The Legend of the Nymvae and the Cymrae

Note to the Reader:
This is a legend taken from my novel. It is about the origin of two tribes; the Nymvae and the Cymrae, and is told by an old medicine man of the Nymvae tribe.
It is written in the the style and using the speech patterns of traditional Native American legend. This is an unusual style which, at its best is like a well-aged Cabernet; dry on the tongue but rich in delicious complexities.  As with traditional Native legend, metaphors are used to describe actual events in the history of the tribes.

I would love to hear your interpretations of what you think actually took place and most importantly, how the story made you feel.

As you read, imagine yourself sitting under the stars, before a low fire with the old medicine man.

~

The Legend of the Nymvae and Cymrae

The People of the Land and The People of the Lake

  There was once a beautiful young Chieftain’s Daughter; tall, brave, noble in bearing and in birth. Her brothers kept close to her at all times. She could not walk in the wood alone or go anywhere unattended; though her brothers could deny her of nothing.
  One day she stood upon a high place and asked, “what is that beautiful lake cupped in the hands of the mountains?”
Her brothers warned her strongly that she must go nowhere near the lake; for it was enchanted, and beyond it a strange and frightful people dwelt; fierce giants who ate the flesh of their enemies and grew large and strong. For many turns she obeyed her brothers and rode nowhere near the lake.
  Then, in her 17th turning there came a summer when the sun burned the water from the rivers and lakes so that the creatures died and the People suffered greatly. 
Her brothers had ridden far to the west to scout for new water and good hunting lands. At night, she dreamed of swimming in the cool waters flowing from the mountains.

  One night, unable to sleep from the heat and thirst, she rode to the lake and found it to be all that her dreams had promised. Waters fell continuously from high mountain streams and the forests were bright and green with full life. She swam in the cool waters and drank – and found it to be the sweetest water she had ever tasted. Then fish began leaping all around her and the world became still. And out of the pre-dawn mist there came a great serpent upon the water. And the serpent took her beneath the water and showed her many things.

She returned to her village before anyone had awoken and pretended to sleep. When the sun rose, her father knew that something had happened.
She burned with fever and spoke in a strange tongue when she slept. Her father and brothers feared she would die and brought her what precious water they could find. But she refused it saying that she would only drink water from the enchanted lake.

  Her family wept and went to the lake at great peril but saw nothing but a land of surpassing beauty; and water which cooled the tongue and quenched even the memory of thirst.
They returned with the water and her fever subsided.
Though still very sick, she looked stronger than all of her People who were weak from the famine. And her eyes were clear and bright, and her skin soft and warm to the touch. When they looked upon her the People marveled. And when she was well her brothers questioned her severely, but she spoke nothing to them.

  When the moon was high, the drought became severe and the People called out to their spirits day and night. And one night she dreamed only of the lake and had no peace. So when the night became silent and her family slept, she stole away and rode to the lake. She bathed naked in its still waters which glowed with moonlight. And then fish began to leap all around her and again the great serpent came to her and threw her beneath the water, speaking many things into her ear.
  When she returned to her village she did not sleep but wandered as if in a dream. The People marveled at how full and strong she was as they grew thin and weak from the hunger which was severe.
Then she became ill again and took nothing to eat and called day and night for water drawn from the lake. One clever old man tried to deceive her giving her other water but she vomited it out and chased him away.  Soon, the People knew that she was with child and her brothers questioned her severely as to where she had gone.

  One night, as if in a dream she left her People with the words of the great serpent still in her ears and traveled through the forests where enemies hide. Three men jumped out and held her still and she saw that it was her brothers.
Then they were angry telling her “I know you go to the lake!” They brought her to her People and kept her a long time telling her that they will kill the child when it came. They became angry when she cried and beat her.

When the summer grasses grew tall and sweet, she escaped again and made a secret place in the forest where she gave birth to a son. She sang to the birds and creatures of the forest who fed him and made him strong and wild. When the moon was dim she visited him and told no one of where he was though they beat her. And her son grew fast and was unlike other children. All who saw him feared.
Her brothers tried many times to follow her to where he was hidden, but she knew and lead them away from him. Then she cried and was sick from grief because she could not go to him. Her brothers grieved because they loved their sister.
Then the older one said “I will find the child and kill him. Then she will grieve him and return to her People.”
And they searched and searched for the child; and when they found him they cut him and stuck spears into him and left him bleeding for dead.
When her brother spoke this to her she became wild and ran into the wilderness and no man could hold her though many tried.
She searched for her son but found only blood where she had hidden him. Believing him to be dead she cursed her People and ran into the dark waters of the lake in the mountains.
But he was not like a man and did not die.
And the birds and creatures of the forest shrieked unceasingly and cried out all night for eleven days when her son found her floating in the lake.

He became strong and fierce, and made war on the Nymvae, driving them out of their lands and East of the mountains.
Then he returned to the lake and mourned. He killed the great serpent and killed the Wild People of the Lake. And his descendants became like the pebbles which circle the shores of the enchanted waters.
And they were fierce and monstrous but would not leave their sacred lake where their mother had laid down; and they killed any who drank from its waters.
And they became the Cymrae; The People of The Lake. And the hearts of many failed them for their fierceness. And their hearts burned unceasingly with hatred for the People of the Land.

Copyright © 2008 by Sean Butler. All Rights Reserved.