Final Essay...?

The Power of Words in Oral Traditions
Words are ephemeral and insubstantial, not eternal and concrete. You cannot reach out and grasp a word. Like sunshine, it slips through fingers, untouchable only heating the palm but leaving no real trace of it. If you do manage to capture the sensation of a word in your mind its meaning streams from hands like rain, the harder you squeeze the faster it slips out. But, as with all things, especially man and word, it returns to nature, a mere sound. Or is it? "Oral peoples commonly and with all likelihood universally consider words to have magical potency[, this] is clearly tied in… with their sense of the word as necessarily spoken, sounded, and hence power driven" Ong comments (Ong 32). The sound drives, is driven by a power, a belief that it can movemakedestroyact in some manner to change something or someone.
In Harry Potter a few words of Latin defy the laws of physics, in Good Omens The Word told a story that never happened, by using a true name one can control or be controlled. A sphinx’ riddles can save a life or end it depending on the answer. Each of these examples is a story, a tradition that demonstrates the power that words have. This power is still in common usage in modern times. For Example, arguments give weight to each person’s words to convince or encourage the other side to surrender, speeches are meant to bind people to a cause, contracts are binding law.
But, really, this is oral and imaginative, we don’t need no stinking literature… which completely destroys the point of actually writing this essay… *shrugs*, oh, well. The point that I am trying to get to is that all words have power.
Words of Magic:
"Words [being] primarily oral, as events, and hence as necessarily powered" (Ong 32-33). J.K. Rowlings uses Latin for her magic words, Vainamoinen and Ilmorinen sing in Old Norse to gain immortality. Each word is an event, a happening, a force in and of nature. These examples lead me to the conclusion that it is not the language that gives the power so much as the inherent meaning behind the words. Words are sound set loose but the meaning and the intention of the words is where the strength and force come from. Djinni only need the words "I wish…" to make any dream come true once a person has rubbed their lamp.
Flyting is a Scottish tradition of a word battle consisting of insults. "Flyt" is Scot’s Gaelic for "quarrel" or "conflict." I suppose it is something like a battle of bloody knuckles where the first person to flinch looses or who gave the last or best insult wins. The point is to have more power over the judge and the enemy. This dueling of words much like the traditional weapons dueling is an exchange. First one will go followed by the other etc., etc., until someone dies or yields (which is why I have always found pistol duels exceedingly pointless)
Kotodama/Kototama:
The Japanese have a theory that they call Kotodama which is heavily involved with Aikido, a from of martial arts. From what I understand, each word has power and that once the word is spoken the power is released into the world to spread. Like a physical force, it affects every thing around it moving outward like bad gossip, or if you want to stick to orientalism, like ripples in a pond, reaching out and then bouncing back, again and again until there is no more power to the word spoken. The words drive the strength of the fighter or the fighter him/herself. Or the word is the strength of the warrior who is fighting. Basically the word drives the opponents strength/magic/will away from the fighter leaving the opponent open to an attack wither physical or other.

Okay, so, duh! Words move men and armies, so of course they have power. Say family and you get warm fuzzies, beloved and you turn into a sap. It’s just the way it goes. But words only have the power people give them. You can only be hurt by an insult if you believe it or it comes from someone important to you, but from a stranger… meh. Let them talk, after all it’s only words.
The words hold power, and every word of every story I tell is true and real according to this theory. No, words of power. The belief alone will kill you. The belief in the strength of the words that are spoken drives the speaker and the listener.
Names:
Rumplestiltskin’s name freed a girl from being forced to give up her first born child. "Names (one kind of [word])… [convey] power over things," giving the one who hols the name a power over the other (Ong 33). By knowing a name you have a certain influence to encourage or drive the person or thing with the name. One example is Adam’s naming of the animals in Genesis. By doing so he gained power over them and ruled them and nature until he and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. And let’s not get started on the part about man naming a woman and gaining power and absolute control over her. That is just picking a fight.
I also have the theory that epithets were used not only to remember a person by but a way to avoid giving away their name (full or portions) and thus the entirety of who they are which gives control to any who may or may not have it i.e. the government in modern consideration.
We use names to make requests or orders. There are formulas in the form of words or strings of words to gain certain reactions such as "Please…?" or "Would you mind…?" Words hold more power over us than we like to think and humans put more stock in words than they think about.
The power of a sound, the strength of an intention, the magic of a word. Words are one of the most powerful forces on this earth. All words are insubstantial and carry the weight of ages. They are most powerful when first spoken but that power does not fade out as the sound itself fades. No, words stay with us. "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation," "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to dissolve the political bands," "Give me liberty or give me death" "I have a dream…"
"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here… and that… shall not perish from the earth." Lincoln, Gettysburg Address 1863
Powerful words, whether written or spoken do not truly fade. They are captured in time, in space, by people like a dragonfly in amber. You can only look, no touching, lest you mar the trapped thing and the molten gold of history.

