Classics Corner: The Enchanted World Series by Brendan Lahane, Tristam Potter Coffman, and The Editors of Time-Life Books Pt. 1: Wizards and Witches, The Book of Christmas, The Fall of Camelot, Dragons, and The Lore of Love; One of the Most Definitive Beautiful Collections of Myth, Legends, and Fairy Tales
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Before I begin, I want to use the age old tradition of the Power of Three, by giving two thanks and a warning:
Thank you to Kathleen Krieger and Brandy Von Zellen for giving me the final books to add to my collection: The Lore of Love and The Secret Arts from Kathleen and Tales of Terror from Brandy. It had been a long cherished dream to get the entire collection and thanks to both of you I have.
Thank you to those who read my original posts on my Facebook page and the FB Groups Library Think Tank #ALATT and The Pagan Bookshelf for changing the focus of this review. I was originally going to list this review as a Forgotten Favorites, but when I mentioned this series there was a huge outpouring of Readers who remembered, had, and still have the volumes and loved them. Between the two groups alone, I had over 200 likes and several responses. So I realized that this series is anything but Forgotten so it is now a Classics Corner.
This is going to be a four part series in which I will summarize all 21 books, give a review and summary of each volume and reveal the plots and analysis of my favorite stories and characters in the volumes. I have all of it written down and read all the books, so I will try to post a review of five except the final part will be six books, each month. So there's a lot of reading but hopefully not at once.
Ready good? On we go!
If you grew up in the '70's-'00's chances are you remember Time-Life Books. These were series of books that were sent by mail order in which a person can receive a new volume of a certain series every month. You may remember the commercials which were repeated ad nauseam ("Call now and you can receive the first book for free….Cancel anytime you like…"). The books covered various topics including photography, gardening, cooking, history, true crime, home improvement, careers, technology, transportation, and geography.
Among the most fascinating and best remembered titles in these extensive book series is that of The Enchanted World.
The Enchanted World is a series that was published in 1985-1987 with Brendan Lahane and Tristram Potter Coffman as Chief Series Consultants. The focus was on myths, legends, folklore, and fairy tales. The books were arranged by subjects such as Wizards and Witches, Tales of Terror, Gods and Goddesses, Legends of Valor, Lore of Love among others. Other Time-Life Book series that covered similar topics but took different approaches were Mysteries of the Unknown, which took a more scientific focus on unexplained phenomena and supernatural themes and Myth and Mankind, which explored myths and legends in a cultural context including Celtic, Native American, Egyptian, African, and Chinese Myths to name a few.
The Enchanted World books contain some of the most wonderful stories of myth and legend. Adventures, quests, romance, fairies, dragons, heroes, gods, goddesses, tests, magic spells, curses, scares, ghosts, demons, and everything in between is in this series. Chances are if you are interested in the original fantasies, they're there.
The writing is for a teen to adult audience (with a slight nudge for mature Tweens 9-12.) The series is long out of print but is available in public libraries and most volumes can easily be found for affordable prices on Amazon, Goodreads, and other used book sites.
The Enchanted World is not only remembered for the engaging stories but also the beautiful illustrations. Some are well known prints of works that are hung in museums and galleries. Others were done by Time-Life Books' team of artists and illustrators. The results are a series in which each volume is a beautiful work of art and literature.
The ad campaigns were notable at the time. One commercial featured Vincent Price speaking of the volumes in his familiar sinister demeanor. Then at the end of the commercial, his face glowed green thanks to the magic of special effects. Another featured Susan Hammett, who described herself as a descendant from a long line of witches, looking directly at the camera and saying "How can you be sure witches don't exist if you don't know what one looks like?"
It's interesting that these books and the ad campaign spoke directly to our collective fascination with the magic and mystery of other worlds and characters and were released in the 80's during the time of the Satanic Panic.
At a time when supposedly rational adults and fundamentalist Christians warned about Satan's power over the entertainment industry. A time when daycare workers were arrested and charged for satanic ritual abuse because of nothing more than rumor. A time when Geraldo got rich hosting Satan in Suburbia documentaries. When Pagans were forced back into the Broom Closet for fear of losing their jobs, custody of their children, or lives. When fear of Satanism became ever present and lucrative to some.
While the release of the Enchanted World at the same time as the Satanic Panic could be a coincidence, it could also be a way of acknowledging and accepting these fantastic aspects of a shared culture. The Editors could have been saying, "Now hold off. These legends and myths are not to be feared. These are archetypes and are a part of us. People like to be scared and to imagine. Let's celebrate it."
Now since these books were published in the '80's, the focus is very Eurocentric. The majority of the stories are set in Europe including Greece, France, Germany, Russia, and The British Isles.
This is rather unfortunate because the series leaves huge gaps in what could be a more international reading experience.
They don't all focus on European stories but the focus is centralized. There are some Asian stories set in China, Japan, and India for example. The Middle East has a few stories set in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and other places of course mostly known by earlier names like Palestine, Persia, Babylon, Mesopotamia and so on.
However, there are only a handful of indigenous stories set in North, Central, and South America. With the exception of Egypt and a few scattered stories set in Northern Africa, most of the African continent is left out. Australia gets a mention in only one book.
Because of these omissions, major parts of this shared collective are missing. The Tricksters, Coyote, Raven, and Anansi played huge hands in the creations of their worlds and should have definitely gotten shout outs in The Book of Beginnings and other volumes. The Book of Christmas has a chapter celebrating a return of the light and fails to mention Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
The Legends of Valor could introduce the Readers to legendary heroes from all over the world noted for their courage and bravery, not just ones from Ireland, Greece, and England. What about the wealth of lore from the Americas like Native American myths, Tall Tales, Ghost stories, urban legends, and folklore that may have begun in other countries and cultures but are continued with very distinct American touches?
Religion is featured, particularly the Abrahamaic faiths as well as the early Pagan and polytheistic cultures. The Book of Christmas is the most notable in that sense. However, religious figures are referred to in a cultural, literary, and thematic context, not necessarily pushing one faith over any other.
There is a fairly even portrayal of men and women in different roles and archetypes. In these reviews, I will make notice of the many stories in which the female characters in particular stand out.
In many stories, they are the strongest and most memorable characters.
There is some implied sexuality and the books are very upfront about the more salacious details in the stories. The more adult aspects to these stories are not glossed over and are told very frankly. (Same with violence. These stories can get very dark and disturbing
Despite being fairy tales, they are not recommended for very young children.)
There are some LGBT pairings and one of those pairings will be prominently referred to in that review.
The series does a good job of gathering and putting together the stories in this tremendous series. However, so much more could be explored, especially within different cultures (which is probably why Myth and Mankind takes a wider look at different cultures by filling in the gaps that Enchanted World left out). It depends on where your interests lie.
That is something that should be taken into consideration when reading The Enchanted World: what the series includes, what representation is featured, how they are written, and what unfortunately is left out.
However, with the arrangement by topic, the brilliant way the stories are gathered, written, and shared, and the gorgeous illustrations makes The Enchanted World not the only definitive collection, but certainly among the most definitive collections of Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales.
There are 21 books total. I am going to summarize the contents and review each one and also include my favorite stories with illustrations from the stories, in each volume.
Are you ready to dive into the Enchanting, the Magical, and the Mysterious? Then let's go with the first five books, Wizards and Witches, The Book of Christmas, The Fall of Camelot, Dragons, and The Lore of Love:
Wizards and Witches
Of the series, this is probably the most popular and well known volume because it was the first that subscribers received when they made the order, so the main one shouted out in the ads. To be honest, it's a great way to start the series. It builds the framework that the rest of the series lays on by dividing the stories into chapters that portray different sides and perspectives of the same topic.
Wizards and Witches tells of the eponymous figures in three distinct chapters and stages. The first Singers at the World's Dawn covers wizards and sorceresses from Ancient Myths. The chapter refers to characters like: Vainamoinen the Steadfast from Finland had the power to sing nature and weather into creation and to give an arrogant young upstart his comeuppance. Leminkanen and Ilmarien sorcerers, also from Finland (and allies of Vainamoinen),used their magic to wed the daughters of Louhi, a powerful sorceress in her own right. Circe from Greece could transform sailors into pigs and a romantic rival into a sea monster. Math the Ancient, a Welsh sorcerer who with his adopted son, Gwydion created a bride made out of flowers for Gwydion's adopted son, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Ceridwen, a Welsh goddess whose shape shifting battle resulted in the birth of Taliesin, a bard noted for his song, memory, and wisdom. Of course, there is also Merlin, advisor to King Arthur. This volume covers his early years serving Vortigen, transforming Uther into Igraine's husband to seduce her and conceive Arthur, and his end by his lover Niniane or Nimue locking him inside a cave.
This chapter also includes many of the powers associated with such beings. Mostly because of their god-like powers, all they needed were a thought or a word. Some had connections to nature like the holly or the ash tree, but mostly all they had to do was say a name or utter a word and anything could happen.
The second chapter, Masters of the Forbidden Arts, moves forward to the Middle Ages when the Abrahamaic faiths, particularly Christianity, were the dominant belief system in the Western World. These beliefs brought a perception of order and a systematic hierarchy. Anything that was deemed as out of that structure was held under suspicion and feared. That included the pursuit and study of magic and sorcery.
This chapter showed a transition of wizards and sorceresses who possessed natural abilities, shaped the world around them, and even advised kings and heroes were now hidden in the shadows.
Many priests and scholars practiced magic in secret caverns and rooms. What once came naturally, were instead studied in books and through astrology and divination tools like through Tarot cards.
Many of the characters in this chapter include: Roger Bacon, a philosopher and theologian, who performed a display for King Edward I. Michael Scott had the command of innumerable demonic servants and possession of a powerful tome called, The Book of Might. Michel de Nostradamus's prophetic quatrains are still being read and analyzed to this day. Of course this chapter includes the tale of Johann Faustus, the infamous sorcerer, who sold his soul to the Devil for power. Then he used his power to commit petty revenge and satisfy his lustful debauched urges. We also learn of a Black School in which sorcerers learn their Art and a requirement in which the final student must give his soul to Satan.
The third chapter, The Shadowy Sisterhood, takes a female perspective as compared to the previous chapter which featured a largely male cast of characters. Instead of scholars and priests studying in private quarters, these witches lived in the rural areas among the outer fringes of society. (Fun fact: the term pagan used to mean country dweller.). In keeping with that, the majority of the characters in these stories aren't always named. Like in fairy tales, many characters are just identified by occupation or role in life.
One tale includes a farmer who catches a witch transforming from a hare and cuts off her foot, revealing a human woman with a wounded arm. Another story reveals a young girl who used a water dish to control a ship's movements. When her father asked where she learned such things, she said that her mother taught her.
Some stories show white witches who used their magic to help others like one who used her faith to exorcise a demon and another one who showed up an obnoxious priest by commanding a bag to move on its own accord. There are also fairy tale witches like Mother Gothel from Rapunzel and Baba Yaga.
We also get some insight into those who hunted and caught witches like The Hunter of the Hills, a Scottish hunter who attacked a witch called the Good Wife of Laggan until Death literally caught her at a nearby cemetery. Unfortunately, the Hunter was never safe from the Good Wife's coven sisters.
Just as interesting are the sections in this chapter that focus on the various tools and objects that witches used like broomsticks (as well as the ointment that they smeared over their bodies to provide them with energy to either fly or simulate flying), animal familiars including cats, hares, toads, crows, and spiders, plants and herbs like mandrake, monkshood, nightshade, hemlock, and charms like clay images, gemstones, witch's ladders, and an Abracadabra medallion.
Because of this being the first and one of the best volumes in the series, it is also my most frequently read. Also, each chapter is so distinct with how wizards and witches are portrayed, I chose three separate stories, one from each chapter that I feel reveal the distinct character of these magic users.
