Story Lab week 15: Six Word Stories/ Microfiction

     

Henry Mills, The New Author

Henry Mills sat in his room thinking over how he had just become the Author, keeper, and teller of all stories. He couldn't believe it. Of course, he came from a fairy-tale family, but he never thought he would have any magical abilities or anything. He trembled a bit as he felt the weight of the responsibility. He then wondered how he could use his newfound power for good. He thought and then was reminded of all the reformed fairy tale villains. Henry smiled softly to himself. He picked up his magic quill and ink and got to work writing.  

 

Henry's story book. (Source: Fandom Wiki )

  Once Upon a Time: Beginning and Ending

It begins and ends with hope. 

A/N: So this is my last post of the semester! I've been wanting to do a microfiction and six-word story post since I did the story lab option for it and I thought it would be a good way to wrap everything up. Also, since I am a fan of Once Upon a Time and twisted tales, I thought I would base it off of that. I don't know if I am technically allowed to do this, but I am hoping it's allowed. If you haven't seen the show you should totally go watch it! I really liked doing this activity because it made me really think about what I wanted to write. It really made me dig deep and think about it. I've always been one to use a lot of words, so this post has helped me see I can be more concise about my writing and still come across with lots of meaning. 

 

Reading Notes Week 15 Grimm (Librivox): Part B

 Grimm Notes

Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses illustration. (Source: Fandom Wiki )

The Queen Bee

-2 princes went out into the world to seek fortunes

-had a brother who was "a little insignificant dwarf"

-he tried to find his brothers but they laughed at him

-the older brothers though he wasnt capable because they werent 

-came across an ant hill the elder bros wanted to knock down but the younger wouldnt let them 

-"Let the poor things enjoy themselves," repetitive 

-came across ducks the elders wanted to kill but younger said no

-came across a bee hive with honey and dwarf stopped brothers from huritng the bees

-came to enchanted marble castle

-eldest brother first challenge with pearls

-turned to stone b/c he failed

-next brother failed too

-dwarf was last to try

-dwarf sat on a rock and cried because the job was so hard. 

-King of ants (who he had rescued) heard and helped him find them

-the second challenge was to gte a key from a lake

-the ducks helped

-the last to choose the best princess

-queen bee helped to pick the right one

-enchantment was broken

The 12 Huntsmen

-kings son had a bride he loved

-king sent for him because he was dying

-told his bride he would return and gave her a ring

-made a promise to his father to marry a different princess

-she cried and her father asked her what she wanted

-she wanted 12 other girls just like her

-she had costumes made for all

-went to court of the prince and asked to be hsi hunstmen and he said yes

-kings pet lion told him the truth

-king put hunstmen to the test

-truth revealed and lion believed again

Jorinda and Jorindel 

-old castle in a gloomy wood

-old fairy

-fairy had the power to shape shift into animals except at night she was always an old woman again

-any men that came near her castle were sent away, women she turned into birds and kept

-beautiful purple flower with a pearl in it 

-the flower disenchanted everything and turned Jorinda inot a maiden again

-"They lived happily ever after"

The Fox and The Horse

-a farmers horse too old for work

-horse was "very melancholy"

-farmer said he had to have the strength of a lion

-fox said he would help him

-fox helped him catch a lion and bring him to the farmer

-farmer ket him stay

The 12 Dancing Princesses

-king had 12 daughters who all shared one room with 12 beds

-even though they were locked up, their shoes were always worn through the next day as if they had been dancing all night

-king put it to a challenge to find out  how

-if a man could figure it out in three days and three nights he could marry one of the girls he chose and become king, but if not was put tot death

-an old soldier

-old dame warned not to drink wine and gave him an old cloak

-youngest knew something was wrong but eldest made fun of her for it 

-went through a trap door in the floor

-12 princes in 12 little boats

-soldier married the eldest

The Turnip

-2 soldiers who were brothers, one poor, and one rich

-poor soldier became a gardener

-grew a huge turnip and thought to give it to the king

-kign rewarded him and made him richer than his brother

-the brother got jealous and was determined to become rich too and got the king a gift of gold and horses

-hired villians to kill his brother

-got tied up in a sack and tricked a student to let him down

The Willow-Wren and The Bear

-Willow-wren- "King of Birds"

-talking animals

-bear saw nest of willow-wrens and thougth the children disreputable

-king and queen said they would punish the bear with a bloody war

-fox leading floor legged animals'-willow-wrens all flying insects and animals

-Willow-wrens won but children said the bear had to come and apologize to them

Bibliography and Sources

sources come from the Grimms' Fairy Tale sbook published by the Project Gutenburg
website- Project Gutenburg

Reading Notes Week 15 Grimm (Librivox): Part A

 Grimm Reading Notes 

Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959). (Source: Tumblr )

The Frog Prince

-young princess in bonnet and clogs (German?)

-golden ball was her favorite plaything 

-lost the ball in the spring when playing with it 

-a frog offers to help in exchange for the princess' love and letting him live with her and eat from her plate and sleep in her bed

-princess thought to trick the frog 

-when the frog got the ball for her she ran home and did not stay to listen to the frog 

-"Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade."

-after three nights the frog turned into a prince 

-princess married the prince and they lived happily ever after

Rapunzel

-a man and a woman prayed to God for a child 

-had a window that looked into the enchantress' garden  

-the woman craved the rampion (rapunzel) in the garden 

-she started to look sick because she craved it so much

-her husband went to get it not caring about the consequences

-the wife then wanted 3 times more 

-the enchantress showed mercy as long as they gave her the baby

-Ell- measurement of cloth, usually as long as a persons arm

-Rapunzel locked into a tower at age 12 

-prince climbed up her hair and talked to her like a friend 

-enchantress cut off her braids and abandoned her in the desert

-prince jumped out the window and lived, but was blinded by thorns and wandered around the forest

-found Rapunzel with the twins she had given birth too and when she cried over him, two of her tears healed his eyes

The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean

-a poor old woman was cooking a dish of beans 

- a bean fell out near a piece of straw and coal

-all three reflected on what would have happened to them and decided to stick together 

-when they left they came to a small brook

-the straw offered to lean across it and make a bridge

-the coal went across first, but got scared in the middle and stopped

-the straw burned and broke into two pieces and fell into the brook and so did the coal where it died

-the bean laughed so much it burst, a tailor saw and took pity and sewed her back together and used black thread

-since then every bean has had a black seam 

The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage 

-starts with "Once upon a time"

-all three set up house together

-"When people are too well off, they always begin to long for something new."

