Updates are still made at theMyth Podcast Blog and MythPodcast Twitter Account for the most recent information.

I’ll be live tweeting my experiences at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas under my other new Twitter account, @SigmaMedia.

I hope to see you in Vegas!

Now, go share a story!

• Who were the Celts?
• Are the tales from the Celts more myth (based-in religious worship), folklore (tales of heroes, historical or fantastical), or both?
• What different “cycles” are found in Celtic mythology?
• Who are some of the more important figures from Celtic Mythology?

The resource material for this episode came from:

• Celtic Myth Podshow (http://celticmythpodshow.com/)
• Tee Morris: Podcasting for Dummies (http://www.teemorris.com/)
• Sacred Texts (http://www.sacred-texts.com/)
• Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/)
• Corpus of Electronic Texts (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/)
• Mary Jones (http://www.maryjones.us/)

Other Podcasts and websites mentioned during this essay/interview include:

• Chasing the Bard (http://www.chasingthebard.com/)
• Jakers!: The Adventures of Piggley Winks (http://pbskids.org/jakers/index.html)
• Jennifer Lockett (http://indianajen.com/)

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt

No Transcripts for Interviews

• Official Enchanted Website
• Enchanted on Wikipedia
• Enchanted on IMDB

Podcasts Mentioned:

• Dancing with Elephants
• The Podsafe Christmas Podcast

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt

Live Discussion, No transcripts available

This is NOT, I repeat NOT, a podfading announcement. I will continue to work on releasing episodes for both the Myth Show and Myth Minute. I have been creating lists of topics to cover, interviews to conduct, and researching the suggested topics from your emails and comments. The challenge is to find time to write the essays and turn the mike on when the chores are done and the kids are asleep.

I ask that you enjoy the past episodes available on the different web sites. To keep tabs on me while I try to squeak out shows, please visit the “MythPodcast.com” blog, follow my occasional tweets on twitter.com/gregorylemon or join me on Facebook. Links are over at the blog. I have been adding web links to interesting articles on the MythPodcast.com blog that would be great topics for shows, time willing. I hope that you’ll find them as interesting as I have.
Well, that’s it for tonight. Please stay subscribed as new shows will be coming as time permits. In the mean time, I’ll include some promos for some podcasts that I’ve been enjoying on my commutes to and from work.
Thanks everybody, Now go share a story.

This music for the Myth Show and Myth Minute podcasts is graciously provided by Jon Schmidt and is available at jonschmidt.com.

• Unedited Show hosted at Podango
• Orange County Podcasters

Podcast Bumpers (In order of recording at the expo, not appearance in the show):

• Bob Wright
• Charles Stricklin
• Mignon Fogarty
• Jason Van Orden
• Ron Ploof
• Stephen Eley
• Sheila Unwin
• Chris Christensen
• Paul Colligan
• Mur Lafferty
• Jason Adams
• Matthew Wayne Selznick
• Allison Sheridan
• Don Dehm
• Chuck Tomasi
• Steve Riekeberg
• Kreg Steppe
• Tee Morris
• Michael R. Mennenga
• Cian Mac Mahon
• Dr. Floyd, Dr. Grant, Dr. Steve, and Fidgert
• Jason Watts
• Dennis Gray
• Rob Walch

Music provided by Jon Schmidt

No transcript provided for this live recording.

John Lenahan:

• http://www.johnlenahan.com/
• http://www.magicguy.co.uk/
• http://youtube.com/user/Magicguyuk

Shadowmagic:

• http://www.shadowmagic.co.uk/
• PodioBooks.com http://podiobooks.com/title/shadowmagic/

Essay References:

• Wikipedia Article on The Táin
• Old-Irish Alphabet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt

• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  • Troll
  • Ogre
• Wiktionary
  • Troll
• Wikipedia
  • Trolls
  • Trolls (Middle-earth)
  • Discworld
  • Trolls (Discworld)
  • Billy Goats Gruff
  • Ogre (Warcraft)
  • Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears
• Links to full tale texts
  • Dapplegrim
  • Little Thumb
  • The Ogre’s Wife
• Other References
  • Orcus
  • WilliamSteig.com

Podcasts Mentioned:

• Orange County Podcasters
• Podcast Brothers
• Spoken Lore - EDIT: New link (3/13/2008)

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt

Click “Read More” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode nine. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode I’ll discuss Trolls and Ogres, defined in traditional and modern settings. After the essay I’ll share some updates about the MythShow and what is coming in the future.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Fairy Tale Bad Guys – Trolls, Ogres, and Giants

The essay for this episode started began as a comment left on the MythShow.com web site. A portion of the post written by “L-M” says:

Thanks for this wonderful podcast. I’m an aspiring librarian and it’s wonderful to be able to combine education relevant to my future job and podcasts. [...] I have been wondering about the difference between a troll and an ogre. Here (in Norway) they’re always referred to as trolls (though it’s of course pronounced differently in Norwegian than in English). I’ve heard troll used in English as well, but until the movie Shrek I’d never heard the expression ogre.

What a great topic. Through this essay, I’ll define the characteristics of and differences between trolls and ogres. I’ll use traditional and modern examples throughout the essay.

Most of the traditional examples that I will use in this essay comes from Andrew Lang’s “Coloured Fairy Books”. These books were originally compiled between 1889 and 1910 and are now in the United States public domain. Andrew Lang did not write these tales but selected the tales that others translated from other languages. These books represent the first time many of these tales were translated into English. Another book I found tales in was “The Oak-Tree Fairy Book” by Clifton Johnson. (Links to these books will be in the show notes.) Modern examples will come from a variety of sources, but primarily modern fantasy.

Trolls Defined

I began researching trolls by looking at the etymology of the word. Something interesting was that the English word “troll” has two different sources. Using the Merriam-Webster English dictionary, the first couple of definitions used the worlds that descended form the Middle English and Anglo-French languages. This “troll” described a style of fishing where the bait is usually pulled through the water, often behind a boat.

It was when I looked for the Norwegian etymology, I found the kind of troll that I was looking for. A troll was defined as “A supernatural being, [...] especially a grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges.”

Traditional Definitions for Trolls

The usage of trolls through earlier literature describes trolls on the sliding scale from very monster to very human. The following comes from the Wikipedia entry on Trolls:

“[The] of two main traditions regarding the use of troll can be discerned. In the first tradition, the troll is large, brutish and a direct descendant from the Norse jötnar. They are often described as ugly or having beastly features like tusks or cyclopic eyes. This is the tradition which has come to dominate fairy tales and legends, but it is also the prominent concept of troll in Norway. As a rule of thumb, what would be called a ‘troll’ in Norway would in Denmark and Sweden be a ‘giant’ [...].

“The second tradition is most prominent in southern Scandinavia. Conversely, what would be called trolls in southern Sweden and Denmark would be called huldrefolk in Norway and vitterfolk in northern Sweden. The south-Scandinavian term probably originate in a generalization of the terms haugtrold (mound-troll) or bergtroll (mountain-troll), as trolls in this tradition are residents of the underground.

“These trolls are very human-like in appearance. Sometimes they had a tail hidden in their clothing, but even that is not a definite. Many of these trolls had a single lock of hair that no human could comb, whereas the rest was generally messy. A frequent way of telling a human-looking troll in folklore is to look at what it is wearing: Troll women in particular were often too elegantly dressed to be human women moving around in the forest. They could attract human males to do their bidding, or simply as mates or pets. Later these would be found wandering, decades later, with no memory of what had happened to them in a troll woman’s care.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolls)

When trying to find an example of Trolls in a Fairy Tale, I found the story of “Dapplegrim.” In this Norwegian fairy tale, the youngest of twelve sons and his horse named “Dapplegrim” rescue the king’s daughter who has been taken off by a troll up into the high mountains. The troll was not described at all but was the obstacle for the young man and his horse.

Another fairy tale example of a troll come from the Norwegian story of the Billy Goats Gruff. Here the three billy goats want to cross a bridge but is blocked by the troll under the bridge.

Modern Examples of Trolls

I seemed to be able to find recent examples of trolls easier than those used in traditional tales. In modern fantasy, trolls are often described as large humanoid monsters that have little intelligence. It seems the Norse “jötnar” definition of trolls is most used today. In the fantastical world of Middle Earth that served as the setting for Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”, trolls were threatening creatures that were often found working for the evil influences or at least against the protagonist and his fellow heroes. Tolkien created many sub-types of trolls just as different kind of trolls could be found in traditional fairy tales. His trolls included stone, hill, cave, mountain, snow and the unpronounceable Olg-hai.

Trolls also appear in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. It was a dim-witted mountain troll in the girls bathroom that solidified the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione during their first year at Hogwarts.

In Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld novels, he provides an excellent contrast to the traditional roles that trolls often play in literature. His trolls have become a more civilized race, working in different professions and integrating with other races. While they are still humanoid in shape, they are made of a “metamorphorical rock”. The differences of mannerisms an intelligence between the trolls in his books depends of the stones of minerals that the trolls are made of.

Ogres Defined

Going back to the original question, L-M had not heard the term “ogre” until seeing the movie Shrek, which features the ogre portrayed by Mike Meyers using a Scottish accent. Merriam-Websters describes an ogre as “a hideous giant of fairy tales and folklore that feeds on human beings.” This may explain why during the opening scene of Shrek we see his with clear jars of eyeballs.

Merriam-Webster suggests that it is possible that “ogre” comes from the Latin name “Orcus”, god of the underworld and equivalent to the Greek God, Hades.

Traditional Definitions for Ogres

In the traditional definitions that I found of ogres, there was no mention of any physical characteristics that made them look any different that normals humans. In the tale of “Little Thumb” we meet a particularly cruel ogre. As you may remember from the previous fairy tale essay, I discussed the Aarne-Thompson method of classifying similar fairy tales. Little Thumb and the story of Hansel and Gretal are very similar. Both are about children of a poor patents that abandoned them in the woods. Where Hansel and Gretal found the witch living in the Gingerbread and candy house, Little Thumb, a boy the size of a man’s thumb, and his brothers try to find shelter in the house of an ogre and his wife. Here is a portion of that tale.

“They came at last to the house where this candle was, not without an abundance of fear: for very often they lost sight of it[...]. They knocked at the door, and a good woman came and opened it; she asked them what they would have.

“Little Thumb told her they were poor children who had been lost in the forest, and desired to lodge there for God’s sake.

“The woman, seeing them so very pretty, began to weep, and said to them:

“’Alas! poor babies; whither are ye come? Do ye know that this house belongs to a cruel ogre who eats up little children?’

“’Ah! dear madam,’ answered Little Thumb (who trembled every joint of him, as well as his brothers), ‘what shall we do? To be sure the wolves of the forest will devour us to-night if you refuse us to lie here; and so we would rather the gentleman should eat us; and perhaps he may take pity upon us, especially if you please to beg it of him.’

“The Ogre’s wife, who believed she could conceal them from her husband till morning, let them come in, and brought them to warm themselves at a very good fire; for there was a whole sheep upon the spit, roasting for the Ogre’s supper.”

“As they began to be a little warm they heard three or four great raps at the door; this was the Ogre, who had come home. Upon this she hid them under the bed and went to open the door. The Ogre presently asked if supper was ready and the wine drawn, and then sat himself down to table. The sheep was as yet all raw and bloody; but he liked it the better for that.”

Some things to note from this story are about the ogre’s wife. She was described as a “good woman” who had compassion on the children. She was never called an “ogress”, meaning a female ogre, so I don’t know if she was considered human or not. Also, she had to warn the children that an ogre lived there. I take that to mean that it was not obvious that an ogre lived there. Now, if Princess Fiona, the ogress wife of Shrek came to the door, you would know that she was an ogress but looking at her. But that was not the case here.

Now about the ogre, himself, after the children were informed that the good woman’s husband was an ogre, Little Thumb still referred to him as a gentleman. The definition of “gentleman” has changed since this tale was written. Traditionally, a “gentleman” was a man from a good family but not quite royalty who did not need to work for support. Today, a gentleman describes anyone with the positive characteristics a man should have. Any Jane Austin fans may be able to think of some quote-unquote “gentleman” who are not very gentlemanly. I would believe that Little Thumb is using the term gentleman in it original context

To be fair, some of the other ogre stories that I found also had no description of what the ogre’s looked like but the illustrations did show monstrous features. One story, entitled “The Ogre’s Wife” tells the story of a pretty girl who refused all of the potential suitors for some reason. Finally, her father said that whoever retrieves a pumpkin from the tall pole would win her hand in marriage. This passage describes the potential suitors:

“The daughter said she did not object; but her reason for not objecting was that she did not think any young man could climb so slender and lofty a pole. They sent notices far and wide and appointed a day for the climbers to show their agility. When the day came a crowd of young men presented themselves, and the last to arrive was handsomer and more beautifully dressed than any of the others. He was an ogre in disguise, but nobody knew him, and the young girl admired his appearance so much that she said to her mother, ‘I hope he will get the pumpkin’”

Well, this ogre did get the pumpkin and took her home. On the way back, the ogre was approached by many men asking for the clothing he borrowed back. By the end, the ogre had none of the fine clothing. Nothing was mentioned about his physical appearance changing, just that he no longer had the fine clothing. Regardless how he was dressed, he was a terrible husband and the young girl was eventually able to escape.

