When
Jacquie and I started to toss around the idea of faery and dragon
legends all around the world, we quickly found out that there were,
literally, faery and dragon legends all. Around. The. World. It
surprised the heck out of us!
Not
only that, faeries and dragons can be found in places and ways you may
not expect. The term “faery” itself is definitely of European origin,
but the concept of supernatural or elemental spirits who are both of the
world and who are not can be found all over the world, while the
concept of the dragon plays and has played an important part in cultures
around the world, ranging from the legend of Quetzalcoatl to the
Chinese dragon.
The
names may change, but whatever you call them, faeries and dragons have
been both kind and mischievous, good and evil, sometimes a symbol and
sometimes one of chaos. In the workshop, we’re going to take you on a
quick trip to take a look at them, starting with faeries and finishing
up with dragons. The Silk Road we’ll be traveling goes all the way
around the world, and we’re going to start in the most unlikely of
beginnings: Hollywood, hopping across the Americas and continuing on to
Europe and beyond.
Just a peek at the faeries and dragons you’re going to encounter along the way:
The
dragons we find by the time we get past the Mediterranean have less and
less in common with the dragons we encounter in European culture. In
classical Greek culture, one of the earliest mentions of a dragon is
from the Iliad, where Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon
motif on his sword belt and a three-headed dragon emblem on his breast
plate. And of course, the references to the “sea-monster” or “pole
serpent” in the Bible, the “leviathan” of the Biblical stories, seem to
be very close to the idea of the dragon we see elsewhere.
Persia,
the earlier name for Iran, has in many ways more in common with its
neighbors to the east, which includes China and India. Unlike its
Arabic-speaking neighbors – because Iranians/Persians speak Farsi, not
Arabic – Persian mythology refers to angels as its nature spirits,
although there are references to demons as well. One example is the
Peri, a Persian faery referred to as a fallen angel, who can’t achieve
paradise until they do penance.
Then
there’s the Persian version of dragons, mentioned in Zoroastrian
scripture, in which stories include both positive AND negative stories –
remember, Persia is a gateway culture, with influences from both East
and West, with very close ties to the Hindu culture. But I found a
curious inversion, commented on by comparative linguistic and folklore
academics: Many things that are viewed as negative in Persian mythology
is topsy-turvy positive in Hindu mythology, with names that are clearly
connected, very close, but usually not exact, so their roots in
Indo-European myths are pretty apparent.
As
opposed to the dragon legends of the West, the dragons of the East are
usually water-based, associated with rainfall and bodies of water as
well as fertility, usually wingless, serpentine, often positive, often
seen as an authority figure, and still very much part of contemporary
culture. The Vedic version of the dragon, also known as a naga, is the
personification of drought and enemy of Indra, the hero of Hindu sagas.
Naga, also known as a snake-spirit, guarded great treasures, just like
so many stories in Western myths about dragons. These forms of dragons
can take human form and many ancient tribes claim to be descendants of
nagas, especially from a union between a human hero and a feminine form
of the snake called Nagini. Today, there are even tribes that are called
Nagas. The Japanese word for long is “nagai.” Coincidence? You decide.
Going
south, the earth spirits in Polynesia are also still going strong. The
menehune are some of the most popular faeries of the region and are said
to live deep in the forests and hidden valleys, granting wishes and
helping those who are lost. Local legends say that the menehune built
temples, fishponds, roads, canoes, and even houses. They are said to
have lived in Hawaii long before the human settlers arrived, many
centuries ago – which may remind you of the stories about the fae of the
British isles.
And there’s much, much more in the workshop. Come on by and realize that dragons and faeries are everywhere!
Faeries and Dragons Along the Silk Road and Beyond, presented by Eilis Flynn and Jacquie Rogers, runs from April 16, 2012 through April 29, 2012.
Eilis
Flynn has spent a large share of her life working on Wall Street or in a
Wall Street-related firm, so why should she write fiction that’s any
more based in our world? She spends her days aware that there is a
reality beyond what we can see … and tells stories about it. Published
in multiple genres, she lives in verdant Washington state with her
equally fantastical husband and spoiled rotten cats. Her latest works
are The Riddle of Ryu, in which dragons play a part, and Static Shock, in which dragons play no part, but it’s still an exciting adventure story. She can be reached at eilisflynn.com.
Jacquie
Rogers’ first burning desire was to be a baseball announcer, but that
didn’t work out so she decided to write romance novels. She has several
novels out, the latest is the second in the Much Ado western romance
series, Much Ado About Madams. Faery Merry Christmas is her latest fantasy release. She also writes non-fiction with Ann Charles, including Nail It! The Secret to Building an Effective Fiction Writer’s Platform, and Growing Your Audience.
Jacquie is owner of Romancing The West, a popular western blog, and
teaches online classes on various writing topics. You can reach her at jacquierogers.com.
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