Favorite Stories
Ceridwen Vs. Taliesin
Illustrations Taliesin by Mel Odom, Ceridwen by James C. Christiansen
Many of the wizards had unique births and education. None more so than Taliesin, a bard whose power lay in his gift of words. Taliesin's story is told in The Mabinogion, a series of Welsh legends. He often prefaced his spells with transformation songs that could create things into existence like raindrops, shooting stars, and bubbles. His words have been known to blind, maim, or pulverize enemies.
He was also an adept storyteller. One of his songs was an eyewitness account of a noted battle called Cad Goddeu, the Battle of Trees. Someone with such power and wisdom would have a unique origin story and it begins with an equally powerful sorceress or goddess, Ceridwen.
Ceridwen had a daughter who was known for her beauty and a son named Morfan who was also called Afagddu, "Utter Darkness." Many derided Afagddu for his appearance so Ceridwen decided to compensate by giving him wisdom. In her possession, she had a cauldron which could give inspiration and wisdom to poets and prophecy. Ceridwen picked certain herbs and boiled them in the cauldron for a year and a day. She had two servants to help her prepare the cauldron: a blind man and his young associate, Gwion Bach.
After a year and a day passed, Ceridwen rested from the hard work. When the potion reached its final stages, Gwion Bach pushed Morfan out of the way so three drops fell on him instead of Ceridwen's son. The cauldron cracked, its mission finished.
Gwion Bach, possessing great knowledge, now knew that he would be in big trouble, so he transformed into a hare and fled Ceridwen's castle. Unfortunately, he was followed by a greyhound, actually Ceridwen who woke up and was not happy. Gwion reached the island's shore and transformed into a fish with Ceridwen following close by as an otter. He then took to the skies as a swift. Unfortunately, Ceridwen transformed into a hawk. Finally, Gwion landed in a wheat field and changed into a grain of wheat hoping to hide in plain sight. However, Ceridwen transformed into a black hen and swallowed the grain whole.
When Ceridwen reverted back to her human form, she discovered that she was pregnant. Nine months later on the eve of Samhain, she gave birth to a handsome baby boy. She wanted to do away with him but was swayed by his attractiveness and potential for wisdom, so she ordered him to be placed in a coracle and cast into the waters.
The coracle was found by Elphin, a lord's son. When he pulled the infant out of the coracle he marveled at his beauty and shining forehead. He said "Behold the radiant brow," which translated to Tal Iesin. The infant answered in adult speech, "Taliesin he is!" From then on, Taliesin became known for his gift of words and wisdom.
Roger Bacon
Illustration by James C. Christiansen
Roger Bacon was a known Franciscan friar, philosopher, alchemist, theologian, and scholar. (Some believe that he may have written the Voynich Manuscript.)However, he possessed some very unique abilities as anyone who visited his private rooms could testify. His books spoke of spells, magical theories, and secret languages. Among them was the Key of Solomon which contained the biblical King's magical formulae. He also had various tools such as an astrolabe which told him the position of stars and planets, a hazelwood wand, a beryl stone to see great distances, and skulls and skeletons to study human and animal anatomy. The results were bookish chaos but Bacon knew the contents of every book from page number, paragraph, line, and word.
Into this study, arrived a cocky messenger who said that King Edward heard of the Friar's otherworldly abilities and wanted to see a demonstration. After Bacon agreed, the messenger mocked him saying that all scholars were fools and liars. Bacon only grinned and swore that even though he would start after the messenger left, that he would arrive two hours ahead and reveal the name of the woman that the messenger slept with the night before.
When he arrived, Bacon honored his royal and noble audience with a display meant to appeal to the five senses. He struck his magic hazelwood wand and the room came to life with otherworldly music coming not from any instruments or singing, but was an echo of the music of the spheres. He also showed a troupe of dancers who represented sins like lust, vanity, avarice, and gluttony. Then their sins were removed and the dancers transformed into enlightened graceful angelic beings. Bacon gave the air the fragrant scent of various flowers, presented a display of luscious fruit for the company to taste, and summoned a group of servants to present fabrics of the finest silk, satin, linen, and wool for the audience to touch. After the performance ended, the haughty messenger arrived muddy and furious because his horse threw a shoe and got him lost. Bacon then revealed a kitchen maid that the messenger slept with the night before. Amidst the audience's laughter and applause, Bacon then admonished the messenger about never calling scholars liars.
Unfortunately, there was a dark side to Bacon's interest, one that cost a few lives. His assistant Friar Bungay challenged a rival to a duel of summoning demons. The duel ended with both men dead on the ground, beaten and bloody from the attempt. Another time two young men wanted Bacon to look in on their fathers. Using his beryl stone to see far distances, Bacon saw the two older men engage in a fight where one killed the other. The two sons then erupted into an argument where one accused one of the fathers of murder and the other defended his parent. The two dueled but both lost their lives.
Grief stricken and feeling guilty over how his pursuits led to multiple lost lives, Bacon burned all of his magical equipment including his books. One of his colleagues mourned the knowledge that was lost in the fire. On his deathbed, Bacon renounced his studies of magic and refused to speak of them.
Haunter of the Birch Forest/Beautiful Vasilisa and Baba Yaga
Artwork by Ivan Biliban
There are many fascinating witch characters in fairy tales, the ones in Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Rapunzel and others. But mostly they are solely antagonists. They often serve as villains or stumbling blocks for the hero to receive help, usually from a love interest or a magical friendly helper. It's rare that the witch antagonist and the magical helper are one and the same. That's where Baba Yaga comes in.
Baba Yaga is a witch from Russian folklore who left quite an impression. She lived in a birch forest in a house that balanced on a giant chicken leg and was surrounded by a fence of human bones. Instead of a broomstick, she rode a mortar and pestle and swept her tracks away with a broom. Surrounding her home were three riders, one in white armor riding a white horse to bring her morning, one in red armor riding a red horse to bring her afternoon, and a third in black armor riding a black horse to deliver her night. Baba Yaga lived a solitary life and was known to eat human beings. However, she was also known to be a reluctant helper to travelers in trouble and could provide assistance and advice for the right price for those on a quest. One such person is Beautiful Vasilisa.
Vasilisa's mother died when she was a little girl and left her a doll for the girl to remember her by. Her father remarried and was away from home often, leaving Vasilisa in the care of her abusive stepmother and stepsisters. Despite her sadness, Vasilisa's doll inhabited the spirit of her late mother and often comforted her and sang her to sleep. One day while Vasilisa and her stepsisters were taking on sewing tasks, one of the stepsisters snuffed out a candle. After that the entire house went dark. The stepsisters ordered that since no light reflected from Vasilisa's spindle that she should go and get light from the home of Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa walked for a full day passing by each rider. When she reached Baba Yaga, the witch ordered her to clean and tidy her hut, cook her meals, and for three days assigned her three tasks: to wash the linen as white as snow, separate the wheat from chaff, and separate the dust from poppy seeds. While Baba Yaga was gone, Vasilisa's doll summoned forest creatures to help with the impossible tasks. At the end of the three days, Baba Yaga was pleased enough to allow Vasilisa to ask a question.
Vasilisa asked about the riders. Baba Yaga was glad that the young woman did not ask about anything inside the hut because she didn't like people prying into her affairs. She explained that the riders represented the passage of daylight. Then she asked how Vasilisa performed her chores. Vasilisa replied with her mother's blessing. Disliking blessings, the witch gave the girl a skull with lit eye sockets and told her to give the skull to her stepmother and stepsisters.
When Vasilisa returned home, the skull's gaze burned the stepmother and stepsisters to a cinder. The next morning, Vasilisa buried the skull, gathered her clothing and doll, and left the house that had so many bad memories.
Eventually, she was taken in by a kindly old woman with whom she learned to sew and weave fine linen. The woman was so impressed that she showed the linen to the young Tsar. The Tsar was fascinated by the intricate work and by the beautiful young woman who made the linen. So he and Vasilisa were wed and Vasilisa kept her doll for the rest of her life.
The Book of Christmas
Of the books, this one has the strongest connections to Christianity. The Nativity Story has not one but two chapters devoted to it.
The first chapter The Eternal Moment covers the story of Christ's birth from the angels' visitations to Mary and Joseph, to the family's arrival in Bethlehem, to the birth of Jesus,to the angel visiting the shepherds. The final chapter The Light Triumphant covers the Wise Men seeing the Star and delivery of Jesus' gift. Even though the series does different brilliant things with frequently told stories by making the Reader look at them in another light, they add nothing new to the Nativity Story. It's the familiar story that many know, especially those who have grown up in Christian households and know this story by heart. The only interesting addition to the story is that of Madelon, a little girl who wanted to give a gift for the infant but was too poor. So she gave, not a drum solo (though perhaps her story inspired that of The Little Drummer Boy) but a rose.
Much more interesting are the second and third chapters in the book. The second deals with the darkness of winter and how it is sometimes personified as disturbing destructive forces in various cultures. There is the hodening, which is still celebrated in some places like Wales and Cornwall, in which a person dresses up in the skull and skin of a horse and knocks on various doors to spread good luck. The Wren Boys in Southern England used to hunt wrens and sing carols to bring luck for the year. Kari, a frost giant, blew snow and ice into the Scandinavian skies. Cailleac Bheur, of the British Isles, trapped Brigit, the spirit of spring in her cave until it was her time to be released.
A chilling story from the British Isles said that on Christmas Eve the dead would travel on the chilling winds led by Berchta who inspected farmhouses for cleanliness or selfishness. Sometimes she cursed those who dwelled inside with pestilence but she also blessed those who were good with gold and gifts.
This connection between the supernatural and Christmas never really died as it is still echoed in Hamlet and The Christmas Carol, two popular works of literature featuring ghosts and set during the Yule season. Also other stories like The Nutcracker add a strong sense of dark fantasy and magic to the holiday season.
The third chapter Summoning the Sun involves the opposite. If the previous chapter showed the darker spirits of winter, this one shows the efforts to welcome the sun and light. Much of the chapter talks about the Medieval tradition of dubbing a peasant the Lord of Misrule and where the participants have fun and play opposite roles. Royals and nobles served their servants. Men and women swapped clothing. They often had loud raucous fun. This celebration dates back to pre-Christian Saturnalia and Yule which involved people having bacchanalian celebrations to honor the return of the Light.
This chapter also covers various parts of Christmas celebration including carols, trees, light, and Yule logs. It also reveals the different gift giving figures around the world and how they are perceived by the people in their countries.
It's a good book in the collection but is very myopic in its look at Christmas. While the title is The Book of Christmas, other celebrations could at least get a mention like Hanukkah. It's a pleasant book but it is not my favorite.
Favorite Stories
The Midnight Battle/The Nutcracker
Illustrations by Roberto Innocenti
Of the stories told during the Holiday season, one of the most beloved is that of The Nutcracker. Many know of E.T.A. Hoffman's enchanting story because of the Peter Tschaikovsky ballet which is performed by various companies in December. They may know the compositions like "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Dance of the Reed Flutes", or "Waltz of the Flowers." Disney fans may also fondly remember the segment from Fantasia which featured fairies, mushrooms, flowers, fish, thistles, leaves, and snowflakes dancing through the passages of the seasons as the music plays (though no Nutcracker. As host Deems Taylor explains "Nothing exists of him except the title"). It's a beautiful story that captures the magic and whimsy of the Holiday season with just the right amount of darkness to remind us that the Holidays aren't just gooey sweetness.
