Q is for Queen Bertha Broadfoot (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Adenet le Roi: Berte Aus Grans Piés 
France

Note: I read this one in Hungarian translation, but it is also available in English.

Alright, so this one is a 13th century chanson de geste, rather than an epic, but it is still a long traditional story about a legendary queen, so it fits the bill. It was written by Adenet le Roi, a court minstrel from Flanders. He has other surviving works as well, but this one is the most famous. He elaborated on an earlier legend, probably from the 12th century. The hero of the story is Bertrada of Laon, also known as Bertha Broadfoot, the mother of King Charlemagne. The story was originally composed in a poetic form, but it also has prose translations.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Hungarian Princess Bertha is replaced by an evil twin on her wedding night, and sent into a ten-year exile until her husband discovers the truth and finds her.

This romance tells the story of Hungarian princess Bertha Broadfoot who marries the French king Pepin the Short (both actual historical people). The princess, daughter of King Florus and Queen Blanchefleur, is accompanied to France by an old servant named Margiste, her cousin Tibert, and Margiste's daughter Aliste who just happens to look exactly like the princess (good one, King Florus). (None of these are Hungarian names). However, Margiste and Aliste have evil designs.

On her wedding day, Margiste speaks to the princess and scares her half to death about how horrible her wedding night will be. Then she helpfully offers to replace her with Aliste. Bertha, being naive and kind, doesn't suspect anything. Aliste takes her place in the king's bed. However, when Bertha shows up to switch back, Aliste pretends Bertha is the servant, cuts herself, and cries murder attempt. The king immediately orders Margiste to get rid of her evil "daughter." Margiste sends Cousin Tibert and some henchmen to the woods to kill Bertha and bring back her heart - very Snow White style. However, in the last minute the henchmen take pity on Bertha and hold Tibert back while she runs away into the wilderness.

Bertha spends a whole day and night in the woods, going through various ordeals, sleeping on the ground, getting battered and injured, fleeing from robbers, bears, etc. She eventually meets a hermit who refuses to help her, but directs her to a lord named Simon who lives nearby. Simon, his wife Constance, and two lovely daughters take Bertha in and treat her kindly. She decides to keep her true identity a secret, and stays with them incognito... for nine and a half years. In that time, she befriends the daughters, teaches them embroidery, and prays a lot.

In the meantime Pepin has two sons with Aliste. She makes a horrible queen, torturing her subjects with backbreaking work and extra taxes, on which she grows rich. Everyone in the kingdom curses "Queen Bertha". Meanwhile in Hungary Queen Blanchefleur has a horrible nightmare and feels something is wrong with her daughter. She sets out to visit her in Paris. On the road she is stunned by how people hate and curse her daughter, and doesn't understand how kind Bertha could be such a horrible queen.

Margiste and her daughter come up with a plan to avoid the queen's arrival: they pretend "Bertha" is sick and can't have visitors. Margiste wants to poison Blanchefleur and even Pepin, but they decide against it. They get away with the plan for two days, but eventually Blanchefleur marches into the queen's room, and immediately knows she's not her daughter. The truth comes out. Margiste, Aliste, and Tibert are brought to justice. Aliste is allowed to retire to a nunnery with her sons, Margiste is burned at the stake, and Tibert is dragged by horses then hanged.

The kingdom rejoices when they find out the evil queen was a fraud. However, no one knows that happened to Bertha and they presume her dead. Even Simon hears the news and asks her, but Bertha denies she is the queen. Pepin gives up the search. Later on, he goes hunting in the forest of Le Mans, and in the woods he runs into Bertha who is exiting a chapel alone. He doesn't recognize her, but he immediately likes her, and as kings do, tries to get her to be his lover. He offers her riches and protection, and then gets more and more aggressive, until poor Bertha reveals she is the queen, to escape being assaulted. He accompanies her back to Simon's, where she immediately denies her claim, saying she lied because she was scared. Pepin leaves.

However, he still suspects Bertha might be his wife. Having been misled once, he sends for Florus and Blanchefleur to come verify her as their daughter. The moment they arrive, Blanchefleur recognizes his daughter and they fall into each other's arms. Everyone is happy, everyone gets rewards, everyone gets knighted and married and such, and we conveniently forget about the attempted assault in the woods. Pepin and Bertha soon have a daughter (the mother of the famous knight Roland), and later on a son, Charlemagne.

The highlights

The Introduction to the translation I read highlights that Adenet le Roi treated the female characters in the story differently from other minstrels: he gave them more personality and character, and more agency too, making them the protagonsists (both heroes and villains) of the story. Apart from presenting psychologically layered characters, he also shows a lot of empathy and social consciousness in his writing, which I think is cool, and not something people would associate with medieval stories.

Maybe it is just me, but I also felt Adenet le Roi was a little tongue-in-cheek about the trials and tribulations of Bertha in the wilderness. While the description of the day she spends alone are vivid and gripping, he does list that she had to do without blankets, bedsheets, pillows, servants, butlers, maids, and carpets... He also mentions multiple times that she spent an entire day in the woods... before spending the next ten years in the care of a wealthy family.

It is also funny to me as a Hungarian person that the "Hungarian princess" part of the story is entirely fictional. Hungary was not even a kingdom yet in Pepin's time, let alone a Christian one, and we never had a king named Florus. The story is basically fan fiction about Queen Bertha, presenting an anachronistic view that resembles the 12th century rather than the 8th.

