Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm Ashliman (Part B)

Simeli Mountain

• there are two brothers, one rich and one who was poor
• the rich brother was selfish and never gave money to his brother even though his family would starve sometimes
• the poor brother made a living selling grain off of a cart which never made much money
• the poor brother pushed his cart through the forest and noticed a bare mountain
• twelve robbers walked up to the mountain and used the phrase "Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi open up" to cause the mountain to spread open allowing them entrance
• the brother waited until they left to climb down from the tree and use the same trick to see what was inside
• once inside, he saw that there was gold, silver, and precious stones but he never took any of the extremely valuable stuff only enough gold to fill his pockets
• he used this gold to help his family live comfortably and he always lived honestly by giving money to the less fortunate
• when he went back to get more money he would borrow a bushel from his brother to measure out the amount of gold he would carry back but one day his brother found out he was getting gold from somewhere
• the rich brother demanded him to show him where he got the gold or if he didn't he would have him imprisoned
• once the rich man is inside the mountain he grabs all of the most expensive items and in his excitement forgets the words that would let him out
• he realizes that the treasures are of no use to him since he can't even leave
• the robbers come back while he is trapped inside and kill him

Death's Messengers

• death stops a giant on the road and tells him he must be obeyed
• the giant beats death, almost to death
• death is leaning against a stone appearing very ill after his beating when a healthy young man comes down the road and helps him out
• death is grateful for his help but informs him he must come for him one day anyways
• death promises the man he will send messengers before he arrives to take him away
• the man lived very well for awhile until one day he became very ill and was in pain
• no messenger of death had come so he knew he would get better
• one day as he was regaining his health and feeling better death arrived to take him away
• the man was frustrated and claimed that death had not sent his messengers
• death informed him that the messengers were in the form of the illness, the fever, the toothaches he had, and the gout he has lived with
• essentially messengers of death were the effects of aging in that period of time, not a physical person who would come and chat with the man

The Gifts of the Little People

• a goldsmith and a tailor journeyed together through the mountains when they heard a strange but pleasant sound
• they followed the sound to find a group of little people sitting in a circle around a larger old man wearing a colorful jacket who had a white beard
• the two travelers hesitantly entered the circle where they were welcomed and the old man pulled out a knife and shaved their beards and hair
• after they handled that graciously the old man pointed to a pile of coal signaling them to take some and they did
• a monastery bell struck midnight and everyone in the circle disappeared
• they woke in the morning to find the coal in their pockets had turned to gold
• the goldsmith went back again to receive more gold the next night but when he awoke the second time his gold had turned back to coal and his hair never grew back
• he also gained an additional hump, he was already hump backed

Bibliography

Simeli Mountain - Brothers Grimm Ashliman Unit

Death's Messengers - Brothers Grimm Ashliman Unit

The Gifts of the Little People - Brothers Grimm Ashliman Unit

Image Information

Rock Face on Stissing Mountain, Pine Plains, NY - found on wikimedia

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm Ashliman (Part A)

The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids

• the mother leaves the kids to go get food but warns them not to open the door for the wolf
• you can identify the wolf by his rough voice and black feet
• Wolf went to a shopkeeper and bought chalk which he ate to soften his voice
• he returned to the house with a softer voice but the kids saw his black feet and refused him entry
• Wolf went and had dough put on his feet, and flour sprinkled on it to make them appear white
• the miller refused to help initially but the wolf intimidated him so he had to do it
• Wolf entered the home and ate all of the kids except for the youngest who hid in a clock case
• the author has a good description of what the room looked like after the wolf had chased all of the kids around and eaten them
• "door stood wide open"
• mother goat returned home and saw the wreckage but found the one remaining kid
• they found the wolf resting under a tree and she had her kid fetch her some scissors so she could cut out the rest of her kids
• the wolf had eaten them all whole so they were still okay
• she replaced the kids with stones after they had been taken out of his stomach
• the extra weight of the stones caused the wolf to fall head first into the watering hole when he leaned over to get a drink so he drowned