On Christmas Eve, a clockmaker called Herr Drosselmeyer attended a party at the home of his godchildren, Fritz and Marie. Drosselmeyer showed the children a miniature castle in which figures were made to move by themselves. The children were amazed and asked if a child could live in that small world or can the toys come to this one. Drosselmeyer only said patterns were set and could not be altered. The clockmaker gave Fritz a set of toy soldiers and Marie, a nutcracker. Even though she considered herself too old for toys, Marie caressed and danced with the nutcracker and fed it nuts. She grew to love the little figure but Fritz became very demanding. The boy naughtily took the nutcracker from Marie's hands and broke it. Upset Marie was led to her bedroom in tears.
Later that night, Marie reentered the parlor where a creepy figure of Drosselmeyer hovered over the clock leering at her. She heard clicking, and squeaking and saw little lights all over the room. Marie was terrified as the room was filled with rats. At their head was a seven headed Mouse King (I apologize to anyone with musophobia). As Marie shrank, the Mouse King and his servants hissed and tried to attack the young girl who was now small enough for them to eat.
Suddenly, a shout rang out and at Marie's side was the Nutcracker, now human and in the appearance of a tall handsome young man. The Nutcracker called the toy soldiers who had also come to life to battle the sinister Mouse King. Chaos ensued as the armies shed blood. It seemed that the Nutcracker was defeated. The Mouse King raised its seven heads and lunged at Marie who screamed while the figure of Drosselmeyer laughed a sinister laugh.
The next morning, Marie awoke in a parlor that was now a mess with tables and chairs overturned, porcelain broken, and toys scattered about the floor. When Marie tried to tell her parents the events of the previous night, they didn't believe her.
At first neither did Drosselmeyer. He taunted Marie by saying that her presumed hero was nothing more than a stick of wood. Marie kept insisting that he was real and that she loved him.
When they were alone, Drosselmeyer told her the truth: The Nutcracker was a Faerie Prince who was cursed to remain a motionless nutcracker until he could slay the Mouse King and that a woman would love him no matter the form. Marie said that she loved him and that she wanted to join him in his world. Drosselmeyer gave her three chances to refuse but Marie said no she would rather be with the Nutcracker.
That day, Marie disappeared. No one knew where she had gone. Some believe that she ran away. Others believed that she ran off with a boyfriend. Others who heard her rambling from Christmas Day thought that she found her Faerie Prince and became his bride.
Drosselmeyer returned to his business making clocks, toys, and other things. However inside his shop was the enchanted castle. In that castle was a handsome young man who resembled a nutcracker that he once made. By the man's side was a doll of a beautiful young woman who resembled Marie.
Different Gift Givers
Illustrations by La Befana by Yvonne Ellison, St. Nicholas Illustration by Michael Hague, Snegurochka Artwork by Victor Vasnetsov,
I am fascinated by the various forms that gift givers like Santa Claus take in different countries. They are as diverse as the people who celebrate them showing how they view the Christmas season and how they honor the giving spirit. They also show many representations of how the people view concepts of time, different ages, and faiths as well as values like order, kindness, devotion, and love. These figures say a lot about the people who celebrate them.
Some of the more interesting figures include La Befana from Italy. She is a good witch who rides a broomstick at night. The legend states that she was an elderly woman who cleaned her house as the Wise Men arrived. She was too busy to give them directions so she visited each house on Epiphany to give trinkets to good children and coal to naughty ones.
There are other characters affiliated with the Nativity Story who deliver gifts on Christmas like the Christkindl in Germany or the Wise Men in Spain. Some are saints like Saint Lucia from Sweden who takes the form of a young girl who wears a wreath of lit candles on her head and delivers food in bed to the parents.
One of the most famous saints associated with Christmas is Saint Nicholas who still goes under that name in the Netherlands, but is also known as Pere Noel in France, Father Christmas in Britain and Australia and Santa Claus in the United States.
St. Nicholas was a bishop in Asia Minor who was the patron saint of children, sailors, prostitutes,and thieves. There are various stories of St. Nicholas giving money, providing aid to free people from the gallows, restoring those who had been murdered to life. One story said that he calmed storms so sailors could take to the seas. Another popular story stated that he gave three bags of dowry gold to save three maidens from being sold into prostitution.
He presents gifts to good children and travels with another character once called Knecht Ruprecht, Belsnickel, or Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), but now known as Krampus who delivers coal and switches and punishes bad children.
Sometimes the gift givers are elves and fairies hearkening back to more pagan traditions. House elves Julnissen, from Norway and Denmark, hide in the house and leave presents in hidden locations for children to find. (Perhaps they were the inspiration for Elf on a Shelf.) Another faerie character is Snegurochka, Snow Maiden from Russia and Ukraine.
Her story is that of a woodcutter and his wife who longed for a child. They built a maiden made of snow called Snegurochka. When they called her Daughter, she came to life and accepted the couple as her parents.
Snegurochka behaved as a loving and obedient daughter and enjoyed her time living with the family. She stayed with them during winter. When spring appeared, she fell in love with a young man and accepted mortality to be with him.
As the sun of early spring shone in the sky, she and her lover walked in a birch forest. The young man played his flute. Happily, Snegurochka turned her face to the sunlight and disappeared, leaving an icy must that drifted upward into the blue sky.
Snegurochka is celebrated every New Year's Day and travels with her grandfather, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) to give presents to good children.
The Fall of Camelot
I am of two minds with this volume. I don't think it's necessarily fair for one legend to take over an entire book (especially when the other volumes also cover multiple Arthurian stories). On the other hand, I am a huge fan of the Arthurian Legends and like how in depth this book is and how the chapters are arranged.
Each chapter is named for a specific character in the Camelot legend as though giving each character equal time to share the various stages of the Legends.
The first chapter, Arthur, covers Arthur's conception and birth as well as his friendship with and education by Merlin. Then the early years of his kingship. The second chapter, Morgause covers her seduction of the young king, the birth of Mordred, and how Merlin and Arthur dealt with this potential threat.
The third chapter's focus is on Guinevere, Arthur's wife. It covers Arthur and Guinevere's wedding and Merlin's departure by Niniane.
Chapter Four Morgan covers the various schemes that Morgan Le Fay did to fight the High King.
Chapter Five Lancelot deals with Lancelot and Guinevere's meeting and affair and how that played into Camelot's fall.
The final chapters, Six Mordred, and Seven Gawain, focus on the end of Camelot and Arthur's reign including Morded's arrival. They also cover Guinevere's trial and Arthur's war against Lancelot and the final days when Arthur and Mordred battled each other and Camelot's inevitable end.
Favorite Characters, Illustrations by Barry Moser-Because this book covers one topic, I chose characters rather than stories.
Merlin
I mentioned before how I love magical characters and Merlin is one of the most well known. He was the inspiration for Gandalf, Dumbledore, and many other wizards that followed. He is the Archetypal Mentor. He is the one who helps the hero start his journey, advises him along the way, and is filled with deep wisdom.
Merlin's birth is shrouded in mystery. His mother was human, but his father was unknown. Some accounts said that he was of the Faerie Folk. Others said that he was an incubus, a male demon. What is known is because of this unique birth, Merlin had acquired magical abilities and a gift of prophecy.
The previous volume, Wizards and Witches, revealed that Merlin first attracted the attention of King Vortigern, when he was a boy. Vortigern had a fortress that kept getting knocked down. He was told to find a boy who had no mortal father. When he found Merlin, the young wizard foresaw two dragons with a red one attacking and defeating a white one. The red dragon symbolized Vortigern's rival and eventual conqueror, Uther Pendragon. After Uther defeated Vortigern, Merlin became Uther's advisor.
Uther fell in love with the Duchess of Cornwall, Igraine wife of Gorlois. Gorlois had his wife sequestered in the impregnable fortress of Tintagel. Uther was maddened by his obsession with the Duchess so Merlin agreed to help him under one condition: that he would take any child born of that union. Merlin transformed Uther into Gorlois and himself into Gorlois' aide.
Under the guise of the Duke of Cornwall, Uther slept with his wife. Gorlois was killed in battle and Uther married his widow. Even though the child that they conceived was considered his by their quick and legal marriage, Merlin still took him. He was named Arthur and cared for by Sir Ector, a friend of Merlin's, with Merlin educating him and watching Uther's kingship from the sidelines.
Because there were questions about Arthur's conception and Uther's subsequent death, many fought for the throne. Merlin kept Arthur hidden until he was ready and laid the sword, Excalibur, inside a stone until the rightful king pulled it out. While attending a tournament with his adopted brother, Kay, Arthur searched for a sword to replace the one he lost.
Seeing what he thought was a war monument, he easily pulled the sword out revealing that he was king. Kay at first lied saying that he pulled the sword from the stone. After questioning, Kay fessed up saying Arthur did it. Then he and Ector kneeled before the young boy to tell him the truth.
Merlin proved to be an adept friend and counselor. Even the sword itself was infused with magic. No enemy could withstand it and a touch of the scabbard could heal the most grievous wound. Despite this powerful sword, Merlin provided magical aid himself. During King Lot's rebellion, Merlin cloaked Arthur's allies with invisibility. The ghost army had the advantage and defeated Lot's army.
Merlin advised Arthur to not ruthlessly kill Lot and his men. Arthur showed mercy. Lot was married to Morgause, Arthur's half-sister. Arthur foolishly slept with Morgause, not knowing she was his sister. Merlin once again proved his wisdom as someone who wasn't afraid to tell Arthur what he didn't want to hear. When the High King was baffled by dreams of serpents, Merlin interpreted the dream by telling him of a woman who gave birth to a monster that would destroy his father. He then told him that the woman in the story was Morgause and that her child would one day kill his father, Arthur.
However, Merlin was not perfect and sometimes gave bad advice or allowed Arthur to do bad things of his own accord.
Nine months later, Merlin reported that the child was a boy born on the first of May but could not locate where. Arthur ordered that the boys born on the first of May and were unclaimed were to be gathered for some reason. Later accounts reported that they were taken on a boat and cast to the waters left to drown.
Merlin's only response to Arthur's guilt and remorse was to remind him that the human race was a fragile one and to think of the children that would have subsequently died of illness, starvation, and war. This unconscionable act would continue to haunt Arthur in more ways than one (see Mordred below).
Merlin began to feel his age and that his time would soon end. When Arthur wed Guinevere everyone was all smiles at the wedding except Merlin who said that Arthur's new bride would bring him sorrow. He buried his concern and at Guinevere's request drew on his Faerie powers to create an illusion performance. It consisted of a maiden and a youth on a hunt then making love before they were violently killed and restored to life. The Faerie powers cost Merlin dearly.
Shortly after Arthur and Guinevere were wed, some knights saw white stags and strove to chase them. Merlin recognized that the stags came from Faerie and were a warning of things to come. He uttered one name, "Niniane." That night he left and did not return.
Merlin's travels took him to Brittany to the enchantress, Niniane. He fell in love with the younger woman and with the fatalism of one who knew and could not fight their destiny, he approached her.
He showed her his magic including how to build castles, weapons, how to chant nature into being, and how to see into the future. Niniane learned much then one night, she invited him to see a display of her work. She created a wall and lured him inside. Then when he was inside, she used her new found powers to close the wall around him. There Merlin remained locked away from the mortal world and his friend, Arthur. His time as Mentor was done as it was for all Mentors and it was time for Arthur, the Hero, to face the world on his own.
To read more about Merlin, I highly recommend The Merlin trilogy: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart.
Morgan Le FayMorgan Le Fay is another fascinating magical character and is the type of beguiling female character that interests her Readers. Sometimes she can be outright villainous. Other times she can stand as an intuitive woman aware of her position as a Pagan and independent woman in a world moving towards Christianity and the patriarchy that it represents. Either way, she is an interesting figure in her contradictions. She represents the archetypes of the Seductress and the Trickster. She used her body and her intelligence particularly in magic to move things towards her direction.
