Saturday 5 May 2012

The Death of Fafnir (Part II)

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The Death of Fafnir the Dragon 

Part II, click here for Part I

Sibling rivalry exists among families of every race, there is nothing new there. What is interesting, however, is when it also manifests among the Gods and Immortals of ancient lore.

It so happened that Regin the Dwarf was consumed with utter hatred for his brother Fafnir, who had stolen their Father’s gold as well as the cursed ring Andvaranaut. Curses being as they are, the ring influenced the two rival brothers Regin and Fafnir to form an unholy alliance in order to kill their father Hreidmar.

That’s right, but once its hold was set on Fafnir, the ring fanned the fires of Fafnir’s greed and bewitched him into driving his brother Regin away in order to have sole possession of the entire gold hoard called the Ottergild. And here the story takes on a typical turn for Fafnir’s avarice became insatiable; so overwhelming in fact that it gradually transformed the Dwarf into a mighty Dragon. In the form of a Dragon he easily secreted the hoard away into a cave on Glittering Heath and from then on stood guard over it, lest any get stolen.

Meanwhile back at his castle Regin’s heart burned with revenge as his mind was increasingly bent on one thing and one thing only; securing that gold hoard he so coveted.

About this time the foster-son of King Alf, Sigurd (also known as Sigfried) was sent to live with Regin. The Dwarf, recognizing the strong qualities in the boy, schemed to make him his instrument for enacting his odious revenge.

Sigurd (Sigfried) knew very little of his parentage, being the posthumous son of Sigmund (who had died attacking a disguised Odin) and Hiordis who then had married King Alf. Furthermore, his only patrimony was the shattered fragments of Sigmund’s sword. Embarking on his dire plan Regin first strove to make Sigurd resent and abjure Alf’s household but, because Alf was a fair foster-father and shared anything with Sigurd, this ploy failed miserably. Alf even gave his son the horse Grani, sired by Odin’s own horse, Sleipnir.

In a last-ditch effort, Regin pretended to take Sigurd into his confidence and, in an extended dramatic rendition, related to him the story of his own past and the treasure of the Ottersgild. Convinced of the unfairness of Fafnir’s theft, Sigurd agreed to help Regin retrieve his treasure.

Delighted, Regin at once turned his smithing skills towards forging a mighty weapon for Sigurd. Unfortunately, his first two attempts failed. Each time Sigurd tested them on Regin’s anvil the swords shattered. With extra diligence Regin incorporated the fragments of Sigmund’s sword and finally made a superb blade, Gram. When Gram was tested by Sigurd, it proved so powerful that it cut clean through the anvil dividing it into perfect halves. Success at last! Surely this would kill the Dragon!

Sigurd_VS_Fafnir_by_Relotixke
Once Regin had a sword capable of piercing the Dragon’s tough hide, the only problem remained was how to incapacitate the fearsome beast long enough for Sigurd to strike a death blow.
Adept at cunning, Regin then developed the plan of digging a pit on the path Fafnir took down to the brook near his cave on Glittering Heath, hiding in the pit then stabbing Fafnir as he passed over it. In order to absolve Sigurd of the crime of killing his brother, Regin proposed that if Sigurd would cut out the Dragon’s heart, which conferred power over all other men, roast it and feed it to him he would forgo the family’s vengeance. The naive Sigurd agreed.

Regin and Sigurd went out and quickly dug up the pit, but Regin being fearful, made a false pretence and left the Sigurd to face Fafnir alone while he, himself, retreated to safety. After Regin had gone Odin, disguised as an old man, visited Sigurd and told him that if he stayed in the pit he would be drowned by the vast flow of Dragon’s blood pouring out of Fafnir’s body. Odin advised him to dig trenches to drain the blood into holding pits and, after the Dragon was dead, bathe in the beast’s blood, covering his whole body with it so that his skin would gain the property of invulnerability. After Odin vanished Sigurd dug the trenches just as Odin had directed then lay down in the main one on the path to await the arrival of Fafnir.
Fafnir by the Creek by BoSt

The earth started shaking and a loud, fearsome, noise was heard over the Heath as Fafnir approached, snorting venom ahead of him. All this was for naught, however, for Sigurd was not afraid. As Fafnir crawled over the pit Sigurd thrust the enchanted sword Gram upwards with all his strength, aiming at the heart and burying it up to his shoulder in the body of the Dragon. As soon as the blow was delivered Sigurd drew out his sword and leapt out of the pit to get a safe distance away from the thrashings of the Dragon’s body.