The Seven Ravens

• a man had 7 sons but he deeply wished for a daughter
• he finally received a daughter but she was born frail and he asked his sons to run and grab some water to baptize her in case she were to die soon
• all of the boys wanted to be first to dip the water out and they ended up dropping the container down the well
• the man was mad that they were taking so long so he cursed them saying "I wish that those boys would all turn to ravens"
• the boys were turned to ravens but the girl grew healthier as time passed
• the girl had heard rumors from the villagers about her brothers' misfortune so she set out to try and reverse the curse and bring them home for their fate weighed on her conscience
• she traveled far and reached the sun but it was evil and ate little children so she traveled the other way and got to the moon who was very cold and wicked.
• finally she rested among the stars who were friendly and gave her a chicken bone which would be the key she would need to enter the glass mountain where her brothers resided
• she traveled to the glass mountain but realized she dropped her key so she cut off a finger and used it instead and it worked
• when she enters the ravens aren't home and for some reason she hides until one of them finds a ring she left him to see
• it is unclear whether or not she thought they might eat her right away
• once the one boy sees the ring he wishes that his sister was here so they could be set free and she comes forth once he utters this wish
• the boys change back to humans and go home

Bibliography

The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids - Brother Grimm Ashliman Unit

The Seven Ravens - Brothers Grimm Ashliman Unit

Image Information

The Ravens Return to Boys - found on wikimedia

Story Lab: EmpoWord

There were many sections in the chapter I read from this article but if you read below you will see that I pick and chose the ones that I found most applicable to bettering my writing ability and ones that I thought were particularly thought-provoking.

Scope

• refers to the boundaries of your story and plot
• I felt like some of my stories contain too broad of a scope and that makes them have a lot of general information instead of good detailed information about the scenarios.
• This made me think of using the phrase "a mile wide and an inch deep" to describe some of my stories
• they contained a lot of information but lacked a good level of depth

Sequence and Pacing

• refers to the order of events of your story and how quickly different situations progress
• This section talked about a story line pattern called In Medias Res
• this is the style where the beginning of your story starts in the middle of the action of the plot then later circles around to explain why all of the action was happening in the first place
• I thought this would be a great technique to try since I don't believe I have used it for any stories all semester
• This may help with my Scope problem because it allows me to begin with the exciting parts without having to trudge through the set-up information where I feel readers may lose a lot of interest

Building Characters

• this section talks about characterization which is something I would like to improve on
• I feel like I do well with directly describing a character but what I want to work on is indirect descriptions
• ask questions like: How do their actions reflect their traits? What's on their mind that they won't share with the world? What is the tone, inflection, and timbre of their voice?
• I usually have my characters hold a dialogue but I rarely describe the way their voice sounds of their inflection or tone.

Dialogue

• one of the most intriguing ideas I read in this section was that dialogue should be telling more than one thing
• it should convey more than one kind of information such as body language in addition to words
• I think my stories are missing a lot of non-verbal dialogue
• I seem to not think about adding more indirect forms of communication such as body language and that causes me to miss out on a very human aspect of communication

Bibliography

EmpoWord: Telling a Story -- found here

Image Information

Photo of an ancient book -- found on flickr

Reading Notes: Brother's Grimm Hunt (Part B)

Bearskin

• A soldier returning from war has no trade skill and needs to find work
• meets a mysterious man in the woods who tests his courage and resolve
• soldier must never bathe and must always wear a bearskin and a coat for if he does this for 7 years he will always have all the money he would need
• the man who made the deal turns out to be the devil and is referenced as Greencoat
• Bearksin as the soldier became known, always gave money to the poor and helped those in need as he wandered for 7 years
• he helped an old man whose estate had dwindled and the man promised him a wife of his daughters
• only the youngest conceded to marry Bearskin and the two older ones taunted her about the appearance of her husband
• he gave her half a ring while he kept the other half
• Finally after 7 years the devil returned, dismayed that the soldier had held out, and washed and groomed him and returned his cloak
• Soldier returned to the village to seek out the wife he hadn't seen for 3 years
• he was much more handsome than before and appeared to be a prestige general
• the two older sisters who had rejected him were trying hard to earn his favor, and the youngest averted her eyes still clothed in black like the day he left
• the soldier placed his half of the ring in a glass of wine to give to her and she noticed it after she drank it and saw that it matched her piece
• the sisters ran out of the home in rage and one drowned while the other hung herself
• devil comes back to taunt soldier saying he got two souls instead of one

