The World Stories

GLOBAL MYTHOLOGIES: AN ORAL INTRODUCTION

What is on offer here is an short Oral Introduction to some of the Mythologies of the World. We have outlined a raison d’Être as to Why Ireland and this is to outline where we are on this Project. At this stage we have an Introduction to two Mythologies: the German Nibelung and the Mayan Popol Wuj. See below and also our plans over the next two years.

THE GERMAN NIBELUNG

The Nibelungenleid, which is translated as The Song of the Nibelungs is our first Telling in the Global Myth Series. It has been written by a good friend of the Bard, Peter Wucherpfennig. Peter is a storyteller and a harpist and gives live performances challenging the lament of Walter Benjamin that we have lost the art of storytelling.

The Epic Poem was composed around 1200 by an unknown Austrian. It tells the story of the encounter of Siegfried and Brunhild with two of the royal figures of the Burgundians, the princess Kriemhild and the King Gunther. Brunhild is a warrior-queen from Iceland. Gunther seeks her as his bride. But, as becomes evident, the first half of the epic sees this powerful woman treated in ways that are a recurring motif in patriarchal world mythologies – disempowered in a variety of ways!. The consequence of this kind of value and world view are evident in the tragic second half of the Epic as the now widowed Kriemhild accepts an invitation to visit the court of Etzel, King of the Huns.

Of particular interest to the Bard is the way the epic became the German national epic and was appropriated for propaganda purposes in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The epic was used as a motivating and inspiring story for the German military in the 19th Century among other uses. It was particularly used by Hitler and the Nazis for anti-democratic, reactionary and propaganda purposes before and during the 2nd World War. It role was central in Richard Wagner’s great operatic work Der Ring des Nibelungen.

We will be running a 8 week Bard Mythologies Program in 2023, The Nibelung and the Spirit of German Nationalism. This will be with Peter as the Teller and under the guidance of Professor Emeritus Eda Segarra, whose expertise is on the Social History of Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries.

THE MAYAN POPOL WUJ

The Popol Wuj is the sacred narrative of the K’iche’ people. They are one of the Mayan peoples and principally come from Guatemala. This version has been written, told and recorded by another good friend of Bard Mythologies, Margarita Kenefic. Margarita has both Irish and Guatemalan roots and came to Bard to explore the Irish myths and that part of her origins. She is a writer and actor and was recently part of an Oscar nominated foreign language film La Llorona (2019).

The Popol Wuj is a creation myths of the K’iche’ people and tells of the exploits of the twins, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué. We have this precious text because of a Spanish translation by a priest, the Reverend Franzisco Ximénez,. It is the foundation texts of every subsequent translations.

It was translated into English by Allen J. Christenson.

The first task for the principal creator gods, Heart of Sky, the Framer and Shaper, the Sovereign and Quetzel serpent and Xpiyacoc and Xmucane is to create the landscape and the animals and then to create the people who will worship them on earth. They succeed in the end but it is a case of try, try again. Firstly, they create animals, the use mud, then wood and finally corn. The world is created as a result of a journey of experimentation and learning.

In time the gods create One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu who journey to the underworld and suffer many trials and tribulations before being decapitated! The maiden Lady Blood hears of the gruesome death by manages to become impregnated by one Hunahpu’s slaiva. Another gerneration are born, the twins, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué.

They are sent on a vengeance quest regarding their fathers killers, but then are mandated to go forth and conquer many lands. This questing results in the creation of the K’iche’ world and the settling down and dividing their land in to 24 Lordships. Many generations are to follow before the arrival of the conquering Spanish.

Our plan here will be to hear again the Myth of the Popol Wuj from Margarita in the traditional Bardic manner. We will also explore some of the glories of the Mayan World and calendar as well as the cosequences of the Spanish colonialism.

THE GREEK MYTHS (2023)

We also plan an introduction to the Greek Myths in the year 2023.

This will include the Greek Creation Myth and the various generations of the Gods before the reign of the Olympians. We will also do a short overview of the two Homeric Epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

What we are also thinking of is to outline some of the key Archetypal figures in the Greek Myths and their portrayal in popular culture in Film and Series, This has been central to our work in Global Branding and World Building over the last decades.