Myths and Legends

‘In spite of hosts of deniers, and asserters, and wise-men, and professors,
the majority still are averse to sitting down to dine thirteen at a table,
or being helped to salt, or walking under a ladder,
or seeing a single magpie flirting his chequered tail’
W.B. Yeats

Never a truer word spoken Bill. As I gradually turn my attention to researching my next project, I stumbled across a compilation of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales with an excellent foreword from William Butler Yeats. While that quote epitomises what I felt when writing The Rugby Blanket it does lead in nicely to my next work.

You see Yeats was tuned in to the fact that the Irish people, as well as being a superstitious lot, derived so much of their superstition from a legacy of mythology. These tales that have been handed down leave those newly informed weary of stepping too far into a cursed wood, or wandering too close to where the Banshees brush their hair or simply keeping a distance from those houses which contain generations of ghosts. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince my children that Banshees don’t exist after seeing a fear evolve after being told of these specters by Elders and Betters. But in truth, I have no idea. Maybe they do exist.

The very early Celtic tales will be my jumping off point into understanding Irish mythology. These are pre-Christian tales which involve a myriad of invincible gods and plenty of magic and sorcery thrown in. To derive my story, I first need to understand how the pagans used these stories to inspire or to warn others. Those tales were tools because early Irish was very much a spoken language and not often written (excluding Ogham which was often written on rune stones ).  At that time a tale was an educational tool. The earliest form of textbook in Celtic culture as it were and whether they were truly fantastical tales about shape-shifting or never-ending cauldrons of boars meat stew, there were always some truths and a moral fibre to be gleaned.

The same can be said for the myths and legends I grew up with in my homeland of New Zealand. Some comparisons can be drawn between the Celts and the Maori. Both carried very much a spoken language and with it the use of myths and legends to explain the very fundamental building blocks of life.

Maui created the North Island by going fishing one day in a really big boat.

In Maori Mythology you have Rangi (The Sky Father) and Papa (The Earth Mother) and it was their descendents (other gods and demi-gods) who looked after the various aspects of landscape, weather, minerals, flora and fauna. Much like the scaring of young Irish children or the warding off of those venturing too far, sometimes a good anecdote was required to keep those most adventurous (or was it reckless?) at bay.

In Maori culture you have certain areas which are considered Tapu (e.g. consecrated ground) or acts that are Tapu (e.g washing face in the kitchen sink), there are particular aspects of nature that are significant (as with the cabbage tree, or the Kauri) and you have guardians (Taniwha) who protect precious resources and scare off those who shouldn’t be there. While both Celtic and Maori mythology maybe dismissed as hocus-pocus by an increasingly cynical world, to look at the birth of these tales is to see the roots of a culture. There are still lessons to be learned and, as fantastic as they seem, these stories can provide guidance. Understanding the origin of these tales can not only teach a person to add moral weight to their life but hopefully, it in turn teaches them how to tell a damn good story.