My favorite character in the story was Queen Blanchefleur. Her journey to Paris, and the people she meets on the way, was a fascinating storyline, as it slowly dawns on her that something is very wrong. When the truth comes out she also has to deal with guilt and grief, since she is the one who sent the villains with Bertha to France. The best scene in the story is where she finally enters her "daughter's" room and realizes it's Aliste in there. She tears off the curtains, flips off the blanket, points out that the queen's feet are much smaller than her daughter's, and when Aliste tries to run, Blanchefleur grabs her by the hair and throws her to the ground, while shouting at the protesting Margiste to shut the hell up.

By the way, there are several theories about why Bertha was historically nicknamed "Broadfoot", from bunions to flat feet. I kinda love it that Adenet le Roi just treats it as fact, and keeps praising her beauty without making caveats. The only time Bertha's large feet are highlighted is when Blachefleur points them out as proof Aliste is an imposter.

I also liked the scene where Bertha returns from the chapel, just after Pepin almost assaulted her. There is a moment there when Simon's daugthers take one look at her and know something is wrong: they can tell she is tense, out of sorts, and she is accompanied by a strange man. They immediately claim her as their own cousin and surround her with protection. (At the end of the story Florus and Blanchefleur have a new baby, and they name her Constance after Simon's kind wife).

Another interesting character in the story is Moran, the only surviving henchman from Bertha's exile. There is a lovely moment where he returns at the end and apologizes to Bertha, weeping, and she forgives him, because in the crucial moment he held Tibert back and saved her life.

IS THIS STORY A ROMANCE OR A TRAGEDY?

I can't help but feel that Bertha didn't really want to go back to her husband in the end. The text is open to various readings and interpretations.

P is for the Pleiades (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

The story of the Mungingee
Ngarrindjeri

This story is a Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal songline, as recorded by David Unaipon and published in 1933. Mungingee (manjingki, muntjingga) is the word they use for the constellation we call the Pleiades. Songlines, or Dreaming tracks, are sacred narratives that trace a route across the land or across the sky, deeply connected to landscape, constellations, and natural phenomena. Songlines carry traditions, such as this story, which is connected to the initiation of adolescent girls. This particular story of the Seven Sisters became especially well known and researched because of its connection of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy, where the Ngarrindjeri community was accused by authorities of inventing traditions (which turned out to be a false and deeply offensive accusation). Stories like this were often passed down in secret not only within the community, but also often only by the women. Interestingly, in the 19th century researchers assumed that the "warrior in the sky" called Mungingee was a man - only later on was it revealed that it is a group of warrior women, the Pleiades.

There are also different songlines associated with the Seven Sisters and feminine initiation. You can read more about Seven Sisters songlines here and here. You can read more about Ngarrindjeri tradition and the fight for recognition (including details about the bridge controversy, and Unaipon's account) in this book and this one.

What is it about?

TL;DR: A group of young girls undergo initiation through a series of trials, proving that they can withstand any suffering through willpower and they can conquer their fears.

A group of seven young girls (yartooka) present themselves to the Elders to take a trial by ordeal and prove that they can submit their own bodies to their will. The Elders put them through a series of tests and trials.

First, the girls live apart from others for three years, only receiving small portions of food in the morning and in the evening. The the Elders take them on a long and harrowing journey through hard terrain and in scorching heat. For three days they travel without any food, controlling their appetite; then they are given meat to see if they can still take an ordinary portion instead of gorging themselves. They succeed. Another series of tests follows, including one tooth knocked out of the mouth of each girl, and their chests being cut with flint knives and the wounds rubbed with stinging ash. At night they are made to sleep alone in the dark in a bed of ants. Their noses are pierced, they are made to lie in a bed of burning cinders.

Once the girls prove that they can withstand any sort of pain, the Elders test them to see if they can control their fear. In the evening around the campire they tell the girls terrifying stories and then leave them alone to sleep, telling them the camping place is over a burial ground. At night, the Elders creep around, making scary noises, but the girls hold out and control their fear.

Once they passed all the tests, the girls are celeberated. People gather, and other young girls also express the desire to be initiated and go through the tests. The Great Spirit lifts the Seven Sisters to the sky and turns them into stars, to guide their people from there.

(Side note: According to the book I read, since the Seven Sisters story was carried by women, it is likely that Unaipon had not heard the full extent of it. It is also likely that the story did not fully reflect the realities of the initiation rites, but rather a mythical narrative that highlighted trials and ordeals.)

The highlights

Image from here

It is hard to find just one highlight in this fascinating story; it was intriguing to follow the repetitions of the girls confirming that they would continue the trials, and that they could control their pain and fear. 

My personal favorite part, as a storyteller, was the trial where they were told scary stories by the Elders, mentioning various terrifying creatures of folklore, and then left alone at night. Using storytelling to make people face their fears is an old tradition. I also liked the statement that the girls made each other brave, going through the hardships together rather than on their own.

COUNTLESS CULTURES HAVE SEEN THE PLEIADES AS A GROUP OF WOMEN.

Have you encountered others that are similar?

O is for Ochi-Bala (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

The epic of Ochi-Bala
Altai

This epic was first recorded in 1949 from Altai master singer Aleksej Grigorevic Kalkin. After that, it was recorded five or six more times (last in 1996) and published; the longest telling contained more than 3400 verses. Kalkin's repertoire contained 42 epics and several folktales, but sadly not all were recorded. He learned his stories from his father, and other elders, when he was still a child, and became a professional singer. He sang his epics accompanied by the topsuur, a stringed instrument.

