Week 3 Story: The Brave Saint Margaret

The Brave Saint Margaret

The holy virgin Margaret was promised to a provost, but when he came to collect his bride, she refused him, for he did not believe in God as she did, instead worshiping a set of other gods. She told him she would not accept him unless he took up her Lord. He refused, for fear that he would be beheaded if he were to agree, but when Margaret refused to give in, he grew frustrated and ordered her flesh to be torn and scraped from her bones, in the hope that she might see the frivolousness of her conviction.

The people wept at seeing the beautiful Margaret reduced to such a state, but she remained strong in face of her torment, and she refused to give up her belief. So the provost had her thrown into the dungeon, and she would be beheaded in the morning. 

While she spent her night in the dungeon, a devil appeared before her in the form of a dragon, and it tried to consume her. But before it could consume her, she used her fingers to form a cross and smote the devil where he stood.

Later in the night, a devil appeared before her again, in human skin this time, and tried to tempt her to give in and pray to the gods of the provost, so that she might be freed. She resisted the devil's temptations and grabbed it by the skull and threw the creature to the ground. She planted her heel upon its throat and asked "why have you come?"

"I was sent to offer you a way to be free of your confinement, in such a way that you would fall from the graces of Heaven and slip into temptation," the devil cried.

"You shall not succeed this night," Margaret declared. "Now flee back into the realm from which you came, wretched thing."

Great rents appeared in the ground, and the devil was sucked into them, and then the fissures slammed shut with a dull clap.

In the morning, she was brought from the dungeon and into the square, and she was tossed into a great fire and prodded with brands to sear her flesh further because she refused to pray to the provost's gods. After this, she was pulled from the fire, thoroughly bound, and then submerged into a pool of water so as to further her suffering.

Yet, Margaret did not drown, and instead rose up from the pool of water unbound and whole once again. She was then crowned in gold by a dove that flew down from the heavens. In awe of this sight, five thousand men forsook their former gods and took the God of Margaret into their hearts, and were thus executed for their betrayal of the emperor's gods. The dove told Margaret that the gates of Heaven were open for her, waiting for her return to the Lord.

She then prayed upon the platform that was to be the location of her execution, and then she told the executioner "go and cut off my head, so that I might return to the hall of my Lord." But the executioner shook with fear in his heart, unwilling to slay as holy a maiden as her. "Do as the provost commanded of you," Margaret said. "If you really have seen the error of your ways, then you may pass as soon as the deed is done, and be accepted into the graces of the one true God."

And so the executioner struck off her head, and promptly fell dead next to her, and their spirits ascended into Heaven above.

Thus is the story of the Saint Margaret, who was martyred in the name of the Lord.

Author's Note

The story of Saint Margaret, also known by the name of Saint Marina the Martyr, is largely the same as I told it here in terms of the overall plot points, albeit much wordier, and with more dialogue. Most of the dialogue I ultimately decided to cut, but I took my own interpretation of the final dialogue of Saint Margaret, and I also made my own, much abridged, version of Saint Margaret's conversation with the devil. 

In the original text, Saint Margaret has a much longer conversation with the devil before she banished it. The original story was likely written as it was in part to highlight a reason that devils are evil, in order to help drive home the point that one must stay away from temptation.

I chose to instead focus the story more on Saint Margaret, rather than on the devil she meets during her night in the dungeon, since Saint Margaret and the things she faced were the point of interest for me. 

My beginning is also quite a bit shorter and somewhat different to the source material, which has the provost fall in love with her on sight and have her brought to him, and it's focused more on him working to convert her, rather than the other way round. I thought the switch made for a more consistent narrative, since she repeatedly shows her dedication to her Lord. The ending with the executioner is also somewhat tweaked, so as to fit with this theme as well.

I hope you enjoyed my rendition of this story!

Bibliography

Story Source: Saint Margaret from The Golden Legend, edited by F. S. Ellis

Image Source: St. Marina the Martyr hammering a devil

Reading Notes: Women Saints of the Golden Legend, Part A

Orthodox Icon of Saint Juliana

Of all of the stories in Part A for the Women Saints of the Golden Legend unit, three of them stood out to me in some manner or another. I'm not yet sure which one I might adapt, so I took the time to somewhat summarize each in order to be able to look back over them later.

