K is for Kordierite, a.k.a. Sunstone (Gemstone Folklore)

Welcome to the 2022 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Gemstone Folklore. Because I love stories about shiny things. Read the introduction to the project here.

CORDIERITE

(I know I know, I am cheating with the K, deal with it. It works in Hungarian.)

Cordierite is one of the minerals that has been theorized to be the legendary sunstone, or sólarsteinn, that Norse navigators used in the Viking Age to see the sun's direction on partially overcast days. While it is not the only possibility (Iceland spar is also a strong contender), technically it has been proven to work.

Kings and crystals

Scandinavia

Sunstones make an appearance in various old stories. One is a 13th century Icelandic manuscript that contains an allegorical tale (Rauðúlfs þáttr) of Saint Olaf visiting a wise man named Raudr. The man lives in a meticulously laid out house, in which the king has a vivid dream that Raudr interprets for him. The two sons of Raudr, Sigurd and Dag, are also wise and well educated. Sigurd can guess the sun's position correctly on an overcast day - a feat which makes King Olaf bring out a sunstone to verify.

Another 13th century collection of various Icelandic sagas, collectively known as the Sturlunga saga, also has mentions of sunstones. The stories of two different sagas, that of Icelandic bishop Gudmundur Arason, and doctor and priest Hrafn Sveinbarnarson, intersect in this case. The bishop once gifted Hrafn, world-traveling healer, two things: an exquisite dress for a woman, and a sunstone. Later on, when Hrafn's home was raided, and he himself killed by his old enemy Thorvald, son of Snorri, the raiders took the gifts with them. According to legend, however, the beautiful dress turned into ugly black rags in their hands, and the sunstone looked like a mere pebble to them, so they threw it away on the beach. Later, the precious stone was recovered, without the raiders ever finding out what exceptional treasure they had lost.

Sources: 

You can read the first story here, the story of Bishop Gudmundur here, and you can find the text of Hrafn's saga here. Find more info on sunstones here and here.

Have you ever read Icelandic sagas before? 

Do you have a favorite story?

High School Mythical

We were asked by a friend if we could take MythOff to a high school, as a gift to a mythologically inclined seventh grade class. We said yes.

MythOff is a series of live storytelling events that was invented bring mythology, told live, back to modern audiences. It is generally an adult event; we do it in pubs, and coffee houses, and other similar venues. We have never had one in a school setting before - but when we were asked, some of us could not say no.

I love telling to teenagers. They make an amazing audience. In addition, when I was their age, I was a complete mythology dork: I made lists of gods, and read Graves and Kerényi, and collected magazine articles in a binder. And that was pre-Percy Jackson. I tried to imagine how I would have reacted if real storytellers came to my school to do real mythology.

So, we went.

Round One: Tricksters and creation

All three of us picked a mythology. For round one, all three of us brought stories that involved creation, or birth, or origins... and also, completely by accident, tricksters. Varga-Fogarasi Szilvia brought the birth of Maui; Nagy Enikő the story of Sif's golden hair and Loki's bet for the forging of Mjölnir; and I brought Momus, and his critique of Greek creation. I especially had fun with the Greeks when I asked the kids how many gods live on Mount Olympus (they knew). Then I asked if someone could list them... and a girl, very proudly and confidently, listed all twelve, with some enthusiastic support from her classmates. Be still, my heart.

The voting question: We never really had a MythOff with an odd number of tellers before - but we came up with a genius solution.
First, I asked the class if they knew how the Trojan War started. A guy said that someone kidnapped someone's wife; a girl added that the wife had been given to Paris by Aphrodite. Someone else added that it was in exchange for the golden apple; and yet another person pointed out that the apple had been thrown by Eris into a wedding. After the class assembled the entire story, I produced a golden apple (I painted it gold the night before, along with half the kitchen), and the voting question: If you had to pick a roommate when you go to college, which one of the three tricksters would you want as your roommate?
Szilvi brought three cups and a box of glass pebbles. Each cup represented a mythology. Each student got one pebble, which they places in the cup of their choice, under the supervision of the two guys in the front row, who enthusiastically commented on the proceedings, and monitored the fairness of the vote. Loki won by considerable majority (with Momus second and Maui last). If they wake up one day in college with their hair cut off, I take no responsibility.

