Mythology and Folklore

Prince Browchel, the son King Cyngen Glodrydd, was a boisterous boy who enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. One day, while hunting in the English Midlands, Browchel came across a beautiful deer. The deer's antlers were prominent, and the beauty of the deer could not be overstated. As such, Browchel pursued the deer along with his pack of dogs. Yet as he and his hounds were chasing after the deer, they found a beautiful woman on her kneed and praying. Standing beside her was the beautiful deer glaring at Browchel and the hounds. Browchel was not deterred by this strange sight. He order the dogs to chase after the deer, but the dogs resisted. They seemed to be in some trance and began to back away from the maiden. Now all to himself, Browchel approached the woman and deer by himself. Cautiously he approached her and asked her who she was. "I am the Princess Melangell, son of the King of Ireland. I have remained in the woods for the last 15 years so that I may pray in peace. My fath...

There was once a hunter who had a loyal German shepherd named Max that he considered to be his best friend. Now Max was extremely loyal to the hunter, always guarding the hunter and his daughter throughout the night. It was important for Max to do his job as the forest they resided in was full of wolves looking for their next meal. As such, Max was a vital part of the hunter's life as he went off to hunt for food thus leaving his daughter to herself. One day, the hunter decided to head to the forest in hopes of finding food for him and his daughter. It had been a long winter and food was often scarce to find. As he normally he did, the hunter ordered Max to watch over his daughter while he was gone hunting. For hours the hunter remained in the woods, hoping to find some deer, rabbit, or animal that he could bring home. Finally, after dutifully searching for a target, the hunter took down a massive deer to return to his household. However, as he returned to his home, he noticed some...

Late at night, Rabbit and Possum were searching for food to survive the night. The winter had been hard on the two friends, but they had remained steadfast to each other throughout the season. Nevertheless, it was necessary for them to find some food or perish. Thus, the two friends decided to search some of the neighborhoods next to the woods they called home. Meticulously Rabbit and Possum went to house after house, rummaging through the trash bins to look for food that would survive them for the night. Yet, they continued to fail to find their nourishment. The two friends were soon becoming alarmed as they knew there was no chance that they would survive the night without food. However, as they approached a quiet house on the corner on the neighborhoods, Rabbit came across a pleasant surprise. Sitting ripely underneath the balcony of the porch was a tasty trove of leafy greens for both the Possum and Rabbit to eat. Rabbit quickly became eager and urged Possum to join him to steal th...

The Earthmaker was lonely as he remained in a state of perpetual darkness and loneliness. As he wandered around the darkness, he wondered to himself what he could do to make his surrounds more pleasant. Thus, the Earthmaker set forth to create the world as we know it. He first decided to create the fertile soil so that whoever he may put on this new world could grow nutritious crops to feed themselves. From his neck, he took off some dust and used it to sprinkle the ground of the new world. As the dust gently touched the ground, soil grew rapidly in all directions. With the soil placed down, the Earthmaker decided to bring light to this world. He grabbed the newly ground nd meticoulsy formed a ball of soil. With a fling of his arm, he through the ball into the sky where it soon began to radiate its bright rays. Immediately, the ground responded to the sudden warmth, as if it could sense the beginning of a new friendship. Nevertheless, the Earthmaker knew his work was for from done. He...

There was once a mother Blue Crane who looked after five of her children. One day, while feeding her child in the wetland areas of the Western Cape, a brown hyena approached her. He demanded that the Blue Crane give up one of her children or else he would swim across and take her entire family. The Blue Crane was immensely worried. Here she was, a small and weak mother bird, merely trying to take care of her family. As she sat in her nest pondering of what to do, she came up with an idea. She yelled to the hyena to give her another day to choose which of the five children she would give up. The hyena, knowing that he was guaranteed a meal tomorrow, quickly agreed and head off. Now the Blue Crane was in a conundrum. What could she do to save her children? As she thought, she remembered the favor she had done to the queen of the lands, the Lioness. Just recently Blue Crane had informed Lioness of her son's willingness to explore the lands late at night, a behavior that easily worri...

There was one a single servant named Amihan living on large banana plantation. Despite being a solid worker, he was often sad because he was alone. One day his master saw his worker's somber mood and asked why he was sad. Amihan responded by telling his master of his problems. The master, taken aback by his servant's despair, decided to remedy Amihan's problems by finding him a wife. Yet, after doing so, Amihan still was not satisfied. He quickly realized that having a wife would solve all of his problems; he needed money to take care of one. Once again he approached his master to solve his problems. The master, known foe his kind heart throughout Manila, did not hesitate again and gave him one thousand Philippine pesos. Amihan was amazed by his master's kindness and immediately grabbed the money and took it back to his wife. His wife, Angel, was also shocked by the master's kindness. They did not know what to do with the money, but they decided to spend all of the...