Saint Juliana

The legend of Saint Juliana was interesting in large part due to Saint Juliana's conversation with the devil. Characterizing the devil and why he does the sinful and wicked things that he does could be really interesting, particularly given how the text is written in a rather older style of English, so I'd have some room to take my own interpretation of it. 

I also found it interesting the trials that Saint Juliana was able to survive and recover from. She was healed by an angel after being broken upon the wheel, survived being dropped into molten lead by having the lead cool around her, before finally being decapitated. And then after her decapitation, the man who'd called for it and his attendants had their ship sank and their bodies eaten by the beasts of the sea.

Saint Margaret

The legend of Saint Margaret is a rather admirable tale, in that she was steadfast in her conviction even when her flesh was torn and scraped from her bones. After which, she was thrown in prison and visited twice by the devil, once in the form of a dragon, which she banished or defeated by using the sign of the cross, and once in the form of a human, and she threw the devil to the ground when he visited her in human form and pinned him beneath her heel. She then proceeded to question the devil before she banished him back to hell.

When she was brought out of the prison the next day, she was thrown into the fire and burned with brands for refusing to pray to the provost's gods. After this, she was bound and put into a vessel to drown. But instead of drowning, she rose up from the water free of harm, and was crowned by a dove from heaven, which caused five thousand men to be converted and then executed for their faith. She then received word from her Lord that heaven's gates were open for her, and after she prayed, she asked the executioner to behead her so that she might go. The executioner was reluctant, but ultimately beheaded Saint Margaret and then dropped dead himself. Once Saint Margaret was dead, the provost buried her body in the house of someone unconnected to her so that she would be unlikely to inspire others.

Saint Christine

The legend of Saint Christine sees her suffering a great many torments. When her father tries to convince her to worship his gods, she disowns him as her father and refuses. When he is gone, she breaks the silver and gold idols into pieces and gives the pieces out to the peasants. When her father returned and found them missing, he had twelve men beat on Saint Christine until they dropped, but she still yet lived and claimed that if his gods were so powerful, the men would have been able to keep going. 

After this, her father put her in prison, and her mother came to visit her and tried to convince her to accept her father's gods. Her mother fails, and when she tells her father, he has Saint Christine brought before him and tells her to pray to his gods or else he'd disown her and have her tortured. She then claims she is no daughter of his, and calls him a son of Satan. After this, her father commands that her flesh be torn and pulled with iron hooks and that her limbs be broken and torn apart.

Saint Christine then took a part of her flesh and threw it at her father. She was then put on a wheel and a fire was lit underneath, but instead of burning her, it spread and consumed five hundred men. The father believes it to be an act of necromancy, and has her cast into the sea with a weight around her neck. Christ descended to baptize her in the sea, after which she was carried back to land by the archangel Michael. Her father was in shock, and demanded she be thrown in prison and beheaded the next morning, but her father fell dead in the night.

Her father was succeeded by the judge Dion, who had Saint Christine thrown into a burning tub of oil, rosin and pitch, which was shaken to help her burn faster, but Saint Christine was instead rejuvenated by it. Dion then had her head shaved and marched her through the streets naked to the temple of Apollo, which she turned into dust, and Dion died right there. 

After Dion came Julianus, who has two asps, two adders and two servents put on her, but the snakes did not harm her and stayed calm. When Julianus tries to have a enchanter make the snakes attack her, the snakes instead killed the enchanter. Saint Christine then said they should go to a desert, where she resurrected the enchanter. Julianus then had Saint Christine's breasts cut off, from which flowed milk and blood. He then had Saint Christine's tongue cut out, but she retained the ability to talk and threw the cut out tongue at the judge, which took out one of his eyes. After this, she was struck with an arrow in the side and then in the heart, and with this she finally died. 

Bibilography:

Saint Juliana from The Golden Legend, edited by F. S. Ellis

Saint Margaret from The Golden Legend, edited by F. S. Ellis

Saint Christine from The Golden Legend, edited by F. S. Ellis

Feedback Thoughts

 

Graphic by Gerd Altmann, sourced from Pixabay

I read the feedback articles "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work" and "Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head".