-bird refused to do his part

-dog ate the sausage 

-mouse burned up in the pot

-bird drowneed in water

- a lesson to learn 

The Musicians 

-an old donkey ran away from his owner so that he wouldnt be killed and wants to be a musician 

-saw a dog and asked the dog to join him and he did 

-they cam across a cat and aksed her to come with

-found a rooster and invited him to come along with them 

-saw a house far off while travelling and went there to try to find shelter and food 

-scared robbers out of house with "music"

Clever Elsie 

-parents wanted to get her married to a man named Hans

-Hans said if she wasnt really smart he didnt want her for a wife

-cried over if she married Hans, had a child, and he had to draw beer that the pick axe may fall on him and kill him

-Hans found her clever and took her as his wife

Briar Rose 

-sleeping beauty story

-"Once upon a time"

-king and queen were grieved that they had no children 

-Queen helped a litttle fish from dying and the fish granted her wosh for a daughter

-had a party to celebrate the child

-but when inviting the thirteen fairies, they only had 12 plates, so left one out

-13th fairy cursed the girl to pirck her finger on a spindle when she was 15 and die

-the 12th fairy softened the curse by saying she wouldnt die but just fall into a 100 year sleep

-king had all the spinning wheels burned in the kingdom 

-on her 15th birthday, was left alone in the castle and found an old woman at a spinning wheel spinning

-was curious about the spinning wheel and pricked her finger on it 

-everyone and everything went inot a deep sleep with the princess

-thick thorns grew around the palace and killed any princes who tried to get through it to the castle 

-another prince heard about it from an old man who warned him but went anyway

-because 100 years were up, prince did not see the thorns but flowering shrubs and walked through them easily

-found Briar Rose and kissed her 

-she woke up along with the rest of the palace

-they lived happily ever after

Bibligraphy and Sources

sources come from the Grimms' Fairy Tale sbook published by the Project Gutenburg 

website- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2591

Famous Last Words: Getting Ready for my Future

 

A quote we used to use with youth I worked with. (Source: ourmindfullife.com)

So, this week has gone by super fast. It seems like since we are at the end of the semester, everything is super fast or super slow. Depends on the day for me, I guess.

The readings for the week went okay for me. I read the Faerie Queene unit this week. I will confess though, the story seemed to kind of drag on and on. I got to the end and wanted to see everything work out for the characters, but it left a lot of mystery about Lady Amoret. So that's what I did my story on. I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted the story to go, but with keeping it under 1000 words, I wrote about just her capture and what that may have looked like. That has probably been the biggest challenge for me this semester as a writer. I have had to learn to be more concise. In my other classes I am used to having to fill word count requirements for papers and assignments, so this has carried over into my other writing. I think I am improving on it though. I really appreciate Laura's and my classmates' help, as well. I had the chance to read some other people's writing earlier in the week because on Monday I was catching up during the grace period. My interest was really piqued in writing microfiction and six-word stories. Hopefully, I get a chance to try it out before the class ends. 

My other classes are going well. I am juggling everything quite nicely. *knocks on wood* I really cannot wait for the semester to be over though. I already have a job and am looking forward to starting my career. I am really excited to put the skills I have learned over the last 4 years in college to use to help people. 

Next week, I hope to start wrapping things up. I only have one final to do for one of my classes, so that's going to be a lot less stressful than usual. I am also apartment hunting and will hopefully find somewhere soon. Finally, my last week at my current job is also next week. I am looking forward to finishing things in this chapter of my life and moving on to the next. 

Week 13 Story: Lady Amoret's Capture

 The Capture of Lady Amoret

How I imagine Lady Amoret might look. (Source: Tumblr)

The sun started to set and the shadows started to lengthen when Britomart decided to stop for the night. She, her horse, and Amoret were all weary from their long journey and all the trials they had faced. They currently were wandering through a desert to get to the forest that lay on the other side of it. But it was vast and would take days to travel through. Britomart found a sheltered place in a vacated cave that had the evidence of past travelers being there. 

"Let's stop and rest here for the night. We are both weary and the sun is setting. We will make little to no progress in this state if we continue and do not rest," Britomart stated.  

There was cut dried kindling and wood stacked from past travelers just inside the entrance to the cave. Both Britomart and Amoret said a silent thanks to their gods for the strangers' gift.

 "If you will help me get the fire going I shall cook some of the meat we still have left from the last hunt you took," Amoret offered. Britomart agreed and they both got to work on preparing a small meal for the two of them.

Once they had eaten they were sitting around the fire almost fast asleep, when Amoret thought she heard rustling outside of the cave. "Did you hear that, my friend?" Amoret nervously looked over to Britomart who was almost asleep. 

"Hmm? Oh, it was probably an animal that smelled the food. Not to worry though, the fire will keep them at bay. Wild animals won't dare come near a fire like this and we are both behind the fire. That is why I made it near the entrance of the cave." Britomart dismissed Amoret's worries and fell fast asleep. 

'Well, she's probably right, I am just being paranoid. I need to rest while I can. I want to get back to Scudamour, my love as soon as possible.' She thought to herself as she too fell fast asleep. 

Little did Amoret or Britomart know, that someone from the tourney had followed them. Sir Satyrane, furious at being bested by not just the Savage knight, but also the Knight with the Ebony Spear, had followed where the strange knight was taking the fair lady he won. At first, Satyrane thought to some distant castle but was outraged to overhear and see the truth about Britomart and Amoret. 'I shall show them what happens when you try to make a fool of me! Lady Amoret is rightfully mine, husband or no. I will have her!' He thought with fury. 

So, Satyrane continued following them until they stopped for the night. He knew that he was no match for Britomart and would lose against her if it came to combat. So he waited until their exhaustion overtook both of them and put his plan into action. 

He swiftly but quietly scooped up the Lady Amoret from where she was laying and quickly made haste to his horse. The lady was so exhausted from all of her previous adventures and capture from the Enchanter, she never even stirred. 

She awoke to the sun shining in her eyes and laying against who she thought was Britomart on horseback. She was quite disoriented and wondered why Britomart did not just wake her earlier. But even as she thought this, she slowly came to her senses and realized it was not Britomart she leaned against. 

"Oh, you're awake, lovely. My lady, we shall be home shortly." Satyrane smirked to himself as he spoke to her. 

"Home? Sir Satyrane? What are you doing? Why have you taken me from my dear knight? I demand you bring me back at once!" She pounded on his back to no avail. He never stopped or even slowed the horse carrying them down.

He chuckled sinisterly to himself. "I know the evil trick you and this Britomart played on the rest of us. But I am no fool! You are rightfully mine and shall be my wife! You will grace me with your beauty all of my days," He said dreamily. 

