Brett's Blog

Sir Lancelot and the 500 Knights This is a really interesting story, because it highlights how flawed Lancelot is. He's one of the greatest knights in the entire realm, but he's also the most prone to human failings (after all, he did directly betray Arthur and cause the civil war that took the King's life). His instinct to take up for the underdog is admirable, though as the story shows, he lacked context, and was fighting against holy knights. The last line is particularly damning and represents Lancelot well. If I retold this story, I doubt I would change much, other than telling it in my own words. Bibliography-  King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

"Alright, buddy, time to get in the rock.": Image The Passing of Merlin So Merlin just accepts that he can't do anything about how he will die, even though he clearly knows how it will happen and it's a pretty easy situation to get out of? That doesn't really sound like a wise wizard to me but....sure, whatever. Like is she actually using some kind of magic to mess with his mind or is he just that easily manipulated? If I rewrote this story, I would either change the ending or at least make it clear how Vivien is able to get Merlin to do what she wants, rather than just "yep, he just can't tell her no."

Beowulf against the dragon: Image Preparing for Battle I think it would be interesting to retell this part of the story strictly from Beowulf's point of view. Diving more into his mindset before his legendary battle rather than the logistics of what happens could be a nice little "calm before the storm" moment that really drives home the sense of dread Beowulf feels about having to battle this horrible beast. Bibliography-  The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933)

Beowulf: Image Words of Unferth and Words of Beowulf This is a super tense exchange, and i think it would be fun to do a retelling of this smaller scene. I don't know if  I would really change much outside of just adding in small little tidbits from the different perspectives of the two characters to flesh out the story a bit. Bibliography -  The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933)

Visual representation of Atldarneq's meal:   Image Atldarneq Finally, a story that make some sense. Atldarneq is shown to have gluttonous tendencies (he was never content with just one of anything) and these tendencies end up getting him into trouble. Copper-cheeks punishes him for these flaws by making him eat ungodly amounts of food. There is a clear lesson in this story and a story progression that actually makes sense. I still don't understand the part about the stalk of grass though? Like, apparently you can just eat a stalk of grass before eating a big meal and then you'll just never get full? Then that part is just glossed over and never explained. I do think that this makes Atldarneq get off kind of easily however, as he really suffers no penalty for his gluttony and just leaves the house and never comes back. If I rewrote this story, I would probably have Atldarneq receive a longer-lasting punishment so that he serves as an example of what not to do in order...

Me after reading this story: Image Isigaligarssik So that was...interesting. All of this happens within the span of like 3 days and it is a rollercoaster of stuff that just makes no sense at all and is given no explanation. Why does the wizard only want married guys at his spirit callings? Does he steal the wives of everyone who attends? Does he even steal the wives or does he just take their shoes off and annul their marriages? Like what authority does he even have to say "nah y'all can't be married anymore?" Why does the wizard stab people instead of using wizard shit to kill them? Does he even have magical powers or does he just say he's a wizard? Why does Isigaligarssik's dress cure his wounds? How is he able to shrink himself? Why does Isigaligarssik have more magic shit than the literal wizard??? I'm so incredibly confused and I feel like I'm missing so much context. The premise itself is almost Arthurian (a man must save his wife from an ...

Uksu'hi:   Image The Hunter and The Uksu'hi Wait, so the hunter escapes from the monstrous snake by....slapping him with his own B.O.? That's kind of lame for all of the build-up that this story did. It might be a bit cliche, but I would probably recreate this story as a more traditional "hero tale," with the hunter having to fight and vanquish the Uksu'hi. I would probably still try to keep elements of the source story intact, but for the most part, it would be told from a completely different angle. Bibliography - Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).

Rabbit and Otter: Image How Rabbit Stole Otter's Coat This was a very convoluted scheme that Rabbit concocted to trick Otter. I mean a place that rains fire? That seems....incredibly far-fetched. Is that something that could feasibly happen in the fictional world? Or is every other animal just incredibly gullible? Also, what is this story even trying to say? Did Otter ever get his coat back? Is Rabbit the new Otter? If so, what happens to the original Otter? This story really seems to leave the reader with more questions than answers, and doesn't really make a lot of sense, honestly. If I rewrote this story, I'd probably just retell it in a way that makes a bit more sense, as well as give it a bit more closure with its ending. Bibliography-   Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).

