Godfather Death

There was a poor man that had twelve children and was forced to work night and day to give them enough to eat. When the thirteenth came into the world, he didn’t know what to do, but ran out into the great highway, and resolved to ask the first person whom he met to be godfather.

The first to meet him was the good God who already knew what filled his heart, and said to him, "Poor man, I pity thee. I will hold thy child at its christening, and will take charge of it and make it happy on earth."

The man said, "Who art thou?" "I am God." "Then I do not desire to have thee for a godfather," said the man; "thou gives to the rich, and leave’s the poor to hunger." Thus spoke the man, for he did not know how wisely God apportions riches and poverty. He turned therefore away from the Lord, and went farther.

Then the Devil came to him and said, "What seekest thou? If thou wilt take me as a godfather for thy child, I will give him gold in plenty and all the joys of the world as well."

The man asked, "Who art thou?" "I am the Devil." "Then I do not desire to have thee for godfather," said the man; "thou deceives men and leads them astray."

He went onwards, and then came Death striding up to him with withered legs, and said, "Take me as godfather."

The man asked, "Who art thou?" "I am Death, and I make all equal." Then said the man, "Thou art the right one, thou takes the rich as well as the poor, without distinction; thou shall be godfather." Death answered, "I will make thy child rich and famous, for he who has me for a friend can lack nothing."

The man said, "Next Sunday is the christening; be there at the right time." Death appeared as he had promised, and stood godfather quite in the usual way.

When the boy had grown up, his godfather one day appeared and bade him go with him. He led him forth into a forest, and showed him a herb which grew there, and said, "Now shall thou receive thy godfather's present. I make thee a celebrated physician. When thou art called to a patient, I will always appear to thee. If I stand by the head of the sick man, thou may say with confidence that thou wilt make him well again, and if thou gives him of this herb he will recover; but if I stand by the patient's feet, he is mine, and thou must say that all remedies are in vain, and that no physician in the world could save him. But beware of using the herb against my will, or it might fare ill with thee."

It was not long before the youth was the most famous physician in the whole world. "He had only to look at the patient and he knew his condition at once, and if he would recover, or must needs die." So they said of him, and from far and wide people came to him, sent for him when they had any one ill, and gave him so much money that he soon became a rich man.

Now it so befell that the King became ill, and the physician was summoned, and was to say if recovery were possible. But when he came to the bed, Death was standing by the feet of the sick man, and the herb did not grow which could save him. "If I could but cheat Death for once," thought the physician, "he is sure to take it ill if I do, but, as I am his godson, he will shut one eye; I will risk it." He therefore took up the sick man, and laid him the other way, so that now Death was standing by his head. Then he gave the King some of the herb, and he recovered and grew healthy again.

But Death came to the physician, looking very black and angry, threatened him with his finger, and said, "Thou hast overreached me; this time I will pardon it, as thou art my godson; but if thou ventures it again, it will cost thee thy neck, for I will take thee thyself away with me."

Soon afterwards the King's daughter fell into a severe illness. She was his only child, and he wept day and night, so that he began to lose the sight of his eyes, and he caused it to be made known that whosoever rescued her from death should be her husband and inherit the crown. When the physician came to the sick girl's bed, he saw Death by her feet. He ought to have remembered the warning given by his godfather, but he was so infatuated by the great beauty of the King's daughter, and the happiness of becoming her husband, that he flung all thought to the winds. He did not see that Death was casting angry glances on him, that he was raising his hand in the air, and threatening him with his withered fist. He raised up the sick girl, and placed her head where her feet had lain. Then he gave her some of the herb, and instantly her cheeks flushed red, and life stirred afresh in her.

When Death saw that for a second time he was defrauded of his own property, he walked up to the physician with long strides, and said, "All is over with thee, and now the lot falls on thee," and seized him so firmly with his ice-cold hand, that he could not resist, and led him into a cave below the earth. There he saw how thousands and thousands of candles were burning in countless rows, some large, others half-sized and others small. Every instant some were extinguished, and others again burnt up, so that the flames seemed to leap hither and thither in perpetual change.