With these examples, it seems that the traditional definition of ogre is more related to the actions of the ogre, than being a different “species” than us homo sapiens. These ogres are horrible people, often cannibals. It is possible that the first time that an ogre was seen in a positive light, was Shrek.

Modern Examples of Ogres

The first modern example I’ll talk about is, of course, Shrek. The movie was loosely-based on the book “Shrek!” by William Steig. From the author’s web site, he describes the book by saying: (quote) “Shrek, a horrid little ogre, goes out into the world to find adventure and along the way encounters a witch, a knight in armor, a dragon, and, finally, a hideous princess, who’s even uglier than he is!” (end-quote). Steig’s web site had some sample pages from the book and Shrek is pretty ugly. I want to emphasize that the movie was very loosely based on the book. In fact, one of the pictures shows Shrek’s parents kicking him out of the swamp.

The other examples of modern ogres can be found in many different fantasy stories. Unlike the ogres from traditional tales, these ogres more closely resemble the “jötnar” trolls. Blizzard, the software creators behind the Warcraft series and World of Warcraft uses ogres as one of the species that populates these worlds. They are a strong species between six and fifteen feet in height. Some of these ogres even have two heads.

My favorite ogres come from “Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears”, a cartoon show from the mid-to-late 1980’s. They are the henchmen for the main protagonist that served as the comical relief for the animated cartoon. More often than not, they foiled their master’s evil plans.

Conclusion

This concludes this essay describing trolls and ogres from traditional tales and modern fantasy. I hope that this answers your question L-M. I enjoyed researching these subjects because of the many things that I found out about other than trolls and ogres. I found a bit about giants and other “fairy tale bad guys”, and I found a lot of great resources that will be very useful for future essays.

The resources for this essay came from many different web sites including: the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary for the words troll and ogre. Wikipedia provided information on trolls and ogres, trolls from Middle-Earth, Discworld, Blizzard’s Warcraft, Disney’s Gummi Bear Adventures, and the Billy Goat’s Gruff. The tales of “Dapplegrim” and “Little Thumb” came from Andrew Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books found at MythFolkLore.net/andrewlang. The tale of “The Ogre’s Wife” came from mainlesson.com; Orcus, came from pantheon.org; and finally, information about the book “Shrek” that inspired the movie could be found at williamsteig.com.

Music provided by Jon Schmidt

No transcript will be provided for round table discussions.

• “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar_Cars
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cars_characters
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317219/ (Cars)

Podcasts Mentioned:

• The Joe Murphy Memorial Fund

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode eight. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.
During this episode I’ll take one fictional character through all seventeen steps of the monomyth as described in the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, written by Joseph Campbell in 1948. These steps were discussed in detail in Episodes 4, 5, and 6.
The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: An example through the Hero’s Journey

While I was preparing the three previous essays that discussed the seventeen steps of the monomyth, I enjoyed the wide variety of heroes and mythologies that Joseph Campbell used as examples. At the end of the monomyth section, I was disappointed that I didn’t see a summary of the monomyth that took one character through all seventeen steps. So, I decided to write my own.
The challenge was to find a hero that had enough experiences to cover all of the steps. The obvious solution could have been from my collection of books written by J. K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, or J. R. R. Tolkien. These were excellent choices and I did use a lot of examples from Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings in the original three essays, but I wanted to write something unexpected. I may write an essay on these heroes in the future but there is more to mythology than the monomyth. (Not that you could tell that from this podcast).
A possible solution came to me on a Saturday afternoon while I was watching movies with my kids. Santa Claus brought my daughters a new movie which they were enjoying over, and over, and over again. I was writing one of the original monomyth essays while I was watching this movie and started to notice some of the same events that I was reading in Campbell’s book. The movie was “Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Now before you turn this off, or skip to your next podcast, relax. I’m not going to use Barbie as an example of the monomyth. My son and I are severely outnumbered, but come on. Anyways, I will say that I was surprised on the good job that they did in the story treatment and quality of animation. It must have been on my eighth or ninth viewing of the movie when I began to appreciate how they took the fairy tale of the Soldier, who discovered the secret of the twelve princess, was transformed into a heroic journey for Barbie to save her father’s kingdom and marrying the handsome royal shoemaker.
For the sanity of my only son, and honestly my own, I sometimes override the choice of the movie and pick a movie with a little more testosterone. Or as much testosterone a rated “G” movie for kids could have. My son also received a movie from Santa Claus, but honestly that is the excuse because he was only 20 months old at the time. The movie was for me. The move was Disney/Pixar’s Cars.
Needless to say, this essay will discuss plot points for the movie and this show will contain spoilers. But, come on. It’s “G” rated Disney movie. You could probably have guessed the ending already. Anyways, I just wanted to warn you just in case you haven’t seen it yet.
On a side note to any lawyers who may be listening, please don’t sue me. I understand that all characters discussed in this essay are protected by copyrights and trademarked by their respective owners. I hope those who own these copyrights will see this as free publicity for their creations and not an infringement. Also, I will not be using any audio clips from the movie. (End of Disclaimer)

Summary of the Story

Now for everyone who hasn’t seen Cars, here is a spoiler-filled outline of what happens in the movie. Cars is a computer animated movie from 2006 that follows the journey of the self-absorbed, egotistical, yet talented anthropomorphic car “Lightning McQueen” as he tries to be the first rookie to win the “Piston Cup”. In the last race of the season, Lightning ties at the finish line with two other cars, Strip “The King” Weathers and Chick Hicks. While there are no ties in Nascar, the Piston Cup, the officials announce a tie-breaking race will be held in California in one week’s time.
As Lightning and his semi truck driver, Mack, drive through the night to California, Lightning becomes separated and ends up in the forgotten town of Radiator Springs. In a car chase with the Sheriff, Lightning destroys the portion of Historic Route 66 that goes through town. He was sentenced by the local Judge, Doc Hudson to fix the road with a giant asphalt paving machine.
Over the week, Lightning warms up to the local cars and they begin to embrace him as one of their own. Near the end of the week, Lightning is found by the outside world and Mack drives him to California. Before he left, Lightning helped most of the town citizens by buying products or services from each of their stores.
In the final race, Lightning sacrifices his place in history as the first rookie to win the Piston Cup to help the King cross the finish line after the accident caused by Chick Hicks. Lightning may have lost the race, but won the hearts of the crowd and others.
While I was able to find the steps of the hero’s journey in the movie they were not in the same order as Campbell presented them in his book. I’ll follow Campbell’s order rather than the order of the events in the movie.
As I said in the introduction, I wanted to find a hero and track his journey. As I go through these steps, I had to look for some of the steps more diligently that others. It could easily be said that you find what you look for. I don’t know if Pixar had the monomyth in mind when writing the Cars screen play but we’ll just pretend the did.
And now for the journey!

Stage 1. The Separation:

Just for a review, here is the first part of Campbell’s description of his monomyth steps:
“The first great stage, that of the separation or departure, will be shown…in five subsections: (1) “The Call to Adventure,” or the signs of the vocation of the hero; (2) “Refusal of the Call,” or the folly of the flight from the god; (3) “Supernatural Aid,” the unsuspected assistance that comes to one who has undertaken his proper adventure; (4) “The Crossing of the First Threshold”; and (5) “The Belly of the Whale,” or the passage into the realm of night. (p. 36-37)

Step 1. The Call to Adventure

In most situations, this call becomes the subject of the story or the plot of the movie. For Lightning, he thinks his call to adventure comes over the Public Announcement System when the tie breaking race in California is announced.
While this may be the obvious choice, but I don’t think that it is. We need to look at Lightning as the potential hero and observes how he grows over the course of the journey. He doesn’t grow in skill as a driver. He ran his first race at the beginning of the movie a lot better than the race at the end.
The call to adventure is not always the destination, but the road leading to the destination. The adventure is in the hero’s growth. The growth that Lightning experiences is in his ability to have and appreciate friends. As cheesy as it sounds, the call to adventure for this movie is the call to find friendship.

Step 2. Refusal of the Call

The refusal of the call happened during the first race when Lightning refused the help and friendship around him. Let’s admit it, Lightning was a jerk. He alienated the people who tried to help him. Three different crew chiefs quit on him during the one season he’s been racing. His arrogance at the end of the first race was so bad his entire crew quit on him.
Another example of Lightnings Refusal was his initial refusal to pave the road he destroyed in Radiator Springs. It was through his paving the road that he learned the lessons of the journey.

Step 3. Supernatural Aid

The next step of “Supernatural Aid” contains the protective figure who provides help to our hero in some way. There were two candidates for this role. King, the current Piston Cup champion and Doc, the old-time champion. Both racers provided Lightning with advice that he initially rejected. King tried to help him out after the first race and Doc tried to help him on the dirt race track. Lightning eventually did use their advice which put him in the winning position in the final race.
But if I had to pick one character for this step, I’d pick King because Doc is more involved in later steps as another character. Another reason is that Lightning is able to help King at the end of the last race. I think it is a “student becomes the master” moment where Lighting shares the advice Doc gave him. That winning the cup isn’t the most important goal, in fact, “It’s just an empty cup.”

Step 4. The Crossing of the First Threshold

The symbolism of the thresholds in the movie are found in the highways that Mack and Lightning are traveling. The “Mother Road” on Route 66 is significantly more important as it is on the Mother Road that we meet the Threshold Guardian, embodied by the Sheriff.
As Lightning is frantically trying to find the interstate and Mack, he speeds pas a sleepy Sheriff’s speed trap. The local sheriff begins to follow him with sirens going. Instead of stopping, Lightening goes through a chain of events through the forgotten town of Radiator Spring destroying the main road and other property and landing himself in jail, or the impound.

Step 5. The Belly of the Whale

The Belly of the Whale step is very closely tied to the crossing of the thresholds. The whale symbolism in this movie is found twice. The first and best example is Mack’s trailer that Lightning is “swallowed” by as they leave for the first race for California. The second, and more symbolic example, is the night. These two examples are show at the same time and on two occasions. When Lightning enters the trailer to go to California but ends up in Radiator Springs and when he gets in the trailer to actually go to California, it is evening and approaching night time.
I initially thought that Mack’s trailer would be the threshold itself but I abandoned that idea when I identified Sheriff as the threshold guardian. The Sheriff didn’t guard Mack’s trailer, but the Mother Road. Also, Mack’s trailer carries Lightning across the threshold as it is part of the real world.

Stage 2. The Initiation:

Here is the second part of Campbell’s quote:
“The stage of the trials and victories of initiation will appear…in six subsections: (6) “The Road of Trials,” or the dangerous aspect of the gods; (7) “The Meeting with the Goddess”…or the bliss of infancy regained; (8) “Woman as the Temptress,” the realization and agony of Oedipus; (9) “Atonement with the Father”; (10) “Apotheosis”; and (11) “The Ultimate Boon.”

Step 6. The Road of Trails

The neat part of the Road of Trials step in Cars is that they are somewhat associated with an actual road, in this case, Route 66 or the Mother Road.
As Lightning began to face his trails during the movie, he began by failing them. Lighting’s failure in his encounter with the threshold guardian, the Sheriff, resulted in the destruction of the road. When Doc challenged Lightning to a race, Lightning again failed due to his arrogance and lack of experience racing on dirt.
The turning point on his road of trials came in the pasture where he and Mater, the local tow truck, were tipping tractors. Lightning successfully tipped all of the tractors by revving his engine. He was also successful in escaping from Frank the Combine. There, Lightning’s luck changed and he was able to fix the road, learn to race on dirt and redeem himself from his earlier failures.

Step 7. The Meeting with the Goddess

I had a couple of options in picking the goddess who Lightning would meet. Since Lightning is a male, I began looking at the female characters. Had the hero been a woman, I would have included the male characters in my search. One important part of identifying the Gods and Goddesses is to not get hung up on their gender but on how the character fills the role.
I first went to Sally Carrera, a 2002 Porsche Carrera, as a possibility for the goddess, but I needed to remember not to confuse the romantic interest with the goddess. The goddess that Lightning has to meet needs to be associated with a trial or test that he had to pass in order to continue on his journey.
The character that I identified as the goddess, was not a main character, she didn’t even have any speaking lines. The goddess was Bessie. Who’s Bessie, you ask? Bessie is the name given to the road paving machine that Lightning had to drag at a snails pace to fix the road.
I chose Bessie because she was the symbolic and literal obstacle that was keeping Lightning in town. To leave town, Bessie would have to be on the other end of the road with smooth pavement behind her. Lightning challenged Bessie’s role as his captor when he tried to speed up the process of fixing the road by quickly laying down the asphalt that he later had to scrape up.
When Lightning was put in his place, humbled, and respectful of Bessie’s role as the goddess, he could begin to accomplish the task before him.