Anansi: Image The Fishes This story once again shows Anansi as less of a mischievous trickster and more of a murderous monster. Like he does the same kind of "pranks" as other mythological tricksters, but most of his victims end up dead in horrible ways, and the story just kind of glosses over it. This story has a bit of a familial vengeance angle to it, and I think I can use this in my retelling. I think it would be pretty interesting to re-imagine this story as a western, with Anansi as an outlaw and Mule as the bounty hunter hired by the fish family to bring him to justice for their mother's murder. Bibliography:   Jamaica Anansi Stories  by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924).

Not exactly your friendly neighborhood Spider-man: Image Rabbit and Anansi Uhhhh, so Anansi and Rabbit just murdered Reindeer and a tiger cub and got away with it? Like they pulled some straight up serial killer shit and murdered a tiger cub and sent his remains in a basket to his dad. Then they decapitated a reindeer (which I didn't even know they had in Jamaica) for trying to catch them. This is not the "it's just a prank, bro" style of most trickster stories, this is actually kind of horrifying. I could definitely use the "cop interrogation" story idea that I didn't get to use from a few weeks ago for this story. Bibliography:   Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924).

The Monkey King: Image The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung Wow, Sun Wu Kung is just an unapologetic asshole. He is completely selfish, abuses his power constantly, and doesn't care at all about anyone else besides his fellow apes. In the end, Sun Wu Kung is finally punished for his behavior. However the punishment that he gets is a bit too lax in my opinion. He just kind of has a mountain sat on him and then is released when they need him to do something. Even when he's released, he hasn't really changed, and still needs magical artifacts kept on him at all times in order to make sure that he doesn't act up. In retelling this story, I would change the plot to where Sun Wu Kung actually received a fitting punishment that forces him to actually grow as a person (god? monkey?) and change his behavior of his own accord, rather than being forced to do so because of a magic ring. Bibliography - "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and tr...

"Don't mind me, just your average everyday human!": Image The Great Sea The image of Sun Wu Kung dressing and acting like a human and everyone just believing it with no argument is hilarious to me. Especially the fact that he was able to do this unnoticed for NINE YEARS. This could definitely be a good basis for a story, especially one with a tone that doesn't take itself too seriously. The Nether World This story really highlighted to me how much Sun Wu Kung is similar to Heracles. They're both very brutish, hot-tempered heroes who like to do whatever they want and solve their problems with big, heavy sticks. They both also seem to make a habit of disobeying the laws of death, and running through the Underworld as they please. I think it could be fun to maybe do a retelling where both heroes are boasting and attempting to one-up each other with their feats. Bibliography  - "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm an...

Rakshasa : Image The Rakshasas Hold up...what? A random beautiful woman appears to Rama in the jungle, which he knows is filled with monsters and demons, and she not only admits that she's a literal demon, but also explains to him that she wants to EAT HIS WIFE, and Rama's response is "y'know I don't think I'm interested, but you actually sound like the perfect match for my brother!" What is wrong with this dude? I think I could make this into a dark humor-heavy retelling where Lakshmana is killed after trying to date Surpanakha, and Rama is going over what happened in his head while at his brother's funeral. I could make it to where Rama is more of the well-meaning idiot brother that has to explain what happened to the rest of his shocked family. Surpanakha could even be in attendance at the funeral for added comedic effect. Bibliography:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).

Rama and Bharata meet in the Jungle : Image Rama and Bharata Bharata is a real one. He literally had the throne handed to him and he still declined AND called his mom out for trying to steal the throne from Rama. I did find it funny just how much everyone loves Rama, like the man seems to be unable to do anything wrong (except for Manthara of course, and even then the story phrases it like she kind of deserved her "smiting"). I think it would be pretty funny to play on Rama and Bharata's tight bond in my retelling, and essentially recreate them as caricatures of a "bromance" meme. I could maybe make it to where they aren't brothers, but instead friends that are classic "dudebro" stereotypes and make the story much more lighthearted and comedic in tone. The stakes would probably not be as high in my retelling as they are in the original story, but I would probably make it to where Rama and Bharata both act just as dramatically as if it is ...