Amoret fought as hard as she could to get him to let her go. She planned and tried many escapes but she could not beat him. She prayed that Britomart and her love, Scudamour would come to her rescue and soon. She shivered to herself to think what was awaiting her at Satyrane's castle. 

A/N:

First off, thanks for reading! While reading the tales of Britomart this week, I got so frustrated. It took forever for Britomart to find Artegall and for her "happily ever after," so to speak. Then we have her best friend, Amoret, who was separated from her husband by a wicked Enchanter who Britomart saved her from. So when Britomart finds Artegall and Scudamour, we find out that Lady Amoret had been taken and Britomart had no clue about who had taken her or to where. The last story in the unit said Amoret's story was for another book, and let me just say, I was super disappointed to not be able to read at least something about her! So that's why I decided to write my story post about her capture at least. Satyrane seemed very arrogant to me in the original story and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this for revenge. Actually, a lot of people seemed to be getting revenge on each other during this unit, so it fits well with the story to me. I didn't want to give too much detail and wanted to leave some mystery, as I haven't yet read any of her actual story (if there is one) and I just like leaving my readers wanting more. Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is always welcomed! 

Bibliography:

Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary McCleod, with illustrations by A.G. Walker (1916). 

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part B

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart by Cristian Gonzalez (Source: Reddit )

The Enchanted Chamber

-What Britomart Saw in The Enchanted Chamber 

-Shrill trumpet 

-"brave Princess" 

-"Then stepped forth a grave-looking person, in costly raiment, and bearing in his hand a branch of laurel."

-name of man was Ease 

-iron wicket

-joyous band 

-Fancy, Desire, Doubt, Danger, Fear, Hope, Dissembling, Suspicion, Grief, Fury, Displeasure, Pleasure, Spite, and Cruelty all personified. 

-Love was also personified and was "tyrant of the castle" and had a winged figure 

-also- Reproach, Repentance, Shame, Strife, Anger, Care, Unthriftiness, Loss of Time, Sorrow, Change, Disloyalty, Rioting, Poverty, Death-with-Infamy

-all returned to the inner chamber they had come from 

A Wicked Enchanter 

-How Britomart Rescued a Fair Lady from a Wicked Enchanter

-Britomart tried to open the door to the inner chamber and couldn't because it was closed by magic

-no one but the enchanter and the lady was in the inner chamber. her hands were tied up and a chain around her waist

- the enchanter was drawing figures in blood trying to use magic to make her love him

-Britomart didn't kill him because he had to undo the spell over the lady 

-Glauce and Scudamour left to look for more help, so when Britomart and Amoret came out, they weren't there 

Strange Meetings 

-What Strange Meetings Befell on the Way

-As they were looking for the knight and Glauce, Amoret shared the story of how she was captured with Britomart

-her and Britomart became best friends 

-Duessa and Ate-treacherous and in disguise 

-Strife

The Golden Girdle

-How Britomart did Battle for the Golden Girdle

-last day of the tournament 

-Knights of Maidenhood

-The Savage Knight- Sir Artegall, The champion of justice 

-Britomart beat all the other knights

-Girdle of Florimell- wearer said to be peerless

The False Floimell

-How the Golden Girdle was Awarded to the False Florimell

-Snowy Lady- impersonating the Lady Florimell

-"Unlucky maid, to seek her enemy! Unlucky maid to seek far and wide for him whom, when he was nearest, she could not discover because of his disguise!"

The House of Care 

-How Sir Scudamour Came to the House of Care

-Scudamour wants revenge of Britmoart b/c Ate filled his heart with jealous rage 

-Care- a blacksmith by trade, ragged and dirty appearance 

-6 servents who were strong men 

Two Knights

-How the "Savage Knight" met the "Knight with the Ebony Spear"

-Scudamour and Artegall meet

-they both agreed to help seek revenge on Britomart

-Britomart fought both and won

How Britomart Ended her Quest

-Britomart and Artegall are made known to each other

-Glauce makes everyone make amends

-Amoret is missing

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary McCleod, with drawings by A.G. Walker (1916).

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part A

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart walking into the fire. (Source: www.oldbookillustrations.com )

Sir Guyon

-"How Sir Guyon met a Champion mightier than himself"

-Acrasia- the wicked enchantress, captured

-he traveled with Prince Author- (possible connection with king Arthur later???)

-traditional chivalry and knight cade

-saw another knight with a golden lion on the shield 

-Guyon wanted to be the one who fought the knight 

-Guyon fell off his horse because of an enchanted spear he was holding 

-knight was actually a maiden 

-maiden was actually the famous Princess Britomart, daughter of Ryence, King of South Wales.

-she was trying to find Artegall- the champion knight of justice

-she saw him in a magic mirror Merlin gave to her father

-definite connections to Arthur 

-traveled and fought together, when they lost to one another they were graceful about it 

How Britomart Fought with Six Knights 

-a milk-white pony rushed past them with a lady on its back

-Florimell- name of the lady on the pony

-Arthur and Guyon started to fight the woodman chasing her

-Britomart found a "stately castle" 

-she saw one knight fighting six others on the plain that was in front of the castle

-Britomart ran to help

-story reads like a fairytale 

-"There dwells within this castle a fair lady whose beauty has no living rival. She has ordained this law, which we approve: that every knight who comes this way and has no lady of his own, shall enter her service, never to leave it. But if he has already a lady whom he loves, then he must give her up, or else fight with us to prove that she is fairer than our lady."

-Britomart won, entered the castle 

Britomart in Castle Joyous 

-Lady of Delight and Castle Joyous 

-the lady always satisfied her own desires no matter what

The Magic Mirror

-How Britomart Looked into The Magic Mirror

-explains to her companion knight that she is traveling and disguising herself as a knight to seek adventure but also find Artegall

-lied about how she felt about Artegall to hide her feelings from the other knight 

-"These words sank into Britomart's heart and filled her with rapture, but still, she would not let her companion see it."

