowsy state  -The Hatter takes out his pocket watch to see...

Down the Rabbit-Hole -Alice is sitting by her sister on the bank of a river -Her sister is reading, but Alice is very bored -She is contemplating making a daisy chain when suddenly a white rabbit runs by her -The rabbit is muttering to himself about being late, which seems quite natural to Alice at the time  -When the rabbit takes a watch out of its waistcoat pocket, it suddenly occurs to Alice that this is a strange sight -She follows the rabbit as he disappears under a hedge -Alice jumps into the rabbit hole behind him and finds herself falling a long way down -She is able to examine a multitude of cupboards and bookshelves in the sides of the well as she falls  -Alice begins wondering aloud how many miles she has fallen into the earth -She begins wondering if she might fall clear through the earth, and end up in a country such as New Zealand or Australia -She is a very curious little girl and imagines such wild things as she continues to fall Advi...

How Britomart Rescued a Fair Lady from a Wicked Enchanter -Britomart hides in the strange castle  -The next evening, she enters the strange room where the charms of the previous night had passed into -She finds a maiden bound by chains to a pillar within  -The Enchanter, who rules the castle, sits within drawing strange symbols in blood -This is one of many charms he has tried to use to win the lady's love -Still she refuses to give into her tormentor -When the Enchanter sees Britomart, he runs at the lady with a knife, intending to kill her -Britomart swoops in and knocks him down -He wounds Britomart, but in turn she swings at him and brings him to half death -The lady begs her not kill him, for only he can undo the chains and suffering she is bound by -Britomart forces him to undo the enchantments that ensnare, and as her chains fall she is returned to perfect health -They leave the castle to go to the lady's lover, the knight Scudamor -Unfortunat...

Sir Guyon -Prince Arthur and Sir Guyon are traveling together having epic adventures -they were glorious and honorable, and aimed to reprieve the weak and oppressed -One day a knight began spurring toward them across an open plain  -Sir Guyon want to face the attack, but was knocked from his horse -He felt a deep sense of shame, but what he did not realize was the that spear that threw him was enchanted, and no man could have resisted it -The other knight was secretly a maiden, the princess of Britomart -She was on a quest to find the knight Artegall, whose glory she had seen in a magic mirror -She disguised herself as a knight, and her nurse disguised herself as her squire -Sir Guyon rose to go after the attacker on foot, but his attendant warned him against it -Sir Guyon and the knight were then reconciled and swore friendship -Knights did not always fight out of malice, but out of the desire to test their strength and manliness -It was considered a valua...

The Owl Gets Married  -A widow tells her daughter to marry a good hunter for a husband -A good hunter comes along, and the mother recommends to the daughter that she marry him  -The woman and hunter move in together -The hunter goes out to hunt, but instead goes to fish and returns with only three measly catches  -Returns the next day with two scrawny lizards -And again the next day shows up only with scraps from another hunter's kill -The next day the woman followed out of suspicion -When she came to the river, she saw her husband transform into an owl -The woman felt foolish for having married an owl instead of a man -She hurried ahead and when her husband arrived home she asked where all the fish were that he had caught -He tells her an owl swooped them away -The woman then accuses him of being the owl and sends him away -Alone in the woods, owl wallowed in grief until the only flesh left on his body was on his head  The Crane and th...

How the World Was Made -The earth is floating in a sea of water, suspended by cords hanging down from the sky vault -When the earth grows worn out, everyone will die and the cords will break -The earth will sink into the sea -The animals once lived above the sea, but were crowded -They sent a beetle to explore what was below the ocean to see if they could find a new place to live -When beetle disturbed the mud on the ocean floor it grew into earth -The land was soft and wet, so the animals sent birds to investigate where they could go -When buzzard went down, the swooping of his wings along the muddy ground created mountains and valleys -That is why Cherokee country is so mountainous -When the animals came down it was dark, so they set the sun on a track to go around the earth every day under the sky arch  -At first the sun was too close and scorched the animals -They raised it until it was seven hand breadths above the earth  -The mountain streams l...

The Man Who Traveled With the Buffalo -A group is tired from outrunning an enemy -Most die, but the survivor sleeps under a tree -Ravens living in the tree converse about the men of the group, who had been killing buffalo -The man is thirsty and journeys to a prairie dog village -One of the prairie dogs brings him water -The man sees a buffalo calf and journeys with him -They come to a group of buffalo and camp with them -When the man wakes the buffalo are gone -He journeys after them, camps with them once again, and in the morning finds them gone -This cycle repeats several times -The chief buffalo speaks to another one of the buffalos about his wife -This buffalo declares that if there is anyone braver than him, he should be entitled to marry his wife -The man is given arrows by the chief buffalo -The man and the other buffalo then engage in battle The Animals Race -The men of the world congregate to run a race to the edge of the world, where a pret...

