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?

J is for Juliana (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.

CW: Torture

Juliana
England

Juliana is a 9th century Old English epic poem telling the story of St. Juliana of Nicomedia. It is attributed to a poet named Cynewulf. It was preserved almost complete, with only one page missing, and published with comments by Rosemary Woolf. For a modern English translation, I used this site. The introduction to Woolf's edition talks about the linguistic intricacies of the poem as well as the dating, and points out that the poet knowlingly imitated the style of the epic Beowulf. The translator also discusses how the Anglo-Saxon poet changed the saint's existing legend to fashion it more to the taste of his own audience - with villains more evil, characters more black and white, and punishments more severe. Therefore, while the legend itself is not typically Anglo-Saxon, the way of retelling the story is; to the point where the characters are treated as characters from heroic legends. It also uses language that is reminiscent of old sagas.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Juliana, a Christian virgin, refuses to marry a pagan man, therefore she is tortured and eventually killed. However, before her death she fights a devil and beats it into submission.

Young Juliana is promised by her father to a wealthy pagan man named Eleusius, who greatly desires her. She, however, is Christian, wants to stay a virgin, and publicly declares that she would only marry if her suitor was Christian too. Eleusius is angered, and her father gives Juliana over to him to do as he pleases. Eleusius tries to convince her to sacrifice to the pagan gods and marry him. When she repeatedly refuses, he tortures her to get what he wants, but she doesn't break. He then locks her into a cell. 

In prison, a devil visits Juliana disguised as an angel, trying to talk her into avoiding death and torture by giving up her faith. Juliana prays to God, and she is told to grab the devil and make him confess his true nature. So she does. Unfortunately, the actual fights scene is the part that is missing from the folio. But somehow Juliana overcomes the devil, who confesses all the evil he had done before, and also explains his methods of corrupting people, before he begs for mercy.

The next day Juliana is brought up from prison, and she drags the devil along in chains, showing him off before she finally sets him free. Another part is missing, but the point is that they put Juliana on a pyre to burn, however, an angel puts out the flames. They then set a cauldron of lead to boil and throw her in it - but while the splashing lead burns everyone around, she is still unharmed. Eleusius then orders her to be stabbed with a sword.

At this point the devil shows up again, singing mocking songs about Juliana... but as she turns and gives him a look, he panics and flees. Juliana is led to a place of execution where she preaches to the crowds, and accepts her death. Soon after, Eleusius and his people are shipwrecked on an ocean voyage and they all drown. The story ends with an epilogue by the poet who expresses hope that people will recite the song and remember his name.

The highlights

The poem begins with a very effective and epic introduction to the dark times when the emperor persecuted Christians. "Fiend-ship was aroused, heaving up heathen idols and slaying the holy, breaking the book-crafty and burning the chosen, terrifying the champions of God with spear and flame."

I am really sad that we are missing the part where Juliana actually fights the devil. I am sure it was epic. But from later lines we can surmise that she wrestles him, beats him, and binds him in chains - "battle-bold beyond all woman-kind." He also complains later that her treatment is "excessive punishment," and that over centuries no prophets or kings dared to treat him like this.

(World's smalles violin plays in the background)

I also enjoyed the part there the subdued devil tried to explain to Juliana that he was just following orders (given by his father, the King of Hell). "We are sad-minded, frightened in spirit— He is not a merciful lord, but a terrifying prince. If we have not done anything evil, we dare not afterwards come anywhere near his presence." He then describes how he would be tortured if didn't do what he was told (corrupting humans). The part where he describes the psychological warfare against the faithful is also pretty on point.

JULIANA IS A CHRISTIAN SAINT, BUT THIS POEM ECHOES OLD LEGENDS OF WARRIOR-HEROES.

Can you guess what, or who, Juliana is the patron saint of?

I is for Inyan Olugu (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.

Inyan Olugu
Igbo

This is an epic song collected from the Ohafia Igbo of the Cross River are of Nigeria. Officially it is categorized as a historical epic, to distinguish it from longer, more mythical romantic epics. The epic was collected from a master bard named Nna Kaalu Igirigiri in the 1970s. The translation is about 200 lines long.

I read the English translation and analysis of the epic in this book. There is more analysis about Igbo epics, and Inyan Olugu, in this dissertation available online (it also includes two shorter war songs about Inyan Olugu).

What is it about?

TL;DR: Inyan Olugu is shamed because her husband is a coward. So she goes out and takes some heads, intent on giving him the credit for bravery.

Inyan Olugu is married to a man named Itenta Ogbulopia. He is a coward; he refuses to go out on head-hunting raids like the other men (head-hunting is an integral part of this epic tradition; their people are at war with the neighboring Nkalu people, so raids are frequent from both sides). With this, he brings humiliation to himself and to his wife: Inyan Olugu is publicly shamed, and stripped of any valuable clothes and adornments.

Inyan Olugu tries to rectify the situation. She sends her husband out with some brave warriors, and pays them handsome money to take some heads and give them to Itenta Ogbulopia. All he has to do is poke some enemies with his machete, and the other warriors will do the actual head-chopping. But the husband is too afraid to do even that, so he returns with no heads at all, and his reputation as a coward solidified.

Inyan Olugu goes out to pick palm fruit one day - all the way to the forest in Nkalu territory, as if it is no big deal. There, she has an idea. She returns home and tells her husband that he should accompany her to pick palm fruit. Hearing that she is headed to the Nkalu forest, her husband vehemently refuses. Inyan Olugu gets angry, packs up her things, and leaves him. Without a wife to cook for him, Itenta Ogbulopia grows hungry; he begs food from people, but no one is willing to feed a coward. Finally he returns to Inyan Olugu. She gives him an ultimatum: if he accompanies her to pick palm fruit, she'll return to him.

Husband and wife arm themselves with a gun and machetes, and head to the Nkalu forest. Before Itenta climbs a palm tree, he hands the gun to Inyan Olugu, telling her that if she sees any enemies, she should fire it. At the sound of the gun, he promises, they will run for safety, to avoid being killed. Inyan Olugu sits and keeps watch under the palm tree.

The Nkalu people hear the sound of the cutting, and realize there are intruders in their forest. They set out to kill them. However, when they appear, Inyan Olugu shoots four of them, and then tells her husband the real reason for their trip: she was intent on winning some heads for him, so he can return to town victorious. Inyan Olugu wants him to take credit (and carries the basket of heads home for him on her head).

However, when they arrive home, and Itenta is greeted with respect and admiration, he tells the people they should honor Inyan Olugu instead, as "Killer-that-gave-the-honor-to-her-husbad." Inyan Olugu is celebrated as a hero.

The highlights

The moment where Inyan Olugu invities her husband along to the Nkalu forest is a crucial and interesting one: the husband accuses her of wishing for his death so she can marry someone else. He says "you will have to marry someone else in my lifetime", because he would very much rather keep on living.

In one of the war songs (which tell the story in a shorter version), Inyan Olugu kills five men, not four. Once she is done packing the heads in her basket, she calls to her husband "Will you please come down now, so we can go home?" In another war song, it is she alone who brings the gun and weapons along for the trip, instead of the husband handing them to her. But in all versions, it is made clear that she should be celebrated and not her husband.

FUN FACT: The same tradition also has another epic about another female hero, named Nne Mgbaafo. She is known for rescuing her captive husband from the enemy. I couldn't fit that story into this challenge, but it is worth reading.

