Love Myths
Words by Holly Westwood
No force can equal the power of love. Love draws us together, rips us apart, shapes our lives, shatters them and has the strength to rebuild them, and yet through all of this it is a feeling many of us crave to experience above all others. But love shape shifts and does not limited itself to our simple human lives; it changes the histories of nations and ultimately our world. In a world of different languages, cultures, identities, reasons for being alive, love connects us to one an other in a way unmanaged by anything else.
Though this may be the month of valentine’s, romantic love is just one form this powerful emotion can take. Across countries and cultures, different places have their own legends and stories of the ways in which love has shaped the paths we all take.
This month, we thought we would look around the world to see how the ancients mythologised love. Here are stories from three very different cultures.
The anti- damsel in distress love story…
Sometimes it is the woman who needs to rescue her man. Norse Mythology is full of stories of warrior women and powerful goddesses. The story of Ottar and the goddess of war, Freya, is one such tale.
In a time long forgotten, there once was young man named Ottar who lived in Midgard, the realm of the humans. Ottar was an orphan and had no idea of his heritage. He worked hard and through talent alone was able to own lands. One day, this was threatened when a stranger made claims to Ottar’s properties and wanted them for himself. Now Ottar wasn’t always the most religious man, but he did worship, Freya the goddess of war, above all others. Freya had noticed Ottar and was very pleased with his stone altar and offerings to her. She was proud of his bravery and generosity, feeling he was a man worthy of her attention. Ottar was distraught about the prospect of his lands being taken from him but knew he couldn’t prove his lineage in order to keep them. Freya took notice of Ottar’s plight, she felt a connection to him and decided she would step in. She appeared to him at home one afternoon and suggested that he join her on a journey to Asgard to meet with other gods and goddesses.
On the path to Asgard, they happened upon a völva, or sorceress. Freya saw this for the rare opportunity it was and demanded that the sorceress recite Ottar’s lineage for him. Freya was a goddess with unparalleled powers and the sorceress dared not refuse her request. The völva recited the riches and noblest tribe of queens, kings and gods as Ottar’s forebears. Freya asked the sorceress to produce memory beet for Ottar so that he might remember his origins. The völva did as requested, but warned Ottar that an evil fate might befall him if he drank the beer. Freya laughed at this and promised to protect Ottar until the day he died. Ottar left Asgard safe with the knowledge that no one could take his lands from him and for the first time, he was no longer an orphan; Ottar finally knew who he was. He lived a long and happy life, ending his days in the magnificent halls of Asgard at Freya’s side, just as she had promised.
A myth for those who may wish to remain single…
Romantic love is a tricky beast. Although often glamourised as the most desired type of love, stories of the star crossed lovers are regularly fraught with tragedy. Showing that love and pain travel together, the story of Hero and Leander was described by Stephen Fry as the ‘ultimate summer fling gone wrong’.
Hero was a priestess in the cult of Aphrodite and lived in a great tower overlooking the city of Sestos in Thrace. She often looked out from her height across the Hellespont, across the water to Abydos, Mysia where the handsome Leander lived. During the yearly festival to Adonis, in Sestos, Leander made the journey across the strait and it is here that the two first meet. Leander was immediately smitten and fell instantly in love with Hero. Hero however, took a little more convincing and only after receiving an arrow from Cupid did she too fall under loves spell. Leander used all his charm, wit, and looks to try and convince Hero to abandon the Cult of Aphrodite and return to Abydos with him, even going so far as to say that her vow of virginity did not serve Aphrodite or herself! Hero rejected his advances and returned to her tower. She did not reject him entirely though and the love affair continued in secret. Every night, Hero lit a lamp in her tower to act as a beacon in the dark. Leander would see the lamp lit and take it as his sign to swim across the Hellespont and spend the evening with Hero before swimming back before sunrise. For one steamy summer they kept their love affair alive with Leander visiting Hero every night. One night, on his swim across, a wicked storm erupted in the sky above, the winds howled and Hero’s lamp went out. Leander was determined to see Hero regardless and dived into the water. But the water was wild and the waves were ferocious. They pushed him further and further away from Hero’s tower and eventually without the light to guide him, Leander was lost to the sea. Upon running down to the shore to greet her love as always, Hero was not greeted by Leander running to her with open arms, instead his lifeless body washed up on the shore; Hero was destroyed. Heartbroken, she threw herself from her tower to join him in the afterlife so that they could be together forever more.
A traditional story to end on…
The Legend of Meng Jiangnu may not be well known to Western readers, but is one of the four great folktales of China. As is tradition in many love myths, it is the tragic tale of two great lovers, but it also speaks to the power love has to impact our physical worlds, not just our mental ones. There are a few different versions of this legend, but the most widely agreed upon version goes a little something like this.
There were once two older, childless couples who lived next door to one another: the Mengs and the Jiangs. One day, old man Meng planted a gourd vine. The vine grew and snaked its way over the fence into the garden of his neighbour, the Jiangs and bore fruit there. The two families decided they would split the fruit between them but to their shock upon cutting it open, discovered that a baby girl had grown inside. Being both childless, the two families decided to raise the girl together and named her a combination of their names. Meng Jiang Nu as she was known (nu meaning woman), was in her garden one day when she heard rustling in the bushes and found a young man hiding. Fan Xiliang said he was hiding from soldiers who wanted to take him far away to help build the great wall. Meng Jiang Nu fell in love with Xiliang, but horror stuck on heir wedding day when Xiliang was captured by the soldiers and taken away just after they were married. The great wall was a long way from where Meng Jiang lived and she feared for Xiliang’s safety. After a year had gone by with no word from him, she decided to find him herself. It was a long and arduous journey, but she so loved her husband she couldn’t wait any longer. Upon reaching the great wall she was told that Xiliang had been worked to death and was buried under the wall. Meng Jiang was crushed by the news and collapsed where she stood. She began crying uncontrollably and wailed on the wall banging her fists against it in despair. As she did, a large chunk of stone fell and revealed mounds of human bones. Meng Jiang needed to know which skeleton was really her husband, so she pricked her finger and tested each bone with her own blood, praying to the gods to send her a sign. When she finally found Xiliang, she clung to him and would not let him go.
Upon hearing of the wailing girl at the wall, the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty came out to see what was happening. She was angered by the damage that had been done to his great building project. However, when he saw Meng Jiang he was stopped in his tracks by her beauty and asked for her hand in marriage. Meng Jiang said she would accept on three conditions. One, Xiliang needed to be given a grand burial; two, the country must go into an official state of mourning for him; three, she wanted to go to the sea before the wedding. Reluctantly the emperor agreed and her conditions were met. Upon the final condition, when visiting the sea, Meng Jiang turned to the emperor and told him what she really thought of him; how bitterly she hated him for the death of her beloved and that it was his fault she was heart broken. She cast herself into the sea in hopes of being with her true love again. The emperor tried to have the sea drained to find her, but the Dragon King and Dragon Princess of the sea protected Meng Jiang and spirited her away to the Dragon Palace so she could be reunited with Xiliang. The Temple of the Lady Meng Jiang has stood in that spot and been worshipped in ever since.