Morgan was the youngest daughter of Igraine and Gorlois of Cornwall and half-sister to Arthur. She is quite a contrast with her oldest sister, Morgause who also bore animosity towards Arthur. (A middle sister, Elaine of Garlot, received little mention in the Legends and was out of sight out of mind of the High King and vice versa. Though some more recent versions combine her with the other Elaines, mother of Galahad and Elaine of Astalot, the Lady of Shallot, to give her more of a story. Just as some versions make Morgan and Morgause the same character or have Morgan be Mordred's birth mother and Morgause his adopted mother).
Anyway, Morgause was a more sensual person who lived for earthly power and body pleasures. She married Lot and bore him four sons-Gareth, Gaheris, Agravain, and Gawain. Then she gave birth to Mordred by her brother, Arthur. She was very fertile and lustful. She had multiple lovers during her marriage and after Lot's death, including with knights who were much younger than she. While she studied magic, most of it was used to keep her young and beautiful.
Morgause's lustful nature ended up becoming her undoing. She was caught entertaining her young lover, Sir Lamorack, by her sons Gawain and Gaheris. They felt that she had disgraced their late father's memory and it was also a family insult because Lamorack was the son of Pellinore, a frequent rival of Gawain's. In a fury, Gaheris slew her.
Morgan on the other hand was a quieter, more intelligent figure than her sister therefore more dangerous. She spent her youth in seclusion being taught magic by "the old ones." She studied the stars, healing arts, and could shape shift into the forms of a raven and spider.
Like Morgause, she was also married, to King Urien of Gorre and had a son (stepson in some versions) Yvain who was trained as a squire. Morgan was installed as one of Guinevere's ladies in waiting. While attractive, she kept to herself and did not cultivate friendships with the other ladies nor pay direct attention to the knights.
Her private singing in her chamber and the ravens that came to her call and fed from her hand caused suspicious whispers that she might have been a witch. Her marriage to Urien and kinship with Arthur kept anyone from outright accusing her.
Unlike Morgause who chose lovers to satisfy her lustful passions, Morgan chose lovers that benefited her goals in defeating Arthur. One of her most important lovers was Sir Accolon of Gaul.
One day while King Arthur was out hunting, he suddenly found himself inside a prison of a lord called Damas. To his surprise, Damas' daughter held Arthur's sword and scabbard. She said that she obtained it from a woman called Le Fay.
Arthur was forced to battle a knight without his legendary sword or his scabbard to heal him. The High King was a worthy opponent but was defenseless without Excalibur. The sword he used broke in two pieces at the weight. Finally, a woman of Faerie returned the sword to Arthur saying that it belonged to him.
Arthur fought his enemy and removed the helmet to deliver the death blow. He was Morgan's lover, Accolon of Gaul.
Accolon explained that Morgan created a counterfeit Excalibur and switched it with the real one and that she and Accolon conspired against her husband and were planning on restoring Camelot to the old ones. After his confession, Accolon died.
Arthur absolved Damas of guilt but asked that he deliver Accolon's corpse to his sister.
That night Morgan sneaked into her husband's chambers to kill him. Yvain came in and Morgan wept claiming to be enchanted by a demon but her son rescued her. Yvain believed this claim.
While Arthur was recovering from his wounds, Morgan made her second move. Arthur glanced outside and saw the jeweled scabbard twinkling in the night being carried by someone. He followed the person to a lake. On the shore, Arthur saw stone statues. Morgan, who had taken the scabbard, and her allies had turned to stone. Arthur calmly retrieved the scabbard from her still body. He forgave Urien for his wife's actions but felt Yvain was too devoted to his mother. He banished the boy from Camelot for a year to adventure and get his good name back.
Morgan's stone state was only temporary as a messenger reported that she had enchanted herself and the others and had the power to do that again. She would remain in Gorre and her army would be protected by her magic. But she would be with her brother on his dying day. Arthur accepted the message with a sarcastic "a kind sister"
remark.
During the winter, a female messenger sent greetings from Morgan Le Fay and an overture of peace. To honor that claim, she gifted Arthur a cloak of wool. While Arthur observed this gift, he heard a voice from far away advise him to beware. Arthur turned to the messenger and asked her to try it on herself. At first the messenger waffled, but finally acquiesced. As soon as she put the cloak on her shoulders, her whole body caught on fire. Morgan's third attempt on Arthur's life ended.
Besides being an adversary to Arthur, Morgan was often in a position where she tested him or his knights. In one separate story she cursed a green knight until Sir Gawain broke him from the enchantment. She also enchanted Lancelot by drugging him and trapping him in a cave. She taunted him over his affair, driving him insane until he spent a year under the spell of madness. He eventually returned to Camelot but withdrew from Guinevere for a time. After Lancelot returned from searching for the Holy Grail, their love affair resumed and came to its fatal head.
With the resumption of Lancelot and Guinevere's affair, Morgan played her final gambit. The week before Mordred and Agravain made their formal declaration against the Queen and the knight, Arthur met with Morgan in private. The enchantress begged his forgiveness and led him to a hidden isolated lodge. Inside the lodge were painted scenes of Lancelot and Guinevere walking hand in hand, lying next to a stream, and approaching a bed. With these images and the young knights' accusations, Arthur was able to try and find his wife guilty of treason.
Oddly enough, Morgan's final actions in the Arthurian Legends are not those of an enemy, a seductress, or a trickster. Instead they are those of a Healer. As Arthur lay dying, his kingdom ended and his sword thrown into the Lake, Morgan arrived as she foresaw. She told her brother to rest as the Old Ones awaited him. She and two other women led him to a castle of glass on an island of apples, Avalon. He would rest until he would be needed once more.
For more information on Morgan Le Fay, I highly recommend Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Mordred-
Mordred is the third most interesting character in the Arthurian Legends. Sometimes the antagonistic characters can be fascinating. Mordred is a Trickster figure because he uses his words to create dissension. He is also seen as Arthur's Shadow, the secret sins that Arthur committed when he was younger staring at him in the face. He represents many of the darker aspects of the knights' personalities: greed, selfishness, pride, and so on. He also fits the profile of the Holly King, the shadow twin of Arthur's Oak King: the younger aspect who must rise up and strike the elder.
Of course in more modern times with more character analysis, there are questions towards Mordred's real thoughts and motivations. Why did he hate his father so much? Did he have any guilt or remorse or was simply raised as an instrument of vengeance? If he was destined to kill his father did he have much choice in the matter? Did Arthur and Merlin play a part in his choices later in life by setting their own fate at his birth? These questions are what makes characters like Mordred so fascinating and often leads to many novels and revisions to his character.
The character that we are given certainly did not come into the world in the easiest way. As previously stated, Arthur attracted the attention of Morgause of Orkney. To satisfy her need to be closer to the throne through her husband, Lot, and her insatiable lustful appetite beyond her marriage bed, Arthur and Morgause had an affair.
While Morgause knew they were siblings, she hadn't seen Arthur until he was an adult. As for Arthur, he did not know who she was at all and only saw her as the wife of his one time enemy on the battlefield, Lot of Orkney. Merlin revealed the truth of their relationship. Nine months later, he could only reveal that the child was a boy born on May 1 but could not see where he was born or who he was with.
Arthur made a fatal decision that would cost him dearly. He ordered all boys born on May 1 unaccounted for to be placed on a boat and carried out to sea. This King Herod-like move ended up coming to naught because as the boat was capsized, Mordred's coracle washed ashore where he was found by a fisherman and his wife. So Arthur's rash and hurtful decision ended up being all for nothing and was a black mark on his kingship for a long time to come.
Lot learned of Mordred's existence and retrieved the boy from his adopted parents. Even though he recognized him as Morgause's son, he did the math in his head and realized that Mordred could not be his biological son. However, he claimed that he was his to save face. Mordred was raised in Orkney and was treated as the brother to Gareth, Gaheris Agravain and Gawain.
In time all of Mordred's brothers entered King Arthur's court becoming knights and having many adventures. Gawain particularly had many famous tales connected to him such as Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell (also known as The Wife of Bath's Tale). Mordred, being the youngest, joined the Round Table during the end. It was not the glorious kingdom of the younger days.
The adventures were coming to a close. The quest for the Holy Grail completed with many lives lost or exiled never to return.
Arthur and his knights were aging, their glory days fading. Former resentments that were once hidden in the name of comradeship were now returning. Lancelot and Guinevere remained lovers, reunited after a long separation.
Mordred arrived in Camelot with his mother. His older brothers had rule over the widowed Morgause and had her installed in a pretty hunting lodge that was to her liking. Within a week, she summoned Sir Lamorack to her bed. In a fury, Gaheris followed and slit his mother's throat.
When Sir Lamorack challenged Gaheris, Gaheris reminded him that his father, Sir Pellinore slew theirs but refrained from killing him as he was unarmed. Sir Gaheris was exiled for a time and Sir Lamorack fled to Wales.
Within a month the brothers except Gareth found Lamorack. They circled him and killed his horse. He fought them for three hours until Mordred sneaked behind him and stabbed him in the back.
Mordred was considered a courageous but inexperienced warrior. He had been a knight no longer than two years when he accompanied Lancelot to a forest in Wales. Mordred amazed the older knight with his vigor and canny fighting.
The two came upon an old man. The man called them the two most unfortunate knights in the world. He said that Mordred would kill his father. Mordred, believing that Lot was his father, said his father was dead.
The old man said that the High King was his father and that Arthur dreamt that a serpent would destroy his kingdom. Mordred was the serpent. Angry at the truth, Mordred slew the old man.
Lancelot lectured him about murdering an unarmed elder. He would have killed the younger knight then and there, but loyalty to Gawain stayed his hand.
Mordred did not go adventuring after that. Instead, he was shaken by the truth and remained within corners, sulking, and observing everything around him. Since Lancelot also heard the old man's words, Mordred looked for a means to destroy the older knight. He observed Lancelot and Guinevere from afar and began talking to anyone who would listen to him: cadets, his brothers, servants, anyone. He sowed dissent with his brothers. He said that the queen and knight cuckolded the king and that their betrayal was treason, endangering the kingdom. Gawain and Gareth ignored him but Gaheris and Agravain heard.
The rumors worked as knights argued taking sides in the argument, some defending Lancelot and others siding with Mordred and the brothers.
Guinevere greeted her accusers gracefully offering them apples. Gawain, who loved apples, was particularly pleased. One knight, Patrise of Ireland, ate one and fell over dead. Patrise's cousin, Mador accused her of murder. He offered to challenge anyone who would defend the queen. Guinevere practically had to beg Bors, Lancelot's cousin, to defend her. He was reluctant but he agreed.
On the appointed day another knight rode up offering to relieve Bors. Gawain recognized the newcomer as Lancelot by his riding style. He defeated Mador who retracted his accusation. The real poisoner turned out to be Sir Pyonel le Savage, cousin to Lamorack. He sought to poison Gawain as vengeance for his cousin's death.
Despite Guinevere being found innocent of murder, Agravain and Mordred did not cease their talk of the love affair. They accused her directly in front of Arthur. Arthur had been shown scenes of their affair by Morgan (see above) and demanded proof. Ironically, he acknowledged Mordred as his son and insisted that Lancelot was resolute.
The brothers caught the lovers and attempted to arrest them. Lancelot killed Agravain and several of their companions. Mordred was injured and managed to get away. Lancelot rode off leaving Guinevere to face the trial alone.
Just as she was about to be executed, Lancelot rode to her rescue. In the rush to rescue the queen, Lancelot hastily killed Gareth and Gaheris earning Gawain's hatred. Guinevere returned to the king and Arthur reluctantly declared war on Lancelot.
Perhaps feeling some paternal affection towards Mordred and wanting to instill some responsibility in the young man, Arthur appointed Mordred as regent.