EPICS CARRY THE VALUES AND TRADITIONS OF THE CULTURES THEY CAME FROM.

But they also carry emotions and human traits that are universal.

Do you see similarities to stories that you are familiar with?

H is for Harman Dali (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 Tale of Crazy Harman
Turkmenistan

This epic (dessan) is part of the larger Turkmen epic cycle Görogly, but it is often performed by epic-tellers as a standalone story, and is extremely popular. Within the cycle, it takes up 134 passages out of 1235. The epic cycle was born among Turkmen tribes in Azerbaijan in the 16th century, but the figure of the central hero is also very popular among the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kurds, Tajiks, Armenians, etc. Görogly is known for leading a band of heroes fighting for freedom against oppressive rulers, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Originally the epic cycle included 44 separate stories. I read the English translation of the story of Harman Dali in this book. It is based on a 1937 recording by an epic-singer named Palwan bagsy (bagsy is the word used for minsters and epic-singers). Palwan bagsy's repertoire included 12 of the original 44 tales, and is one of the most complete recorded versions. The prose translation of Harman Dali was about 60 pages long.

Among epic-singers, the story of Harman Dali is especially well-known and popular, because it highlights the importance of music and musicians. It takes about 5-6 hours to recite (dessan are usually recited and sung with musical accompaniment). The book gives several chapters of cultural context, and also includes three studies about Turkmen wedding ceremonies, initiations, and the cosmology represented in the epic. The introduction collects historical records of bagsy and their performances, which was a fascinating read.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Crazy Harman will only marry a man who defeats her in a music contest or in a fight. Many men die at her hands, until she encounters the famous hero Görogly. She defeats him too but lets him live. Later, an old wise man finally bests her at singing... and helps her find love with his young apprentice.

A rich man named Arslan bey wishes for a son. He marries twelve women. The younges wife eventually gives birth to a girl. Arslan bey celebrates the birth with a great feast, and the baby is named Harman Dali. When she turns seven, she is sent to school; when she is fourteen, matchmakers start coming to ask for her hand. Her father insists that she herself should decide about marriage. She doesn't want an idle or lazy husband, so she asks for her father's promise in writing that she alone can choose her husband. Her father agrees.

Harman Dali asks for money, and sets to work. She has sixty palaces built with gardens, and hires 360 maidservants. Then she announces that she rules her lands, and she is looking for a husband. If a man comes who can defeat her in singing or in fighting, she'll marry him. If not, she'll kill him.

Both bagsy and warriors come in droves to challenge her, but they all lose. After three years, Harman Dali has a minaret built from three hundred heads of defeated suitors. No one is willing to challenge her anymore. She summons fortune-tellers, and asks for their help to find a husband. They are hesitant to give suggestions, worried they would be responsible for more death, so they send her to their mentor, a wise old woman.

The old woman reads Harman Dali's future as sees the hero Görogly in it. Harman Dali sends her to fetch the hero right away (giving her a tulpar, a magic horse). The old woman delivers the message, and Görogly's interest is piqued. However, before leaving to meet Harman, he talks to his wife (he already has one), the fairy woman Agayunus. The wife warns him against going to challenge the famous Crazy Maiden - but she also adds that if he really wants to go, he should wisit the wise Asyk Aydyn first, and study with him for a month.

Görogly doesn't listen. He rides straight to Harman Dali's yurt. She sees him approaching on his magic horse, and immediately notes "he won't make a good husband." He makes a spectacle of himself, riding wildly around. They immediately begin a banter contest in song, in which Görogly demands that she should give him water, and she keeps telling him "get it yourself." Eventually she tells him off and wins the song contest. Görogly at this point is terrified of the woman, but she decides not to kill him, even though he lost, because she was the one who invited him. 

Harman Dali heads back to her palace. Görogly, embarrassed by his loss and angered by her attitude, rides her down and knocks her over. Harman Dali is angered, so she yanks him off the horse and they begin fighting. Harman Dali is better, and she overcomes Görogly repeatedly, but he keeps calling technicalities. Finally she is sitting on his chest with a knife to his throat, but he asks for a musical instrument to sing a song. She allows it. He sings her a love song, and regains his strength in the meantime.

After this, the pair gets into an increasingly... sensual fight scene. Görogly bounces the girl while lying under her. Her dress slips off, and she is slick with sweat. He tries to grab her hair but she moves out of reach. Eventually he touches her between the legs, which surprises her (and she finds that she likes it), and the fight ends. Even though Harman Dali won both challenges, she decides to spare Görogly's life. She tells him that if she ever gets married, he should come back to visit her and she'll spend one night with him. She also teases that she might marry one of his disciples.

Görogly returns home to his wife and pretends that he had a great time. She, however, immediately sees the truth: "Why don't you just say 'a woman defeated me and I ran away so here I am'?" Embarrassed, Görogly decides to return to Harman Dali, taking his disciples Mirim and Gammar with him. He sends Gammar (who is a bit foolish) to Harman Dali's garden, where her maidservants soon capture him. He sings a son, But Harman doesn't like it, and gets him locked up. Next, Mirim goes in. The maidservants capture him too. He also sings a song, but Harman Dali is not pleased. She orders both captives to be killed ("if I don't keep killing someone every week, some vagabond might feel entitled to invade my privacy"). However, Mirim begs her for mercy, and name-drops Görogly. Hearing that name, she spares them. They slink back to Görogly, who realizes he does need help.

Görogly sets out to ask Asyk Aydyn for help. After the old man (115 years old) defeats him in a duel of wits, Görogly becomes his disciple. However, he is kind of lazy for a disciple, and eats a lot. One night, Asyk has a dream about Harman Dali, and asks his disciples to interpret it. They all fail. He asks Görogly too, but the hero insists the dream means they should go on a raiding expedition. When the old master refuses, Görogly throws a fit and goes home.

Asyk has a favorite disciple, a clever young man named Kerem Dali. He interprets the dream correctly and tells Asyk about Harman Dali. The two of them set out to meet her, because Asyk wants her for a wife. When they arrive he sends Kerem Dali ahead, at noon when the maidservants are asleep. He walks into Harman Dali's room, claiming to be a trader. They talk, and she asks him to sing; he sings a song that she really likes, and she feels attracted to him. However, she doesn't want to make things easy. She picks a fight with him.

A wild scene ensues. Kerem runs around the garden, singing a song, tempting her. She chases him down and carries him back to the house. She "sits him on her lap, facing her body, as if she is trying to breastfeed him" and asks him for another song. His song enchants her, and she embraces and kisses her strongly. Eventually Kerem returns to his master, admitting he was defeated. Asyk decides to use magic to defeat Harman Dali.

Master and pupil disguise themselves with magic, and return to the garden, playing thirty-two magical instruments at once. Harman Dali is confused. She decides to go on a pilgrimage to pray. Along the way, Asyk has Kerem dig a shallow gave and he hides in it. When Harman sees Kerem, she challenges him to another duel of song... but instead of the young man, the old master "rises" from his grave and respons to her verses. He wins the contest, and Harman Dali admits she has been defeated. She sets out to her palace, intent on "satisfying" the old man. However, her father sees them approaching, and he grows so angry at his daughter's foolishness (of bringing a "senile old man" home) that he beats all three of them. Harma Dali goes home, embarrassed.

