M is for Minority heroes

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

Once again, a very important part of representation - offering stories that feature heroes from minority groups. For this post, I focused on stories where these heroes appear as a minority in their social context - because all too often those are the situations where they are portrayed negatively (think of the "False Bride" fairy tale type, ATU 533, where the real bride is usually blonde and beautiful, while the fake bride is often either black-skinned or a Gypsy - see the illustration on the left). I also focused on ethnic minorities, over other kinds that will be (or have been) represented elsewhere in the challenge.

The clever girl
In this Hungarian Roma version of the well known "clever maiden" folktale type, a Gypsy girl is seen bathing by a king, and he demands to marry her. She first gives a mathematical riddle to the king to solve (he fails to do so), and then solves all the king's riddles, including the classic "come to me not clothed but not naked, walking but not walking, etc." She becomes queen in the end.
I especially like this story because girls, especially girls from marginalized groups, are rarely ever portrayed as, or encouraged to be, good at things like mathematics. By the way, the riddle says: "I am as old as I am. My mother is twice as old as I am. My father is two years older than my mother, and together the three of us are 100 years old!" Can you solve it?
(Hungarian text here)

The stolen bairn and the Sídh
A Scottish folktale about a mother whose baby is taken by the fairies. She goes to search for him, and she is helped by an old Gypsy (not clear if Roma or Traveler) grandmother who instructs her on how to get the baby back.
(You can read this story in Thistle and Thyme)

Antarah
Once again, I am referring back to the Romance of Antar, because while Antar is accepted into his Arab tribe, he is also referred to as a "raven" for being born from a black African (slave) mother.
(I blogged about this epic here)

The King, the Vizier, and the Clever Jew
In this Moroccan Jewish folktale, a jealous vizier tries to turn a king against the Jewish community and the rabbi he respects. The rabbi is tasked with counting the stars in the sky and measuring the water of the ocean. When all seems lost, a drunkard from the community volunteers to give a clever answer to the king, and save his people from punishment.
(This tale type, about counting stars and water, also exists in other cultures.)
(Read the story in this book)

The servant's dream 
A very famous Peruvian folktale, collected by writer José Maria Arguedas. In it, an indigenous servant is humiliated and tortured by his master, who takes enjoyment in his power. In the end, the servant claims he had a prophetic dream about what will happen after death, and the master demands to hear it. The dream portrays the master treated well by angels and covered in honey, and the servant covered in excrement. And then, just when the master is most satisfied with the "prophetic dream," comes the surprise ending: "... and then we were told to lick each other clean."
(If he had a mic, he probably would have dropped it)
(Read the Spanish text here)

Uncle Monday
Florida legend about a powerful medicine man that leads his fellow slaves to freedom, and then turns into a giant alligator that is still said to haunt the swamps in Florida. Sometimes he turns back into a man, and rewards or punishes people according to their deeds.
(Read his story in this book)

The Metlicani and the Gypsy
This folktale from Slovenia tells about a Gypsy sentenced to death for theft who tricks the baronass that sentenced him, and gets away alive. I am including it for two reasons, one, because the story highlights that he stole the goose out of hunger and to provide for his family, and two, because he wins his life and freedom with ingenuity against power.
(Found the English translation in the Journal of the Ohio Folklore Society I/2, 1972)

Coyote and the anthropologist
I am including this story here because it says a lot about the relationship between "researchers" and indigenous communities. According to this story from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, an anthropologist comes across a trapped Coyote (who is a famous indigenous trickster figure) and offers to free it in exchange for money and a long story. Coyote forks over the money and tells a story until the recording tape runs out. But once he is free and away, and the researcher returns home, he discovers that the money turned to leaves and the tape recorder is full of Coyote droppings...
(Read the story, and many other Coyote tales, in this book)

What other stories should I add to this list?

L is for LGBT+ representation

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

This post is an updated version of one that I did a year or so ago, so it might be familiar to some readers.

This is probably one of the most timely (and most discussed) topics in the realm of fairy tales and representation - because it is also one of the most underrepresented, especially in Western culture. For ages, LGBT+ identities were not something one could freely talk about, even in the form of story - and a lot of stories that do hint at them do it in outdated, stereotypical, or outright homo- and transphobic ways.

