Week 2 Reading Anthology

An image of Susa-no-wo fighting the serpent that I thought was really cool. I found this image at https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Susanoo-no-Mikoto_(Mythology)

Link to story: https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/the-divine

The story that grabbed my attention the most was the Japanese story of The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi. I am a huge fan of imagery, and this story had great examples of it like this one “It hath eyes as red as a ripe mountain cherry, a noisome blood-inflamed body, armed with eight fearsome heads and eight forked tails. Moreover, its back is all overgrown with firs, cedars, and pines, and it trails its tortuous coils over eight valleys and as many mountains.” Another aspect of the story that I thought was really interesting was how the motif of the number eight kept showing up. First, there was the Eight forked serpent, eight daughters, eight valleys, the sake of eightfold strength. I am not sure what the meaning behind it us and my initial google searches haven't helped much, but it must be important for the story to include it so many times. I find it strange how the motif is broken when the Susa-no-wo suddenly drew his "ten span sword."