The Scorpion

Bestiary-blogging, entry 8 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Scorpion

"Scorpion" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

A warning to ill-wishers from the well-meaning master

Beware!  The scuttling scorpion, a scary vision for a prison cell

A protector of the imprisoned one, he paces relentlessly

With a striking stinger like a steeple above it

To attack with claws, the scorpion wars

In double shell armor of blood red and obsidian

Implying vicious venom to keep the vermin at bay

This steadfast soldier patrols the prescribed path

Historical Background:

Scorpius (or Scorpio), a scorpion, is probably best known as an astrological sign. According to one version of the Greek myth, Scorpius was sent by Artemis to kill the hunter Orion after he had raped a female follower of the virgin goddess of the hunt. All three were placed in the sky as constellations, with Scorpius positioned far from Orion. Scorpius rose in the Eastern hemisphere just as the constellation of Orion vanished beneath the Western horizon. Thus the myth endlessly replays in the sky: Scorpius pursues as Orion flees.

The constellation Scorpio.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price   

Pegasus

Bestiary-blogging, entry 7 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Pegasus

"Pegasus" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Gliding gracefully across golden sunsets

With wide wings to catch the wind, the Pegasus

The offspring of Neptune, released by Perseus

From Medusa’s severed, spurting neck

And cloud-striding steed of Bellerophon

Killer of the cursed Chimera of old

With hue of hoar-frost on his hide and plumage

The star-eyed horse descends to rescue

Pure-hearted prisoners from unjust peril

And carry them to comfort and safety through the Illyian clouds

Historical Background:

The winged horse Pegasus is a famous image whose background myth often goes unmentioned in popular culture.  The story of Pegasus begins in the rivalry between Poseidon (lord of the sea, with the horse as his animal symbol) and Athena, the virgin goddess of war and wisdom.  Poseidon made love with a woman in a temple of Athena.  Revenging this sacrilege, Athena transformed the woman (named Medusa) into a snake-haired Gorgon whose eyes turned onlookers into stone.  Eventually Medusa was killed by Perseus, and an unexpected offspring, the winged horse Pegasus, leaped from her severed neck.  Pegasus would go on to assist a variety of heroes besides Perseus, most notably Bellerophon of Corinth who killed the Chimera.  The Olympian gods immortalized Pegasus as one of the great constellations.

Pegasus on a coin from Carthage,
first Punic War, 264-241 BC.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Lion

Bestiary-blogging, entry 6 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Lion

"Lion" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The lord of beasts, the leaping lion

Crowned and caped in kingly gold

He paces, his protective pelt unpierceable by sword

With magnificent mane of tawny gold fur, surveying the world in majesty

And firm confidence of his conquering qualities

Serpent tailed, a sinuous end for the splendid cat

Only two have triumphantly returned from his grasp

Hercules crushed the cat in Nemea

And Daniel would have died in his den but for the Lord

Always remember and respect their royal grace

Their majesty and might, and immense pride

Historical Background:

The slaying of the Nemean Lion was one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.  An offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna, the Nemean Lion was supernaturally protected by a golden pelt that no ordinary weapon could pierce.  Heracles strangled the lion, and used its pelt to create an armor usually depicted as a cape with the hero’s head exposed within the mouth like a helm.  The other story referred to in the poem, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, is the famous Biblical tale.  Daniel is thrown into the den after refusing to give up his worship of God.  God protects him during his time with the lions.  In ancient stories like these, lions are large ferocious man killers.  To survive their encounters, our heroes must rely upon something extraordinary—great strength in the case of Heracles and great faith with Daniel.  Our poetic lion gets the added twist of a serpent tail.

Fragment of a Greek mosaic of the Nemean lion at the
Archaeological Museum of Paros, Greece.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Eagle

Bestiary-blogging, entry 5 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Eagle

"Eagle" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The raptor rides on the roaring winds

An eagle in flight with flaming feathers of red

Prometheus breaks beneath his bloodstained beak

Voracious reaver with vicious claws

Sent by Jupiter’s fury, daily feasting on immortal flesh

Tormenting the Titan bound for eternity

Beautiful to behold and as bold as the gods

The entrusted enactor of Jupiter’s enmity and false justice

Is doomed to duel to a pre-ordained death

The mightiest hero of history, the sky king’s son, Hercules

Historical Background:

The eagle and the bull are the two most important animal symbols of Zeus (known as Jupiter in Roman times). When Prometheus stole fire from Olympus to give to humanity, Zeus grew enraged and had the disobedient Titan bound to a rock at the end of the earth, apparently located in the Caucasus Mountains. Each day, an eagle would come to peck out Prometheus’ liver and each night his liver would regenerate. The intention was for this torture to continue into eternity. He was eventually freed by Heracles (Roman name: Hercules) who slew him with an arrow given to him by Apollo. According to the playwright Aeschylus, Heracles prayed, “May hunter Apollo speed my arrow straight!”