However, Asyk is not willing to let go of the woman he's won. He visits the country's ruled, the padisah in a dream, and scares him so much that the padisah sets out to find him when he wakes up. Once they meet, Asyk demands justice, saying that Harman Dali has made a vow to marry the one who can defeat her. The padisah pays a visit to Arslan bey. While being feasted, he demands entertainmen from the "old bagsy that sits outside." Arslan bey refuses - but then the padisah demands thirty-six years of back taxes from him. Arslan bey changes his mind real quick. In fact, he is so desperate to fetch the old man that he gives Asyk a piggyback ride.

Asyk sings about his victory over Harman Dali, and the padisah convinces Arslan bey to give his daughter away, as promised. Then in turn Asyk gives Harman to Kerem as a wife, with all her riches, which makes her very happy. They go to Kerem's homeland, had a huge wedding, and Harman Dali builds herself a palace and 360 houses, hiring 360 servants. She "lives a pleasant life."

Meanwhile, Görogly hears about Harman Dali getting married. He sets out with his best friend to meet her and collect on her promise. He visits Kerem's father under the guise of having his dutar (musical instrument) repaired. He drugs the entire household, and visits Harman Dali in her palace at night. They have a singing contest, bantering with each other. Harman Dali lets Görogly win on purpose. They sleep together. After that Harman Dali tells him to leave and never come back.

On his way out Görogly kidnaps one of Kerem's sisters. Her father rides after them, but fails to recover her, and Görogly gives the girl to his best friend Köse as a wife. At the wedding, he sings about his adventures with Crazy Harman.

The highlights

Apparently, the number of Arslan bey's wives was decided by dice roll.

I liked how Harman Dali was a fierce woman, but she was not forced into the concept of marriage. Many times a "defeating the warrior maiden" trope actually includes shameful defeat by a stronger male hero (or cheating). I was delighted that in this case, she was very much a consenting party in the whole thing. To the fortune-tellers she says "I am seventeen years old, and I have tried everything. There is no dish I haven't tasted, no weapon I haven't used, not a single thing I haven't experienced. However, I haven't yet known the joys of marriage." Similarly, the sensual scene where Kerem sat on her lap and sang his song was quite lovely. She threatened to kill him, but he inhaled her "scent of musk, saffron and other herbs" and thought to himself "if I die in Harman Dali's soft lap, I won't be sorry." The song he sings is tempting, and it has a refrain of "if I take you you'll kill me, if not I'll die alone."

The best line, however, was the one describing Harman Dali and Görogly lying together in bed after having sex: "They lay on the eiderdown like a dried and shrunken Kazakh melon."

I also enjoyed the playful banter and relationship between Harman Dali and the wise old woman. Harman paid her for her services, and the old woman kept asking for more gifts, pretending to be old and frail, while they both knew she was being coy. In the end, she did say "I am not just helping you for the money; I do it out of motherly duty." She was also quite sassy with Görogly, calling him out on his white lies. When she returned to Harman Dali, and she wanted her to stay to mediate the encounter with Görogly, the wise woman firmly said no (not willing to get involved in that mess) and left. She was quite the character.

There was a lot of other great banter throughout this story, and Harman Dali usually expressed herself in no uncertain terms. Görogly tried to ask for a kiss once their fight was over, but she just said "Get up and leave. I already made you a promise. If you don't like it, I'll kill you. End of story!"

I greatly enjoyed the scene where the maidservants chased Mirim around the garden. They were described as "well-fed, strong girls", wearing only long bluses with their hair undone, chasing Mirim as he zigzagged through the garden. The storyteller noted that "three hundred and sixty is not a small number". Eventually they cornered him, "poked and prodded him", then lifted him and carried him off. It was a fun scene.

I was also amused by the scene where the 360 disciples tried to interpret the dream about Harman Dali. There were funny solutions they brought up, like "now is a good time to buy oxen" and "you should sow sesame." The whole thing was poking fun of dream interpretation.

THIS EPIC IS QUITE FUNNY, SASSY, AND SEX-POSITIVE.

I keep wondering if it would be fun to adapt this into a novel, or a movie, or something else... What do you think?

G is for Grottasǫngr (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.

Grottasǫngr
Iceland

This story (in prose and poetic form) is part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, and even though it is short, it is rich in detail and influence. The title translates into The Song of Grotti - Grotti being the magical mill at the center of the plot. However, the real protagonists are the two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, who are turning the stone, and singing the song. The manuscripts it is preserved in date from the 13th and 14th centuries, but the song was likely composed in the 12th, under Danish influence. The translation I read (by Clive Tolley) comes with a lengthy introduction and detailed footnotes, which added a lot of interesting detail to the actual text.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Danish king Frodi enslaves two giantesses to turn a giant magical mill that grinds out riches. When he doesn't let them rest, the giantesses use magic to take revenge.

Snorri's prose version: Two large millstones are found in Denmark during the reign of King Frodi. They are so heavy that no one can turn them. Frodi travels to Sweden to visit the neighboring king, and acquires two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, as slaves. When he returns with them, he orders them to turn the millstones. The mill is so large that both girls are needed to turn it, and it can produce whatever is asked. The giantesses grind out large quantities of gold, peace, and prosperity for Frodi's kingdom. This era of peace and prosperity coincides with Augustus' "golden age" and therefore the lifetime of Christ. However, overtaken by greed, the king doesn't let Fenja and Menja rest at all. Eventually they grow spiteful, put everyone to sleep with a spell, and start singing their own song, grinding out strife and an invading army. Frodi's reign is toppled by a sea-king called Mysingr, who takes the mill on his ship. He orders the giantesses to grind salt for him (which is very valuable). However, weighed down by salt, the ship sinks, and the mill goes to the bottom of the ocean - where it is still grinding salt today.

The song itself: Fenja and Menja sing their story of becoming enslaved to the king, even though they are giantesses, and possess the ability of far-sight (clairvoyance). Frodi does not let them rest longer than "the cuckoo stops singing" - or, barely at all. They sing of their ancestry the king doesn't know of (they are related to several famous giants in Norse mythology), their childhood being raised underground - and they also reveal they were the ones who tore the large millstones from the mountain and tossed them down for humans to find. They sing about going to battle, toppling princes, winning wars. Eventually they sing Frodi's demise into existence, not deterred by the bloodshed they are causing.

The highlights

It was interesting to read in the introduction that the figure of King Frodi is actually a composite of two characters: one a prosperous, peaceful king (possibly a former fertility god), and the other a historical tyrant brought down by sea raiders. This accounts for the two halves of the story.

It is also a really interesting point that Frodi's eventual downfall is brought about by not investigating who his new slaves really were, or what they were capable of. The song states "you picked them for strength and appearances / but as to their ancestry you asked no question". Underestimating the mighty women is his fatal mistake.

The Introduction connects the song to ATU tale type 565, The magic mill, which appears in a whole lot of folktales explaining why the sea is salt. According to the research, this might have been tacked onto the Grottasongr at a later date, as it is not an integral part; Frodi's reign originally ends with Grotti shattering. Which I think is a pretty apt ending.

The notes of the translator raise the possibility of the human (Hengikjoptr) who found the millstones and gave them to Frodi actually being Odin in disguise. The gift being a test and a trick would be in alignment with an incognito god. It is also suggested that, since the giantesses had foresight, they might have intentionally put themselves in Frodi's power to eventually bring about his downfall. I kind of like that reading of the story.