Before I get to the stories I collected for today, I'd like to give a shout out to storyteller Danielle Bellone, who guest blogged here not long ago about the importance of creating new traditions, and new stories, with the use of fairy tale elements.

Let's see some stories that do present a different perspective. In order to find most of them, we have to step outside the realm of fairy tales.

Same-sex love

Aristophanes' tale of love
Probably one of the most famous examples (courtesy of Gabrielle from Xena, who, fittingly so, is returning to us soon in her full lesbian glory, and also this song from Hedwig and the Angry Inch), this Greek story can be found in Plato's Symposium. It talks about how people originally had two faces, four arms, four legs, and two sets of genitalia, until they got split down the middle by the gods - ever since then, everyone has been looking for their other half. The story includes three kinds of "round people" - male/female, female/female and male/male, accounting for same-sex relationships.

Achilles & Patroclos
Never outright stated in the Iliad, but generally accepted by later Greek and Roman authors as a romantic relationship. Definitely a close and special connection, given how their story goes...
(Read more about it here)

Apollo, Zephyros & Hyacinth
Probably the most famous same-sex love triangle of classical mythology, but not one that really ends well for anyone involved.
(Read more about it here)

Nisus & Euryalus
Two Troyan heroes in Virgil's Aeneid who travel together, fight together, and even die together.
(Read about them here)

By the way, there is an entire Wikipedia page devoted to LGBT themes in Classical mythology.

Sex/Gender change

The Warrior Girl
This Spanish Gypsy folktale elegantly points out what happens when someone wants to decide someone else's gender based on what they wear, or what their interests are. It is quite entertaining.
(I blogged about it in detail here)

The girl who became a man
This is not one folktale, but an entire folktale type (numbered as ATU 514 - The Shift of Sex). It can be found in various cultures, including Hungarian, Norwegian, Albanian, Ossetian, and Portuguese. The basic story tells about a princess that sets out to war disguised as a man, rises to a high rank, lives as a man, marries another princess, and in the end, by a blessing or by a curse (depending on the variant), physically transforms into a man as well. Some variants are more sensitive to the topic than others. My favorite is the Ossetian one.
(Read the full Hungarian version in English here, and my blog about the Ossetian version here)

Iphis
A story from Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 9.666-797) in which a girl is raised as a boy to deceive her strict father. She falls in love with and gets engaged by her father to a girl who loves her back, thinking that she is a boy. The day before the wedding Iphis prays to the goddess Isis to grant her a wish for change, and the goddess turns her into a man, after which he happily marries the girl he loves.

The princess and the demon
This one is another favorite of mine, from India. Starts out similarly then Iphis, except in this version the prince(ss) meets a tree spirit/demon on the way to the wedding, and agrees to exchange sexes with him for a year. At the end of the year he returns to the site of the deal, and finds the tree spirit happily married and pregnant. They both agree they like their new sex better, and stay that way.
(Read the story in this book)

Tiresias
Another Greek classic. Remember the old blind prophet from the Odyssey? Well, according to legend, he spent seven years as a woman, in some versions of the story as a sacred prostitute in Corinth, while according to others as a wife and a mother. After seven years the spell got reversed, and Tiresias was a man again. This ties into him being blind: Apparently Hera blinded him after he was called on to decide a debate between Zeus and her about who enjoys sex more, men or women. Tiresias said women enjoy sex NINE times more (suspiciously accurate number), and was blinded by the goddess and given the gift of prophecy by Zeus as a consolation prize.
(Read about Tiresias here)

Caeneus
Another story from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is a Greek myth about a girl that is "ravaged" by Poseidon, who then offers to reward her with a wish (how generous) (Poseidon's an asshole). Caenis asks to be turned into a man so she can never feel helpless again. This story speaks more to gender difference and sexism, but it is interesting to note that Caeneus then goes on to be a hero among the Greeks and the father of an Argonaut.
(Read the text here)

You can also read about LGBT themes in various mythologies here.

Are there any other stories that I should definitely add to this list?

K is for Knights of all kinds

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

"Chivalry is not dead" you hear way too often - usually from guys who expect a badge for holding a door open for you. Recently, one of my favorite bloggers, Cory O'Brien, posted an epic takedown of the idea of what chivalry really refers to (hint: Not your dating game).
With that said, people love knights. Kids, especially, love knights. Heck, I love knights. Who could be considered a "knight" in the middle ages was fairly limited - but in the world of story, there are some spectacular exceptions that allow knighthood for people who would not traditionally be included.

