( IMAGINE Graphic Created with Canva ) I chose the word "imagine" as a base for my acronym because I wanted some last minute motivation going into the end of the semester. The words I chose for the letters in imagine are all positive verbs that are meant to be read as commands. Innovate, motivate, achieve, grow, inspire, nurture, and exceed are all inspiring verbs meant to help motivate people to be the best at what ever they have set out to do.
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I had no idea this feature existed! I will definitely be using Google timer next semester. I find that breaking my studying/homework/writing time into small segments (45 minutes usually) with short breaks in between helps to keep me from getting burned out and tired. I usually use the timer feature of my phone but I like that I can have the Google timer running in another tab on my browser so it is right there where I am working. Google timer is great! ( Alice in Wonderland White Rabbit Created with Giphy )
Well, it is 12:31 AM and the final assignments for this class are due in roughly 12 hours. So in true Erika fashion, I am doing everything at the last minute! I can't really use this post to plan for next week so I am going to use it as more of a reflection. The readings for this week were super fun and I loved getting to learn about Russian fairy tales mostly because of their connection to the Polish folktales used in The Witcher video game and book series that I am a huge nerd for. As for my writing this week I actually really like the storytelling post I wrote this week and I am kinda bummed that it probably won't be read by anyone since this is the end of the semester. But at least I know that it was good. I also revised a creative non-fiction piece for my creative writing class that I am very excited about. For next week, I won't be doing anything for this class since it is over. I also don't have any traditional finals, just 4 papers due on the same day. Oh, joy. ...
( Susa-No-Wo the Serpent from MrPsMythopedia) "The Labors of Yamato - The Dragon" reminiscent of the labors of Hercules from Greek myth Hydra chose this unit because I have a novel idea in the works rooted in East Asian mythology begins with Yamato descending Mt. Fujiyama with the Sacred Sword realizes that Benten the sorcerous did not love him and was using him to retrieve the sacred sword before he could return home to Tacibana the one who loved him he had to confront Benten he goes to their meeting place and sees Benten's golden scales beneath the jade-green water he dives after the siren (Benten) and is swallowed by a giant wave he sinks like a stone he sinks and feels himself being "enveloped in the folds of a loathly serpent" Benten sings her siren song that says she will hold him forever he can only be saved by a beautiful goddess that loves him more than Benten Tacibana in the depths, he begins to hear Tacibana whose...
( Leshen from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) I watch as she wanders through the wood. It is obvious that she is lost and I so wish that I could help! But what can I do? I am the spirit of the wood I know every stone, tree, and creature. I could tell her she is wandering too far from her village. I could tell her the wood is a dangerous place after sunset. I could tell her what monsters lurk in the dark. But alas, in her eyes I am the monster that lurks in the dark. Her people tell stories of my monstrous nature. I am their Leshen. To the humans of the village on the outskirts of my wood, I am a demon creature that feeds on children and kidnaps maidens. If only they knew I am the only thing stopping the real demons from invading their precious home. I am the protector spirit of this forest. I am flesh and bone, wood and earth. My monstrous size is daunting but I am, at my center, a gentle creature. I serve the natural world around me and protect both the wood and village from harm....
"The Soldier and the Vampire" a soldier goes to his native village on furlough stops at his friend the miller's house to visit drinks into the late evening - the sun had set the miller begs him to stay the night so that he does not run into trouble on the way to the village in the dark the soldier refuses and asks why the miller is so worried the miller tells him a great warlock has died and comes back to life after sundown and wreaks havoc the soldier leaves anyway on the way to the village, he sees the warlock near a fire at the foot of his grave sewing boots the soldier stops and asks the warlock what he is doing the warlock asks the soldier why he has come the soldier says to see what he is doing the warlock then invites him to a wedding in the village when they arrive at the wedding the warlock revels and is merry after a while, the warlock becomes angry and chases everyone away he then draws blood into vials from the bride and groom's palms...