Fafnir knew he had been dealt a killing blow but was intent on finding out the name of his slayer so that he could hurl his death-curse at him. He roared, “Who art thou that has done this deed? Who is thy father and what manner are thy kin that ye should come to bear weapons against me?” (Dragons were very formal when weaving curses).

Sigurd knew to avoid the curse and answered that he was born of neither man nor woman and had acted alone.

Fafnir, of course, saw through this and challenged him once more to tell the truth and Sigurd then gave his name and the name of his dead father. Fafnir then asked who had counseled him to attack him. Sigurd again denied that he had any help, whereupon the Dragon then wove a web of assertions and questions that gradually, through circumstantial evidence, drew the answer, unspoken, out of Sigurd. “So it was Regin, my brother, who has brought about my end! It gladdens my heart that he will bring about yours, too, and thus all things will have been shaped to his will.”

“I have reigned in terror over this Heath for many years, spewing out poison so none would come near, and no weapon would be drawn against me. I thought myself stronger than all, for all men were sore afraid of me.”

Sigurd answered, “Few may attain victory by means of terror, for whoever does so comes to discover that no one man is for long the mightiest of all.”

Seeing that Sigurd was going back towards his cave, Fafnir called out, “Ride to my lair, then, and you will find gold enough to last your entire life long, yet that very gold will be your undoing, and the bane of whosoever owns it.”

“If by losing that wealth I would be assured that I would never die, then I would gladly leave the gold where it lies, but every man is fated to die, and I would fain do so with your wealth at my command. You, however, shall wallow in thy death pain until Hel and Death take thee, and thy gold will do thee not good at all.”
siegfried_kills_fafnir_by_katepfeilschiefter-d35g5yc
And so Fafnir died.

Sigurd then went over to one of the holding pools where Fafnir’s blood had gathered, stripped off his armor and bathed in the rank fluid so that it covered his whole skin, except for a spot on his shoulder where a linden leaf had fallen and stuck to him. Once he became invulnerable, Sigurd cut out Fafnir’s heart and began to roast it over a fire as he had promised Regin he would. While the heart was cooking Sigurd got some of the Dragon’s blood on his finger and licked it off. To his surprise he found he could understand the language of birds and some other animals.

Listening to Odin’s ravens as they talked in the tree above him, Sigurd discovered that Regin had indeed plotted to kill him after eating the heart of the Dragon. Thereby having knowledge of the doom Regin had planned, he beheaded him with one stroke of Gram as soon as the Dwarf reappeared to claim his prize. Sigurd ate the roasted Dragon heart himself and gained the gifts of wisdom and prophecy.

As for the Ottersgild treasure, including the ring Andvaranuat, Aegishjalmr the Helmet of Awe, the Golden Byrnie (cuirass), and all its attendant curses, Sigurd took it north with him to Hindfell where he met Brynhild the Valkyrie and had another, much different, adventure of no interest to us as it has no Dragons in it. If you are somewhat interested, however, you may find it told in the Opera by Richard Wagner called The Ring of the Nibelungenlied.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Fafnir the Dragon (Part 1)


The Origin of Fafnir the Dragon


The story of Fafnir is the story of how craving after material wealth destroys those who indulge in it. In this story the Dragon, and the Dragon’s treasure, came to symbolize the power of Greed. Now the moral is out of the way, just sit back and enjoy a good tale out of Teutonic mythology.

