I ran upon some legends recently and was struck by their similarity. These are legends. instead of stories or folktales, because they refer to an actual place or event. But in each of these narratives, the old woman or the old man saves the day. As you might imagine, there are not many stories in which elders become heroes. They are called “unlikely heroes” in folklore, because people who are too old or too young are not likely heroes. This is also true for hero stories about women, people who are disabled or "othered" in some fashion. In the world of folktales and mythology, you see, all the heroes are young and male. Ageism has been pervasive for a long, long time. But the legends I’m sharing will knock the idea of old and feeble on its head.
The first story is the Japanese legend, the “Burning of the Rice Fields.” It’s also known as the “Fire of Rice Sheaves” (Inamura no Hi). This is the event the story is based upon. In 1853, Goryo Hamaguchi was living in Hiro, Japan. It’s a coastal town now known as Hirogawa. One day, there was a sizeable earthquake. And before a major tsunami struck his village, Hamaguchi lit a fire to the rice sheaves. In doing so, he helped guide the villagers to the hilltops for safety. They were busy preparing for a local celebration and would have been killed if they hadn’t seen the fire. Afterwards Hamaguchi did many things to help his fellow villagers recover from this event including founding a school and hiring local workers to build a large seawall. His story is shared in Japanese textbooks. The town of Hirogawa is said to be home to a living god, and that god was, Goryo Hamaguchi. His story is also shared in educational pamphlets that provide tsunami disaster prevention.
The second legend is about the village of Bleadon, a parish in Somerset, England. Bleadon is next to the River Axe. There is a small port there. The flooding of the river has been a problem since medieval times with many different attempts made to lower the level. In this story we see Danes invading the port when the water was high. The people were saved by the action of an observant old woman. While we know the Vikings invaded England in the 10th-11th century and were led by Danish warlords, it is unknown whether this event actually occurred.
The final story is “Tante Tina.” Tante means auntie or old woman in German. It takes place in Husum, Germany, a town on the North Sea coast. In 1362 Husum became a coastal town due to a great storm surge. The surge created new waterways and established a connection to the sea. In this story, an old woman saves Husum from an incoming storm while the villagers were at a festival and unaware of the danger. Husum residents still enjoy storm watching, and winter festivals.
What makes these stories legends are the facts that support the story’s narrative (and not the ones that don’t). Sometimes a narrative matches an event closely and other times only a sliver of truth remains. The bards of old were the keepers of history. They shared that history in stories and poems. Over time, stories changed as the tellers expressed what was needed at that time. King Arthur stayed but the stories about him grew and grew and grew. And while we may no longer know much about this ruler from the past, we still have his beautiful legends to inspire and guide us.
Let’s start with “The Burning of the Rice Fields.” This 1918 version was adapted by Lafcadio Hearn. It is found in the book How to Tell Stories to Children and Some Stories to Tell, edited by Sara Cone Bryant and published by George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
Once there was a good old man who lived up on a mountain, far away in Japan. All round his little house the mountain was flat, and the ground was rich; and there were the rice fields of all the people who lived in the village at the mountain’s foot. Mornings and evenings, the old man and his little grandson, who lived with him, used to look far down on the people at work in the village, and watch the blue sea which lay all round the land, so close that there was no room for fields below, only for houses. The little boy loved the rice fields, dearly, for he knew that all the good food for all the people came from them; and he often helped his grand father to watch over them.
One day, the grandfather was standing alone, before his house, looking far down at the people, and out at the sea, when, suddenly, he saw something very strange far off where the sea and sky meet. Something like a great cloud was rising there, as if the sea were lifting itself high into the sky. The old man put his hands to his eyes and looked again, hard as his old sight could. Then he turned and ran to the house. “Yone, Yone!” he cried, “bring a brand from the hearth!”
The little grandson could not imagine what his grandfather wanted with fire, but he always obeyed, so he ran quickly and brought the brand. The old man already had one, and was running for the rice fields. Yone ran after. But what was his horror to see his grandfather thrust his burning brand into the ripe dry rice, where it stood.
“Oh, Grandfather, Grandfather!” screamed the little boy, “what are you doing?”
“Quick, set fire! Thrust your brand in!” said the grandfather.
Yone thought his dear grandfather had lost his mind, and he began to sob; but a little Japanese boy always obeys, so though he sobbed, he thrust his torch in, and the sharp flame ran up the dry stalks, red and yellow. In an instant, the field was ablaze, and thick black smoke began to pour up, on the mountain side. It rose like a cloud, black and fierce, and in no time the people below saw that their precious rice fields were on fire. Ah, how they ran! Men, women, and children climbed the mountain, running as fast as they could to save the rice; not one soul stayed behind.
And when they came to the mountain top, and saw the beautiful rice-crop all in flames, beyond help, they cried bitterly, “Who has done this thing? How did it happen?”
“I set fire,” said the old man, very solemnly; and the little grandson sobbed, “Grandfather set fire.”
But when they came fiercely round the old man, with “Why? Why?” he only turned and pointed to the sea. “Look!” he said.
