Yes, it’s Vietnamese Myth 2, the stunning sequel the critics are raving about. Since my first Vietnamese Myth page was already pretty long PLUS I will be expanding many of the entries on it I decided to launch this second page where I will deal with the neglected epic myth A War Between Gods as well as the various other myths set during the reigns of specific rulers of the Hung Vuong Dynasty. I will also cover the tragic aftermath of the war between gods.
For my first Vietnamese Myth page, which features entries on the major gods and goddesses of the Vietnamese pantheon click here: https://glitternight.com/vietnamese-myth/
KOREAN MYTHOLOGY – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/24/the-top-11-deities-in-korean-mythology/
NEW!!!!! CHOCTAW INDIAN MYTHOLOGY – https://glitternight.com/2012/06/03/the-top-twelve-deities-in-choctaw-mythology/
THE HUNG VUONG DYNASTY
Hard information on the Hung Vuong Dynasty is virtually non-existent, like trying to find “facts” about monarchs mentioned in the Koran, the Bible, the Kojiki, etc. The information conveyed here will just be the legends and myths about these eighteen kings, each of whom supposedly ruled for approximately one hundred fifty years beginning in 2879 B.C. (Don’t you love the specificity of that nonsense date? Not 2880 or 2870, but 2879.) The Hung Vuong Dynasty represented the height of Vietnamese Dong Son culture. Hung Vuong rulers wore a crown shaped like a Lac bird and made of feathers and jade.
HUNG VUONG I – Reign beginning in 2879 B.C. (beginning at 9:27am local time. I’m kidding!) The primary myth about his time as ruler involves him saving Van Lang (the ancient name of Vietnam) from a terrible drought. Version One – Hung Vuong I received a message from a Lac bird sent by his mother, the goddess Au Co (Lac birds were always special to her and were frequently used as her messengers).
- This message was to meet her beneath the mountain that is the remains of the sky ladder destroyed by Ngoc Hoang long ago. She advised him to destroy the demon which was responsible for the drought by lowering himself into one of the dried-up wells and slaying it by reciting a spell she taught him.
- Version Two – When the drought is raging, Hung Vuong I’s other parent – Lac Long Quan (who by now has returned to live in the sea with his father Long Vuong following the dispersal of the Hundred Sons and their families) sends his father’s emissary Song Truong the Tide Prince to part the waves of the sea and walk to get Hung Vuong I and escort him to the undersea kingdom.
- Once there Lac Long Quan gives him the instructions on how to use a spell to slay the demon causing the drought. In both versions the demon is slain when confronted by Hung Vuong I, the drought ends, the wells fill with fresh water, the rains return and Hung Vuong I is hailed as a hero by his people.
HUNG VUONG II – https://glitternight.com/2011/02/27/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-a-war-between-gods-continues/
HUNG VUONG III – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/06/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-a-war-between-gods-continues-2/
HUNG VUONG IV – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/06/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-a-war-between-gods-continues-2/
HUNG VUONG V – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/12/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-part-4-of-a-war-between-gods-and-more/
HUNG VUONG VI – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/12/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-part-4-of-a-war-between-gods-and-more/
ENTRIES ON THE OTHER HUNG VUONG RULERS COMING SOON
HUNG VUONG XVIII – The most significant myth associated with this last ruler of the Hung Vuong Dynasty is the neglected Vietnamese epic myth A War Between Gods (see following entry)
A WAR BETWEEN GODS
Canto 1 – Hung Vuong XVIII was engaged in the annual Royal Hunt during which he payed homage to the deity Tan Vien, god of the hunt and the jungle with all its gifts as well as the mountain that bears his name. The Royal Hunt lasted several days and Hung Vuong XVIII, like all his predecessors, took many nobles, attendants and bearers with him as well as all his sons and daughters.
- One daughter in particular, Mi Nuong, caught the eye of the god Tan Vien, who noticed what a beautiful young woman she had grown into. The two conversed pleasantly many times during the days of the hunt. At the end of the hunt Tan Vien and his retinue, including the tiger- god Chua Con Ho accompanied Hung Vuong XVIII on his way back to his palace and they all came across a fisherman exalting over an enormous and multi-colored fish he caught in the river.
- Moved by the beauty of the fish Tan Vien bought it from the fisherman, placed its dead body back in the river, then aimed one end of his staff at it. The staff was given to him long ago by Ngoc Hoang’s messenger god Ly Tinh; one end killed any living creature it was aimed at, the other restored life to any dead creature it was aimed at. The extraordinary fish was brought back to life, then metamorphosed into his true form as Thuy Tinh, the son or grandson (versions vary) of the chief sea deity Long Vuong.
Canto II – https://glitternight.com/2011/02/27/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-a-war-between-gods-continues/
Canto III – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/06/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-a-war-between-gods-continues-2/
Canto V – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/20/vietnamese-2-page-updated-part-five-of-a-war-between-gods/
Canto VI – https://glitternight.com/2011/03/27/vietnamese-myth-2-page-updated-part-6-of-a-war-between-gods/
Canto VII – https://glitternight.com/2011/04/03/vietnamese-2-page-updated-the-conclusion-of-a-war-between-gods/
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