Step 8. Woman as the Temptress

When I tried to find the woman as the temptress, I went back to Sally, as she was the romantic interest, to see if she filled the role. She did. Twice.
The temptress tries to keep the hero from completing his journey and becoming the best hero that he could be. Lightning is a race can and a part of his journey is to be the best race car that he can be. While his call to adventure is to friendship, Lightning needs to eventually leave Radiator Springs to complete his journey. He can come back, and does, but he must leave first.
The two times that Sally acted as the temptress was when she invited Lightning to go for a drive. He had the opportunity to escape with his newly filled tank of gas. But he chose to drive with her to the Wheel Well Hotel. Not only did he not leave town, but a day that could have been spent fixing the road was spent being very distracted. It is the memories of this drive with Sally that causes Lightning some difficulties during his final race.
The second time came when Lightning was about to leave Radiator Springs with Mack. Lightning almost stayed, she had successfully tempted him away from the real world. He probably would have stayed if Sally not told him to go.

Step 9. Atonement with the Father

I believe the Father figure in this movie was quite obvious, and that was Doc. The process of atonement or reconciliation with Doc required Lightning to act against Doc’s view that race cars are self-centered and egotistical good-for-nothings. The process began when Doc quietly admitted that Lightning did a good job fixing the first segment of the road. It suffered a set back when Lightning rejected Doc’s help on how to race on dirt. The process of atonement was restarted as the town was being fixed-up and Lightning helped all of the residents. The atonement was complete when Lightning helped King to the finish line, proving Lightning’s true change of heart, and admitting that the Piston Cup was “just an empty cup.”

Step 10. Apotheosis

The step of apotheosis or becoming the father or god began when Lightning discovered that Doc was a retired race car. Discovering Doc’s Piston Cups and watching Doc race helped Lightning to realize that he could learn something from Doc and he quickly regretted not listening to the advice Doc previously offered.
The true point of apotheosis comes during the final race when Lighting takes things learned from his time in Radiator Springs and used it to position himself for the win. This includes driving backwards using rear view mirrors and driving on the dirt infield during a spin-out that helped him take the lead. Even though he did not win the race, or the cup, as Doc had, it was Lightning’s to give up. He became the race car that Doc would be proud to know.

Step 11. The Ultimate Boon

Determining what was the ultimate boon for this story was tricky because, from the hero’s point of view, it changed during course of the movie. In the beginning, the perceived ultimate boon was to win the Piston Cup and become the new official race car for Dinoco after the King retires.
As Lightning was heading to California in the beginning of the movie, his agent asked for the names of his friends to put on the list to get tickets to for the big race. Lightning realized at that point, he couldn’t name any friends. Later on, Doc asked Lightning if he had done anything nice for anyone. Lightning realized at that point, he couldn’t name anything.
Lightning took these events to heart and later he helped nearly every resident in town by purchasing from their different stores. He helped Sally by showing her what the town might have looked like back in its hay-day.
Finally, he helped Doc regain his faith in racing and restored his stature in the community that he lost in the race track crash that ended his racing career.

Stage 3. The Return:

Here is the last third of Campbell’s quote:
“The return and reintegration with society, which is indispensable to the continuous circulation of spiritual energy into the world, and which, from the standpoint of the community, is the justification of the long retreat,…[will be shown in] six subheadings: (12) “Refusal of the Return,” or the world denied; (13) “The Magic Flight,” or the escape of Prometheus; (14) “Rescue from Without”; (15) “The Crossing of the Return Threshold,” or the return to the world of common day; (16) “Master of the Two worlds”; and (17) “Freedom to Live,” the nature and function of the ultimate boon.” (end quote - p. 36-37)

Steps 12, 13 & 14. the Refusal of the Return, The Magic Flight, and the Rescue from Without

The next three step follow each other in very rapid succession. The refusal came when Mack and the rest of the media came to bring Lightning back to the “real” world. Lightning didn’t want to go. He had fallen for the temptress, Sally, and was ready to abandon his journey. Luckily for him, Sally told him it was okay to go and he left, returning to the world he left behind.
The magic flight out of the fantastical world in this story had been combined with the crossing of the return threshold. Mack the truck carries Lightning out of Radiator Springs and onto California. The events surrounding this is discussed a little more when we talk about crossing the return threshold.
During Lightning’s stay in Radiator Springs, he became more attached to the people there. It is easy to imagine that he would give up the California race if that meant he could stay with Sally and the residents of the town. The sweet ambrosia of friendship he tasted there was more powerful that the desire to have the Piston Cup.
As demonstrated in the movie, there were three aspects to this rescue from without. First is how the media was notified by Doc of Lightning’s location. Second, is Mack with the media entourage barreling into town to take Lightning away. And third, Harv the agent reminds Lighting about the Race, Dinoco, and his rival Chick Hicks. Doc, Mack, Harv, and the media each helped to rescue Lightning. Reluctantly, he allows himself to be rescued and backs into Mack’s trailer for the magic flight to California.

15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

In the step of crossing the return threshold, we see the return of the Sheriff in his role as the threshold guardian. He and Sally stopped Lightning from leaving by siphoning his gas tank on his first night in the impound. Later, the Sheriff almost had to go after him before Sally and Lightning went on their ride to the Wheel Well.
After Lightning finishes paving the road, and thus completing his road of trials, the Sheriff changes his demeanor and is ready to give Lightning a police escort to help Lightning get to the race on time. In the Sheriff’s role as the threshold guardian, he has released Lightning from “captivity” and it is now Lightning’s “refusal to return” that is keeping him there.
Lightning crosses the return threshold as he takes his magical flight in Mack’s trailer. One part of crossing the return threshold is that the fantastical world, or the world forgotten, becomes forgotten again. Lightning had become a catalyst of life and energy culminating with everyone in Radiator Springs cruising under the neon lights. When Lightning had left town, Doc finally got what he originally wanted. After a tongue lashing from Sally, Doc quietly sat there as everyone left him alone. He sat there thinking about what he had done as the neon lights turned off, one by one. The world forgotten returned to its anonymity as Doc sat on the darkened road, under the traffic light’s flashing yellow signal. Perhaps the saddest moment in the movie.

16. Master of the Two Worlds

The second to last step in the journey is when the hero becomes the master of the two worlds. This is done by finding the ultimate boon and sharing it with those around him. Since the Ultimate boon in the gift of friendship, it is shared in two situations. First, Lightning shares his friendship to the residents of Radiator Springs when he becomes the customer of all of their stores. They share their friendship back when they show up to be his pit crew. Most notably is Doc acting as the crew chief. Lightning did not show his friendship to Doc in the same manner as he did to the others until he helped King across the finish line. Another large sharing of friendship is where he arranges for Mater to take a helicopter ride over Radiator Springs.

17. Freedom to Live

The Freedom to live is shown primarily in the epilogue after the race. Lightning has merged his two worlds together and can now freely live in the racing world but still be with his friends, especially Sally. Lightning literally puts Radiator Springs back on the map when he moves his racing headquarters to the the small town. Also, Lightning becomes a new man, or car, as shown by his new paint job, inspired by the classic 1957 Chevy.

Essay Conclusion

Well, those are the seventeen steps. I hope that you enjoyed this full example of the monomyth using the movie, Cars. I had a lot of fun delving deeper into a movie that I enjoy and analyzing its different elements. Hopefully, this essay will change the way that you read, listen, or watch other stories. Even if you won’t find the elements of the monomyth in everything, the searching and detailed analysis can help you appreciate the story more.
A friend of mine was telling me about a college course in children’s literature that she is taking for Continuing Education credits. She enjoyed reading the text book and how it helped her to understand the different aspects that go into writing good literature. She said that while she will never write books for children, learning about the process and what goes into it helped her to appreciate those who do write even more.
After these four essays on the monomyth, I hope that you are able to appreciate the stories all around us even more.

Main Topic: Interview with Mur Lafferty
- Heaven promo from PodioBooks.com (http://www.podiobooks.com/)
- Heaven – Season One (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=97)
- Heaven – Season Two: Hell (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=112)

Essay References:
- Pastiche (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastiche)

Podcasts Mentioned:
- Mur’s Podcasts
. http://www.geekfuactiongrip.com/
. http://shouldwrite.blogspot.com/
. http://pseudopod.org/
- Steve Eley’s Podcast (http://escapepod.org/)
- George Hrab’s Music (http://www.geologicrecords.net/)
- George Hrab’s Podcast (http://geologicpodcast.com/)
- The Joe Murphy Memorial Fund (http://joemurphymemorialfund.org/)

Music prodived by Jon Schmidt
- http://www.jonschmidt.com

A transcript will be provided for this interview

Music provided by Jon Schmidt
- http://www.jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Monomyth-Separation Defined
- This show covers the thrid of the three sections of the monomyth as described by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
- This show was featured in a P.A.P Smear on the Podholes Podcast. Click here to read the post about this show.

Sections of the Monomyth:
- Separation
- Initiation
- Return

Essay References:
- “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek
- http://scriptures.lds.org
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/perseus.html
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/jason.html
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gorgons.html

Podcasts Mentioned:
- http://www.dancingwithelephants.com

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt:
- http://www.jonschmidt.com

Next Episode:
- A full Monomyth Example

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode six. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode we’ll discuss the final third of the Monomyth, the Return, as described in the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, written by Joseph Campbell in 1948. Episode Four discussed the the Separation and Episode Five covered the Initiation.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: “Monomyth – the Return”

Often the hero who has left will returns home to complete his journey. Think of Odysseus who had finally returned home after the wars of Troy in the journey of the Odyssey. Some examples of the hero journey are more cyclical in nature. J. K. Rowling’s hero, Harry Potter begins a hero’s journey every year he goes to school only to return back to Privet Drive at the end. (On a side note, Harry begins his last journey in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows on July 21, 2007 for those in the US and UK. I will be in line at the local bookstore July 20^th for the Midnight release parties! Now back to the essay.)

The process of the hero returning and concluding his journey takes six steps. From pg 36 of his book, Campbell states: (quote) “The return and reintegration with society, which is indispensable to the continuous circulation of spiritual energy into the world, and which, from the standpoint of the community, is the justification of the long retreat,…[will be shown in] six subheadings: (12) “Refusal of the Return,” or the world denied; (13) “The Magic Flight,” or the escape of Prometheus; (14) “Rescue from Without”; (15) “The Crossing of the Return Threshold,” or the return to the world of common day; (16) “Master of the Two worlds”; and (17) “Freedom to Live,” the nature and function of the ultimate boon.” (p. 36) The original numbering in the quote was changed to match the section numbering for this essay series.

12. Refusal of the Return

During our last essay, we left our hero as he had achieved the Ultimate Boon. Now that the hero has the boon in whatever form it takes, he now has the responsibility to share the boon with those he left behind when he started the journey.

About the responsibility to share the boon, Campbell states that:

“the responsibility has [been] frequently refused. Even the Buddha, after his triumph, doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated, and saints are reported to have passed away in the supernal ecstasy. Numerous indeed are the heroes fabled to have taken up residence forever in the blessed isle of the unaging Goddess of Immortal Being.” (p. 193)

But what fun would the story be if the hero doesn’t go home? What if Frodo never returned to the Shire? Even though it is tempting for the hero to stay in the bliss he found, he will return. Whether they come back on their own or are forced to come back will vary from story-to-story.

13. The Magic Flight

The hero is now ready to return to where his journey began with the Ultimate Boon or Elixir of Life. How the hero achieved the boon is very important to how we see the Magic Flight. Campbell describes the differences by saying (quote) “If the hero in his triumph wins the blessings of the goddess or the god and is then explicitly commissioned to return to the world with some elixir for the restoration of society, the final stage of his adventure is supported by all the powers of his supernatural patron. On the other hand, if the trophy has been attained against the opposition of its guardian, or if the hero’s wish to return to the world has been resented by the gods or demons, then the last stage of the mythological round [becomes] a lively, often comical, pursuit. This flight may be complicated by marvels of magic obstruction and evasion.” (end quote – p. 196-197) So if the gods likes the hero and gave him the boon or elixir, his magic flight will be supported and protected by the gods. If he stole the boon, he better be a runnin’.

Here are two examples of the Magical Flight from Greek Mythology where the hero had to run for his life. The first is the story of Perseus, who killed Medusa and flew away with her head while wearing winged shoes. As he fled, he was chased by the Gorgan Sisters, Euryale and Sthenno. The second is the story of Jason, who went to find the Golden Fleece. Jason obtained the golden fleece with the help of the king’s daughter, Medea. As they both escaped on Jason’s ship, the Argo, they were pursued by Medea’s father, King Aeëtes.