(Leshen from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) "The Leshy" I liked this story the most out of this unit because I recognized the Leshy creature's relation to the Leshen monster in The Witcher video game and book series. A leshy or leshen is a humanoid creature that has both animal and plant-like qualities and is usually male animal-like qualities can include antlers like a deer or hooves like a goat tree-like qualities can include horns made from tree branches and leaves attached to the hair or skin of the creature. in this story, a priests daughter goes missing in the woods for 3 years a huntsman and his dog are wandering through the woods and come upon a leshy sitting on a fallen log the leshy looks both old and young and the huntsman notes this in his mind but does not say it out loud the leshy reads his mind and answers that he is old and calls himself the father of the devil the huntsman shoots the leshy in the gut but he does not die immediately drag...
"Seven-Headed Serpent" a modern Greek tale reminiscent of Greek mythology Hydra (multi-headed dragon) Minotaur (sending young people to be eaten) a king sets out on an adventure finds a land inhabited by animals also, rivers flowing with precious stones kills the lions resting near these rivers push inland and come to a talking lake the lake warns them that their king will soon awake and instructs the men to take off their clothes and lay it on a path so that the king may walk on a soft surface the men do so because the lake claims it will save their lives the king awakes and exists his castle with an entourage of animals, walks on the soft surface, demands to know where the clothes came from the men came forward and told their story the king (seven-headed serpent) said that they must send 24 youths from their homeland every year for him to eat as a punishment for daring to set foot on his land men return to their land and bring youths as promised for year...
(Greek Dragon from Dragon Types ) "How the Dragon was Tricked" Greek dragon story tells the story of a clever and handsome young man so handsome that his older brother is jealous older brother ties the youth to a tree in hopes that he will starve to death an old man (with a humped back) driving his flock of sheep passes by the tree and asks why the youth is tied to it tells him he was tied to the tree to straighten out his back tells the old man he will do the same for him is he unties him the old man unties him and the youth quickly ties the old man to the tree and runs off with his sheep meets a horse boy and a driver of oxen on the road and persuades them to go on adventures with him this sets off a series of events in which the youth becomes ever cleverer eventually, the king hears of the youth's exploits and wants to meet him the youth meets the king and the king threatens death because he has broken the law with all of his pranks and t...
(Connla the Fiery Hair from Tooele Transcript Bulletin) "Connla and the Fairy Maiden" Connla the Fiery Hair son of Conn of the Hundred Fights meets a maiden only he can see who professes her love for him and asks him to go away with her plains of the ever living no death, no aging, everyone is happy hillfolk the king and others can hear the maiden but cannot see her Conn calls his druid Coran to cast spells so that the maiden cannot take his son maiden disappears but throws an apple to Connla before she goes after meeting the maiden Connla will not eat or drink anything but the apple regenerates everytime he eats it also will not speak when spoken to overwhelmed with longing for the maiden a month later the maiden visits Connla again on the plain of arcomin Conn asks Connla if he wants to go says he is caught up with longing for the maiden. eventually, Conn agrees and Connla and the fairy maiden cross the sea in her curragh or ...
(Laidly Worm Illustration by Amanda Sartor ) Far away in Bamborough Castle lived a beautiful young maiden. Princess Margaret lived happily with her mother and father, the King and Queen, and her adventuring brother, Childe Wynd. While Childe Wynd was off adventuring their mother tragically died. Princess Margaret and her father mourned her deeply but word never reached Childe Wynd. After her mother’s death, Princess Margaret took over her mother’s queenly duties as her father was still mourning. He was so distraught that he left the castle on a long hunting trip. It was too full of memories. While the King was away, Princess Margaret grew into an even more beautiful young woman and a great leader. She ruled over the castle and surrounding areas with strength, beauty, and grace. But soon, this would change. One evening, in a small clearing in the woods in which he hunted, the King stumbled upon a beautiful maiden. She was all alone in the clearing - her hair shining silve...
Takes place in or around Bamborough Castle King, Queen, Son, Daughter Son - Childe Wynd Daughter - Margaret Childe Wynd leaves to seek fortune mother dies in his absence King mourns wife "long and faithfully" comes across a beautiful woman while out hunting falls in love and makes her his wife sends word home to the castle that he is bringing a new queen Princess Margaret not happy about her mother "being replaced" when her father arrives home she hands over the castle keys dutifully to her stepmother one of the King's knights exclaims that she is "the loveliest of her kind" this upsets the stepmother mutters under her breath "I'll soon put an end to her beauty" this part reminds me a lot of Snow White Stepmother/New Queen noted witch goes to the dungeon to cast a spell "three times three" and "nine times nine" on Princess Margaret note the importance of the number three and mult...