The long-lasting reach of the story was illustrated by a list of kennings (metaphors) for gold in other sagas, all referencing Grottasongr in some way ("Fenja's grinding", "Frodi's seed", "flour of the joyless bondwomen" etc.). It was also fascinating to read how Fenja and Menja survived as witches in Orkney legends, and Grotti serves as the origin story of a whirlpool in the Pentland Firth.

THIS IS ONE OF THE LESSER KNOWN STORIES OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY.

Have you heard about it before? Which interpretation do you like?

F is for Fatima Al-Amira Dhat Al-Himma (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.

Sirat Al-Amira Dhat Al-Himma
Arabic

This book is the longest English translation of this epic, but it is by far not a complete one. The original epic (sira) - the only Arabic epic named for a woman - is the longest in this tradition, and in the original it fills 7 volumes (more than 5000 pages). The events take place in the 7th to 9th centures CE. The epic has been circulating in the oral tradition for centuries, but it was only written down in published in 1909. The oral telling usually took more than a year to complete.

This book contains the translation of 11 episodes out of the 455 in the original Arabic. Which, honestly, is barely enough to whet one's appetite. Especially because the translator admits that she was not trying to do a literal translation. She has taken out "gratuitous violence" and excessively bloody scenes, as well as many religious references. While I get the idea, it did make the text feel stunted at places. It was also strange that the translation used modern slang in some moments, which made the heroes sound badass, but it was also jarring.

The epic of Dhat Al-Himma was usually performed by male tellers. Which is why it is interesting that it has such a prominent female hero - but also a lot of traditional values to bind her within "the anxieties of patriarchal society about women who break the roles of their gender."

What is it about?

TL;DR: Fatima is raised in secret because she was born a girl, and teaches herself how to be a warrior. Through her strength and skill she rises to great power. She is forced into marriage and has a son, but despite her ex-husband's evil schemes, she goes through many adventures and always comes out victorious.

CW: this story includes mentions of sexual violence

It is a cycle of stories following several generations of warriors from the Bani Kilab tribe. This translation introduces us in a short first chapters to Fatima's great-great-grandfather Al-Harith, his son Jundaba, his grandson the romantic poet Sahsah, and Fatima's father Mazlum and his evil brother Zalim. From here, the epic turns to telling Fatima's story.

Zalim and Mazlum agree that whoever has a male child gets to lead the Bani Kilab. Both children are born on the same day: Zalim's son Walid, and Mazlum's daughter Fatima. A sympathetic midwife helps hide the girl's existence, saying instead the newborn was a boy who did not survive. Fatima is raised by servants. When she is still a small child, a neighboing tribe raids the camp and steals the servants, including Fatima. She refuses to cower before her captors, and they send her to herd horses and camels. Fatima teaches herself to ride and fight, covers her face in the custom of noble women, and becomes a self-taught warrior.

Her first heroic act is to kill a man who repeatedly tries to assault her. Since she is a slave, her owner has to pay the blood price for the kill. Fatima promises to reimburse him by raiding a neighboring tribe and taking their wealth. From that day on she becomes a respected warrior of the tribe. One day she ends up raiding the camps of her own father's people, the Bani Kilab. When she captures him, the servant woman who raised her reveals her identity, and Fatima returns to the Bani Kilab, celebrated as a hero, and happily accepted by her father and mother.

Fatima's life takes a turn when her cousin Walid takes an interest in her, and wants to force a marriage at all cost. Zalim and Walid decide that the marriage would not only get Walid a great wife, but they can also "break her", thus destroying her father's standing in the tribe, making Zalim the true leader. Fatima vehemently resists the marriage - she doesn't want to marry at all - and her father supports her decision. However, when the tribes travel to Baghdad to meet the new Abbasid caliph, Walid finds a way to get the caliph's approval of the marriage. Fatima is forced to marry her cousin. 

Meanwhile, the Byzantine armies - also led by warrior women - cross the border into the caliph's lands. Fatima leads an army against them, going through many battles and adventures, and wins herself a fortress, and the highly respected position of a general. She refuses to share a bed with her husband, until Walid manages to pay her best friend to drug her, and he violates her. From this, she has a son, who is born with black skin. They name him Abdelwahhab.

The birth of a black child sends Walid, Zalim and the entire tribe into an uproar, and Fatima is accused of adultery (neither Fatima nor Walid is black). Despite proving her innocence again and again, they eventually travel to Mecca to ask for a ruling from the elders. On the way there, a fearsome warrior takes a liking to Fatima and manages to threaten Walid into divorcing her. In turn, Fatima rejects and kills this new suitor - but at least she is now officially divorced. She raises her son with loving care to be a warrior just as clever and fearless as her.

Offended by the ruling of the elders that Fatima is not at fault, Zalim and Walid decide to cross over to the Byzantine lands, get baptized, and turn on their own people. They take hostage the son of one of Fatima's friends. Fatima sets out to rescue the child; she manages to capture the Byzantine emperor's son and do a hostage exchange. She wins the emperor's respect (and Zalim and Walid's fury), and spends some time in Byzantium, helping them defeat an invading Portuguese army. 

On her way home with the boy and 150 people, she is ambushed by Zalim and Walid's army. They fight a desperate battle on a mountain, rescued in the last moment by a Byzantine prince who saw Fatima in a dream. He even converts to Islam after the battle is done.

After many adventures and a long life of fighting, Fatima and her son resolve to take the pilgrimage to Mecca every year. Eventually, the famous amira passes away on one of these journeys, and is buried in Mecca. Her son dies soon after.

The highlights

There are several memorable adventures in this story. I loved the part about the siege of Amida, a Muslim fortress attacked by the Byzantine army. Among the attackers there is a scholar with an ancient book written by Aristotle that contains information on the fortress' water source. The Byzantine soldiers divert the water and the besieged army almost dies of thirst before they are liberated by Fatima's army. Once the battle is won, they try to fix the water supply - and in the end they find the problem by walking all the way up the empty water channels to the source.

(I loved the moment where the starved and thirsty people inside Amida decided to break out - "even if they kill all of us, at least our animals wil survive.")

I also enjoyed the episode where Fatima takes the Byzantine emperor's armor, and fights a duel in his name - throwing her Portuguese opponent off balance when she accidentally shouts Allahu Akbar! during the fight.

I liked the scenes where Fatima appeared as a tough but loving mother. In one of them, she tested her son's bravery and skill by disguising herself as a bandit and ambushing him on the road. After he defeated her, she revealed herself, and kissed him on the forehead.

One of the translated chapters deals with an adventure later in Fatima's life, when her son Abdelwahhab already has his "Knights of the Round Table" style company of heroes. They are all captured by a warrior princess named Nura. Fatima and her army has to fight a series of duels against Nura's female companions (her lovers), until Abdelwahhab and his friends manage to free themselves from the dungeons of an evil bishop. The whole adventure has excitement and humor, and begs for a movie adaptation. Nura eventually marries Al-Battal, the first male hero she shows interest in. She and their daughter join the team of heroes following Fatima on her adventures.