Heracles, Prometheus, and the Eagle from a Krater
(a large two-handled bowl), circa 625-575 BC, in the
collection of the National Museum, Athens, Greece.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

Jormungand, the World Serpent

Bestiary-blogging, entry 4 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

Jormungand

"Jormungand" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Loki’s son encircling the eternal seas

Bearer of basest venom and bane of Thor

Jormungand is released at Ragnarök

To strike at Asgard and under Yggrdrasil

In Thor the Thunderer’s final throw

Mjölnir strikes and slays the Midgard Serpent

Yet even the valiant defender falls to the viper’s venom

This greatest of wurms which once wrapped the world

Historical Background:

Jormungand (or Jormungandr) was a son of Loki by the Ice Giantess (or jotunn) Angrboda. He is the serpent brother of the Fenris Wolf and Hel, their sister who rules the Viking underworld. Jormungand is a monstrous serpent so great in length that the Norse deities were able to wrap him around Midgard (the realm of humans) with the snake able to bite his own tail at the other end. Images of Jormungand are often comparable in appearance to the Ouroboros, the tail-biting circular serpent that is used by some to represent completion or totality. At Ragnarök (the end of this age in Norse mythology), Jormungand is said to be the killer of Thor in a fight of mutual destruction. Thor falls in a bath of venom sprayed from the snake’s mouth, even as its head is crushed by Thor’s great hammer, Mjölnir.

"Battle of the Doomed Gods" from the
Nordisch-Germanische Gotter und Helder (1992).

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

The Rock Wolf

Bestiary-blogging, entry 3 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

The Rock Wolf

"Rock Wolf" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

The first brood of Fenris, the feral wolf king

Bring against all battlers their bestial rampant rage

Their sharp eyes glow scarlet when their howls scream

Or a graceful gray shadow growling in the night

His eyes flare in fury to reflect a red moon

Yet his carnage is contained or his course is broken

By pride, not power alone.  They pace among beasts

Yet have minds like men and, most of all, dignity

Lupine in aspect they are princes of wolves

Cunning and crafty yet quick to find

A place of peace in person and land

And when his ire is aroused it is as when Tyr lost his hand

Historical Background:

While wolves are a common motif in mythologies worldwide, the wolves described in this poem are most connected to the Viking (or Norse) traditions. By far, the most famous canine in Norse mythology is the Fenris Wolf, a son of Loki by the ice giantess (or jotunn) Angrboda. Fenris was bound until Ragnarök (the end of the current age) by the magical silken band Gleipnir, although in the course of the binding Fenris tore the hand off the brave Norse deity Tyr. At the time of Ragnarök, the Fenris wolf will escape and kill Odin, then in turn be killed by Vidar. The other major wolf to appear in the Viking tales is Garm or Garmr who is said to guard the underworld. This bloodstained wolf is sometimes said to be loosed at the end of things, ultimately dying while killing Tyr.

Ragnarok illustration by W. G. Collingwood from
a 1908 translation of The Elder or Poetic Edda.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price  

Grendel

Bestiary-blogging, entry 2 of 9

Three years ago, my son Terry and I wrote a young adult fantasy novel called The Poem Beasts. It is currently submitted for consideration at a major publisher. In honor of the opening of the movie of The Hunger Games, a major work in the young adult genre, we offer a taste of our work—nine days of the poems of The Poem Beasts.

Grendel

"Grendel" woodblock print by Terry Price.

Transcription:

Recast for a new world the rage and rending claws

Of the mighty Grendel, grandson of grievous Cain

Spawned by the serpent sleeping in the lake

With bearish strength and bracing brutality

Ever long and lean, sly like a wolf

Devilishly clever, man-like yet not man

Leap to battle this brave warrior Beowulf

Convinced that once-potent magic can protect your Grendel hide from piercing

Then flee to the fens fearful at the end

The villain, adversary, and victim of Beowulf

Historical Background:

The figure of the Grendel rises from the ancient epic poem Beowulf. Although exact details of his appearance are sparse within the poem itself, Grendel is commonly assumed to have the form of a monstrous humanoid similar to a troll or ogre (although some scholars also argue that he may have had some dragon-like qualities as well, based on a line about a scaled arm). While we may not know many visual details, we are very well acquainted with some of his powerful attributes. He had incredible strength and was able to shrug off sword blows. Also, he can be assumed to have been sneaky, choosing to carry off Herot’s occupants at night when they were most defenseless. Grendel and his equally monstrous mother were both defeated by the hero Beowulf.

Opening of the earliest manuscript of Beowulf, dating
back to sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries,
from the British Library.

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price