Well, thanks to sailors, fishermen, marine biologists, submarine crews, and other explorers, we know a lot more about the sea and what’s in it than at any other time in history.  We have discovered underwater cities and sea life and shipwrecks.  We have found fossils, treasure chests, and planes that disappeared decades ago.  We have developed amazing things like sonar, radar, and underwater vessels to dive deeper and explore further.  But to this day, we have not reached the bottom of some of the deepest seas in the world and we haven’t discovered all there is to see in this vast underwater kingdom.

So, that means: where there is the unknown or a mystery, there is folklore!  Since the beginning of time, man has been connected to the sea.  For ancient man, the sea must have seemed very big and mysterious and scary indeed.  People eventually built boats and started sailing across these seas. They saw strange creatures jumping out of the water or bumping into their boats. They heard spine-tingling screeches on the wind or witnessed large shapes bobbing on the waves.  What could these things be?  Were they ghosts or monsters or gods?  

Well, since ancient man didn’t have any means to go deep under the sea to discover these answers, they had to find an explanation using what knowledge they had.  And that is where sea legends and folklore began.  People crafted stories and carved images to make sense of the sea.  Over time, these tales, myths, legends, and images spread around the world and became part of folklore on every continent.

And one of the earliest and most enduring tales of all time is that of the mystical mermaid.  Many people across the world can describe a mermaid: a beautiful creature, half woman/half fish, with long flowing hair and glittering scales.  And we know this because images of them have been carved into stone in ancient temples or sketched in books dating back centuries.  As far back as the 19^th century B.C., people believed that life came from – and started in – the sea. In the city of Babylon (which means “Gate of the Gods” and is now part of Iraq), people prayed to a half human/half fish sea goddess called “Atargadis” who was the ruler of life and fertility.  They carved her image on stone templates wearing a “mural crown” – a crown shaped like towers, walls, and fortresses instead of flowers, arches, and crosses like crowns that came later.  Sometimes she was carved with a human face on a fish body; other times as half human/half fish.  Atargadis was married to a god named Hadad and they were the gods who protected the city of Babylon.  Atargadis also ruled over the city’s religious and social life, as well as the creation of new life. 

But how did Atargadis come to have the form of a fish?  Well, one ancient myth states that the goddess originally had a human form but then drowned herself in a lake, thus turning into half woman/half fish.  She was ashamed for having fallen in love with a handsome man and giving birth to a baby girl – something that was, apparently, forbidden for divine, non-human goddesses.

Over the ensuing centuries, people traveled and traded with people in other cities and countries.  The myth of Atargadis spread throughout the Middle East and Europe.  The early Greeks, who had originally depicted their goddesses as birds with human faces, later changed their goddess images to mermaids.  

Thus, the mermaid legend grew and more tales blossomed.  Mermaids gained nicknames like “sirens” or “water nymphs.” Their image changed into dangerous sea maidens luring unsuspecting ships and sailors to their doom.  They were no longer the praised city protectors of the past.  But like the original goddess Atargadis, they still possessed magical powers and liked music and song.  Early sailors reported hearing strange sounds like otherworldly music on the waves and guessed it must be mermaids singing.  Who or what else could it be?  Today, we might suggest the sounds were coming from pods of whales.  But since the ancient sailors didn’t know about whale communication or have sonar recording devices, they believed in singing mermaids instead.  However, unlike the goddess Atargadis, mermaids of legend were said to be mortal.  The lived about 300 years, had no soul, and eventually turned into sea foam instead of going to heaven.  

And since mermaids were depicted as beautiful creatures, it was assumed they must be vain.  Artists painted beautiful scenes of mermaids lounging on rocks surrounded by objects of vanity, such as hairbrushes, combs, and mirrors. Myths soon popped up stating that if a human captured and hid these mermaid objects, the mermaid would become human and could be tricked into marriage.  However, if the mermaid found the hidden objects, she could transform back into a mermaid and return to the sea.  

Perhaps because of these myths of humans stealing the mermaid’s items, luring them into human form and marrying them, mermaids then gained the reputation for spitefulness against humans. Tales stated that, if provoked, mermaids could cause floods, storms, or other sea disasters.  A mermaid spotted during a sea voyage was considered an omen of shipwreck. Other legends told of mermaids luring men into the water where they drowned or were forced to live under the sea forevermore, never returning home.  Some myths, however, stated that mermaids could also show compassion.  If something nice was done for them, such as rescuing them from a net, they could bestow gifts or blessings.

And it wasn’t just rum-soaked sailors who reported seeing mermaids out to sea.  Famous explorer Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids while sailing in the Caribbean.  Today, we might guess he saw manatees instead, which can nurse their young like female humans and, from afar, can look to have a human face.

Mermaid folklore was still going strong in 1837, when Danish author Hans Christian Anderson wrote a book called, “The Little Mermaid” and it became an instant classic.  Approximately 150 years later, Walt Disney made a film by the same name, popularizing the mystical mermaid for a new generation of children worldwide.  

Today, you can see mermaids depicted on modern day coat of arms, including those in Britain, Warsaw, and Germany, as well as the University of Birmingham.  However, if you see a mermaid with a serpent tail, two fish tails, or wings, it is called a Melusine and is very common in French folklore.

So, now we know about mermaids, but what about mermen?  Well, mermen are not as common in folklore as mermaids and they can either be shown as handsome or grotesque.  The legend of the merman started in Babylon and became connected with the sea god Ea, the god of water, wisdom, culture, and civilization.  He was also the creator and protector of man and the world.  However, some state that the merman legend refers to Ea’s servant.  Ea was shown as half man/half fish, while some images show him as a man wearing a fish robe.

Later the Greek myth of Triton was born.  Triton was a sea god and the son of Poseidon.  Poseidon had a human form, but Triton was half man/half fish, holding or blowing a conch shell.  Sometimes he held a three-pronged trident.  He lived in a golden palace at the bottom of the sea with his parents and acted as Poseidon’s messenger.  Triton was called both a mighty and dreadful sea god and could blow his conch shell so loudly that it raised or flattened waves and scared away mythical giants. He was said to have green hair and blue skin with barnacles on his mighty shoulders.  However, around the 1500’s several artists started depicting Triton with a fish tail, man’s body, female’s chest, devil’s horns, and thick legs with webbed feet.  People started calling Triton a “sea devil,” “sea monster,” or “sea satyr.”   That was not a good time for the mighty sea god!

And speaking of Greek myths, there is a legend about another merman name Glaucus who started life as a human fisherman.  He noticed that when he caught fish, they would struggle to get back into the water when he placed them on the grassy shores.  Glaucus thought that the grass must give the fish special

powers, so he ate the grass.  He then had an overwhelming desire to jump into the sea and never return.  The sea gods under the waves heard his wish and turned him into a sea god just like them, and Glaucus never returned to land.

Various Scandinavian countries, including Iceland and Norway, have legends about mermen with black hair, long beards, and dusky skin with a man’s torso and a fish tail.  One British folklore writer stated her opinion that mermen were “often uglier and rougher in the British Isles” although how she came to this conclusion is unknown.  In Irish folklore, a merman named Coomara is depicted as a hideous creature with green skin, hair, and teeth, slitted eyes, and a big red nose.  And in Cornish folklore there is a merman named Bucca with hair of seaweed and the skin of an eel who looks for offerings of fish left along the shore.  

Mermen tales can be found around the world, including Europe, China, Japan, Greenland, Canada, and even the Amazon.  

Today, mermen are depicted in comics, movies, and films as handsome, strong, and courageous, such as in the TV show, “Man from Atlantis” and the super hero movie, “Aquaman.” They are featured in the popular game, “Dungeons and Dragons” and in the hugely successful “Harry Potter” movies where merpeople live in a lake near Hogwarts.

So, what do you think about the legends of mermaids?  Do you know of any legends where you live?  If you could have one special power as a mermaid or merman, what would it be?

The post History of Mermaids: Myth, Mystery and Legend for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

But let’s leave all that behind.  Not everyone in the middle ages was a king, knight, or royal maiden. Most people– and by that I mean almost everyone– were very, very poor. And it’s a legend passed around by these poor peasants that we’re interested in today. 