Round Two: The wrath of the gods

This round involved myths where someone pissed off a deity in some way. Szilvi brought Maui back, and told about how he stole fire from the volcano goddess Mahuika (you're welcome). Enikő brought Thor, and told the story of how he was dressed up as a bride to take Mjölnir back from the giants (and then killed them all). On my part, I told the myth of King Erysichthon, and how Demeter punished him with deadly hunger when he chopped her sacred grove down.
The voting question: If you had to give the golden apple (I made two) to a god, knowing that the other two will be angry at you, which god would you want to piss of the least?
This time, the vote was overwhelming: Demeter won it by a landslide. To be fair, we were just before lunch break, so the kids were probably really feeling the hunger...

Once again it has been proven that mythology works like a charm in high school. And that high schoolers make an awesome audience. They were attentive, appreciative, creative, they made comments and asked questions, and took the vote very, very seriously (I loved hearing them discuss their decisions in line).

Bring more storytelling to high schools!

J is for the Jómsvikings (Epics from A to Z)

Short version: The Jómsvikings are the Avengers of the 10th century.
More accurately: The Avengers are the Jómsvikings of the 21st century.

The Jómsvíkinga Saga is an Icelandic saga written sometime in the 13th century. It takes place in Denmark, Norway, Wales, and Jómsborg, and ends with the Battle of Hjörungavárg in 986 AD. It details the (long and complex) family background, deeds, and eventual downfall of a group of select Viking heroes known as the Jómsvikings. Much like the Fianna of Ireland, they are a brotherhood of elite warriors, the best of the best, not admitted based on anything else but bravery and personal prowess. Both of which there is a lot to go around in this story.

The Heroes
The heroes of the saga are the Jómsvikings, living in their own walled city (Jómsborg) under strict rules - men only, loyalty to each other, no preferential treatment, equal distribution of booty, that kinda stuff. The founder of the place is Pálna-Tóki, and after his death Sigvaldi, who is not as good a leader, and manages to let the whole thing crumble on a drunken bet (great job, Sigvaldi).
One of the most notable characters is Vagn, who shows up at the water-gates of Jómsborg at the ripe old age of twelve, demanding entry into the brotherhood. He is refused on grounds of creeping everyone out, and also the fact that he is underage (rules only allow membership to men between eighteen and fifty). He proceeds to soundly beat Sigvaldi in a naval battle, and gains admission anyway.

Highlights
Apart from your usual run-of-the-mill fighting and pillaging, the saga offers a few remarkable moments, especially towards the end. They mostly involve fighting:
1. Much of the end of the saga (I'm not giving out spoiler alerts here, the story has been out since the 13th century, deal with it) involves the captured Jómsvikings being executed by their enemies. It is a fascinating lineup of warriors going to their death, each one making a different joke or proposing fun little experiments. One of them insists that his long and fabulous hair has to remain clean and intact; then, just when the executioner swings the sword, he yanks his head down, and the sword takes off the arms of the man who had been holding the hair out of the way. The kid (barely 18) looks up and asks with a shit-eating grin: "Whose hands are in my hair...?" He gets to live, Vikings appreciate a good practical joke.
2. Another battle-related moment of epic is delivered by Búi, one of the Jómsvikings, who loses both his hands in the last battle of the company. Instead of being fazed by this at all, he puts the arm-stumps through the hoops of a chest of gold, and jumps overboard with it, transforming into a dragon.Yup.
3. And still on the topic of lost appendages - I'm sensing a theme here, you guys - there is some bravery on the opposite side as well: Geirmundr, the commander of a town attacked by the Jómsvikings, jumps out of a building, gets an arm cut off by Vagn, and then manages to run through the woods all the way to the earl's court to warn him of the impending danger. He does it in a calm, collected and professional manner, reporting on numbers first, before the earl asks him if he has any proof. To which Geirmundr responds, "Oh yeah, they cut off my arm, see?" and follows up by providing information on the enemy's best warriors. "One of them got my ring."

Ain't no party like a Jómsborg party.

The Real Jómsborg
Although contested by some historians and archaeologist, it is generally believed that Jómsborg stood somewhere in the place of modern day Wolin, Poland. Every year the town celebrates this fact with Europe's largest Viking festival, involving historical reenactors from all corners of the continent and beyond. Definitely worth a visit.

