Extra Reading Diary: Lang's European Fairytales II

This week I read from the Lang's European Fairy Tales II unit. In it, my favorite story was the two parts of the Seven Headed Serpent. These tell the story of a king and his people who arrive on an island, only to discover that it is ruled by a king of its own, a Seven Headed Serpent. This serpent promises to leave them alone so long as they pay homage to him every year. This required ten youths and ten maidens every single year. When they've finally had enough, the people learn how to kill the snake, and the King's son ultimately sneaks into his lair and kills him, freeing the land.

The Seven Headed Serpent

Lang's European Fairy Tales II

Extra Reading Diary: The Brothers Grimm

For my extra reading this week, I finished the Brothers Grimm unit that I started with Reading Diary A. Of the second half of stories I read, my favorite was Eve's Unequal Children. The thing that initially interested me about it was that it didn't seem like it followed the typical plot of a Brothers Grimm story, which, at least in my experience, don't touch on religion much. In the story Adam and Eve are giving birth to children, with some of them being good looking and some being somewhat ugly. Eve learns that God will come to visit, and so she decides to hide her ugly children and only show God her good looking children. When God comes he proclaims that the children will become hugely successful, with some being princes, knights, and counts. After hearing this, Eve decides to show God her ugly children as well. Eve is surprised and dismayed when God declares that they will be a fisherman, a tanner, and a potter, amongst others. Eve is upset about this and questions God, but he explains that it is necessary for people to play all roles on Earth, else there will be no one to sow the food that the prince ultimately eats. All have different roles, but all are equally important. I really enjoyed this story because I thought the theme of equal value is an important one for people to learn. No matter how successful a person is, they still rely on other people in their day-to-day lives.

God with Adam, Eve and their children

Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (English)

I read the second part of the Aesop's Fables unit for my Extra Reading Diary. My favorite story was Cats and Weasels because it was a very interesting contrast between a lot of the stories I'm familiar with. They offered an example of how back in this time the typical fable of the cat and mouse is actually the weasel and mouse. I thought that was a cool alternative to the Tom and Jerry story we're familiar with. They also discussed cats too, but that specific comparison made it stick out to me.

A man and his Weasel, who hunted the mice

Aesop's Fables (English)

Extra Reading Diary: Beowulf

For my extra reading, I completed the Beowulf unit. I really enjoyed the unit as a whole, and of the second half my favorite story was Battle With the Dragon. In this story, Beowulf goes to challenge the dragon. He is abandoned by all but one of his warriors, but fights nonetheless. He is able to use his shield to block the fire of the dragon, but his sword doesn't do any damage. They battle on like this, neither managing to damage the other, but both tiring. I really liked the description given in this story, both of the battle itself and each of the warriors.

Beowulf blocks the flame of the dragon

Beowulf