Chivalry is for everyone.

Silence
Let's hear it for the girls! Silence is a 13th century French romance about a girl who is raised as a boy in order to allow her to inherit. She is named Silence for the secrecy, and she becomes a knight, going through epic adventures.
(Read the book here. Also, Dolores Hydock has an epic storytelling performance of Silence, and you can even buy it on a CD!)

Bradamante
Another famous female knight, from Ariosto's 16th century epic Orlando Furioso. She is in love with a Muslim hero, and rescues him from captivity, among other adventures. While not technically a traditional story, Orlando Furioso is built on medieval legends and folklore. Also, this is the source Rowling got the hippogriff from.
(Read about her here)

In addition, here is an entire book on female knights in Chinese folklore!

Antarah
How about a knight of color? The Romance of Antar is an amazing Arab epic from the early middle ages, one that is said to have influenced many European romances of chivalry. Antar himself is the son of an Arab chief and a black slave woman, and he becomes the hero known all over the Middle East.
(I blogged about the romance of Antar last year)

Sir Palomedes
One of the famous knights of King Arthur's court, Sir Palomedes, is also described as a "Saracen" which in medieval literature refers to Muslims (he converts to Christianity later) and Arabs. He is one of the hunters of the Questing Beast, and he appears in a number of Arthurian legends.
(Read about him here)

Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell
Also known as Sir Gawain and the Loathy Lady; I am including it because it is one of the quintessential feminist tales in most modern storytellers' repertoire. The moral of the story is that what women desire in the world more than anything is to be able to decide their own fate. Sir Gawain is proven to be a knight that learns this lesson, and gives up his privilege as a man to allow freedom to the woman he marries.
(Read about the story here)

Bisclavret / Gorlagon
Just for the heck of it: Both stories (one from Marie de France, and one from a 14th century author) involve a knight who is also a werewolf. He gets stuck in wolf form because his wife betrays him, and goes to live in the court of a king (usually King Arthur) until the truth comes to life and he can return to human. I am including it because lycanthropy is often symbolic for physical or mental conditions in tradition.
(Read about Bisclavret here, and Gorlagon here)

Who is your favorite knight and why?

J is for Jovial in-laws

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

I was having a bit of a problem with J, until someone in the comments under "A" asked me about kind mother-in-laws. I was not planning on touching on that topic, but I couldn't resist the challenge.
In the midst of age-old stereotypes of horrible mother-in-laws, are there any in tradition that are portrayed in a more favorable light?

Why yes, there are.




Lakshmi and the doll
A folktale from India, in which a young woman lives alone with her mother-in-law, whom she loves very much, in the absence of her husband. When the mother-in-law passes away, she makes sure to leave young Lakshmi with a doll that takes on her role of encouragement and advice.
(Read the story in this book)

Khas Shasthi
In this Hindu story a mother-in-law goes out of her way to trick a lazy daughter-in-law into observing a holiday in the proper manner - but she does it with caring and work, instead of scolding or bullying.
(Read about it in this book)

The farting girl
In this hilarious Japanese folktale, a girl marries into a family in a distant village, and she is so scared she'd be judged that she holds her fart for weeks (have you ever tried to hold a fart at your in-laws' house?). When her mother-in-law notices that she is getting sick, she coaxes the truth out of her, and then encourages her to fart away. "We are all family now." The husband is not so kind, and she tries to return the wife to her family, even though the mother-in-law begs him not to. But all is well in the end.
(Read the story here)

The linen sheet
Petrus Alfonsi' medieval collection of anecdotes includes a story about a mother-in-law who helps her daughter-in-law get away with having a lover - when the husband comes home unexpectedly, the two women spread out a large sheet to "show him," while the lover escapes behind it...
(Read the story in this book; read an article about these stories here)

The cheerful prince
This Hungarian folktale collected from Pályuk Anna is essentially a version of Rumpelstiltskin, but one that involves a much kinder prince, as well as a kind mother-in-law. When someone claims a girl can spin straw into gold, the entire royal family bands together to help her succeed at her task.

