Since the day when humanity learned how to compose with words, they never stopped telling stories. Re-creating the world with their vision, their imagination and perception. Tales are as old as the very first human civilization, and unite every cultures of the world, fancying legends, stories, the thrill and the emotion. Sometimes as wise lessons, sometimes carrying magic and religion, sometimes for the simple reason of entertainment. What someone sees, he turns it into words. If humanity is culturally united with legends, they also have another common point: all around the world, mountains have always been there, contemplating the birth or evolution of civilizations, or should we rather say that civilizations always looked up at the mountains.
But what was the vision of the different civilizations of the past? What heritage do we have today from ancient legends and tales about mountains? How did Humanity perceived mountains?
It would be hard to cover all times and every civilizations. So I decided to study this question by focusing on the legends of 10 different mountains all around the world: the Carpathian mountains in central and eastern Europe, the mountains of Auvergne in France, the Alps, the mount Fuji in Japan, the Cordillera de los Andes crossing many counties in South America, Hauma Kea and Haleakala in Hawaii, Urulu mountain in Australia, Pacific Northern mountains of America, Persian mountains in oriental lands, and African tales from Zimbabwe mountains. We will study some legends which survived until today, and still witnessing today of a past psychology of people looking at the mountains.
To proceed in this complicated task of covering several civilizations and continents, in different time (even though I tried to gather legends from late middle ages and early modern era, from the 8th century to the 18th , for you must know that humanity evolved on its own rhythm depending on the place and people, that Renaissance didn’t touch every places and that middle ages in Europe didn’t correspond to the society in China for example, and that “evolution of civilization” is a very occidental notion), I chose the inspiration in an astrophysicist who dedicated his career to vulgarization for non specialist people: Christophe Galfard. With conferences, books and stories, Prf. Galfard managed to explain in a very accissible way the mysteries of science and universe, and the relativity of quantum physics. His book, “Le Prince des Nuages” (the Prince of the clouds), he explains in a wonderful fictional story the sciences of climate and universe, for everyone.
If vulgarization exists in natural sciences, it exists in social sciences too. I would like my final project to focus on a same principle, of telling a story about myths, anthropology and history, all around mountains. However, myths, tales and legends are often issued from oral tradition, and you can find hundreds of different versions. So my sources for sure will be books, articles, and relevant academic sources, but I will also focus on “subjective sources”, ask people from all around the world about tales they heard about when they were young and traditional folklore, as there is no “true version” of a story and no radical science around oral tales.
SOURCES
“10 Contes et Légendes Des Pays de Savoie Racontés Par Zian Des Alpes.” 2016. France Bleu. December 19, 2016. https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/culture-loisirs/10-contes-et-legendes-des-pays-de-savoie-racontes-par-zian-des-alpes-1482143977.
“Carpathian Molfars – Green Ukraine.” n.d. Green-Ukraine.com. Accessed March 8, 2022. https://green-ukraine.com/carpathian-molfars.
Christophe Galfard, and Vincent Dutrait. 2016. Le Prince Des Nuages. Paris: Pocket Jeunesse.
Darnton, Robert. 2009. The Great Cat Massacre : And Other Episodes in French Cultural History. New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books Group.
Earhart, H.Byron. 1989. “Mount Fuji and Shugendo.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 16 (2-3).
Gray, Martin. n.d. Review of Sacred Mountains of Hawaii. World Pilgrimage Guide. https://sacredsites.com/americas/united_states/hawaiian_sacred_mountains.html.
Reinhard, Johan, and Maria Constanza Ceruti. 2021. “Inca Rituals and Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World´S Highest Archaeological Sites.” Conicet.gov.ar, March. https://doi.org/978-1-931745-77-2.
Sean. 2013. “Native American Legends about Mountains in the Pacific Northwest.” The Clymb. February 10, 2013. https://blog.theclymb.com/passions/camp/native-american-legends-about-mountains-in-the-pacific-northwest/.
“THE PACHAKUTI MESA TRADITION® Cross Cultural Shamanic Arts for Personal & Planetary Renewal SACRED SITES the SACRED MOUNTAINS / APUKUNA of SOUTH AMERICA.” n.d. Accessed March 8, 2022. https://heartofthehealer.org/wp-content/uploads/sa-apukuna-8june2018.pdf.
Williams, Joseph A. n.d. “What Was the Beast of Gévaudan?” HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/beast-gevaudan-france-theories.
Alia.
6 responses to “A Brief Story of Humanity and Mounain.”
I’m so excited to see your process and read your final project!! and eugh, south america, not them.
erg, chileans the worst
Love the opening. Can’t wait to read about your research
thank youuuu !
Wow, that’s a good and quite broad research aim.
Make sure you don’t get too divergent… that is what usually happens with comparative mythology. Also, in your methodology, you will have to argue for your data selection (the specific stories and mountains). As for now, I’d try to cross out at least some of the options (or maybe not, but be careful or you’re working on a dissertation :)).
I’d like to see some sources on storytelling mentioned (implied in the intro) .
Looking forward to seeing the field methods later, I hope to see some research method that will enable you to capture how all of that relates to affect, personal experience etc.
Good luck!
haha you’re right, it’s a dangerous topic to hold on the main stream. I am going to try to organise it all more precisely. And work on my sources too!
Thank you 🙂