On Benwic, Lancelot and Gawain faced each other. As Gawain lay dying, a messenger reported that Mordred spread fake news that Arthur was dead. He insisted that Guinevere marry him. The Queen refused and locked herself in her chambers to send word to Arthur. This news outraged Gawain and he restored amends with Lancelot before he died.
Arthur returned to battle against Mordred. Gawain appeared to him warning that Arthur would die on the battlefield the next day. When the father and son approached each other, Arthur offered him kingship of Cornwall and Kent and all of Britain after his death. Despite everything that Mordred did, he was his only heir. Mordred shook his hand to accept the terms.
However, a knight rode up his arm to kill a striking snake. The knights saw it as a signal to fight and their nerves on edge and ready for a fight, they began to slaughter each other.
Finally, Arthur stood with his two surviving knights, brothers Bedivere and Lucan. Arthur and Mordred stood face to face. Arthur picked up the spear of a dying knight and attacked his son. Mordred did not flinch or lose his grip on his sword hilt. He pushed further into Arthur's spear shaft as it portrayed through his stomach and back. Mordred's broad sword hit the side of of Arthur's helmet. The blade built through mail and skull into his brain.
Mordred died instantly.
Bedivere threw Excalibur into the lake. Arthur was taken to Avalon by Morgan and other women. Mordred just died, remembered forever as the villain of the piece.
For more information on Mordred, I highly recommend The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart.
Dragons
This is one of the books where a single group of fantastic creatures get the full focus and deluxe treatment of the series and deservedly so.
Dragons are similar to the Gift Givers in The Book of Christmas (see above). Their appearances, personalities, temperaments, connections to those around them, and status in Legends depend on who is telling the stories and what country and culture views them. This book covers dragons in their various forms: friendly and menacing, colorful and gray, tormentor and bringer of luck, hoarder and provider of treasure, a terrifying foe to defeat or a friendly ally to aid the Hero.
The first chapter, Chaos Incarnate introduces us to the dragons of early myths and legends. These showed that gods and goddesses sometimes took the form of dragons to demonstrate their power such as Tiamat in her battle with Marduk, a younger god. (Oddly enough no mention of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god who also took dragon form). Sometimes the dragon was seen in myths as magical enough to hold the world in its coils like Jormungandr did to Midgard, the mortal realm.
Sometimes the dragons themselves were a formidable opponent who did damage to the hero. The warrior Beowulf's final heroic duty was to slay a dragon but not before it delivered him a fatal wound. Fighting dragons could also be part of a task as Hercules learned when he had to fight (or conned the Titan Atlas into fighting for him) the dragon Laden to retrieve the golden apples as part of his twelve labors.
Cadmus also had to encounter a dragon on his way to build the city of Thebes. He and his warriors defeated the dragon and threw it in the air. Many believed that the dragon became the constellation, Draco.
Even gods like Ra were tested in their battles against draconian forces like Apep giving one an idea of the immense size and strength of a creature when a god has difficulties fighting it. The struggle between Ra who was the Sun God, and Apep, who was the Lord of Underworld and drew his strength from nightfall, occurred every night. It was the Egyptian mythology story to reveal the origins of night and day.
One of the final Titans left for Zeus to defeat was Typhon who had a hundred dragon heads. Zeus had to defeat him before he could ascend to his role as King of the Gods on Mount Olympus. Typhon was imprisoned in Mount Etna explaining the origins of earthquakes and volcanoes. There were also dragons who served gods like Anata who provided his long back as a couch for the god Vishnu when he needed to kick back and sleep.
There is also a guide to a dragon's many forms such as Wyverns (coiling trunk, eagle legs, known for viciousness and pestilence), Guivres (legless wingless, and had very massive heads, liked to be near water). Heraldic (massive fangs,, four legs, ridge of sharp spines, stinging tail, very widespread and considered formidable). The guide also shows the dragons different habitats such as caves, mountains, water, and swamps and their divisions of labor as celestial guardians, treasure keepers, weather makers, and river lords.
Chapter Two, Glitter Gods of the East is the beginning of the cultural differences over how dragons are portrayed. In Eastern myths, dragons usually are not something to be feared. They were awesome, powerful, magical, and should be treated with respect of course but they are rarely seen as evil or antagonistic. Most of them are often kind and helpful, and provide the hero good luck or good fortune. (Think Falkor in the Neverending Story).
The chapter begins with a charming tale in which the dragons who lived near Ch'ang-an the capital of China's Tang Dynasty, were so loved and spoiled by a nobleman that they behaved more like very large lazy and pampered house cats.
There was a close connection between Eastern dragons and humans which their Western counterparts severely lacked. That is a common theme that plays over in the Eastern tales.
In one story, Yu, a young god and his companions, a giant black tortoise and a magnificent emerald scaled winged dragon helped shape the land after a large flood.
Another story involving dragons and their involvement in creationism concerns the goddess, Nu Kua who was part dragon herself. She made the first humans while her consort Fu Hsi taught them the essentials like weaving nets for fishing, handling fire, and playing music. Nu Kua meanwhile also created dragons who could change between human and animals shape although retaining their dragon nature. The dragon's connection to wisdom and ability to confer blessings was often seen as a
symbol of the Emperor.
Scholars were highly regarded in China, so dragons were frequently studied and categorized. The scholar's information provide interesting perspectives on how dragons lived. Such information included their births, years between childhood and maturity, and appearance.
This research also divided the dragons in categories such as celestial dragons, spiritual dragons, earth dragons, and subterranean dragons. Within these categories were subcategories possibly corresponding with the dragon's growth stages: serpentine, clawed, horned, and winged.
Even a dragon's color was used as a means of categorization, like azure, red, black, and yellow.
So for example, if you saw an azure serpentine spiritual dragon in the Eastern sky then you would know a young dragon would be creating a light rain in the dawning spring. By contrast, a red horned earth dragon by a river heralded an older dragon changing that river's course because a severe storm, maybe even a flood, was on the way.
This reverence and also the scholarly information allowed speculation about whether some humans were really dragons in another form. One of those stories involved a romance with a scholar named Liu Ye and a Dragon Princess in which he visited her dragon kingdom and faced the Dragon King and his volatile brother to win her hand in marriage.
In another story, a boy found a pearl and used it to help support his impoverished mother. Neighbors became suspicious and the land owner accused the boy of theft. The boy hid the pearl then swallowed it in confusion. He then transformed into a dragon.
This respect for dragons also appeared in art and images that people made of the dragons. Many emperor's had dragon symbols on their barges, beds, and thrones. Some images reflected nine specific dragons who were believed to protect the mortal objects in which they were depicted like musical instruments, temples, and gates.
Even parts of the dragon's body were useful for healing and illumination.
While China maintained a respect towards dragons, Japan portrayed their dragons with a much darker side. One story involves a lord who was sent into exile because he lost a pearl to be presented to the Japanese court. The pearl fell into the possession of a dragon. The lord's sweetheart fought the dragon to retrieve the pearl but died afterwards.
Another story involved a samurai's daughter who tried to find her exiled father. She fought a dragon to rescue a maiden who was about to be sacrificed and ended a curse on the Emperor so her father could be freed.
Now in the third chapter, Serpent Ascendant the Readers travel from the benevolent dragons of China to the malevolent dragons of Europe. Unlike their Eastern counterparts, Western dragons were often feared and their appearance often brought nothing but trouble.
As we saw in Wizards and Witches and The Fall of Camelot, Merlin's first act was to foretell the eventual war between a white dragon and red as an omen of the battle between King Vortigern and Uther Pendragon which resulted in Vortigern's defeat and Uther's ascendency. However, this tale is connected to an earlier story involving these dragons.
In the old days, the dragon's fighting caused trouble on the land like women becoming barren and many people became ill. The King's brother advised him to lock up the dragons into a chest and bury them in a mountain. They were released centuries later but had lost their power. They fought and then vanished.
Unlike in the East where dragons often foretold good omens, a Western dragon's appearance foretold bad. A dragon's breath heralded a series of fires in Sanctogoarin, Germany. A dragons tail might uproot a stream causing a flood. A hungry dragon chowing down on food and livestock could bring famine. A dragon could emit poison into a well or nearby mine causing well water to become bitter and bring sickness. They brought chaos and disorder wherever they went. (Think Smaug in the Hobbit.)
For example, one story from Switzerland, tells of a cooper who fought a dragon who had been terrorizing his village. He followed it to its cave. He spent an entire winter inside the dragon's cave waiting until the dragon flew out of the cave. The cooper then rode on the back of its tail to safety.
Because of this disorder, many heroes who faced dragons were revered and admired. Towns were renamed to commemorate when a particular pesky dragon was defeated. Those names included Worms Head, Great Ormes Head, Ormesleigh, Ormeskirk, Wormelow, and Wormeslea. (Dragons were sometimes known as worms or ormes.)
Some dragons burst onto the scene spreading evil and chaos while others were more insidious and took a long time to attack. Child Lambton was about a young heir who caught a small worm and threw it into a well. He later fought in the Crusades while the worm grew into a dragon and terrorized the land by eating animals and causing famine. When Lambton returned, he fought and killed the dragon.
While dragons are considered evil in Europe, there are some who ally with them. There are many stories of maidens taken by dragons and just as many of them working with or even controlling dragons for their own purposes.
Then there are the humans that could turn into dragons.
One story concerned a king whose second wife was skilled in magic. She turned his beautiful daughter, Margaret into a dragon. To break the spell, they sent for her brother, Childe Wynde. After fighting his sister in her dragon form, she was able to speak and tell Wynde how to break the spell. He kissed her scales three times and she transformed into her human form. Wynde was also able to defeat his stepmother.
Another story concerns The Drac, a dragon who kidnapped women along the river Rhine. He took a young mother to suckle his infant son and used magic to make her see them as human. She was then returned to the human world. Later, she saw The Drac in his dragon form and was blinded as a result.
Why are dragons so feared in Europe, when they were befriended in China? It was probably differences in culture and perspective. In the Bible, the Devil is often synonymous with the dragon. Perhaps a fear of dragons is a reminder of the rejection of the early Pagan practices.
Of course with a religious reasoning with dragons being seen as representations of Satan, who would be better to go against one than a saint? Many saint tales involve them fighting against and defeating dragons. In one story, St. Samson recited holy words and caused a dragon to fall limp. St. Margaret held a wooden cross over her eyes to keep a dragon from harming her.
Some saints like Carantoc and Petroc preferred a kinder approach by reciting prayers and psalms to soothe the beasts. St. Martha did both. She crossed sticks to make the sign of her faith to burn a dragon, Tarasque. Even though Tarasque was defeated, St. Martha was sympathetic. She argued for his release but the townspeople did not listen. Instead, they savagely attacked and killed Tarasque.
And what about St. George who was the famous human opponent against a dragon? Well that is for another chapter.
Chapter four, Rise of the Dragonslayer, covers a theme that is found in a lot of these books when they cover specific characters and creatures: the decline of their reputation.
They start out as awesome godlike beings with tremendous power and have many friends, allies, and defenders. Then they transform into something to be feared, fought, and kept away from human society. Finally, they descend into something that exists solely to be defeated, a one dimensional object of evil, cuteness, and sometimes ridicule. It appears in Wizards and Witches and will also reappear in Giants and Ogres, Dwarfs, Fairies and Elves, Magical Beasts, and Night Creatures. Now it's in Dragons.
This chapter covers that by depicting that in Europe with dragons seen as evil, many heroes' reputations were made because of their battles against dragons. They were considered dragonslayers.
Many heroes' adventures consisted of them battling and slaying dragons. Lancelot and the biblical Daniel's stories involved conquests against dragons. Perseus rescued his future wife, Andromeda when she was chained to a rock and offered as a sacrifice to a sea creature (believed to be a dragon not a kraken as Hollywood told us).