So instead of imagining a grand castle with battlements and a drawbridge, let’s venture into the depths of Sherwood forest, where Robin Hood and his companions, the Merry Men, live and plan their raids. But, as you probably know, these are no ordinary criminals. The legendary Robin Hood was an outlaw, but he wasn’t in it to make himself rich. Instead, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His run-ins with the sheriff of Nottingham, his arch-nemesis, bring excitement and danger to the many tales of daring and bravery, while his relationship with the Merry Men and Maid Marion showcases teamwork, friendship, and generosity. 

But was there a real Robin Hood? And why have the legends of this green-clad crusader against injustice stayed so popular for over 700 years? Let’s go a little deeper into Sherwood Forest and see if we can find some answers! 

It turns out, the real Robin Hood is hard to find in those shadowy woods. Historians in the 14th and 15th centuries wrote about him as though he was real, describing a man who lived sometime in the 12th or 13th century. Later stories say he was a loyal supporter of the noble King Richard the Lionheart, and defended the king against Prince John, who seized the throne. But this alliance with King Richard was suggested by a much later writer, who lived in the 18th century, rather than anyone alive closer to the 1190s when he ruled. Also, Richard probably wasn’t as noble as these later Robin Hood legends suggest, and John probably wasn’t as evil. 

But in addition to history books, there were also plenty of songs and plays based on the legendary outlaw by the time the historians began to take notice. May Day festivals often included plays about Robin Hood. But it’s the songs, called ballads, where we find most of the Robin Hood legends we’re so familiar with today. A ballad was a folk song that told a simple story. They were performed by and for common people in many different settings in medieval England: At taverns, public markets, and fairs and festivals. 

Ballads were part of an oral tradition – stories passed around among friends, or from grandparents to grandchildren, generation to generation, over a long time. Ballads just happened to be set to music. Different performers might change things around or add new elements, so they weren’t really “written” by any one person. Most people didn’t know how to read or write in the Middle Ages anyways, so ballads were an important way to keep treasured stories alive. Over time, people forgot which parts were real and which weren’t, and the stories became legends.

At the time, people loved the idea of a hero who stood up against injustice and challenged authorities. Most people in medieval England were, after all. Most of them worked as farmers on land owned by royalty or the church. These people were called serfs, and they weren’t free to just get up and leave to seek a better life elsewhere. They had to farm the same land their parents and grandparents had farmed, for a wealthy baron or the church. But these peasants saw the grand castles and manors that the landowners lived in, the decadent foods they indulged in, and the fine clothes, and compared it to their own meager houses and rough clothes. 

So it’s no wonder Robin Hood became the hero of many a folk ballad, sung by these unfree peasants who worked the land. He strived to even things out, taking from the wealthy and giving the spoils to those who had almost nothing. In some medieval legends, Robin Hood is himself a commoner, a peasant, who goes against the system. In others, he started as one of those noblemen, but after seeing how the poor farmers on his estate lived, decided to devote himself to the cause of making their lives better.

Whatever Robin Hood’s personal history, wealthy, powerful people don’t always want to give up their wealth so that the poor can have a better life. Plus, what hero is complete without a villain? Robin Hood’s most persistent foe in the legends was the Sheriff of Nottingham. A greedy, cunning official, the sheriff had it out for Robin Hood, always devising schemes to capture him and his band of Merry Men. But Robin Hood always outwitted the sheriff, often besting him at his games. In one of the most famous ballads, the sheriff puts on an archery contest, with a silver arrow as the prize. The contest is designed to lure Robin Hood, who has a reputation as a skilled archer, into a trap so the sheriff can arrest him. But Robin disguises himself and wins the contest anyway. In some versions, he even splits another contestant’s arrow right down the middle! Later, he shoots a note–attached to an arrow–into town, boasting to the sheriff about how he had tricked him. 

Another thing every hero needs when he goes up against the bad guys is allies – a band of friends to help him through tough situations and keep his spirits up when things seem hopeless. Robin Hood’s Merry Men filled this role perfectly. Friar Tuck, Little John (said to be seven feet tall!), and Will Scarlett, to name a few, helped Robin with his schemes and disguises. Like Robin himself, we’re not sure whether most of these people were real, but many of them seem to be inspired by real people – mostly outlaws, though not always as charitably inclined as the Merry Men of the ballads!

But the love of Robin’s life was the Maid Marion. Though she’s always in modern movies and books about Robin Hood, she wasn’t in the earliest ballads and legends. But when she shows up in a 17th-century ballad, she makes a strong impression – on Robin as well as audiences! In this story, Marion disguises herself as a boy to search for Robin in the forest. But when she finds Robin, he’s also wearing a disguise, and instead of a happy reunion they get into a fight:

They drew out their swords, and to
cutting they went,
At least an hour or more,
That the blood ran apace from bold
Robins face,
And Marian was wounded sore.

“O hold thy hand, hold thy hand,” said
Robin Hood.
“And thou shalt be one of my string,
To range in the wood with bold Robin
Hood.
And hear the sweet nightingall sing.”

Fortunately, in the end Robin Hood is so impressed by his opponent’s swordsmanship, that he asks to stop the fight (“Hold thy hand”) and offers “him” a spot in his band of Merry Men, saying “be one of my string.” In other stories, Marion has very different roles: sometimes, she’s a noblewoman, sent off to marry the evil Prince John, rival of Robin Hood’s ally King Richard, and Robin must rescue her. In other accounts, she’s equal to any of the Merry Men–fighting alongside the rest of the crew, helping with Robin Hood’s mission to steal from the rich and give to the poor. 

In modern times, Robin Hood hasn’t lost any of his popularity. There have been countless novels, comic books, TV shows and movies about him since the middle ages. Movies range from the swashbuckling 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” to the animated Disney version where Robin Hood and Maid Marion are portrayed as adorable foxes. Countless novels have been written over the years focussing not just on Robin Hood himself, but members of his outlaw band and especially Maid Marion. 

Whichever version of Robin Hood you prefer, the legendary outlaw stands for many of our most deeply held values. He’s loyal to his friends, brave in the face of injustice, and kind to those in need. I definitely don’t recommend stealing from anyone, but you can follow Robin’s example in any one of these areas. Even without breaking the law, doing the right thing can be uncomfortable, and doesn’t always make you popular. The world will always need people who are loyal, brave, generous, and kind – people who will do the right thing even if it means getting in trouble now and then.

Sources

https://www.boldoutlaw.com/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Robin-Hood

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/robin-hood

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/european-middle-ages-and-serfdom/a/serfdom-in-europe

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/738/the-adventures-of-robin-hood/#overview

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Imagine it’s Halloween evening and you’re out in your neighborhood trick-or-treating with your family and friends. It’s dark but all of the homes have their lights on, meaning they are welcoming you to stop by and ask for a treat. All of the kids you pass on the streets are wearing costumes and some of the adults, too. You enjoy seeing the variety of costumes. Some are cute and some are scary! You see someone dressed up as a vampire, and someone else as a mummy. You recognize these as classic monsters, the ones most people know about. But do you know the history of these classic monsters? Where do they come from? How they came to be?

Count Dracula

Let’s start with Count Dracula, who became the most famous vampire, Many, many years ago in the 1400s, there was a real person named Vlad III. He was a prince from a place called Wallachia, which is now part of modern-day Romania. Vlad III was not the kind of prince you wanted to mess with, especially if you were his enemy. This gave Vlad the reputation of being very dangerous.

Now, let’s fast forward to the late 1800s. A writer named Bram Stoker wrote a book and named it “Dracula” and created the character Count Dracula. He published his novel in 1897 and this book is where the legend of the vampire truly began. In Bram Stoker’s story, Count Dracula is a vampire who can transform into a bat, sleep in a coffin, and has sharp pointy teeth called fangs. But remember, this is just a story, it’s all fiction which means it isn’t real, just make-believe.

After Bram Stoker’s book, Count Dracula became a movie, the first one in 1931 starring Bela Lugosi. Many movies about Dracula were made after this, each movie added its own twists to the story.

But Dracula isn’t always portrayed as a terrifying monster. In the movie “Hotel Transylvania,” he’s a funny and friendly vampire who runs a hotel for monsters and their families. He’s a loving dad and a good friend. This version of Dracula is perfect for kids.

Today, Count Dracula is still a popular figure. You might see him in Halloween costumes, decorations, and even in cartoons. People love dressing up as Dracula with capes and fake fangs for a bit of spooky fun. But remember, it’s all pretend! Vampires like Dracula are creatures of fiction, and there’s nothing to fear in real life.