Dwarves loved gold and riches, and Hreiðmarr and his three sons; Ótr, Fafnir and Regin were no exception. Fafnir was the strongest and most belligerent of the three brothers and the duty of guarding his father’s house, including with its store of gold and gems, fell into his strong arms. Ótr, meanwhile, roamed the land during the day in the guise of an otter. Unfortunately Ótr came across Odin (All-Father of the Æsir), Hœnir (who helped Odin create mankind), and Loki, the unpredictable, and often mischievous, Jötunn who were travelling through the domain of Hreiðmarr the Dwarf King. Loki threw a rock which killed the otter and all three skinned the animal and kept the pelt. That evening the Gods came to the castle of Hreiðmarr and, during the meal, brought the skin of his son Ótr out while Loki boasted of his hunting skills. Hreiðmarr was livid, and ordered his remaining two sons to seize Odin and Hœnir to be held as ransom while Loki was to bring back a ransom to atone for the death of Ótr.

Loki left the castle with the otter’s skin and the task of filling it with gold and covering the outside with red gold and went immediately to see the sea-goddess Ran. Loki borrowed Ran’s net, which she used to capture hapless mariners, and went to visit the dwarf Andvari. Andvari (‘careful one’) lived under a waterfall and could turn into a fish at will. Using the net of Ran Loki was able to catch Andvari in the form of a pike and demand his treasure as the price of his freedom. Andvari had amassed his large hoard of gold using the power of his magical ring Andvarinaut, and Loki made sure that the ring was also part of the deal. Andvari, however, was also gifted in magic and cursed the treasure so that whoever saw it would covet it, and further cursed the ring Andvarinaut so that it would bring about the death of any mortal who owned it. Loki presented the treasure to Hreiðmarr, who fell under the spell of the Ottergild (Otter’s Gold) and forgot all about his dead son. As soon as the ransom was accepted Loki, Odin and Hœnir left the castle without a moment’s delay.

No sooner than the Gods had left than Regin and Fafnir demanded a share of the treasure and, when Hreiðmarr refused to share it, joined together to kill their father. After this odious patricide the two sons still fought among themselves until Fafnir, the stronger of the two, drove Regin away and took the treasure, and the ring, for himself. As the ring’s curse worked on Fafnir he became more irritable and even more greedy, eventually moving the treasure into a cave on Glittering Heath to keep the gold safe. Little by little greed and malice grew in Fafnir, turning him into a fierce Dragon. Once he had fully turned into a Dragon Fafnir breathed poison onto the heath around him so that nobody would brave the wasteland to get near his treasure. Fafnir grew so terrible and mighty that all the populace around lived in fear of his rages.

Just because he was driven away by Fafnir, Regin did not in any way give up on trying to get the treasure and the ring back. He plotted and schemed for many years until he came up with a plan to obtain his revenge.

But that is a story to be told later …



Thursday 12 April 2012

Dragons in Africa: Aido-Hwedo

The Rainbow Dragon:
Aido-Hwedo of the Fon People of Dahomey





http://www.susanneiles.com/aido.html
African Dragons are more like serpents or giant snakes but they permeate the myths of the African tribes and even appear in the Egyptian pantheon as Apep (Apophis). The most accessible of the African Dragons is Aido-Hwedo of Dahomey in West Africa. Aido-Hwedo, a rainbow-coloured Dragon that is both male and female, was brought into being by the Creator God Nana-Buluku to serve as his companion and instrument in his Creation of the World. The Rainbow Dragon was the only being capable of travelling between Heaven and Earth and it carried the Creator God in its mouth as it passed between the two realms. It represents the link between the Sacred and the Secular.
While it was in the Heavens it bent across the sky as a rainbow arch and its droppings became mountains and fertile soil and its writhing passage formed the rivers and valleys.



Aido-Hwedo and the Red Monkeys by ~Flame-Shadow on deviantART
 Aido-Hwedo was so large it could hold up the entire world, but once the multitude of creation was done Nana-Buluku asked Aido-Hwedo to coil up beneath the land to cushion it. Aido-Hwedo cannot stand heat so the Creator made the ocean for the Dragon to live in (like the Midgard Serpent in Teutonic legend). Inhabiting the undersea with the Rainbow Dragon is a troop of red monkeys who forge the iron bars that are Aido-Hwedo’s food.











When the iron runs out and Aido-Hwedo grows hungry it will start to chew on its own tail. The earth above will become unbalanced, be struck by repeated earthquakes and eventually slide off the Dragon’s back into the sea.


