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?

A is for Agu-Nogon-Abakha (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.

Gar'julaj-Mergen and his brave sister Agu-Nogon-Abakha
Buryat 

This story is a Siberian Buryat epic song or üliger. I read it in a prose translation in this book in English, and another version in Russian (with Google Translate) here. There are other Russian versions here (with illustrations) and here. While the story is titled after both siblings, the brother doesn't really do much in the story, other than dying and being saved.

Further sources: Бурятские сказки [Buryat folktales], Volume I, edited by L.E. Eliasov (Ulan-Ude: Buryat Book Publishing House, 1959), 120. More book sources here.

What is it about?

TL;DR: A girl sets out to win three princesses who can revive her dead brother. She goes through a series of adventures and succeeds by her strength, bravery, and kindness.

The hero (mergen) Gar'julaj rides out on a hunt, and encounters a Mangathai (a multi-headed monster). The monster devours him, and his faithful horse returns home with his clothes. His sister Agu-Nogon-Abakha sets out, kills the Mangathai, and recovers her brother's bones. After she buries him, she decides to set out on a journey to find three princesses (the daughters of the deity Esege-malan) who have the power to revive the dead. She dresses in her brother's clothes, arms herself, saddles his horse, and travels disguised as a man.

Along the way, Agu-Nogon-Abakha gets into various adventures. She encounters an old woman who tries to poison her, saves an anthill by wrestling a bear (!), drinks the Water of Life that gives her extraordinary strength, saves three heroes that swear loyalty to her, and rescues an invisible dog. Eventually she makes it to Esege-malan, and since she doesn't think the princesses would help otherwise, she presents herself as a suitor for all three of them.

There are two other suitors at court, so Esege-malan gives all three of them a series of tasks. With the help of the beings she'd saved, Agu-Nogon-Abakha completes all challenges, and wins the three princesses for her wives. They suspect she might not be a man and test her, but she passes every test. On the way home she hurries ahead, retrieves her brother's bones, lays them out, and escapes before the princesses arrive (she is worried they would be furious about being cheated). Agu-Nogon-Abakha turns herself into a hare and runs into the woods. 

The princesses find the bones, realize what happened, but decide to revive the brother anyway. Once he is alive, they fall in love with him, and forget their disappointment. They tell him everything that happened. Gar'julaj rides out into the woods, finds the hare, and turns her back to her human form. The princesses forget about being tricked, and they live happily ever after.

The highlights

At first read, it seemed to me like the helpers were doing all the heavy lifting (pun intended). Agu-Nogon-Abakha is advised by her horse along the way, and to win the princesses she summons the dog, the ants, and the invisible heroes to assist her. But the more I thought about it, the more episodes I found where she faces challenges herself: when she rides out and kills the Mangathai monster, when she wrestles and throws a bear, or when she passes the tests devised to reveal her gender (e.g. the princesses lighting a fire on her chest while she sleeps). She proves her own skill and bravery more than enough - and the helpers she does win by her kindness and quick thinking. A "strong female character" doesn't need to do everything unassisted.

I also liked the small detail that every time something bad happens to her - her brother gets lost, or she has to bury his bones - she "cries for a long time" and then gets up, and makes a plan. Her strength is not illustrated by not crying, or immediately knowing what to do. It's okay to fall apart first, even for epic heroes.

Another endearing detail is the care the siblings show for each other. Agu-Nogon-Abakha cares for her brother's bones (it is described in great detail) until she can revive him. Gar'julaj immediately goes out to find her after his return, and doesn't rest until he lures the hare back to safety.

IN THIS EPIC, THE GIRL (actually four girls) RESCUES THE GUY.

Did the story go the way you thought it would?

Women's Epics A to Z: Epics in general knowledge

As I was preparing for this year's challenge, reading several epics with women as protagonists, it kept occurring to me how unfair it is that most of these amazing, special stories didn't make it into the general consciousness (as much as I can tell with my Hungarian/American, generally Western educational background). Back when I was in high school, we got a pretty comprehensive look at a few of them: we studied Gilgamesh, the Kalevala, had to read the Odyssey, skimmed over the Iliad, and even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata got a mention. But that is still pretty narrow compared to the richness of the world's epic traditions.

So I put together a survey, asking people how many epics they recognized, and which ones they were generally familiar with.

I listed 50 epics in the survey, asking people to mark if they heard about them / read them.

The survey received almost 200 responses, mainly from people in Europe and North America. Here are some interesting things I observed based on these responses:

There were only 3 epics out of 50 that were universally known

As in, no one clicked the "Never heard of it" option. Wanna guess? 

The Iliad, the Odyssey, and Gilgamesh. Beowulf held on for quite a while, but then it got 3 negative responses. The Aeneid came close with only 11 negatives.

More importantly to this year's A to Z: none of the top 10-15 epics included a woman protagonist. We're gonna rectify that.