Not always were their encounters with dragons successful. An Irish warrior, Froech wanted to win the hand of Findabar, the daughter of Queen Maeve and King Aillil. Maeve wanted the handsome warrior for herself but he would have none of it. So she enticed him to obtain a rare Rowan branch. The branch was guarded by a dragon. The dragon killed Froech who had been manipulated by the scheming Queen Maeve.
One hero whose reputation was built on slaying dragons was St. George, playing on the previous chapter's theme of saints being the most likely antagonists against dragons. St. George was in Silena where the people were trying to appease a dragon who terrorized their village. Originally, they offered sheep but when that no longer pleased the dragon, they drew a lottery for a human sacrifice. The princess of Silena was selected as St. George arrived.
The princess offered to be a sacrifice for her people. St. George refused and rode to the dragon with a stride. There is some speculation about whether he killed the dragon right away or carved a cross on the dragon's chest, dragged him into town, and forced the people of Silena to convert to Christianity before he beheaded it. Either way, he was successful and the princess became his bride.
Another story in which love was the goal for slaying a dragon was that of Dobrynia Nikitich who battled a dragon who was thought of the terror of Kiev. The dragon, called Gorynych kidnapped a princess. Along with her were the people of Kiev who had also been taken. Dobrynia whipped off the dragon's tails and heads leaving them to wither. He brought the princess back to her home and married her.
Sometimes heroes killed dragons to get their hands on the treasure that they hoarded. One of those was Sigurd. He was recruited by Regin, an avaricious dwarf whose equally greedy brother, Fafnir inherited a stolen hoard of elfen gold. Fafnir turned his brother away and transformed into a dragon. Regin insisted that he only wanted to have Fafnir's heart as it was the source of all dwarven wisdom. Really he wanted the gold for himself.
Sigurd's mother gave her son his father's sword, Gram, and he set off to defeat Fafnir with Regin by his side. Regin cautioned that the hero had to slay the dragon the first time in the stomach. If not, it would merely wound him and he would strike Sigurd with venom. Sigurd did as he was told.
After Fafnir's death, Sigurd gave the heart to Regin who ate it. Sigurd was burned by the heart and found out Regin's real plan was to kill him and keep the gold. Sigurd beheaded the dwarf for his treachery.
A country well known for dragons and dragonslayers was Persia. The country was divided by a king who could assume dragon form. The king transformed to test the true characters of his son. One, the prudent, Salm, protested the folly of certain death and fled. He was given the western lands. The second Turn, bravely stood his ground and was given the eastern lands. The youngest, Iraj revealed his discreet courage and kindness. He recognized his father in the beastly form, called him by name, and advised him to flee. He was awarded Persia.
Iraj's descendants proved to be formidable against dragons. Gushtasp had been banished by his father in law, the Western Emperor, for marrying his daughter. He aided various suitors in hunting monsters so they could win the Emperor's other daughters. One of these tasks was to kill a six legged dragon. When the king learned that Gushtasp helped the men, he welcomed him back.
Gushtasp's son, Isfandiyar built a wooden carriage with sharp hooks and sword blades to slay a dragon that kidnapped his sister. His son, Shah Ardashir was not so fortunate. He entered the jaw of a dragon and never emerged. He was the only member of his family to be defeated by a dragon.
His descendant, Bahram Gur shot an arrow in a dragon's chest and another arrow at its head. When he gutted the beast, he found the body of a man inside. (Ardashir?)
One of Persia's most noted dragonslayers is Rustam. Rustam rode his favorite loyal horse, Rakhsh on a journey. While camping, a dragon crept towards them. Rakhsh whinnied to get its master's attention. Rustam looked and saw nothing. The dragon became invisible. Rakhsh did it twice and Rustam woke both times, annoyed.
The last time Rakhsh waited until the dragon was in reach of Rustam's sword. This time when Rustam awoke, he saw the dragon upon him. The horse and man worked together to defeat the their enemy. As it clasped Rustam in its coils, Rakhsh fastened its teeth on the dragon. Rustam freed himself and used his scimitar to slash the dragon to death.
Favorite Stories
Marduk vs. Tiamat
Illustration by Kinuko Y. Craft
As I mentioned, many early gods and goddesses assumed the form of a dragon to test, scare and sometimes fight enemies. One of those was Tiamat, the Mesopotamian goddess. Tiamat was a fascinating dark goddess who was created in the beginning. She was a double of Apsu.
Apsu was the spirit of fresh water and the void. Tiamat represented the salt water and chaos. She was described as having a crocodile's jaw, lion's teeth, bat's wings, lizard's legs, eagle's talons, python's body, and a bull's horns.
Tiamat and Apsu had god children one that killed his father. In a fury, Tiamat gave birth to a menagerie of monsters: scorpion men, demon lions, giant serpents, and glittering dragons. These monsters attacked the gods.
The gods called another god, Marduk to be their champion and fight Tiamat. He had weapons including a net, a club, poison, a bow and arrow, and a quiver of lightning bolts and prepared for battle.
To search for Tiamat, Marduk spread his net across the void and caught her inside it. He fired an arrow into Tiamat's open jaws and into her heart. He then stood upright on her body.
Tiamat's beast children were thrown into turmoil and they fled. Marduk caught them in the net in which he caught their mother and cast them into the infernal regions.
As for Tiamat's carcass, Marduk split her skull, severed her arteries, and cleft her body into two parts, one which became the firmament and the other the solid earth. He also used her remains to construct a dwelling place for the gods, install the stars and moon, and create the first human beings.
The Scholar and The Dragon Princess
Illustration by Jill Karla Schwartz
There are many stories of humans becoming animals or magical creatures. Usually, the pattern is that the creature transforms into their human form and the lovers are then wed.
This Chinese story is very different and has more to do with the reverence that the Chinese people had for dragons rather than thinking that a human-dragon hybrid could be a threat.
Liu Ye was a young scholar who left the wealthy palace of Ch'ang-an to return home to the Senshi Province. He was despondent because he failed the annual examination that determined which scholars could be admitted to the Imperial Court Administrators.
He stopped to rest by the Ching River when he saw a herd of goats led by a female goatherd. She didn't look like your average goatherd. Her hair was shiny, her face glowed peach, her hands were soft. Her eyes resembled those of a court lady's but they were river green not brown or black. It was clear she was not a poor goatherd but a noblewoman.
She and Liu Ye talked and she told her story. She was a Dragon Princess and the daughter of the Dragon King of Lake Tungt'ing. She was to marry the Ching Dragon Prince, but he didn't love her. He placed her under an enchantment that turned her into a human. She was exiled from her home kingdom and could not seek help from her father.
Liu Ye offered to help. She suggested that if he went to Lake Tungt'ing, he could strike a tall pine tree three times with his sash. A herald from her father's kingdom would appear and lead him to his kingdom. If he spoke to her father and pleaded her case, help would come.
It took a month but the young scholar arrived at the lake. He struck the tree three times and a herald appeared. He waved a sword in the air. The sword glowed an arc in the air and Liu Ye fell asleep.
When Liu Ye woke up he found himself in a great hall and surrounded by courtiers. Sitting on a throne of lapis lazuli with his hands clasped on a jade tablet was the Dragon King, in human form.
When the king bade the scholar to speak, Liu Ye spoke of the princess's plight offering a tablet inscribed with characters written by her hand as proof.
While he examined the tablet, a mournful cry surrounded the palace. It rose despite the king's attempts to silence it. A large dragon shattered the columns dragging the chains which held it. The dragon moved and then disappeared, the screaming finally faded.
The King explained that the angry dragon was his brother, Chien Tang. He flew into unpredictable rages and destruction always followed. He brought chaos, storm, fire, and flood and was condemned to punishment by the Emperor of Heaven. He could not become human but he broke free from his chains to free his niece.
After several moments, a tall man returned. With him stood the Dragon Princess. He rescued the young woman and returned her to her father. In doing so, he got his ability to transform into human form back.
Chien Tang explained that he went to the Ching River palace and killed the prince. Chien Tang learned that his love for his niece made him see the cost of chaotic violence. He saw rains and floods he caused that had destroyed villages. He flew to the Emperor of Heaven and begged for forgiveness. Forgiveness was granted and Chien Tang was granted his powers back.
Around Liu Ye, the hall changed. The chattering of courtiers trilled like birds or bells. Their forms dissolved again and again. Liu Ye saw the courtiers in their dragon form. He then heard the Dragon King offer to be with them.
Suddenly, Liu Ye lost his human form and felt one with the air and water. He was under a blue sky and stretched a pair of wings. Below him were white mountains. Next to him was another dragon with bewitching emerald green eyes. She was the Emperor's daughter accompanying her new fellow dragon lover on his first flight. They flew above humankind including the Ch'ang-an palace which rejected Liu Ye. They then returned to their home to Lake Tungt'ing.
Maidens and Their Dragons
Illustration by Judy King-Reinets
The stories of the Maiden and the Dragon are about as common as that of the Dragonslayer. Usually, the Maiden is innocent and helpless. She usually needs to be freed from the fearful dragon by the brave hero.
However, in some countries, Maidens are not as innocent and helpless as they seem. Sometimes the dragon is not so much her enemy as it is her ally, captive, or pet.
A traditional story of a Maiden and Dragon can be found in Germany. A king's daughter was captured by a sea dragon. She kept herself from harm by charming it to sleep until rescue arrived. Help came in the form of a young stargazer who saw her, a thief who stole her away without the dragon noticing, and a hunter who slew the dragon for her.
In Serbia, a fairy possessed many powers such as the ability to turn into a golden bird. She managed to imprison a dragon and keep it captive in her palace. Her mortal husband accidentally released it and it picked her up and carried her to its lair. It took many months for him to find and release his wife and slay the dragon.
In Kiev, lived a sorceress named Marina. She had a dragon companion and pet serpents. She was fond of seducing dragonslayers and turning them into animals like magpies, pigs, or oxen. She would have continued this except a hero turned the tables on her and seduced her. When the guards and the dragon were kept away from her, the hero beheaded Marina.
In France, lived a spirit called La Succube who flew on her dragon through the night sky. She often searched for young foolish men to seduce. Once she caught them, they became her lovers and victims. Her kiss drained the life and strength from mortal men.
The Lore of Love
Okay I am not a fan of Romances. Sometimes romances are too sentimental for me. I like stories with more at stake than "will they/won't they." I like romances when they are combined with other genres like Fantasy and Historical Fiction, so Lore of Love does not cover one of my favorite topics or genres.
But as we know, love is important for art and entertainment. How many love songs are there? Why else are rom coms and Romance novels so popular? Might as well accept it and remember the love stories of myth and legend.
In fact this book is actually well written in dividing love stories into divine inspired pairings, unhappy love affairs, and stories where true love conquers all.
The first chapter, Destiny's Playthings, covers romances that are made not through the lover's means but created, arranged, encouraged, and sometimes discouraged by supernatural forces like the gods, goddesses, and other spirits.
The chapter begins by telling of the romance between Thetis, a sea nymph and Peleus, a seer. She was also pursued by the gods, Zeus and Poseidon. The gods cooled off when they were warned that if they had a child with the sea nymph, that child would defeat them much in the same way that Zeus defeated his father, Cronus who also defeated his father, Uranus. Still Peleus and Thetis were met with other challenges particularly from Hera, Zeus's jealous wife incensed by the sight of one of her husband's lovers.
Eventually, the couple were wed but because of Peleus's foresight, he was unhappy. He saw the sadness that lay ahead because their child, Achilles, would grow to become a great warrior during the Trojan War but would die because of a very infamous weakness.
Sometimes the deities encouraged the pursuit of love like the Chinese God of Marriage. He foresaw that a young man named Wei Ku would marry in middle age and that the woman that he would marry was three years old then. It took many decades, but everything that the god foresaw came true.
