 Fantasy: May 23, 2007 Issue [#1723] |
  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: zwisis
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They have also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there (according to the accounts of the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when the old phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follow:- The plumage is partly red, partly golden while the general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle. They tell a story of what this bird does: he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the temple of the Sun, and there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he hollows out the ball, and puts his parent inside, after which he covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird.
- Herodotus, History of Herodotus
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Probably the most famous of all fantasy birds, the Phoenix is a mythical sacred Firebird with a rich plumage of vibrant gold and red feathers. Author Pliny described in detail its purple body and sweeping azure tail. Commonly believed to be the size of an eagle, the Phoenix has a beautiful crest around its throat and a tuft of feathers on its head. Its precise longevity is unknown: some stories claim its lifespan is 500 years, while others offer estimates of 540, 1000, 1460, 1461 and 12,994 years.
As the Phoenix nears the end of its life it builds a nest of aromatic branches and spices – cinnamon twigs and myrrh were the most popular materials. It then ignites the nest and is consumed in the flames. Some Arabic legends claim the Phoenix rose from the ashes three days later, while others state the Phoenix was reborn and emerged from the still burning flames. The Phoenix features in mythology from several middle eastern countries.
The traditional Phoenix lived near a cool well, and every morning would appear to sing a song to greet the new day. So enchanting was the song the Greek sun god Apollo would stop to listen. It was thought only one Phoenix existed at any one time. The young Phoenix would gather the ashes of its predecessor into an egg made from myrrh and deposit them upon the sun god’s altar at Heliopolis, the city of the sun. The Phoenix lives on the morning dew, and nobody has ever seen one eat. It kills nothing and crushes nothing it touches. When injured the Phoenix can regenerate itself, so it is immortal and invincible and a mystical symbol of divinity. A Phoenix is also a healer, because its tears can heal wounds. Jewish folklore claims the Phoenix was the only animal not banished from the Garden of Eden with Adam.
The Ancient Egyptians’ fascination with the Phoenix arose from their own yearning for immortality and eternal life. They named the bird Benu (or Bennu), and it was depicted in the shape of a heron, with long legs and two long white feathers on either side of its head. The Benu wears either the god Osiris’ crown of Atef (white with ostrich feathers rising up from the sides) or the disc of the sun god Ra. The sacred bird of Heliopolis, the Benu is associated with the sun, and its image has came to represent Ra. The Egyptian Phoenix is credited with the creation of the Nile river, and was the first life form that appeared on the isolated rocks and islands after the floods that gave birth to the river. Its call is the cry that marked the beginning of time, and it is the god of time – and thus of the hours, days, nights, weeks months and years.
In Chinese Mythology the Phoenix is known as Feng Huang (or Fung), and is the second most respected creature after the dragon. It is a symbol of high virtue and grace, of power and prosperity, representing the union of ying and yang. It is described as having the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish – surely an unusual looking bird! The Feng Huang’s feathers are coloured in the five fundamental colours: black, white, red, green and yellow, representing the Confucian virtues of loyalty, honesty, decorum and justice.
The Japanese Phoenix is named according to gender: Hou-Ou or Hoo-Oo – Hou is male and Ou is female. It resembles its Chinese counterpart in looks, and is ofen depicted nesting in the paulownia tree. It only appears at the birth of a virtuous ruler, and marks the new era by flying down from the heavens to perform good deeds for people before returning home to await the birth of a new era. Some traditions claim the Hou-Ou only appears during times of peace and prosperity – in other words very rarely!
Persian mythology tells of the Huma, also known as the “Bird of Paradise”. “Huma” is Persian for “fabulous bird”. Considered an extremely compassionate bird, the Huma’s shadow brings great fortune to anyone it touches. And if it alights upon an individual’s head, even for just a moment, that person will become king. The Huma has the power to free the mind, breaking all limitations so the person will be a wise and considerate king. It does not kill for food, choosing instead to feed upon carrion. Both genders are contained in the Huma’s body, with each sharing a wing and a leg.
Another Arabian mythological bird is the Cinomolgus or “cinnamon bird”, which builds its cinnamon nest at the top of the cinnamon tree. Aeons ago cinnamon was a very rare spice, and much sought after. People would throw rocks or shoot arrows at the Cinomolgus’ nest in an effort to disloged the cinnamon sticks when the poor bird took flight. Another tale claims the Arabians would scatter pieces of oxen or other beasts of burdan at the bottom of the nest. The Cinomolgus, unable to resist such a tasty treat, would swoop down and carry the meat back to the nest. The weight of the meat would break the nest, leaving the joyful Arabians to gather the cinnamon sticks from the ground. This is why the Cinomolgus began to nest in cinnamon trees far from human settlements, and sightings became extremely rare.
