Tag: myths

Sword Lake (Part  2: A Short Story)

A greenish figure flashed though some bushes and propelled itself across the path and into the water with a splash.  Charlie and Violet laughed as they ran along the same path towards the spot where the frog had leaped into the waters of Hoan Kiem Lake.  They peered into the water. 

“Where did he go?” Charlie huffed, as he caught his breath.

Violet shrugged, “I can’t see him.   Let’s keep going!” 

The two took off again, passing massive, palm-like leaves and towards a great red bridge, which led across the lake.  They reached a stone archway serving as an entrance-way to the bridge and waited.  They were on a family vacation and did not want to loose their parents in the crowds.  After crossing the bridge with their parents, Charlie and Violet wandered around the little island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake.  They were fascinated with the different plants and trees they found, and with the temple which lay on the island.  

While near the edge of the island, Violet started, “Look!” she cried, pointing to the water.

The two stared at the water’s edge.  There, floating at the surface and gazing at them, was a great, golden turtle.  Speechless, they continued to stare. 

The turtle slowly nodded for them to come closer.  It looked at them and then turned its head towards its great shell.  

“I think that it wants us to climb onto his back.”  Charlie whispered.

Violet nodded solemnly.  The two carefully climbed upon the back of the great turtle.  Its beautiful shell had an intricate design of shapes and symbols, but what stood out most to the children, was the sword which it had strapped to its shell.  

“Hold on to the sword.”  The turtle said, its head turned slightly back.  “You will be safe.”

The children hung on tightly, taking a deep breath as the turtle dove beneath the surface of the lake.  The water was surprisingly clear, and the sunlight danced along the sandy bottom of the lake which sloped quickly downward towards the lake’s centre.  The great turtle continued to swim downwards, and soon, a great, golden castle began to appear in front of them.  The turtle turned its head back as if to say, “Welcome to my home.”  

He swam in and around the great castle, showing them beautiful turrets and grand halls.  The children found that they were somehow able to hold their breath the entire time without difficulty.  The turtle showed them the breathtaking architecture of his palace in detail, touring each room, and swimming all around the outside of the castle and its courtyard.  

Finally, the turtle turned back to them again and looked up towards the surface of the water.  The children nodded, still holding tight to the sword, strapped to the turtle’s back.  Quickly, the turtle glided towards the surface, and the children looked back to get a glimpse of the beautiful castle one last time.  

Breaking the surface, the three were bathed in the oranges, reds, and pinks of sunset.  The turtle’s back was a brilliant canvas of colour in the fading light of the day.  As they looked around in awe at the beauty of the lake, the turtle slowly paddled towards the little island and let the children off at its shore.  

“Thank you!” Both children whispered.  The turtle simply nodded, and it looked almost as if he were smiling.  A moment later, he noiselessly slipped below the surface of the water and was gone. 

The Lighthouses, the Wizard, and the Rocks

An Exploration of the Carnac Stones in France

Visualize an immense stretch of French countryside in which stand several thousand stones standing like soldiers stretching out for more than two miles.  This is what one can experience when visiting Brittany, France, where the Carnac Stones stand. 

This amazingly unique prehistoric site has several different types of stones, including stone tombs, burial mounds, and standing stones.  These stones have not always been in one spot since their original placement, however.  Over the years, people living nearby the Carnac Stones have moved the stones from their original placements for various uses including building houses and a lighthouse! (Bisous des Caribous, 2021) As an aside, there are actually 148 lighthouses in Brittany, France, where, the people of France claim, one can find the ‘end of the world’. (Zaraska, 2013)

The mystery of what the stones meant or stood for stayed a complete enigma for many years, until 2004, when a long-lost science called Geoglyphology was regained by society and was able to be used to unravel the meaning of the Carnac stones. (Pegu, 2020)  It is now known that geoglyphs, such as Carnac, were used as boundary delineators for the people groups who constructed the geoglyphs.  Interestingly, pyramids were also used for this purpose.  (Faram, 2018)  Carnac is a unique geoglyph site.  To read more on how this site is unique from other geoglyph sites, check out this article! https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/carnac-stones-enigma-solved-ancient-science-0010311  As another interesting side note, this article also briefly discusses the contemporary nature of the Carnac Stones and Stonehenge, stating that “The cultures which created Stonehenge and Carnac were related.” (Faram, 2018)

After searching around for interesting facts about Carnac, I decided to try to find a virtual video tour of the Carnac stones, and stumbled across a wonderful video that shows the grandiose nature of Carnac Stones!  I find it quite enjoyable to watch, albeit a tad lengthy.  It is exciting to be able to see the amazing site from this unique perspective.  Click the link to watch this video!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoQYMA3_kB8

The most interesting information that I read about the Carnac Stones, however, was one of the legends told about them.  The legends states that the stones are actually soldiers who were transformed into stones.  Some even say that it was Merlin (the wizard from the legends of King Arthur) who turned the soldiers to stone.  I absolutely love when a place has a legend or story attached to it!  To me it adds an aspect of mystery and awe.  Legends and myths just seem to add a layer of depth and history to a spot.

            I hope you enjoyed my short exploration of the Carnac Stones!  In my next blog post, I will be writing a short fictional story about the Carnac Stones!  I hope you join me on that adventure as well! 

