Friday, April 10, 2015

I is for the Ibong Adarna (Epics from A to Z)

(I bet you thought it was gonna be the Iliad, huh)

Origins
Ibong Adarna (The Adarna Bird) is a metrical romance from the Philippines. It was originally written in Tagalog sometime in the 17th century while the Philippines were under Spanish rule; the author is unknown. It consists of 1034 short verses that rhyme in the original language; sadly, they don't rhyme in the English translation, but the story was still enjoyable.
The story itself is an elaborate mash-up of many well-known folktale types. We have three princes that go on quests, magic birds to find, princesses to rescue, dragons to slay, bird-maidens to steal dresses from, magical flights with objects turning into obstacles... the works. It reads as if the author decided to put the "best of" lineup of fairy tale motifs into one continuous romance. They succeeded.

The Hero
The hero of the epic, Don Juan, is the youngest of the three sons of King Fernando of Berbania (feeling some Spanish influence here). He does everything a youngest prince does: Surpasses his older brothers until they want to kill him, goes on long and elaborate adventures, and survives against all impossible odds. Don Juan in this case is also quite amorous. He will woo any princess that comes his way, which creates an interesting conflict at the end of the story: All the princesses he swore his love to show up for a wedding, and since this is a Christian romance, Don Juan can only wed one of them. Oops.

Highlights
Although it follows well-known folktale types, the story does have a few rare gems:

1. The Adarna Bird. Not just any magical bird - it sings beautifully every night seven times, and molds between songs so its feathers take on seven different hues. Also, if it poops on you, you turn to stone.
2. One of the princesses rescued from the Underworld has a pet wolf. A magical pet wolf. A flying magical pet wolf. Yep.
3. One of the settings for the epic is a place called the Crystal Kingdom (or, as it is said in the translation, "Kingdom de los Cristal"). It is mostly named so because the failed suitors of the princess turn into crystal instead of stone. Now there is a visual I would love to see in a movie.
4. The end of the romance is definitely the best part. After Don Juan returns home with Bride B (Doña Maria), he meets Bride A (Doña Leonora) again, and completely forgets about Bride B. Doña Maria, who is by the way a very accomplished white magic sorceress, comes to the wedding and puts on a shadow-puppet show, telling the story of how she met Don Juan, and how she had saved his life more than eight times (!). Every time the shadow-puppet bride hits her foolish shadow-puppet husband, it is Don Juan who actually gets hurt. Because magic. Doña Maria successfully makes her case with the show, and ends up marrying Don Juan. Doña Leonora gets to marry one of the older brothers. 
Happily Ever After.

24 comments:

  1. Wow, this story sounds amazing! I love the Adarna Bird. And funny about Don Juan's amorous inclinations. That wedding must have been *awkward.*

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  2. That ending really sounds awesome. I like it when women get their part because of their witts :-)

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  3. The Adarna Bird...a much cooler, flying version of Medusa. Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie

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  4. That is a epic case of two-timing! :) Good for Dona Maria! And what's not to love about a magical pet flying wolf?
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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  5. I love fantasy fiction! with all the magical potions and exotic birds and drama! looks like just my kind of book! btw the bird Adarna looks truly exotic!

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  6. Is this the infamous Don Juan, or another one? Because if its the former, I think I found another epic to read. :D

    Alex Hurst, A Fantasy Author in Kyoto
    A-Z Blogging in April Participant

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    1. I don't think it's the infamous one. It is kind of like saying "Jack" in an English folktale...

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  7. Go Dona Maria! I've not heard this great story before. I like an active rather than passive heroine. Thanks for visiting Anabel's Travel Blog yesterday.

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  8. Magical flying pet wolf - ha, so that's where Jupiter Ascending got it from (sorry, couldn't help myself) ;) Frankly I wouldn't want his two timing arse if I was Dona Maria!
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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    1. Haha, totally :D Hungarian folktales have winged wolves too! And yeah, I don't quite understand why she insisted either...

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  9. It's a wonder Don Juan survived very long at all. What a confusing life with all those women.

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  10. Oh, God. I want an adarna bird; I don't want an adarna bird... I just can't decide whether it's worth the risk!!! What if I got an adarna bird but kept it in diapers?

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  11. D-oh! What a wedding that would be.

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  12. Absolutely interesting. Never heard of this.

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  13. Wonderful that they made this epic poem with 1034 verses! The theme of it sounds similar to other well known fairy tales which is why they're wonderfully magical. I like the originality of bird and the flying pet wolf. Thank you!

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  14. That sounds like an awesome epic. I'm completely unfamiliar with Filipino literature.

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  15. Cool that the magic makes the stupid groom actually get hit. Knocked some sense into him.

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  16. I'd love to see all those failed suitors as crystal statues, too. Think of the effect in a movie, with the mystical bird singing and changing colors

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  17. Thanks for introducing us to these rich stories. My mother introduced me to folk and fairy tales when I was a child. I love them still today -- so imaginative -- and they color my own writing.

    Oh, I've known some Don Juans, and I had a dog, part wolf, black with blue eyes, who thought he was a magical pet wolf.

    I enjoyed this. Nice to meet you on the A-Zs.

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    1. I should add my website, just in case it doesn't come up accurately: http://thescheherazadechronicles.org

      Samantha

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  18. This ones fun. I definitely like all the magic critters.

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  19. Sounds like there's a lot beautiful imagery in this tale. I would like to see that crystal kingdom in film as well. A lot of these wonderful epics should definitely be made into movies.

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