-mirror was round and hollow like a globe

The Cave of The Magician Merlin

-How Britomart went to the Cave of the Magician Merlin

-saw Artegall in the mirror and was plunged into grieving thinking that she would never see him again

-went to Merlin to try to find out where Artegall was

Britomart's Quest

-How Britomart Set Forth on Her Quest

-the nursemaid helps her to come up with a plan to sneak away to the Faerie Queen's land to find Artegall

The Castle at the Churl Malbecco

-How Britomart Came to the Castle at Churl Malbecco

-a great storm 

-churl-an impolite and mean-spirited person

-the churl refused to let Britomart into his castle away from the storm

-he eventually let her and other knights into the castle where they all shared stories

How Britomart Walked Through Fire

-saw a giant chasing a man

-wandered into the forest to find the giant and both got separated

-Britomart found a sobbing knight

-knight told her that his lady love had been taken by an evil enchanter 

-she vowed she would rescue her or die with her 

-found a great magical fire at the entrance of the castle

-Britomart's boldness helped her to pass the fire 

-castle was richly decorated 

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary Mcleod, with drawings by A. G. Walker (1916). 

Week 12 Lab: Six-Word Memoirs

 Six-Word Memoirs

Blank card, ready for a new story. (Pixabay)

So, for this week's story lab, I read up on NPR's website about six-word memoirs. I really liked this concept. I have seen it on social media a lot, but have never tried it myself. I think it makes story-telling even more meaningful. You only have six words, to sum up everything you are feeling or thinking. This makes the six words you string together much more valuable than the normal-sized novel or story you would write to explain a whole scenario or concept. The most intriguing ones for me were ones that tried to sum up their whole life's experience. I think it really resonated with me and how I want to be in my writing. I want it to be valuable and mean something. I think I would like to do a microfiction of my favorite fictional characters and do a six-word story or memoir for each of them. I think it would be very entertaining and will definitely be something I will be looking forward to doing for this class. This activity will help me to become a better, more creative, and concise writer in my opinion. I am looking forward to the challenge of starting to write microfictions like the six-word story.  

Celtic Fairy Tales Reading: Part B

 Celtic Fairy Tales

Cover of the "Celtic Fairy Tales" book. (Source: Mythology Untextbook Unit )

King O'Toole and His Goose

-"OCH, I thought all the world, far and near, had heerd o' King O'Toole — well, well, but the darkness of mankind is untellable!"

-owned the churches

-loved hunting

-had a pet goose that entertained him when he got old and couldn't hunt anymore

-Saint Kavin

-Saint Kavin says will make the goose good as new if the king will give him the land she flies around after shes better

The Shee An Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire

-Fairy of Gannon and the Laughin Goblin

-asked the king of Erin to marry his daughter

-king told him that if he could find out what made the goblin stop laughing he could marry her, if he didn't, he would behead him

-fairy starts working for the goblin

-Land of the Giant

-five-headed giant 

Beth Gellert

-prince Llewelyn had a greyhound named Gellert

-called for Gellert but he never came

-went hunting but came back angry

-when he came back, found the dog covered in blood

-went to sons nursery and saw chaos

-"Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes."

-Beth Gellert- "Grave of Gellert"

The Tale of Ivan 

-Cornish Tale

-Market Jew- nothing to do with Jews, "Marghas Yow,"-means Thursday Market

-Llanlavan Chyannor

-3 pounds for a year's wages at the farm for Ivan

-"Never leave the old road for the sake of a new one."

-"Never lodge where an old man is married to a young woman."

-"Honesty is the best policy."

Andrew Coffey

-whole barony-repeated 

-quiet decent man

-got lost in the woods and found a cabin

-heard his name being called

-"better see, than be seen"

-dreamed the whole ordeal

Brewery of Eggshells

-Welsh changeling story

-Place of Strife

-"old elves of the blue petticoat"

-"Wise Man of Llanidloes, for he knew everything and would advise her what to do."

-"So she went back into the house, seized the children, and threw them into the lake, and the goblins in their blue trousers came and saved their dwarfs and the mother had her own children back and so the great strife ended."

Bibliography-

Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). 

Celtic Fairy Tales Reading: Part A

 Celtic Fairy Tales

Silver-Tree in the glen. (Source: The Untextbook )

Connla and The Fairy Maiden 

-Connla of the Fiery Hair

-Conn of the Hundred Fights

-Plains of the Ever-Living- "Where there is neither death nor sin"

-Hill Folk

-interesting names 

-old language 

-only Connla saw the Fairy Maiden 

-Plain of Pleasure- Moy Mell

-Boadag is king

-"Oh, come with me, Connla of the Fiery Hair, ruddy as the dawn with thy tawny skin. A fairy crown awaits thee to grace thy comely face and royal form. Come, and never shall thy comeliness fade, nor thy youth, till the last awful day of judgment."

-Coran-Druid

-"by woman wiles and witchery"

-Coran got rid of the maiden and the maiden threw an apple at him

-Connla ate only from the apple and ate and drank nothing else for a month, his longing for the fairy maiden grew

-"Tis a glorious place, forsooth, that Connla holds among short-lived mortals awaiting the day of death. But now the folk of life, the ever-living ones, beg and bid thee come to Moy Mell, the Plain of Pleasure, for they have learnt to know thee, seeing thee in thy home among thy dear ones."

-maiden called druid "false black demon"

-curragh-a canoe

The Field of Boliauns

-lady-day - Feast of the Annunciation- angel Gabriel told Mary of Jesus' birth

-Tom Fitzpatrick

-"clacking sort of noise"

-"stonechatters"

-brown pitcher that might hold a gallon and a half of liquor 

-Leprachaun description

-"They say a body must never take their eyes off them, or they'll escape."

-good beer in the pitcher

-made beer out of heath

-boliaun-pot

The Horned Women

-Witch of One Horn

-Witch of Two Horns

-12 women all with horns, last had 12 horns

-Mistress of house felt near death from witchs' spell

-"The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire."

-Slievenamon- their main home 

-the Spirit of the Well

-feet-water

-feet-water, beam, and cake all talk back to the witches

The Shepherd of Myddvai 

-Black Mountains in Caermarthenshire lies the lake known as Lyn y Van Vach

-3 maidens from lake

-shepherd fell in love with one of the maidens

-maiden said she would marry him and be with him but he couldn't strike her 3 times (familiar to other stories I've read)

-sons became Meddygon Myddvai, the physicians of Myddvai

The Sprightly Tailor

-the great Macdonald

-told tailor to make trews at night in a haunted church

-ghost appears

-the "fearsome thing" ran after the tailor after he left the church and gave chase

Munachar and Manachar 

-starts off like an original fairytale

-inanimate objects talking (rod,axe,flag,water, butter, milk)

-talking animals (deer, hound, cat, cow)

-repetitive, always adding a new character 

- threshers, miller

-Manachar bursts before Munachar can get everything he needs to hang him on a gad

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree

-starts with "Once upon a time.."