Count Dracula is a fascinating character with a history that stretches back hundreds of years. He’s been scary and silly, but no matter how he’s portrayed, he’s a legend in the world of literature and film.

Frankenstein

Next up is Frankenstein. The tale of Frankenstein begins in the early 19th century with a young woman named Mary Shelley. Mary was staying at a vacation home with some friends and one evening they were sitting around a fireplace telling ghost stories. Mary envisioned a monster that was made up of different parts, invented by a scientist and inventor named Dr. Frankenstein. She was only 18 at this time. Later, she turned the ghost story into a full novel called “Frankenstein” about the monster she created.

In the book, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, is a scientist. He becomes obsessed with creating life from lifeless parts. In his laboratory, Victor brings together body parts from different sources to create a creature. But things don’t go as planned, and the creature turns out much different than Victor expected.

Here’s the twist: The creature Victor creates isn’t evil from the start. He’s misunderstood and lonely. Imagine being brought to life and having nobody to talk to or guide you! The creature tries to find friendship and connection but is met with fear and rejection from humans.

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” became incredibly famous and was even turned into a play in London. But Frankenstein’s monster really became a superstar when he appeared in movies. The classic 1931 film starring Boris Karloff introduced the design of the monster we know today with bolts in his neck and flat head.

In recent years, Frankenstein’s monster has appeared in various movies, TV shows, and books. These modern versions often explore themes of science, ethics, and what it means to be truly alive.

One of the cool things about “Frankenstein” is its connection to science fiction. Victor Frankenstein’s experiment explores themes of science and ethics, making us think about the consequences of our actions and how we treat others.

So, there you have it! “Frankenstein” is more than just a scary monster; it’s a timeless story that makes us think about science, humanity, and what it means to be truly alive. When you encounter Frankenstein in books or movies, remember that there’s always more to the story than meets the eye. It’s all about exploring big ideas and having a bit of spooky fun along the way! Also, if you want to listen to a full episode about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, be sure to look up the Bedtime History episode.

Werewolves

Have you ever heard of Wolfman or Werewolves? These tales date back to ancient times when people told stories around campfires. In these stories, humans could transform into wolves during full moons. Imagine having the power to become a wild animal!

One of the most famous legends is the idea that a person becomes a werewolf only during a full moon. This idea became widely known in European folklore. People believed that those bitten by a werewolf or born on a certain day could turn into these creatures when the moon was full.

Werewolves appeared in folklore from many parts of the world, including Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Each culture had its own unique twist on the story. Some portrayed werewolves as fierce monsters, while others saw them as people with a special connection to nature.

Werewolves made their way into movies in the early 20th century. In the 1941 film “The Wolf Man,” Lon Chaney Jr. became the Wolfman we recognize today. With his furry face and long claws, he became the face of the werewolf in Hollywood.

In recent years, werewolves have appeared in various movies, TV shows, and books. “Teen Wolf” and “New Moon” as part of the Twilight Trilogy are two modern examples. These films often explore themes of identity, transformation, and the struggle between human and animal instincts.

At its heart, the werewolf legend often teaches us about the duality of human nature—the struggle between our civilized selves and our primal instincts. It reminds us that we all have a bit of “wild” within us.

Mummies

Next up is mummies. Mummies are not just monsters; they have real-life origins dating back thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians were the masters of mummification. They believed in an afterlife and wanted to preserve the bodies of their loved ones for eternity. So, they developed a special process to keep bodies from getting old. This whole process was part of religious rituals, and mummies were often placed in beautiful tombs along with treasures for the afterlife.

Mummies didn’t start out as monsters in our stories. It wasn’t until the 1800s that mummies began to appear as spooky creatures in books. Writers like Bram Stoker (who wrote “Dracula”) and Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) started to include mummy tales in their stories.

One popular idea linked to mummies is the “mummy’s curse.” It’s believed that disturbing a mummy’s tomb or removing it from its resting place would bring bad luck to those involved. While this idea is mostly fiction, it adds an exciting twist to mummy tales.

Mummies became famous movie monsters thanks to films like “The Mummy” (1932), starring Boris Karloff. In these movies, mummies would come to life and often seek revenge. Over the years, mummy movies have ranged from spooky to action-packed.

In the real world, scientists have discovered and studied mummies found all around the globe. These mummies have taught us a lot about ancient civilizations, their customs, and even their health. It turns out that not all mummies are spooky; some are like time capsules from the past.

The story of mummies reminds us of the rich history and culture of ancient civilizations. While they might appear scary in movies, real mummies are an incredible source of knowledge about our shared human history. Embrace the adventure, and who knows what secrets you might uncover along the way!

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As you step closer, you see that the water is shimmering with a golden glow, and you feel a strange energy running through your body. You dip your hand into the water and take a sip. You feel a wave of youthfulness and health wash over you. Your skin feels tighter, your joints less painful, and your mind clearer than it has been in years. Yes, you’ve found it! The one and only, fountain of youth!

The story of the Fountain of Youth has been told for many years in cultures around the world. The legend suggests that there is a magical fountain that has the power to restore youth and health to those who drink from it.

The story of the Fountain of Youth has captured the imagination of people around the world, and many have tried to find it, but no one has ever been able to locate the spring or even prove that it’s real.

So where did this story come from, and why did people believe in it? Let’s explore these stories and find out!

The story of the Fountain of Youth can be traced back to ancient times. The Greeks believed in a mythical spring, which was said to be located at the end of the world when it was believed the world was flat. The Greek god of the sun, Helios, had a son named Phaethon, who once drove his father’s chariot too close to the Earth and set it on fire. As punishment, Phaethon fell into a river, where he was transformed into a swan. The river became known as the River of Forgetfulness. It was believed that if you drank from the river, you would forget all your troubles – and also become young again.

The Greek Historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC was the first to write about the legendary Fountain of Youth. In his writings, he mentioned the Macrobians, a people who were known for their long lives. Some were even rumored to have lived for more than 120 years, which was quite unusual for that time. Herodotus thought that the Macrobians’ long lives were due to their diet, which was mostly made up of boiled meat and milk. When explorers asked how they lived to be 120 years old, they told an incredible story about a magical fountain.

They said that this fountain had special water that made their skin shiny and smooth like oil, and it smelled just like a beautiful violet flower. The water was so special that nothing could float in it, not even a feather or a leaf – everything sank right to the bottom! They believed that it was the special properties of the water from this fountain that made them live for so long.

In the Middle Ages, the Fountain of Youth was also related to the philosopher’s stone. The philosopher’s stone was a mythical rock that was also said to be able to make older people young again, live forever, and even turn metal into gold! For a long time, people thought that the philosopher’s stone was real. Later, it was used in other stories such as the first Harry Potte book, The Philosopher’s Stone, and the anime, Full Metal Alchemist.

It wasn’t until much later than the Greeks that the story of the Fountain of Youth became very popular. This was the time of the great Age of Exploration and Discovery when European explorers were sailing around the world in search of new lands and treasures. Many of these explorers believed in the legend of the Fountain of Youth and hoped to find it on their voyages.

One of the most famous accounts of the fountain of youth comes from a tale of Alexander the Great. In this story, Alexander and his army are traveling through a hot and dry land when they came across a land full of beautiful flowers and green meadows. There, they find the mythical fountain of youth, which was said to heal anyone who bathed in its waters four times a day. Alexander and his men met some old warriors who had bathed in the fountain and came out looking like they were much younger! The warriors explained to Alexander that they had lived for more than a hundred years and were now completely young and healthy. Alexander then decides to try the fountain for himself and was amazed at the results. When he returned to his men, he could hardly recognize the old warriors because they looked so young and strong.

The story of Alexander and the Fountain of Youth spread throughout Europe and became popular during the Renaissance, which was a time when people were fascinated by ancient myths and legends. Many explorers and adventurers, including the famous Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, searched for the hidden Fountain of Youth. These explorers hoped to find a way to make their own lives longer and stay young forever. 

Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conquistador who was said to have accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in 1474. He was appointed as the first Governor of Puerto Rico in 1509 by the Spanish Crown, and it was during his time as Governor that he became interested in finding the Fountain of Youth. Legend had it that when Ponce de León arrived in Florida, he met some Timucua Native Americans who told him about a spring that was located in a mythical land called Bimini. The legend said that the water from this spring had the power to restore youth and cure sickness when swallowed or bathed in. Ponce de León and his men searched for the spring but were never able to find it. He made many more travels to areas around Florida in search of the fountain but his search was unsuccessful. 