Until next time! <3

Em

References:

Bisous des Caribous, 2021. http://www.bisousdescaribous.com/2021/04/10-interesting-facts-about-carnac.html

Faram, 2018. https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/carnac-stones-enigma-solved-ancient-science-0010311

Pegu, 2020. https://www.villanovo.com/magazine/the-mysterious-carnac-stones-in-brittany

Zaraska, 2013. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/in-brittany-lighthouses-oysters-ancient-stones–and-the-end-of-the-world/2013/10/31/325cd5dc-3cca-11e3-b7ba-503fb5822c3e_story.html

Pictures:

Carnac stone pictures:

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/carnac-stones

Lighthouse picture:

https://www.needpix.com/photo/1173194/brittany-lighthouse

Myths and Legends of the North

Sea monsters, the Valley of Headless Men, the waheela – these are just a few of Canada’s many myths and legends. Canada has an abundance of myths and legends about various creatures, but in this post, I am going to be focusing on sea monsters, as well as the legend of the waheela and the Valley of Headless Men.

To begin, we must journey to the Pacific coast of Canada, where legends and stories of Caddy, or the Cadborosaurus (A name derived from Cadboro Bay in British Columbia, where there have been many sightings of the creature.) are plentiful. In fact, since the 1800s, there have been more than three hundred eyewitness stories of this creature.

Imagine walking along the rocky shores of the the coast, when suddenly you see a giant snake-like creature, emerging from the water. Reaching an impressive twenty feet, the creature is enormous and terrifying. Its horse-like head can be seen slowly rising out of the water along with the eery-looking humps along its back. This is what many people have claimed to see for years.

Recently, a group of researchers, headed by Dr. Paul Leblond, PhD, decided to take the search for the creature to the next level. They called their search The Caddy Scan Project. Cameras were set up at regular sighting areas, but have not discovered any evidence of the Caddy.

Leblond said of the creature, “The way its movements have been described would lead one to think it may be mammalian, perhaps an unknown, large, long-necked deep-sea seal of some kind … but we really don’t know. Until we have a specimen to examine, it’s just a mystery, and one that we’d love to solve.” (More information about Dr. Leblond and this expedition can be found at this sight: https://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/community/does-a-creature-lurk-beneath-cadboro-bay/)

To find our next sea monster, we must travel to the other end of Canada all the way to Muskrat Lake in Ontario. The Mussie, named for Muskrat Lake, is a mysterious creature. This is mainly due to the fact that its appearance has not been agreed on by anyone. Some descriptions say that it looks like a sturgeon, some say it looks like a great sea monster with three eyes, and the speculations go on.

Interestingly enough, there is a myth that Samuel de Champlain heard about the Mussie from those living in the area at the time.

Next up on the list of sea monsters is the most unconventional sea monster of the lot. It is called the Thetis Lake Monster or “Canadian Lizard Man”. Only allegedly sighted twice (and one of those times proved to be a hoax), this creature has the appearance of a man with silver-blue scales, and jagged fins running down his back. Although this specific creature has only one eyewitness report to substantiate its existence, there are legends of creatures like this one in many places around the world, such as in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Ohio, and North Carolina. To me, our Canadian Lizard Man sounds much like a metahuman from “The Flash”. Could Lizard Man be a relative of the infamous King Shark from Central City? Who knows? 😉

A very popular lake monster of Canada’s is the Ogopogo, which resides in British Columbia. Much like a snake, this creature is said to be green or black in colour, and over 120 feet long. (The length was estimated by Jim La Rocque, who allegedly caught the creature on camera. Use the link provided to see his intriguing video: https://globalnews.ca/video/5401099/alleged-ogopogo-sighting-caught-on-camera-2)

This creature is very important to the folk lore of British Columbia. Lisa Kadane, who wrote about this creature in BBC – Travel included a quote which stated that “Ogopogo is to Kelowna what Nessie is to Loch Ness”. In fact, sixteen percent of people in British Columbia believe that this creature exists. Yet, the Ogopogo is not a real creature as far as the First Nations peoples are concerned. They believed, and still believe that it is a spirit of the lake.

Finally, we come to the most chilling and mysterious of the legends in this post – the Waheela and the Valley of the Headless Men. The Waheela is a massive wolf which lives in the the Northwest Territories, or – more specifically – the Valley of the Headless Men. These great wolves have white fur, and are apparently four feet tall! Eerily enough, the wolves are know for biting peoples’ head off – hence the name of the valley that they allegedly inhabit. The Valley of Headless Men, or the Nahanni Valley, is a place full of mystery and legend. The park where this ominous valley is situated – Nahanni National Park Reserve – is full of names that will send chills through your bones. Names such as Headless Range, Funeral Range, Headless creak, and Dead Man’s Valley. To be honest, though, this area seems to deserve its ominous names, as – according to Chloe Berge, who wrote “The Haunting History of the Canadian National Park”, – it seems more like Mordor than Canada. In addition to its frightening appearance and names, at least four people have been murdered in the park, and many people have disappeared entirely while there.

It is the frightening details that surround these four deaths, that are the real cause of disturbance, however. The earliest deaths, occurring in 1910, were the deaths of Willie and Frank McLeod, who went to the park to find gold in 1908. They were found headless near the edge of the Nahanni River. There are different versions of this story, but some reports say that it looked as if one of the brothers had tried to leap out of his bed and grab his gun, but was killed in the attempt. Later, a man named Martin Jorgenson also went searching for gold. His charred remains were later found in his cabin, which had been burned down. His body was also headless. A miner, in 1945, was also found headless in his sleeping bag.

These eerie stories are just some of the many unnerving tales surrounding the legendary Nahanni Valley.

Canada is filled with many fun and mysterious myths and legends, as well as some chilling ones. I hope the stories that I have shared inspire you to explore some of the other Canadian myths and legends out there!