(Once again, there is no English text - or Hungarian, I found this one in the archives. But! It will be included in my upcoming folktale collection ;) )

Any other mother-in-law stories I should include on this list? Let me know!

I is for Intimacy and Independence

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

I had some difficulty with picking a topic for I - in the end, I thought about Intimacy and Independence, two features that make a marriage strong, and yet are rarely portrayed in traditional tales.
I was specifically looking for stories about strong, admirable marriages that portray caring couples without making one solely exist to be a plot point for the other. Since many fairy tales end with marriage, I had to go looking for stories that went beyond the happily ever after...



Queen Anait
An Armenian folktale about a clever peasant girl who makes a prince learn a useful trade before she agrees to marry him. Once queen, she often rules while her husband is away to walk his kingdom in disguise. When he is captured by bandits and forced into slavery, he manages to get a message out that only his wife can read. Anait rescues her husband, and they return home together.
(You can find the story in this wonderful book)

Meat of the Tongue
A Sultan's wife is sick and unhappy, while a poor man's wife is cheerful and healthy. The Sultan asks the poor man what his secret is, and he is told his wife needs "tongue." (Yep, the audience usually snickers at this point). He tries to feed tongue meat to the sultana, but she doesn't get better - so he orders the poor man to swap wives with him. The poor man agrees, and works his magic - turns out "meat of the tongue" was a metaphor for talking to his wife every day, sharing stories, and listening to her (get your minds out of the gutter, people.)
(You can read the story in this book)

Fallen men spoil virtuous women
Much like the previous story, a king in a miserable marriage with three wives swaps them for a poor man's happy wife, claiming he can't live with the three because they are good for nothing: One steals, one sleeps around, and one lies all the time. By treating the women with trust and kindness, the poor man builds a loving relationship with two of them (he does divorce the liar...), while the king manages to turn his new wife into a shrew. Moral of the story: The king should not have expected his wives to be ideal if he himself was not a good husband to them.
(You can find the story in this collection of Syrian folktales from refugees)

Tiger's whiskers
The same story I mentioned about Adoption, where the stepmother won her stepson's trust through patience and kindness, also exists in versions where a woman is trying to win her husband's love back after he returns from war (PTSD?).
(Read the Korean version of this tale in this book)

Tale of the Yellow Princess
Okay so we don't know how "traditional" this tale is, since it is from Nizami's Seven Wise Princesses, but it is a good one (and includes a story within a story). A king purchases a slave girl who refuses to speak or look at him, and seems miserable all the time (go figure). Turns out she doesn't want to love anyone because women in her family always die in childbirth. The king tells her he loves her even if they never have any children, and marries her (also tells a story about King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and how they learned to talk their problems out).
(Read this tale in Seven Wise Princesses)

The origin of almond trees
In this Portuguese legend, a young king tries to make his wife happy by bringing snow into his ever-summer kingdom. We'll talk more about them later on in the Challenge.
(Read about the story here)

What are your favorite mythical/legendary/fairy tale marriages? 

Let me know!

H is for Hatred (or rather, against it)

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

Today I am looking for traditional stories that describe (and condemn) hatred against another group of people - showing how it is harmful, useless, and stupid. While not a direct representation, it is an important topic linked to diversity.
Some people believe that the history of humanity has always been one of difference and prejudice, but some tales can attest tot he fact that there have always been people who spoke out against hate as well.



Anniko
A folktale from Senegal, adapted by amazing storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston. An orphan girl wanders into a village of Longnecks, who accept and grow to love her despite her short neck - except for one woman, who thinks short necks have no business in their community. The woman chases Anniko away... and all the Longnecks in the village band together to find her and bring her back.
(Read it in Ready-to-Tell Tales)

Bikkhu Sok
Cambodian folktale. I mentioned this one under Adoption, but I am mentioning it again, since the boy's family is massacred out of prejudice for a different group of people.
(Read the story in this selection from the Gatiloke)

Lianja
I wrote about this Mongo/Bantu epic last year - it is an epic about a hero that is prophecised to bring peace between two tribes who had been at war for a long time, and he achieves it without either side being conquered or killed.
(Read about it here)