The last adventure in the book is the most exciting. Fatima, along with all the named cast of the epic, is trapped in a cave during a battle, and they get snowed in. After eating their horses, they explore the caves and find a secret burial chamber. It contains the body of a scholar, and preserved food that keeps them from dying. When things become desperate, they decide to take the scholar's funeral bed apart and build a ladder to try to find a way out. Hidden in the bed they find a tablet that informs them that the scholar had foreseen all this, and has a genie ready to appear and rescue the party. They return, months after being presumed dead, accompanied by an army of djinn just in time to save their warriors from defeat.

(This was the ordeal during which Fatima and Abdelwahhab swore they would take on the pilgrimage every year if they survived.)

THIS WAS A TRULY EPIC STORY.

I wish I could have read more. It sounds like a really cool group of hero characters, both women and men.

Would you read more if you had the chance? Who do we talk to about this? :D

E is for the Epic of Manasa (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.

I know I know, this is a cheap shot for E, but if you have seen how much reshuffling I did with this list, you'd appreciate the effort.

The Triumph of the Snake Goddess
Bengal

First off, the introductory study in the book was titled "Sympathy for the Devi" and I applaud that. (It talks about the origins of serpent worship in India, and especially the role snakes play in the Mahabharata.)

The devi in question is Manasa (also called Padma, Padmavati, or Kamala), a serpent goddess who appears in folk tradition all over the subcontinent, but is especially revered in Bengal. The epics about her emerged from indigenous Bengali oral tradition, and the first recorded versions are from the 15th century. They represent a "snake-eye view" of Hindu mythology, telling popular myths from the perspective of Manasa and her nagas, and their struggle for recognition. Because of this living folk aspect, the gods are also less mighty in these stories - there is a lot of humor, trickery, and imperfection involved in their characters, often bordering on folktale tropes (e.g. evil stepmother). Manasa is worshiped to this day, has her own altars and festivals, and the epics are still performed in her honor.

The book itself is an interesting take on publishing a folk epic: the translator took several versions collected from the oral tradition, and pieced together the various episodes into a cohesive, compound version. The introduction calls it an "uncritical edition" (as opposed to critical editions trying to zero in on one "original" layer of a story). The Manasa epics slightly differ in North, West, and East Bengal, so the translator decided to include some from each region, making the story more detailed.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Manasa is a serpent goddess accidentally born to Shiva. She spends the epic fighting to gain respect and recognizion as a goddess, first among the gods, and then among mortals.

CW: Mentions of sexual abuse.

The epic has two parts: the first takes place in the divine realm, and the second among mortals. 

DIVINE REALM

The divine half begins with creation, and tells the origins of Shiva, his marriage to Chandi and Ganga, and the birth of his sons. It also tells of the origin of snakes, and their emnity against the Garuda bird. Eventually we get to the birth of Manasa (see below). She is raised in the underworld by the sage Kasyapa and hailed as the goddess and queen of all serpents.

Eventually she sets out to meet her father Shiva. At first he doesn't believe she is his daughter, and tries to force her - so Manasa kills him with her venomous gaze. And then brings him back to life. Shiva reconsiders, and brings her home, but in secret, fearing his wives would get jealous. And they do. When he leaves, they discover the girl, and Chandi gets so angry that she beats Manasa senseless and gouges out one of her eyes (she has been one-eyed ever since). Even though Shiva manages to calm her down (after Manasa kills Chandi too, and then brings her back), eventually Chandi insists they should exile Manasa into the wilderness. Shiva does so, but from his tears he creates a sister for Manasa: the clever and loyal Neta. From this point on through the epic, Neta is Manasa's brains, conscience, and PR advisor.

Manasa makes her home on Mount Sijuya, creates a splendid city filled with all kinds of people from all castes, as well as all serpents, and lives her best life. She marries a sage on her father's insistence, but he flees from her on their wedding night, so she raises her son Astika alone. Astika later stops a horrible massacre of snakes in a ritual sacrifice.

During the churning of the ocean of milk (a famous episode in Hindu mythology), Shiva sacrifices himself by drinking the deadly kalkuta poison that emerges from the milk. Manasa shows up to bring him back to life, and the gods entrust her with the poison, since she is the only one powerful enough to handle it. She distributes it among her snakes, and keeps some in her eye.

MORTAL REALM

Manasa eventually decides she wants to be worshiped by mortals, so she descends to the human realm. Neta advises her that if she manages to convert a merchant king named Chand, the rest of mortals will follow. However, Chand just happens to be the most stubborn follower of Shiva, and he absolutely refuses to sacrifice to Manasa. The second half of the epic is a string of disasters and tricks Manasa and Neta devise to make Chand change his mind - by offering boons, by disguise, by converting his wife, by killing his sons and promising to bring them back, etc.

Chand has a secret mantra that keeps him safe and revive the dead. Manasa visits him in disguise, seduces him, and steals this power, making him defenseless. Still, he holds out, regularly calling her a "one-eyed bitch" and taking swings at her with a stick. He hires famous sorcerers who can fight snakes (ojha), but Manasa manages to trick and kill all of them (and then she revives them and adds them to her own household).

It all culminates in the story of Behula and Lakshmindar, an epic within an epic that is still very popular in Bengal. Manasa exiles a heavenly couple to earth to enact Neta's plan. One of them is incarnated as Chand's new son, the other as the princess Behula. Before the baby is born, Manasa tricks Chand into going on a trading mission to Lanka, and puts him through an odyssey for several years, concluding in sinking all of his ships. Chand comes home as a broken beggar, but he still refuses to bow to Manasa.

Meanwhile, Lakshmindar grows up, but he doesn't marry because prophecy says he will die of snakebite on his weddnig night. Manasa then puts him in a positon where he grows infatuated with his aunt, and he assaults the woman. His parents, finding out what he did, decide to get him a wife after all - in the person of 12-year-old Princess Behula. (They don't actually consummate the marriage). On the wedding night they lock the couple in a steel panic room, but a snake still gets in and kills Lakshmindar.

When Lakshmindar's body is set on a raft on the river (as they do to snake bite victims), Behula decides to accompany him, and travel on the raft until she finds a way to bring him back to life. Thus begins her own epic of many encounters and adventures (inlcuding finding out about her husband raping his aunt), until, after 6 months, she convinces Manasa to let her ascend to heaven and dance for the gods. With her dance, she wins a boon, and Manasa brings Lakshmindar back to life. And his brothers, and the ships, etc.

Chand, relieved, finally makes a sacrifice to Manasa, and the epic concludes on a happy note.

The highlights

The introductory study mentioned the fascinating concept of dvesha-bhakti, or devotion through hatred, represented by Chand. The idea is that any strong emotion directed towards a deity is a form of connection with them.

The birth of Manasa is one of the most convoluted I have ever seen in mythology. Basically, Shiva gets aroused by seeing some breast-shaped fruit and has a wet dream, during which he ejaculates. His sperm ends up on a lotus leaf, and a bird eats it, but it burns, so the bird drinks water and throws it up. It then falls onto another lotus, turns into an egg, and from the egg hatches Manasa.

I loved Manasa's personality, because it made for a fascinating story. She is extremely powerful, loves trickery, tends to be quick to anger and holds grudges (Neta often has to hold her back from going from zero to murder immediately). But she can also be convinced to change her mind, she is kind to her followers, and she enjoys life as a goddess very much. I also loved her physical descriptions throughout the epic: she wore a deadly snake as a necklace, rattlesnakes as anklets, snakes in her hair "for a novel coiffure" etc. She decks herself out like this for her wedding night, for example, which is why her husband flees. She doesn't mind.