The Avalerion is an extremely rare bird from Indian mythology – there is only ever one pair of these birds. Every sixty years they produce two eggs. When the eggs hatch the parent birds drown themselves. An interest myth… unfortunately I’ve not been able to find much more information on these birds.
Russian folklore’s Zhar-Ptitsa is a magical, glowing bird from a faraway kingdom. Better known as the Firebird, its name means “heat bird”, and it is both a blessing and a curse to any captor. A large bird with a fiery crest and glowing eyes, the Firebird’s plumage glows red, orange and yellow plumage, giving the illusion of firelight. When removed the feathers continue to glow, and one feather has the power to illuminate a large room. The Firebird has been a staple of many fairy tales, usually centering upon a quest to find the bird or one of its tail feathers. The hero finds the feather, and sets out to capture the bird – usually after a request from a parent or his king. The hero begins his quest with noble thoughts about the Firebird, but as his search becomes more difficult he begins to blame the bird for his problems. Many fairy tales use this quest to introduce a myriad of fantasy characters, many of whom are willing to help the hero capture the bird and return with him to his home.
There are other stories about the Firebird. One of the most popular beliefs is that the Firebird flies around giving hope to the hopeless. Legends say during flight the Firebird’s eyes sparkle and he drops pearls fall from his beak. Peasants gather the pearls which are traded. Some claim the mystical Firebird spends its days flying around the king’s castle, swooping down at night to eat the king’s golden apples. The most popular legend tell of a tsar who, fed up with the Firebird stealing his golden apples, tasks his three sons with capturing the bird. The tsar’s apples were very special, empoweriing all those eating them with youth and strength. The sons tried really hard, but were unable to capture the elusive Firebird. However, they did come close, and seized a few tail feathers. Sadly they brought the feather back to their father, whose disappointment turned to joy when he saw how the feathers lit up the palace rooms.
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If there are any mythical or fantasy creatures you’d like to see in this newsletter please send me an email to my WdC address – click on the envelope zwisis.
Next month’s newsletter will feature Chimera, and associated beings.
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There has been some fantastic feedback from the last newsletter, which featured The Genie. Thank you all so much for your comments, and for the references to further reading and the additional information on Djinn. I have a feeling another newsletter about these interesting creatures may become necessary!
IdaLin 
I loved your newsletter! It illustrates well the differing nature of Djinn. I have also read there are 2 tribes, Jinn and Jann, that are supposed to have accepted Islam and follow Allah. Thank you for highlighting my story!  Two websites I found useful when researching to write "Djinn in the Box" are:
http://www.ii.uib.no/~georg/alt/rpg/ars/rules/ArsArabica/node177.html
http://www.thejinn.net/
Thank you for the link, IdaLin – I’ve had a peek at them both and they’re full of useful information. I had heard about the two tribes, but went with the more common references to four tribes.
likenion
This was a very interesting and informative newsletter! I found genies to be wonderous creatures and I love mythology, so I was very happy to read such an exciting newletter with so many detailed descriptions! I was wondering, what exactly are the powers of the Ifrit and what is the range of power to grant wishes of the Marid?
Other than that I thank you again and hope to keep up the info flow on mythological creatures and their nature.
I’m intending to research more mythological creatures, likenion. There’s so much we don’t know about most of them, and as writers I believe the more we know about specific characters, the more situations we can apply them to within a story. The additional knowledge also helps make the characters more complete.
The Ifrit embody fire, and they are very violent towards humans – only a very experienced mortal can survive an encounter with Ifrit. They make their homes in abandoned/desolate places and will to hesitate to attack anyone who ventures there. They can appear as a camel made of sand, a dog, a dust tornado, a giant scorpion of a fire spitting snake.
The Marid (they embody water) are the oldest and smallest Djinn tribe; usually living near the coast and controlling weather. Some Marid are friendly to humans, but they are on bad terms with the Ifrit, because many years ago they saved the Djinn from being destroyed by the Ifrit. They can grant wishes to mortals, and will usually comply after some kind of battle or ritual or a great deal of flattery.