Reading Notes Week 11: Myths & Legends of the Great Plains, Part B, "The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost"
(Owl at Night from Random Thoughts ) "The Indian Who Wrestled a Ghost" - Teton Story I actually read this story at the beginning of the semester and wrote my first story about it. But I was having trouble staying under 1,000 words so it was not added to the blog stream for people to read and comment. this story tells of a young man who goes on the warpath alone he walks for a long while until he comes to a clearing in the woods he hears an owl calling in a lot of Native traditions owls are seen as omens of death foreshadowing he makes camp in the clearing and at midnight he is disturbed by the wailing of a woman crying "my son! my son!" the man covers himself with his blanket and plays dead as the woman approaches the woman lifts his leg and he lets it fall as if he were dead the woman pulls out a rusty knife to cut off his foot he jumps up and scares the woman away when he gets up in the morning he notices a burial scaffold in the clearing and...
Reading Notes Week 11: Myths & Legends of the Great Plains, Part A "The Ghost's Resentment" and "Three Ghost Stories"
"The Ghost's Resentment" A Dakota tale tells the story of a man who warns his father and his father's two friends not to disturb the burial scaffold of a young Dakota man the father does not listen and says that he and his friends will go to the scaffold and cut off pieces of the burial tent to make robes because they have no robes the man asks his wife to fetch him a piece of white clay so that he may cover his skin with it - making himself look like a ghost the woman refuses and tells her husband to let the old men make their robes the man is persistent and she eventually gets the white clay the man whitened his whole body with the clay and went to the burial scaffold took a different route than the old men and traveled faster when he reached the burial scaffold the man climbed in the burial tent to wait for the old men when the old men reached the burial scaffold they decided to smoke a pipe with the deceased before cutting pieces of the tent t...
(Blackfoot Moccasins from crazycrow.com ) There once was a man who had two wives. The man thought his wives were lazy and wicked because his dinner was never cooked when he arrived home from the hunt. He did not recognize all that women had done for the Blackfoot people. The man took his complaint to the village elders in hopes that they would punish his wives. Instead, the chief woman sat him down and instructed him to listen to a story. She began… In the beginning, there were men and there were women, but the men and women did not yet know of each other. He who made us all created women and men separately. The men lived in one village and the women in another. The women and men were made differently. The men were strong and fast while the women were intelligent and cunning. The women were also strong and fast but the men more so. The women were the first to use the piskun - a pen at the foot of a cliff over which the buffalo were induced to jump - they were also knowle...
"The Smart Woman Chief" in this story it says that in the beginning women and men were made separately women were made first and had the most intelligence knew how to tan hides and make good clothing like moccasins were the first to use the piskun (an enclosure on the edge of a cliff that they drove buffalo into so that they would fall off of the cliff and die - a hunting method) men were made second and were not as smart as the women but were physically stronger men and women did not know the other existed for a time lived in separate camps and never saw one another Old Man stopped at a men's camp and stayed there for awhile he was the first to discover women in his wanderings he came across two women herding some buffalo through their piskun over a cliff As Old Man drew closer to the women they became afraid because they did not know what he was - so they played dead when Old Man reached them he thought they were really dead and searched all over t...
"The Wolf Man" Blackfoot werewolf story a man with 2 wives wives are "wicked" do not cook, always away from home, unappreciative of the husband when he brings home meat husband decides to move away from the village in hopes that the wives will cook and do their duties if they have no one to socialize with the women are upset that they aren't near the village - decide to kill the man on a butte where the man usually sits atop a buffalo skull surveying the land the women dig a pit and cover it to camouflage the hole and place the buffalo skull over the pit the man goes to the butte to sit on the skull like he does every night falls into pit stuck in pit and thinks he will starve to death women leave and return to the village pretending to mourn wolves discover man in pit wolves, coyotes, foxes and other night predators decide to dig him out once the man is rescued the wolves invite him to be theri brother an old blind wolf heals the man...