Trickster
Gay Baines
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When I was taking a graduate seminar in semiotics,
one of the other students wrote her term paper on
Brer Rabbit as Trickster.
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From: J. McRee Elrod
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 1998 7:14 AM
To: UU...@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: Re: Trickster
>Kokopelli is the name given to the Trickster in Southwest American
>native legends. This guy is usually portrayed as a hunchback and
>playing a flute. His liasions with women were numerous.
In Canadian west coast native society he is a raven. Stories about him
remind one of Uncle Remus' Brother Rabbit. Representations in art are
numerous.
Mac
F.Teagle
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> From: Sherna Comerford <she...@CAPACCESS.ORG>
>
> kslater asks:
>> Does anyone know of female tricksters?
>
>
> Wonderful question! No I don't, offhand. I do know a lovely story
> where Coyote's wife tricks him and Grizzley Bear.
Then there's the South Sea Island legend of the lady who cheated on
her husband in the usual way, and when he pursued her vengfully,
climbed onto a high tree branch. He joined her on the branch and she
proposed that they jump off together in a suicide pact and the mug
agreed, evidently not noticing that she had tied liana vines to her
ankles, thus inventing bungee jumping.
England and Wales have the legend of the Moragon, the shape-shifter
(now beloved of Star Trek). And then there was Vivienne, who killed
the wizard Merlin by luring him down into a cave and blocking off
the exit.
Frances.
Sherna Comerford
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Frances said:
...
>England and Wales have the legend of the Moragon, the shape-shifter
>(now beloved of Star Trek). And then there was Vivienne, who killed
>the wizard Merlin by luring him down into a cave and blocking off
>the exit.
The Morrigan is a psychopomp. She's the battle-hag, although Vivienene
is sometimes called by a very similar name. (Morgan le Fay, among others)
She may well have changed over time. I'm more familiar with the early
Irish legends than the later Arthurian ones (which derive from the Welsh
branch of Celtic legend, in any case.)
Yes, Vivienne is a trickster, although I only know one (arguably two)
trick(s) associated with her. There are so many versions of these
tales.... If you follow the version that she's Arthur's sister, then
she did also (commit? trick him into?) incest and gave birth to the
son who killed him.
--
******** Sherna Comerford ***********************************
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Hildred Cyr
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Sherna, Please don't keep us in suspence. What's the story where
Coyote's wife tricks him and Grizzley Bear? Inquiring minds want to
know!
Hildred Cyr
Seattle
Sherna Comerford
(Grin)
I got this one from a Dover book, but the wording is my own paraphrase.
Imagine it's a cool spring evening around the campfire....
One day, Coyote decided that with one thing and another, he would be well
advised to find himself a friend. A large, strong friend. And the largest
strongest creature he knew was Grizzly Bear.
Now it was spring, and the salmon were running, and when he went and looked
for Grizzley Bear, he found him by the river, gorging himself with big
fat fish. "Grizzly Bear," he said, "Will you come to my house tonight
for dinner?" But Grizzly Bear ignored him, and went on catching salmon
with his huge paw, and gulping them down as fast as he could.
So Coyote went home disappointed, but he bided his time, and a few weeks
later he went looking for Grizzly Bear again.
Now it was summer, and the berries were ripe, and when he went and looked
for Grizzley Bear, he found him at the edge of the woods, gorging himself
on huge pawfulls of jucy ripe berries. "Grizzly Bear," he said, Will you
come to my house tonight for dinner?" But Grizzly Bear ignored him and
went on stripping the berries from the bushes and gulping them down as
fast as he could.
So Coyote went home disappointed, but he bided his time, and a few weeks
later he went looking for Grizzly Bear again.
Now it was autumn, and Grizzly Bear was getting ready to hibernate, and
he was busy gobbling down anything he could find to get as fat as he
could before he went the whole winter without eating anything. So he
listened to Coyote and then he said "Yes."
Coyote was elated. He ran for home to tell Mrs. Coyote of his good
fortune, and he was nearly there when he realized that he had been so
set on getting Grizzly Bear to come that he hadn't caught anything to
serve for dinner. We all know that Old Man Coyote is a terrible hunter,
but that day his luck was good. He caught two fat sage hens and brought
them home with him.
When he got there, he called, "Wife, wife, I've caught two fat sage hens
for dinner, and Grizzly Bear is coming to help me eat them. I want you
to stuff them and roast them, because you're such a good cook. Make them
very good, so Grizzly Bear will want to be my friend. I'm going to go out
back and sharpen my knife to carve them." And he did.
Mrs Coyote took the sage hens, and grumbled, "I know what will happen. I'll
spend all afternoon roasting these fat sage hens, and they will be delicious.
And those two will eat them, and I won't get a bite." While she grumbled,
she plucked and seasoned them, and stuffed them, and put them on to roast.
And it wasn't long before mouth-watering aromas began to rise from them.
When they were done, she pulled them out of the oven and looked them over,
and they were crisp and juicy and smelled so good. And she was very hungry.
Finally she gave in. She pulled a piece off one of the hens, saying to
herself that one little piece won't be missed. When she ate it it was
so good that she couldn't stand it, and she had to make the other hen
look like the first, so she pulled a little piece off the second hen, and
ate it. With one thing and another, she had soon talked herself into
eating both hens up. And they were soooo good that she wasn't even sorry.
Just then, she heard a noise at the front door, and there stood Grizzly
Bear. "What's for dinner," he said as he walked in without being asked.
Mrs. Coyote hadn't been married to Old Man Coyote all those years for
nothing. Thinking fast, she said, "Oh, Grizzley Bear, I'm glad you're
here. Didn't Coyote tell you that the custom here is that when someone
comes for dinner, we cut off his balls, and cook them as the main dish?
See, he's out back now, sharpening his knife.
Grizzly bear looked out the window and saw that was true, and he turned
around and ran out the door as fast as he could waddle.
A minute later, Coyote came in the back door, and said, "Wife, where are
the hens? Grizzly Bear will be here any minute." "He was just here,"
she replied. "He took the roasted sage hens, and ran away with them.
See? There he goes down the road!"
Coyote was very hungry by now, and he didn't even stop to put down his
knife as he ran out the door and down the road after Grizzly Bear,
crying, "Stop, stop! At least let me have one!" Which Grizzly Bear
wasn't about to do, of course. He ran until he came to his den, and he
ran in and shut the door and didn't come out until spring.
(Who has the marshmallows? :)