The Aido-Hwedo myth still carries the resonance of its transcendent meaning into modern times, as can be seen by the poem by Audre Lorde:

Call
 But I must recover my spirit first…
Holy ghost woman
stolen out of your name
Rainbow Serpent
whose faces have been forgotten
Mother loosen my tongue or adorn me
with a lighter burden
Aido Hwedo is coming.

On worn kitchen stools and tables
we are piercing our weapons together
scraps of different histories
do not let us shatter
any altar
she who scrubs the capitol toilets, listening
is out sister’s youngest daughter
gnarled Harriet’s anointed
you have not been without honor
even the young guerilla has chosen
yells as she fires into the thicket
Aido Hwedo is coming.

I have written your names on my cheekbones
Dreamed your eyes flesh my epiphany
Most ancient goddesses hear me
enter
I have not forgotten your worship
nor my sisters
nor the sons of my daughters
my children watch your print
in their labors
and they say Aido Hwedo is coming.

I am a Black woman turning
mouthing your name as a password
through seductions self-slaughter
and I believe in the holy ghost
mother
in your flames beyond our vision
blown light through fingers of women
enduring warring
sometimes outside your name
we do not choose all our rituals
Thandi Modise winged girl of Soweto
brought fire back home in the snout of a mortar
and passes the word from her prison cell whispering
Aido Hwedo is coming.

We are learning by heart
what has never been taught
you are my given fire-tongued
Oya Seboulisa Mawu Afrekete
and now we are mourning our sisters
lost to the false hush of sorrow
to hardness and hatchets and childbirth
and we are shouting
Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer
Assata Shakur and Yaa Asantewa
my mother and Winnie Mandela are signing
in my throat
the holy ghosts’ linguist
one iron silence broken
Aido Hwedo is calling
calling
your daughters are named
and conceiving
Mother loosen my tongue
or adorn me
with a lighter burden
Aido Hwedo is coming.

Aido Hwedo is coming.

Aido Hwedo is coming.



Wednesday 4 April 2012

The Nine Dragon Wall

The Nine Dragon Wall


The first Ming Emperor of China declared that the five-taloned Dragon would be the symbol of only the Emperor with the four-clawed Dragon reserved for the Imperial Nobility and certain Officials of high rank, and the three-toed Dragon left for use by the general public and lower Officials. Other nations under Chinese suzerainty were directed to use only the lesser Dragons as well. Misuse of the yellow five-taloned Dragon was treason and resulted in the sure death of the offender and his entire clan.
The number nine is considered auspicious because it is the highest single digit number, and has connotations of extended time. Dragons were also associated with the number nine, as there were nine forms of Dragon and nine offspring of the Dragon King. Therefore it was only natural that nine Dragons became the symbol of the Emperor and his immediate court. The Emperor wore robes with nine Dragons on them (with one Dragon hidden from general view) and his Officials wore nine Dragon robes under a surcoat.

Nine Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City:


The Architectural symbol of the Emperor’s power was the Nine Dragon Wall, and many of these walls were built in Imperial compounds throughout China. The three most famous are the wall in the Forbidden City, constructed in 1772 for the Emperor QuinLong, the wall in Beihai Park, and the Nine Dragon Wall in Datong.
Nine Dragon Wall in Beihai Park, built in 1756:


Luckily, for those of us who do not live in China, there is a Nine Dragon Wall in North America in the City of Mississauga just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Nine Dragon Wall in Mississauga, Ontario:



This wall, in many ways similar to the one in Beihai Park, is made of seven-coloured ceramic tile, and depicts nine five-taloned Dragons. It, too, is 27 meters long and 5 meters high, smaller than the Forbidden City wall.  We are very fortunate that this wall has been built so near to us so we can enjoy it in its entirety, even getting up right next to the ceramics.

The Nine Sons of the Dragon King (with no relation to the images on the wall) are:



Chiwen: seen on top of things. If you look at the roof-ridge of a building, his image is often carved there so he can gaze into the distance and provide early warning.

