Today on #WomensEpics: Juliana

A 9th century Anglo-Saxon retelling of the legend of St. Juliana of Nicomedia. While it is a Christian legend, the Saxon storyteller retold it in the style of Beowulf, changing and coloring the story to fit the taste of the audience for evil villains and epic fights. At the high point of the story, Juliana wrestles the Devil and physically beats him into submission.

Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/j-is-for-juliana-womens-epics-to-z.html

#WomensEpics: The Song of Grotti

This one is a 12th century Icelandic saga about two giantesses who are captured and enslaved by a Danish king. He makes them turn a giant millstone that grinds out endless riches. When he refuses to give them rest time, or set them free, the giantesses sing a song that makes the mill grind out strife and an invading army. The king's rule is toppled by their revenge.

Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/g-is-for-grottasongr-womens-epics-to-z.html

Today on #WomensEpics:
Matabagka and the Deity of the Wind

This is an epic from the Philippines, in which a brave girl sets out to steal magic instruments that control the wind, to save her kingdom from an invasion.

I loved that Matabagka had a friendly relationship with the wind herself. She called it "friend and partner", and instead of commanding or controlling, she asked it for help and direction.

Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/d-is-for-deity-of-wind-and-matabagka.html

Today on #WomensEpics:
Chandravati's Ramayana

This is a retelling of the Ramayana by a Bengali poet named Chandravati. She lived in the 16th century, and re-wrote the epic to distract herself from heartache.
Her retelling focuses on Sita's perspective, the horrors of war, and compassion between women that crosses battle lines. It survives to this day in the oral tradition.

Read more:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/c-is-for-candravatis-ramayana-womens.html

Today on #WomensEpics:
The Malay epic of Bidasari

This story is based on the same tale type as Snow White, except it is a lot more adventurous and elaborate. And it features positive representation of adoption, which I was especially happy about!

Read more here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/b-is-for-bidasari-womens-epics-to-z.html

And the #WomensEpics blog series has officially started!

First up: the Buryat epic of Agu-Nogon-Abakha.

It is about a girl whose brother is killed by a monster, so she puts on his clothes, and goes on a quest to find a way to bring him back to life.

It turns out there are three princesses with magic powers who can save him... she just have to get them to marry her first.

Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-is-for-agu-nogon-abakha-womens-epics.html

A while ago I did a survey about epics. I asked people which epics they were most familiar with, and which ones they heard of, or studied in school.

More than 200 people filled out the survey, and I just posted a blog post about the most interesting or unexpected results.

Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/03/womens-epics-to-z-epics-in-general.html

In advance of the April #AtoZChallenge I wrote another blog post. This one is about the epics that have women heroes, but I won't include them in the series in April.

To read the list, and the reasons why, visit the blog:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/03/womens-epics-to-z-stories-i-wont-be.html

(And if anyone has any suggestions for getting translations for some of these, that would be great )

In advance before April's blog series on women's epics, I am curious if there are any that people know, or want to know about. :)

Do you know any epics about women? Name them in comments and I'll tell you if they will be included!

(And by "epic" I also mean sagas, shamanic songs, monogatari, and chivalric romances.)

Revealing my A to Z blogging challenge theme one day early, because it is very fitting for #InternationalWomensDay

It's not exactly a surprise: #WomensEpics is finally here!

I read 26 epics from around the world. All of them have women heroes. In April, I will blog about each one in detail.

Today I put up a Theme Reveal post with the details of this project, and an intro to women's epics in general.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-to-z-challenge-theme-reveal-2025.html?m=1

Actual conversation overheard:

"It's not like anyone is reading epics with their morning coffee or anything!"

Me, literally sitting at the next table with my coffee and a Turkmen epic: "... huh?"

Alright so now I am curious about this whole "epics in general knowledge" thing.

So, I made a questionnaire.

If you are curious too, please fill it out! :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0DA0ckSqePhjcd9bNzL_A_jVvQEXwfFsmzTx_UtWP30JEIg/viewform?usp=header

Who knew that reading Women's Epics for the A to Z challenge was not going to be a challenge because I had to find them... it is a challenge because I have to match them to all the letters of the alphabet
(And decides which ones to leave out...)

Alright tooters, out of curiosity (and because I am way down in this rabbit hole):

If you hear "epic" what stories do you automatically think of?

(In the interest of narrowing it down, let's say "traditional epic"!)

Driving myself half insane trying to locate an English translation of the Manchu epic of Umesiben Mama. There are at least two study volumes in English about it, but no actual text. Honestly this should be illegal. If you publish a whole book about a never-translated epic, include the text!

I am reading all these theories about how Queen Bertha Broadfoot got her nickname, but honestly I just want her to be a legendary beauty with large feet and leave it at that.

People: "I don't read old stories to my daughters because they are outdated and sexist and women are all passive princesses waiting to be saved."

Me: I set out to read 26 traditional epics about woman heroes, and so far I have found 32.

Today's #MythologyMonday theme is Sisters.

As it happens I just finished reading the Bengali epic of Manasa, the Snake Goddess. She is an accidental daughter of Shiva. She spends the entire epic trying to gain recognition among the gods, and then among mortals.

She is supported all the way by her sister Neta, who is the perfect balance of intelligence and calculation to Manasa's flares of fury and power. They made a great duo

WATCH: The #gayest #movie & #TV #trailers that dropped in July 2024

Over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten first looks at an exciting crop of up-and-coming #LGBTQ+ #entertainment—everything from #homoerotic #epics, to horror #movies.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Entertainment #TV #Movies #Representation #Culture

https://www.queerty.com/watch-the-gayest-movie-tv-trailers-that-dropped-in-july-2024-20240731