-silver-tree is mother, gold-tree daughter

-trout in the glen they go to tells silver-tree that her daughter is prettier than her

-a prince from far off ask to marry gold-tree and the king approves

-king gave her the heart and liver of a he-goat instead

-siler-tree begs king for a ship and they go visit their daughter

-gold-tree locked herself in her room when they came

-mother teicked her and stuck her finger with poison that killed her

-prince didn't bury her, but locked her in her room where she was

-prince marries again and second wife finds the room where gold-tree is

-she takes the poison out of her finger and gold-tree lives again

-prince keeps both wives

-repetitive

-"The prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful. I left them there."

Bibliography-

Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). 

Week 11 Reading Notes Part B: Native American Marriage Tales

 Marriage Tales Part B

Deer running through the forest. (Source: Pixabay)

The Dog-Husband

-tamanous-" spirit power"

-Quinault tale

-young girl who had a dog

-dog slept at foot of her bed

-every night dog would turn into a man and lie with the girl and then turn back to a dog in the morning

-girl becomes pregnant

-parents were ashamed, all the people moved, and left the girl to die 

-Crow had pity on her

-Coals between two clamshells, hear crackling, and see fire

-had 5 dog pups, 4 males 1 female

-heard singing from the house

-caught pups in human form 

-taught boys how to hunt

-made them bathe every day to get tamanous for whale hunting 

-got so many whales beach stank with them

-Crow visited and then told the people who ran away about children and girl

-people went back to village and the boys were chiefs

The Youth Who Joined The Deer

-Nlakapamuk tale

-great deer-hunter

-constantly thought of deer

-2 wives, one son

-see child and woman at the end of deer tracks 

-"You need not trouble yourself about the tracks. For a long time, I have loved you and longed for you. Now you shall go with me to my house."

-hunter could not resist attraction or following her

-"You must not worry or think that you are doing wrong. You shall be my husband, and you will never regret it."

-went underground

-found other people who were dressed in deerskin clothing

-"You are my husband, and will sleep with me. You may embrace me, but you must not try to have intercourse with me. You must not do so before the rutting season. Then you may also go with my sisters. Our season comes but once a year, and lasts about a month. During the rest of the year we have no sexual connections."

-deer people lived by hunting and killing each other for food, but came back to life when thrown into the water

The Youth Who Joined The Deer (Cont.)

-turned into a deer for rutting season, others beat him

-people gave him large antlers to win in fighting

-went back to hunters people

-"For eight days you must prepare yourself by washing in decoctions of herbs."

-deer son teaches other son how to hunt and to throw deer bones in the water

-son from the deer became human and the hunter became a deer

The Girl and The Turkeys

-Zuni tale

-Salt City

-Wealthy people owned large flocks of turkeys

-a little tumbledown, single-room house, wherein there lived alone a very poor girl

-the only thing she owned was turkeys

-turkeys loved her

-Dance of the Sacred Bird

-never allowed to participate

-turkeys can understand the girl

- "Now, listen well, for I speak the speech of all the elders of my people: If you will drive us in early this afternoon when the dance is most gay and the people are most happy, we will help you to make yourself so handsome and so prettily dressed that never a man, woman, or child amongst all those who are assembled at the dance will know you, but rather, especially the young men, will wonder whence you came, and long to lay hold of your hand in the circle that forms around the altar to dance."

The Girl and the Turkeys (Cont. and end)

-"No one knows how much happiness and good fortune may come to you"

-"took turkeys home and gave them her clothes to restore

-made all her clothing looked white and neat and pressed

-turkeys cleaned her too

-"O maiden mother, leave open the wicket, for who knows whether you will remember your Turkeys or not when your fortunes are changed, and if you will not grow ashamed that you have been the maiden mother of Turkeys? But we love you and would bring you good fortune. Therefore, remember our words of advice, and do not tarry too long."

-"Whence comes this beautiful maiden?"

-forgot turkeys

-"It is as we might have expected. She has forgotten us; therefore is she not worthy of better things than those she has been accustomed to. Let us go forth to the mountains and endure no more of this irksome captivity, inasmuch as we may no longer think our maiden mother as good and true as once we thought her."

-turkeys ran away high into the mountains

-"After all, the gods dispose of men according to as men are fitted, and if the poor be poor in heart and spirit as well as in appearance, how will they be aught but poor to the end of their days?"

The True Bride

-Nlakapamuk tale 

-white man who had a wife and daughter

-first wife died, man remarried and had another daughter

-stepmother was always mean to the first daughter

-stepmother sent out the girl to get berries in winter

-girl left with food in her basket and was going to wander until she died

-found a lodge with four young men

-young men were relatives but she didn't know it 

-told them about stepmother sending her out for berries 

-they gave her a shovel and scraper and told her to remove snow from the house

-found that the roof was covered with fresh strawberries 

-asked what they could do for her

-she said she was poor and had no clothes, they told her to spit and spittle turned into a gold nugget

-made shoes and dress

-stepmother was angry when she saw all the things that the girl had

-stepmother told her daughter to follow elders footsteps in the snow

-came to the lodge and the brothers gave her food and asked why she was traveling 

-told her to do the same for berries 

-asked her to spit but she was too vain and haughty

-when younger spat it turned into smelly toenails 

-brothers refused to help her 

-stepmother not giving up messing with Girl-who-spat-gold

-"animal-birth slander"

-chief's son passed by and saw the elder girl

-chief and his son saw she spat gold and the chief told his son to marry her because she was valuable

-at wedding, the girl spat gold for guests

-She-who-spat-gold became pregnant

-husband said that stepmother and half-sister should help her have the baby

-stepmother made the baby fall into a hole and gave the girl a cat and said that was her child

-"Odd people have odd children."

-stepmother tricked her again the same way and gave her a snake for her baby

-stepmother convinced husband to kill the girl and they threw her overboard in the lake

-four brothers rescued her and turned her into a swan 

-She-who-spat-gold's dog took care of children

-stepmother poisoned them 

-dog took them to the Sun for help

-children came back to life with the Sun's spittle

-stepmother and half-sister hanged 

Bibliography-

Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). 