I was not able to locate a published English translation of this epic (it has been published in Russian). However, with help from my friend Dana Sherry, I managed to contact Bronwen Cleaver, who works in Russia and has translated Ochi-Bala as part of her PhD dissertation. She was gracious and kind enough to send me her translation. I am very grateful to her for the amazing read.

I read about the background of the epic in this book.

Ochi-Bala is often associated with the famous Siberian Ice Maiden.

What is it about?

TL;DR: After an evil khan sends armies to destroy her homeland, warrior maiden Ochi-Bala sets out to kill him. She uses strength, skill, and trickery to defeath the evil khan who is supported by the forces of the Underworld. 

The epic tells the story of the Warrior Maiden Ochi-Bala, and her fight against the evil Kan-Taadyi-Biy, a messenger of Erlik khan (ruler of the Underworld). It begins with two sisters, Ochira-Mandyi and Ochi-Bala living with their people in peace and prosperity in the Altai. The elder sister is great at taking care of her people, while the younger, Ochi-Bala, is an accomplised fighter and hunter (and also a talented singer). Kan-Taadyi-Biy, an evil and vicious ruler who has already conquered seventy kingdoms, sends his son Ak-Dyalaa to conquer the maidens' lands and enslave their people. When Ak-Dyalaa arrives with his armies, Ochira-Mandyi submits to him, but Ochi-Bala, returning from a hunt, challenges the attackers to a fight. Arrows and spears bounce off her, her scream splits mountains, and she devastates the invading army, defeating and killing Ak-Dyalaa. However, his father revives him and sends him back - only to repeat the shameful defeat at the Warrior Maiden's hands.

After the second attack, having lost many people and cattle, Ochi-Bala decides to go to Kan-Taadyi-Biy's lands and make sure he never sends an army again. Before departure, she distills strong alcohol from sixty different kinds of flowers. On the way, she has to face a ferocious blue bull sent by Erlik khan from the Underworld. Ochi-Bala's faithful horse, Ochi-Dyeren, transforms into a red bull and fights it for seven days; in the crucial moment of the duel, Ochi-Bala herself jumps onto the blue bull's back and stabs it to death with her jackknife.

Arriving to her enemy's court, Ochi-Bala doesn't find Kan-Taadyi-Biy at home. Instead, she gets his wife and son drunk, and then disguises herself as a serving maid. She transforms a mountain into her own image as the Maiden Warrior. When the khan arrives, he pushes the "maiden" into the mouth of the Underworld, thinking he is done with her. During the celebration after, Ochi-Bala gets him outrageously drunk, steals the keys of his treasure chest of magic items, takes away his weapons and armor, and kills his guardian beasts. When he wakes up, he finds himself defenseless. Ochi-Bala reveals herself, berates him for his sins, and then cuts off his head. She returns home victorious. Later, she ascends into the sky with her horse, and her sister becomes an earth goddess.

The highlights

I loved it that Ochi-Bala is described as tall and broad-shouldered, to epic proportions (on her back, a herd of fifty stallions could graze, on her shoulder blades, sixty rams could stand). Buff hero lady. I also enjoyed the detailed desrciptions of Ochi-Bala dressing herself in a hero's attire, and arming herself with all kinds of weapons and tools - including a nine-faceted telescope and  nine-bladed pocket knife.

I like the recurring statement that Ochi-Bala makes, that she has never looked for a fight or wanted to conquer other lands, but if someone attacks her people, she will put up a fight to defend them. She is not a conquering hero, she is a protector. After each battle against the invaders, she falls into a deep sleep for several days, and when she wakes up, she has a talk with her sister, about the cost of the fight, and the violence of killing so many people. They don't agree on everything, and yet when Ochi-Bala sets out on her quest, her sister tearfully prepares an epic goodbye meal for her.

There is a winter-spring quality to the emnity of Kan-Taadyi-Biy and Ochi-Bala. His lands are all made of iron, desolate and barren, and he is accompanied by cold rain and storms. She makes flowers bloom and forests spring up and the earth come alive with her songs wherever she goes. My favorite line was "from her melodious song, the needles of the cedars fluffed up."

I also liked it that after killing the evil khan, Ochi-Bala stated that his people and herds were not to blame; she didn't take any spoils, and didn't punish anyone else.

Images from here

OCHI-BALA IS A HERO OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.

She is a match to other supernaturally strong and brave warriors in other cultures, and she is described in detail as such. 

What do you think makes someone a truly epic hero?

N is for the Nítíða Saga (Women's Epcis A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Nítíða Saga
Iceland

This is a 14th century Icelandic riddarasaga ('knight saga') that exists in no fewer than 65 manuscripts, testifying to its popularity. (Apparently riddarasögür are less popular and well-known today than the earlier sagas, which is a pity because they are definitely fun.) In the original text Nítíða is referred to not as queen, but as "maiden-king". There are other similar sagas featuring "maiden-kings", but those usually end in the defeat and humiliation of the maidens, and their submission to marriage - Nítíða, in this regard, is a counter-narrative to those, because she makes her own free choice.

I read Sheryl McDonald's translation and article from here, but there is also a whole book on this saga here. The article came with a short and concise introduction to the story as well as the history of its translation and research.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Nítíða, the maiden-king of France, manages to repel (and/or kill) a whole host of unwanted suitors before she falls in love with Prince Liforinus from India and makes her own free choice to marry him.