There are some modern examples of the Magical Flight without the pursuit. First comes from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” where Sam and Frodo are carried off Mount Doom with the help of the Eagles. Second, Harry Potter and his friends flew out the Chamber of Secretes holding on the tail of the Phoenix named Fawkes.

All of these heroes participated in the magic flight but they needed help.

14. Rescue from Without

Even though the wants to return home, or is forced to, our hero may need help. He has been in the realm of the immortals or the fantastical. To return to the world of mortals and humanity, our hero needs help from humanity to get back to the real world.

The events demonstrating the rescue may be in the same event as the Magic Flight. If we look at the examples from the Magic Flight step, we will also see the Rescue from Without. Perseus had the help of Hermes, Athena, and the three Graeae who provided the winged shoes. Jason received help from King Aeëtes’ daughter Medea. Tolkien’s Eagles flew into Mordor to rescue Frodo and Sam. Rowling’s phoenix flew into the Chamber of Secretes to rescue Harry, Ginney, Ron, and Gilderoy Lockhart.

There is one difference in the modern examples and those provided by Campbell. The “world” the heroes of Frodo and Harry are rescued from are places of evil and not from the realm of immortals. That is unless you consider Sauron and Lord Voldemort as representatives of gods from whom the heroes need to escape. I don’t know if this nullifies the examples but I still think they effectively demonstrate the Rescue from Without.

15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The hero’s journey is circular in nature. The hero leaves and then returns, and sometimes the journey starts again. In the essay on the Separation, we discussed crossing the first threshold. Going through this first threshold, the hero enters the fantastical world that may take the form of a paradise or hell. After the hero has found, earned, or stolen the Ultimate Boon, the hero will need to cross the Return Threshold. This threshold may or may not be the same as the first threshold crossed earlier, meaning the entry point into the fantastical world is not always the exit.

Our hero does not return as the “every man” he was when he crossed the threshold the first time. Our hero returns to the human world as new man armed with the knowledge and experience he gained during the Road of Trails and in his meeting with the God and the Goddess. With the Ultimate Boon he will be able to improve the quality of life of those he left behind to take the journey.

But will the hero be welcomed on his return? Campbell used the story of Rip Van Winkle as an example of a returning hero that was not welcomed back into society. Rip Van Winkle crossed the Return Threshold just by waking up. I thought that this was an odd example because the hero slept the entire time from when he crossed the first threshold by falling asleep and crossed the Return Threshold by waking up. What kind of a heroes journey is it when you spend the entire separation phase asleep?

However, this example does help illustrate the symbolism of the two thresholds. This shows the symbolism of separation can be shown as sleep or death. I recently watched Disney’s Alice in Wonderland with my kids. Even though Alice didn’t know it at the time, she fell asleep before she saw the White Rabbit and followed him into Wonderland. To escape the Queen of Hearts and came back into the human world Alice crossed the return threshold by waking up. A more extreme example of this symbolism for the thresholds is that of death and eventual resurrection. Regardless of the depth the symbolism of the thresholds take, the hero is back in the real world.

16. Master of the Two Worlds

Our hero has successfully returned back to the real world after his times of difficulty and learning on his road of trials. He may or may not have met a threshold guardian on his way back to the real world.

To introduce this topic in his book, Campbell uses the story from the New Testament where Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the place that would be eventually be called the Mount of Transfiguration. This scriptural account covers different steps monomyth, including Crossing the first threshold, Atonement with the Father, The Ultimate Boon, Crossing the Return Threshold, and becoming the Master of the Two Worlds.

From the King James Version of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we receive the following account from the seventeenth chapter verses one through nine.

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/17

Of this experience, Campbell said:

“Here is the whole myth in a moment: Jesus the guide, the way, the vision, and the companion of the return. The disciples are his initiates, not themselves masters of the mystery, yet introduced to the full experience of the paradox of the two worlds in one. [...] Flesh had dissolved before their eyes to reveal the Word. They fell upon their faces, and when they arose the door again was closed. (p. 230)

Looking at the verses carefully, we can see the different steps that I listed before. Verse 1 describes call to adventure by explaining that they went up the mountain. And not only up, but also using the key word “apart” to emphasize the separation between themselves and the world. Verse 2 though 4 describing the apostles receiving the Ultimate Boon of knowledge by seeing Moses and Elias visiting the transfigured Christ. The critical part of this story comes in verse five where Peter, James, and John were overcome by the cloud, crossed the threshold with Jesus as the guardian. This allowed them to hear the Father through atonement and returned back through the threshold and then met Jesus after the vision.

Jesus, as the major hero, and Peter as another hero had the experiences of both worlds to help benefit the world by establishing God’s Kingdom on the earth. Jesus truly became the master of the two worlds closer to the end of his story when he arose from the dead and as a resurrected being. No longer mortal, but as God, he became the master of two worlds.

17. Freedom to Live

In the last step of the hero’s journey, our hero finally has the freedom to live. He has faced all the tests and won, or at least survived. He has crossed the threshold and returned with the Ultimate Boon regardless of it being an object or knowledge. Now he can share the boon with those he originally left behind.

Jesus, from the previous step, now has the freedom to live in full glory as he triumphantly ascends to heaven to be back in His Father’s presence.

The Wikipedia article on the Monomyth provides these examples from the world created by Tolkien: (quote) “In the Lord of the Rings, the hobbits became prominent citizens of the Shire with the wisdom they had gained. Aragon reigns as King for many decades and ushers in a new age of peace and then rebuilds Middle Earth.” (end quote)

And with that, the journey is over. The cowboy can ride into the sunset, Frodo can sail away with the elves, and Luke Skywalker can celebrate in the Ewok village.

Critiques and Concluding Remarks

The book I have used extensively through this series of essays is called “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Even though there are many myths and legends that follow the pattern Joseph Campbell proposed in his book, there have been more that a thousand heroes.

What I mean by this is that they monomyth is not as universal as its name would imply. Some critics of the hero’s journey said that it focuses too much on classical mythologies and ignored those from Africa and “non-classical” sources.

To Wikipedia’s credit, there is a section criticizing the monomyth in the article I referenced through the essay series.

“American novelist, Kurt Vonnegut satirized Campbell’s view on the monomyth as being excessively complicated by offering his interpretation, called the ‘In the Hole’ theory; loosely defined as ‘The hero gets into trouble. The hero gets our of trouble.’”

With so many different patterns available, how legitimate is the monomyth today? This has become a very famous literary pattern and is used a lot in novels and in Hollywood since Campbell’s book was published. Many of the examples from these essays come from modern sources, like Star Wars. Star Wars consciously patterned its hero after the monomyth. This doesn’t invalidate the examples but does show that the proverbial cart is in front of the horse.

Some of the other patterns for stories include the Aarne-Thompson system that we discussed in the “Fairy Tales Defined” which categorized 2500 basic plot lines. Christian Ankerstjerne from the forums suggested that “detective stories” follow a unique but frequently used pattern to solve the crime-de-jour. One of my favorite patterns comes from classic Star Trek episodes. This pattern is summarized by Captain Kirk and crew find a new planet where they quickly beam down to the surface. The guy in the red shirt usually has a line like “Captain, look what I found…Aaaarrrgh” before Dr. Bones says, “He’s dead, Jim”. The aliens manifest themselves, there is conflict, conflict is resolved, Kirk makes out with the cute alien woman, and Spock says something logical. End of episode. Repeat 80 times for live action, Repeat 22 time for animation.

Personally, I have enjoyed the time that I have spent studying the monomyth and the hero’s journey. It has helped me more effectively appreciate the stories that I consume in different formats. It also helps me appreciate the stories that I found that do not pattern themselves after Campbell’s theories and wince when I see blatant use of the hero’s journey. I hope that you have enjoyed this discussion of the monomyth and learned something along the way.

I originally intended that this would be the last that I would discuss the Monomyth as a main subject of an essay, with the possibility of being stuck in a rut, there will be one more. One of my biggest criticisms of Joseph Campbell’s book was that he never took one character throughout each of the seventeen steps. So to conclude this essay series, the next Myth Show essay will take a one fictional character through all seventeen steps of the monomyth. Who it is may surprise you!

Resources

Resource material for this essay came from:

The book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. Originally written in 1948 with a second edition in 1973.

The Wikipedia Entry on the Monomyth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth – Retrieved October 12, 2006)

The Wikipedia Entry on Star Trek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek – Retrieved March 6, 2006)

The Scripture: Internet Addition found at scriptures.lds.org. (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/17 – Retrieved February 2, 2007)

The Encyclopedia Mythica Entries on Persus, Jason, and the Gorgon Sisters:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/perseus.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/jason.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gorgons.html

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-3fc4bca01159c149eb5f64949a81fb75}

Main Topic: Monomyth-Initiation Defined
- This show covers the second of the three sections of the monomyth as described by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)

Sections of the Monomyth:
- Separation
- Initiation
- Return

Essay References:
- “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
- http://www.monomyth.org/
- http://www.dictionary.com/

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt: http://www.jonschmidt.com/

Next Episode: Monomyth-Return Defined

Listener Links: http://www.andrevanharen.com/

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode five. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode we’ll discuss the second third of the Monomyth, the Initiation, as described in the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, written by Joseph Campbell in 1948. Episode Four discussed the the Separation phase of the Monomyth and Episode six will cover the final third of the Monomyth: “the Return”.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Initiation

Introduction and Recap of Separation

In Episode four, I introduced the Monomyth as presented by Joseph Campbell in his book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Often, the term “Hero’s Journey” is also used. I provided a brief summary of the seventeen steps he found common between the many myths from different cultures. These seventeen steps are grouped into three sections. To repeat a quote from episode four, Campbell describes these three phases:

(quote) “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (end quote – pg. 30)

During the first phase of “Separation”, our hero goes through five steps. In summary, he has (#1) heard the “Call to Adventure” and then (#2) refused the call, but just temporarily. During the first steps of the actual journey, he (#3) receives supernatural aid, (#4) crosses the first threshold, and (#5) finds himself in the belly of the whale. Through these five steps of the monomyth, the hero is now fully separated from his home or the status quo.

The phase of the monomyth we’ll discuss during this essay is that of the Initiation. I’ll describe the list of steps using the same quote by Campbell from episode four. (Now, I have changed the numbering of the steps that Campbell provides in the quote to match an overall numbering scheme):

(quote) “The stage of the trials and victories of initiation will appear…in six subsections: (#6) “The Road of Trials,” or the dangerous aspect of the gods; (#7) “The Meeting with the Goddess”…or the bliss of infancy regained; (#8) “Woman as the Temptress,” the realization and agony of Oedipus; (#9) “Atonement with the Father”; (#10) “Apotheosis”; and (#11) “The Ultimate Boon.” (end quote – pg. 36)

The word “initiation” is often used to describe the process or ritual that a person goes through to join a group or organization. Going through an initiation is more than just applying for membership. It is more like the ordeals a fraternity pledge suffers through to be accepted into the brotherhood of a fraternity. The hero of the monomyth, like the fraternity pledge, must go through this initiation to prove that he is the hero that is worthy of the reward at the end of the initiation.

6. The Road of Trails

For the reader, this is the fun part of the hero’s journey. This is where the hero takes what he has learned during the separation process and applies this learning to get through the trials. For the hero, this is a long road of events, tests, or challenges that help him to prepare for the later steps of meeting with the symbolic or literal gods and goddesses. These trials provide much of the adventure that is found within mythology. These trials may be told as separate stories outside the over-arching monomyth storyline. And while the trails are exciting, outside of the context of the whole monomyth, the events of the Road of Trials may not be fully understood. Because, we don’t know where the hero came from, why he is experiencing the trials, or where he is going once the trial is completed. Watching Luke Skywalker and others rescue Princess Lea is exciting but doesn’t make sense unless you watch the whole movie.

It seems to me that the road of trials could be compared to some adventure video games. Think of Super Mario Brothers or the Legends of Zelda. (I know, I’m old) The video game player controls the hero (Mario or Link) and the road of trials is all of the mini-bosses that need to be defeated at the end of the level before finding and defeating the ultimate boss. For fans of Disney movies, the song sequence “Zero to Hero” in the cartoon “Hercules” shows many of the different trials that Hades placed in Hercules’ path to becoming the hero. If you watch closely, many of these trails come from the twelve labors of Hercules given to him, not be Hades, by the Delphic Oracle. (And just as a side note, the differences between Disney movies and the actual myth, folklore, or fairy tale could fill a year of essays. And as a father of four kids ages 5 and under, I have watched most of these cartoons, many, many times.)