I found the articles to be rather interesting. I particularly liked the advice from "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work" that covered treating your work like an experiment. Figuring out what works and what doesn't. It's an interesting approach that I hadn't necessarily considered before. It's a much healthier way to look at learning how to do something, it's not a series of failures and successes, it's trial and error. 

"Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head" actually covered something quite similar to a principle of feedback I've become very much familiar over the years when I work with other creatives and seek to give them feedback or critique. Which is that people need to get more than just negative feedback. Yes, people should understand where they could improve, but they also need to see where they do well.

I've personally found that for both giving and receiving feedback, this two-pronged approach tends to work the best. The negative, but necessary, feedback often loses a lot of its sting when its intermixed with feedback that provides well-earned praise.

While I've unfortunately tended to often be on the receiving end of feedback that is strictly positive or strictly negative, I've got a decent bit of experience being the one giving that mixed feedback that paints a better picture of how they performed overall. I always try to make it a policy of mine to find a solid mix of positive and negative feedback when people ask me to help out by giving feedback or critique on something they've been working on. And given the typical reception I receive when I give feedback like that, it's become quite obvious to me that giving feedback in that manner is one of the best ways to give feedback.

Oh! There's one other key thing I've learned about feedback over the years, which is that the best way to handle negative feedback is to focus on solutions and learning rather than the problems. Giving an explanation about why something doesn't work and what they could do to fix it is much more beneficial than just giving them a laundry list of problems. A laundry list of problems can feel like a massive obstacle in their path, but a laundry list of ways to grow and improve is much nicer to take on. 

Project Topic Brainstorm

A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas by Claude-Joeseph Vernet

The first topic I am considering working with is doing a motif of dogs that have a connection to the dead, as I find guardians of the dead really interesting, and I happen to love canines. Some notable examples I could potentially work with are the "Black Dog", "Church Grim", and, of course, "Cerberus", and his lesser known brother, "Orthrus".

Sea monsters are another motif I'm considering, and if I can, I'd love to potentially focus in on sea monsters that guard something, someplace or someone. I've always found the concept of a monstrous guardian really cool, since it can paint even the more terrifying monster in a bit of a different light. And I like sea monsters in particular since I feel they tend to have an extra edge of terror to them simply due to their domain. We humans acknowledge that we cede our superiority to aquatic life when in the water, so that's likely why the idea that a monster is at an advantage in the same environment we are at a grave disadvantage is so horrifying to us.

Another motif that I think might be fun to explore is the undead, both corporeal and incorporeal. I've always enjoyed the dark theming that often accompanies the undead, but oddly enough, I find the concept of neutral or helpful undead to be the most interesting. I suppose it's something of a "don't judge a book by its cover", where just because something is undead doesn't mean it has to be evil.

The last motif I'm considering is maybe doing something with fairy rings. Fairy rings are kind of fun in that they can be associated with a variety of things based on what they look like, where they're found, and of course, the mythology and folklore of the area. I feel I could tell a rather diverse set of stories if I chose to do something with fairy rings. They can be portals to another place, mark a supernatural creature's domain or serve as an omen, good or bad.

Week 2 Story: The Three Roses

NOTE: This story can now be read over on my portfolio site, A Monster's Bond, so please go check it out there, since it will have more editing and refinement than this version!

The Three Roses

There once was a woman of middling age who lived in a beautiful cottage with her three daughters. One day, she asked of each of them what they would like for her to bring back for them when she went to visit the town.

"I want three of the most beautiful dresses that can be found, so that I might catch the eye of a prince at a ball," said the oldest daughter.

"I would like three of the most fanciful combs, so that I might grab the attention of a wealthy lord in the streets," said the middle daughter.

"I wish for just three roses, any kind will do, so that I might use them to brighten the day of a stranger," said the youngest daughter.

Thus, the mother went to town, and worked to find the things that her daughters had sought. She passed through a vast many shops, searching and searching to find the most fanciful combs and the most beautiful dresses. With the combs and dresses in hand, she began the trek back to the cottage as the sun began to set.

However, the forest grew darker and darker, until she finally stumbled across a most fantastical walled garden. Flanking either side of the elegant wrought-iron gate were flawless rose bushes, and they reminded the woman of her youngest daughter, whose request had been all but forgotten in her quest to fetch the things her other daughters had asked for.