Because of Ponce de Leon’s travels, there’s a park in Florida where you can learn more about the history of the fountain! It’s called the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park and it’s in the city of St. Augustine, Florida.

The story behind the park is pretty fascinating. In 1904, a woman named Luella Day McConnell bought a piece of land in St. Augustine that she believed was the site of Ponce de León’s mysterious Fountain of Youth. She believed he’d actually found it! She began to create a park there, adding attractions such as a Spanish watchtower, an Indian village, and an actual spring that she said was the Fountain of Youth.

Luella also dug a well on the property. A well is a hole that is dug so deep that it reaches water far below the ground. She dug this deep hole and began selling water from it, saying that it had the power to heal and was the same water that Ponce de León had used when he was looking for the fountain of youth. She also said that she discovered a large cross on the property that had been put there by Ponce de León himself. People began to pay to come to see all of the amazing things that Luella had at her park and to learn more about the mythological Fountain of Youth. 

After Luella passed away, a man named Walter Fraser took over the park and made it even more popular. In 1934, archaeologists dug in the park and found something amazing: a religious Native American burial site, the Timucuan village of Seloy. The Timucua people lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia from as early as 1100 CE. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. ​​ The dig site also pointed to the park being the location of the first Christian mission in the United States. This mission was started by Franciscan friars in 1587. Over the years, more and more items were found that proved the park was home to the Timucua people and the location of the first European settlement in North America. Today, the park has lots of interesting artifacts and exhibits that tell the story of the Fountain of Youth and the people who searched for it. So if you’re ever in Florida and want to learn more about the Fountain of Youth, be sure to check out the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park!

As we’ve learned, many people have searched for the fountain throughout history, hoping to find its magical waters that could grant them eternal youth and life. But perhaps the real fountain of youth is not a physical place or object, but something that comes from within us. Maybe the key to staying young at heart is to embrace our sense of wonder, keep learning, and never stop exploring the world around us. So, let’s remember to stay curious, stay adventurous, and always keep searching for your own inner, fountain of youth. 

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This isn’t a small boat, this is a very big, shiny white boat, full of people floating down a great river called the Mississippi. The year is 1835 and people are chatting in excitement because the boat is about to stop in the next town. The riverboat’s whistle blows and soon the boat docks and you load off with a large group of people. You are in the bustling town of Hannibal, Missouri, which will someday become famous because of a certain child who grew up here.

When was Mark Twain born?

On November 30, 1835, a boy named Samuel was born to John and Jane Clemens in the United States in Missouri. He was their sixth child and was born early. For many years he was an unhealthy child and his mother always worried about his health. With their big family, his father was always very busy trying to find work to support the family. He dreamed of making a lot of money for his family, but most of his businesses didn’t do well. Later Samuel said he never remembered his father laughing. But his mother Jane was very different. She was very funny and loved to tell stories and make jokes.  

Hannibal, Missouri

When Samuel was 4 his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the banks of the Mississippi River. Hannibal was a busy town and exciting for a boy of Samuel’s age. Three times a day steamboats blew their whistle as they stopped in Hannibal. A steamboat was a large, white steam-powered boat before gas was used to power boats. People from all over Missouri visited Hannibal. This included circuses and tradesmen, such as blacksmiths who made a show of their skills for all to see. To young Samuel, Hannibal was a place of excitement and adventure with all of these new visitors. He and his friend ran around the town freely, pretending to be pirates or other adventurers. They swam in the river, fished, and rowed canoes to the island in the middle of the Mississippi River. Two miles from town was a cave he and his friends liked to explore. When Samuel got older he used all of these adventures in Hannibal as part of the stories he wrote. 

But Hannibal was also a dangerous place. Slavery was common at the time, so he saw people of African descent treated badly. Many people in town also had to deal with disease and hardship from being poor. Samuel’s family was very poor. But he still played with his friends and tried to make the best of his life in Hannibal. 

When Samuel was 13 he started working to help take care of his family. He worked at a print shop and later for his brother’s newspaper and started writing stories for the newspaper at a young age. At age 17 he left Hannibal and traveled across the United States, working in places like New York, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. where he had different jobs. 

Riverboat Pilot

In his 20s Samuel began learning how to be a riverboat pilot, the person who drove the big steamboats up and down the Mississippi River. After much training and practice, he was piloting boats himself and loved the job. It gave him purpose and with it, he felt like he might go somewhere in life. He was paid him well and he enjoyed visiting new places every day. During this time he started writing more and first came up with the idea for his pen name. A pen name is a made-up name some authors give themselves. Whenever a riverboat wanted to measure the depth of the river they would call out “Mark Twain!” He thought it would make a great pen name, too.

Civil War

Samuel’s job as a riverboat pilot was cut short by the start of the Civil War. He returned to his hometown of Hannibal and was a soldier for a short time. The next job he found was a reporter, where he got to write all of the time. This is when he first started using his pen name, “Mark Twain.” Not long after this, he moved to San Francisco and continued writing as a reporter. His writing was very funny and soon he became very popular in the area. As his writing became more and more known around the country, he started touring and speaking. Americans loved listening to his funny stories about his life. Part of the reason they enjoyed what he said and wrote is that he was very honest, even when it offended others. With his growing popularity, he even started traveling outside of the United States where he visited faraway places like Europe and Jerusalem. During his trip, he wrote about his experiences and sent them back to the newspaper and they were read all across the United States and around the world. 

Tom Sawyer

It was at this time that he met Olivia Langdon, fell in love, and was married. He continued to write for magazines and newspapers and eventually started writing his books starting with one called The Gilded Age and one of his most famous books, Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer was about a rowdy, trickster, similar to himself and his friends who grew up in a town similar to Hannibal. Tom, his friend Becky Thatcher, and other friends played pranks, and went on adventures, which included an exciting escape from a cave with treasure. 

Huckleberry Finn

After Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain (we’ll call him by his pen name now) started working on a book called Huckleberry Finn. He wrote the book as if Huck Finn was writing it, using his same language. It took him many years to write the book, because he would often get frustrated or stuck and move to other projects, and then start work on it again. When it was finally finished, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. In some ways similar to Tom Sawyer it was about a rowdy boy who doesn’t want to be civilized and his escape from his adopted family with a runaway slave named Jim. Together they float down the Mississippi River and struggle to stay alive and avoid being caught. To this day it’s considered one of the best American novels.

Mark Twain continued to write the rest of his life. He had many ups and downs, parts of his life were very hard, but he always kept writing. During the last years of his life he made friends with a group of 10 to 12 young school girls, who he called the “angel fish.” They wrote letters back and forth and helped cheer up Mark Twain who was growing older. He also spent his last years writing his autobiography. An autobiography is when someone writes their own history. Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, died on April 12, 1910. 

Conclusion

There is a famous quote associated with Mark Twain that says “write about what you know.” He spent most of his life writing about what he experienced and what he knew. He loved writing about his wild childhood in Hannibal, his life along the Mississippi River and his travels throughout the river. It’s fun to write about far off places or fantasy, I know I like writing about those things, but it’s also good to spend time writing about the things we know, the things that happen to us every day. A lot of people use a journal to do this. Think about starting your own journal. You can start simple, maybe it’s just a few sentences at first. But many people find writing in a journal helps them clear their mind and be reminded of what they are grateful for. Like Mark Twain, you can observe the world around you and write about it. He found much joy in it and so can you!

Listen to the audio

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By Edgar Allan Poe:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.

This is the opening of one of the most famous poems in American History.  It is called “The Raven” and is written by Edgar Allan Poe.  

Read more Edgar Allan Poe poems.

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer who became famous for his dark, mysterious poems and stories.  His storytelling inspired many later writers to write mystery and detective stories. And Edgar Allan Poe’s stories and poems often come to mind for people this time of year near Halloween as the evenings get darker and spookier.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Early Life

Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston Massachusetts. His parents were both actors.  His mom was an actress from Britain and his dad worked in the theatres in Baltimore.  Unfortunately, Edgar never knew his parents, as they both died when he was very young.

After the death of his parents, Edgar was sent to live with his godfather in Virginia.  His godfather’s name was John Allan.  He owned a tobacco company and was very wealthy. 