Another story involves a jiin and an ifrit playing matchmaker to a pair, Camaraozaman and Badoura, who did not want to marry. The spirits allowed the duo to dream of each other and fall in love before they officially met. They were later separated only to be reunited and reaffirm their love.
Sometimes those divine forces are less helpful. In one story, a demon cast a spell on a king named Dushyanta making him forget his wife, Sakuntala. In another story, a seductive demon tempts a man named Guntram from his intended Liba. In both cases the demon's interference challenges the couple's loyalty, devotion, and fidelity. One story has a happy ending and the other does not.
The chapter also includes a few superstitions which young women followed to determine their future mate. These superstitions include: noting the first bird that she saw on Valentine's Day (his career, blackbird would be a cleric, robin a sailor, goldfinch a wealthy man, woodpecker she would never marry), finding a two leaved clover on her shoe (she would marry the first man that she saw or that he has the same name as her intended), preparing a Christmas Eve dinner in silence (she would marry the first man who sat down and ate, and who hopefully is not a relative. If she saw a monster, that meant her marriage would be miserable), walking around the church at midnight twelve times (she would see a vision of her future spouse's face), plucking a rose on Midsummer's Eve and placing it on her pillow (she would dream of her future spouse's face and remember it so she would recognize him when she met him in life), and looking into the mirror while combing her hair with one hand and holding an apple cut into slices by a knife with the other (an image of her intended's face would be seen in the reflection reaching for the apple).
Chapter two, Blighted Passions, is what I call the "Love Gone Wrong" chapter. It has many of the darkest stories where lovers die in horrible ways, people have one sided affairs, and supernatural forces veer towards horror to part lovers.
This chapter begins with Aztec lovers, Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl who were torn apart by her father's decree for his daughter to never marry because as Emperor, he would have to confer power to any potential son in laws. A war and the deception from Iztaccihuatl's jealous suitors led the princess to believe that her lover was dead. Iztaccihuatl became ill and died. Popocatepetl returned alive and grief stricken over his love's death. He told the people to build a pyramid in her honor and a higher one for himself so he could see her from afar. He then climbed to the top of his pyramid and became one with the rock. There the lovers remain as Popocatepetl the volcano and Iztaccihuatl the mountain, near each other but always far apart.
There are some horror elements to these stories that damn the lovers. In one infamous rake Don Juan emerged from the bed of his latest conquest only to be caught by her father. In his haste to flee, he killed the father. Later, he was haunted by the father's ghost who graphically frightened the womanizer and carried him off to Hell.
Another story has some very violent actions suggesting that love and obsession are very close. Lizabetta a grief stricken wife whose husband died. Desperate, she decapitated his body and kept it in a pot of basil. Unfortunately, she was separated from that pot. Deprived from this last link to her husband, Lizabetta succumbed to madness and illness until she died.
There are also love affairs between mortals and otherworldly creatures that don't end well. One tells of a Chinese man named Shushuan unwisely falls for a demon named Lady White and embarks on a doomed affair with her.
Another story involves the attempts of, Howori, the grandson of the Sun Goddess who fell in love with Toyotama, a daughter of the God of the Ocean. Unlike the relationship between Shushuan and Lady White, their relationship is fairly happy but covers a requirement in which Howori breaks and loses his bride forever.
There are also stories of unrequited love such as that of John Fian, a sorcerer who created a love spell to acquire the woman of his dreams. The love spell went awry and he ended up followed by a besotted heifer.
Speaking of love spells, there are pages which show the herbs and plants that people used in the past for love spells. They include an evergreen orange tree, liver of a pigeon, a blackbird's brains, roses, the marrowbone of a wolf, earth from human footprints, marigolds, cinder from ashes, orchids, dove's heart, and mistletoe. Any of those were used to win the affections of the man or woman of one's dreams.
A more serious story of unrequited love concerns a sculptor named Farhat who fell in love with an arrogant princess named Anoush. When she facetiously asked for a palace, he spent many years on the project. Later, he found out that Anoush married someone else. The saddened sculptor then commited suicide.
Of course Greek mythology is no stranger to stories of love gone wrong. This chapter uses three. Narcissus spurned the nymph, Echo, who is cursed to repeat only what others have said. He was also cursed to suffer unrequited love from the one he loved the most. He looked into a stream and saw his own reflection. He kept staring at the reflection that shifted as he reached down to kiss it. He eventually wasted away into a flower.
Another concerns Apollo who was hit by one of Eros' arrows to fall in love with Daphne, a nymph. She was hit with another arrow, one that repelled his affections. She begged for the gods to get away from the amorous Sun God. They turned her into a laurel tree. Apollo wore a wreath of laurel in memory of her.
The story of Pyramus and Thisbe might be familiar especially by those who enjoy Shakespeare's plays. The story was the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet and was itself parodied by the Mechanicals, a company of players, in the final act of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Anyway, the two lovers were separated by fighting families with a wall between them in which they could talk. They decided to elope but while Thisbe waited for her love, she was scared off by a lioness. Pyramus feared she was dead and then killed himself. Thisbe returned to the site and in despair at the sight of her beloved's body followed him in death.
If Chapter two is "Love Gone Wrong",then Chapter Three, Love Triumphant" is "Love Gone Right." They show various challenges but ultimately, proving that love conquers all.
Two stories are Medieval romances that take place during the Crusades. In both lovers were separated partly because of conniving families and enemies. Ultimately, they found their way back to each other.
Some stories are tests of fidelity and loyalty. In a story from India, a compulsive gambler had to go on a journey of self discovery before he could get his wife back. In another from Breton, a woman waiting for a lover to return, set up a series of impossible tasks to ward off other potential suitors.
In Tibet, a couple were separated by her conniving mother. She ordered the young man put to death. Her grief stricken daughter then burned herself on his funeral pyre. Even death could not separate them. Two trees grew from their graves and became intertwined with each other. They remained together, no matter how often the mother tried to cut them down.
Favorite Stories:
A Rendezvous in Dreams/Prince Camaralzaman and Princess Badoura
Artwork by Edmond Dulac from Princess Badoura, A Tale from Arabian Nights
The story of Camaralzaman and Badoura comes from Arabian Nights, an anthology which has an interesting back story in and of itself. A severely psychotic sultan had a tendency to marry only to have his wives executed on their wedding night. His latest wife, Scheherezade had a gift for story telling and a quick mind. To save her own life, she told the sultan a story that ended on a cliffhanger. Excited to hear the rest of the story, he let Scheherezade live another night so she can continue. The cunning storyteller continued to tell story after story every night for 1,001 nights, giving birth to three children in the process. By that point, the sultan was cured from his insanity and felt that such a gifted orator deserved to live. So she was able to break the curse, cure her husband, and live a good long life.
Many of the stories in Arabian Nights deal with supernatural elements and have magical divine beings influence mortal's actions for better and sometimes for worse. This story in particular shows two lovers whose path are influenced by a magical pair that seem to get a kick out of playing with them.
This story also possesses some interesting plot twists and character growth that gives it an LGBT perspective. Whether intentional or not, there is a subtext and theme that are incredibly fascinating to look at.
Long ago in a far away kingdom in Asia, a king roared in fury. His son, Prince Camaralzaman refused to marry. Beautiful women were paraded in front of the young man but he paid them no heed. Instead, Camaralzaman preferred to write poetry and play his lure.
The irate king ordered his son to be removed from the capital city and placed in an abandoned tower in a plain graveyard. He thought that the isolation would change the young man's mind. Deprived of his lute, the young man sang.
However, Camaralzaman was not as alone as he thought. The graveyard was often a hot spot for spirits. One of them, a jinni, boasted of the handsome and talented tenant inside his tower. Another spirit, a female ifrit, attempted to one up the jinni by stating that she knew a female mortal who was just as beautiful, just as talented, and just as single as the jinni's.
In China, there lived Princess Badoura, a young woman who also refused to marry, frustrating her father. She too was locked in a disused wing of the Imperial palace. The jinni and ifrit put their worthy heads together and decided to unite the two partly to ease the mortal's loneliness but also to see which one was the most attractive.
The jinni was able to travel great distances and project images into the human subconscious so they dreamed of whatever the jinni wanted them to. In the case of the prince and princess, they dreamed of each other. They each saw a strange man and woman in the room that they felt shared a soul and heart. They had found their true love.
During his dream, Camaralzaman took Badoura's ring as a keepsake of his dream woman and have her one of his own.
When the two woke up, they found the one that they wanted to marry. Camaralzaman ranted and raved when he awoke. He threatened his slave with death to find out who she was. He showed the ring to his father believing that Badoura was sent by him. The king was glad that his son wanted to marry and ordered his release, but admitted that he did not know who the woman was or even if she ever existed. Camaralzaman took to his bed and wept.
Meanwhile, Badoura had the same reaction. No one in the palace believed her claims of the strange man who visited her dreams even if they couldn't account for the strange ring on her finger. Marzawan, the son of her old wet nurse, provided the answer by saying that the ring resembled the insignia of a kingdom in the west. They sent Marzawan to this kingdom to investigate.
Later he returned with a man that he said was a sorcerer who could provide the princess with the cure for her loneliness. With a cry, Badoura recognized the prince from her dreams. Camaralzaman, in the guise of the wizard, recognized the princess of his. The two were instantly married, moved towards Camaralzaman's homeland, and had a very passionate wedding night.
However, the course of true love ne'er runs smooth. While, Badoura lay sleeping, Camaralzaman removed an amulet from his wife to get a closer look. Next was unexplainable, but could be attributed to some jinni and ifrit mischief. A bird snatched the amulet from the prince and carried it away. The prince, concerned that he lost an important talisman to protect Badoura from evil, chased after the bird.
When Badoura awoke, she found her prince and amulet were both gone. She didn't want to believe that she had been abandoned but she had to think realistically. She was a strange woman in a strange land and only recently wed. She dressed in Camaralzaman's cast off clothing, hid her jewels in her robes, and donned a male identity. She asked if anyone had seen or heard of the prince but no one knew of him.
Badoura was caught between worlds. They were far from Camaralzaman's kingdom so no one knew him. While some were familiar with China, not many knew the way there. Plus as a bride without a husband, she would not be welcomed in Camaralzaman's kingdom. Her father washed his hands of her when they married so she couldn't go home. She was left on her own.
So instead she headed for another country, the Isle of Ebony. She knew of the place because of the ebony wood that decorated her father's throne room. If she headed there, perhaps she could hitch on a trade ship to return to China.
When Badoura arrived in the Isle of Ebony, she introduced herself as a Prince of China. The Sultan welcomed the new prince and having no son, he treated him like the son that he never had. He also offered his daughter's hand in marriage. Badoura befriended the princess and having nowhere else to go, accepted the proposal. Of course the secret could only be kept for so long and on the wedding night, the princess learned of her spouse's identity. The princess agreed to keep the secret and the two absorbed the pleasure of their company. Badoura forgot all about returning to China and kept a male identity.
The Sultan retired and according to tradition left the kingdom to his daughter's spouse. Badoura proved to be an adept and wise ruler. One day a merchant arrived offering a sample of golden olives. Badoura dipped their hands into the jar and pulled out the talisman that was lost long ago on their wedding night.
After interrogating the merchant, he revealed that he got the olives from a gardener. Badoura commanded that the gardener be sent to the kingdom. They were concerned that the gardener may have killed Camaralzaman and kept the amulet.
When the intended victim was brought before her, Badoura cried out in surprise and delight. They recognized Camaralzaman himself.
The former prince was now convinced that there were higher powers at work. After he chased the bird, he found himself in a wilderness away from Badoura. He lived off of what he could find until he arrived at a settlement. A gardener hired him to work for food and lodgings.
Even though the prince had been spoiled and pampered, he had a talent for gardening and enjoyed the work. One day he heard a bird cry and felt an object strike his head. It was of course the amulet.
