Week 7 Story

Once upon a time, before King Arthur was King Arthur, he was just a young knight. One day he was hunting in the woods when he came across a man, a woman, and a dazzling damsel. As he approached them he noticed that they were all weeping.

"Why are you crying? What is troubling you?" Arthur asked.

The man explained to Arthur that they were crying because all eight of his other daughters had been killed. He told Arthur about a great eight-headed dragon. This dragon was the most powerful beast in the land. He explained that every year the beast has come and taken one of his daughters from them. He is terrified of losing his last daughter.

The father explained that they had tried moving or hiding, but it was all in vain. The dragon was inevitable. Arthur saw the family's pain and asked if there was anything he could do to help. He offered his protection, but the father declined because he said it would be to no avail. No human or being could take on the dragon head on. It was too powerful.

However, Arthur was not one to give up. He deliberated and then he spoke too the man.

"I will defeat the dragon for you do not worry. No man or creature has ever been able to conquer me. However, when I return from battle I want your daughters hand in marriage. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

The man gladly obliged. He said he would do anything if it meant his daughter wouldn't be taken from this world. So Arthur set off to go defeat the dragon.

Arthur knew he would have to set a trap to best the beast. He gathered a herd of cattle, and he fetched several barrels of wine. He set them out as bait, and he waited. As he expected the dragon came and devoured the herd and drank all the wine. Then the dragon passed out.

Arthur cut off each of the dragons head, and then he cut the dragon into 1000 pieces. He returned to the family and married the daughter.

The beast

Author's Note:
I took the story of Susa-no-wo and the eight-forked serpent of Koshi. I adapted it to be in medieval times and our protagonist is King Arthur.

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology Part B

One day Yamato begins to grow weary of his princess's devotion. He has no more battles to fight and is unsure if she needs him. Because of this he begins to yearn for the mysterious siren. He wanders to the Isle of Enoshima to try and find her.

He follows a haunting melody to get there. Eventually the melody leads him down the side of a jagged cliff. At the bottom he finds a grotto that glowed with an emerald light. He can still hear the haunting voice, and he begins to see shadows of celestial girls on the wall so he swims to the mouth of the cave. However, he begins to hesitate because he has been warned about grottoes before. They are often a trap that unsuspecting victims get lured into. He gives it some thought, and then he hears the voice again so he decides to keep following it.

Once he reaches the cave he comes across a monstrous dragon. Yamato was afraid of nothing so he pushed on past the dragon. As he ventures further in he comes to a grand entrance. The floor of the entrance was covered with gold sand and white pebbles.The gate of the entrance was made with diamond and encrusted with jade.

He enters and he encounters the siren he has been searching for. She is playing a melody on her lute. She tells Yamato that she is Benten, the Goddess of deathless love. There are lesser siren there swimming around and singing that haunting song. Yamato has come all this way to ask the siren for her love so he does. The siren says he can have her love, but it is not going to be easy. She tells him that if he wants love he has to defy death. She tells him he has sail to Horaizon and get the golden apple of immortal youth.

A golden apple

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

Week 7 Reading Notes A: Japanese Mythology

One day Susa-no-wo saw an omen and journeyed far into the forest to learn more. He came across a man with a gray bear and an old woman who was crying. Between them was a fair maiden.

"Who are you? Gods or Mortals?" asked Susa.

The man responds, "I am the foot-stroke elder. This is my wife the hand-stroke elder, and this is our daughter, the fair princess."

"Why are you crying?" Susa asks.

"We lost eight daughter to the eight forked serpent. He devoured them. This is our last daughter." The man says.

Susa asks what the serpent looks like, and the man tells him that it has red eyes, a blood-inflamed body, eight heads, and eight forked tails. He says its back is overgrown with firs, cedars, and pines, and it cools over eight valleys and mountains.

Susa says he will say the serpent if he can have their daughter's hand in marriage, and her father obliges. The father tells Susa that he is the brother of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, and a descendant of Yamato. Susa transforms the daughter into a comb, puts it in his hair, and goes to slay the serpent.

Susa fashioned a rampart of logs where he hung eight goodly doors, and he set up a vat filled to the brim with sake next to them. Then he waits. The serpent shows up and laps up all the liquor. This is all a part of Susa's plan, and the serpent gets tired and falls asleep.

Susa draws his sword and cuts the serpent up into 1000 pieces. When he cuts open the serpents tail he discovers a miraculous sword, the Kushanagi. He brings the sword to heaven. Then he transforms the comb back into a girl, and they marry and live happily ever after.

Susa slaying the serpent

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