Nítíða the Famous is the queen (maiden-king) of France who rules in Paris. She is known for her beauty and her intellect. One day she decides to visit her foster-mother Egidía in Apulia. While there, she tells her foster-mother that she would like to travel to the North Pole, to a magical island called Visio, where the great magician Virgilius lives. She takes her foster-brother Hléskjöldur along for the journey. They arrive to Virgilius' island and the queen basically robs the place, taking four magic stones, a vessel that lets her see the entire world, and various magic apples and herbs. Virgilius sends ships after them, but Nítíða uses the stones to render their own ship invisible. She happily returns home to France along with her foster-brother.

Ingi, son of the King of Constantinople, sails to Paris on his yearly journey of plundering. Nítíða  invites him to a feast. Ingi asks her to be his wife, promising riches in return. Nítíða turns him down in no uncertain terms, saying her kingdom is richer and greater than his, and anyway she is much better off without men, and she doesn't want to give herself up to any king, thank you very much. Ingi goes on plundering, and hires a sorcerer named Fox-Stone to get him Nítíða as a wife. They sneak into the queen's palace under the cover of a cloak of invisibility, and kidnap her, sailing straight back to Constantinople. A wedding is prepared. But when Nítíða is being escorted to the wedding chambers by Ingi's sister, she suggests they stop and gaze at the sky to read the stars. She takes out one of her magic stones, and uses it to fly up and out of their reach. She returns home to France.

The next summer Ingi goes plundering again, plotting revenge for the humiliation. He hires another sorcerer, named Sly-Fox, to get Nítíða for him. The maiden-king sees him coming, and prepares a trick. She dresses up a bondwoman as herself, using magic to glamour her, and she makes herself invisible. Ingi appears, kidnaps the woman, and this time he succeeds in taking her home to Constaniople and marrying her. However, after a month, his sister begins to suspect that the wife is not the actual Nítíða. She has a conversation with the woman, and she confesses the truth (she misses her husband and children). Angry and humiliated, Ingi chases her away.

Meanwhile, the sons of the king of Serkland hear about Ingi's humiliation, and they decide to sail to France to try their own luck. Meanwhile, Nítíða is preparing for the next invasion, having his trusted smith Ypolitus construct a trap door at her chamber a glass dome over the gates. When the princes arrive, they send a message that she should marry one of them, or otherwise they'll plunder her lands. Nítíða replies by telling them she wants to talk to the each separately, so she can make her choice. The next dawn, Prince Vélogi goes to the castle, but he is trapped by the glass dome with his men, and attacked by Hléskjöldur. They all die. Soon after the other brother, Prince Heiðarlogi is invitied - but he is lured by all his men into the ditch under the trap door and also killed. Nítíða's soldiers then chase the rest of the raiders away.

Meanwhile a prince called Liforinus from India finds out about Nítíða and decides to win her as his wife. He enlists the help of a dwarf who knows magic. When he lands in France, Nítíða (who foresees his arrival with her stones) invites him to a feast. The dwarf gives Liforinus a gold ring, instructing him to touch it to Nítíða's neck to capture her. With the magic of the ring he grabs her, and while all her men are stuck to their seats, spirits her away to his ship and then back to India. There the maiden-king befriends the prince's sister Sýjalín. Soon she uses her magic stone to fly the both of them back to Paris, where the two women become inseparable.

Meanwhile Soldán, the King of Serkland finds out about the death of his sons, and brings an army to France for revenge. Nítíða sends out her foster-brother with her own army to meet them in naval battle. King Soldán seems to be winning when Liforinus makes a surprise appearance and joins the battle. He kills King Soldán, and saves Hléskjöldur who is severely wounded. He takes Hléskjöldur back to India and once he is healed, sends him home to France with ships and gifts and well-wishes. 

Liforinus himself goes on another plundering voyage, and stops to visit his aunt Alduria, queen of Småland. She sees that he is sad and finds out he still longs for the maiden-king. She gives him a ring that helps him disguise himself. In the autumn Liforinus arrives to Nítíða's court as Eskilvarður, prince of Mundia. He spends the winter with her. She judges him wise and entertaining, and they spend a lot of time in conversation, and with the young man playing music and reciting poetry for her.

When spring comes, Nítíða invites her guest to show him and look over the whole world through the magic mirror. She makes playful comments about Prince Liforinus being nowhere to be seen, until she reveals the truth: "Liforinus, remove your cloak of disguise." It turns out that she had known all this time who he really was. She organizes a large feast, and Liforinus officially proposes to her. Her foster-brother supports the suitor, and so do her counselors. A wedding is arranged for autumn.

Meanwhile Ingi finds out the maiden-king is marrying someone else, and he grows angry, bringing an army to France. Liforinus rides out to battle him. Eventually the two leaders arrange a single combat. When they are both wounded, they go to bed to heal their wounds. Liforinus courteously sends his sister Sýjalín to Ingi to tend to him, and the two fall in love. Thus, the war ends, and Ingi joins the family, engaged to the Indian princess. To round out the wedding lineup, Listalín, Ingi's sister is betrothed to Hléskjöldur. They all live happily ever after.

The highlights

Image from here

I loved the opening description of Nítíða's intellect: "She was as endowed with knowledge as the wisest scholar, and, surpassing other people’s intelligence, she could make the strongest castlewall with her own intellect, and thus outmaneuvre others’ plans; and she knew ten answers when others knew one." 

Another detail that I really liked was the maiden-king's relationship with her foster brother.Hléskjöldur was by her side in all her plans and adventures, and he was the one who saw the potential in Liforinus as a good match for her. He came off as a brave, caring supporting character, and I was glad he got his own happy ending.

