Tag Archives: origin myth

Ungnyeo

Text:

A long time ago, a bear and a tiger wished to become human. They prayed fervently, and the god Hwanung decided to fulfill their wish. He gave them each many cloves of garlic and mugwort, and told them to eat these everyday while staying out of the sun for 100 days, then they will turn human. At first, the tiger and bear obediently ate the garlic and mugwort daily, and stayed in a dark cave, but soon the tiger became frustrated and gave up, leaving the cave. However, the bear persisted, and after a 100 days, she turned into a woman named Ungnyeo. She then prayed to Hwanung to become a mother, and her wish was granted–she gave birth to a son named Tangun, who became the first king of the first Korean kingdom, Gojoseon.

Context:

The informant heard this story from their parents, but because it is a creation myth and widely known, they’ve heard it multiple times from multiple people over the years.

Analysis:

This creation story follows the trend among many cultures of giving their rulers a sense of divinity, whether they’re a descendant of the gods, or chosen by. one, or actually a deity. This myth highlights key Confucian and cultural virtues such as patience, endurance, humility, and devotion. The bear’s perseverance is celebrated, positioning these qualities as foundational to Korean identity and societal ideals. There is a huge spiritual meaning behind this myth: the divine connection between the heavens(the god) and the earth(the bear) results in a ruler that symbolizes harmony and is the literal union of the divine and the earthly. It also subtly elevates maternal strength and the feminine role in nation-building, as the bear-woman becomes the literal mother of the Korean people.

Dangun Myth

AGE: 45

Date of performance: 04/01/2025

Language: English

Nationality: South Korean 

Occupation: Teacher 

Primary Language: Korean/English 

Title- Dangun Myth 

Context- J shares with me the “Dangun Myth”, a Korean myth that explains the origin of the founder of the first Korean kingdom, Dangun. J says that it is believed Dangun’s father descended from heaven while his mother was a bear that succeeded in a challenge to stay in a cave for 100 days to become human. 

Analysis- Within folklore, there are 3 narrative genres that share similar characteristics with one another. One of which are myths—sacred truths that are miracles if they touch reality. Myths typically describe life before or after the real world, just as the Dangun Myth does. The Dangun Myth describes the origin of Korea’s ‘official’ leader while having fantastical elements such as a bear-woman and god of heaven. The Dangun Myth exhibits characteristics of a typical folk myth.

The Myth of Turtle Island

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 03/31/2024

Text:

“Long ago, like before the continents looked like they do now, the old world began to flood. A bunch of animals, including a muskrat, turtle, and a man named Nanapush all ended up on a raft together. Nanapush tried to get them to swim under water to get soil so they could build a new world, but no one could reach the bottom until the muskrat did. Nanapush took the soil from the muskrat’s paws, and placed it on the back of the turtle. The soil grew wider and wider, and the animals from the raft brought plants and things to Nanapush. He would breathe life into them, and the soil on the back of the turtle eventually grew into Turtle Island, or what we know as North America today. Everything is connected and living, like the land and all animals and humans.”

Context:

The informant heard an Indigenous origin story from the Lenape tripe from her family friends when she was in her early teens. The story of Turtle Island is one that is shared by numerous Indigenous groups, however has distinct features dependent on the tribe. In addition to explaining the existence of the land we live on, the story is also retold as a way to remind people of the interconnectedness of people, and the duty people hold to the land and environment. While the Informant does not necessarily believe in the story as it conflicts with her religion, she thinks that it holds truth as it pertains to the responsibility humans hold to the environment, especially as it comes to environmental degradation.

Analysis:

I always think Indigenous stories about the world are interesting, because I think they are often so different from the stories told within Abrahemic religions that are more widely circulated. Ultimately, duty to the land and an understanding of relationally is common within Indigenous cultures, and given that it is an origin story, I don’t think it can be proven true or false, it simply is. As a creation story woven into the belief systems of certain Indigenous tribes, it is clear that it would heavily circulate as a core part of Indigenous beliefs. Not only would Turtle Island inform other Indigenous beliefs and traditions, but it serves to explain how this world came to be. It is also interesting as it holds similarities to the Christian/Jewish/Muslim story of Noah’s Ark and the idea of a “holy flood.” It is hard to say whether or not one story informed the other, but I think that the idea of Turtle Island ought to be a powerful reminder of the sanctity of land.

The Oxen and The Tiger

Context: J is a 21 year old Filipino American college student who grew up in California, who was regularly visited by her Grandparents who shared stories from their childhood. The piece was collected during a discord audio call. 

Intv: “Hey! I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind telling me the story that your grandmother told you about.”