In this section of the book, Campbell provides the story of Psyche and Cupid as an example where the female hero goes through many trials to find her lover Cupid. I agree with Campbell that this is a good example of the Road of Trials, but I felt a little lost because Campbell didn’t include how the mortal Psyche got involved with the immortal Cupid, why she had to do all of these tasks and if she even found him in the end. I do recognize that Campbell’s purpose in this section was not to tell the story of Psyche and Cupid but I used his omission to emphasize the importance of finding the whole story surrounding the road of trials to understand the trials themselves.

The next four steps of the monomyth can be viewed as a part of the Road of Trials. I’m not sure if there is significance to the order they appear in, but what the hero learns through these steps and other trials on the road will prove himself worthy to receive the Ultimate Boon.

7. The Meeting with the Goddess

Campbell describes this step as “the bliss of infancy regained” (pg. 36) The hero must meet with the goddess, and if he passes the challenge associated with her, he will be able to find the bliss of infancy or the joy or a child. As any parent can tell you, there are few joys in the world that can compare to the innocent joy of a child.

But what is the significance of this Goddess? Campbell states:

“Women, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to know. As he progresses in the slow initiation which is life, the form of the goddess undergoes for him a series of transfiguration: she can never be greater than himself, though she can always promise more than he is yet capable of comprehending. She lures, she guides, she bids him burst his fetters. And if he can match her import, the two, the knower and the known, will be released from every limitation.” (end quote – pg. 116).

As described here, the Goddess is the source of knowledge and the teacher as well. This isn’t a simple bestowal of knowledge but a process where the hero needs to “burst his fetters” or the restraints of ignorance.

When the hero is able to learn all that the goddess has to teach him, he is able to have the joy of youth, but that is not all. Campbell said “The meeting with the goddess (who is incarnate in every woman) is the final test of the talent of the hero to win the boon of love (charity, amor fati), which is life itself enjoyed as the encasement of eternity. (pg 118) Not only does the hero now have the joy of youth but he now has the charity to share this joy and the ultimate boon with others along the path or at the end of the journey.

Campbell tells the story of the five sons of the Irish King Eochaid. They all went hunting and become very thirsty. As they each searched for water, the eldest son, Fergus, found an old hag of a woman guarding a well of water. For the price of a kiss, access to the well would be given. Fergus refused as did his brothers Olioll, Brian, and Fiachra (please forgive the pronunciation). The youngest brother, Niall, was the last to find the old woman at the well. When the woman asked him for the kiss, he said “I will give it, [and] forby giving thee a kiss, I will even hug thee!” (pg 117)

Surprising to Niall (but not to any reader of tales) the ugliness of the woman melted away and revealed the goddess named “Royal Rule.” She granted him the water as promised but also anointed him heir to the thrown of his father. The four older brothers failed to meet the goddess that Niall found in the old woman. He passed the test and was able to find joy in his life as the new king.

8. Woman as the Temptress

The woman in mythology represents more than the joy of youth and the joy from knowledge. In this step of the Hero’s journey, the woman plays that role of temptress. Often, one of the trails that the hero must face is the temptation associated with the flesh. This may or may not be associated with an actual woman but may come as any physical temptation that the hero must overcome.

In the last episode, we talked how the hero enters into the belly of the whale. That experience teaches the hero selflessness. In meeting with the Goddess, the hero learns charity. If the hero successfully resists the temptations of this step, he will learn of purity and chastity.

An example of a hero who could not resist the temptation was Sir Lancelot of Arthurian legend. His betrayal against King Aurthur with Queen Guenevere tarnished his soul and prevented him from finding the Holy Grail in a later quest.

The step of resisting the temptations of the world or of the flesh are common themes in the legends of the Oriental (or Eastern) stores of the Future Buddha and Occidental (or Western) stories of Christian Saints. Whether it was Buddha on the path to enlightenment, or Christians approaching sainthood, both were successfully in resisting the proverbial “woman as temptress.”

9. Atonement with the Father

The word “atonement” can be defined as being brought as one with another. The first five letters of the word atonement spells the words “at one.” After two steps in the hero’s journey with the feminine, the hero seeks atonement with the father-figure, or through benevolent-grace, brought back into the Father’s presence.

In describing this step, Campbell uses the Freudian terminology of “super-ego” and “id.”

“Atonement (at-one-ment) consists in no more than the abandonment of that self-generated double monster – the dragon thought to be God (superego) and the dragon though to be Sin (repressed id). But this requires an abandonment of the attachment to ego itself, and that is what is difficult. One must have a faith that the father is merciful, and then a reliance on that mercy. (pg. 130)

Through the journey, our hero has had many successes through his difficulties. He may begin to have an over-inflated self-confidence (or in other words, a superego). He may believe that he could be a god himself and be worthy to be with the gods or the Father through his own merit. But our hero is not perfect as he has fallen short and may have succumb to his darker nature (or his repressed id). As he is not worthy to be reconciled with the father through his own merits, he must learn humility to correct his superego. To let go of the darkness of his soul, he must rely on the mercy of the Father.

This mercy is often granted through a test of initiation. Campbell describes it as follows:

“The traditional idea of initiation combines an introduction of the candidate into the techniques, duties, and prerogatives of his vocation with a radical readjustment of his emotional relationship to the parental images. The mystagogue (father or father-substitute) is to entrust the symbols of office only to a son who has been effectually purged of all inappropriate infantile cathexes. [...] Ideally, the invested one has been divested of his mere humanity and is representative of an impersonal cosmic force. He is twice-born; he has become himself the father. And he is competent, consequently, not to enact himself the role of the initiator, the guide, the sun door, through whom one may pass from the infantile illusions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ to an experience of the majesty of cosmic law. purged of hope and fear, and at peace in the understanding of the revelation of being. (pg. 136-7)

Through this process of atonement and initiation, he hero has now proven himself worthy to be with the father since he has successfully acted in his place.

10. Apotheosis (a-poth-E-o-sis)

Dictionary.com defines “apotheosis” as “the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of God.” Another word from apotheosis is deification. In the previous steps the hero has passed the trials associated with the gods and the goddesses. This step is where the hero becomes a god or to a lesser extent, receives the knowledge of a god.

This section in Campbell’s book was the most confusing that I have read so far. While he did provide a lot of examples, he never actually defined the term “apotheosis” during his explanation. The Wikipedia article on the monomyth provides an excellent definition:

“The Hero’s Ego is disintegrated in a breakthrough expansion of consciousness. Quite frequently his idea of reality is changed, he may find himself able to do new things or able to see a larger point of view, allowing him to sacrifice self. “

The examples provided by Campbell read more like a chapter out of a comparative religion book. There were many examples from Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. Different people from these faiths had their reality altered and became like the gods because they received the knowledge of the god or gods. Buddha achieved enlightenment, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the Confucian Scholar sought the “twenty-eight Buddhist patriarch, Bodhidharma, ‘to pacify his soul’” and his wish was granted and he departed in peace.

So whether our hero becomes a god, or like god, he has obtained understanding, knowledge, and enlightenment.

11. The Ultimate Boon

In this step of the Hero’s Journey, our hero has found the treasures that he was seeking. The actual boon could be anything. Sometimes the boon is the treasure of immortality. This boon can take the form of food or elixir that is eaten or drunk by the gods. This food is often in a place that is difficult to reach or is well guarded. Campbell said that (quote) “the greatest tale of the elixir quest in the Mesopotamian, pre-Biblical tradition is that of Gilgamesh, a legendary king of the Sumerian city of Erech, who set forth to attain the watercress of immortality, the plant [named] ‘Never Grow Old’.” (end quote – pg. 185)

Campbell described many hiding places by saying:

“Mt. Olympus rises to the heavens; gods and heroes banquet there on ambrosia. In Wotan’s mountain hall, four hundred and thirty-two thousand heroes consume the undiminished flesh of Sachrimnir, the Cosmic Boar, washing it down with a milk that runs from the udders of the she-goat Heidrun: she feeds on the leaves of Yggdrasil, the World of Ash. Within the fairy hills of Erin, the deathless Tuatha De Danaan consume the self-renewing pigs on Manannan, drinking copiously on Guibne’s ale. In Persia, the gods in the mountain garden on Mt. Hara Berezaiti drink immortal haoma, distilled from the Gaokerna Tree, the tree of life. The Japanese gods drink sake, the Polynesian ave, the Aztec gods drink the blood of men and maids. And the redeemed of Yahweh, in their roof garden, are served the inexhaustible, delicious flesh of the monsters Behemoth, Leviathan, and Ziz, while drinking the liquors of the four sweet rivers of paradise.” (pg. 176-7)

Other heroes went for a different boon, that is the treasure of fire. This was case for the similar quests of Prometheus of Greek mythology and Maui of Polynesian mythology. In the story of Maui, he went up against the fire god, Mahu-ika, and tricked and slew him to bring fire back from his quest.

It is possible that the boon that the hero started his quest to find was not the one that was found. Often the situation is that hero went to find an object but the ultimate boon he received was the knowledge learned during the journey.

One example of this comes from the story of King Midas and his golden touch. He thought that he received the ultimate boon of wealth when he could turn everything he touched into gold. Soon he realized that he would starve to death as all of his food and drink turned to god before he could eat them. The real tragedy was that his beloved daughter became a statue of gold at his touch. The boon for Midas turned out to be the wisdom he gained when his desired blessing became a curse.

Preview of the Return

With that we will end this essay on the Initiation phase of the monomyth as written by Joseph Campbell. So far our hero has left his home, endured trials and received the boon. In our next essay, I will conclude this series on the monomyth with the final section on “the Return.”

I will also provide some commentary and criticisms about the monomyth. I would like to incorporate your comments and critiques as well. Please stay tune after the short break to hear how your feedback can help with the next essay.

Resources

Resource material for this episode came from:

The book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. Originally written in 1948 with a second edition in 1973.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth – Retrieved October 12, 2006

http://www.monomyth.org/ - maintained by Rich Schwab.

http://www.dictionary.com/ - Apotheosis

Essay Scripture References:

• John 1:1-3, 14 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/1
• Mosiah 3:5-8 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/mosiah/3
• Micah 5:2 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/micah/2
• Isaiah 7:13-14 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/7
• Alma 7:10 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/7
• 1 Nephi 11:13-21 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/11
• Isaiah 9:6-7 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/9
• 3 Nephi 1:12-14 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/1
• Luke 2:1-7 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/2
• 3 Nephi 1:21-22 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/1
• Luke 2:8-21 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/2
• Matthew 1:22-23 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/1
• Matthew 2:1-2 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/2
• Matthew 2:8-11 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/2
• 1 Nephi 11:33 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/11
• Matthew 20:28 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/20
• Isaiah 53:4-6 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/54
• Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-23 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/76

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt: http://www.jonschmidt.com/

Other music provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sound/list

Next Episode: Monomyth-Initiation Defined

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is a special Christmas episode. During this episode I’ll share a special Christmas message based on the different scriptural accounts of the birth of the One we celebrate this season. My goal is to have a show that can be shared Christmas Eve to remind all who listen of the true meaning of Christmas and the “Reason for the Season.”

I believe that it is important when you listen to any show from this podcast, you know where I am coming from. Hopefully this scriptural compilation will share that. After the scripture readings, I’ll share more of my thought on the practice of religion and the study of myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

The opening and closing musical themes for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com. Additional music during the scripture reading has been provided by the repository of public domain music which is found at Wikipedia:Sound/list. A link will be in the show notes.

Main Topic: Merry Christmas

Part 1: The Prophecies

From the Gospel of John (1:1-3, 14)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

From the book of Mosiah (3:5-8)

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

From the book of Micah (5:2)

2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

From the book of Isaiah (7:13-14)

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

From the book of Alma (7:10)

10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

From the First book of Nephi (11:13-21)

13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.

14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?

15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.

19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!

20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!

From the book of Isaiah (9:6-7)

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Part 2: The Birth

From the Third book of Nephi (1:12-14)

12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

14 Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

From the Gospel of Luke (2:1-7)

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

From the Third book Nephi (1:21-22)

21 And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.

22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding these lyings and deceiving the more part of the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.

From the Gospel of Luke (2:8-20, 21)

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

From the Gospel of Matthew (1:22-23)

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

From the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-2)

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

From the Gospel of Matthew (2:8-11)

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Part 3: But Why?

From the First book of Nephi (11:33)

33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.

From the Gospel of Matthew (20:28)

28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

From the book of Isaiah (53:4-6)

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are dealed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Part 4: The Promise

From the Doctrine and Covenants (76:22-23)

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

23 For we saw him, even on the bright hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

Show Explanation:

A while back, I typed “Mythology” and “Podcast” into Google, just to see if I’d show up. Well, I didn’t. After my initial disappointment, I began to look at the results that did come up. I saw the word “pagen” in many of the results next to “mythology”. When I saw that, I was concerned that if I do get a higher Google ranking, I’d be viewed as a podcast about paganism instead of the stories related to myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and I feel like I know them on a personal level because of the stories and different adventures that they share about themselves or their families. As I started MythShow, I have struggled to determine how much information I want to share about myself and my family. After seeing the Google results, I felt like I should tell you more about myself so that you know where I am coming from.

