Reading Notes: Sinbad, Part B

As far as I can tell, the Voyages of Sinbad have no allegorical value. But I like allegories, so I'm going to make one of my own: what does Sinbad represent to his 21st century audience?

Though Sinbad as a character is mostly divorced from his voyages in modern media depictions, several elements from the original voyages are present in some way to modern audiences. Sinbad is, in almost every voyage, the lone survivor of the crisis that eats up, murders, or otherwise kills the rest of his crew. He survives sometimes due to luck, sometimes due to skill, and sometimes due to instinct. In many depictions, Sinbad's character echoes this by being either very lucky or very resourceful. Also, as a side note, he has virtually no relevant relationships with any crew members or love interests, and usually tends to be a singular hero. This in contrast to Odysseus, who at least managed to help a few of his crew members survive and become famous.

A few tropes associated with the modern Sinbad, however, have no roots in the original stories. While Sinbad was a sailor, he wasn't a swashbuckling pirate, as many are fond of depicting him. Instead, he was a merchant and an explorer, and used his wits more than physical force to escape danger. When he does fight, he's pragmatic--usually sneak-attacking vulnerable enemies.

In other words, the biggest things modern audiences associate with Sinbad, according to recent media, is sailing, exploration, luck and survival--even the Arabian setting is optional, though it is usually echoed visually. He has become more adapted to modern roles and tropes.

The epitome of this can be seen in Dreamworks' 2003 animated movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, in which Sinbad is a criminal and a pirate. The plot bears little resemblance to the original, though Sinbad and his crew do encounter the living island whale. Even the Arabian setting is absent. Instead, the setting and secondary characters are Greek, and Sinbad encounters bad guys like Odysseus' sirens and the goddess Eris.

I think this is what Sinbad represents to modern audiences--adventure, survival, and the fantastical elements that add to both.

Sources:
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang
TV Tropes: Sinbad the Sailor

Image:
Pirate Ship at Sopot Pier, taken by Starscream

Reading Notes: Sinbad, Part A

The prose style of this story is archaic and rather difficult, but the elements of the adventure itself are fantastic! This post will highlight and summarize a few monsters in order of appearance and provide more background for them.

The Island Whale: the first of many massive creatures Sinbad meets, and one of many giant sea creatures in legends and myths. Things of this nature show up in several Native American cultures, but the Iriquois creation myth in particular says the entire planet is a massive turtle in an infinite sea. The kraken and leviathan also fall into this category--in early kraken legends especially, it would surface for long enough that flora would grow on its back and sailors would mistake it for an island. Aztec mythology tells about land being created from the corpse of a giant crocodile. Indonesia, according to local myth, is what remains of a giant solidified crocodile as well, and Singapore is a turtle-shaped island that, according to legend, came about when a giant turtle turned itself to land to save drowning sailors. Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology turns this up to an extreme; according to myth, the world is on a massive angel's back, who is in turn on the back of a bull, who is in turn on the back of a fish, which is swimming through a vast astral ocean. As you might guess, because of its prevalence in mythology, giant waterbound creatures are also popular tropes in contemporary media.

The Giant Snakes: I'm led to believe these snakes are normal, other than being huge. Giant land monsters have a decidedly different place in myths and pop culture than giant waterbound monsters. Think Godzilla and King Kong. Snakes in particular carry creepy associations--think Harry Potter's basilisk. In mythology, think Greek mythological serpents, like the one Medea helped Jason to defeat, or the Norse ouroboros-like monster, Jormungandr.


The Roc: And to make it a triad, a giant airborn monster. Huge flying birds are unlike ground-bound
beasts, in that they are often helpful to pop culture and mythological heroes alike. Think the eagles from Lord of the Rings, the titular character's dragon in Eragon, and mythical birds like the phoenix and thunderbird. The roc specifically doesn't appear in too many myths or modern stories, but it does show up in a few RPG settings and in other games. The roc is mostly Arabic in origin, with Sinbad's story being its main fictional vehicle. Interestingly, one possibly real-life origin for the roc is the enormous (but flightless) Aepyronis elephant bird, which was hunted to extinction in the 15th century. It was said to be almost ten feet tall.