"See," said Death, "these are the lights of men's lives. The large ones belong to children, the half-sized ones to married people in their prime, the little ones belong to old people; but children and young folks likewise have often only a tiny candle." "Show me the light of my life," said the physician, and he thought that it would be still very tall. Death pointed to a little end, which was just threatening to go out, and said, "Behold, it is there."

"Ah, dear godfather," said the horrified physician, "light a new one for me, do it for love of me, that I may enjoy my life, be King, and the husband of the King's beautiful daughter." "I cannot," answered Death, "one must go out before a new one is lighted." "Then place the old one on a new one, that will go on burning at once when the old one has come to an end," pleaded the physician. Death behaved as if he were going to fulfill his wish, and took hold of a tall new candle; but as he desired to revenge himself, he purposely made a mistake in fixing it, and the little piece fell down and was extinguished. Immediately the physician fell on the ground, and now he himself was in the hands of Death.

Storytime Series

I will be posting a series of Fairy Tales which will be accompanied by illustrations. I will attempt to post these tales at least once a week, punctuated with other commentaries and artwork. So make sure to check back!

Fantasy Elements: Giants #1

Giants are an element of folklore, myth and human consciousness easily on par with dragons, albeit with far less exposure in contemporary fantasy. These mighty beings were once widely believed in and greatly feared worldwide.

The origins of giants in legends seem to coincide with the great awe that ancient man had for the natural world. Storms, earthquakes, as well as massive natural wonders, drew from man a need to attach meaning to them. Truly, in ancient times gods and giants were easily interchangeable, being enormous mannish beings of tremendous elemental power.

Many of us grew up hearing of the Greek Titans or Norse Jotun but there were many others. Every culture on the Earth had tales of gigantic beings of human (or human-ish) form that existed in ancient days. Most of these beings helped create either the universe itself, or a given land formation, lake or other landmark.

Most aboriginal cultures attach giant species to natural formations such as the Iroquois Chenoo, shy but violent stone giants, and the alien-like Australian Wandjinas, weather spirits that dwell in the mountains and three times the height of a man.

Ogres
Ogres in legends are the degenerate descendants of the ancient giants or gods, always posessing tremendous physical strength and sometimes magical powers.

These beings are a far cry from the older elemental giant types.
In some stories, ogres are the survivors of ancient titans, gods, or fallen angels, when all such creatures were defeated, killed imprisoned or otherwise dethroned. Now these remnants are a sickly, savage lot trying to hold on to what power that remains, and bitter about their diminished stature.

Most of the giants found in contemporary fantasy are in-fact Ogres of varying power, being effectively giant, brutal humans who are often horribly stupid. These monsters are almost always ugly and prone to eating intelligent creatures.

Personally, I wonder if the many ogre-ish giants made reference to in ancient stories, particularly of such beings as Goliath, Ajax or any number of supposedly god/demon-descended giants were actually victims of gigantism. Most primitive cultures view any deformity as a sign of a curse, evil parentage, or simple inhumanity. You cant tell me that an ancient ruler at some time somewhere never used a hyper-thyroid giant as a soldier.

So where do these legends come from? In ancient times huge megafauna were hunted and encountered, as were many ape species some of whom are assumed by scientists to have gotten quite large. What do you think?

Fantasy Elements: Dragons #2

Above is the next stage in the dragons journey towards a complete illustration. Personally, I like where this one is headed. Don't you?

On the subject of Dragons from contemporary Fantasy: Many people tend to think of such novels and novel series as The Dragonriders of Pern, or even the Dragonlance series, both classics of their period with a passionate and avid fandom. Other series that I personally enjoyed from that period of publishing are Jane Yolens wonderful Hearts Blood series.

One of the things that I personally enjoy about contemporary dragons of fantasy (such as with those mentioned above and others) is that these beings are characters in their own right. Such dragons have thoughts, feelings, and personalities that are available, at least partially, to human review if not understanding.

Some Fantasy Dragon Favorites:

1. Bazil Broketail, by Christopher Rowley. Stick to the first three.
2. Wizards Heir, by Daniel Hood. All in this series are excellent "fantasy mysteries" with a delightful little dragon that isnt at all cute.
3. Dragonkepper series, by Donita K, Paul.
   