Hans the Hedgehog

• a boy was born half hedgehog half man
• his family didn't want him but he never complained and left them to make a life for himself in the forest tending a herd of pigs
• 2 Kings travel through the forest lost and ask for directions
• he helps them if they promise to give him the first thing that approaches them when they reach the palace
• both times it was a king's daughter
• first King orders everyone to kill a man resembling Hans if they appear at his castle for he didn't want to give up his daughter
• the second one welcomed him and his daughter committed to Hans
• Hans shed his hedgehog skin and became a handsome man and they lived happily ever after

Bibliography

Bearskin from the Brothers Grimm (Hunt) Unit

Hans the Hedgehog from the Brothers Grimm (Hunt) Unit

Image Information

Image 1: Illustration of Bearskin - wikimedia

Image 2: The Devil grooms Bearskin after 7 years - wikimedia

Reading Notes: Brother's Grimm Hunt (Part A)

This unit contains fewer but longer stories. I thought this was much easier to read because the stories had more time for development.

Hansel and Grethel

• Hansel and Grethel live in a very poor family with their good-hearted father and mean step-mother
• the stories never mention anything about the children's real mother
• consider writing a story about their real mother and why she either died or left the family
• since the family is poor they have very little food so the stepmother sends the children out into the woods in hopes that they would get lost and eaten by animals so that the adults would have enough to eat
• the first time they are led into the woods, Hansel uses white pebbles to find his way back
• the second time he uses bread crumbs to leave a trail but birds ate all of the crumbs
• why did the mother wish to light a bonfire every time she took the children to the forest to be abandoned? 
• to attract wild animals, to create comfort so that the kids would sleep, other reasons...
• they find a house made of cakes, sugar, and bread in the forest that is occupied by an evil witch
• witches have red eyes and cannot see far but smell very well
• Grethel pushes the witch into the oven and burns her alive to save Hansel
• they grab treasure from the witches house and take it home to their father 
• the step-mother is dead at this point but the story never mentions how
• only been 3-4 days since the children had left the house this second time

Hansel is trapped in the cage by the evil witch.

Allerleirauh

• a King plans to marry his daughter because she looks strikingly similar to his wife
• to delay this and hopefully prevent the marriage from happening the daughter requests to have 3 dresses and a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur and hair sewn together
• she thought this to be an impossible task but the King had it completed
• the girl runs away with the mantle and wears it as she falls asleep in the woods
• the King's guards find her while out hunting and initially believed her to be some rare animal because of the coat
• it would be interesting to give the girl the power to change into the different animals of the mantle at will 
• Story Idea: Hansel and Grethel were left in the same forest Allerleirauh escaped to. The bonfire attracts Allerleirauh to the area that Hansel and Grethel were in. She uses the powers she has and her mantle to help them defeat the witch and goes home with them to marry their father.

Bibliography

Hansel and Grethel from the Brothers Grimm (Hunt) Unit

Allerleirauh from the Brothers Grimm (Hunt) Unit

Image Information: Hansel in a cage. Found on publicdomainpictures.

Week 13 Story: St. Kavin's Blessings

**Find this story on my Portfolio here**

Many years ago in Glendalough village there lived a holy man named Kavin. Kavin lived a humble life, opting to live as a hermit near the lake to become closer to God by living more intimately among the nature he created. He lived this way for quite some time and became known as a very wise man to whom many traveled seeking guidance and wisdom. Over time, Kavin acquired a good number of disciples who wanted to live as he did and so he created the first monastery of Glendalough. During the course of his life, due to his wisdom and God's intervention, he was able to perform miracles and provide the people with answers to all their questions. Because of this he was canonized a Saint not too long after his passing. Since his death he has safeguarded the village of Glendalough and guided and blessed those that were pure of heart.