First of all, I believe that every person has biases. Personally, I like Star Trek more than Star Wars, I’d rather read a Harry Potter book than the Lord of the Rings. I like crunchy peanut butter more than creamy, strawberry jam over grape jelly. Each of these personal preferences, among many others, shape who I am and may or may not influence this podcast.

I feel that there is a matter of trust between podcasters and listeners. You trust me to educate, inform, and (hopefully) entertain with accurate information. I trust you will enjoy yourselves and to forgive any mistakes that I may make. (But please send me feedback if you can’t do either of these.)

Having said that, I want you to know who I am and what personal ideas and religious convictions and ideals influence my daily life and may influence the future episodes. I hope that I share will not drive you away but that this builds understanding.

Regarding personal beliefs, I am a Christian. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I worship the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. I obey God the Father and His Son as the Holy Spirit has brought their teachings to my head and their love into my heart. Regarding organized religion, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One common nickname for my faith is the “Mormons”. I’m not going to discuss the tenets of my faith now and they probably won’t enter into my essays. If there is something to share, like this essay, it will come in a specifically labeled “Special Edition” so you know to skip it if you don’t want to hear that kind of thing.

At my local congregation, I teach a Sunday School class each week. I love teaching Sunday School. I’ve done it for a couple of years now and I hope to continue to teach the class for many more years. This year, my lessons have focused on the King James Version of the Old Testament. Next year I’ll be teaching from the KJV New Testament.

One reason I love teaching Sunday School is because of the wonderful stories that are found throughout the scriptures. In fact, each of my children are named after some of the favorite individuals from the New and Old Testaments.

You may ask “Why would a follower of Christianity and father of young children spend so much time and effort sharing stories about different gods, heroes, and fantastical creatures that he doesn’t believe in?”

Well your right, I don’t worship the ancient gods that I cover. My answer is “There are many sides of a story and you can find what you look for, good and bad.”

Is it silly to believe in fairy godmothers, wooden puppets who turn into boys, or seven small guys who help a frightened girl lost in the woods? Are these silly stories? Well, of course they are! They’re ridiculous, even preposterous. So what? Who cares? I don’t enjoy the myths, lore, and tales I share in this podcast because I believe them to be true. I enjoy them because of what I learn about myself, about others, and other cultures through these stories. These stories have a lot of good lessons in them if we allow them to be shared.

So come and join me on this journey. Let’s see what we can learn together as we explore the different cultures and mythologies of the world.

Main Topic: Monomyth-Separation Defined
- This show covers the first of the three sections of the monomyth as described by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)

Sections of the Monomyth:
- Separation
- Initiation
- Return

Essay References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
- http://www.monomyth.org/

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt: http://www.jonschmidt.com/

Next Special Edition: Merry Christmas

Next Episode: Monomyth-Initiation Defined

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode four. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode we’ll discuss the first third of the Monomyth, the Separation, as described in the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, written by Joseph Campbell in 1948. Future and separate episodes of the MythShow will cover remaining Monomyth sections of Initiation and Return.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Monomyth

Introduction

Joseph Campbell “was an American professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion.” (Wikipedia, Joseph Campbell). His book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” is a classic in the study of mythology. The book discusses two patterns found in the mythology of many cultures: The Monomyth and the Cosmogonic Cycle. The Monomyth pattern focuses of stories where there is one character at its center. The Cosmogonic Cycle focuses on stories that discuss the creation and eventual destruction of the world. This episode of the MythShow will be the first of three that will focus on the Monomyth.

The term “monomyth” is was originally used by James Joyce in his text, “Finnegans Wake”. The term has come to describe the similarities found throughout many mythological heroes or the more common “Everyman”. The term “Hero’s Journey” is also used to refer to the same concept we’re discussing. Simply stated, the story of each hero has three phases: separation, initiation and return.

Campbell describes these three phases in this following quote:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (p. 30)

Each of these three sections are broken down into different sub-sections. While I have found different subsets listed for the monomyth. I will use the ones Campbell describes in his book.

“The first great stage, that of the separation or departure, will be shown…in five subsections: (1) “The Call to Adventure,” or the signs of the vocation of the hero; (2) “Refusal of the Call,” or the folly of the flight from the god; (3) “Suppernatural Aid,” the unsuspected assistance that comes to one who has undertaken his proper adventure; (4) “The Crossing of the First Threshold”; and (5) “The Belly of the Whale,” or the passage into the realm of night.

“The stage of the trials and victories of initiation will appear…in six subsections: (1) “The Road of Trials,” or the dangerous aspect of the gods; (2) “The Meeting with the Goddess”…or the bliss of infancy regained; (3) “Woman as the Temptress,” the realization and agony of Oedipus; (4) “Atonement with the Father”; (5) “Apotheosis”; and (6) “The Ultimate Boon.”

“The return and reintegration with society, which is indespensable to the continuous circulation of spiritual energy into the world, and which, from the standpoint of the community, is the justification of the long retreat,…[will be shown in] six subheadings: (1) “Refusal of the Return,” or the world denied; (2) “The Magic Flight,” or the escape of Prometheus; (3) “Rescue from Without”; (4) “The Crossing of the Return Threshold,” or the return to the world of common day; (5) “Master of the Two worlds”; and (6) “Freedom to Live,” the nature and function of the ultimate boon.” (p. 36-37)

In total, Campbell suggests that there are seventeen steps in all of the hero’s journey. This show will cover steps one (the Call to Adventure) through six (the Belly of the Whale). In the book, Campbell didn’t follow one mythological figure through all of the steps. He used examples where the myth or folklore exemplified the subsection being discussed. As I was reading the book, I was hoping to see a hero carried throughout each of the steps of the hero’s journey. This is just a small critique. I will discuss some more scholarly criticisms of the monomyth near the end of the essay.

To Campbell’s credit he did provide a short narrative that hits all of the steps in the monomyth. This following quote is an example of writing English to be read, and not to be spoken. With all of the commas, really long sentences, and parenthetical asides, I’ll do my best.

The mythological hero, setting forth from his commonday hut or castle, is lured, carried away, or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure. There he encounters a shadow presence that guards the passage. The hero may defeat or conciliate this power and go alive into the kingdom of the dark (brother-battle, dragon-battle; offering, charm), or be slain by the opponent and descend in death (dismemberment, crucifixion). Beyond the threshold, then, the hero journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some of which severely threaten him (tests), some of which give magical aid (helpers). When he arrives at the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme ordeal and gains his reward. The triumph may be represented as the hero’s [...sexual...] union with the goddess-mother of the world (sacred marriage), his recognition by the father-creator (father atonement), his own divinization (apotheosis), or again—if the powers have remained unfriendly to him—his theft of the boon he cam to gain (bride-theft, fire-theft); intrinsically it is an expansion of consciousness and therewith of being (illumination, transfiguration, freedom). The final work is that of the return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their protection (emissary); if not, he flees and is pursued (transformation flight, obstacle flight). At the return threshold the transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero re-emerges from the kingdom of dread (return, resurrection). The boon that he brings restore the world (elixir). (p. 245-246)

To help to clarify what each of the monomyth steps mean, I will provide samples from Campbell’s book and from other sources I found while researching this topic. Some of the examples provided will come from ancient myths. However, I will use examples from more current stories that have been patterned after the monomyth. My copy of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” has a picture of Luke Skywalker on the cover. A movie character that came nearly thirty years after the book was originally published. The most popular literature today that I will use to provide monomyth examples include Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and the Bible. (With annual Bible sales totaling between $425 million and $609 million, I consider that popular literature)

1. The Call to Adventure

Every Hero’s journey begins with a hero or an Everyman character. (While the hero can be male or female, to keep things simple, I will refer to the mythical heroes or Everyman characters using male pronouns.) The monomyth is a circular pattern. It can occur for the same character many time. Doesn’t have to, but it can. The first time through the cycle, the character is an “Everyman” The next time through the cycle, he goes through as a hero.

The Harry Potter series can be used as an example of the cyclical nature of the monomyth. While the seven books and the seven years at Hogwarts the book chronicle could be encompassed with one monomyth, each year or book follows it’s own mini-monomyth. In Year/Book One, the eleven-year old Harry is an “Everyman”. Each of the subsequent years has Harry returning as a hero ready for another turn through the monomyth. Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies could also have had six or three mini-monomyths respectively within their own over-arching hero’s journey.

The actual call to adventure may be provided by a herald. Usually typified as the wise old man. Think of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Merlin, Gandalf, and Hagrid as examples of heralds

2. Refusal of the Call

When presented with the call to adventure, the Hero has one of two choices: accept it, or reject it. From the book, Campbell says the following: “The myths and folk tales of the whole world make clear that the refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest.” (p. 59-60)

Let’s dissect that statement. What is one’s self interest? What ever “it” is, it’s what the hero believes to be the best for him and maybe what is best for those around him. But Campbell was talking about what “one takes” or one believes to be their own interest. This means the hero’s belief in preserving what he believes is best, is wrong. It all boils down to selfishness. By refusing the call to adventure, the hero is placing himself, or his status-quo above the positive results that may come from the adventure. Luke Skywalker did not want to leave Tatooine because all he knew what life with his aunt and uncle. Odysseus pretended to be crazy to get out of his oath to go to war to retrieve Helen of Troy.

For the monomyth to continue, the true hero accepts the call, often putting aside his own objections. That is lucky for us. There would be no story if the hero staid home. How boring would the Iliad be if Odysseus never went to the Trojan war. Never mind that the Oddessy wouldn’t have happened at all.

3. Supernatural Aid

Once on the hero’s journey, the hero will come across some form of supernatural aid.

Campbell stated: “For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to pass.” (p. 69)

There are many examples of the protective figure that helps the hero. While the herald who extended the call to adventure may also provide this role, it is not always the case. In Star Wars, Obi-wan Kenobi calls Luke to the adventure AND provides him his father’s lightsaber. However, in the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf was the herald to the adventure, but it was Bilbo who gave Frodo the chain-mail shirt made of the fictional metal “mithril” and the Elven dagger, named “Sting.”

Other characters that are often found providing this help. Campbell also said:

“In fairy lore it may be some little fellow of the wood, some wizard, hermit, shepherd, or smith, who appears, to supply the amulets and advice that the hero will require. The higher mythologies develop the role in the great figure of the guide, the teacher, the ferryman, the conductor of souls to the afterworld. In classical myth this is Hermes-Mercury; in Egyptian, usually Thoth (the ibis god, the baboon god); the Christian, the Holy Ghost.” (p. 71-73)

4. The Crossing of the First Threshold

During the hero’s journey, he will cross two thresholds. The first threshold is the symbolic (or literal) doorway into the realm where the adventure will take place. The second threshold is the doorway back to the hero’s home.

Crossing the First Threshold is a major step for the hero. This is where he often meets a Threshold Guardian. This guardian (human, beast, or other magical something) will test the hero to see if he is worthy to begin the journey.

A classical example of a Threshold Guardian is the Cerberus. It is the three-headed dog that guards the gates to the Greek underworld. An example from the Lord of the Rings has the Ring-Wraiths as the Threshold Guardians to the Elven city of Rivendale. Frodo has to get past the Wraiths (and survive) to prove that he is worthy to carry the Ring all of the way. An example of a non-living threshold guardian comes from the Harry Potter world. To get onto Platform nine and three-quarters, Harry must run at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. This is a literal barrier that grants passage and transportation to the magical school of Hogwarts.

Some stories from mythology provide examples of characters who do not pass through the first threshold. Usually this involves the death of the character and the hero’s journey becomes a tragedy.

5. The Belly of the Whale

Often the Threshold Guardian from the previous step in the journey is protecting the part of the journey called the Belly of the Whale. Regarding the Belly of the Whale, Campbell said:

“The idea that the passage of the magical threshold is a transit into a sphere of rebirth is symbolized in the worldwide womb image of the belly of the whale. The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, is swallowed into the unknown, and would appear to have died.” (p. 90)

To the world that was left behind when the hero crossed the First Threshold, he is dead. He finds himself in a new world, separated from his old realm by the threshold he has just crossed. Having passed through the threshold and its guardian, this is where the “Everyman” character becomes a hero.