H is for King Harald's Saga (Epics from A to Z)

Aand we are back to the Vikings.

Origins
King Harald's Saga is part of the Heimskringla, a collection of sagas telling the history of Norway, written by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson at the end of the 12th century. It is also hands down one of my favorite sagas. If you want to read it, you can get it in its own edition, complete with family trees, great footnotes, and a detailed introduction.

The Hero

The hero of the saga is King Harald Sigurdsson, also known as Harald Hardrada ("firm ruler"), king of Norway between 1046 and 1066 AD. He is known for being the guy who wore Harold Godwinson out with a battle up North so Harold could not stand against William the Conqueror a week later, and hence... well, English history.
Harald is known throughout the saga as tall, blonde, handsome, brave, smart, and dangerously easy to anger. He spends most of his time plundering as a good Viking does, but also runs his kingdom with a firm hand, which ultimately leads him to lose some of his best supporters to rival kings such as his great nemesis, King Svein of Denmark. However, one can't help but admire Harald, his skill in battle, and his creativity when it comes to coming out of hopeless situations with a victory.

The Highlights
My favorite part of the saga is definitely Harald's early years. Between the ages of fifteen and thirty, he lives in exile (he takes part at fifteen in the battle where his half-brother, Saint Olaf, dies in his attempt to force Norway into Christianity). Harald spends his formative years as the commander of the Varangian Guard in Byzantium, being envied by Greek generals and lusted after by the infamous Empress Zoe (and her daughter). He ends up in prison, but breaks out, and manages a daring escape across the chain blockade of the Constantinople harbor.
The saga includes many great battle scenes through Harald's career as king, but I especially like the shorter anecdotes about him getting out of sticky situations. For example, the one where he lands with his fleet on an abandoned island and can't find fresh water to drink. He tells his soldiers to catch a snake and put it near a fire; when the snake dries out and needs water, they tie a yarn to its tail, and follow it as the snake slithers away to a secret source of water.
Apart from Harald, some of the other characters are worth mentioning as well. King Svein is a worthy enemy all through the story, a brave yet reasonable man with great skills for survival. The chapter where he gets away alive after losing a nighttime naval battle to Harald is one of the best parts in the saga.

B is for Bosi and Herraud (Epics from A to Z)

Warning: The original text of this saga includes graphic sexual content.
(Try not to trip over yourself)

Origins
The Saga of Bosi and Herraud is a Norse legendary saga that mainly takes place in Götaland (modern day southern Sweden) and was written sometime before 1350 AD. It ties into other sagas as well - for example, the story of Ragnar Lothbrok, recently known as this guy from the History Channel:

The Heroes
The central bromance to the story is between Herraud, the heir to the throne with minor daddy issues (since his bastard brother gets all of the affections of King Hring); and Bosi, the daredevil love child of a former Viking raider and a crippled shield-maiden (yup). These two hit it off like a house on fire, and when Bosi kills and maims a couple of people in a friendly ball game (happens between friends) and gets himself exiled, Herraud decides to go with him.
After five years of leisurely plunder the foster-brothers return home, and Bosi does his buddy a favor by killing the (agreeably annoying) bastard brother. At first the king wants to have both of them executed, but he can't bring himself to give the death order of his own heir, so he takes a page from fairy tales and decides to give them an impossible task instead, sending them off to bring him a vulture's egg inscribed with golden letters.
Adventures ensue.

The Highlights
The saga features two epic battles:
1. Bosi and Herraud versus Giant Vulture Monster and Troll Priestess (In which there is a generous amount of stabbing, slipping on blood, losing body parts and rolling around on the floor)
2. Bosi and Herraud versus People Whose Daughter/Sister They Had Kidnapped Along The Way (In which there is a sea battle where people transform at random into dragons, boars, and wolfhounds, and jump from ship to ship. Also, Herraud gets his nipples torn off. Ick.)

The Absolute Undisputed Best Moment of the Saga,
however, is the afterword: Once every battle is won and the adventures are over, Herraud and Bosi both become kings and start their own families. Herraud has a little daughter, Thora (who will later become the first wife of Ragnar, sadly not mentioned in the TV show). The magical vulture egg decides to hatch and produces a small, gold-colored baby dragon. The king gives the baby dragon to Thora as a teething toy.
Think about it.
A princess. Teething. On a dragon.
Viking metal.