I also enjoyed Manasa and Neta's duo, and the way they worked together. Manasa was all anger and power, and trickery when needed, but Neta was the one who knew where to topple a domino to get results down the line. At one point, Manasa called her sister "a wonderful scriptwriter". She really was.

Another fascinating character in the epic is Behula herself. At first glance she seems like a meek girl who wants to be "the perfect wife". But she does defend her husband from snakes with a machete on the wedding night - successfully, until she falls asleep. And she goes through a lot of harrowing experiences on the river. She comes back a mature and experienced (and somewhat disillusioned) woman. Also, before the wedding, she obtains the secret mantra from Manasa to bring her husband back from the dead three times - Lakshmindar just wastes all three of them by repeatedly getting heart attacks during the ceremony because he is paranoid and sees snakes everywhere.

One of my favorite moments of humor in the epic was the story of Hussain and Hassan, two Muslim rulers who destroyed Manasa's altars. Manasa sent an army of snakes against them. Defeated, Hassan fled into a haystack, and there he came face to face with a chameleon that just shook its head in a judgmental way. That was the last straw that broke Hassan's pride. (Introduction noted that epic-tellers don't include this episode in the epic anymore, because it would be seen as an attack on the Muslim community) (I just liked the judgmental chameleon).

Another favorite scene was where Manasa sent a cobra to kill Chand's six sons. The ("somewhat matronly female") cobra, however, found all six of them engaged in activities - one was playing board games, one was having sex with his wife, etc. - and felt so sorry for them that she let them live. Eventually, Manasa found another way to kill them, with poisoned food. (The snake she sends before the cobra is "easy-going" and friendly, but manages to bungle the mission by being dumb, and she takes his venom as punishment).

Possibly my favorite episode of the whole epic was the battle between Manasa and Yama. Manasa declared that people killed by snake bite should belong to her, infringing on the territory of the god of the Underworld. When she also claimed two heavenly dancers for her plan, Yama summoned his infernal army to put her in her place - and she responded in kind, with an army of serpents. It is an awesome, epic scene, that concludes with Manasa's victory over death.

The best part about Chand's odyssey was the series of attacks his ships endured from various water creatures - consecutive armies of leeches, cowries, prawns, etc. Another amusing episode was the part where he bartered with the king of Lanka, and introduced him to coconuts for the first time. On the way back Manasa sent Hanuman the monkey king to sink the ships, but Chand had a magic boon that no ship he travels on could be sunk. So, Hanuman got him on a technicality: he knocked him off he ship and then sank it. Another amusing scene ensued here, as Chandi (who took Chand's side, obviously) kept bringing up the ships, and Manasa kept sinking them again. The two women went on like this for a while until Shiva intervened.

I was fascinated by the descriptions of rituals that accompanied pregnancies throughout the epic. At five months pregnant, women were ritually fed five sweet things (yoghurt, milk, ghee, sugar, honey), and at nine months "they went through the ritual of eating whatever they craved." Children were ritually introduced to solid foods at the age of 7 months.

I liked it that characters throughout the epic actually called each other out on a lot of questions that I myself had: "If Manasa is so powerful, why doesn't she cure her own eye?" (Chand, obviously). "What will people think if you keep abandoning the ones that worship you the most?" (Chandi to Shiva).

The intro calls this epic "a rollicking, violent, emotionally charged tale full of utterly unbelievable things and yet making complete sense." It really was.

What do you think of the concept of "uncritical editions"?

D is for the Deity of the Wind and Matabagka (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.

Matabagka searches for the deity of the wind
Talaandig

This is actually a story that is a part of a larger epic cycle called Nalandangan. Nalandangan is the main epic of the Talaandig people who live on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

The story of Matabagka has been translated as part of an MA thesis by Corazon A. Manuel, but the manuscript is "too fragile to browse" (I reached out to the library). I read it in an extensive summary in this book that also includes selected parts of the verse text. It is divided into 10 parts.

What is it about?

TL;DR: When her kingdom is threatened, Matabagka sets out on a quest to steal wind-controlling magic instruments from the enemy. She succeeds at great cost, and wins peace in the end.

The great hero Agyo is warned by his guardian spirit that an enemy is preparing to invade his kingdom, Nalandangan. The enemy's name is Imbununga, and he has power over windstorms, so his victory is assure. Agyo confides in his sister Matabagka, who decides to set out on a quest to save the kingdom. She travels flying on her sulinday hat until she finds Imbununga. However, when she arrives, he forces her to be his wife, and keeps the winds from helping her fly home. His brother sends out people to find her, but they don't succeed.

Matabagka eventually finds out where her husband keeps the instruments that let him control the wind. She drugs him and escapes with them. When Imbununga wakes up, he sends his warriors in pursuit of her, and makes her flying hat land by the sea. She puts up a heroic fight that lasts for days, and kills many people, but eventually she is overwhelmed (but not killed, because Imbununga orders his men not to harm her). Just in that moment her brother's warriors finally catch up to her, and help her escape.

Arriving home, Matabagka tells her story while her family nurses her back to health. Her brother decides to stop the war by negotiating with Imbununga. They all return to the seashore, where Matabagka uses her magic to revive the dead warriors, and returns the wind instruments to her husband. Peace is achieved.

The highlights

Matabagka is described in the story as "a distinct woman... nobody could equal", a "remarkable maiden" because she is courageous and fearless. When she summons the wind to fly, instead of ordering or controlling it like Imbununga does, she addresses and calls it, and it is referred to as her "friend and acquaintance." She flies around, looking for Imbununga until it occurs to her to ask the wind itself for directions - addressing it in as a friend and partner. The wind chides her gently for not asking for directions sooner. I loved this relationship.

At first I was taken aback that the resolution of the story is that Matabagka stays with the man that forced her to marry him. But in the actual text, it seems like she gains respect for him when he refuses to let his warriors harm her, and she agrees with her brother that Imbununga would be a good ally for the kingdom. It was also interesting that the war was resolved by Imbununga taking the warriors' "vigor" away with his wind magic, while Matabagka revived them. So everyone lived, but the energy to fight had gone out of them.

The best line comes from the warriors facing Matabagka in battle, where she wields her knife beheading her attackers: "We are in trouble like a defeated decoy chicken!"

THIS STORY IS A PART OF A LONGER CYCLE, BUT MATABAGKA STILL GETS HER OWN EPIC SONG TO SHINE.

Are there other epic heroines you wish would get their own story?

Alternately: what would your flying instrument be?

C is for Candravati's Ramayana (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.

A woman's Ramayana: Candravati's Bengali epic
Bengal

In the late 16th century in what is now east Bangladesh, a woman named Candravati rewrote the Ramayana. The Ramaya, one of the great epics of India, has had many retellings over the centuries, and yet hers stands out. She wrote it as a distraction from heartbreak. 

Candravati (or Chandravati) was the daughter of a famous Brahmin poet Vamsidasa, and thus well read and educated. Still young, she fell in love with a man, and their marriage was approved and arranged. However, just before the wedding the groom fell for a Muslim girl instead, converted to Islam, and married in secret. When Candravati found out about his betrayal, her heart broke, and she swore off marriage for good, instead devoting herself to Shiva. It was her father who suggested she should occupy her mind by rewriting the Ramayana. So she did. From the point of view of Sita, a woman who unduly suffers hardship and injustice.