I really enjoyed the fact that the story allowed the maiden-king to actually grow to like Liforinus. The text says he "frequently came to the queen because he was good at playing the harp and all musical instruments, and he was able to say something about every country. The queen took the greatest delight in his company." The playful way she revealed that she had known him all along was surprisingly endearing, and also felt like a modern twist on an old trope. Women often get cheated by disguise like this in folklore, but the fact that she knew what was happening gives her all the agency in choosing her husband.

Side note: honestly, the description of devotion between Sýjalín and Nítíða bordered on queer. After flying back to France together, the maiden-king "set her in the high-seat next to herself, both of them drinking from one cup, and she parted from her neither in sleep nor during meals." It did occur to me that this part would lend itself well to a queer retelling of this story very well. Later on, when King Soldán makes an appearance, the women are gazing into the magic mirror together, making plans.

THIS SAGA SOUNDS LIKE A "FEMINIST TAKE" ON AN OLD TROPE, AND YET IT IS 700 YEARS OLD.

I wonder why it is not more well-known among modern retellings today...?

M is for the Manimekalai (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Manimekalai
Tamil

This is one of the five great Tamil epics, consisting of almost 5000 lines. It is a sequel (or parallel story) to the Silappadikaram, which will be featured later this month.

Tradition holds that it was composed sometime in the 2nd century. The story goes that a prince named Ilanko Atikal was foretold to become king, but he rejected the throne in favor of his beloved older brother. The brothers agreed to write an epic each - Ilanko wrote the Silappadikaram, and Sattanar wrote the Manimekalai. 

I read this translation. It is a free rendering of the original verse text by famous Tamil novelist A. Madhavaiah, with some parts that are closely translated. The original thirty chapters of the epic were combined into twenty, leaving out some lengthy parts about religious debates.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Manimekalai, raised to be the best dancer-actress in the world, abandonds wordly desires and becomes a devout follower of the Buddha.

Our story begins in the Chola kingdom, in the flourishing capital city of Poompukar at the mouth of the river Kaveri. A rich merchant's son named Kovalan marries his sweetheart Kannaki. (I'm not going to repeat their story here because that's what the S post will be about). Kovalan falls in love with a courtesan named Madhavi on the side, and has a daughter with her. They name the baby Manimekalai, after the sea goddess who is patroness of the city.

Manimekalai is trained as a dancer-courtesan from an early age, by her grandmother Chitrapathi, who wants a great career for her. Kovalan in the meantime abandons this family and returns to his original wife. Stuff happens, and Kovalan dies an unjust death. When news of his demise reach the family, Manimekalai and Madhavi are devastated. The mother puts on a widow's dress and joins a Buddhist monastery. Manimekalai, now a great and accomplished dancer, has no taste for her profession, so instead she joins her mother at the monastery too.

Some time later, a great festival in honor of Indra is proclaimed in the city. Madhavi's mother sends a friend to beg the famous dancer to return to her work along with her daughter. Madhavi refuses, calling herself a widow in grief, and calling Manimekalai daughter of the now-deified, perfect Kannaki. Then she sends out Manimekalai to bring fresh flowers, to make garlands for the festivities.

A woman named Suthamathi advises Manimekalai to go to a special garden for flowers. She claims many of the city's gardens are dangerous for a beautiful young woman, so she accompanies her to a place named Upavanam. While they are picking flowers, the prince Udhaya-kumaran, who has long had his sight set on Manimekalai, shows up to court her. She locks herself in a sacred crystal chamber, while Suthamathi tries to talk the prince out of his intentions, citing Buddhist teachings of the impermanence of beauty and desire. The prince eventually leaves, but doesn't give up.

In that moment, Manimekala-Devi, guardian goddess of Manimekalai, makes an appearance. She warns the two women that the prince is still loitering nearby, and tells them to flee through a back alley to a burning-ground (which is a terrifying place full of demons). While sleeping there in hiding, Manimekalai is lifted by the goddess and transported to the sacred island of Manipallavam, where she is destined to learn about her past life.

On the island, Manimekalai sees the crystal throne of the Buddha, and its magic powers allow her to remember her past life. She learns that she used to be a princess, married to a prince. When he died of snakebite, she followed him into the funeral pyre. Her good deeds in her past will help her achieve enlightenment and abandon the cycle of rebirths. Her husband was reborn as the current prince, but she can't return to him because that would distract her from her fate. Her sisters were reborn as Madhavi and Suthamathi. The goddess then teaches Manimekalai how to fly, change her shape, and conquer hunger, so she can go out into the world and spread the message of the Buddha.

Manimekalai also receives a magical bowl on the island, one that has never-ending supplies of rice, if held in the hands of a compassionate person. With that, she returns home to her mother and Suthamathi, and tells them about their past lives. Dressing up in the garb of a Buddhist nun, she sets out to beg alms for the bowl. The first gift comes from a woman named Athirai (who has her own story about how faithful she is). After that, Manimekalai starts feeding the poor from the magic vessel.

Chitrapathi, Manimekalai's grandmother, is outraged at the girl's behavior. She thinks it is unbefitting for a trained dancer-courtesan to mourn one lover, or abandon her profession for religion. She decides that she will make Manimekalai abandon the foolish quest of purity, and choose the prince instead. She goes to see the prince and tells him where Manimekalai is, encouraging him to pursue her. The prince does, but Manimekalai tells him she is bound for a life of chastity, and then, magically changing her shape, manages to escape him. She continues her work disguised as the gandharva woman Kayachandika.

Manimekalai visits a prison and feeds the prisoners. It is reported to the King who summons her, in awe of her work, and offers her a boon. Manimekalai asks him to abolish the prison, and transform it into a Home of Mercy, where people can be fed and cared for.