Week 11 Reading Notes Part A: Native American Marriage Tales

 Marriage Tales 

Buffalo (Source: Pixabay)

The Piqued Buffalo Wife

-Blackfoot story

-young man fathers a buffalo cow's child

-the child sneaks into the other camps to play with the other children

-wanted to find his father 

-headman called all older man and the boy couldn't find his father 

-father was among the unmarried men of the camp

-boy brought his father to where his mother was

-buffalo cow became a woman and went home with her husband and child

-she warned her husband to not "strike at her with fire"

-struck at her with fire, she and the child turned into buffalo and ran away

- man covered himself in "buffalo-wallow" to try and find them

-was told he had to go through an ordeal to be reunited with his wife and child 

-the buffalo calf that was his son told him he would know it was him b/c he would hold up his tail

-man was trampled 

-found a piece of bone and brought him back to life

Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman

-Lassik story 

-grizzly bear and doe were both wives of chickenhawk

-grizzly bear kills the doe

-cooks her head in the fire

-the does children killed the grizzlys children

Splinter-Foot-Girl

-Arapaho story

-7 people on a journey on the war-path

-they went hunting to find food and one of the hunters cut his leg on a thorny plant

-his leg swelled up so much that it burst and a child came out of it

-the grew very fond of the child

-her name was Foot-Stuck-Child

-a buffalo wanted to marry her so sent a magpie with the message to the hunters

-they said no 

-eventually became his wife 

-had a hand-painted buffalo robe

Splinter-Foot-Girl (cont.)

-been a year since she has married buffalo

-blackbird said that the mole and badger can help the hunters get their daughter back

-finds a stone and asks for help, but it says its not strong enough

-they found a cottonwood tree they climbed to get away from the bull

-bull found her empty robe and was angry

-the bull and his herd track them

-they find the tree the girl is in and start attacking it

-the take of its bark and break their horns on it

-when the bull attacked the tree the last time he got stuck.

-the tree told the men to shoot him and kill him and then cover him with the pieces of wood that had fallen off

Splinter-Foot-Girl (End)

-the rock wanted to marry the girl and sent the magpie to tell her fathers

-the magpie warned that he was not a good man and to refuse him

-had to let the girl go but her fathers knew the mole and badger would help her

-mole and badger tricked the rock to fall into a hole they had made

-her and her fathers escape into the sky and live in a tent covered with stars

The Eagle and Whale Husbands 

-Greenland Inuit story

-2 girls were playing on a beach with eagle and whale bones

-one decided to marry an eagle, the other a whale

-an eagle came a took one girl to a high cliff

-she took the sinews of the birds he brought for her to eat and made a rope to escape

-she went back to her people where the eagle found her

-they tricked him to spread out his wings and shot and killed him'

-a whale took the other girl deep into the ocean and tied her to the bottom

-her brothers who were nearby built a boat to rescue her

-they got her back and the whale chased them

-when the whale got to shore, he turned into a piece of whalebone

The Fox-Woman

-Labrador Eskimo tale

-a hunter who lived on his own kept coming back to his home to find it cleaned and food ready and waiting for him

-he decided to watch and see who did it

-he saw a fox enter and thought it was about to steal food

-when he entered the house he saw a beautiful woman who was beautifully clothed

-he asked her why she did everything and she said as his wife it was her duty

-she had an odor that the man complained about, so she left

The Woman Stolen By Killer Whales

-Tahltan tale

-a fisherman caught a strange big fish and he had his wife kill it and cut it up to dry for food later

-when she dipped her hands in water to clean them, a killer whale grabbed her for revenge for killing his friend

-the shark offers to help get his wife back 

-the shark rescued the woman and fought the killer whales

The Rolling Head

-a Cheyenne tale

-a solitary-family lived alone

-husband painted the wife's face and body before leaving for hunting

-the woman went to a lake to get water

-met a snake who told her to come out to him and she did and did it every day her husband was gone

-the husband followed her to see what she was really doing at the lake

-the man saw his wife with the snake and killed them both

-he cut up his wife's meat and cooked it and fed it to their children

-the head of their mother chased the daughters

-the girls were taken care of by two panthers and two bears

-their father joined them again, but they regretted what he had done to them, so they made the lions kill him

The Bear-Woman

-Blackfoot tale

-a woman who had 7 brothers and one little sister

-she had many suitors but refused to marry

-mother was dead but she and her siblings lived with their father

-had a bear for a lover, but didn't want anyone to know

-her little sister followed her one day and found out about her lover and told their father

-father went out with other people and killed the bear 

-the elder sister scolded her younger sister for telling on her

-she told her little sister to go and get some flesh from the dead bear's paws

-little sister was upset because a dog's pups kept biting her when she left their lodge

-older  sis offered to paint her to look like a bear and then went to go get the meat

-older sis a powerful medicine woman

-little sis warns bros about big sis being able to turn into a bear

The Bear-Woman (Cont.)

-tricked the elder sister

-younger sister and brothers leave the country

-after killing their elder sister, they decided to live in the sky as stars

Bibliography

Tales of North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). 

Week 9 Story: Jack & Junior

(Brer Rabbit Picture)

     Now, we've all heard the stories of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and all they get up to. All ya'll know how Brer Rabbit always pullin' the wool over Brer Fox's eyes. But what ya'll all ain't never heard about, was their younguns. 

    Well, back in that little holler that all them animals lived in, Miss Meadows would watch the younguns and teach em proper. They learn readin', writin', and countin'. She loved 'em all like they was her own. But the nearest and dearest ones close to her heart were them there lil bunnies from Brer Rabbit and his Missus. Miss Meadows thought they was cute as a bug's ear. So they could no wrong in her eyes. 

    Welp, the littlest out of them lil bunnies was named Jack. Even though he was the cutest, he was also smart as a whip. He could sell ice to a penguin if you asked him to do it. And he mostly used them smarts to always get one over on lil Fox, Jr. He was Brer Fox and Missus Fox's only lil pup. He was a trouble maker, that one. He's always goin' after Jack and the lil bunnies. Course, he just was doin' what his Pa was always doin'. 

  One day all the younguns was out in Miss Meadows garden helpin' her to tend to it. Each youngun had a certain job to do. Jack was supposed to be paintin' the little fence that went round the garden to a nice white color. Well, Jack so got bored. He looked round at ole Junior pullin' up weeds and grinned when an idea came to his head. "I am so lucky that Miss Meadows picked me for this here job. Ain't nobody anywheres that can do this job," he said real loud like gettin' Junior's attention.

"What you over here yammerin' about, Jack? Alls yuns is doin' is paintin' that fence over yonder. It ain't that hard." Junior was snarlin' at him. 

"Yeah, but Miss Meadows said only I can do this job. On count of I'm SPECIAL, and only SPECIAL younguns can do this work," He was sayin' actin' all proud like.

Junior scratched his head a' thinkin'. What if he went over there and made lil ole Jack give his job to him? Then Miss Meadows would think HE was special. "Hmm..yun's is right. So gimmee that brush!" He yanked it out Jack's lil paw and pushed him real good to the ground. 