(Her lover later repented and came back, but when Candravati refused to see him, he drowned himself in the river.)

Candravati's Ramayana was not preserved in a manuscript; it went into the oral tradition, and it was still sung among the people at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was recorded and reassambled. Women often sang parts of her epic on auspicious occasions such as weddings. Her telling of the story, still distinct after centuries, lived on in the oral tradition because it spoke to women's experiences.

The edition I read was excellent and informative. It has a detailed intro, and also several appendices: summaries of other Ramayanas that influenced Candravati, summaries of her other poems, details on literary parallels, glossaries, sources, and the summary of Candravati's own life as written down by a later poet (Nayancand Ghosa).

What is it about?

TL;DR: A retelling of the Ramayana from Sita's perspective, focusing on the suffering of women and the devastation war brings to innocents.

Candravati's epic is basically a retelling of the Ramayana, entirely from Sita's prespective. She skips the battles and heroics, and focuses on the heroine's suffering and loneliness, and the devastation of war on both sides. She omits several commonly known episodes and scenes, and implements others from various sources.

The story starts with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, and his war against the gods. He plunders the heavens, enslaves the gods, and since they are immortal, he harvests the blood of holy sages to poison them and kill them for good. He entrusts the blood to his wife - however, she is already devastated by her husband consorting with captive goddesses and forgetting about her. She tries to poison herself by drinking the blood, but instead of dying, she gives birth to an egg. Ravana sets the egg afloat on the ocean. A fisherman finds it and delivers it to King Janaka - and from the egg, Sita is born.

Sita is raised as a princess, and in time she marries Rama, prince of Ayodhya. However, he is soon exiled into the wilderness by the scheming of his brother's mother. He is accompanied into exile by Sita and another brother, Lakshmana.

The middle part of the epic is a baromasi, a form of Bengali poetry that recounts events over the course of 12 months, like a poetic calendar. This is how Sita recounts her experience of being exiled, then kidnapped by the demon king Ravana, and rescued by her husband's armies. The account focuses on her suffering and loneliness, only mentioning the war by hearsay.

After the war, Sita and Rama are reunited. However, Rama's evil sister Kukuya decides to sow discord between them. She makes Sita draw a picture of Ravana (even though it's traumatic for her and she says so), and then uses the picture as proof that Sita is "enthralled" by her abductor. Rama thus falls for the idea that his wife was unfaithful while in captivity. He orders Sita to be exiled, five months pregnant, into the wilderness. There she is taken in and protected by the sage Valmiki - the first known author of the Ramayana. She gives birth to twins. However, due to her exile, the entire kingdom falls into ruin, so years later Rama is eventually forced to bring her back. He sets a condition: she has to prove, through trial by fire, that she was faithful all along. Bowing to this last, great injustice, Sita walks into the fire. The River Ganga bursts up from the ground, quells the flames, and the earth goddess Vasumati takes Sita away, leaving Rama and his people to contemplate their actions alone.

Image from here

The highlights

"Instead of glorifying battles, the poem mourns the victims." Even those lost during the fall of Lanka - the wives and children of the demons slain. Compassion in suffering is a running theme throughout the epic, especially the compassion of women. Sita even has compassion for Kukuya, her evil sister-in-law. When Kukuya is burned by the fire she tries to kill Sita with, Sita soothes her injuries. Sita's own mourning and suicidal thoughts in captivity are mitigated by the companionship of the demoness Sarama, Ravana's sister-in-law. Compasson thus transcends the battle lines of good an evil.

Honestly the best character in the epic is Lakshmana, Rama's brother. He cares for the exiled couple deeply and helps them in the wilderness, sacrificing his own comfort. Later on, when tasked with taking Sita into exile, he is the only one who shows compassion for her.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of pregnancy in this epic - how pregnant queens preferred to lie on the cool ground, were constantly sleepy, and craved certain foods.

There is a fun little scene in the story where Sita's twins encounter the monkey king Hanuman in the wilderness, and decide to capture him. Sita recognizes the king who once helped in her rescue from Lanka, and chastises her sons for not treating Hanu well.

I also appreciated the small detail where Sita, abducted by Ravana, tries to fight him off using her jewelry (even though she doesn't succeed).

THIS EPIC PROVES THAT POINT OF VIEW MATTERS.

What other epics would you like to know from a woman's perspective?

B is for Bidasari (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.

Bidasari: Jewel of Malay Muslim culture
Malaysia

The story of Bidasari is one of the most popular epics in Malaysia (it was even turned into a movie in 1965). It is a "romantic syair", almost always written and performed in verse, although it has existed in the oral tradition for long enough to also have prose versions (in the 19th century syair was so popular a storytelling form that even prose stories were retold in verse). These long poems were written down in the early 19th century. Their form is traditionally recognizable, written in specific metre, rhyme, and style - the introduction to the book goes into detail on these.

The book I read presents a Malay-English mirror translation side by side. Translation is also explained in detail in the introduction, since syair texts were created to be performed with music, instead of read in silence. The translation is based on one version of the epic, but occasionally includes stanzas from other versions where the original narrative or wording was fractured or unclear. The English text is translated in prose, focusing on story rather than wording, but the pantun parts - songs embedded in the story to express emotional high points - are translated closer to the original wording. Pantun in performance gave an opportunity to inject more humor and folk art into the story through a minor character (such as a court lady). The book also includes a long study on the different versions of Bidasari, and the forms of oral performance that gave it birth. The translator specifically chose a manuscript that included pantun parts, as well as the side quest of Raja Putra and a more detailed history of the wicked queen.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Basically a Snow White type story, except a lot more elaborate. Young, beautiful maiden is persecuted by jealous queen, falls into a death-like sleep, but the king eventually takes her as a second wife and exiles his wicked first queen.

CW: References of abuse, domestic violence, dubious consent

A warlike garuda bird descends from the heavens and devastates a kingdom. The sultan flees with his wife, who is seven months pregnant. In exile, hiding from the garuda, the queen gives birth to a baby girl on an abandoned boat, with the help of her husband. With a heavy heart they decide to leave the baby behind - wrapped in precious jeweled fabric - and trust her to the will of Allah. The baby is found by a rich merchant named Lela Jauhara. He happily takes her home to his wife, and they name her Siti Bidasari. They place the girl's semangat (soul) in a fish, and they hide the fish in a strong box. They raise Bidasari as their own and she grows up to be a beautiful maiden.

In this other kingdom lives a sultan named Johan Mengindera, with his beloved wife Lela Sari. He dotes on her, madly in love. The queen, however, is insecure, and she keeps asking her husband whether he would take a second wife if he found someone prettier than her. The sultan tries to placate her by saying he would only take a second wife as a friend to her - obviously the queen is not placated. She decides to preemptively order a search, to see if she has a rival to fear. She sends out four of her handmaids to offer bejeweled clothes to young women, and watch closely to see if any of them is beautiful enough to be a threat. The four ladies encounter Bidasari. They immediately see how radiant she is. When she offers to buy the treasures, her mother, the merchant's wife expresses her suspicion, but Bidasari doesn't heed her warning. Her doting father buys her the goods. The four ladies report back to the queen.

The queen orders the ladies to kidnap Bidasari for her. However, the ladies have grown to like the young maiden, and they know their queen is cruel and jealous. They sing Bidasari's praises, trying to convince her not to hurt the girl. The queen resorts to trickery: she declares that she wants to adopt Bidasari as her daughter (she is still almost a child), and has her brought to the palace. Bidasari's parents let her go reluctantly, full of love and worry.