SilverGryphon
One major recent series that is brilliantly written and rotates around djinn is "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" by Jonathan Stroud. Absolutely shrewd, witty and compeletly original, they made me laugh, cry and fall out of my seat at one point. I laughed mostly, and if I wasn't laughing, I was on the edge of my seat with suspense. Gotta love a knife-tongued, shapeshifting djinn who always manages to throw the punchline. Really, really brilliant.
Sounds like a great reference, SilverGryphon . It’s on my list of books to buy and read. It would appear that Mr Stroud has used a novel approach for his genie character.
Jay is studying
Great newsletter. My son has read all three Children of the Lamp books, and as he was reading this newsletter, he was commenting excitedly about your descriptions of all four types of Djinn. Of course, he pointed out that in the Kerr books, there are two more!
Indeed there are six Djinn tribes, Jay is studying , according to some of the research I did! I decided to cover the four main tribes in the newsletter, because the majority of references named four tribes. The Jinn and Jann are Djinn tribes that seem to have accepted Islam, and appear to be far more respectful towards Allah and tolerant of man than the other tribes. Your son is very observant!
dizzyduck
VERY interesting newsletter, this one. Great work! 
Funny thing, though - I thought djinn was the plural of djinni, which is, of course, where we get "genie" from.   Just what I thought, though.
BTW, if anyone's looking for good fantasy books where a djinni is a main character, I recommend the Bartimaeus trilogy by British author Jonathan Stroud. The trilogy starts with The Amulet of Samark and and continues with The Golem's Eye and Ptolemy's Gate. They're YA books, but rather entertaining. The djinni, Bartimaeus, has the most caustic wit; he makes me chuckle.
Anyway, you do a great job with these newsletters, and I hope you continue doing this type, where you highlight only one creature an issue. Your research is quite fascinating, and I very much appreciate your taking the time to enlighten us. Keep up the great work! ^_^
I love doing the research, dizzyduck, because I find I learn so much. It’s amazing how so many creatures have become stereotypes, and one dimensional. Knowing the different and unusal aspects to each character can only benefit fantasy writers. You’re the second reader to recommend Mr Stroud’s books… I’d better put in an order to Amazon!  Thank you very much for the compliment – I’m glad you’re finding the newsletters useful. And I am intending to continue highlighting mythical creatures in future issues.
PS - my Oxford dictionary says the plural is “Djinns”, but all the research I did simply referred to them as “Djinn”…
River Song
A great trilogy having to do with Djinn (a little more accurately than any books I've read) is the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. It's told mainly from the Djinn, Bartimaeus' point of view. He is cynical, has a dry, dark sense of humor and gives great footnotes! The story takes place in England. The time setting is rather ambiguous. I haven't been able to figure out what period it's in because there are many contradictions in period suroundings. Overall the stories are funny, entertaining, and a little political. The audience this seems to be directed at is young adult. I thoroughly enjoy these books and they do give a more islamic view to djinn than any other "genie" books I've ever read.
This is the third recommendation of Mr Stroud’s trilogy. After completing this newsletter I’m preparing my order for the book! Thank you for sharing this information with us, River Song .
Helmsson
I really liked this newsletter on djinn and genies. I am definitely going to try and incorporate djinn into some of my future stories. I had no idea you had such content in your newsletters! I'll definitely be reading a lot more of them.
Thank you for the compliment, Helmsson . I’m glad my research is working! And for submitting your story, which is included in this week’s highlights.
June Afternoon
Forever in Ink, I found your newsletter really interesting! One of my favourite books is called The City of Djinns, written by William Dalrymple. It is about the city of Delhi in India, which has been built seven times by different dynasties. The belief is that Djinns reside in the City, building it up every time it is destroyed by an invading army... something like the phoenix rising from the ashes. Thanks once again for the great read.
Amazing that you’ve referred to a phoenix, given that it’s the creature I’ve chosen to highlight in this issue. Thank you, too for the book reference, June Afternoon . I am sure other readers are finding these personal recommendations from all contributors interesting, and are noting the titles!
A thinker never sleeps
Interesting newsletter. I remember a friend of mine telling me about the Djinn and how they could be tricky and destructive.
I always knew they were naughty, A thinker never sleeps , but I had no idea how malicious or destructive they could be. I currently live in Turkey, and some of the people I’ve spoken to have shuddered at the mere mention of Djinn!
Kiante
Awesome newsletter, I never knew Djinn had ANYTHING to do with Islam or were so detailed in some legends and myths.
Neither did I, Kiante . They can be really vicious, but when one considers there are ways to handle them it becomes obvious what great characters they make for fantasy stories.
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