It had been a long time since St. Kavin had made his presence known in the Glendalough area. Few people outside of the royal family still paid him homage and perhaps that is the only reason the Prince Lyn was able to embark on his quest. Prince Lyn had taken to the task of searching all of Glendalough and even the nearby mountains to pray for forgiveness and to ask a favor of St. Kavin.

You see, a week prior, Prince Lyn had made a horrible mistake. He had come back from a hunting trip to be greeted by his favorite and most ferocious, yet gentle, greyhound at the entrance of his compound. Normally he would be excited to see Caemgen but today he quickly realized something was amiss. He was already suspicious of the dog since it hadn't come to him to go on the hunting trip even though he called out his name several times. Now that he looked closer, he realized that Caemgen had dried blood all over his fur and some still clang to the fringes of his mouth and dropped to the floor with every other pant.

The Prince feared for the worst and sprinted upstairs to check on his son. He rushed into the room panting with exhaustion from the run and frantically scanned the room for signs of his child. The room was in shambles but most concerning was the sight of the crib thrown on its side with all of the torn and bloody rags strewn around the room. Prince Lyn assumed the worst and in anger shoved a spear through the heart of poor Caemgen. As the greyhound yelped in pain and collapsed, the sound of a baby crying could be heard. Prince Lyn whirled around to face the direction of the sound. Upon further inspection he noticed that a large wolf was tangled up in the cloth! The wolf suffered several lacerations around its body and appeared to have died from a deep wound to the nape of the neck. The fabric began to move and the Prince dashed towards it, lifted up the cloth and was relieved to discover his son was unharmed! However the excitement was short lived. The Prince realized that his favorite greyhound hadn't ignored his call to go hunting to harm his child, but to protect it from the wolf menace. The Prince was distraught. He sat down to help dampen the pangs of regret and tried to think about how he could remedy his mistake. He knew he had only one choice: to seek out St. Kavin and pray that he could bring Caemgen to life.

The Prince set off the next morning with a determined look and a small bag of supplies. He first visited the monastery asking the monks about what sort of heading would provide him with the best chance of encountering St. Kavin. The abbot informed him that St. Kavin was known to be rather fond of animals and often spent much time around a nearby lake where he spent his hermitage, although no one has been able to find the cave in which he resided for over a hundred years. Upon hearing this, the Prince knew he would find what he was looking for in that cave.

Once he arrived at the lake he sat upon a tall rock along to scan the shores in search of a crevice or some indication that a cave might be near. He wasn't able to discern any promising spots from his current vantage point so he decided it would be best to go ahead and walk around the shore in its entirety, he wasn't going to leave without finding the grotto.

Several hours had passed since he began his trek. He had seen every bit of the shoreline that could have been reached by a man on foot long ago. The Prince sat on a large bit of driftwood to take a break from walking about in the heat. A sense of despair started to set in and the Prince began to doubt the success of his venture for the first time. Just as the idea of failure snaked its way into his thoughts, the Prince heard the foliage behind him rustle. He jumped to his feet and whirled around to confront the source of the noise! He caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a dog, strikingly similar to Caemgen, trotting off deeper into to brush.

Prince Lyn cautiously crept up to where he believed the dog walked into the shrubs and stepped through to find an old, worn down path! He followed it a short distance up the hill to discover a wall of vines covering the entrance to a grotto. He had found the place of St. Kavin's hermitage! He removed the vines to allow the sunlight to filter in and brighten up the room. As the rays of sun penetrated the darkness there appeared a man and a dog, it was St. Kavin and Caemgen!

St. Kavin's lost grotto.

"I've been wanting to meet you for some time now, Prince Lyn" said St. Kavin.

The Prince fell to his knees in prostration as he was suddenly overcome by the aura St. Kavin radiated. "I need your help St. Kavin. I've made a terrible mistake and killed my most faithful friend and companion. If you can, I would ask that you restore him to me so that I can pay him the respects he is due for saving my son."