The queen locks Bidasari away in a small cell. She cries alone, distressed, and the queen decides to cover the noise up by punishing her. She beats and abuses her with extreme cruelty. To her husband she says she is just disciplining a servant (to which the king replies with worry that she migh tire herself out too much...). Seven days pass, and Bidasari's parents worry about her. The queen doesn't pass on their gifts and messages. Finally, exhausted by the abuse, Bidasari reveals the secret of her soul-box to the queen, wishing her suffering to end. The queen orders a lady to steal the box for her, and hangs the fish around her own neck, thus stealing Bidasari's life force. The girl falls into a death-like sleep: she is still breathing, but otherwise she appears dead. 

The court ladies take her body back home. Her parents are obviously distressed - especially when her father tries to revive her, and discovers that the box with the fish is gone. However, at night Bidasari wakes up. She tells her parents what happened, then falls into a faint again in the morning. Her father decides to build her a house in the woods to hide her from the queen and other prying eyes. From that day on, Bidasari lives in the house, awake at night and in death-like sleep during the day. Her only companion is a storytelling parrot (who doesn't get as much screen time in this story as it should).

Meanwhile, King Johan has a dream about the moon falling in his lap. It is interpreted as him getting a new wife, even though he resists the idea, claiming the queen is the only one for him. Then he goes on a hunt, and predictably comes across the house in the woods by accident. The parrot tries to ward him off, calling the place a house of spirits and devils, but he enters anyway, and finds Bidasari asleep. He is equal parts stunned by her beauty, and distressed that he can't wake her up. Eventually, he laves. Bidasari wakes up in the evening, and discovers signs of someone having visited her house (her betel had been chewed). She grows scared and worried. The king, on his part, can't help but visit again, and once again finds her asleep. He figures she must be a fairy, only awake at night, and decides to stay after dark.

The scene that follows is intended to be romantic, but for me it made a difficult read. Bidasari wakes up and is scared by the presence of a stranger, who pursues her reletlessly around the house, voicing his longing and lust for her. She curses him and he laughs, he pulls her onto his lap and she tries to break free. She tells him in no uncertain terms to leave, but he doesn't. She even spits in his face. He finally discloses he is the king, but she replies that she is only a daughter of merchants. She weeps, terrified what the queen would do to her if she returned to the palace. She tells him she fears the queen, but he immediately chides her, telling her the queen is above reproach. However, finally, she tells him the whole story of what happened, and he believes her. He is overcome by anger at his wife's wickedness. He returns home, and pretends to be kind to his wife to ascertain that she has the fish around her neck. The next morning he tears the necklace from her, and returns to the woods.

This time, the king intends to marry Bidasari. He meets with the merchant and his wife. In order to keep Bidasari from the queen, he has a fortress built for her in the woods. Eventually Bidasari convinces him to go home and visit his wife. They have an epic fight, and the king basically exiles the queen, telling her she will be provided for and taken care of, but she has to pay for what she had done. At the end of the poem, she is still living alone, "resenting herself above all." (There are other versions, however, where the two are reconciled).

Meanwhile, Bidasari's birth father regains his kingdom, and doesn't cease mourning his lost daughter. The couple has a son, Raja Putra, who grows up and finds out he used to have a sister. He immediately wants to find her. He talks to merchants from all parts of the world, until by chance he encounters a young man who used to be Bidasari's playmate. His name is Sinapati. He recognizes Bidasari's features in the prince. They figure out that Bidasari might be the lost princess, and set out together so that Raja Putra can meet her.

The travelers arrive to Bidasari's fortress where they are greeted with excitement. After some subterfuge, the siblings are reunited. It soon becomes clear that Bidasari is born royalty. Even the queen finds out, and she laments her mistakes (at one point Bidasari talks her husband into visiting the queen again to try to reconcile. "You did jerk her necklace - perhaps you injured her neck!" she claims as an extenuating circumstance). Sinapati is sent as an ambassador with a letter back to the sultan to invite him and his wife to meet their daughter and son-in-law. The whole family is reunited in celebration.

To continue the festivities, the sultan suggests they should all take a trip to the island of Nusa Antara. They set out in decorated yachts and make camp on the island. The men set out to hunt. Raja Putra pursues a deer and comes upon an enchanted pavilion. This is a whole side story where he fights evil demons and rescues a princess named Mandudari. In the end, everyone is married, and everyone lives happily.

The highlights

Image from here

I was touched by the care the merchant and his wife showed Bidasari. When she is taken to the palace, they worry about her. When she is brought back home, they set servants to guard her so she's not taken again, and they sit beside her, warming her and stroking her and hoping she wakes up. They feel guilt that they trusted the court ladies. The epic was very realistic in that she was brought home with bruises and wounds, and her parents immediately knew she had been abused (although they asked "what did you to anger the queen?" first). When she is sent to the woods, her father says "I am not getting rid of you, my darling, I am protecting you from death." Her father regularly visits her in the little house. When the king proposes to Bidasari, they express their worries that the queen might hurt her again. When Bidasari finds out that she is a sultan's daughter, she "clicks her tongue in disapproval" and says "the merchant is my only father." The mother even worries when Bidasari tries to reconcile the king with the queen, saying she is too naive.

It was a touching moment that the king embraced the merchant when they first met, calling him brother. Later on he called him "father to madam Bida". However, the most beutiful moment is when the reunited family retires to sleep on their first day. The queen, Bidasari's birth mother, lies down in bed next to her and tells her the whole story of their exile and wandering. Later on, when they arrive to the island, mother and daughter "dangle their feet" in the water together.

There were a lot of great descriptions of beauty throughout the epic; one of my favorites was "her heels resemble chicken's eggs". At the king's wedding feast, drunken revelry is described as "floral hair pieces drooped over ears."

There was a strong scene where Bidasari woke up the first time, seeing the king's traces in her house. She noted "it  was perhaps the work of evil spirits", because - she argued - if a human had been there, they would have raped her, and if her father had visited, he would have left supplies.

The fight scene between the king and the queen is pretty epic too, feature a lot of choice words and accusations. It is good to see a story like this with the villain being called out on her actions. I also liked it that the prince called his parents out on abandoning his sister for "no good reason". His father described how he was also born in the woods in exile, but nursed in turn and protected from mosquitoes by both his parents. After that, the prince insists they should have done the same for his sister. The king, on the other hand, explains to Bidasari that she can't judge her birth parents for abandoning her, because their life in exile was hard. Later on, when taking their leave, the birth parents tell the king to feel free to "correct" Bidasari if she doesn't behave; "even a beating will bring her no shame." However, the king takes offense and rejects the idea of hurting her.

The description of Bidasari's fortress is pretty epic. It has three levels, and the princess' bower is made of 24 carat gold. The first gate is made of steel, guarded by genies and "corps of cannibal ogres". The second is made of brass, guarded by a cannon and gun post, manned by "mischievous spirits". The third gate is made of silver. The entire fort is lit with shining bezoar stones.

THIS EPIC PRESENTS AN INTERNALTIONALLY FAMILIAR PLOT IN A WHOLE NEW FORM.

What changes do you think result from the details of telling it as an epic? What is it like to look at it from a contemporary perspective?