Week 14 Storytelling: Old Red

Herr Korbes, a detective of the Woodlands Internal Affairs agency, walked down the South Trail of the crime scene looking for clues that would help him solve his case. Korbes had a couple of suspects but he didn’t have enough evidence to figure out who the dirty cop was. Among his two suspects were Wolfy the over aggressive narcotics officer and Jack the big officer who constantly came close to breaking the rules to solve his crimes. Jack seemed harmless enough but it was Wolfy who he was willing to bet was the dirty cop. Korbes continued down the path but then stopped as he noticed a long piece of wolf hair caught between two branches. “Ah it doesn’t surprise me to find this here,” Korbes thought to himself. “It’s off to Wolfy’s house now,” he thought.



“Knock, knock, knock.” Korbes said, “Open up Wolfy. I know you’re home and I have a few questions for you.” Wolfy opened the door and invited Korbes inside. The two of them sat down at Wolfy’s coffee table opposite of each other.



“Ask your questions, Korbes, I’m an open book,” Wolfy said confidently.



Korbes dug into his pocket and pulled out the wolf hair and put it on the table. “Mind telling me why I found this on the South Trail earlier today?” Korbes asked.



Wolfy’s whiskers twitched ever so slightly. “Easy, that is my usual route that I go running on every morning.”



“If you say so. Last question, when’s the last time you saw Old Red? She disappeared yesterday and we believe a cop was involved in her kidnapping,” Korbes said.



Wolfy’s eyes narrowed. “Surely you don’t believe I had anything to do with her disappearance?? I was actually guarding her house with Jack last night and neither of us saw anything out of the ordinary during our shifts,” Wolfy stated.



“That’s my point, you two were the last to see her,” Korbes said as he stood up. “Anyway, I’m off to talk with Jack now. I’ll be in touch, don’t leave the Woods,” he said. “Knock, knock, knock.” “Jack, it’s Korbes, open up,” he said.



Jack opened the door and invited Korbes inside to sit down with him to talk. “What can I do you for?” Jack asked.



“It’s about Old Red. She went missing yesterday and I believe a dirty cop was involved in her disappearance,” Korbes said. Knowing full well that Jack was going to ask if he was involved, Korbes continued to speak and said, “My first question for you is what were you doing last night?”



“I was on guard duty at Old Red’s house with Wolfy, but neither of us saw anything out of the ordinary,” Jack said. Korbes began to scratch his head to think when Jack said, “However, Wolfy did tell me that I could take a nap while he kept watch and that it was no big deal.”



“That’s it!” Korbes exclaimed.



“What’s it?!” Jack asked surprisingly.



“While you were asleep, Wolfy must have snuck in and ate Old Red!” Korbes exclaimed again. The two of them then proceeded to Old Red’s house to investigate the crime scene. Once there, they noticed that the door had been opened so they proceeded into the house. They were astonished because there was Old Red on her bed, but something was different about her.



“What big hands you have Old Red!” Korbes exclaimed.



“What big feet you have!” Jack exclaimed.



“And what big teeth you have!” Korbes exclaimed right before Wolfy jumped up and swallowed him whole. Not missing a beat, Jack grabbed the axe conveniently lying against the wall and killed Wolfy, saving Korbes in the process.

Author’s Note: As you can tell I adapted my story from the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, but made my characters detectives. I decided to do this because I wanted to write in a different style and experiment with it and see what I came up with. In the end, the Wolf still ended up being the bad guy, the “lumberjack” still ended up being the hero, and I just added Herr Korbes into the story to add another character. I got his name from another story called Herr Korbes from the Ashliman unit.



Bibliography: Little Red Cap translated by D.L. Ashliman (1998-2013).



Image: Wolfy

Week 14 Reading Notes: Ashliman, Part A

I read from the Ashliman section of the Brothers Grimm unit for this Tuesday. I chose it because it looked like it had a lot of good short standalone stories in it. I was not disappointed at all! Just like the reading unit that I did for Monday, this unit got right to the meat and potatoes of the story. Reading one continuous story is great, but I like being able to read a lot of short stories because it gives more a lot more writing ideas to work with.