Sources:
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang.TV Tropes: Sinbad the Sailor
TV Tropes: Turtle Island
TV Tropes: Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever
TV Tropes: Giant Flyer
Wikipedia: Roc

Image: Roc from the Book of Knowledge

Week 5 Storytelling: The Wandering Queen

Set’s lashing tail swept the sandy metal around his dead brother’s nest, leaning onto his haunches as he settled into his new authority. The big cat’s ears twitched as he looked out on his ill-gotten kingdom: a network of alleyways and drainage ditches, crawling with a dozen other feral cats. They recognized his new status—on the biggest dumpster, Osiris’ throne. They bowed low.

“Find Osiris’ mate!” he yowled. “Bring me Isis!”

~

Soft cat paws padded out a path through tangled subway tunnels. The leading cat was a ruffled black male with large ears who regularly paused to test the still air with his nose. A sand-colored cat followed behind him, thankful for the frequent rests, as her belly was swollen and pregnant.

“These kittens will come anytime now, Anubis,” she warned.

“We’re almost there,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“I know the tunnels better than anyone, Isis. This is the right way, towards Delta.”

After some time, the pair came to a cracked door in the tunnel. Isis slipped in with some difficulty, and after a brief pause to survey the dark vicinity, Anubis followed. To Isis’ surprise, another pair of eyes appeared before her, yellow eyes that reflected what dim light there was in the small closet.

“Who are you? Why did you come here?” the third cat said, practically hissing.

Anubis slid past them easily. “Lay here, Isis. Settle, Herit,” he added to the other cat, whose tail flicked in what seemed to be recognition. “She’s going to give birth.”

“In my closet, of course.” Herit’s ears twitched in irritation. “You know I don’t like kittens.”

~

Isis’ kittens came quietly, but not easily. By the time all was said and done, she had four blind, mewling babies worming their way towards her stomach. Three had her sandy pelt, but one looked like its father Osiris—white with black stripes across its back. While she purred and cleaned her new litter, Anubis noticed that Herit had disappeared, and padded outside to look for her. He found her with her head bowed so low her whiskers touched the subway tracks. When she saw Anubis approaching, her ears flattened to her head.

“How could you bring her here?” she demanded.

“It was the only place Set would never look,” Anubis said.

“So what? They can take her and her kittens if they like.”

Anubis paused for a long moment. “That’s cruel. I thought, out of anyone, you would want to help.”

Herit rose and turned sharply, disappearing into the doorway. Anubis sighed.

~

While Isis rested, Herit peered at her. Three of her kittens were nuzzled face-first into her stomach; the other mewed helplessly. Grumbling, Herit nudged it in Isis’ direction with her paw. Instead, it stumbled blindly towards Herit.

“Have you ever had kittens?” Isis’ voice drifted up tiredly. “You behaved like you hated them, but now that doesn’t seem true.”

A long silence stretched out between them. Isis’ kitten pushed its nose against Herit’s flank, looking for warmth. “I had a litter.” Herit sighed as the kitten curled up at her side. “But the city wasn’t forgiving enough to let them be. I would give anything for another day with them.”

~

“How did you know she would agree to look after the other kittens?” Isis asked. The white kitten, who she had called Horus, followed at her heels, its white paws weak but determined.

“That’s a story for another time,” Anubis told her. “Come on, we won’t be able to rest until Set is dealt with.”

~

Author's Note: It seemed appropriate to retell an Egyptian myth with cats. I was going to write a serious story set in ancient Egypt, but it was no fun. It also ended up being more about Herit, who is nameless in the original story, than Isis. This story is contained in this passage from the reading:

"Meanwhile Set, the usurper, ascended the throne of Osiris and reigned over the land of Egypt ... The good queen Isis became a fugitive in the kingdom, and she sought concealment from her enemies in the swamps and deep jungle of the Delta ... and [Anubis] became her guide.
"One day Isis sought shelter at the house of a poor woman... The heart of Isis was touched with pity, and she uttered magical words which caused [the woman's] child to come to life again, and the woman ministered unto the queen with gratitude while she remained in the house."

In the original, the poor woman's child is actually killed by one of Isis' scorpions. I decided it would be too hard to explain resurrection in this setting, though.

Sources:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie

Image:
Mother cat with kittens by Ashim71