Sindbad has some explaining to do : Image The Seventh Voyage This story is unique among Sinbad's adventures due to the fact that he did not embark on it willingly. In fact, loss of agency seems to be the theme of this voyage, as none of the things that happen to Sindbad are things that he can control, as he is not only sent on this trip against his will, he is then sold as a slave and forced to hunt elephants for their ivory by his master. This also makes this story unique from the other Sindbad voyages as it seems to be the only adventure where Sindbad actually kills something, even if it is in the act of hunting.  And boy does he make up for lost time. Sindbad kills at least 60 elephants by himself and even when he's cornered by the other elephants (who apparently have a history of murdering slaves), Sindbad is still inexplicably able to make it out of the situation alive, and even ends up with his freedom and more money than he had at the beginning of the voyage...

Sindbad faces the giant: Image The Third Voyage Having read the Odyssey  I find the similar, yet different nature of Sindbad  very interesting. Unlike Odysseus, who's illustrated multiple times as a cunning, strong, macho-man, Sindbad is simply an ambitious merchant with a penchant for making it out of sticky situations. This is highlighted in Sindbad's especially perilous third voyage, where he faces off against a horde of murderous dwarves, a clan of equally murderous giants, and a flesh-eating giant snake all on the same trip. But, instead of being the trademark "valiant hero" that slays the monsters, saves his crew and returns home as a famous legend, he survives solely on the fact that he just got lucky. He's not a dashing pirate or hardened warrior, he's just the dude who happened to make it back alive. I could definitely see myself writing a story highlighting this subversion of the tropes and ideas of the hero archetype. I could tell the story ...

Oh Boy, here I go beating people again : Image The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace I think if I retold this story, it would be pretty funny to retell it from the point of view of the spirit with the club. I'd like to think that he's just some dude who likes turning invisible and beating people up with a big stick, and simply jumps at the chance to do so whenever he's asked. Maybe I could even include an angle where God hears Abraham's prayer and understands the urgency of the situation, but all the other angels, who all have crazy powers and authority, are otherwise occupied, leaving him with no other choice than to send in the guy with the club, whose only trait is, you guessed it, beating people with a club. The Rabbi's Bogey-Man This is a very interesting story and one that has a good deal of story angles to pursue if I wished to retell it. I think that if I were to retell it, however, I might go with a more-horror focused style, perhaps borrowing from stori...

Moses, the Toddler Criminal: Image The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog This is a very interesting origin story of why dogs and cats don't get along. This story really puts dog through the ringer compared to cat, who pretty much instantly finds food and shelter. It's also a pretty sad story that paints a picture of spurned best friends. If I retell this story, I'd definitely give it a happier ending that shows that cats and dogs can get along. The Water-Babe The mental image of putting a 3-year old child on trial is hilariously absurd to me, even though it's pretty disturbing that they were ready to murder Moses if the outcome was unfavorable. I could definitely have a lot of fun retelling this story in modern context as something like a hyper-exaggerated, Law and Order-style retelling of a Supreme Court case putting a toddler (who also happens to be the adopted child of the President of the United States) on trial for something ridiculous. I could tell it from the...

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, by  Benvenuto Cellini Pyramus and Thisbe Wow, Shakespeare basically just stole this entire story for the plot of Romeo & Juliet . So far in the Metamorphoses, the stories seem to be separated distinctly into "lesson" stories and "how" stories, with some overlap (such as Phaethon). This tale definitely falls into the "how" category, though it admittedly seems to be a very dramatic explanation as to why berries are dark (but you could make the same claim towards many classical "how" stories). Not really sure how I could retell this one, as it seems to have already been done (see Romeo & Juliet ). Mars and Venus I've read this story before and it always makes me so sad for Vulcan. Not only is he a very ugly god because of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother Juno (because throwing your baby off of a cliff is apparently top tier parenting by Greek god standards), but he also basicall...

The Fall of Phaethon, Johann Michael Franz: Image Deucalion & Pyrrha I find the prevalence of "big flood" myths across different cultures to be very interesting. Whether these stories are mere imitations of one another or actual evidence for an event like this actually happening remains to be seen, though it is fun to see the slight differences among the different tales. Recreating the human race by throwing rocks is definitely an interesting development that I'd never heard before. Io This story is a prime example of how Greek/Roman gods simply view mortals as playthings. Io and Argus have done absolutely nothing wrong and they are raped and murdered respectively regardless. In classical culture, the gods were used as explanations for natural occurrences, and perhaps this is simply a showing of how nature doesn't make sense sometimes. Or, maybe stories like these of Zeus/Jupiter's many affairs (and there are a LOT of them) act as Greek reality ...