I did notice that there were some parallels between some of the stories, such as "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids" and "Little Red Cap." In both stories the wolf eats the main characters but gets caught and cut open and has his stomach replaced with stones and then eventually dies because of this. Some of the other stories didn't make much sense to me but they were still interesting regardless. One of these stories was Herr Korbes. It starts out with a rooster and a hen going on a journey to Herr Korbes house by taking a wagon drawn by mice. On the way they fill up their carriage with numerous other animals and objects and when Herr Korbes come into contact with them, he gets all beat up. Then the story ends with, "Herr Korbes must have been a bad man." I'm not sure that I get this seeing as how the story never shows the perspective of Herr Korbes.






With all this in mind I think that I can take a few elements away from these stories to use in my own storytelling. I like the way that the Wolf is portrayed in these stories so I will probably write him into my own story. Also, he kind of gets the crappy end of the deal when he helps out Old Sultan so I might incorporate some of that story and have the Wolf end up benefitting in the end. I could possibly combine the Old Sultan story with the Seven Kids story and go in that direction. We shall see!

Bibliography: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D.L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

Image: Rooster, Hen, and Four Mice

Week 14 Reading Notes: Russian Folktales, Part A

For this Monday's reading, I decided to go with the Russian Folktales. This was my original choice for my first week 13-14 reading, that I changed to Dante's Inferno. I thoroughly enjoyed these readings and I got a lot of good storytelling thoughts from them! For instance, most of these stories get right to the point of the story itself whether that be being nice to the poor or doing what you're supposed to be doing in the first place (integrity).
In contrast to the obvious morals, some stories seem like they will end with a moral of the story but then they end with the person getting what they want in the first place. In one story, a rich man is supposed to give some money to a poor man, then he fakes his death to get out of his debt, then helps the poor man scare off some bandits, gets some money in the process, and never pays the poor man what he originally owed him. It's actually really funny to read some of these stories and see how they unfold. There was one story that kind of seemed like an origin story that was about three siblings. In the end of the story, the two sisters abandon their brother and become a stream, while the brother chases after them and ends up becoming a delta. It was actually kind of sad that this happened because the three of them had gone through a lot together and in the end, the sisters abandoned their brother.

Combining all these different ideas, I think that I will take the straightforward and to the point elements from the Russian folktales unit. For example, I will open with the main characters and the main antagonist and clearly lay out the issue at hand. Then I will advance the story while leading to a seemingly clear ending. Then, I will not write that ending, but write something absurd lol.


Bibliography: Russian Folktales by W.R.S. Ralston (1887).
Image: A rich man and a poor man 

Week 13 Storytelling: Merlin's Inferno

"Look, Vivien!" I exclaimed as we came upon the rock that housed many marvels.

"Oh gosh, what a sight it is, Merlin," Vivien mocked. "When will you cease to show me all these 'wonders?' You have already taught me everything that you know," she said.

"Just bear with me a little longer, my love," I replied in response. After responding I moved the rock that hid the entrance to an underground cave. I walked down into the cave before Vivien and when I looked up, she had used her magic powers to roll the rock back into place above me. Even though I knew that she would do this to me, I could not stop myself from showing her this magnificent place.

I attempted to move the massive boulder and I would have been able to if were not for my broken heart. The only woman that I ever truly loved had betrayed me and this caused me to lose my will to live. I laid down, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to enter the eternal darkness.

I woke up to someone or something screaming in the distance. I rose to my feet with surprising vigor that I had not had since the days of my youth. "Who's there?!" I shouted. As soon as I asked that question, I came to the realization that I must be dead, because I no longer had the foresight that I did in the living realm.

A voice came back. "Good Merlin! It is me, Arthur!" He said.

"Arthur? It can't be, I died before you...," I said in response.

"It seems time works differently down here. I actually just got here right before you did," Arthur said. "You look great by the way!" He said.

Reaching up to stroke my beard, I noticed that it was no longer there, and neither were my wrinkles from my old age. "Wow! It seems that I've come back in my prime in the afterlife!" I exclaimed.

Arthur said, "Either way, I'm glad to have you by my side again, Merlin! Do I have a lot of stories to tell you! Gosh, after Vivien trapped you-"

"Vivien!" I cried. "Where is Vivien? Is she here? I must find her!" I exclaimed frantically.