Some surprises

There were some epics on the list that I would have guessed are better known than they are. The Kalevala, for example, got 50 "never heard of it" replies, and 80 people only "heart about it". More than half of the respondents didn't recognize the Táin bó Cúailnge at all (although more might have, see below). Also more than half didn't know the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, which surprised me because I thought if any non-European epics were kinda sorta in the public knowledge, these would have been the ones. Great Chinese classics (Journey to the West, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms) also didn't fare well, which surprised me, given that the first one especially has a lot of modern adaptations.

The least well known epics were mostly about women, and/or not from Europe

No surprise there. Out of the 50, there were 22 epics that received almost all "Never heard of it" responses. 12 of them were about women protagonists. Most of them were from Africa or Central Asia. The most generally unknown epic was Umesiben Mama (mentioned last week; makes sense, since it doesn't have an English edition). It only got two "heard about it" responses. Close behind her was Shirin Mama, which you will encounter in April, and it was one of my favorites. Also almost fully unknown was Bidasari (coming up in April), and Ibong Adarna, which I blogged about before. I am happy to report, that out of these 12 unkown women's epics, 9 will be included in the A to Z posts in April :)

People don't always immediately recognize epics

I often wondered, reading the comments to the survey, if people recognize these stories just by title. For example, Journey to the West didn't seem to get strong responses, but then people commented about "Monkey King" missing from the list later on. The same with people missing "Cú Chulainn" while the Táin was on the list, or missing "Jason and the Argonauts" while the Argonautica was right there. It seems like people recognize stories by the hero's name more so than the name of the epic.

There are a lot more epics than these 50, but people also don't always know what an epic is

I got a lot of great suggestions in the comments for many, many more epics that could be included. And then a lot of other comments added things that are not traditional epics by definition: anything from Lord of the Rings to Waterworld, from The Hunger Games to Star Wars to various folktales. There is an argument to be made for modern day epics, and stories that fill that role in our current popular culture.

Anyway, it was interesting to see how responses outlined general knowledge of epics. I know the sample was not nearly representative enough, but it was still a fun survey to do just out of curiosity.

Which epics are you familiar with? Which ones were mentioned at school?

See you next week for A to Z!

Women's Epics A to Z: Stories I won't be including, and why

It was surprising how easily I found 26 epics about women for this project. In fact, the more research I did, the more I came across, and the list grew longer. In the end, a few factors decided which ones I added to my A to Z list:

- The epic had to be available in a language I can read (English, Spanish, or Hungarian) 

- Accessible in print or digital format

- Possible to get and read before April 2025

- Fit in a place within the alphabet (I did some sleight-of-hand with this one)

With all of that in mind, I also kept a list of epics I found but could not include. I thought it would be great to at least give them a mention here, so people can be aware of their existence. Maybe at a later date, I'll read them too. So, here we go.

Epics with no translation:

This category hurts the most. I found mentions of amazing, incredible women-led epics that sadly have not been translated into English (or Spanish, or Hungarian). Honestly this is my call to the people of the Internet: if you know a translator/publisher who could make it happen, let them know these stories exist!

Umesiben Mama

This is a Manchu epic that I could find no translation for, even though I moved every stone. It tells about a very powerful female shaman, from her birth through her adventures crossing the seas and changing her shape. It is online in Chinese here. There is a lovely partial graphic novel concept of it here. Chinese wiki has more about it here.

Gulaim

I actually blogged about this one for a previous challenge, but I could only find a short partial translation. I would love to read a fuller one. It is a Karakalpak epic about a warrior maiden and her forty companions, fighting against an enemy that invades their homeland.

Banu Goshasp

Banu Goshasp is another warrior maiden, from the Persian epic tradition. She is the daughter of the legendary hero Rustam. She battles her father (accidentally) and also challenges all her suitors, even overpowering her husband on their wedding night. Her story, the Banu Goshasp Nama, was not translated to English as far as I can tell. There is a Rejected Princesses page about her here.

Zhahutai Mama

Another Manchu epic, about a queen mother who helps her son and other conscutive rulers onto the throne. Couldn't find any English reference. It has a Chinese edition, and some info here.

Epics I have read before:

These stories I did not include because I have read them before. For this challenge I wanted to dive into stories that were new for me too.

Seven Wise Princesses

Nizami's long epic with a "story within a story" structure: seven princesses from seven kingdoms gather to marry the famous Bahram Gur. He visits each one of the in turm, each in her own, carefully designed and color-coordinated pavilion. Each princess tells him a story with a message that is symbolized by her color scheme. You can read it in full translation, or a lovely picture book here.

The Song of Butterfly Mother

A Miao epic song which is basically a creation story.

Inanna's descent into the Underworld - This one was on my list for a long time before swapped it out. I see it more as a myth, but it could also technically be an epic. Mostly I left it out because I am very familiar with it, and I wanted to read stuff that was new for me too.

Epics I left out for other reasons:

Epic of Siri - This is a Tulu epic about a princess, and it is more than 15,000 lines long. I really wanted to read it, but in the end, I didn't have time to get through it all, so I am saving it for later.