They all turned and looked. And there, where the blue sea had lain, so calm, a mighty wall of water, reaching from earth to sky, was rolling in. No one could scream, so terrible was the sight. The wall of water rolled in on the land, passed quite over the place where the village had been, and broke, with an awful sound, on the mountain side. One wave more, and still one more, came; and then all was water, as far as they could look, below; the village where they had been was under the sea.
But the people were all safe. And when they saw what the old man had done, they honoured him above all men for the quick wit which had saved them all from the tidal wave.
[The next two stories I share fully in my podcast (S7,#3). They are not available on the Internet but can be found in these books.]
1. Moving on to “St. David’s Flood,” this story was told by Ruth L. Tongue on Sept. 9th, 1963. It was collected by Katharine M. Briggs and included within the book Folktales of England, published by the Univ. of Chicago Press in 1965. Ruth heard the story from a local farmer’s daughter who was told it by her grandfather. There are other narratives about Norse boats stranded in an English river. In all versions, the Vikings were massacred by the villagers. In this story, an old woman lets loose the moorings of some Viking boats saving the village.
2. The final story is “Tante Tina.” I found this story in the book, A Piece of the Wind: And Other Stories to Tell by Ruthilde Kronberg and Patricia C. McKissack. The book was published by Harper & Row in 1990. The authors state that this German folktale can be heard on radio on the Springboard to Learning program, “Heroes, Heroes, Everywhere” through the Intercollegian Broadcast System. I was unable to find any other references.In this story an old woman sets her bed on fire to get the attention of the village as a storm approaches.
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In each of these stories, the old woman or old man, saves the village. The grandfather sets the rice fields on fire because he sees the storm coming and assumes it is a tsunami. The rice fields are high on the mountain top and when the people of the village see the smoke, they leave what they are doing to check on the fields. When the tsunami hits, the villagers are saved.
In another story, one old woman bravely goes up to the Viking boats and sets them loose. So, when the tide goes back to sea the ships follow suit. Having no where to escape, the Vikings are unexpectedly defeated by the villagers. The final story is reminiscent of the Japanese legend, for the old woman sees the storm coming but the people are at a festival standing on ice. She does the only thing she can to get their attention. She sets her mattress on fire.
We see three old people using their knowledge and experience to save others. We see them acting bravely. One old woman cried out for help but was not heard. So many people today speak of the invisibility of elders. But no matter. These old people didn’t wait to be heard. They just acted in ways that couldn’t be ignored.
It does appear for a short time that the Japanese old man who set the rice fields on fire was about to face repercussions for his actions. But then, the tsunami hit and we know he was thanked or praised instead.
These appear to be stories that either happened or have a bit of truth in them. History records the name of the Japanese old man who saved his village. Vikings did invade Bleadon, England and storms brewed off the coast of Husum, Germany. The question is, why did some events become legends while others did not. Certainly, there are many stories in the news, worthy of legends. The stories that do become legends must capture our attention and stick in our memory. They must share a teaching or a lesson or have a surprising element. There are legends about historical figures. Washington cutting down the cherry tree, for example. There are legends about monsters, Sasquatch or Nessie. There are the heroic legends of Robin Hood and King Arthur that give us both moral teaching and a model of bravery.
I’m guessing that the legends of the old women and men are remembered because they are unexpected. Are they surprising because those who are younger expect so little from their elders or because the elders expect so little of themselves? In the past, elders were respected. They were revered because people didn’t live very long and those who did knew a thing of two. They were often essential to the tribe. They were the keepers of stories and traditions. We see them depicted in folktales as old people sitting on the side of the road waiting to help a worthy youth. We see them as eccentric and brilliant, like Merlin, Confucius or King Soloman. They serve as guides and mentors to those younger. For example, Chiron, the wise centaur from Greek mythology.
All I can say is this. Imagine a world in which no one aged beyond thirty. Some of you will remember the old adage from the 60’s, “Never trust anyone over thirty.” But that was wrong. Age is important. If you do it right, you achieve both experience and knowledge. And, if you’re really lucky, that can become wisdom.
That’s what we see in these three legends. Elders act based on the wisdom they have acquired. They didn’t consult with their children. They didn’t ask for advice. They simply took the action that was needed. When something critical must be done, when the storm surge is coming, when invading forces seek to overcome us, there is no time for negotiations. There is no time for committees. When people are literally standing on thin ice, there is no time to get permission or reach consensus. There is only time for action. An old Nigerian Proverb says, “What the old man sees sitting down, the young man cannot see standing on a tree.” Another one goes, “The youth walks faster than the elderly, but the elderly know the road.” Michael Meade writes, “An elder uses old eyes to see what those with fresh eyes typically overlook. In losing sight of outward things, the vision of elders tends toward things internal and things external. Many things fade, but certain things clarify.”
So, if you are young, I ask you, did you find these legends surprising? And if you are old, I ask the same question. If you don’t expect “old people” to be heroic, you won’t see it when it occurs. And you certainly won’t act when your time comes to save others, whether it’s a young person who has lost their way or the world gone wrong. There is a storm brewing out there. A surge is a comin’. It might be gale force winds. It might be a tsunami. Or it might even be Vikings at your door. The wisdom of age rightly predicts the storm. But what happens next is up to you. There is much that needs saving and much elders can and should do to set things right.
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