Baxia: found near water. His image will be carved on bridges and arches leading to piers so that he can take a swim when he likes and protect the traveler from the water.
Pulao: fond of his own voice and likes to roar, so his image is carved on bells.
Bixi: actually has a tortoise shape, but is considered to be one of the dragon legends. The Bixi is an excellent pack-animal whose image appears on panniers. Bixi are represented on the sides of grave-monuments and are frequently carved as the base for important memorials.
Qiuniu: loves music and adorns bridge of stringed musical instruments.
Suanni: fond of smoke and fire, so he twines up the legs of incense-burners. Suanni, who like to sit don, are represented upon the bases of Buddhist idols under the Buddha's or Bodhisatvas' feet.
Jiaotu: can keep his mouth shut like a clam. He appears as either a conch spiral shape or a clamshell shape. He is found on door lintels, front doors, and major entryways. He guards your peace and privacy.


Haoxian: a reckless and adventurous dragon whose image can be found decorating the eaves of palaces.
Yazi:  brave and belligerent, he can be found engraved on the handles of knives and the hilts of swords.












Map of the Mississauga Chinese Centre:




View Larger Map
If you can possibly do it, go to the Mississauga Chinese Centre and visit the Nine Dragon Wall. You will find it very enjoyable. Don't forget to take your camera.



Mississauga Dragon Wall Photos by Bo Caunce



Saturday 24 March 2012

Nidhogg and Ratatosk

Nidhogg and Ratatosk



The first world to be created in Norse mythology was Muspelheim, the world of volcanic fire. The next world that came into being was Niflheim, the land of ice and cold and, where it meets the world of fire, a world of mists. Between the two realms of fire and ice grows the World Tree, Yggdrasill, with the rest of creation, the worlds of Gods, men, elves and giants in its branches. One of the roots of Yggdrasill draws sustenance from the spring at Hvergelmir, located in Niflheim. Under this root, one of three that support and nourish the World Tree, lies the Dragon Nidhogg (Malice Striker) who, along with the Dragons Goin and Moin, gnaw on the main root while the Dragons Graback, Grafvolluth, Svafnir and Ofnir chew away at the twigs that grow on the tree. Even though the three Norns repair the damage every evening, Nidhogg will eventually gnaw through the root and Yggdrasill will topple, ushering in the end to all the worlds and the final battle: Ragnarok.
High in the branches of Yggdrasill perches a giant eagle in whom is housed the knowledge of all the worlds. The eagle abhors Nidhogg and his destruction of the World Tree. Using the squirrel, Ratatosk, as a go-between he and the dragon trade insults up and down the height of the tree, much to the delight of the quarrel-loving Nidhogg and the gossip, Ratatosk.
Niflheim is also the abode of Hel, daughter of Loki, and mistress of the unvaliant dead. Heroes and those who die in battle spend the afterlife in Valhalla feasting, drinking and telling tales of valor; those who live forgotten lives, who have no warrior traits and who died of disease, suicide or accident are sent to the Realm of Hel where they work, cold and miserable. The wickedest of these miserable shades are sent to Nidhogg, where their souls are sucked from them for his nourishment.
After the final battle Nidhogg will fly over the battlefield eating the souls of Fire Demon, Rime Giant and God indiscriminately until he, too, is killed by Surtur the Fire Demon.

Sunday 18 March 2012

The Story of Darkness

The Story of Darkness
Many cultures have a creation myths, it so happens that Chinese culture has incorporated the dragons in their creation myths.
How wonderful is that?

A Brief History:

The Book “Epic of Darkness”, compiled in primeval China, is a collection of folklore and legend relayed in epic poetry. Preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei Province, it includes accounts from the birth of Pangu till the historical era.
On August 1982 an old local farmer submitted a rare songbook to Hu Chongjun. The booklet (leaflet), written in brush and ink with about 3,000 lines of seven Chinese characters each, was split into four sections. These sections were: a) The beginnings of the Universe; b) The Birth of Pangu; c) The Great Flood; d) The birth of mankind up until the beginnings of the Three Sovereigns and The Five Emperors. Believing “The Epic of Darkness” to be finest written representation of the oral Han creation myth, Hu went on to study and compile more manuscripts as well as the oral accounts from the elderly living in Shennongjia. It took him 9 years to eventually finish the documentation. Hu had to sort through more than 30, 000 lines of collected manuscript to compile a 5,500 line summary.