The prince doesn't give up. Suspecting who she really is, he keeps visiting, and she keeps trying to explain to him the vanity of mortal life. Meanwhile, Kayachandika's husband comes seeking his wife, and when he sees "her" talking to the prince, becomes jealous, and kills the prince. The queen, furious at Manimekalai for her son's death, tries to get rid of her in multiple ways, but Manimekalai always survives due to her magic powers. Eventually, the queen apologizes. Manimekalai teaches the court about Buddhism, then  decides to leave the city, because she doesn't want to be looked at as the woman who caused the death of the prince.

Manimekalai returns to the sacred island, along with a king who is a reincarnation of the man who first owned the magic bowl. She there finds out that her home city has been devoured by the sea on Manimekala-Devi's command, because the king (due to an elabroate prelude of karma) neglected Indra's festival. Aravana, Madhevi and Suthamathi all survived.

Manimekalai heads to the kingdom of Vanji, where she visits the temple of the deified Kannaki, whom she regards as her mother. Kannaki tells her about the fate of her father. Manimekalai then visits ten different religious schools, hearing their teachings, but she is not satisfied with any of them. She travels on to the city of Kanchi, which is devastated by famine, and feeds all the people. The sage Aravana and her mother and friend find her there, and she can finally learn more about Buddhism from the sage.

Manimekalai lives the rest of her life in peace, serving people in need. It is foretold that eventually she will be reborn as the foremost discipline of the Buddha, and attain enlightenment.

The highlights

This epic is a master class in evocative descriptions. It was fascinating to read of what being a "dancer-actress" entailed, listed by Madhavi's friend. Apart from the arts, etiquette, and beauty, it also included learning and sciences. I also enjoyed Suthamathi's description of the city's various luscious gardens and their magical properties; Manimekala-Devi's description of the horrifying burial grounds, or the narrator detailing the sounds and activities of the capital city at night.

A story within a story, Suthamathi's own tale of adventures and conversion to Buddhism was very interesting. She was kidnapped by a gandharva and became his lover for a while. After, even though she was tainted, her Brahman father sought her out and supported her, until he became the victim of an accident. While others turned from them, a Buddhist teacher cared for them, and taught Suthamathi his beliefs.

Another story within a story was the tale of the burning-ground told by Manimekala-Devi. It was rich in detail and very dark and scary in descriptions. It also had a message of "no one can avoid their fate", telling of a mother who summoned all the gods and powers of the universe to bring her son back to life, just to be told by all of them that they had no power over death.

The story of Aputhra, the first owner of the magic bowl, was also memorable. He was an abandoned baby fed by a cow and adopted by a Brahman; when he later defended a cow from sacrifice, he got into a heated religious debate about animal sacrifices, and ended up expelled as a beggar. However, he was so kind and selfless, feeding people ever poorer than him, that the Goddess of Learning blessed him with the magic bowl. He later placed it in a lake, hoping it would find a new owner worthy of it - which is how the bowl came to Manimekalai.

Among the poor fed from the magic vessel was a gandharva woman named Kayachandika, who was cursed with eternal hunger. She told her own story of making a mistake, losing her magic powers, and being abandoned by her husband; the food from the bowl cured her condition. Later, Manimekalai wore her likeness when she wanted to disguise herself.

I also like the moment where someone asked Manimekalai who she was, and she answered "depends on which birth you are talking about." The sage Aravana who educated her also had a good line about reincarnation: "Like actors appearing on stage in a different costume." He was also the one who noted one of the key thoughts of the epic: "To relieve hunger is the highest charity."

THIS EPIC IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS AN ANTI-LOVE STORY.

At the same time, it revolves around a kind, compassionate, and determined young woman who follows her own path. It it also an elaborate tapestry of interwoven stories.

What resonates with you the most?

L is for Long-Fingered-Woman (Women's Epcis A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Song of Spider Goddess
Ainu

This story is an epic song collected from the Hokkaido Ainu at the beginning of the 20th century. It was told by a woman named Hiraga Etenoa in 1932; she was one of the most talented epic-singers on record (see picture below). 

These epic songs were traditionally recited in first person, whether they spoke about gods or by humans - a shamanistic tradition where spirits spoke through the mouth of the tellers. The epic songs were first collected at a time when Ainu culture and tradition were quickly being erased. While the Ainu have been under Japanese rule since the 17th century, their language is wholly independent from Japanese, and their traditions were passed down orally through the generations. The traditions were first collected at the end of the 19th century. Some of the best epic reciters and informants were women, who kept the tradition alive during the decline of culture. Shamans were also almost always women. Epics were sung at the fireside on winter nights. 

The Spider Goddess is known among the Ainu as Ashke-tanne-mat, Long-Fingered-Woman. She is worshiped by women, accompanies female shamans, and is invoked to help with childbirth.

I read the epic from this collection. Two more epics from the same book will be featured later this month!

What is it about?

TL;DR: A mythical version of the Brementown Musicians tale type.

Spider Goddess is sitting at home, doing needlework, when she heards rumbling, and another god appears on his chariot, warning her that Big Demon has fallen in love with her, and he is on his way to visit. Spider Goddess is not bothered by this. When the warning is repeated, she prepares for the visit: she places six of her "helpers" (objects and animals) around the house, then transforms herself into a piece of reed stalk, and hides in the wall of her house.