"I'm sorry I mentioned her," Arthur said. "For what she did to you, she got sent to the lower depths of Hell," he said.

I paused, then looked at Arthur and said, "We have to rescue her."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Arthur said.


"I hope you still have that sword, Excalibur. I imagine we'll need it," I stated. We proceeded to search out our surroundings and found that we were in a place called Limbo on the outer edges of Hell. After more searching we discovered that Vivien was in the eighth circle of Hell being kept there by the Giants. However, finding this information out did not deter us from our mission. We set out on our journey to the lower depths of Hell, sword and staff in hand.

As we reached the gate to the second circle of Hell, we heard a voice yell to us. "Merlin! Arthur! I come to join you on your quest! It is me, Hercules!" Hercules yelled.

Arthur replied excitedly, "Good Hercules! We're glad to have your company."

"It is not an easy quest that you two have set out on, but I would be amiss if I didn't offer my help. I have ventured through the underworld before and I know some shortcuts through the place," Hercules said.

"Let us proceed, then," I said. With Hercules as our guide, the three of us moved through the second circle of Hell without any problems until we came to the third circle of Hell.

"Cerberus, a three-headed devil dog, guards the entrance to the fourth circle of Hell. We must sneak past him or slay him to continue on," Hercules whispered to us. But as Hercules was talking, Cerberus raised his three heads in alert and began to charge our location.

"Looks like our decision has been made for us!" Arthur shouted as he drew Excalibur from its sheath. In perfect synchronization, Hercules charged Cerberus to stop him in his tracks with his godly strength while I cast a hasty spell to enlarge Arthur. While Arthur grew, he swung Excalibur above his head ready to bring his sword down on Cerberus. In a lightning fast strike, Arthur cut clean through all three heads of Cerberus. "Now that the dog is taken care of, make me normal size again, Merlin," Arthur said.

"No, wait," Hercules said. "We can use this to our advantage. Arthur, pick us up and then climb down to the eighth circle," he said. Arthur agreed, then picked the two of us up and climbed down the circles of Hell. As we neared the eighth circle, I saw Vivien surrounded by multiple Giants and they saw us too.

"I'll distract them while you two get Vivien!" Arthur shouted as he began to run away from us. Before we could argue the point, he already took off. Hercules and I quickly made our way to Vivien and I was horrified by what I saw.

She was disfigured beyond words can describe but even in her torture she managed to say, "Merlin, no! Even in the afterlife you plague me with you presence!" Hearing that, I realized the whole quest was a complete waste.

Then Hercules shouted, "We're out of time! We've got to leave now!" Gathering all my power to myself and taking some of Vivien's as well, I created a new spell that I hoped would work.

I shouted the last magic word of the incantation, "Alakazam!" And just like that, the three of us were back on the outer edges of Hell.

Author's Note: I took my inspiration for this story mash up from the King Arthur unit and the Dante's Inferno unit. I was originally going to my story over a young Merlin, but after reading the Dante's Inferno unit, I decided to do a story about Merlin in the afterlife, inspired by Dante's Inferno. In the King Arthur unit, Merlin dies because of his affection for Vivien, which I kept the same in the beginning of my story. From there, my story drew upon Dante's depiction of Hell. It would have taken too long to go through all the circles of Hell, so I hit my favorite parts in this story. I also added in Hercules, because he's had experiences in Hades before, so it made sense to use him as the guide. Finally, I was going to have Vivien be happy to see Merlin, but she never did enjoy Merlin's company, so I decided even Hell wouldn't change her mind.

Bibliography: Dante's Divine Comedy as translated by Tony Kline (2002) & King Arthur by Andrew Lang

Image 1: Cerberus by William Blake

Image 2: The Giants by Gustave Dore

Week 13 Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno, Part B

For Tuesday's reading I kept on going with Dante's Inferno, Part B. This story was too intriguing to not continue and see what happened in the last few rings of Hell. It's crazy how visual Dante makes and describes his story about the nine rings of Hell and also about who is down there and for what they are down there for. This is definitely a story that I could take from and recreate or mix with another story to make it more original.