Echo

today during classy i had a epiphany that basically wiped out a good chunk of my paper. part of it happened this morning while i was inking in Runes for another essay that was due in a half an hour and the other part was during Christine of the Laughing Rats speech. so now I'm feeling a little like Echo wailing plaintively back whatever anyone else has said so far. its a little... redundant but this is an oral traditions class so i suppose i can be redundant.

Traditions

The tales told on this day were: How Coyote was Moon, How Spring Defeated Winter, The Earth On Turtle's Back, The Creation Story of the Apache(?), and the Tale of the Tanada Lake Monster.

Each of these tales is from a different Native American Tribe; Cherokee(?), Apache, Ahtna... Each of these tribes have different traditions.

With a wooden flute, drums and a voice rising in the background we, as tale tellers, tried to connect with our audience. The polyphony of the act; the voice, the audience, the culture, the music, the times, all of these things come together to adjust a tale.

I first heard the story of the Tanada Lake Monster from the first woman to pioneer the Wrangell Mountain area around Tanada Lake. The lake itself is surrounded on all sides by mountains and dormant volcanoes. Black, volcanic sand beaches and clear green water. One mile across and six miles long the lake is somewhat oblong. The village that this particular story comes from was called Batzulnetas by the Ahtna or as they are also known, the Nabesna, "People of Ice," or the people of the Copper River. The Ahtna had settled the area over 7,000 years ago, apparently, and left the village around the time of the Russian settlement.

The only place the legend is written down, that I know of, is in a book by Conkle called "The Wind on the Water" which is what Tanada means in Athabascan, which is the Ahtna language. As I said in class i was dumped off on Tanda lake, accessible only by float plane, with my family when i was about nine years old. He vaguely commented that there was a monster in the lake and then left us there. I didn't sleep that night. That week was spent fending off moose, grizzly- which tore out our doorstep, and eyeballing the lake for monsters. It was fun!

Mrs. Conkle, whose family settled the area and still remains there today, told me the legend of the lake monster that she had heard from the tribes people when we went to visit her after the week was over. She dedicated her book to them as well. Apparently the Monster is supposed to be a Giant Lake Trout. She, her husband, my family and other visitors have seed it with our own eyes. One lady visitor hooked a ten inch trout that was swallowed by a fourteen foot one(no, it was not a pike.) The thing I and my father saw had to be at least that if not bigger. Needless to say I refused to get in a boat after that. I'd rather contend with the grizzlies.

But here is the story as I remember it.


In a place far to the north where the winter is a one great night and the summer one long day the Nabesna, or ahtna, the “People of Ice” watched from their village of Batzulnetasas on the southern shore of the copper river as their chief returned from peace talks with a neighboring village. Their princess would marry the other tribes chief’s son the messenger had said. As the chief crossed the Tanada, “Wind on the water,” in it’s clear green depths the great monster that had lived there quietly for so long stirred and with a heave of its great tail sent the waters rising and crashing to all shores, tipping the canoes tossing the men and their chief overboard. They drowned. The waters quieted.

The villagers wailed their grief and searched the shores for days for their bodies but they were never discovered. The people believed that the monster, the great lake beast, had eaten their chief and his men in revenge for having been ignored and insulted by the people for so long.
The new chief, son of the old chief consulted with the shaman who stated that the wedding between the princess and the neighboring prince would occur, that the monster of “wind on the water” was appeased by his father’s death.

But it was not.

The princess and her guards set out on a great canoe to cross the lake that her father had died in. She knew that she would not survive the crossing but wished for her guards to. She prayed to the creator that they might be spared if she went to appease the beast. The creator, knowing that she was much beloved by her people, answered her prayers and called up a great mist. In that mist she stepped from the boat and was greeted by the Tanada beast. “In exchange for their lives you will give yours to me.” The beast demanded. She agreed immediately and was dragged into the clear green depths of the lake.

Once the mist cleared the warriors realized that their princess had vanished from the canoes. They searched the waters, they searched the shores and the woods and the mountains and the rivers but found no sign of her. Like her father they believed that she too had drowned and died, the Tanada monster having stolen her from the canoes.

The young chief grieved and forbid all of the tribes people from ever crossing the lake of the “wind on the water.”

It holds true to this day.


Some facts about Tanada and the people.