And so she picked three roses from the bush, for who would miss three roses amid so many? But before she could walk more than three steps, a terrifying basilisk charged through the gate. 

"You dare steal from my garden?" he bellowed.

The woman prostrated herself on the ground and begged for forgiveness, offering to return the three roses in exchange for her life. But the basilisk wanted none of it, for roses, once picked, are destined only to wilt and die. Instead, the basilisk allowed the woman to go off on her way, but decreed that she must send the person the roses were for back to him.

The distraught woman returned home and gave her two eldest daughters the things that they had asked for, but she wept over her youngest daughter as she handed her the beautiful roses.

"I have brought you the roses you desired, but they come at great cost," the mother said. "You must return to the most stunning garden in the forest and ask of the basilisk what he wants in exchange for these roses."

Sorrow settled in the heart of the youngest daughter, but she did as her mother had asked, and bid farewell to her mother and her sisters before setting off to meet the basilisk. 

Waiting in front of his garden stood the basilisk. The youngest daughter approached, and he turned to her.

"You will clean my feathers for three hours each day for three days, else I will strip the flesh from your bones," said the basilisk.

And so the youngest daughter hastily agreed to the terms of the basilisk, and for three hours that day, she cleaned the feathers of the basilisk. On the following day, she again cleaned the basilisk's feathers for three hours. And on the third day, the basilisk set a sword in the grass before he had the daughter again clean his feathers for a span of three hours. When she was finally finished, he told her to cut off his head, or he would strip the flesh from her bones.

The daughter grasped the sword with shaky hands and fear in her heart, but nonetheless did as the basilisk bid her to do. Once she cut off his head, from the severed neck of the basilisk sprung a fearsome cockatrice.

"You will scrub my scales for three hours each day for three days, else I will tear off your limbs," said the cockatrice.

And so the youngest daughter carefully scrubbed the scales of the cockatrice for three hours that day. She again scrubbed the scales of the cockatrice for three hours on the following day. On the third day, the cockatrice set an axe in the grass, and had the daughter again scrub his scales for three hours. Once she had finished, the cockatrice told her to cut off his head, or he would tear off her limbs.

The daughter held the axe with clammy hands and dread in her heart, but she resolved to do as the cockatrice had asked of her. When she cut off the head of the cockatrice, a dreadful serpent bounded out of the creature's severed neck.

"You will shed my skin for three hours each day for three days, else I will swallow you whole," said the serpent.

And so the youngest daughter did as she was bid once more, and she shed the serpent's skin for three hours that day. For three hours of the next day, she again shed the skin of the serpent. Finally, on the third day, the serpent set a knife in the grass, and again had the daughter shed his skin for a length of three hours. When she was finished at last, the serpent told her to cut off his head, or he would swallow her whole.

The daughter gripped the dagger with steady hands and determination in her heart, and she steadfastly chose to do as the serpent had ordered her to. She cut off the head of the serpent, and from its severed neck leapt a most handsome man.

"You have freed me from my curse!" the man exclaimed. "I am the rightful king of this forest, and if you will but have me, I would be honored to have you as my bride," the king said with a flourish.

And so the youngest daughter was wedded to the great king of the forest, in a wedding most spectacular, to which all nearby were invited.

Author's Note

I largely kept the story pretty true to the original, though I changed up what the daughters asked for, tweaked the location in which the basilisk was found, and altered who came from the neck of the serpent, as a couple examples of some of the minor changes I made. 

My most notable change though, was that I decided to lean more heavily on the presence of three that was in the original story. The story had many things in threes, and so I carried that even further into this story, hence why each daughter asked for three of something, unlike in the original story. 

While I kept the basilisk's original timeframe of three hours of care each day for three days, I decided to multiply it by three, by adding in a cockatrice between the basilisk and serpent in order to have three monsters, and I also gave the serpent its own set of three days, instead of having the daughter immediately cut off its head like in the original story.

I hope it was as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write!

Bibliography

Story Source: "The Three Roses" from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

Image Source: Photo by Светлана Бердник from Pixabay

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

 

Basilisk by Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch 

Out of the stories in the anthology I read, a few caught my interest for a variety of reasons.