Edgar enjoyed writing when he was very young and by the time he was 13, he had written many, many poems.  But Edgar’s godfather wanted him to learn more about business and not poetry so that Edgar could work at his tobacco company one day.  He told Edgar not to focus on writing anymore, but to learn about business.  Edgar listened, but entirely.  While he was supposed to be learning business lessons, he sneakily wrote poems on the back of his godfather’s business papers!

Education

When Edgar was old enough, he went to college. He did well at school but life became difficult for him at this time.  His uncle gave him money to pay for school, but Edgar also started gambling to pay for the rest.  Gambling means playing games of chance for money.  It can be quite exciting, as people that play hope to get rich.  But it also causes many people to lose all their money.  And this is what happened to Edgar.  After losing a lot of money, Edgar ended up in debt. This means that he owed money to others and no longer had any money for himself.  Around this time, Edgar also had his heart broken by his neighbor and childhood sweetheart when she became engaged to another man. 

Military Academy

Edgar Allan Poe dealt with his sadness about these things by moving away to Boston. He continued to write and he published his first book in 1827 when he was 18 years old.  He also joined the U.S. Army.  His uncle helped him get a position with the United States Military Academy at West Point.  But then he and his uncle did not get along and Edgar eventually left West Point to focus on writing full-time. 

Full-time Writer

As a full-time writer, Edgar traveled around to various cities in Eastern America, including New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Edgar was quite poor because being a writer did not pay very much money. Edgar got a break when one of his short stories won a writing contest.  He began to publish more short stories and eventually got a job as an editor with a magazine in Richmond. 

Edgar got married when he was 22 to his cousin Virginia.  It was common at that time for people to marry their distant relatives. Edgar wrote a number of mystery stories around this time which were quite popular.  It was these kinds of stories that earned him a reputation as the father of the modern detective story.

Edgar had an aggressive personality, which means that he was often critical and mean to others.  He was difficult to work with and so he did not last in his job very long before being fired. Edgar found other editor jobs at magazines, but they never lasted very long. 

The Raven

In 1845, when Edgar Allan Poe was 36, he published “The Raven”.  People loved the strange and creepy story and he suddenly became extremely popular.  Edgar and his wife Virginia moved to New York City at this time to launch a new magazine called the Broadway Journal.  Sadly, his wife Virginia became ill and died of tuberculosis.  

Even though Edgar became a popular writer after this, he continued to struggle to have enough money. He died in 1849 at the age of 40. 

Later Fame

Edgar Allan Poe lived a short life but had a great impact through his writing. His poems are still read and studied today, over 150 years later.  Although Edgar’s life had many difficulties and sadness, there is a lot that we can learn from him.  

Edgar was passionate about writing at a young age and wrote all the time.  Even when he was told to go into business for a job, he still continued to write and pursue his passion. Because of his endless efforts to be a writer, Edgar became better each time he wrote and eventually found success in his lifetime and after.  He created a new wave of writing that inspired future writers to write detective stories. 

Conclusion

Is there something that you are passionate about that you could pursue as Edgar Allan Poe did?  Have you ever tried writing poetry?  There are many ways that we can use our hobbies to inspire ourselves even when times are tough.  In fact, many people use creative hobbies to help them overcome difficult times in life.  If you’ve never tried writing a poem, get out a pencil and paper tomorrow and see what you can create! 

Learn about other famous authors!

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Close your eyes and imagine you step into the basket of a hot-air balloon. You grab the sides of the basket tight as the flame ignites, adding gas to the gigantic red balloon above you. The basket lifts off the ground and suddenly you’re floating in the air, moving higher and higher into the sky. You look down below at the field and trees which have become very small. Soon, you are rushing across the countryside and passing villages and farmland and then crossing over a wide river and then a city. You pass over an ancient castle and then the ocean, traveling further and further from home, then across countries, around and around the world. This is what it might have felt like to be Phileas Fogg, the main character in Jules Verne’s famous novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. Listen closely as we learn about the life of this visionary author who took his readers around the world, below the oceans, and into the earth with his fantastic and educational tales that defined the genre which became known as “science fiction.” 

Jules Verne was born on February 8th, 1828 in Nantes, France. The home they lived in was built on an island in the middle of the river! From their home, Jules loved watching ships arrive from all over the world with passengers and goods to trade in France. He imagined what it would be like to be on the ships, climb up their tall masts, and be sailing around the world on adventures.

When Jules and his brother, Paul, were old enough they attended a boarding school. A boarding school is a place where kids go to school and live. There he learned to write and write and do math. While they weren’t at school, Jules and Paul loved to play in the field and dream about adventures they might one day go on together. One of Jule’s favorite books was called Robinson Crusoe about a man who is shipwrecked and has to survive on an island by himself for many years. It was an adventure story and Jules thought about the kind of adventures he might write about someday, too.

Later more siblings joined their family, 3 sisters, and their family moved to a larger home. They attended school and while Jules struggled with many of the subjects he did like writing. Also, his father wanted him to become a lawyer like he was, but Jules wasn’t sure that’s what he wanted to do with his life. But as he grew older, Jules followed his father’s advice and went to school to become a lawyer. He moved to Paris with a friend and loved living in a big city with all of the sights, sounds, and commotion. He spent his free time writing poems, plays, and songs. His father wanted him to focus on school, but Jules loved writing too much to take his advice. In Paris, Jules met famous writers such as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas who had written books like The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. At the time, Paris was the perfect place to live for someone who wanted to become a writer and learn from other great authors.

Living in Paris, Jules wrote his first play which became a live performance, and his first story was published in a local newspaper. The story was about a hot air balloon adventure. Airplanes weren’t invented yet, but hot air balloons were a popular form of travel and entertainment. Like ships, they filled Jules with wonder at the places they might take him someday and the adventures they might take people in his stories.

But, sadly, his father wasn’t happy with the success of his stories and plays. He told Jules he would stop sending him money and he had to come home and take over his business as a lawyer. By this time, Jules had made up his mind about what he wanted to do with his life. He told his father he would stay in Paris and do whatever he could to make a living as a writer. It was a risk he’d have to take, no longer receiving his father’s money, but writing was his passion so he stayed in Paris to fulfill that dream.

There, he took any job he could to make a living and spent most of his time continuing to write. Eventually, he met a woman named Honorine and they married and had two daughters. Jules was happy with his new family and writing in his free time. 

In 1859, Jules got his first chance to travel beyond France. He and a friend took a ship to England and Scotland. There, he saw many of the places he’d only read about as a child in books: castles, ruins, and huge mountain ranges. As they explored these wondrous places, his travels began to fill him with fresh ideas about how they might be used in the adventure stories he’d dreamed about writing since he was a child.

Sure enough, Jules’ travels inspired him to write his first novel in 1863 about a hot-air balloon adventure over Africa called Five Weeks in a Balloon. At first, it didn’t sell, but not long after a giant balloon was launched in France and people became excited about the idea of hot-air balloons and bought Jule’s book. Jules’ stories were different because they combined adventure with science and the many other advances in engineering that were taking place at this time. He lived in a time of many new inventions and scientific discoveries which included steam power and flight. Many new places like Africa were also being discovered around the world. It was an exciting time to live and Jules wanted to capture that sense of wonder and excitement in his novels. Little did he know, he was helping create a new category of writing called “science fiction.”

Jules’ publisher saw with how the world was changing, people would love these “science fiction” stories – even though they didn’t call them that at the time. He agreed to continue to publish each chapter of Jules’ stories in his magazine. Once the book was finished, it would be bound into a single copy for people to buy and read.

Jules began working on what became one of his most famous novels of all time. In the story, a professor and his nephew discover a volcano and Iceland and believe that if they can climb down into it they will find a path to the center of the earth! They travel far below the earth’s surface through caves and an underground river where they discover a huge cavern, fossils, and an underground sea. There they see fish, reptiles, and other mammals from the age of the dinosaurs. It became a chance to introduce readers to prehistoric life on earth as they imagined these now-extinct creatures living and battling in these caverns at the center of the earth. Of course, this story was fiction or made up, but it included many truths about living things and actual places like Iceland and volcanoes. If you’ve ever read science fiction, it’s made up but there are interesting things it can teach you about the world around you and science.

When Jules’ book was released in 1864, Journey to the Center of the Earth, was a huge success. People loved going on adventures through his characters and learning about new places and subjects like geography, geology, and the history of life on earth.