Jack grinned to hisself. He just sat back and watched the day drifitin' on by while ole Junior painted that whole fence. 

When Miss Meadows called all the younguns to show her their work, she saw that there fence was painted but her garden still afull of weeds. "Well, bless me! Looks like you are lazier than a fat tick on a hound dog, Junior Fox!" Miss Meadows was exclaimin' when she saw that there weren't no weeds pulled up in the garden. "I'm gonna tan your hide fer bein' so lazy! And I'm gonna tell yer Pa when I sees him!" She took him inside by the ear and all the children could hear him gettin a whippin' from Miss Meadows' switch she ain't hardly ever used. All the while, Jack justa sittin' there grinnin' to hisself. 

A/N: 

For this story, I wanted to do something with Brer Rabbit's children. They are mentioned a lot in the stories but we are never given any specific characteristics of one of the little bunnies. So I thought I would make the youngest one a trickster, just like Brer Rabbit. I was thinking of what kind of trick he could pull when I though of also giving the other animals children too. This is how Junior Fox was created. I also took a bit of inspiration from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer tricks a bunch of boys into painting a fence for him, and ends up not having to do the work. I also used a different kind of Southern language. I'm from East Tennessee and tried to stick with slang from there because that's what I'm more familiar with. Thanks for reading! 

Bibliography:

Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).

Reading Part B Notes: Brer Rabbit

Brer Rabbit Reading Notes Part B

Brer Rabbit getting the best of Brer Fox. (Source: Deviant Art )

Mr. Fox and The Deceitful Frogs

-picks up after Terrapin has tricked Fox into letting go of his tail, Terrapin is mocking him from water

-teased Fox in terrapin talk

-Frog and Bull-Frog join in

-they tricked Fox into thinking his reflection was another fox and he fell in the water

Old Mr. Rabbit, He's a Good Fisherman

-has origins in Europe

-Fox, Rabbit, Coon, Bear, and others are clearing a patch to plant corn

-Rabbit begins to get tired but doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to look lazy

-Rabbit jumped into a bucket from a well

-bucket went down and rabbit got scared- "They ain't been no worser scared beast since the world begin than this here same Brer Rabbit." 

-ague-illness

-Fox followed him and saw Rabbit fall down the well in the bucket

-Fox thinks that Rabbit is actually hiding something in the well

-Rabbit tells Fox he is fishing

-Rabbit tricks Fox into jumping in other bucket and pulling him up

Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again

-Buzzard and Rabbit growing crop together

-Buzzard didn't get his share

-Buzzard tells Rabbit he found a gold mine

-Buzzard carries Rabbit over the river

-Rabbit gets scared and is weak in the knees for months

A Story About The Little Rabbits

-Little rabbits are Brer Rabbits children.

-good children

-Fox wants to eat them but remembers when Wolf got boiled and skinned so is making an excuse to eat them

-"Take your toothies and gnaw it,Take your toothies and saw it,
Saw it and yoke it,
And then you can broke it."

-"Sifter hold water same as a tray,If you fill it with moss and dob it with clay;
The Fox get madder the longer you stay—
Fill it with moss and dob it with clay."

-"Spit in your hands and tug it and toll it,And get behind it, and push it, and pole it;
Spit in your hands and rear back and roll it."

-A little bird sang solutions to the problems that Fox gave them

Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear

- goober- peanut

-cute- "acute"

-Rabbit got caught in Fox's trap

-told Bear he was making money being a scarecrow for Fox

-Rabbit tricked Bear into taking his place and told Fox he was stealing from him

-Fox beat him with a stick- "blip"

Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength

-all animals went to Miss Meadows to make molasses 

-all are given jobs to do

-Miss Meadows said they weren't allowed to play tricks or fight each other and hung up a flag of truce at the gate

-rocking in chair repetitive

-terrapin says bear cant pull him out of a puddle

-got the rope and tied it to a tree root

The Story of The Deluge

-"way back yonder"

-not  a beer rabbit story, but flood story

-Lion was king

-Rhinossy-hoss- Rhino

-elephant stepped on a crawfish and squished it

-Crawfish burrowed down into the earth and released water from the earth flooding it

Plantation Proverbs

Bibliography: 

Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).

Reading Week 9 Part A Notes: Brer Rabbit

 Brer Rabbit Notes Part A

Artwork by Kenket. (Source: Deviant Art )

The Calamus Root

-Southern Accent sounding

-descriptive in how Brer Rabbit looks

-third-person
-"looking just as plump, and as fat, and as sassy as a Morgan horse in a barley-patch."
-"mending his licks"-

-"confab"- conversation

-"holler from where you stad"

-"ain't"

-"calamus root"

The Wonderful Tar Baby Story

-Brer Fox mixed up tar and turpentine and made a contraption called a "Tar-Baby"

-"Brer Rabbit pacing down the road — lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity — just as sassy as a jaybird"

-How does your symptoms seem to segashuate?" says Brer Rabbit, says he."-means "how are you?"

-"but Tar-Baby ain't saying nothing."- repetitive sentence 

-Brer Rabbit hit the tar-baby and got stuck

-Brer Fox laughs at Brer Rabbit

Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace

-intro brer possum and brer coon

-"just as sociable as a basket of kittens"

-Brer Possum fell over like he was dead in front of the dog

-"skaddling through the woods like it was shot out of a musket."

-Brer coon calls brer possum a coward

-"And down to this day, Brer Possum's bound to surrender when you touch him in the short ribs, and he'll laugh if he knows he's going to be smashed for it."

How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp For Mr. Fox

-Brer Fox plans to barbeque Brer Rabbit

-Rabbit repeatedly tells Fox not to fling him in the brier patch

-Because Fox wanted to hurt Brer Rabbit as badly as possible he flung him by his back legs into the brier patch

Mr. Fox is Outdone by Mr. Buzzard

-Buzzard was supposed to be guarding the tree where Rabbit was at

-Rabbit escaped and Buzzard tricked Fox into cutting down the tree still'

-"I done been tampered with till plumb down to the sapsucker'll sit on a log and sassy me."

Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure

-proverbs

-gossip about how Rabbit tricked Fox

- "they sort of palavered on"

-Wolf tricking Rabbit by saying Fox died

-"tear out the house like the dogs was after him."

Mr. Fox Tackles Old Man Tarrypin

-"terrapin"- turtle

-"you don't know what trouble is"-repetitive 

-tricks Fox into letting him go in the water

The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf

-Folks what's always pestering people, and bothering about that what ain't theirs, don't never come to no good end.-life lesson

-"What you doing now, Brer Rabbit?" -repetitive

Bibliography:

Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings, by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).