Here’s a brief retelling (with some liberties taken) of the Han Chinese creation myth:

In the beginning of time, all that was manifest was a cloud of gas, chaos and darkness. A Deity called Jiang Ku, after expending vast effort, created the first drop of water. Another God, Lang Da Zi, swallowed that drop of water and expired. Immediately his body was split into the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. From these elements Pan Gu came into being.

The Legend of Pan Gu:

In the primeval Universe there was nothing but a vast formless chaos which, after 18,000 years, merged to form a giant cosmic egg. Inside the egg, the perfectly opposed principles of Yin and Yang eventually balanced and Pan Gu formed as a primitive, horned, hairy giant, clad in furs. As soon as he emerged from the egg Pan Gu set about the task of creating the world. With a swing of his giant axe, he separated the Yin from the Yang and created the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). In order to maintain this separation, Pan Gu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took another 18,000 years; as each day the sky grew ten feet (three meters) higher, the Earth ten feet wider and Pan Gu ten feet taller. Pan Gu was aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts: the Turtle, the Qilin, the Phoenix, and of course, the Dragon. After the 18,000 years it took to separate earth and sky Pan Gu passed away. His breath then became the wind; his voice became thunder, his left eye transformed into Sun, his right eye transformed into the Moon and his facial hair turned into brilliant stars and the Milky Way.
His body, his four limbs turned into the mountains and other of the extremities that marked the four corners of the world. (This account bears a strange similarity to Norse myth of the Giant Ymir, and also of the Babylonian tale of Tiamat.) His fur turned into bushes and forests; his blood formed the rivers; his muscles turned into fertile lands; his teeth and nails became metals; his bones became rocks and valuable minerals while his bone marrow transformed into sacred diamonds. Mankind was yet to be created at this point. His sweat fell as rain and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became the fish and animals throughout the land.
From the five elements and animals were born demons and gods who fought each other until a great flood overcame the land.From this great flood, emerged two mighty dragons, one black and one yellow, which fought a mighty battle. A goddess, the Sacred Mother Wu Tien, helped the yellow dragon defeat the black dragon. In gratitude, the yellow dragon laid three eggs which the Sacred Mother swallowed and gave birth to three gods: Heaven, Earth and Hell.

Later still, five dragons emerged from the flood and they discovered a gourd across the Eastern Sea. Wu Tien opened the Gourd and found two humans within. Fuxi and Nuwa, who were ordered by Wu Tien to copulate and thus the human race came into being after the flood waters receded.



In a different version it states, “A brother and sister became the only survivors of the prehistoric Deluge by crouching in a gourd that floated on water. The two got married afterwards, and a mass of flesh in shape of a whetstone was born. They chopped it and the pieces turned into large crowds of people, who began to reproduce again. The couple were named “Pan” and “Gou” in the Zhuang ethnic language which stands for whetstone and gourd respectively.”In another version Nuwa, the Goddess, supposedly had used the mud of the water bed to form the shape of humans. These humans were very smart since they were individually crafted. Nuwa then became bored of individually making every human so she started putting a rope in the water bed and letting the drops of mud that fell from it become new humans. These small drops became new humans, not as smart at the first.
Another interesting note: When the earth had thus been shaped from the body of Pan Gu, we are told that the three great rivers formed from his blood successively governed the world: as first the celestial, then the terrestrial, and finally the human sovereign. They were followed by Yung-Ch’eng and Sui-Jen (fire-man) who brought the fire down from heaven and taught man its various uses. The Prometheus myth, which by the way is not indigenous to Greece but also known in Mesopotamia and India, is another expression of this theme. There is a slight possibility therefore that the figure Sui-Jen has been derived from the same archetype as the Greek Prometheus.