Kundalakesi - It is a Tamil epic which sounded fascinating, but sadly it only survives in fragments.

Song of Kudrun - A 13th century German epic, which also proved to be difficult to find, and too long to fit into my reading schedule. I am saving it for later.

Neelakesi - A Tamil Jain epic poem. It includes rhetorical debates between Buddhism and Jainism. I couldn't get my hands on a full English translation.

Grisandole - The story of this one is very similar to another that will be included

Stories that fall into other genres:

While I defined "epic" pretty liberally, I came across some stories which, after a lot of thinking and hesitation, I did not include based on genre. I am aware that some of these decisions are completely subjective, but here it is.

The Book of the City of Ladies - Written by Christine de Pisan, the book describe famous historical and legendary women and their achievements, to make a case for women's excellence. It is a literary work more so than an epic, but it is fascinating nonetheless.

Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika) - this one is technically a Sanskrit drama.

Le Fresne - A lai by Marie de France. It could have technically fit next to the other chivalric romances, to be fair.

Devi Mahatmya - This one is a Hindu philosophical text, rather than an epic, describing the Goddess in her many incarnations. It does contain stories though.

Mulan - Technically, the earliest known version of Mulan's story is a folk song / ballad, not a whole epic.

And of course it goes without saying that I also came across a whole host of epics new to me, which are not mainly about women. I saved those too on another list. Maybe in a few years I'll do a third Epics from A to Z round :)

Before April begins, I have one more post coming up. Stay tuned!

AND NOW, A GAME:

Name an epic with a woman hero, and I'll tell you if it will be featured in April! :)

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal 2025: Women's Epics A to Z!

Honestly, I already revealed this theme last year, but I am doing it again for good measure (for someone who has changed their theme multiple times every year, this is an accomplishment anyway). 

Also, I have a theme that aligns really well with International Women's Day, so I am announcing a day early :)

This is my 13th year participating! In the past 12 years I've always had a theme:

Weird Princesses (2013)
Tales with Colors (2014)
Epics A to Z (2015)
Diversity A to Z (2016)
WTF - Weird Things in Folktales (2017)
WTF Hungary - Weird Things in Hungarian Folktales (2018)
Fruit Folktales (2019)
Folktales of Endangered Species (2020)
Tarot Tales (2021)
Gemstone Folklore (2022)
Body Folktales (2023)
Romance Tropes in Folklore (2024)

This year's theme came to me last April, just as I was finishing up the challenge. I have always loved epics, and I love reading new ones whenever I can get my hands on them. I started thinking about the epics I have read so far, and stories with women as heroes in general. And so, the theme was born:

WOMEN'S EPICS!

The goal was to read 26 epics with women heroes, and blog about each one for A to Z. It took a full year to schedule the entire series!

A couple of things in advance:

1. By 'epic' I mean traditional epics. Think The Iliad, The Odyssey, Gilgamesh, etc. Stories that have been passed down through centuries and generations, orally told, performed, belonging to a culture's intangible heritage. Not literary works or film. So no, no Hunger Games or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. Sorry.

2. Sometimes it is hard to define if a story is an epic, a myth, a legend, or something else. Most of the stories I included in the 26 were labeled epics by researchers, collectors, and tradition bearers. Some belong to genres that are the equivalent of what we call "epic" in the Western world (for example, Japanese monogatari). Some I included because they are long narrative poems or prose stories that are based on a larger oral tradition, even if they are not technically epics (see: medieval chivalric romances).

3. All of the stories I included have women heroes. I use "hero" in the sense of traditional stories, as the main protagonist or central figure of the narrative. So no, I did not pick male-led stories and try to prove that "yeah, actually, Penelope is the real hero of the Odyssey!" Nope! I picked stories with women as lead characters. And yes, I found 26. Actually, I found a lot more! But I picked 26 that I could actually read, and fit into the alphabet for A to Z.

4. With that said, epics are a complex genre, with complex characters, and none of them can really be studied divorced from the time and culture it came from. On a practical level this means that you won't equally like all of these women heroes. Some of them do things that are very much questionable to our modern sensibilities, or have character traits we don't like. And that's okay. Odysseus, Gilgamesh, Achilles and the lot are also not exactly Lawful Good.

5. The good news is, the lineup I ended up with is really colorful in terms of origins. The 26 epics represent 4 continents and 21 different cultures!

In the next weeks before April I am going to have a few more posts coming up!

1. A post on epics that did not make the cut. I thought they deserve a shout out even if I did not end up reading them.

2. A post on an online survey I made about how well people generally know epics, and which ones are the most well-known ones. I thought it was a fascinating question to run by the people of the Internet.

I HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU HERE IN APRIL! If you are participating in A to Z, make sure to leave a link to your blog in the comments so I can visit back.

I dedicate this series to my epic-telling mentor, Cathryn Fairlee, the creator of Epic Day, an all-around amazing mentor, and a true lover of epics. 

I miss you, Cathryn.