"I must admit I was a little disappointed to see that you returned my dog to me so quickly Prince Lyn. Caemgen is a fine animal and I knew he would be able to serve you well one day as your character was worthy of such a creature. Because of your faith and your persistence in arriving at this sacred place, I will grant you what you ask. Once you return home you will find Caemgen awaiting you, just as he always does. Remember what your faith has rewarded you with today."

With that St. Kavin was gone as quickly as he had appeared. The Prince was able to make it back home safely to find Caemgen waiting for him, just as the Saint had said. Prince Lyn was able to live a long and prosperous life and the loyal dog Caemgen was able to serve his family for generations to come as he was blessed by St. Kavin.


Author's Note
This story is heavily influenced by the story of King O'Toole and His Goose and is my addition to the tale of Beth Gellert from the Celtic Fairy Tale Unit. In the original story the Prince returns from his hunting trip and kills his favorite dog Gellert because he suspected him of killing his infant. As soon as he kills the dog he realizes his infant was actually safe and the dog had protected it similarly to my rendition. However, in the original story the tale ends with Gellert simply receiving a monument built for him. Since I had read about the healing powers of St. Kavin from the King O'Toole story I thought I should bring him into this story to bring back Gellert. And so my rendition has the Prince set off on a quest to rid himself of his grief and regret by trying to find the Saint that was known to be present in that region and request that he heal his dog. I thought it was fitting to throw in the fact that Gellert belonged to St. Kavin a long time ago because when I did some extra research on the Saint it said that animals were very fond of him due to the amount of time he spent in nature. The name that I gave Gellert in my story was Caemgen which I found was an old Irish spelling of the Saint's name.

Bibliography
King O'Toole and His Goose --- here
Beth Gellert --- here
More information about St. Kavin --- found on Wikipedia

Image Information
Grotto in the Woods --- found here

Reading Notes: Celtic Tales (Part B)

I would have to say I enjoyed the second set of Celtic stories as much or more than the first. Again, these stories often carried the message of having good character. A lot of characters have their characters tested, for the saints and other mystical creatures favor those who do good even when no one is watching.

King O'Toole and His Goose

• a good king who greatly enjoyed being able to go out into nature and hunt
• he becomes stricken with the ailments of old age and can no longer hunt so he buys a goose to occasionally hunt for him and keep him distracted because he was sad that he could no longer hunt
• the goose grows old and can no longer hunt either so the king becomes even more upset
• St. Kavin disguised as an ordinary man finds the king at the lake and tells him he can fix his goose
• the king agrees to offer him all of the land the goose can fly over if he is made well
• St. Kavin fixes the goose and the king stays true to his word
• the king and his goose live happily, until the goose dies of his own mistake and the king passes away from old age

The Chapel of St. Kevin.

Beth Gellert

• Prince Llewelyn had a special greyhound named Gellert who was gentle with kids and fierce on hunting trips
• one day Gellert didn't come when his master called so the Prince went hunting without him
• when he returns he sees Gellert waiting at the gate covered with blood
• the Prince runs up to the nursery to see blood everywhere
• he assumed Gellert had killed his heir while he was off hunting
• in his rage the Prince stabbed and killed Gellert only to notice afterwards the dead carcass of a wolf in the nursery
• Gellert had stayed behind to protect his child and had killed the wolf trying to take away his son
• Gellert could not be brought back to life so he was buried on a spot outside the castle walls that was in view of a great mountain and decorated heavily
• I would rather create an ending where Prince Llewelyn goes on a quest to revive Gellert
• maybe Gellert remains in the castle a guardian spirit who stays by the Prince's heir, guarding him as he grows up
• he could eventually become St. Kavin's dog so that I could draw a relationship between the Gellert and Goose stories

Bibliography

Celtic Fairy Tales unit found here

Beth Gellert --- here

King O'Tool and His Goose --- here

Image Information --- St. Kevin's Chapel in Ireland. Found on wikimedia.