His following novels continued to mix exploration, science, and adventure. One was called From the Earth to the Moon about a group of soldiers who decided to use a huge cannon to launch one of them in a missile to the moon! Even though the book was written in the 1800s, it was thinking ahead about the big ideas like space travel and a real moon mission which wouldn’t happen until around 100 years later.

Although he was writing fiction, Jules Verne continued to be interested in science and innovation. He read papers about new scientific discoveries and met with scientists and great thinkers who lived in France and Europe. Every year he also spent time traveling to new places to be inspired by the world around him. In 1867 he traveled to the United States in a massive steamship and visited famous sites. He took notes about the places he visited, things he saw, and people he met. His travels and research gave him new ideas about what to write in his fantastic stories.

And he would need all the inspiration he could get because Jules had started on his most famous novel yet. Going back to his childhood, it included his dreams about ships and the vastness of the sea. This story would be about a massive submarine called the Nautilus. The Nautilus wasn’t like an ordinary submarine at the time, small and cramped. Instead, the inside was large and spacious, and richly designed. It was the home of its pilot, an adventurer named Captain Nemo. There, Nemo had a full library, an organ, a big bedroom, and an office. And on the Nautilus, Nemo and his crew traveled around the world visiting places like the North Pole and coral reefs. They even battle a giant squid! The book was later called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and became an instant success. In it, Jules Verne took readers deep below the sea where they not only learned about the oceans of the world and exotic sea life, but also the mechanics of a fantastic submarine, which was powered by electricity – still a very new idea and invention at the time! 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea eventually became Jules most popular book and in 1916 was made into a movie then later in 1954 by Walt Disney, along with later film adaptations.

Jules’ next book was also a big success. It was called Around the World in Eighty Days about an Englishman named Phileas Fogg who accepts a bet that in a hot air balloon he can circle the world in … you guessed it … 80 days! During the book, they visit new places across the globe, another chance for Jules to teach his readers about all of the amazing places he’s visited and see the wonder of the wider world through his eyes. It was also turned into a play and later a movie in 1956 and even won an Academy Award for best picture.

With the great success of his books, Jules became very wealthy. He built his family a large home in Amiens and a yacht he used to sail to exotic places across the world. He was treated as a celebrity wherever he visited. At home, he threw large parties for friends, family, and the people of Amiens. He joined the town council and used his money to take care of people around him who were poor. Also, later in life he and his father became close again, and he accepted the fact that he decided to become an author rather than a lawyer. His father was proud of what his son had accomplished. 

Jules Verne spent the rest of his life with his family in his home in Amiens where he consistently wrote around 2 novels a year later into his life. On March 24, 1905, Jules passed away at his home. His son went on to publish some of his other stories and add to them himself. Many of his books have been translated into at least 140 different languages and inspired many famous science fiction writers. Being one of the earliest authors to combine science, adventure, and technology, he has often been called “the father of science fiction” as one of the founders of the genre. Many great explorers and engineers also said reading Jules Verne’s books when they were young inspired them to dream big and accomplish great things in their life. These include Werner Von Braun, the rocket scientist and the astronomer Edward Hubble.

Take a moment to think about something you are curious about. What are you interested in? Like you, Jules Verne had many things he was curious about as a child. He loved big ships and the ocean. Now, what can you do next to learn more about the things you are curious about? You might go to the library or find a good book about that topic another way. There are lots of educational videos online, too. Like Jules Verne, you can take something you are curious about and learn more. Maybe you can even write a story about it like Jules did! Remember, all big things have small beginnings!

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Do you ever imagine your own worlds, where you meet strange creatures, fight goblins, or go on heroic quests? Maybe you’ve given your world a name, drawn maps of it, named and drawn the creatures who live there or even invented languages spoken there. Maybe you’ve even made up stories about your world. It can be fun to create fantasy worlds that are all your own, whether in your head or on the page. 

If you’ve ever let your imagination run wild, you’ll understand why an invented world became such an obsession for John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as JRR Tolkien. He was the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books. Maybe you’ve read these, or seen the stunning movies that were based on them. Tolkien creates a whole new world called Middle Earth, alive with many fantastical creatures such as elves, wizards, goblins, dwarves, giant spiders … and tiny people called hobbits.  

JRR Tolkien was known as Ronald to his friends and family. He was born in 1892 in South Africa, where his father worked at a British bank. Ronald didn’t remember much from his time in South Africa, because he didn’t live there for long. One of his few memories of South Africa was being bitten by a large spider in his family’s garden. This may have inspired the giant spiders he included in his books later in life.

Sadly though, Ronald’s father passed away when he was four, and his mother moved with him and his brother back to England. There, they lived near his mother’s family, near the city of Birmingham. Mabel taught her boys at home for a time, and Ronald showed an early fascination with languages. When they moved to Birmingham itself, their house backed up to a railroad, where he would study the Welsh writing on the passing train cars. His mother taught him Latin at a young age as well.  

When Ronald was eight, his mother converted to Catholicism. Her family was against this change and stopped talking to her and her sons. Things became even worse in a few years when Mabel became sick and passed away. Fortunately, a local priest, Father Morgan had become a good friend and supporter of the family, and he took care of Ronald and Hilary.  Father Morgan arranged for the boys to live at a boarding house and go to school. Ronald would later say of Father Morgan “I first learned charity and forgiveness from him.”

As a teenager, Ronald spent much of his time learning languages. He studied Latin, Greek, Finnish, and Gothic. Gothic is a language that, like Latin, is no longer spoken, but it was spoken in Germany a very long time ago. Over his lifetime, he would learn about 35 different real languages! I say “real languages”, because as a teenager, Ronald also began making up his own languages.  Many of his constructed languages were inspired by the real languages he spent so much time studying. He invented many languages, though the most well-known are the languages of the Elves in Lord of the Rings. If you watch the Lord of the Rings movies closely, you can see examples of writing in these languages, and hear them spoken at times. These were languages created by Tolkien. 

Around the same time, he began inventing languages, Ronald and his school friends formed a club called the Tea Club and Barrovian Society. The  “Barrovian” part was after Barrows Store, a department store where they went to drink tea and hold their meetings. The friends would share stories they’d written. These friends would keep in touch for many years, and the special bonds of friendship come up again and again in his later writing.  It was the first of several special groups of friends and writers that Ronald would join. If you’ve read the Lord of the Rings, just think about the special friendships between the members of the Fellowship of the Ring!

When he was 16, Ronald met Edith Bratt. The two became close friends and began to fall in love. However, Father Morgan didn’t approve of the relationship and forbade Ronald from seeing, talking, or writing to Edith until he was 21. He didn’t like that she was Protestant (not Catholic) and that she was older than him.

Ronald respected his old priest’s wishes, even though it made him very unhappy. But, on his 21st birthday, he wrote Edith a letter saying he still loved her and asking her to marry him. It was almost too late! Edith had just gotten engaged to someone else because she thought Ronald no longer felt anything for her. But his letter changed everything: she quickly decided to marry Ronald instead. Later, Ronald would write a love story set in Middle Earth, in which he was a mortal man named Beren who married Edith, who was an elf named Luthien.

But before the couple could marry, the history of the real world would change in a dramatic way. World War I started in 1914, the biggest war the world had ever seen. Young men like Ronald were expected to become soldiers and fight for their country. For a while, Ronald delayed enlisting in the army in order to finish school, but in the summer of 1915, he had to enlist. For nearly a year, he trained in England and remained close to Edith. They married in March of 1916, during his training. 

But when training was over, Ronald had to leave England and Edith. This was very difficult, as both of them worried that Ronald might not return from the war. The military sent him to France, just as one of the longest and most terrible battles of the war was starting. This was called The Battle of the Somme (Som). And Ronald was sent directly into the heart of the battle. Life in the middle of this battle was chaotic and scary. The soldiers dug huge trenches in order to protect themselves. There they basically lived underground in dark, muddy, cramped spaces to protect themselves from enemy gunfire and poison gases. The Battle of the Somme dragged on for months. Many soldiers died, and many others got sick in the filthy conditions of the trenches.

Ronald was luckier than other soldiers: he got sick and had to go to the hospital. Sadly many of his friends from school didn’t survive the war. Ronald spent the rest of the war in and out of hospitals, too weak to fight. But his experiences in battle did influence his writing: during his time in the war, he began writing stories of the wars and battles of Middle Earth, which were dark and scary just like his time during World War I.

