I.WHAT’S UP WITH YI? – Yi the Divine Archer from Chinese mythology deserves to be remembered in one breath with some of the other great heroes and monster slayers from belief systems around the world. Most people are only familiar with his feat of shooting down multiple suns that appeared in the sky one day, but this article will provide a light- hearted look at all of his fantastic adventures. Continue reading
Tag Archives: epic myths
YI: THE CHINESE EPIC OF THE DIVINE ARCHER
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART SIX
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART SIX
Fresh off her destruction of the gigantic shark-monster Maka’ukui, Hi’iaka led her two companions – the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e and the mortal woman Wahine – as they renewed their quest to reach Kauai.
Their path next led them into the jungle around Waimanu where the monstrous creatures called the Mahiki terrorized the vicinity. The Mahiki were lizard-like creatures the size of horses and had legs like grasshoppers. These monsters could leap long distances to attack their prey, but had full human consciousness. Continue reading
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART FIVE
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FIVE
The morning after their battle with Pana-Ea and its legion of monsters Hi’iaka, Pa’u’o’pala’e and Wahine resumed their journey. Around mid-day the path they were following suddenly ended at a precipice. Wahine suggested they all descend the cliffside to reach the base, where the waves pounded the jagged stones and from there swim across to the other side. Continue reading
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART FOUR
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FOUR
The goddess Hi’iaka and her companions continued making their way on the Big Island in their quest to meet and escort Prince Lohiau of Kauai to the fire goddess Pele’s home on Mount Kilauea. Accompanying Hi’iaka were the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e, a Pele worshiper named Wahine and Pa-Pulehu, a girl in her early teens whose wealthy family had hosted the travelers.
The four ladies had two paths to choose from: one would lead safely around the Pana-Ewa Rainforest (named for the demonic creature who ruled it) and the other would lead directly through that rainforest. That second path would be fraught with danger every step of the way, not just from Pana-Ewa itself but also from the legions of monsters in Pana-Ewa’s service. Hi’iaka chose to go straight through the rainforest, intent on destroying many of the vile creatures who preyed on the ancient Hawaiian people. Continue reading
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART THREE
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART THREE
The goddess Hi’ika set off for Kaua’i to retrieve and escort Pele’s chosen mate Prince Lohiau back to Pele’s home on Mount Kilauea. In some versions she is first granted some additional divine power by Pele to help her fight her way past the countless menaces that lay in her path. Continue reading
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWO
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWO
As Pele’s sister Hi’iaka and the other gods worried that the volcano and fire goddess’ spirit form (kino wailua) had departed forever, that spirit form was still enjoying its lengthy visit with Prince Lohiau on Kaua’i. Continue reading
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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII
PELE
Balladeer’s Blog begins a new serialized feature with this examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART ONE
On the Big Island of Hawaii the fire and volcano goddess Pele was relaxing with her younger sister Hi’iaka, the goddess of pathways and wayfarers. Hi’iaka was watching two Hawaiian women performing a Hula dance dedicated to Laka, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility and the deity who had invented Hula dancing.
Despite Hi’iaka’s excited praising of the dancing girls’ talents Pele found herself bored by the proceedings and fell asleep. Laka, enjoying the dance and the traditional post-dance offerings to her, felt disrespected by Pele’s inattention. Using her powers as the goddess of love she sent a dream to the sleeping Pela – a dream that would have far-reaching consequences and forever change the relationship between the fire goddess and her sister Hi’iaka. Continue reading
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MWINDO: THE FINALE OF THIS AFRICAN EPIC
Balladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.
PART NINETEEN
The lightning god Nkuba looked down from the sky and prepared to attack the semidivine hero Mwindo in order to avenge his (Nkuba’s) friend, the monster Kirimu. That seven- headed creature had been slain, cooked and served as a meal by Chief Mwindo for killing three of his devoted corps of Pygmies.
The morning after the village of Tubondo had feasted upon the remains of Kirimu, Mwindo had a premonition of impending danger. He announced to his people that his supernatural senses had revealed to him that the bad-tempered god Nkuba had taken offense at his actions against the monster Kirimu. The lightning god was coming for revenge. Continue reading
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MWINDO: EPIC MYTH OF AFRICA PART EIGHTEEN
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.
PART EIGHTEEN
The semidivine Chief Mwindo set out to find and battle Kirimu, the seven-headed monster terrorizing his domain. Mwindo was guided by Nkurongo, the sole remaining Pygmy from the foursome who had encountered the creature while hunting a wild boar for the Chief.
Mwindo carried with him his signature weapon – his conga-scepter, a riding-crop sized staff made of antelope tail. When the Pygmy had led the hero to where Kirimu had slain his comrades the pair saw that the creature was lying in wait in the jungle, ready to strike at anyone who attempted to retrieve the boar slain by the Pygmies. Continue reading
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MWINDO: EPIC MYTH OF AFRICA PART SEVENTEEN
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.
PART SEVENTEEN
Pygmies
This part of the Mwindo Epic picks up with the semidivine hero having been the chief of the village of Tubondo for an unspecified amount of time. One day he was in the mood for a meal of pork so he sent four of his loyal Pygmies out into the jungle to catch a wild boar for him. They set out with their hunting dogs on leashes.
The four Pygmies traveled far off into the jungle but could not find any wild boars or other large game. They began to suspect some supernatural predator of having whittled down the game population in the area. After a few days of searching fruitlessly for a wild boar the four Pygmies at last spotted and speared a boar.
While the quartet of hunters were slicing off the meat they were attacked by Kirimu, a huge monster with a tough black hide, seven heads with one large eye each, a horn on each head, teeth like a dog and a swollen belly with room for plenty of victims. Continue reading
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