Since today is Wednesday and I did a story planning post last week over Merlin, I think that I will combine Dante's Inferno reading with the Merlin reading. In order to do this, I am going to alter my approach to Merlin's storyline in that I will take up from the time when Merlin dies. Specifically, I will take up from when Merlin gets himself trapped inside his own tomb. From there, I will have him try and escape by using all the magic at his disposal until that is utterly exhausted. At that point, I will begin the Dante's Inferno intermingling in which I will begin to add the elements from Dante's story.

I think this will be an interesting take on both stories, because Merlin himself purports to know everything, but does he also know about what happens in the afterlife? That's what I'm going to try and explore during my storytelling. It'll also be interesting to see how Merlin's magic works in the afterlife. Will he still be all-powerful or will he be just another soul? And which ring will Merlin end up descending to? Will he even go to Hell? All these questions will help me and writing a good story for this week's storytelling.







Bibliography: Dante's Divine Comedy as translated by Tony Kline (2002).

Image: Close up view of the nine rings of Hell

Week 13 Reading Note: Dante's Inferno, Part A

For this week's reading I was originally going to do my notes over the Russian tales, but after browsing through some more of the readings, I decided to go with Dante's Inferno unit. I chose this reading unit because my fiancé and I sometimes get to talking about christianity and the afterlife so this seemed like a great reading to do. Before I did this reading, the most I knew about Dante's Inferno was that his descriptions of his adventures to Hell was very graphic. Since I have no plan on going to this place, I figure that reading about one individual's descriptions of Hell would be enough for me lol.

What took my interest the most was the different circles of Hell and who the residents of those circles were. obviously, the most well-known figures resided in the outermost circles, such as Socrates, Aristotle, and Achilles. Additionally, before Jesus came and took a select few out of Purgatory, those individuals resided in Hell as well. The reason that I found this interesting was because of the unknowns that concern the afterlife. From the Christian faith we know that if you believe in Jesus and accept him as your one and only savior, you will ascend to Heaven and obtain everlasting life. However, there has been skepticism about what happened to those who died before Jesus died on the cross. In this reading unit we do get an answer to this question.
I would definitely agree that Dante's Inferno was an original work of literature and this is a story that I would be excited to use as inspiration for my Wednesday's storytelling. As for the elements that I would use for my story, they would be as follows: 1. Having a Master take my main character through some supernatural event as his/her guide, 2. Having my main character be very inquisitive so that answers are provided and, 3. Having my main character meet and talk with characters from other areas/regions/timelines.


Bibliography: Dante's Divine Comedy as translated by Tony Kline (2002).
Image: Map of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy

Week 12 Story Planning: Merlin

Research: It is unclear as to whether or not there was a real King Arthur. According to multiple different sources, there might have been a Roman-affiliated "Arthur" who defended against incoming Saxon forces during the 5th to 6th centuries A.D. Additionally, some sources even report that the name "Arthur" was a honorary term given to those who fought valiantly. Either way you look at it, Arthur was a valiant warrior who had great leadership abilities.
In the History of the Britons, there are multiple accounts of Arthur fighting in multiple battles, which would have been impossible for him to physically do so. However, accounts like this add to Arthur's legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth added in the figure of Merlin which allowed for the birth story and background of King Arthur. It wasn't until some cultural intermingling in Europe that different writers' imaginations and political agendas got involved that King Arthur's legend became a complex story. 

Merlin on the other hand is a less formed character with more limited background than Arthur. In Geoffrey's rendering of Merlin, Merlin is a Cambion: born of a mortal woman (Adhan) and sired by an incubus, who gives Merlin his supernatural powers. Also, Geoffrey writes that Merlin matures to an ascendant statehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue. Later authors write that Merlin ends up serving as Arthur's advisor until he is bewitched and imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake. An interesting note to Merlin's name is that in the original writing by Geoffrey, Merlin's Anglo-Norman origin would by Merdinus, which resembled the word merde, meaning feces. I find this funny because in the version of King Arthur in the Untextbook, Merlin knows everything that will happen, but still walks right into his own grave. For a guy who knows what's going to happen, he sure did walk into a crappy situation. Haha..