He saw a trade ship that he hoped would take him to his country but instead took him to the Isle of Ebony.
On the trip to give the golden olives to the new Sultan and his bride, the talisman fell from his neck. When he was arrested, Camaralzaman fell in despair heartbroken about losing his last link to his beloved. He felt that he had nothing to live for until he gazed into the face of Badoura once more.
Badoura was overjoyed to see him too, but the young Sultan had grown to love the Isle of Ebony and the Queen. So they came up with the perfect solution. The law stated that a man can have more than one wife. Badoura would once again assume a female identity and Camaralzaman would take the Queen of Ebony as his second spouse. The three then ruled the Isle of Ebony together jointly forming a polygamous and polyamorous union.
The Tale of a Demon Bride/Shushuan and Lady White
Illustrated by Jennifer Eachus
This story is one of the many "Love Gone Wrong" stories because it focuses on the love between a mortal and immortal. Many times the immortal plays on and distorts the ideal of the perfect romantic partner by using those exact traits to lure and mock the unsuspecting mortal before they kill or drive them to insanity.
In China lived an orphan young man named Shushuan. He lived in Hangchow, the lakeside capital city. Mostly he worked in his Aunt and Uncle's flower market but during the Festival of the Dead, he performed rituals of remembrance on his parent's graves.
One year, he did this and was about to ask the boatman to return him to his Aunt and Uncle's home when he heard a female voice ask to be let on. Two young women, one dressed entirely in white and the other in blue. Shushuan fell in love with the woman in white and allowed them to come aboard.
The three new companions huddled together as the boat landed near the strange white walls of a city. They walked into a city where the roof posts were carved to resemble serpent's heads. While Shushuan was still besotted with his new companion but felt uneasy as she invited him over to his house for dinner.
The blue robed servant led him into a splendid room where Lady White waited. She poured him a cup of white rice and spoke.
She realized that he was a poor man and she a wealthy widow and that was a huge division in their society. Regardless, she fell in love with him. If he agreed to marry then she would give him everything she owned. Before he could answer, the lady gave him a small casket with silver pieces and said that she awaited his answer tomorrow.
When Shushuan returned to his uncle's market, he revealed his encounter and that he found the woman that he would marry. The uncle was wary but inspected the silver pieces. They were real but brand new. He was concerned that his nephew may have stolen money from the Imperial Mint. The punishment was death, so the Uncle brought him before the magistrate to hear his story.
When Shushuan told his story, the guards marched into the serpent carved home. They thought they saw a woman in white out of the corner of theIr eyes. But she was gone and in her place was a pile of silver coins.
Shushuan was put in jail. He was later released but banished from the city for consorting with demons for that's what the magistrate believed Lady White to be. He was resettled in Soochow.
In Soochow, Shushuan worked in a flower market. He was miserable but tried to forget Lady White. In the beginning of summer, their paths crossed once more. When Shushuan entered Lady White's carriage, his old feelings for her returned. She denied being a thief or a demon and insisted that she was not in the house when the guards came. The silver was hers, she said. She waited for him but now that they were together, she would not let him go.
He did not go to the market for two days. When he returned on the third day, he was in a sedan chair carried by porters and wearing a fine silk gown with gold serpents embroidered on it.
The couple lived in the splendid house in luxury. Lady White remained at home pampered by servants. Shushuan made new wealthy friends in taverns and teahouses. He lived a good life but began to grow homesick for his old home and his surrogate parents.
A friend suggested that they go visit the old village during the festival of the First of Tenth Moon. They decided to visit his parent's graves at the Temple of Awakening.
Lady White agreed reluctantly but told him not to enter the temple or to never talk to any monks. Shushuan promised.
When Shushuan arrived at the Temple, they found it crowded. The monks displayed all of their silks, tapestries, and rare objects. Forgetting his wife's words, Shushuan entered. He however remembered when he saw an aged abbot. Terrified, he ran.
Shushuan ran to a boat where Lady White and her servant beckoned him. Before he stepped on the boat he heard a command for the demons to begone. The boat sank faster and faster until it reached the bottom.
Shushuan was stunned as the abbot whom he ran from earlier talked. He was the voice who ordered Lady White and her servant to begone.
The abbot warned him that demons were not easy to be killed. He told him to dress as a beggar and go to his uncle's house. He gave the young man a robe and a beggar's bowl to complete the effect.
His disguise worked but when he approached his aunt and uncle, they asked how he could become a monk when his wife was there waiting for him.
When he stood face to face with his demonic wife, Shushuan's bowl shook. A dark glow flickered in her expressionless eyes. As she reached for him, Shushuan put the bowl on her head. The bowl sank downward as Lady White shrank. Finally, it moved to the floor still shaking from irate fury by the being trapped inside. Both Lady White and her servant vanished.
Shushuan put a lid on the bowl and gave it to the abbot. The monk recited an exorcism then lifted the lid. The bowl was not empty. Instead there lay a white serpent and blue fish. He ordered them to be buried on hallowed ground under a new pagoda.
Shushuan was reprieved by the magistrate and became a monk at the Temple of Awakening. Centuries later, the pagoda where the bowl was buried was destroyed in a fire. Wiggling away from the conflagration were a white serpent and a blue fish. Lady White and her servant were released and ready to find a new victim.
The Soldier and The Spanish Maid/Aucassin and Nicolette
Illustrated by Michael Hague
This story of "Love Gone Right" has many similarities with the story of Sir Eglamour and Lady Chrystobel also in Lore of Love. Both are set in Medieval France during the Crusades. Both involve the love between a maiden and a soldier or knight. Both of them involved domineering parents who don't want them to be together. Both involve the couple separated and going on adventures before they are reunited. Both are high adventures and are perfect tales in the Romantic tradition. They are highly recommended but I have a slight preference for the story of Aucassin and Nicolette.
One of the reasons is that the setting gives more precedence towards the Crusades. While Eglamour and Chrystobel's stories ends up in places like Egypt and North Africa, it is more a background event.
In Aucassin and Nicolette's story, the Crusades are much more direct with Aucassin representing the Christian side and Nicolette representing the Muslim. The events are not background. They are upfront.
The other reason is that while both stories feature lovers having adventures, Eglamour and Chrystobel's stories focus mostly on Eglamour's adventures. This story covers both characters. In an interesting twist towards how lovers are portrayed, Nicolette's adventures require more action and decision making from her than Aucassin's require from him.
The tale was told by a troubadour and this is the story that he told. One day in a busy Provincial market square, Aucassin, a French count's son's eyes met with Nicolette's. She was a Spanish girl who was once kidnapped from her home during the Crusades.
Nicolette had been brought to Beaucaire, the home of Aucassin and his father, Count Garin. She was raised in the home of a viscount but because of her background was still not considered a suitable wife for Aucassin.
Aucassin declared his love for the maiden but he was met with consternation. Garin insisted that he could have his pick among the many women but Aucassin refused to change his mind. The irate count had Nicolette locked in a tower and warned his son that if he pursued the girl, then his soul would be condemned to hell. Well alright, Aucassin insisted, to hell he would go.
He retreated to his room and refused to come out even when Count Bolgar of Valence invaded Beaucaire.
Garin ordered Aucassin to take the lead against the enemy promising that though he could not marry Nicolette, then he could be with her instead one final time.
Aucassin agreed and using his soldiering skills managed to unhorse ten knights and wound seven. Aucassin then charged towards Bolgar and the invading count fell to his knees.
Aucassin reminded his father of the bargain that he made. Garin reneged saying that he didn't make such a promise. Aucassin set Bolgar free only with the promise that he would never return to Beaucaire. The rival count agreed and was sent to safety by the young soldier. Aucassin was thrown into the dungeon after he returned.
Nicolette meanwhile knotted her bedsheets together and slid down from the high windows of the tower. She climbed over a portion of the wall that hadn't yet been repaired from the recent invasion and hurried into a nearby forest.
To make sure that Aucassin knew where she was, she made sure some boys grazing in the fields saw her. Then she created an arbor of flowers and branches as a sign.
Because Nicolette disappeared, Garin had his son released from his imprisonment. Aucassin immediately ran off on his horse to search for his beloved.
The boys told him that they had seen a woman fitting her description. He then saw the arbor and Nicolette waiting for him. He was so excited that he fell off his horse. Nicolette cradled his head in her lap and massaged his wounded shoulder.
They consummated their union and lived for all intents and purposes as husband and wife. They were able to hunt game and live on wild berries. Each night, they made love under the stars.
They spent many days in seclusion but when the weather grew cold, they knew that it was time to leave. Even though Aucassin had been released, he knew that his father would never accept Nicolette as his bride. Nicolette couldn't remember her own country because she had been away from it for so long.
Instead they traveled until they came to a seaport and requested passage on a departing ship. While at sea, a north wind emerged and attacked the tiny boat. The ship sailed far beyond familiar regions on the Captain's charts.
Finally, they were able to land.
The couple disembarked in a strange land called Torelore. Knights were not known and they lived in a pacifist society. Aucassin, trained as a soldier, felt out of place. He thought of becoming a mercenary but when he was told that a battle was under way the other men had only bottles, sticks, and rotten fruit.
Aucassin fought in the battle hoping to be praised as he would have been in Beaucaire. The king said that people in Torelore chose to settle conflicts without inflicting energy and killing for conquest was not their way.
Unfortunately, neighboring lands did not have the same ideals. Only two or three nights after the couple's arrival, a band of marauders attacked the capital and slaughtered many. They then took the young and fair women to sell as slaves or concubines.
Pirates burst into Aucassin and Nicolette's sleeping chamber. Aucassin reached for his sword but the two lovers were taken during the night and put on separate ships. The storms that brought the couple to Torelore now separated them again by moving the ships in opposite directions.
Aucassin's vessel had a stroke of luck for it ended up in Beaucaire. The people of Beaucaire welcomed him with open arms. While he was gone, Garin had died and they were worried about their new Count. Aucassin then declared himself Count of Beaucaire and ruled his lands justly and well. But his joy was gone. Deprived from his wife, Aucassin became morose and in despair.
Nicolette on the other hand had her own adventures. Her ship carried her to the pirate's home of Cartagena in Spain. The skyline of domes and minarets awakened lost memories in her mind. She realized that this was the city in which she once lived and had been taken from as a child. The pirates doubted her but took her to see the king.
The King of Spain realized that she was indeed his missing daughter whom he had long given up for dead. The two had a tearful reunion and Nicolette resumed her princesshood.
Nicolette was spoiled and loved by her father but he was concerned about her future. He told her that she must marry and put several suitors in front of her. When she refused them all, he became angry and declared that he would choose for her.
During this time, Nicolette learned to play the viol and got quite good at it. She altered her beautiful gowns and disguised herself.
When the formal declaration of Princess Nicolette's engagement to a suitor was to be announced, a smooth faced male minstrel made his way out of the palace and to the nearest seaport.
The minstrel spent many nights in rough tavern playing for bread and cheese or lodgings. He arrived in Beaucaire and heard about the newly installed count.
He sat on a staircase and began to play and sing. Aucassin came to hear such a beautiful voice with such skilled playing.
The melody stirred his memories of himself and Nicolette. He listened as the minstrel without asking, sang the name Nicolette. The singer then spoke of a girl who had been kidnapped by pirates, reunited with her family, and escaped as a minstrel. Now the minstrel sang, Nicolette is sitting right here.
Aucassin recognized his wife. The two were officially wed the next day and lived the rest of their lives in complete bliss as the Count and Countess of Beaucaire.
So that's it for now. Next time, we will take a trip to some Fabled Lands and encounter Gods and Goddesses and Giants and Ogres. Then we will meet some Seekers and Saviors who face Legends of Valor.