Thursday 8 March 2012

The Gentle Qilin

The Gentle Qilin

The Qilin is a mystical hoofed chimerical creature, often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body. It has the head of Dragon and the body of horse. It represents protection, prosperity, success, longevity and illustrious offspring. It is a good omen that brings ruì (roughly translated as "serenity" or "prosperity"). The Qilin (sometimes misleadingly called the "Chinese unicorn" due to Western influence) is believed to manifest upon the occasion of an imminent person’s arrival, or when a wise sage or an illustrious ruler has departed.
During the Zhou dynasty the Qilin ranked higher than the Dragon or Phoenix; Qilin first, the Phoenix ranked second and the Dragon third. In the Post-Qin Chinese hierarchy of mythical animals, in fables where the Qilin was depicted as the sacred pet of the deities, the Qilin ranked the third after the Dragon and Phoenix. In Japan (Qilin) Kirin are portrayed as a dragon shaped like a deer with an ox’s tail, and they preserved their primary importance, with the Phoenix placed second and the Dragon third.

The earliest references to the Qilin were in the 5th century BC, in the book of Zuo Zhuan. In its historical account we are told that after Zheng He’s voyage to the East Africa around the area of modern day Kenya he had brought back two giraffes to the Emperor in Nanjing. The giraffes were thereafter referred to as Qilins.
The Qilin and the giraffe were both vegetarian and shared a quiet nature on top of their reputed ability to "walk on grass without disturbing it”. Furthermore, the Qilin were described as having antlers like a deer and scales like a dragon or fish whereas the giraffe had horn-like "ossicones" on its head and a tessellated coat pattern that looked like scales. Even today the giraffe is still called girin by Koreans and kirin by the Japanese.

Back then the Emperor had proclaimed the giraffe as a magical creature, whose capture signified the greatness of his power. By the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) the original Qilins were long gone. In subsequent legends their appearance took on a more stylized representation of the giraffe, becoming mixed with some attributes of the tiger, dragon and other animals. The Ming artisans represented the Qilin as an oxen-hoofed animal with a dragon-like head surmounted by a pair of horns with flame-like head ornaments and a scaled body. Sometimes the creature is depicted with a single horn on its forehead, a multicolored back, and hooves of a horse, body of a deer and the tail of an ox.
During the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911) the Qilin was depicted as having the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the skin and scales of a fish, the hooves of an ox and tail of a lion.

The Qilin’s attributes are:

Though fearsome, the Qilin only punish the wicked. Its manifestation bespeaks of a wise and benevolent leader in a country or even a household. Being such a peaceful creature when it walks on grass or vegetation it takes care not to trample a single blade or step on any living thing. A Qilin is said to also be able to walk on water. If a pure person is threatened by an obvious culprit the Qilin transforms into a fierce creature, spouting flames from its mouth and displays other fearsome aspects.
In legend Qilins are linked to children and childbirth. Couples who desperately want children appeal to the Qilin and the Qilin grants them their wish. The Qilin is said to take special care of those children abandoned on hillsides by their birth parents, such is its compassionate heart.

The birth of the great sage Confucius was also presaged by the appearance of a Qilin who appeared in the courtyard of his parent’s home on the night Confucius was born, bearing a scroll in its mouth. This scroll announced the Will of Heaven: that a baby will be born who will be “a man of extraordinary good moral character and talent, an exemplar of human excellences. Although he is not on the throne, he has the virtue of a king.” When Confucius was 71 years old he was informed that an elk had been wounded and left to die just outside the city. When he went to see the stricken animal he found it was a Qilin and set down his sorrow over the killing of such a magnificent creature in his work “Spring Autumn” and ceased writing. Two years after the Qilin’s death, saddened by the death of his son and the auspicious animal Confucius died in 479 B.C. and since then the Qilin has been closely associated with his teachings.

Qilin Dance; Eye-dotting Ceremony


In this video the Buddhist monk is dotting the eye in a ceremony for the Qilin dance. When a drought ravaged China in times past the Earth Diety and Laughing Face Buddha tried to find a solution to the disaster. Buddha knew that the Qilin had the power to stop disasters and, with the help of the Monkey, they came upon its cave. When the Qilin arrived on Earth it began spitting fire and distributing serenity and prosperity upon the people. The drought ended, people and animals recovered and bountiful harvests resumed once more. The dance created from this story is performed during festivities and celebrations and is called “Tristar meet a friend, qilin leaves his cave.” This dance is said to be particularly hard to perform due to its rapid, jerky movements that are full of energy and tax the dancer’s muscles.