As for Merlin's backstory, Geoffrey provides us with some history. Merlin's character is based off of a bard who is driven mad by the horrors of war and goes into the woods to become a wild man. Apparently, Merlin is connected to an Aurelius Ambrosius, who is discovered by the British king Vortigern when trying to erect a tower. Long story short, Ambrosius tells Vortigern that the tower will continue to fall unless Ambrosius is given dominion over the tower. In later episodes of Merlin, he goes on to bring the Stonehedge stones from Preseli hills in south-west Wales and Ireland. He also is portrayed as a man with seemingly long life as these different episodes span quite a long time period.

After doing this research, I feel like writing about Merlin. By nature it seems that the original writers wanted to keep his background somewhat mysterious to keep that magical allure to his character. My plan is to expand on Merlin's background by writing in the first person narrative. By writing in this style, I hope to provide the missing details of Merlin's childhood/teenage years. Since these years are my focus, I do not have any big plans to integrate King Arthur into my story. The main focus of my story will be that of Merlin. Also, since Merlin is based on a crazy man who lives in the woods, I think I will work on the events that led up to him becoming that crazy wild man. I imagine Merlin's personality pre-wild man would be bold and courageous seeing as how he knows what will happen. This could be his motivation for joining the military and going to war, because he knew he wouldn't die and would be a hero. However, since there is a difference between knowing something and actually experiencing it, this event will ultimately change Merlin into the crazy wild man that he is based off of. 

Image: Merlinus

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part A

For Week 12's reading I decided to go with the King Arthur readings. I've always been a fan of King Arthur, Merlin, and the knights of the Round Table. After reading Part A i found out some stuff that I never knew actually happened in and during the life of King Arthur. For one I never knew that King Arthur was adopted and had to continue to prove over and over again that he could pull the sword out of the stone. Also, I always thought that the sword that Arthur pulled out of the stone was the sword Excalibur. I never had any idea that the two swords were not one in the same. 

To me, Merlin was a very interesting character because his character knows everything that will happen. Having this omnipotence, however, does not stop him from getting himself locked underground for life. I found this ironic especially because he must have known that he was going to his death, but he did it anyway because he had so much love for a woman who didn't even love him back. Obviously, even the great Merlin was not exempt from his own fate, so to speak. 

With all this in mind, I might write about a character who is similar to Merlin. A character who tries his best to lead others to greatness because he knows of his own shortcomings. A character who ultimately succeeds in some areas and fails his own self. The more and more that I think about it, the more a story like this seems to need a moral to it. If I was going to write a story with a moral to it then it might end up being something like, "with great power comes great responsibility." However, I'll probably end up changing it haha.







Bibliography: King Arthur by Andrew Lang

Image: Merlin the Enchanter 

Week 11 Story: Beowulf and Grendel

Once upon a time in a place called Danesland, there was a certain creature whose name was Grendel. When Grendel was born and the other monsters saw him, they were taken aback by his looks. Grendel was not easy to look at, not even for other monsters. Despite his physical appearance he showed great promise among the monsters because his strength was abnormal, even among them. As a child, Grendel wrought havoc to small human villages with ease.

Grendel would've been content to live out his life among the other monsters, but those wretched humans caused so much noise. In addition to Grendel's superior physical strength, his senses were also extremely sensitive. The older he got, the more his strength and senses increased. Eventually, the humans learned of Grendel's existence and sought to kill him.

King Hrothgar of the Danes sent his best men to kill Grendel. As they clambered their way through the forest looking for Grendel's den, Grendel watched them from the dark. "They are loud even when they are trying to sneak around," Grendel thought, "I can't stand it anymore!" With that last thought Grendel charged the men and one by one tore them to pieces. The only one to survive was Unferth, who was King Hrothgar's best friend.

Unferth had played dead until Grendel had finished killing his companions and then got up and made his way back to Heoret, Hrothgar's fortress. Unferth ran up to Hrothgar and said, "This is a terrible monster unlike any we have faced before! He kills without any remorse! He cannot be stopped!" Troubled by Unferth's words, Hrothgar decided to send for aid from their neighbors in Geatsland. However, it just so happened that the messengers had to pass through Grendel's territory in order to make their way to Geatsland.

Year after year, all the messengers were killed until twelve long years had passed. Then, one messenger decided to take the long way around by crossing through the dragon's territory. After a long and arduous journey the messenger made it to Geatsland. The warriors of Geatsland loved fighting and were enticed by the messenger's stories from the lands outside of theirs. But, once the messenger told of Grendel and his terrorizing, only one warrior stood up and announced that he would go to Hrothgar's aid. "Beowulf! Beowulf!" The Lords of Geatsland cheered.