Big Demon soon pushes into the house, and takes the place at the right of the fireplace, signaling that he considers himself master of the house, not a guest. However, the six helpers soon spring to action: Chestnut Boy, hidden in the fireplace, pops and hits him in the eye. He falls, and Thin Needle Boy, hidden in the sitting place, pricks his butt. He stumbles to the window, where Hornet Boy stings his other eye. He looks for water, and Viper Boy bites him on the hand from the water barrel. He stumbles outside, and Pestle Boy falls on his head from the door frame, then Mortar Boy follows at the outer doorway. 

Big Demon flees, rumbling and roaring (symbolically dies). Spider Goddess goes back to her needlework.

The highlights

This story was fairly short, but I loved Spider Goddess' nonchalance through the whole thing. When first warned about the impending visit, she thinks to herself: "Am I a deity with weak powers?" Concluding that she is not, she continues her needlework unbothered.

THIS EPIC SONG FOLLOWS A PLOT THAT ALSO EXISTS IN FOLKTALES.

Have you encountered other spider deities in stories before? What do you think about this one? :)

K is for the Knight named Silence (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Le Romane de Silence
France

This story is a 13th century French chivalric romance, that was discovered in 1911 "in the manor house of a British nobleman in a box marked 'old papers - no value'" (together with some letters from Henry VIII). Apparently it also contains "fourteen endearingly clumsy miniatures" (see one below). It was not published until the 1970s. I read the English translation in this book (which also has the French original). The text is about 6,700 lines long. The author's name is Heldris of Cornwall; this author is otherwise unknown. Some researchers argue that Heldris was possibly a woman, given the themes and morals of the story. In the text, the author claims they translated the story from Latin to French.

American storyteller Dolores Hydock has an amazing stage adaptation of this story, which is where I first encountered Silence. I highly recommend her telling!

What is it about?

TL;DR: In a kingdom where women can't inherit, a count raises his only daughter as a boy named Silence. Silence becomes a knight, but when the king's wife takes a liking to him, he gets caught up in court intrigue and a series of adventures.

CW: Mentions of sexual assault

Note: I am counting this as an epic with a woman hero, even though the protagonist lives as a man for most of the story. Since the male identity is imposed on Silance out of necessity, and once the ban on inheritance is lifted she returns to being a woman, I didn't think it would qualify as a story about being transgender. However, different readings are possible, as the story is definitely open to interpretation.

The story takes place in England in the time of King Evan, who is portrayed as a just and peaceful king. He marries a Norwegian princess named Eufeme. It happens one day in his kingdom that two counts marry twin sisters, and they get into a fight about inheritance, both claiming they had the older sister as a wife. The fight turns into a duel, and they kill each other. This angers the king so much that he declares that no woman in England shall ever inherit again.

Soon after, the king is attacked by a dragon while traveling. It kills thirty of his men. He declares that whoever can kill the dragon shall be a count, and shall have a choice of any woman as his wife. A young man named Cador volunteers; he is secretly in love with a girl named Eufemie, daughter of the count of Cornwall (note the one letter difference). Cador fights and kills the dragon, but he is seriously wounded. Eufemie, who is an accomplished doctor (and "versed in the seven arts") treats his injuries. They are both very much attracted to each other, but - as the narrator notes - they have to "suffer a little, first." What happens is the two lovebirds are both too shy to confess, so they spend several pages pining and suffering and crushing on each other until they finally get together (and do a whole lot of kissing). But all is well in the end, and they get married.

By law, Eufemie can't inherit her father's lands in Cornwall. Rather, her husband can, provided that he has a male heir to hold the land in fiefdom for. Soon after the wedding the old count of Cornwall passes away. The young couple at this point is expecting a baby, and because of the inheritance laws, they decide that whatever the baby is, they will say it is a boy, so that their child will keep their wealth. They only allow one woman to tend to Eufemie, and the baby, while it is a girl, is announced to be a boy. They name the child Silence, and agree that if they ever have a real son, they'll just "turn her back into a girl". They have the baby baptized in haste, the nurse "letting it dangle on purpose" to pretend it's sick, so that the priest won't look too closely. (Genius). From this point on, Silence is referred to as a "he" in the text.

They send baby Silance with his nurse to the woods to a small house on the lands of a friendly senechal. They are the only ones that know Silence's secret, and they swear to keep it, and raise him as a boy. Silence grows up excelling in things boys do. When he is old enough, his father sits him down and explains the plan and the reasoning behind it. Meanwhile, there are long allegorical debates going on between Nature and Nurture, both trying to claim the child and prove they are superior. Silence himself actually understand he is a girl, but he also enjoys the freedom of being able to ride and joust and hunt, and he hates the idea of having to sit in a room and embroider. He "saw, in short, that a man's life was much better than that of a woman." 

When Silence is twelve years old, two minstrels come visiting the senechal's court. Silence spends time with them and is intrigued. He decides to run away with them and learn to be a minstrel - reasoning that if his secret is ever found out, and he can't be a knight anymore, being a minstrel will come in handy. He disguises himself and follows the minstrels, sneaking into a ship to France. When they discover him, they agree to train him, in exchange for him being their servant. Meanwhile, Count Cador at home is devastated, thinking the minstrels abducted his son. Since Silence is nowhere to be found, he orders that all minstrels should be killed if they enter his lands.

Four years pass. Silence grows up, and becomes such a great minstrel that his masters grow jealous and try to kill him. He manages to convince them otherwise, and they part ways. Silence sails back to England. At first they almost arrest him for being a minstrel, but his father the count recognizes him (with the help of a mysterious old man - foreshadowing) in time, and the family is happily reunited. Count Cador lifts the ban on minstrels.