After the war, J.R.R Tolkien worked as a professor and eventually settled at Oxford University. At Oxford, he again formed a group of friends who enjoyed talking about writing, philosophy, and literature. They called themselves “The Inklings.” Tolkien and the other writers would share their work with the group. Not all of the Inklings were writers, but JRR Tolkien wasn’t the only famous author. C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, was also part of the Inklings and a close friend of Tolkien! 

Over time, Tolkien and Edith’s family grew to include three sons and one daughter. Tolkien kept adding to the legends of Middle Earth, but now he began to tell these stories to his own children at bedtime. These bedtime stories grew into the book The Hobbit, published in 1937. As you may know, a hobbit is a tiny person he invented, about three feet tall, with large hairy feet, who lives in a hole in the side of a hill. The story follows the unlikely hero, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, as he sets off with a group of dwarves on a quest to find stolen treasure guarded by a ferocious dragon. The group doesn’t trust each other at first, but as they help each other through countless perils, adventures, and battles, they develop a strong friendship. 

When the book The Hobbit was published it was a great success. Tolkien’s publisher asked for a sequel. He agreed and began writing The Lord of the Rings. It took him 16 years to complete, and instead of one book, it was published as three. The books tell the story of a different hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who must destroy a powerful ring that threatens to destroy Middle Earth. Along the way, he joins with dwarves, elves, men, and a future king to move the ring across the map all while an epic battle between good and evil plays out across Middle Earth. The dark Lord Sauron has been building his forces of orcs and other dark creatures to steal back the ring so he can rule all races and have ultimate power. 

Not only did Tolkien tell the amazing, epic story, he also drew maps of Middle Earth and wrote parts of the text in Elvish and other languages he invented. These details helped readers enter the world of Middle Earth and feel like it was a real place. Readers loved it, but the books became even more successful when they were released in the United States a few years later.

Tolkien’s books triggered a new obsession with all kinds of fantasy literature. Readers were inspired to write similar stories or make fantasy films or games. Many of the popular fantasy books over the years have been influenced by Tolkien’s stories of wizards, dwarves, elves, and magic. After Tolkien passed away, his son Christopher continued to publish his stories about Middle Earth, so people could read more about the amazing world he’d imagined. 

Starting in 2001, Tolkien’s books were turned into several popular films, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies directed by Peter Jackson. The films were a huge hit, some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, and the 3rd movie, The Return of the King won several Academy Awards including best picture and best director. The trilogies introduced Tolkein’s books to a whole new generation of fans.

All this happened because one person couldn’t stop thinking about his invented world. JRR Tolkien used his imagination to explore all the possibilities of this world–its people, landscapes, creatures, and languages and kept exploring even when he was a grown-up. 

I hope learning about Tolkien’s life inspires you to imagine new worlds and new adventures, but if you need more inspiration, I definitely recommend reading his books! The Hobbit is a great place to start. If you could invent your own imagined world, what would it look like? Would it be science fiction or fantasy? What would the characters be like? What would be their superpowers? In what kind of places would they live? It’s fun to exercise your creative powers and imagination to build entirely new worlds.

Sources

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/31/books-bcst-question-tolkien-languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quenya

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In a previous story, we learned about the ancient Greek poet Homer, and his epic poem The Iliad. The Iliad told the story of the hero Achilles,  and how he had to overcome his anger to help his people win the Trojan War. The Odyssey is a very different story, but just as full of adventure. It tells the story of one of the kings who fought in the Trojan War. His name was Odysseus and the story is about his adventures as he tries to return home. 

What was Homer’s The Odyssey?

The Odyssey starts after the war and is far away from the war and even far from Odysseus himself. It starts in Ithaca, Odysseus’ home island, where he was king before leaving for the Trojan War. There, we meet his son, Telemachus, who was just a baby when Odysseus went off to the fight at Troy, but who is now nearly grown up. Odysseus has been gone almost twenty years – ten years at war, and ten years trying to get home. Telemachus and his mother, Penelope, don’t know whether he survived the war or not. Other men have come to Odysseus’ house, demanding that Penelope choose one of them to marry. They behave very rudely, eating all the food in the house and making messes, and staying even when they’re told to leave. 

Penelope waits on choosing a new husband, hoping Odysseus will return home soon. She tells her suitors that she must weave a funeral blanket for her father-in-law before she can choose a new husband. So every day she weaves the cloth at her loom, and every night she unravels it, so the blanket is never finished. 

Her son, Telemachus decides he must find out whether his father is still alive, so he sets out on his own quest. He learns from one of Odysseus’ friends that his father had been imprisoned by a goddess named Calypso. She wanted to marry him, but Odysseus only wanted to return to Penelope and Telemachus in Ithaca. Finally, after seven years, the other gods convinced Calypso to let Odysseus go.

Odysseus builds a raft and leaves the island. He lands on an island called Phaecia. The king of Phaecia is kind and offers Odysseus food, gifts, and a place to stay. In return, Odysseus tells him the story of the many trials he faced on his quest to return home, and how he ended up alone on Calypso’s island instead. So Odysseus is now the bard, telling his own epic within Homer’s story!

After Odysseus and his crew leave Troy, their ships are quickly thrown off course. 

Buy The Odyssey

Polyphemus, the Cyclops

Soon, they are captured by a one-eyed giant called a cyclops. He plans to eat them! But crafty Odysseus comes up with a plan to trick the monster, whose name is Polyphemus. First, Odysseus talks to Polyphemus, pretending that he’s trying to convince him to let him go free. Polyphemus is not swayed though, and only promises that he’ll eat Odysseus last. While they’re talking, the cyclops asks Odysseus his name. But instead of telling him his real name, Odysseus replies that his name is “Nobody.” 

This is part of Odysseus’ real plan! 

As Polyphemus sleeps that night, Odysseus ties each of his men to the underside of a sheep. Then he takes a stake, and blinds the cyclops, plunging it into his eye. Polyphemus begins to scream, calling out to the other cyclops on the island to help him. But when they come to the cave entrance and ask who is hurting him, he replies “Nobody!” (the pretend name Odysseus gave himself) The other cyclops leave, thinking their friend is just goofing around. At last, Polyphemus calms down and rolls away the stone that covers the door to the cave so his sheep can leave to graze. When the animals leave, they take the men with them, tied to their bellies.  

Poseidon

After escaping the cyclops, Odysseus’ troubles are far from over. You see, Polyphemus came from a powerful family: His father is the sea god Poseidon. Poseidon wasn’t too happy with Odysseus for blinding his son. And, you can probably imagine, it’s not great to have the god of the sea angry with you when you’re trying to sail home in a boat. 

Odysseus finds that, because of Poseidon’s anger, the gods will no longer send helpful winds to blow him back to Ithaca. They wander, and all but one of his ships sinks in a disaster. 

Island of Circe

Finally, he is blown to the island of Circe, the home of a powerful witch. At first, Circe turns Odysseus’ men into pigs. But with some help from the god Hermes, Odysseus is able to steal Circe’s magic wand. He says he will only give it back if she turns his men back. Circe is impressed with Odysseus and agrees. Even better, she offers to help him! 

Circe tells Odysseus of the many dangers they will face sailing back to Ithaca, and how he should deal with each one. The last thing Circe warns Odysseus of is the Island of the Sun God. This island is where the Sun God’s cattle eat grass. If even one cow is eaten by Odysseus or his men, they will be punished severely. Circe tells him not to even stop there. 

So Odysseus and his men set out from Circe’s island. At first, they follow her advice as they pass through each danger. 

But after all these trials and challenges, the men are getting frustrated and tired. They insist on stopping at the Island of the Sun God. You can probably guess what happens next. Despite Odysseus pleading with them not to, his men kill and eat the cattle on the island. Odysseus is angry with them, but it’s too late. As they sail away from the island, the gods send a storm that sinks the ship. 

Only Odysseus survives the shipwreck. He clings to boards from his wrecked ship, drifting for days until he finally comes ashore on the island of Calypso, who of course captures and holds him prisoner.

This is the end of the story that Odysseus tells his new friends the Phaecians, but of course, it’s not the end of the epic. He’s still not home with his family in Ithaca. The Phaecian king helps Odysseus get a new ship and return home to set things straight.

Odysseys Returns to Ithica

Once he reaches his home of Ithaca, the goddess Athena disguises Odysseus as an old beggar. He returns to his house to see what’s been happening. By this time, Telemachus has returned home, and he and Penelope treat him kindly, not realizing he is actually Odysseus in disguise. 