Pygmalion caught my interest in that it's a story about bringing what was formerly inert to life, and it's done in thanks to the great service of someone. A story like that, involving a metamorphosis of some kind, has a lot of room for very vivid imagery, which the story here did much of. 

Androcles and the Lion is a fun story in that it involves a unique friendship that eventually comes to save both of their lives. It could be interesting to potentially explore a similar kind of premise, and to see where that might take me.

The story of The Three Roses is similar to a great many fairy tales, such as including the common theme of a maiden being handed over to a monster, having a monster secretly be someone attractive that was cursed or something similar, and having a mundane act lead to a great cost.

I think that the story of The Three Roses might be the one I ultimately choose to work off of, since I believe it has the most room for me to work in. I might potentially alter the beginning of the story to be a bit shorter, since the actual story spent about half the story before the roses are even encountered. That would give me more room to work on the rest of the story, where the crux of the story lies.

I might also alter the ending of the story, as the ending felt a bit abrupt and poorly explained. Adding a line about a curse or something like that would at least help give a reason for why the prince was a basilisk.

The part about the serpent coming out of the neck of the basilisk also seemed interesting, and I feel I could work off of that to do more than what was done in the original story. The serpent appears and is decapitated in the very next line. So perhaps making the monster something of a Russian nesting doll could be a fun twist on the story, where she might have to cut off the monster's head every three days, until it eventually becomes a prince when she finally reaches the last layer.

Bibliography

Pygmalion by Ovid (Source)

Androcles And The Lion by Aesop (Source)

The Three Roses by Josef Baudis (Source)

Week 2 Reading Overview

Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi, by Toyohara Chikanobu

I picked out an artwork containing a scene from Japanese mythology for the image of this blog since that was one of the units I picked, and I also love the style of old Japanese art.

My Reading Selections:

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Women Saints of the Golden Legend

Week 4: Saints and Animals

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

Week 6: The Voyages of Sindbad

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Japanese Mythology

Week 9: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Pacific Northwest 

Week 11: Sioux Legends

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: King Arthur 

Week 13: Welsh Fairy Book (Thomas)

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Russian Folktales

Week 15: Dante's Inferno

The ones about saints I selected for weeks 3 and 4 caught my eye due to finding the concept of holy individuals fascinating, particularly since I have plans to write stories including individuals with blessings from gods. 

I picked up Ancient Egyptian myths for week 5 since I'm somewhat familiar with that mythology and find it quite interesting. And then Sindbad seemed kind of similar to one of my own characters, so I thought it might be fun to read up on his adventures to see how he stacks up to my character.

I picked up two of the Japanese ones for weeks 7 and 9 since I wanted to learn more about Japanese mythology, since I find Japan to be a really interesting place, and have used some pieces of Japanese mythology in my work before, so I may yet find more interesting pieces in those units.

For weeks 10 and 11, the Pacific Northwest one caught my eye due to it starring the Thunderbird, which is a creature I've brought into my own work, so I'm curious to see what new things I might learn about it. And then the Sioux's "Turtle on a warpath" seemed too intriguing to pass up. (Liking turtles definitely did not add some bias to that, none at all...)

I picked King Arthur and Welsh Fairy Book (Thomas) for week 12 because one of my close friends is big into Arthurian legend, and I think it would be cool to know more about it, since I could talk to him about anything I learn. And the concept of the Knights of the Round Table is one I find interesting and want to explore further.

I picked up Russian Folktales because of the strong undead focus, since I'm kind of a sucker for stuff to do with the undead. And Dante's Inferno seemed like a must-pick since I actually used the Nine Circles of Hell as an inspiration for the setting of one of my stories.

The Brothers Grimm stuff was a runner-up, but I've actually read a book containing many of the Brothers Grimm stories, so I decided I wanted to pick something new and different, since I knew many of the stories listed on the pages for the anthologies of Brothers Grimm, even some of the more obscure ones. 

Overall, I'm very much looking forward to a variety of these readings, and I honestly might do a few extra readings to pick up some of the ones I ultimately set aside. I was a bit sad to see that there wasn't anything about the Phoenix that I saw from a skim in the Native American units. I've always really liked the concept of the Phoenix, and have used it as inspiration several times for my stories.