Beowulf returned to Danesland with the messenger and a company of men specially appointed by King Hygelac of Dane. With the messenger as their guide they made their way safely to Heoret. Once they arrived Hrothgar welcomed them with open arms and let them know where Grendel lived. After spending the night resting and restoring their strength they got up and headed out to find Grendel.

Grendel watched Beowulf and his company as they stomped through the forest. When they finally stopped to make camp for the night, Grendel decided to attack. Grendel ran right up behind two of Beowulf's men, grabbed their heads and then popped them in one fluid movement. The rest of the men, besides Beowulf, stood up and armed themselves with their swords and shields. Rushing Grendel, they were each slaughtered until only Beowulf himself was left.

The two circled each other, waiting for the other to make a fatal mistake. His impatience getting the best of him, Grendel charged Beowulf. Grendel swung his arms wildly trying to snatch Beowulf up. Beowulf ducked and slipped through each of Grendel's attempts to grab him and then managed to take Grendel's back. Beowulf began to choke Grendel as hard as he could, but Grendel reached up, took hold of Beowulf and threw him against a tree. Beowulf knew that if he didn't do something quick, he would be torn apart just like his companions. Just then he noticed a sword half-covered in dirt. He waited until Grendel was right on top of him before he swung the sword from its hiding place and chopped Grendel's right arm completely off.

"Arggghhhhh!" Grendel cried as he fell to his knees.

Beowulf walked right up to Grendel and said, "Your bloodletting days are over, demon! I am ripper, tearer, slasher, gouger. I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night. Mine is strength and lust and power! I am Beowulf!" And with that Beowulf drew his sword above his head and brought it down on Grendel's neck.







Author's Note: I used the Beowulf unit by Strafford Riggs as my main source inspiration for this story. In the original, the story is told from the perspective of Geatsland and all I did was switch this to the perspective of the Danes. I kept all the characters names the same and kept their roles relatively the same as well. Some differences were that Unferth never confronted Grendel and the messenger was never sent by King Hrothgar. Also, Grendel's perspective isn't told in the original, so I wrote a little about that in the beginning. The biggest change is how I had Beowulf and his company actually go after Grendel and try to kill him in the forest. Lastly, I took Beowulf's last quote from the Beowulf animation that I found on YouTube.

Bibliography: Beowulf by Strafford Riggs

Image: Beowulf and his men by Henry Pitz (1933) from the Untextbook

Reading Notes: Beowulf, Part A

For Tuesday's reading of week 11, I chose Beowulf. I've always wanted to read the story of Beowulf, but I have never had the opportunity to do so. After reading part A of the Beowulf unit, I feel greatly inspired. Everything about this story spells hero, so far. Also, Beowulf is a man among men as I understand it, because the men of Geatsland seem like giants themselves.

The first element that I'm planning on using from the Beowulf unit is the fact that Beowulf is so powerful even when compared to men who are much older than himself. It is pointed out in the Beowulf unit that even as a child, Beowulf displayed strength that was uncharacteristic of a kid his age. Applying this to my own storytelling, I would like to create a character who is born with great strength, but isn't taught how to use it. Perhaps, as he grows older, he will meet mentors who are able to teach and guide him how to use his profound strength. This could even take elements from Star Wars, because as I type this, it seems more and more similar to Luke and Yoda.
The second element is the fact that Beowulf's peers and seniors do not take him seriously. In the Beowulf unit, Beowulf performs a great swimming feat, but people tend to discredit him because they just don't think that he could do it. Also, everyone calls him the Sluggard, because he trips over his own sword and seems lazy. The truth is that his strength has not been fully tested and pushed to its limits. In short, he has had no real challenge, so he appears to be lazy because he simply can't try his hardest. I would like to apply this to my own story by having my main character easily complete whatever tasks are set before him. In completing these tasks, I will have the onlookers think that the main character is full of himself or something of this nature.


Bibliography: Beowulf by Strafford Riggs
Image: Young Beowulf when he was sixteen, in the Untextbook by Henry Pitz (1933).