“Wind on the Water” = Tanada in Athabascan which is Ahtna lang.
Lake is clear green water, 1 mile wide and 6 miles long, 180 ft. deep
Lake Monster large enough to slap its tail and have the waves wash out the shores
It ate those who crossed that it dumped
A chief who crossed and a princess who was going to be married to another tribe on the other side of the lake
Her village of Batzulnetas on southern of the copper River shore
Nabesna People, also called Ahtna or “People of Ice”

Essay part 2

Kotodama/Kototama
The Japanese have a theory that they call Kotodama which is heavily involved with Aikido, a from of martial arts. From what I understand, each word has power and that once the word is spoken the power is released into the world to spread. Like a physical force, it affects every thing around it moving outward like bad gossip, or if you want to stick to orientalism, like ripples in a pond, reaching out and then bouncing back, again and again until there is no more power to the word spoken.
Okay, so, duh! Words move men and armies, so of course they have power. Say family and you get warm fuzzies, beloved and you turn into a sap. It’s just the way it goes. But words only have the power people give them. You can only be hurt by an insult if you believe it or it comes from someone important to you, but from a stranger… meh. Let them talk, after all it’s only words.
The words hold power, and every word of every story I tell is true and real according to this theory. No, words of power. The belief alone will kill you. The belief in the strength of the words that are spoken drives the speaker and the listener.

Help Essay

Well, since we're required to beg for help i might as well do so know.

I don't think my essay has much of a thesis at this point. also i tend to ramble and go off on tangents. help please.

Joan

Essay... sorta

Oral Traditions: Word Magic
32-33 ong
In Harry Potter a few words of Latin defy the laws of physics, in Good Omens The Word told a story that never happened, by using a true name one can control or be controlled. Each of these examples is a story, a tradition that demonstrates the power that words have. This power is still in common usage in modern times. For Example, arguments give weight to each person’s words to convince or encourage the other side to surrender, speeches are meant to bind people to a cause, contracts are binding law.
But, really, this is oral and imaginative, we don’t need no stinking literature… which completely destroys the point of actually writing this essay… *shrugs*, oh, well. The point that I am trying to get to is that all words have power.
Spells/Spell Battles/Word Battles/ Flyting
J.K. Rowlings uses Latin for her magic words, Vainamoinen and Ilmorinen sing in Old Norse to gain immortality. These examples lead me to the conclusion that it is not the language that gives the power so much as the inherent meaning behind the words.
Flyting is a Scottish tradition of a word battle consisting of insults. “Flyt” is Scot’s Gaelic for “quarrel” or “conflict.” I suppose it is something like a battle of bloody knuckles where the first person to flinch looses or who gave the last or best insult wins. The point is to have more power over the judge and the enemy.
Kotodama/Kototama
True Names/Soul Names

Memory saving lives

i was not in class this monday due to the fact that i was taking emergency situation training for the Alta rural fire department which i will be joining this summer.

the training included emergency medical help, assessing/triage, diagnosing, and treating on site injuries. the other part of the training included firearm handling and what to do in a situation involving a firearm. needless to say it has been a busy few weeks during spring break to now.

but the thing that really gets me is that people are going to be relying in my memory. they are going to trust that i know what i am doing and can help them. i cant pull out the manual in the middle of an emergency, i can't call in a consult, i am going to know what i am doing and actually do it. people will rely on my steady head and hands. there are no breaks, no take backs when it involves peoples lives.

we are a rural fire department. in the middle of winter people can't always make it up there let alone in time. so while the medical training was necessary, the firearms training was strongly recommended. and i guess hunter's safety just doesn't cut it.

in early February i was one of the first on site of a nasty car wreck and i couldn't do shit except hold that sobbing, teenage girl while her little brother was partially pinned under a car. I couldn't do shit. so I'm not going to be that helpless again and I'm going to do something damn useful.

Recital

holy gods on high, i am soooooo glad that's over with! now that it is i am going back to my room to have my own private freak out which will involve a lot of pacing, ranting, bouncing, and jittering over having to get up in front of more that two people and actually speak words. toodles!

List

memorizing my list involved a lot of pacing, repetition and hand movements. additionally snarling at myself on occasion. the only time i was able to use images for memorization was when i actually knew the book or had seen it. .

I live!

well, since i haven't blogged lately i figured i should start again.

first Epithets
Zack- Zazen Zack
Nick- Quick Wit Nick
Ben- Keen Kenning Ben
Me- Gossamer Von Goss
Erin- Emo Erin (Hope the spelling's correct)
Lyn- Rin Tin Lyn (Hope things are going well and hope to see you soon)

note: I seem to be one of the few if not only people in the class whose epithet uses my family name. how odd.