 Week 8 Progress

1. Looking Back

I am pretty happy with my progress. At first, I thought I was really behind because I had a week where I got behind on my assignments. After looking at the progress chart, I was not as behind as I thought I was. I've had fun with this class. I've kind of used it as self-care from the other stuff I have going on too. My favorite part of this class is when I get to write my own stories. I love being able to be the one to tell stories for people to read! 

2. Looking Forward. 

One of the things I need to improve is staying on schedule with all of my assignments. I need to make sure weekly I'm getting everything that needs to be done, done. The only things going forward about my project I may change are my grammar and revisions that were suggested. There is a name I might change as well. 

3. 

 A personal image I created on Canva. (March 18, 2021)

 Week 8: Comments and Feedback

1. Feedback in:

I would say that the comments I have received so far have been helpful and encouraging. I like that I get useful criticism from people and that they specifically tell me what I can change or fix. 

2. Feedback out:

I think I do well at leaving feedback on others' posts. I tend to use the TAG strategy the most because it's the easiest way for me to leave good constructive feedback as well. I do think I need to practice using the other techniques, though. 

3. Blog Comments:

I enjoy reading other people's intro posts and getting to know them. I think that in this class I get to know people better than I do in in-person classes at times. I think my blog is very thorough (maybe too thorough!) about introducing myself. I feel like I got most of the important things about me in it. 

4. Looking Forward:

I think it would be more useful for me if I tried other feedback strategies besides just the TAG one. This could even help me find out other things to say in my comments. As of right now, I do not want to make any changes to either my Intro post or comment wall.  

5. Image:

(Source: Growth Mindset & Feedback Cats)

I chose this image because I find that most of the time I am growing is when others are teaching me to be better than what I am currently. 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

 Week 8 in Review 

Looking Back...

    Overall I think that the reading and writing assignments are going great. My own personal schedule has been really busy, but I like that this class is structured to where even if I do miss any assignments, I can always catch them up later with extra credit. I'm pretty happy with how my blog and website have turned out. When I started this class, I did not know anything really about designing stuff like this. So for a beginner, I think I've done pretty well. I'm pretty satisfied with the direction my project is taking. I have a really emotionally and mentally tough internship and class load this semester, and my project stories and weekly stories, and reading have become a form of self-care for me. My biggest accomplishment in this class with my writing is it has really helped my creativity. I used to write a lot more when I was younger and I really enjoyed it. But as I got older I didn't have enough time and I really feel like I was letting my creativity go to waste. But this class gives me a great outlet for it and encourages it. My favorite reading so far is the Adam and Eve unit. I grew up in church hearing the classical Bible story but never read any of the Apocrypha, so it was interesting to add that into the story and even think about it on a more spiritual level for me, as well. I think my reading notes are helping some. They help me remember names and things about different gods and goddesses a lot.  

 (Source: Once Upon a Time Fandom Postcard )

Image Information

I chose to use the image above from my favorite storybooks post I did at the beginning of the semester. This postcard was a promo for the show Once Upon a Time. The arc of the season they were promoting was about the land of untold stories. I thought it was fitting because in this class we are all telling our own stories and they are all unique just like the ones in the show. 

Looking Forward....

    Something I think I really need to focus on is maybe sticking to more of a schedule going forward? It's hard because I have an internship/practicum that the schedule changes day to day really. But I think this just means I need to be more intentional with my free time and downtime. I also think it would benefit me to maybe look into a different note-taking strategy. This would help me come up with ideas for stories. 

Reading Part B: Japanese Mythology

 Japanese Mythology Part B

Picture of the underside of a Japanese Umbrella (Source: Pixabay )

The Labors of Yamato: The Grotto of Love 

-Benten- sea kami (goddess) one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan

-Yamato got bored with his wife Princess Tacibana

-he went hunting to stop his boredem 

-Enoshima 

-jumped from a cliff into the sea and found a grotto filled with emerald light

-"Upon a couch of coral bowered mid glittering sea-blooms, reclined his lost siren, singing softly the whiles she gently fingered a gold and amber lute."

-handmaidens of the siren Benten spread out a feast before Yamato

-"Grant me thy love, sweet siren- else I shall surely die."

The Labors of Yamato: The Golden Apple

-Benten tells the story of Jofuku who traveled and got a golden apple

-"Prince! If thou wouldst be my lover, that Enchanted Isle discover, Bring me back the Golden Apple, thy devotion thus to prove! Then in joyance beyond measure, in a round of ceaseless pleasure, Thou shalt dwell with me forever in eternal youth and love."

 The Labors of Yamato- The Demon Boar 

- very similar to the labors of Hercules 

-asked all the servants, sailors, and fishermen about the Golden Apple but no one knew anything

-depressed- "A lethargy of despair"

-boar in the forest of Hakone

-Ise- high priestess 

-the priestess tells Yamato that only the sacred sword can kill the boar and that he is only vulnerable in his tail and runs like the wind

-search brought them high into the mountains

-killed by cutting off tail and driving off a cliff

The Labors of Yamato- The Grass- Cleaving Sword

-Suruga 

-Sagami

-Princess Tacibana saves Yamato and men from  raging fire

The Labors of Yamato- The Sacred Sword

-Yamato starts thinking about Benten again and tells Tacibana to go home and hide herself till her hair grows back and her burns heal because he says she is hideous in his sight

-Benten trying to trick Yamato for the Sacred Sword for Susa-no-wo

-she got him drunk and made him pass out and she stole the Sacred Sword

-lost in the forest

The Labors of Yamato- The Sacred Sword (Cont.)

-Kwannon- the merciful, goddess of mercy and love

- told Yamato that the sword is in the horns of a stag

-made a lance from bamboo

-goddess lent Yamato her hounds for the hunt

The Labors of Yamato- The Dragon

-norito-an ancient exorcism to protect the faithful from serpents, sprites, and goblins

-Tacibana was "the goddess more beautiful than Benten whose love was greater than her own,"

-Susa-no-wo the dragon- "His head was like a camel, his horns were like a stag, and his eyes were glowing coals of fire. Scaled like a crocodile, he brandished a tiger's paw, armed with the talons of an eagle. 

-Yamato's wife died just like Hercules did in the story of his labors

The Jewel of Heart's Desire: The Land of Morning Calm

-Emporer Chiuai- son of Yamato

-the Empress had a vision from Amaterasu and the Emporer doubted it and was killed by the goddess

-the Land of Morning Calm

-jewel of heart's desire

Bibliography:

Romance of Old Japan by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).