Fantasy Elements: Dragons #1

First off I should say that I LOVE dragons. From being a little boy who knew every dinosaurs name, and fairy tales to now. Theres something extra fantastic about dragons! The above image is the first stage in a piece that I am presently working on. I shall post later versions of this piece as it is brought together.

Dragons for me have always had a magic of their own, not necessarily evil, but rarely good, more than animal but certainly not human. Being hard to define seems the hallmark of these creatures, and from this comes their greatest appeal.

In mythology, dragons come in many shapes and sizes. Bestial, animal-like dragons abound in legends, all great slithery or flapping monsters that kill with tooth and claw, and sometimes with fiery breath (though this is a more recent addition). They seem to be a catch-all "unknown terror" sort of creature, a sort of mish-mash of mans foes in the fierce world of nature.

Some folks claim that some of these sorts of "common" dragons were actually remnants of dinosaurs, knocking around corners of the wilderness. This is certainly a neat idea, and would help explain some of the uniformity of reptilian monster legends around the world. The kid in me would very much like it if there really were dinosaurs being battles by spear sword-wielding adventurers and that the Thunderbird was really a Pterosaur.

The greatest sorts of dragons from old stories were being possessed of great magical power. Some, such as the Babylonian Tiamat, and the Pelasgion serpent god Ophion were thought to be vital to the creation of the world in some way or another. Even Biblical beings such as the Saraphim (sometimes translated as "fiery flying serpents") and in the dread sense; Lucifer, (that "Old Dragon," etc) all had dragon-like references to their appearance, nature or power.

Many of the classic fantasy dragons hearken back to the dragon legends of the Anglo-Saxons, that viewed dragons as a sort-of remnant of fallen grandeur. Beings that represented the price of greed and the end of an age. This is a big reason why the Saxons did not occupy the fallen ruins of Roman Britain after its conquest, as that old Empire, having fallen to invasion was inherently cursed by fate. This is part of where the image of a dragon dwelling in a ruin sitting on a treasure it will never enjoy comes from.

Modern fantasy's dragons seem to run somewhere between the common bestial dragon and the god-like cosmic dragons of legend. Being both flesh and blood and magical power incarnate. Often greedy of gold or other treasures, and always possessed of some sort of magical power, whether it be actual spells, psychic powers, or an indomitableness that goes beyond flesh.

More on this later...

On Holy Wars

Let those of you who have hitherto been robbers now become soldiers. Those of you who have formerly contended against their brothers and relatives now fight against the barbarians, as they ought.

-Pope Urban II

The above quote was meant to draw the barbarian peoples of Europe together to help defend the Middle Eastern interests of Christendom (the Holy Land) from the predations of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim. Great Christian shrines and temples were destroyed and pilgrims slaughtered or tormented, and the Byzantine Empire put out the call for help.

And boy did they regret it.

This is not to say that I approve of Holy Wars (nor am I Catholic), but I am fascinated by the power that such rallying cries have over the hearts of mankind. Theres something extra-ordinary about rallying the masses to get up and fight for something worth fighting for... At least in theory.

Unfortunately, as seen in the case of the Crusades, the forces called to a righteous response to injustice are rarely worthy of the call, or even well-meaning by it. Many who responded to the call for crusades were themselves monsters (a good enough reason to export them I suppose). A Holy War usually translates to an excuse for rapine and plunder.

Still, such speeches are the spice of fantastic storytelling. Stirring speeches before a suicidal charge, rallying chants to get an otherwise bereft force to stand and make a last stand that ends up winning the day. War that is glorious and righteous rather than profane and wretched.

Sometimes it even happens in real life.

"This," he said, "is how I see the matter; if fight we must, let us make preparation to sell our lives dearly.

-Xenophon, The March Upcountry

Words to live by.

One of my greatest difficulties in considering to think of religion, was that I thought I should have to give up my beautiful thought and my love for the things God had made. But I find that the happiness springing from all things not in themselves sinful is much increased by religion. God is the God of the beautiful – nature is tenfold brighter in the sun of righteousness, and my love of nature is more intense since I became a Christian.
-George MacDonald.

I believe that the above sentiment is as good as any to begin this strange quest into blogging. It is an unfortunate sentiment that a Christian must disdain a love of nature, art or beauty when truly dedicated to his faith. This is nonsense, as a man or womans faith should be increased as he or she shares in wonder.