The Cultures of Heroes and Owl -Kubatc'istcine and Naiyenesgani are companions who go to visit their grandmother -They ask her to make something to play with -Grandmother tells them to go to their father -Their father, the sun, gives them a hoop and pole game and arrows -Tells them not to roll the hoop north -They inevitably do, and it lands in owl's house -Owl's wife chops them up and put them in a pot of boiling water; they tell stories -When she tries to skewer them, they jump out of the pot -Owl determines they are using magic not to die -She then puts them in the ashes and lays a fire on top of them; they tell stories -When she fails again to retrieve them as a cooked meal, owl lets them go -They run home with their toys The Swallowing Monster -A girl finds a dead deer by a lake where she and others are camping -This happens four times, and each time the deer is eaten -One of the campers spies the monster killing the deer -Various m...

The Origin of Rubies -A queen with four sons loves the youngest best and spoils him -She and her fourth son are made to live in a separate house by the other sons -The youngest son is spoiled and takes whatever he wants -He boards a boat that is not his and sets off on it with his mother  -Sails out onto the ocean, encountering a whirlpool filled with marvelous rubies  -The prince gathers many rubies, but, entreated by his mother to throw them back, he tosses all but one back into the sea -He and his mother dock near a major city and take up residence in a hut -The boy plays marbles with the sons of the king, using his ruby in place of actual marbles -The princess observes the ruby and wants it for herself -The lad is brought to the king, and the boy tells him he found the ruby in the ocean  -The princess puts the ruby in her hair and asks her parrot how she looks -The parrot replies having only one ruby looks ridiculous  -The princess goes...

The Evil Eye of Sani -Sani (also known as Saturn) god of bad luck -Lakshmi goddess of good luck -Sani and Lakshmi argue over who is higher in rank -As all the gods and goddesses are equals, they decide to find a human to settle the dispute -Sribatsa is the wise and rich man they seek out -He places Sani on a silver stool and Lakshmi on a gold one -Sani infers that this means Sribatsa values him less and casts the evil eye upon him -Sribatsa and his wife leave their home; they come to an uncrossable river with a ferryman -The ferryman takes tries to transport the mattress they have brought and stored all their money and jewels in, but a giant wave overtakes the ferry and it disappears -Sribatsa and his wife Chintamani travel to different villages, but each time become loathed by the villagers for their superior skills -Chintamani is carried off by boatmen who believe she has special powers -Sribatsa follows the river until he finds a cow that nourishes him with milk day...

The Hummingbird and the Carabao -A carabao is resting under a tree by the river when a hummingbird passes by -"Friend carabao" and "little hum" -Hummingbird says she has come to drink on this hot day -Carabao teases that a drop will be enough -They then make a bet to see who can drink more -Carabao drinks and drinks, but the tide is rising, so the water level never seems to go down -Hummingbird teases that he has actually added more water to the river -Hummingbird then pretends to drink, but in reality just waits until the tide begins to ebb, so it appears that she has drunk down the river -Carabao is stupefied and saturated with water, hardly able to move Why the Ocean is Salty -Ang-ngalo is the son of the God of  building  -"The ocean at the time was pure, its water being the accumulated tears of disappointed goddesses" -Goddess of darkness asks Ang-ngalo to build her a palace made of white bricks -Goes to the ruler of the ...

The Three Friends -Buñgisñgis: “a large strong man that is always laughing” -Derived from the root ñgisi, “to show the teeth” -Three friends go to live in the country: monkey, dog, carabao -As the carabao is frying meat the Buñgisñgis comes up to him and asks for the food; when the carabao refuses the Buñgisñgis throws him into the earth -Monkey and dog return from hunting to find carabao sunk into the earth -They then cook the rest of their food -The Buñgisñgis is clever and knows their is union in strength - avoids attacking all three at once  -The next day the Buñgisñgis returns and similarly intimidates dog -The monkey digs a pit, and the next day when the Buñgisñgis arrives tricks him into falling in, burying him with earth  -Dog and carabao return and foolishly dig him up; they suffer terrible fates -Monkey escapes up a tree -When he encounters the Buñgisñgis again in the forest, he tricks him into thinking a beehive is a bell, and when the Buñgisñgis p...

Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife -A girl is sitting embroidering, and a bird shows up -The bird says her kismet is with a dead person -The girl is afraid and locks all of her doors and windows the next day -But the bird appears yet again on her table with the same message -Taking extra precaution the next day, she works by candlelight in the cupboard -But yet again, her feathery nemesis shows up -Mother and daughter confine themselves to the house lest the bird return -The girl goes out with friends, but while drinking at a lake she is cut off from them by a wall -The wall has a door, and inside the girl finds a splendid palace filled with gold and jewels -Encounters a bey with instructions that whoever fans him and prays by him will find their kismet The Imp of the Well -A journey ensues that ends up at a garden -There a miller was grinding mill with a cat beside him -A woodcutter with a "cantankerous" wife lived nearby -She was greedy and purposefully dis...

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp Part 1 -Poor tailor with an idle son -Father dies because of son's idleness -African magician shows up claiming to be Aladdin's uncle -Aladdin and his mother have dinner with the strange man -The next day he takes Aladdin to buy fine clothing and begin his transition to a productive human being -The magician leads Aladdin to gardens and then onward toward the mountains -The magician tricks Aladdin into going after a magic lamp -Aladdin wanders through halls and fruit tree gardens, finds, the lamp, and returns -Aladdin refused to give him the lamp, and the magician shuts the door out of the cave -Aladdin cries and ends up rubbing a ring the magician gave him -A genie appears Part 2 -Aladdin returns home -His mother polishes the lamp to get it ready to sell, and another genie appears -The boy asks for food and the lamp genie fetches a feast -The sultan orders all homes shut up as his daughter goes to the ba...

Fear -A young boy's mother tells him to shut the door because she has a fear -The boy asks what fear is -The mother answers that it is "being afraid" -The boy sets out to discover what fear truly is -Finds a group of robbers, who tell him fear is there with them -They ask him to cook helwa in a nearby cemetery, where a hand reaches out of a grave to ask the boy for food     -The hand is beaten back by a spoon     -"Naturally I should feed the dead before the living" (what a sassy child) -The robbers send him to abandoned building, where he finds a bracelet, but not fear -The boy then helps save a sinking ship by flogging the daughter of the sea, who is rocking it and causing the passengers to be afraid -Three pigeons dive into a fountain and are transformed into women     -Each drinks to the health of the boy for his various encounters with fear that he did not flinch by The Wizard-Dervish -Padishah = great king -A padishah with no son encou...

Scheherzade -Sultan is married to a wife whom he loves very much -Discovers his wife had deceived him in terrible ways -Carries out the law of the land by asking the Grand Vizier to out her to death -Becomes convinced that all women are wicked at their core -Decides to marry a fresh wife every evening and have her strangled in the morning        -"Every day saw a girl married and a wife dead" -Grand Vizier' had a daughter named Scheherezade who was clever, beautiful, and courageous -She desires to stop the barbaric practice of the Sultan -Asks to be married to him -Her last wish is to have her sister with her to ask for a story before dawn -And with the beginning of the story she begins her plan to save the girls of the land from the Sultan's terror -Possible story idea: reversed gender roles (dead husbands) The Story of the Merchant and the Genius -A merchant sets out on a business journey -Stops to rest under a tree -A genius comes up to attack hi...

The Witch of Endor -King Saul of Israel prepares for a battle against the Philistines -Worried about the outcome, her decides to consult a witch -The trouble is, he has outlawed witchcraft -Disguises himself and goes to one "familiar with the spirits" -The witch sees an image of Samuel -Samuel is salty that he was raised from the dead to talk to Saul, but asks him what is wrong -Saul tells him the lord has forsaken him, and Samuel is like yep that's true, you're gonna die tomorrow Bathsheba -King David of Israel goes to the roof and peeps a naked lady in the distance washing herself -The woman is Bathsheba -And David, all hot and bothered, is like, "netflix and chill?" -Bathsheba conceives a child -David invites Bathsheba's wife, Uriah, to him -David writes a death sentence for Uriah (to be put in front of the "hottest battle") and Uriah carries it to Joab (an important guy in managing affairs) without knowing -Uriah dies, and...

Sarah -Abraham and Sarah are advanced in age -Three men pay them a visit -Abraham and Sarah prepare a meal for them -One of them remarks that Sarah will give birth to a son -Sarah laughs, because she is old and can no longer conceive -Sarah gives birth to a son, Isaac -Abraham is 100 years old at this point Hagar  -Hagar is an Egyptian handmaid to Sarah -Abraham and Sarah have no children -Sarah gives Hagar to Abraham so that he may conceive a child with her -Hagar flees to the forest after conceiving -God has a nice chat with her, reassuring her and promising her many children -Hagar gives birth to Ishmael -Hagar and Ishmael are sent away because of Sarah's loathing -God promises Ishmael a nation of his own Rebekah -A servant takes ten camels to a nearby city to find a wife for Isaac -Posts up by the well during the time women come to draw water -Awaits the woman who pauses to allow him and his camels to drink, for she will be the one who shows kindness un...