The name of this step in the journey does invoke images of a very small, tight, and slimy gullet of a water-based mammal. For me, the name of this step makes me think of the Old Testament prophet of Jonah. He was literally in the belly of the whale. While he was inside the whale for the three days, Jonah had amply time to think about his life and the choices he had made that lead his to his claustrophobic situation. In the dark and slimy belly, Jonah found enlightenment. Campbell also suggests that this step is similar to a worshiper who goes “into a temple-where he is to be quickened by the recollection of who and what he is, namely dust and ashes unless immortal. The temple interior, the belly of the whale, and the heavenly land beyond, above, and below the confines of the world, are one and the same. This is why the approaches and entrances to temples are flanked and defended by colossal gargoyles; dragons, lions, devil-slayers with drawn sword, resentful dwarfs, winged bulls. These are the threshold guardians to ward away all incapable of encountering the higher silences within.” (p. 91-29)

The belly of the whale or the temple experience is where the hero gains the insight of himself or a glimpse into the eternal worlds. The hero will emerge born-again as if coming from his mother’s womb ready to continue on with the journey.

Other biblical examples of this step of the hero’s journey include: Joseph, the son of Jacob who was thrown into a well or pit by his jealous brothers emerged as a slave that was to become regent of Egypt, Saul of Tarsus was struck blind and entered into the belly of blindness to emerge as Paul the Apostle, Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth was placed in the Garden Tomb for three days to emerge as Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Resurrected Lord of all mankind.

Resources

Resource material for this episode came from:

The book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. Originally written in 1948 with a second edition in 1973.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth – Retrieved October 12, 2006

http://www.monomyth.org/ - Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings references provided by Rich Schwab.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell -

Websites/Podcasts Mentioned
- http://podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=23 (Tee Morris - MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana)
- http://www.escapepod.org/ (Sci-Fi Podcast)
- http://www.pseudopod.org/ (Horror Podcast)
- http://www.andrevanharen.com/ (Listener Website)

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt: http://www.jonschmidt.com/

Next Episode: Monomyth Defined

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode three. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode we’ll discuss Fairy Tales, Fantasy and other story types as a part of the four-episode introduction. This episode may be a little longer than previous shows. I hope you like it.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Topic 1: Fairy Tales

In our last show, I used a definition from Ellen McHale to defined Folklore. She said (quote) “Folklore and folklife [...] are cultural ways in which a group maintains and passes on a shared way of life.” (end quote) (That quote came from the New York Folk Lore web site found at http://www.nyfolklore.org/).

In the same show, I briefly mentioned that tall tales come from a sub-section of folklore where the factual elements have been pushed aside for the excitement of the story. Fairy tales come from a similar but different sub-section of folklore. In my opinion, on of the things that separates tall tales from fairy tales is the degree of believability. Let’s compare these different story types to a football game. A true or non-fiction story is as believable as a Friday-night game at the local high-school. A story from folklore would be as believable as the professional league final championship game where the underdog comes back from behind to win the game. A tall tale would be the same final championship game where the underdog team consisted of just the quarterback who won the game by throwing touchdown passes to himself. While this is unbelievable, and could never actually happen, the emphasis of the story is on the extraordinary accomplishments of the (quote-unquote) “hero” of the tale who used to be an average guy but became so much more.

Now a fairy tale is also the final championship game. Except, one team is made up of talking and clever rabbits, and the opposition team is made up of brutish and dim-witted wolves. The referees for the game are flying around using pixie dust, the football itself is trying to understand the the meaning of its existence and the team owners are royalty from different kingdoms. The game then ends with the quarterback of one team marrying the daughter of the opposing team’s owner. Where the tall tale is simply unbelievable, the fairy tale is completely ridiculous.

Stith Thompson (in his book: The Folktale) says that a fairy tale is (quote) “a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses.” (end quote) (Thompson:

In addition to the believability factor I described using the football game as an example, the quote by Thompson mentions that the location of the fairy tale is an “unreal world without definite locality.” It is literally “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.” The importance of the fairy tale is not because of its cultural setting, but in the message or moral that is being shared. For example, the tale of Beauty and the Beast could have occurred any where and any time. It was Disney that placed the story in late-1700s France. (Now that time period is only a guess because of the use of gunpowder by Gaston, and the concept of Benjamin Franklin-like inventions made by Belle’s father, Maurice.)

Another example can be drawn by comparing Disney’s animated movie, Cinderella with the movie “Ever After: A Cinderella Story” staring Drew Barrymore, Angelica Huston, and Dougray Scott. The Disney “Cinderella” story could have happened anywhere but “Ever After” movie placed the story in Renaissance France. As an aside, I really like this movie. Mostly because it completely removed all “fairy tale” elements out of the traditional story and replaced it with more traditional folklore elements. My favorite character in the movie was Leonardo daVinci who cleverly took the role as the “fairy godmother”. While Disney made a fairy tale, Barrymore made a folktale.

Fairy tales cannot be categorized into groups as easily like mythology (for example: Greek, Norse, or Chinese). One way to categorize fairy tales is to use the Aarne-Thompson system. This system has categorized fairy tales into about 2500 basic plot lines. This means that every fairy tale with the same Aarne-Thompson numbre has the same basic plot.

The Wikipedia article on fairy tales has the following quote about the Aarne-Thompson system.

[T]ales like Cinderella, in which a persecuted heroine, with the help of the fairy godmother or similar magical helper, attends an event (or three) in which she wins the love of a prince and is identified as his true bride, are classified as type 510, the persecuted heroine. Some such tales are The Wonderful Birch, Aschenputtel, Katie Woodencloak, Cap O’ Rushes, Catskin, Fair, Brown and Trembling, Finette Cendron, Allerleirauh, and Tattercoats.

Further analysis of the tales shows that in Cinderella, The Wonderful Birch, and Aschenputtel, the heroine is persecuted by her stepmother and refused permission to go to the ball or other event, and in Fair, Brown and Trembling and Finette Cendron, by her sisters, other female figures, and these are grouped as 510A, while in Cap O’ Rushes, Catskin, and Allerleirauh, the heroine is driven from home by her father’s persecutions, and must take work in a kitchen elsewhere, and these are grouped as 510B.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale

The Wikipedia article does point out that the system does have its flaws as it is often difficult to condense a tale to one simplified category. More complex fairy tales may have plot lines that fit into multiple categories.

Fables and Parables

That’s it for fairy tales, let’s talk about another sub-section of folklore that is closely related to the fairy tale. These are the stories known as fables and parables. First, let’s define a fable.

A fable is a short story with a very definite moral or principle that is being taught. Like fairy tales, extraordinary characters are used in the story. One example is the tortoise who raced the hare. Unlike fairy tales, a fable is told in a very conversational manner where both the story teller and audience knows that the tale is fictitious. The main purpose of the fable is not to entertain but to educate the listener using the fable as an example.

Aesop is believed to be a Greek slave living around 600 B.C. While there is a debate as to whether he was a real person, he is credited as being the father of fables as a story genre. Many of his fables, like the tortoise and the hare are still commonly known and shared today.

The close cousin to the fable is the parable. A parable is also used as a teaching tool for morals and principles. The difference between fables and parables is that a parable does not contain any of the fantastical elements found in the fairy tales or fables. The parable uses very real settings and real people to convey the message.

Probably the best known parables are those that are found in the religious scriptures of the Jewish and Christian faiths. One example is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Even though this story is on a road through ancient Samaria, this parable could easily happen today and in any city in the world.

One of the great blessings in my life is the opportunity to read bedtime stories to my kids most every night. I would say, with few exceptions, that each of these stories fit into the categories of fables, parables, or fairy tales. The line between these are blurry and one story may be able to fit into many categories. I don’t know, where do you place Strawberry Shortcake?

Fairy Stories

While I was researching for this essay, I found a new term I had not read before. The term was “Fairy Story”.

This term was coined by the famous author, J. R. R. Tolkien. He wanted to define a new sub-category of stories for those he and his friend, C. S. Lewis wrote.

The Wikipeida entry of Fairy Stories says the following:

“Tolkien names the genre Fairy Stories, which he is careful to distinguish from actual fairy tales such as that of the Brothers Grimm or H.C. Andersen. This distinction seems to be twofold. First, he defines fairy stories as not stories about fairies or other supernatural beings, but stories about the interaction between humans and those beings. Second, he emphasizes that through the use of fantasy, which he equates with fancy and imagination, the author can bring the reader to experience a world which is consistent and rational, yet utterly strange as well. He calls this “a rare achievement of Art,” and notes that it was important to him as a reader: “It was in fairy-stories that I first divined the potency of the words, and the wonder of things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and grass; house and fire; bread and wine.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Fairy-Stories

There is another item used by Tolkien to distinguish between fairy tales and his fairy stories. That was location. Fairy tales occur on Earth. It may be a kingdom once upon a time and far-far-away but it was still Earth. Fairy stories are found on a different earth or in an entirely different universe. Now for a slight tangent, when I’ve listened to podcasts for fiction and fantasy writing, a common subject discussed is “world building”. For these genres, it isn’t enough to make unique and three-dimensional characters, but you need to define the world in which the character lives. Fairy stories require a lot more world building than earth-bound fairy tales.

Tolkien went on to justify his use of new worlds by using them as a new perspective to view our own world. Let’s take an example from what I believe to be Tolkien’s most known alternate-world. That is Middle Earth as described in the Lord of the Rings. In the first book of the series, a fellowship was formed with representatives of the different races: Men, Elves, Dwarfs, and Hobbits. It seems that the greatest animosity at the beginning was between Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf.

Throughout their adventures the relationship between them grew from tolerance to friendship. We, in our own earth, sure could learn a lesson of friendship between races, ethnicities, or religions as demonstrated by Legolas and Gimli.

Topic 2: Fantasy

We began this podcast discussing fairy tales, fables, and parables. We then transferred into a more modern genre with our discussion of Fairy Stories. Let’s bring this discussion to modern times by discussing speculative fiction. Before a couple of months ago, I couldn’t have told you what speculative fiction meant. The podcasts that were using the term never defined it. I recently found one definitions saying that speculative fiction is any story that could be classified as Science Fiction, Horror, or Fantasy.

During this podcast, I will not discuss stores about science fiction or horror. To hear more some podcasts with these kinds of stories, please visit the EscapePod and PseudoPod podcasts. I enjoy listening to the science fiction in EscapePod but I’m too chicken to listen to the Horror in PseudoPod due to there very explicit warning on the home page. The links to these are http://www.escapepod.org/ and http://pseudopod.org/. and links are in the show notes

So that leaves Fantasy. While this podcast will focus primarily on Mythology, Folklore, and Fairy Tales, I believe that a short discussion on the definition of Fantasy would be appropriate for this introductory series of podcasts.

The line between the genres of speculative fiction (again that’s sci-fi, horror, and fantasy) is very thin and one story could easily contain elements of all of these genres. Fantasy does distinguish itself from the others by using “magic and other supernatural forces as a primary element, theme or setting.”

Wikipedia’s article on Fantasy provides some examples of some early forms a fantasy. These include the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, Beowolf, The Book or One thousand and one nights , and the various Arthurian legends. Each of these stories probably would fit into the categories or mythology or folklore better than fantasy. However, they do contain fantastical adventures and other literary elements that greatly influenced or inspired more modern Fantasy writers.

My top three favorite modern fantasy authors include J. K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien. (Which makes me wonder if I should change my name to G. A. Lemon to have a better shot at being an author. Two additional fantasy authors who I have enjoyed this year includes Diane Duane (author of So you want to be a wizard and its sequels) and Christopher Paolini (author of the Inheritance Trilogy. The first book Eragon is being released as a movie this year)

Resource Materials

I believe that with these examples and recommendations, I’ll wrap up this discussion about Fairy Tales, Fables, Parables, and Fantasy. There are too many references to the resources that went into this podcast, but links will be provided in the show notes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarne-Thompson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Fairy-Stories

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt: http://www.jonschmidt.com/

Next Episode: Fairy Tales Defined

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the MythShow, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is Episode Two. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode I’ll answer the question, “What is and what isn’t folklore?” This is a second in the four-episode introduction to the type of stories that this podcast will cover. During episode one, I defined mythology as it will be used during this podcast. In the episode three, I’ll talk about fairy tales.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Folklore Defined

To answer our question: “What is folklore?” I’ll share a quote from Ellen McHale. I found it on the New York Folklore Society web page.

“Folklore and folklife [...] are cultural ways in which a group maintains and passes on a shared way of life. [(including traditional arts, belief, traditional ways of work and leisure, adornment and celebrations)]

“This ‘group identity’ may be defined by age, gender, ethnicity, avocation, region, occupation, religion, socioeconomic niche, or any other basis of association. As New York folklorist Ben Botkin wrote in 1938,

“’Every group bound together or by common interests and purposes, whether educated or uneducated, rural or urban, possesses a body of traditions which may be called its folklore. Into these traditions enter many elements, individual, popular, and even “literary,” but all are absorbed and assimilated through repetition and variation into a pattern which has value and continuity for the group as a whole.’

(Ellen McHale’s quote continues)

“These traditional forms of knowledge are learned informally within a one-to-one or small group exchange, through performance, or by example. In all cases, folklore and folklife are learned and perpetuated within the context of the “group,” for it is the shared experience which shapes and gives meaning to the exchange.”

