Week 2 Story: Susanoo, God and Dragon Slayer

Long ago in ancient Japan, Susanoo, God of the storm of Summer and brother to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu found himself walking along a river bank in. Unexpectedly a chopstick was spotted by him flowing down the river and he wondered to himself who could possibly live this far up the mountain. As he continued his way further up the mountain he found an old man with two women, one in each arm the three holding each other tightly. Intrigued, Susanoo approached them and said to them “Hello there, are you Gods or Mortals”? The old man lifts his head to meet the gaze of the swordsmen that had approached them revealing tears falling down the old man’s face as though he has been crying for days. "Great swordsmen, I am the god Ashinadzuchi, son of the Mountain God, this is my wife Tenadzuchi and our daughter Kushinada-hime (hime is the suffix added onto the name of a princess) the old man said, barely able to get the words out. Troubled by the old man’s tears, Susanoo asked them why they were all in tears. “My lord, for the past eight years, Koshi the eight-headed dragon has come and taken our last eight daughters from us, today is the anniversary and we know surely he shall come for my remaining daughter” said Ashinadzuchi. Seeing the beauty of Kushinada-hime, Susanoo pondered the situation of the three deities. “I shall slay the dragon for you, and in exchange I ask for Kushinada-hime’s hand in marriage” Susanoo said to the elder.  “Who are you swordsmen” the daughter questioned. Laughing hysterically and amused by the question the god replied “Why I am brother to Amertasu Goddess of the Sun, I am the greatest swordsman in all of Heaven! Susanoo, God of the summer storm!” . Ashinadzuchi readily accepted the offer Susanoo had given him, his daughters hand in marriage in exchange for the slaying of Koshi the dragon.

After agreeing to slay the dragon in exchange for the new bride, Susanoo turned Kushinada-hime into a comb and put her in his hair. After which he told the elder to make vast quantities of sake with strength that of 8 times of regular sake. He then put the out the sake and waited patiently. Soon, Koshi arrived and began using his tongues to lap up the sake however even the mighty dragon was not immune to the strength of the alcohol. Koshi, now drunk passed out and Susanoo began laughing to himself and how he had outsmarted the dragon and began slicing the dragon into thousands of pieces. After slicing up the dragon Susanoo found a divine sword in its belly called Kushanagi. He then returned Kushinada-hime to her original form and returned to heaven with his new bride and a gift for the ruler of heaven.



Susanoo Fighting Koshi
Photo: nerdreactor.com


Author's Note
The Polytheistic pantheon that Japan's history possesses is one that has always interested me. While reading the original story, it was interesting to see that the original setting did not in fact take place in heaven but here in the mortal realm, for Susanoo had to ask if they were gods or mortals showing that he was in a place where mortals could be, which excludes heaven. This shows that in the lore, the gods and mortals could have interacted quite normally. because of this, and my lack of imagination, I chose to retell the story in simple ways like changing the language and some of the terms that would make it easier for someone today to understand. But I also wanted to share the Japanese culture so changing the setting did not appeal to me so I chose to do the best I could to retell in my own way while still sharing the tale as is with my audience.





Bibliography:  "The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi" from Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). Web Source

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 1, 2017 at 7:17 PM

    Hi Jake, I based my Week 2 story off of "The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi" too. We definitely had two different ways of retelling it. I actually changed the story and made Kushinada-hime play a more active role. I enjoyed your version because it actually made a little more sense and gave some clarification to the story! One quote I liked was the way you asked "Are you Gods or Mortals?” That was a lot easier to read than the real version where it says, "Who are ye, Gods or mortals?" It doesn't have a lot of variation, but it is a lot simpler!

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  2. UnknownSeptember 5, 2017 at 8:32 PM

    I liked this version of the story, because it did exactly what you set out to do. You kept all of the characters, themes, and locations the same, but made it a little easier to read, and more accessible. It was a simple, straightforward, and pleasant story. I also find the history and lore of Japan very interesting, and I considered doing a variation of this story. But, it intimidated me a bit, because I had no ideas about how to approach it.

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