Black and Yellow
An old Spanish pourquoi tale about two neighboring villages, one where everyone is stern and works all the time dressed in black, and one where everyone is cheerful and parties all the time dressed in yellow. Both villages have a horrible opinion about the other, calling them good-for-nothing, until a magician decides to bring them all together, and create a new mixed community, better than the sum of its parts.
(Read it in New World Tales)

Ekalavya
This story from the vast legends of the Mahabharatha tells about a young archer from a forest tribe who wants to apprentice with a famous master - but when they find out his background (he was born outside the caste system) he is turned down. He practices alone, until he becomes the best archer in the land... but now that he has proven the master wrong, the master decides to punish him for it.
(I included this story in my book, Tales of Superhuman Powers)

A drop of honey
In this chain tale (ATU 2036) an accidental drop of honey sets off a series of accidents and events that results in two villages (or factions) going to war. The formula tale illustrates what minor, dumb events feuds can start with, and how fast they escalate. In the Burmese and Thai versions of the story, the entire decline is observed by the king who originally dripped the honey, and who keeps stubbornly claiming "it's not my problem!" A fitting political allegory.
(Read the Burmese version of the tale here)

If you are interested in more tales of conflict and resolution, read Margaret Read McDonald's Peace Tales. It's a wonderful folktale collection.

Are there other tales that should be on this list? Let me know!

G is for Girl teams

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! My theme this year is Representation and Diversity in Traditional Stories. I am looking for rare and interesting motifs in folktales, fairy tales, and legends that add variety to the well-known canon.

Following my train of thought from yesterday: On top of female friendships, I would also love to see more stories about teams of women. Girl heroes. Marvel is doing it, right? There are several amazing brotherly team-ups in world folklore and mythology, but not so much on the female side.

But, fear not! I managed to rustle up a few.






The Nakhi creation tale
This matrilinear minority from China tells a story about an evil serpent, and four women - Wisdom, Doer, Thinker, and Seer - who made a plan, tricked it, and destroyed it so people could live in peace. Talk about an epic teamup.
(Read in in Tales from Within the Clouds)

Seven sisters
I already mentioned this Miao folktale in my post about elder and middle siblings, but I am mentioning it again because it features four girls defeating seven wolves together.
(Read it in Seven sisters)

The water-splashing festival
(Chinese minorities seem to be the theme of the day)
In this story, twelve women are kidnapped by a demon who is seemingly invincible. The smartest girl coaxes his secret weakness out of him, and kills him, but the head of the demon cannot be put or buried anywhere without causing destruction. Because of it, the twelve wives take turns carrying the head to keep it from hurting anyone, until the curse is broken. People splash water on them to help clean off the blood - a rite that is reenacted every year.
(Read the story in South of the Clouds)

How the women saved Guam
In this Pacific legend a  giant fish is devouring islands and no one is able to stop it. Men don't allow women to help them hunt it, claiming they know nothing - but they themselves fail at stopping the threat. Finally the women get together, make a plan, weave a net from their own hair, and manage to capture the beast and save their homes.
(Read it in Pacific island legends)

The army of women
The Ossetian Nart sagas are regarded as close relations to the Greek Amazon myths. In one of the sagas, the Nart village is attacked while the men are away on a raid, and the Nart women put on armor and weaponry and ride out to defend their homes together.
(The Ossetian Nart sagas will be published in English for the first time this July!)

Gulaim and her warrior maidens
I wrote about her last year for Epics A to Z. Instead of getting married at the age of fifteen, Gulaim gets her own fortress, and forty like-minded girls that she trains in the martial arts. They end up saving their homeland from an invasion, defeating the leader of the enemy, and liberating another kingdom as well in the process.
(Read about the epic here)

The Rebel Princess
In this amazing Jewish folktale, the persecuted heroine recruits a crew of clever maidens, steals a ship from pirates, and goes on to become a queen by her own right until her lost fiance finds her again.
(Read the story in The serpent slayer)

The Giant Caterpillar
(Adding this one by Sharon's recommendation in the comments. Thanks!)
In this folktale from the Ivory Coast, a giant caterpillar swallows an impertinent boy. After the men of the village fail to save him (and run away), the women go out together to beat the monster to death and rescue the boy.
(Read the story in this book)

The Amazons
Obviously.

Are there any other girl hero teams I should add to the list? Let me know in the comments!