The king hears about Silence's safe return, and summons him to court, making him one of his retainers. Queen Eufeme soon takes a special liking to the boy. One day she manages to stay alone with him while others are out to hunt, and tries her best to seduce Silance, with no uncertain hints (including boobs). Silence politely but firmly refuses her advances. The queen is angered. A few months later she tries again, at first saying she had just been joking, trying to test his loyalty to the king. But then she gets serious again, and when Silence resists, she tears at her own clothes, punches herself and cries for help, telling the king Silence tried to assault her.

King Evan doesn't want to really dishonor such a nice young man as Silence, and he doesn't want anyone to know his wife has been compromised either. To placate his wife, instead he sends Silence to France, to his liege lord the French king's court. He sends a letter of recommendation with him. However, the queen manages to swap out the letters, sending a message instructing the French king to kill the young man on arrival.

The French immediately take a liking to Silence, and the king is shocked by the letter. Instead of following orders, he debates the issue with his ministers, then decides to message Evan for confirmation. The trick comes to light. Evan sends a new letter, praising Silence, and the young man stays in the French court in comfort. When he is almost 18, the French king knights him.

Soon after, a rebellion breaks out in England. Silence returns with a contingent of French knights to save King Evan on the battlefield. He turns out to be an amazing fighter, and the battle is won. However, now that Silence is back, a knight, and a hero, Queen Eufeme makes another attempt at him. When Silence rejects her, she goes to her husband, and this time, the king has had enough. He wants Silence gone, but wants to be sneaky about it. So, the queen comes up with a plan.

Here is where Merlin comes into the story. There is a prophecy that he is living as a wild man, and he can only ever be captured by a woman. The queen suggests they should order Silence to capture Merlin, because he will surely perish in the attempt. 

Joke's on them: Silence is not a man. (Hello, Tolkien.) He meets Merlin in disguise, and learns the trick for taming the wild man himself. With his captured prize he returns to King Evan's court. Everyone turns out to see the famous captive. Merlin laughs at random times, but refuses to explain what he is so amused about. He only speaks when Evan threatens to behead him. Then he reveals all the trickery at hand: that Silence is a woman, that one of the queen's attending nuns us actually a man (and her lover). The king has everyone disrobed, and the truth comes to light. Silence tells her story. 

King Evan declares that since she was such a great knight, women can inherit again. The queen and her lover are executed, and the king takes Silence (dressed as a woman now) as his new wife. The end.

The highlights

Honestly, the biggest highlight of the whole romance is the narrator. Right off the bat, they instruct the reader that "anyone who has them [the pages of this work] should burn them, rather than share them with the kind of people who don't know a good story when they hear one." Best opening ever. Then they move on to a long rant about the state of the world in general, and the avarice of rich people, saying "I really have to let it all out a little, in order to get into the proper frame of mind." They circle back to ranting periodically throughout the romance. For example, when mentioning that in the olden days royal weddings lasted for a year, and now the "avarice of men" has ruined that tradition, they say "I'd really like to kill the bastards who have so abased honor."

The scene of Cador fighting the dragon was very well written; action-packed and descriptive. One of the best dragon fights I have read in epics. In addition, it had nice details such as the dragon being sluggish because it had gorged itself on 30 men... Similarly, the battle where Silence saved the king's life was one hell of an action scene. Best line: "The blade of a Poitevin sword was an unwelcome intruder to a thousand men."

This line: "The more there is mutual consent / the more luxuriantly love grows."

Cador and Eufemie's love story is like a tale within a tale, and it is an adorable one. Two young lovers pining for each other, both being idiots about it, the narrator making snide comments, and then insinuating some spicy situations (almost directly saying their baby was concieved before the wedding). Even when Eufemie gives birth (the text has some very naturalistic descriptions of her suffering during her pregnancy), the count rushes to her bed first, asking how she is (approaching a woman in childbed is against tradition). Honestly, these two are one of the underrated love stories of medieval literature.

The queen's line when Silence refuses her advances: "Are you trying to jack up the price? If you are such an expert at selling yourself dear, you should go into the business." The whole seduction scene, honestly, reads like a gender-bent version of what a woman in a powerless position would have to deal with from a man. If you don't put out, you're a whore. The queen also outright calls Silence homophobic names, claiming he must be queer if he is not aroused by her.

Another suspiciously realistic situation: The fallout from the queen's pretended assault is less of a biblical "Potifar's wife" scene, and more like a realistic reaction of a powerful man to a woman's complaint. While the queen demands Silence's head (and Silence keeps quiet out of a sense of duty), the king decides not to dole out punishment. He literally rolls his eyes. "Just think of it all as a dream, sweetheart. Nothing happened, nothing's wrong, nothing should come of it." 

I absolutely loved that the French king, instead of blindly following cruel orders, double checked to see if the message was indeed real. Good job.

I also liked the shout-out to Arthurian legend: when Silence captures Merlin she tells him she wants him dead, because he got her ancestor - Gorlain, Duke of Cornwall - killed once upon a time. (The husband of Queen Ygraine, mother of Arthur). 

This line, before Merlin's reveal: "He is preparing a sauce so spicy that it will give several people indigestion before nightfall." Hot tea shall be spilled, as they say.

And here are some of the closing lines: 

Master Heldris says here and now

that one should praise a good woman

more than one should blame a bad one.

And I will tell you why:

a woman has less motivation,

provided that she even has the choice,

to be good than to be bad.

READING ALL OF THE ABOVE - WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Was the epic written by a woman or a man?