(http://www.nyfolklore.org/resource/what.html)

As a disclaimer on the quote, I did reorder the sentences in the first paragraph for clarity. The “including” list was in the middle of the actual definition. As I said last episode, I’m not an English expert but I feel that this made reading the quote easier to understand. I beg a pardon from McHale. Anyway, it is the content of this quote that is most important.

According to McHale, folklore focuses on the culture of a specific group that can be defined in pretty much any manner. For example her quote used “age, gender, ethnicity, avocation, region, occupation, [or] religion”. While religion is one item that can distinguish one culture’s folklore from another, it is not the primary focus of the tale. Folklore is encompassing all aspects of that culture. The best part of the quote for me was how folklore is used to “[pass] on a shared way of life.” That is the one of my main goals for this podcast. Passing stories from one generation to another. However, I believe that there is so much to learn from other cultures, I will not focus on only one.

In the last episode, we talked about how mythology is a collection of myths. Myths can “[pass] on a shared way of life” just like folklore. However, mythology is passed on in a religious context, supported by a specific religion or a sect of that religion.

Similar to myths, folklore can have religious themes. But the characters in the lore is not supported as a deity or associated with religious practices by the local clergy. The line between this type of folklore and mythology can be very thin and may be based on the religious beliefs of the storyteller. Overtime and from generation-to-generation, slight changes can creep into the myth. If these changes build up enough, as to remove the religious significance out of the story, it becomes folklore or even a fairy tale.

Many stories in a culture’s folklore has no sacred or religious context. They may be a narrative with a moral. As stated by McHale earlier, folklore can pass on “traditional ways of work and leisure.” In this context, folklore can be used as a teaching tool for parents to use in the learning process with their children. For example, sharing the story of Pinocchio can teach the importance of honesty. Also, Hansel and Gretel could be a lesson on forest safety.

Wikipedia has a great article on the subject on folklore. (I put the link in the show notes.) The Wikipedia definition of folklore describes it as a “body of expressive culture.” This expressive culture can be expressed through oral history, tales, proverbs, and customs. Wikipedia goes beyond McHale to include music, dance, legends, jokes, and popular beliefs. Modern folklore is found in the urban legends. This show will focus on the more traditional McHale definition. I will limit the show scope to folklore that can be shared through story telling. I will leave folk dance and music to dancers and musicians.

Folklore Origins

The origins of folklore are more diverse than the origins of myths. As previously discussed, the origins of myths come from a religious belief system. It’s true that some folklore does come from religious origins. I believe that the tale of St. George and the Dragon could be an example of this.

However, many tales from folklore developed in 1800s and came about as a part of nationalism for the country of origin. These heroes have become larger than life. American Folklore usually focuses around real people and their probably not-so-real adventures. Characters from early American History include Washington and his cherry tree, Franklin and his inventions, Lincoln and his debates, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, Davy Crockett at the Alamo, and Daniel Boone and his coonskin cap. Notice that these characters come from the late 1700s and 1800s during times of great American nationalism. The more extreme folktales have become tall tales. These are stories where the factual elements have been pushed aside for the excitement of the story. Examples from American tall tales include Paul Bunyon, Pecos Bill, Jonny Appleseed and the Headless Horseman from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Modern Folklore

It does not seem that modern folklore is as prevalent as the examples that I talked about earlier. It could be that the craft of story telling around the hearth of a cabin, or campfire in the mountains has been replaced by TV, DVDs, and other electronic entertainment. Some believe that the urban legend is the folklore that is being written today.

Honestly, I don’t know where to draw the line between fiction and folklore. Who’s to say that the tales from a culture in a galaxy far, far away isn’t a real folklore because it takes it form in the Star Wars franchise? The fantastical adventures of Tolken’s Lord of the Rings, Rowling’s Harry Potter, and Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia each fit McHale’s definition of tales that pass on a culture’s shared way of life. Does it matter that the culture is created in a modern author’s mind before being written? Even Homer, the great storyteller of the Iliad and the Odyssey, had to have a contemporary audience to hear his tales. For me, I’m not going to wait thousands of years to enjoy, and share, the awesome stories that are out there by modern “Homers.” And please erase the image of Homer Simpson that is currently in your brain.

Folklore Resources

Thanks for listening to the show. Resource material for this episode came from many different web resources. The excellent definitions that were the focus of the show came from the New York Folklore Society (found at http://www.nyfolklore.org/) and Wikipedia’s folklore article found by searching for the term “folklore” as one word at http://wikipedia.org. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_lore) The exact link is in the show notes.

Future folklore based discussions will use information from Author S.E. Schlosser web site http://www.americanfolklore.net/ This web site contains lesson plans for parents and teachers. I really appreciate the humor of the web site that states “This site is best viewed while eating marshmallows around a campfire under a starry sky.”

Main Topic: Mythology Defined
- The Encyclopedia Mythica Pronunciation Guide (http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/pronunciations.html)
- “Mythography” (http://www.loggia.com/myth/)
- “Encyclopedia Mythica” (http://www.pantheon.org/)

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt (http://www.jonschmidt.com/)

Next Episode: Folklore Defined

EDIT: I forgot one MAJOR reference: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology)

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode one. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

To kick-off this new podcast, I will provide a series of discussions that will lay a foundation of understanding that future episodes will build upon. During this episode I’ll answer the question of “What is and what isn’t mythology?” Episode two will have a similar discussion defining folklore. Episode three will talk about fairy tales and similar types of stories that do not fit in any of the previous shows. Episode four will talk about the concept of the monomyth as discussed in Joseph Campbell’s book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

Episode five will be the first of our “regular” shows where I’ll talk about a story, a character, or aspect of a story. In the second portion of each of these shows, I’ll share a way for you to suggest topics to be covered. And I’ll also share with you the listener feedback I’ve received from previous episodes.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: Mythology Defined

Stories are all around us. Some are factual, some are fictional, and some are fantastical. Some are long as novels and some are short as retelling something that happened during the day. Wherever we go, we are surrounded by stories. Most of the ways that we entertain ourselves have a story associated with it. Think of television, radio, movies, games and of course, Podcasts. All share stories in one form or another. The stories that we share with each other are so different, they have to be classified so that that similar stories are grouped together because of similar themes or origins. This episode of the MythShow will discuss what makes a story a myth. It’s hard to be exact in a definition because the definition can change depending on who is telling the story.

Let’s start by talking about myths and mythology. The English word “myth” comes from Greek and it means a story passed orally from generation to generation, specifically those tied to a religious belief system. Now, mythology can refer to the study of myths or a collection of myths from a specific group or culture.

Now that is something important, myths are tied to a specific culture. For example, Greek mythology includes stories about Zeus and Hercules. Norse mythology talks about Odin and Thor. Chinese mythology tells tales about the Jade Emperor and Chung Kwei. Now each of these are examples of a god and the strong-man hero found in many of the stories.

Now for a small side note, an apology regarding pronunciation. Not all of my resources provide how to pronounce the names I’ll be talking about. I want to show respect for all of the cultures and topics we’ll be covering. So, please forgive me the occasional mispronunciation. (OK, many mispronunciations). The Encyclopedia Mythica has an on-line pronunciation guide. A link will be in the show notes: (http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/pronunciations.html)

Now back to the mythology.

The thing that separates myths from most other stories is their tie to religion. What I mean is that the people in the culture believe their myths (and their super-natural events) that they are true. Often, myths are supported and spread by religious leaders, and form the reason for and the focus of their worship.

My first experiences with mythology came in the elementary school library when I was about 8 or 9 or something near there. After hearing some of these stories from Greek Mythology, I wanted to read more about them but I couldn’t find them anywhere on the shelves. Finally the librarian took me to the religion section of the shelves. Maybe I was too eager to get the book to realize the significance of where the book was found. But now, many years later, I understand.

So to state it again, when I refer to a myth, I am referring to a story, often ancient, that was once a part of a person’s religious beliefs and that once supported by the culture’s religious leaders. Today, the common use of the word myth refers simply to a story that isn’t true. When I was talking about this show with others at the Podcast Expo, many thought that I would be debunking common myths like the MythBusters on Discovery Chanel. Their definition of myth are more closely resembling urban legend. But we’ll talk more about that in a future episode when we talk about folklore and urban legends.

Even within myths, there are different kinds. For example: A ritual myth describes the culture’s religious practices.

An origin myth talks about the Creation of Earth, or Custom, or even a significant object.

A cult myth describes festivals and their origins. Modern use of the word cult has a negative connotation. That is not the meaning that is implied here or will be used in this show.

A prestige myth focuses on the event or a hero, a city, or a people. For example, Hercules or Odysseus. These are examples of the heroes described in prestige myths.

An eschatological (es-”ka-t&-’lä-ji-k&l) myth focuses on the End of Times or end of the world.

And finally, social myths focus of the social values or non-religious customs in a culture.

Even though we talked about these different types of myths, one myth can be classified into more than one of these groups. Taken all together, the adventures of Odysseus described in Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey would fit in many of the categories we talked about earlier.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Great, I know what a myth is, but is there anything more recent?” That’s a good question. And good questions rarely have good answers. In the reading I have done, there are debates whether this is technically possible to have modern mythology. Not that people haven’t tried. Remember, myths are tied to religion. There are web sites out there dedicated to have people fill in the word “Jedi” as their religion on census forms. So technically, one could say that the characters and stories from Star Wars, is mythology.

However, other popular stories today are not myths. For example, Tolken’s Lord of the Rings, Rowling’s Harry Potter, and Roddenberry’s Star Trek are complex and detailed world, but they are not mythology. While I enjoy Star Trek, this show will not be discussing Star Trek. But I will be talking about Tolken’s and Rowling’s work in future episodes and how they use elements of mythology and folklore tied within their stories.

Thanks for listening to the show. Resource material for this episode came from Wikipedia’s article on “Mythology” and the Encyclopedia Mythica. Other great resouces that I found and will be used in future shows will be the “Mythography” website found at http://www.loggia.com/myth/ and the “Encyclopedia Mythica” at http://www.pantheon.org. A special thanks goes to Micha Lindemans from the Encyclopedia Mythica for adding the MythShow to his page of links.

Each of these great resources will be used in future episodes and links can be found in the show notes on the web site. Please enjoy a short musical break and then I’ll be back to talk more about how you can contribute to the show by providing topic suggestions and feedback. I’ll also talk about the great feed back on Episode double-zero.

Show Announcements /Acknowledgments:

Thanks for listening to the show and thanks for sticking around.

First, an introduction of who I am. I make make a living as Web Developer/Business Systems Analyst in Orange County, CA, USA. (I say USA because I’m getting RSS requests from Denmark and Thailand. That is so cool!). While I make a living typing on a computer, I make a life sharing stories with those around me.

And for a disclaimer, I am not a English Professor. In fact my worst grade in High School was in my sophomore English class. (And the teacher’s name will be withheld) Regardless, I love stories. Telling stories around the campfire as a youth and teen are some of my favorite memories. Sharing bed-time stories with my three kids is a great way to end a long day and gets me ready to work on the show. I want to keep the stories alive and help others pass them on.

As far as listener feedback goes, it was awesome! I really appreciate everyone who shared their time and comments with me. I have many things I hope to incorporate. I have made updates to the website including a flash player on the web site and cleaning up the RSS feed. I also secured a telephone number with a voice mail that will record your comments or questions for future episodes.

As I described at the start of the show, the next shows will define folklore, fairy tales, and the monomyth and how I will use these terms in future episodes. If you have any comments or questions about these topic, please email, post in the forums, or call the voice mail. Suggestions on topics for episode five and beyond will be great. And the suggestion can be from any culture. The faster I receive comments and suggestions, the more likely they will be incorporated into the upcoming shows.

I would really like the feedback from teachers and other educators. I envision this podcast to become a resource to bring stories and literature into the lives of children. Especially in world that seems to forget the importance of art, culture, and literature in favor of standardized tests. (but I’m not biased…really).

* Show Description and Goals

* Podcast and Portable Media Expo

* Tee Morris’s Flickr photo of us together http://www.flickr.com/photos/teemorris/260862544/

Links to Podcasts mentioned during the show:

* John Schmidt: Music http://www.jonschmidt.com
* Tim and Emile Bourquin http://www.portablemediaexpo.com
* Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast http://www.podfeet.com
* Leo Laporte http://www.twit.tv
* Orange County Podcasters http://www.ocpodcasters.com
* History Podcast http://www.historyonair.com
* Baseball History Podcast http://bhp.libsyn.com
* Dennis Gray http://101usesforbabywipes.com
* Ringmaster Greg http://dancingwithelephants.com
* James at “Navelcast” and “Face the Music” http://jamesb.com
* Tee Morris http://teemorris.com
* PotterCast http://pottercast.com
* MuggleCasthttp://mugglecast.com
* Gigavox Gigavox.com

EDIT: Removed from Feeds (6/17/2007)