Basically the title. In the US I’ve heard the fables of King Arthur and Robin Hood constantly. What are some other fabled heroes from antiquity that are less well known? Something from a non-Western culture.
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Don’t know why, but this title just made me realize that King Arthur and Robin Hood are both brands of flour.
I got nothin’ but this tangent: J.R.R. Tolkien did his world building and the novels they’re set in because he was jelly of the rich mythology of the neighboring northern European countries, and wanted England to have its own. I guess King Arthur and Robin Hood wasn’t good enough for him.
He actually translated the Green Knight from its original old English so he did enjoy some mythology of England prior to his bestsellers.
He’s not missing out by that much to be honest. The richer stories are more complex than anything, anyone can make something complex. It takes a somebody to craft something where every detail means something. Which Tolkien did.
William Tell is a Swiss folk hero. El Cid was a real person in Spain but has become a legendary character, as has Rob Roy McGregor. There’s also Beowulf from earlier times. Welsh mythology is pretty cool I’d check that out for some knightly stuff, like The Gododin.
Did someone mention ‘William Tell?’
Every culture has legendary heroes. Ancient Babylon has the epic of Gilgamesh.
Not entirely dissimilar from Lancelot in Arthurian legend is Genji from The Tale of Genji (11th century Japan). Genji was also the male ideal: attractive, charismatic, talented. And, of course, sleeping around and getting in trouble for it. The key difference is Lancelot had valor on the battlefield, whereas Genji did his battles in court politics.
The Journey to the West is an option, although the moral of the story is usually all about how great Buddhism is (or how silly the monkey man is)
There is Ngatetpya the great cat burglar of Myanmar. He was an actual person from 15th century or something but the later myth describe him as having as having super natural powers granted by enchanted tattoos on his legs. Like neighbouring country of Thailand, the tradition of enchanted tattoos were quite big in ancient Myanmar. You were not considered a man until you have thighs full of tattoos. Anyway, he could jump really high by slapping on his thighs, steal from rich people using his jumping powers and gave back to the poor. When he was finally caught, the king asked him to choose the weapon with which he was to be executed. The burglar blatantly said that he chose the queen consort. The gall of this guy impressed the king so much that he let him serve in his army. History described him as a successful scout/assasin in the king’s army.
The 12th Doctor met Robin Hood, who he insisted was fake even after meeting him. It was genuinely a very fun episode.
The TV series Merlin had the late great John Hurt and was also a super fun time.
The 13th doctor met the king during the witch hunts, which apparently was a decent impersonation of him. It was called The Witchhunter iirc
You could probably just look up any major medieval theft for something VERY specific
I wish the doctor would visit other cultures, he is very rarely seen outside the Anglosphere. There’s so much missed potential in his time travelling.
There is the Nibelungen saga, a Germanic folk tale. It is too complex to give a short summary. Part of it is the heroic story of Siegfried, the dragon slayer.
It is western and well known in Germany, but judging by the lack of English sources, not very well known elsewhere. For more, I recommend reading the German Wikipedia entry (with translation)
There is the Norse Beowulf myth, that is somewhat related to the Nibelungs. It might be better known to English speakers.
Not sure if you’d consider New World culture to be “Western”, but one that might fall in line with the pseudohistorical vibes of the two you mentioned would be Deganawida, an ancient diplomat from the 1100’s who came to five warring tribes and settled disputes, causing it to flourish into a democracy during a time when democracies weren’t an ongoing thing. His adventures are filled with what many might call performing miracles as well as moments of philosophy, profound symbolism, and even the earliest example of actual women’s rights.
Ned Kelly is getting very Robin Hood like here in Australia, although his actual story isn’t as heroic.
For an arthurian hero, perhaps Whitlam? Or Governor Macquarie, who arrived in Australia and removed the corruption in the system, and also changed our currency from alcohol to coinage (basically he took on the bastard cops and won). He also was able to answer the question of “you and whose army?” with “my army” and not be inaccurate. Naming half of Australia after himself was a bit rum though…
We’ve got Trạng Quỳnh. Sort of a trickster folk-hero. Not exactly literal with the whole economic redistribution element, but in other ways somewhat similar to Robin Hood.
With regard to watery figures dispensing swords as a method of selecting government figures? We do have the legend where a golden turtle dispensed a magic sword to Lê Lợi at Hoàn Kiếm lake to help repel foreign invaders. It later had to be returned.
The latter story is often compared to the Arthurian legend. Both are fun stories to read about, although a lot of the tricks of Trạng Quỳnh don’t translate super well (and are somewhat NSFW, haha!).
Totally ignoring ‘non-Western’ like most people here, but it’s all I know.
You could look into the Pre-Christian mythology of Ireland. The Túatha Dé Danann, Fomorians, the Fianna (including Fionn mac Cumhaill), and Cú Chulainn.
There are countless books available, including by WB Yeats, but the most ubiquitous is likely Early Irish Myths and Sagas from Penguin Classics.
Alibaba in some ways.
Nasreddin Hoca is the most popular Turkish folk hero
Analysis the Spider is a great trickster folklore character from the Akan in Ghana. I loved these stories as a kid and had a great book on tape.
Can’t go wrong with this list:
Analysis the Spider is a great trickster folklore character from the Akan in Ghana. I loved these stories as a kid and had a great book on tape.
It looks like autocorrect attacked KinNectar. In case anyone wants to read further, the spider’s name is Anansi.
Ugh, yeah, I fought aurocorrect over it and lost in the end it looks like. Got it fixed up now.