One day a Brahman happened to be walking through the sultry jungles of India. While on his walk through the thick forage, he came upon a tiger stuck in deep hole. The tiger was in much distress and was crying out to the Brahman to help him out. Yet, the tiger's sharp teeth and fierce appearance caused the Brahman to hesitate. The Brahman stood in his tracks and pondered in his thoughts: "Why should I help this tiger? He's only going to attack me when I let him go." However, the tiger started crying, "Oh please please please let me go!". "I'll do anything anything!". The tiger kept on going for a quite a while, and the Brahman began to get annoyed. "Okay tiger, I'll get you out", the Brahman said grudgingly. Using a nearby stick, the Brahman pulled the tiger from its place deep in the Earth. The tiger landed on the ground with a loud thud and immediately grabbed the Brahman onto the ground. "How dumb you are! There is nothing ...

The Khasi folktales is similar to the Indian fairy tales in that is a collection of stories. Notably seen in both collections of stories is the prominence of animal characters. Specifically, this aspect is seen in the Khasi folktale The Tiger and the Monkeys . In this short story, the tiger's fear of monkeys is a "real-life" explanation. The tiger seems to have a prominent role in Indian stories, especially when consideri ng the Khasi peo ple are from a state in India. I have also found that the Bengal tiger is the national animal of India, adding to the animal's significance in that area of the world. Again, the premise of the story is to explain why the tiger is afraid of the monkey. Outside research does not really seem to confirm this idea that tigers are fearful of monkeys, so this story may have more regional meaning rather than universal significance. The characterization of the monkey is on par with typical portray of monkeys that I have seen before. The monk...

Once Thunder, Lightning, and Snowflake were all going to the birthday of their close relative, Rain. They all were excited to go celebrate their cousin's birthday, but their mother, Cloud, was sick and could not go. As such, Snowflake was hesitant to go. "How can I leave my dear mother all home alone and in a terrible state while I go have fun with no worry", she thought to her self. Nevertheless, Thunder and Lightning were adamant that they all go and thus Snowflake tagged along. Despite the festive mod, Snowflake felt more and more guilty about her sick mother. She saw Thunder and Lightning cracking jokes and dancing, acting as if they had no worries in the world. Snowflake could not handle it any longer. She quickly took an Uber back home, and tended to her mother. Thunder and  Lightning, being the party animals of the family, remained at the party until the early hours of morning before they finally came back home. When they arrived, they saw that their mother had mir...

Part B of Indian Fairy Tales is like Part A in that it is a collection of short stories. The short story  How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went out to Dinner is typical like other short stories that explain aspects of life or impart wisdom. Personification is prominent in the story as the Sun, Moon, Wind, and Star are all portrayed as living characters. However, they are not presented as humans and still retain some of their celestial and Earthly qualities. Additionally, characters such as Lightning and Thunder are personified. The overall message of the story is to present how each of the celestial bodies and Wind acquired the characteristics that make them what they are known as today. Overall, the Sun and Wind are shaped to be greedy and unjust characters with no regard to their mother, the Star. On the other the hand, the Moon is shaped to be the justly and good one. While the story explains why the sun is scorching, the wind is dry, and the moon cool but bright, it also leaves the rea...

The Indian Fairy Tales are similar to the Jewish Fairy Tales I read last week in that they are a short collection of short stories. Like many short stories and fairy tales, the purpose is to impart a lesson or some wisdom to the reader which the Indian fairy tales cleverly do. Notably is the story of the T he Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal . This was actually a story that I had read earlier in the semester, and I had already wrote my own retelling of the story. Nevertheless, reading the story again reminded me of the trickery of the jackal in order to outwit the tiger. When analyzing a single story, The Broken Pot was a fun and quick read. The lesson from the story is not to be greedy and not to take advantage of people as the miser's fantasy of becoming rich and exploiting people would be his downfall. Being Indian, I did notice some details in the story that were unique to Indian culture. One example is the use of rupees in the story which is the currency of India. I also no...

Imagine for there to be nothing in existence. It is a difficult prosepct to percieve yet, one day God decided to put forth the world into being. This was a difficult process however. "How shall I create the world and the things that exist upon it?", pondered the mighty Lord himself. The answer was easy. "I shall make man after my own image,: ideal, perfect, and holy", God remarked to his surrounding angels. Thus, with the use of his mighty powers, he created the first man and named him Adam. Yet where would Adam reside, roam, and grow as the first human being? God went busy to work developing and planning his world. He created numerous plants and trees as well as day and night. The work was so long that after six days of creating the world, he had to take rest on the seventh day. Finally, Adam had a world to reside in, but God gave him a special place to live. The Garden of Eden was the epitome of perfection. Rich plants were bountiful, animals lived freely, and wor...

One day a Brahman happened to be walking through the sultry jungles of India. While on his walk through the thick forage, he came upon a tiger stuck in deep hole. The tiger was in much distress and was crying out to the Brahman to help him out. Yet, the tiger's sharp teeth and fierce appearance caused the Brahman to hesitate. The Brahman stood in his tracks and pondered in his thoughts: "Why should I help this tiger? He's only going to attack me when I let him go." However, the tiger started crying, "Oh please please please let me go!". "I'll do anything anything!". The tiger kept on going for a quite a while, and the Brahman began to get annoyed. "Okay tiger, I'll get you out", the Brahman said grudgingly. Using a nearby stick, the Brahman pulled the tiger from its place deep in the Earth. The tiger landed on the ground with a loud thud and immediately grabbed the Brahman onto the ground. "How dumb you are! There is nothing ...