J: “ Yeah sure! So There’s a story my grandma used to tell, she heard while growing up in cambodia! Just a little outside of the capital of Phnom penh. It’s about the origin of tiger stripes and why ox have no upper front teeth.”

Intv: “Okay sounds great! I’d love to hear it!”

J: “So basically this tiger was stalking these oxen getting beaten around by a man while working the farm fields, full of curiosity, the tiger approached the oxen after the man walks away and asks “my ox brethren, why do you let the weak man beat away at you and make you work for him when you could easily kick him down and be free like me?” and the ox replies “it’s because the man has intelligence that makes us listen to him” the tiger then asks, “what is intelligence?” and the ox replies ‘go ask him yourself’ which the tiger does but approaches the human arrogantly because the tiger thinks he is the most powerful being in the world and demands that the human man show the tiger what intelligence was or the tiger would maul the human. the human responds ‘ah, i left my intelligence at home so i would have to go retrieve it but i don’t trust you around my livestock’ and while the tiger insisted that he’d wait for the man, they came to an agreement where the man would tie up the tiger to prevent him from potentially attacking his oxen. However, after tying the tiger very tightly to a tree the human placed a bunch of leaves and branches on the tiger and lit him on fire. The oxen began to laugh at the tiger while pointing at him with their front legs and they laughed so hard that they fell on their front two teeth and broke them and they never grew back. while the tiger screamed in agony until the rope tying him to the tree burned away and he fled back into the forest, with the black stripes being his burned flesh for forever”

Analysis: As a first time listener to this story the main thing that stands out to me is the human animal relations. Humans are depicted at the top of the food chain, not because of power but because of our wit. The unnamed human in this story even acts like a common trickster character, by pretending intelligence is a physical object. Also through the oxen we see another aspect of human capability and intelligence, through just how the oxen says “intelligence makes us listen to him.”

The Origin of the Echo

Context: S is a Peruvian man in his early 60s. S spent around the first 13 years living inside of Peru before moving to Germany where he lived until his late 20s when he moved to California. Although having lived in California for most of his life now, he still has a close connection to Peru and Germany through his family. 

S: “While I can’t think of much Peruvian folklore, there is one story that comes to mind about the story of the echo.” 

Intv: “Okay, I don’t think I know this story.” 

S: “Okay, well it goes something like this, There was this Prince, who was always lying. He was always getting in trouble, and lying to everyone until one day the King died. So this Prince becomes the new King. As he became King his behavior just got worse, he would send people away on jobs and when they would come back he would act confused and say he never sent them to do such a thing. But what could the people do? He was the King. Until one day, the King calls upon the high priest. This high priest knew he was going to be set up by the King, so before speaking with him, the priest went to pray to the gods, and the god of the jungle came and asked him about his problem. The jungle god then directs the high priest to a very specific tree deep in the heart of the jungle, and the high priest will cut the tree down and use the wood to make a very special box. After the priest made the box the jungle god told him ‘when you speak to the King, make sure you hold the box open the whole time. And make sure when the order is given to you and when you return it is a huge event in which everyone will be there. So the priest goes to the King, and holds open the box while he receives his mission. Then he was off. When he returned, the high priest gathered the whole town before alerting the King of his return. When the King came to see the commotion he asked ‘what’s going on?’ The high priest responded by telling him about the job that the King sent him on. The King replied saying ‘I never said any such thing, I never told you to go and do such a thing.’ Then the high priest opens the box and the King’s order comes back in the exact same words and in his exact voice. In a fit of rage the King grabbed the box and ran out to the mountains where he threw the box out. When the box landed it splintered in hundreds of directions all across the world and wherever you hear an echo, supposedly that’s where a piece of the box resides.”

Intv: “Oh wow! That’s a great story! Was this told somewhere specifically? Or all across Peru?”

S: “This is a tale from the Amazonians, so it’s probably from Colombia.”

Analysis: A wonderful legend that perhaps originated as an explanation for something that at the time we couldn’t originally understand or fathom. In these moments it’s fascinating to see how for hundreds potentially thousands of years people used folklore as a pseudoscience of sorts. Legends being used to explain earthly phenomena can be seen across different cultures around the world. Another example of one of these that I particularly enjoy is the Origin of the Earthquake from Norse mythology. See All the Mountains Shake: Seismic and Volcanic Imagery in the Old Norse Literature of Þórr. Scripta Islandica, Pg 102-110. For more information on the origin of the earthquake in Norse mythology. Taggart, Declan. “All the mountains shake: Seismic and volcanic imagery in the Old Norse literature of Þórr.” Scripta Islandica: Isländska Sällskapets Årsbok 68 (2017): 102-110.