While they are talking, Penelope tells him all about the men trying to marry his wife – how rude, wasteful, and selfish they are. She says that she’s decided to hold a contest. Twelve axes will be set up in a row. The axes each have a hole in their blades. Penelope says she will marry the person who shoots an arrow through the hole in the ax. She knows none of the suitors will be up to the task. Odysseus, still in disguise, encourages her to follow through on this plan. 

The next day, each suitor takes the challenge, stringing an arrow and trying to shoot through all twelve axe heads. Each one fails. When none are left, the old beggar (who is Odysseus in disguise) steps up and asks to try. The gathered suitors all laugh, but they let him try, sure he cannot possibly succeed where they have all failed. But they are wrong: Odysseus strings his bow and shoots. The arrow whistles through all twelve axe heads, sticking in the wall behind them. Everyone is stunned that this old, feeble man has beaten all the young, strong suitors.

At this point, Athena reveals the beggar’s true identity. It is Odysseus! Penelope and Telemachus are overjoyed that not only has Odysseus returned home, but he also beat the suitors in the contest. The suitors are terrified and realize they need to get out of there fast, knowing Odysseus isn’t going to be happy about how they’ve treated his family and home.

Conclusion

Stories like The Odyssey tell us about how the ancient Greeks thought. The poem warns people that they should treat others with respect and honor the gods, or else face terrible consequences. Though the consequences in real life might not be as harsh as they are in the poem, treating others with respect is a good idea no matter when or where you live. That’s another thing about Homer’s epics — they show us that people have always been people, even the ones we think of as heroes. They make mistakes. They might do or believe things we disagree with. But people have always  needed the same things we do now: Respect, the love of family, and a place to come home to after a long, hard journey.

Sources

https://www.worldhistory.org/homer/

https://blog.britishmuseum.org/who-was-homer/

Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Richard Lattimore. University of Chicago Press, 1951

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson. Norton & Company, 2020.

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Wait! You’re probably saying: Did I just say poems? I did! Actually superheroes and epics have been around for thousands of years, and the first epics were performed as very long poems! These poems told of dangerous journeys, fantastical monsters, and grand battle scenes. Some of them were as long as chapter books. Heroes had to overcome almost impossible obstacles to fulfill their destinies.

Many cultures, from all over the world, have their own epics. These sagas told people about their history, mythology, and religion in a way that’s exciting and memorable. So memorable in fact, that before there was writing, people would memorize and perform them, and they would be passed down for hundreds of years! Today we’re going to talk about two of the most famous epic poems composed by a poet named Homer.

Homer was a poet and bard in ancient Greece. A bard was a person who recited stories or poems for an audience, often set to music. He composed two of the most famous epic poems in the world: The Iliad and the Odyssey. His life is a bit of a mystery actually. We don’t know exactly when he was born, or exactly where. He was probably born sometime in the 8th century BCE, and somewhere in what is now western Turkey, or a nearby island. At the time, there were many Greek settlements in western Turkey, along the coast of the Mediterranean. 

Both The Iliad and The Odyssey talk about events surrounding an ancient war called the Trojan War. The Trojan War in the poems was probably based on a real war, but as you’ll see in a few minutes, the real war was probably nothing like the one in the stories.  The first poem, the Iliad talks about the war itself. The Odyssey is the story of King Odysseus’ homecoming after the war. Today we’re going to talk about The Iliad, and in the next episode, we’ll talk about The Odyssey.

The Iliad starts out in the tenth year of the Trojan war. The leader of the Greek forces, Agamemnon, and his best fighter, Achilles are arguing. 

You might be wondering, why start the story in the tenth year of the war? Isn’t it important to start at the beginning so people know what’s going on? Well, Homer’s audience, the ancient Greeks, knew these stories. They probably even knew the stories he included in the Iliad, but the excitement would have been in hearing them all put together, maybe with certain details added or certain parts given more attention. But, since you may not know how the war started, I’ll go over that now. 

It all starts with an apple. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece were celebrating a wedding, and decided not to invite the goddess, Eris. She was angry and decided to trick the revelers. So she threw a golden apple into the party, and said it was a gift “for the fairest.” The goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each thought they deserved the apple. After much arguing, they agreed to let a human named Paris judge which of them was the most beautiful and should get the apple. 

All three goddesses tried to gain Paris’s favor by promising him things if he chose them. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, promised him he could marry the most beautiful woman in the world. This was the prize Paris wanted, so Aphrodite won the contest. The most beautiful woman in the world was named Helen. But the BIG problem here was Helen was already married to the king of Sparta. You can imagine how this is going to cause some problems. So Paris and Helen fall in love and when Paris is visiting they escape back to the city of Troy. But Helen’s husband, Menelaus, was very angry that she and Paris left. So what did he do next? He called on all of his friends to help get her back. Many of his friends were powerful kings of other Greek cities and islands. They formed a huge army and headed to Troy to take Helen back from Paris. 

Now, if you’re a bit skeptical about the idea that an apple could cause a war, that’s okay. Remember, these stories weren’t just about telling history, they were also about entertaining people and teaching moral lessons. So gods and magical events would often become part of the story over time. It made things more exciting, just like the powers that the heroes of our day have like superpowers or magic. 

So, the Iliad starts ten years into this war over Helen! But more importantly, it starts with anger. In fact, the first line of the poem talks about anger: 

Sing the anger, oh goddess, of Peleus’ son Achilles.

This story starts with an argument between the hero Achilles and the leader of the Greek forces, Agamemnon, over a servant girl Agamemnon took from him.  Achilles refuses to fight, and also keeps his army, the Myrmidons, on the sidelines. This is a big problem for the Greeks, because there’s a prophecy that says they cannot win the war without Achilles.

Agamemnon tries all sorts of things to try to get Achilles to rejoin the fighting. He even tells everyone they should just pack up and go home. Maybe he thinks if he threatens to leave, Achilles might not like the idea and finally decide to cooperate. (Have your parents ever tried this on you?) But a few of the other leaders convince everyone they should stay and continue the fight.

Once the armies reach Troy, The Greeks and the Trojans try to settle their differences by having Paris and Menelaus fight one-to-one. After all, it was their argument over Helen that started the whole war. But when it becomes clear Menelaus is going to win, the goddess Aphrodite saves Paris by carrying him back to his house on a cloud. 

So the two sides just keep fighting. 

Another important character in the Battle for Troy is the warrior, Achilles. A prophecy says that the war can only be won with Achilles help, but Achilles had refused to fight because he was wronged. Eventually, Achilles starts to feel bad about not helping, as he sees his friends struggling and dying around him. So he gives his best friend, Patroclus his armor and tells him to lead his men into battle. Sadly, Patroclus Achilles dies in battle and Achilles regrets his decision to send him instead. Achilles now feels he has no choice but to rejoin the war, that he must avenge his friend’s death. 

So Achilles puts on his armor and in anger, avenges his friend’s death but the Trojan War continues on anyway. This poem, called The Iliad, ends with Achilles overcoming his anger and accepting his responsibilities towards his comrades. Eventually, the Greeks do win the war, and Helen returns home with husband, the King Menelaus, but those events aren’t part of The Iliad or The Odyssey. In a way, The Iliad isn’t about the war – how many years it took, why it was fought, or who won. It was about one person, Achilles, learning to overcome his angry feelings and do what his friends and community needed him to do. This is often what makes someone a hero: overcoming their own anger, pride, or fear in order to serve a bigger purpose.

The next episode, we’ll talk about Homer’s other epic poem, The Odyssey. This story is very different from the Iliad. Instead of talking about the war, it talks about one king’s return home. The king’s name is Odysseus, and he’s known for being very crafty and smart. He actually had the idea that led the Greeks to eventually win the Trojan War.  His idea was to build a giant, wooden horse, as tall as a building. It was also hollow inside so Greek warriors could hide inside. Then the Greeks told the Trojans they wanted to give them the horse as a gift. Once the horse was inside the city and it was night, the soldiers hidden inside climbed out of a trapdoor and took over the city! Pretty tricky right? This is where we get the term “Trojan horse” for something that looks harmless, but hides a nasty surprise.

Thanks for listening to this episode about The Illiad. Be sure to listen next time for the story about The Odyssey. 

Sources

Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Richard Lattimore. University of Chicago Press, 1951

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson. Norton & Company, 2020.

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