BelleFemme: October 2017

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Quotes about love (File)

50 Quotes about love

1. "The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. That’s what I hope to give you forever."

— The Notebook

How love feels ...

2. "I look at you and see the rest of my life in front of my eyes."

— (Unknown)

It brings happiness ...

3. "The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."

— Victor Hugo

What you learn from love ...

4. "All, everything that I understand, I only understand because I love."

— Leo Tolstoy

Where love is, God is ...

5. "And remember, as it was written, to love another person is to see the face of God."

— Les Miserables

Why love matters ...

6. "I'm much more me when I'm with you."

— (Unknown)

Why love hurts ...

7. "It's a very dangerous state. You are inclined to recklessness and kind of tune out the rest of your life and everything that's been important to you. It's actually not all that pleasurable. I don't know who the hell wants to get in a situation where you can't bear an hour without somebody's company."

— Colin Firth

How love colors your world ...

8. "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart."

— Helen Keller

Love is giving ...

9. "To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything."

— T. Tolis

Love is blind ...

10. "I saw that you were perfect, and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more."

— Angelita Lim

Love is unselfish ...

11. "In order to be happy oneself it is necessary to make at least one other person happy."

— Theodor Reik

When love takes over ...

12. "The heart wants what it wants. There's no logic to these things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that's that."

— Woody Allen

Love does not judge ...

13. "There's no substitute for a great love who says, 'No matter what's wrong with you, you're welcome at this table.'"

— Tom Hanks

Love grow and grows ...

14. "I swear I couldn't love you more than I do right now, and yet I know I will tomorrow."

— Leo Christopher

Love means togetherness ...

15. "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you."

— A. A. Milne

When love is real ...

16. "You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not."

― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

Love without end ...

17. "I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone."

— Lord of The Rings

Love is friendship ...

18. "You are my best friend, my human diary and my other half. You mean the world to me and I LOVE YOU."

— (Unknown)

Love is a teacher ...

19. "If I know what love is, it is because of you."

— Herman Hesse

Love is vulnerable ...

20. "Don’t forget I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

— Anna (Julia Roberts) to William (Hugh Grant) in Notting Hill

Love is a choice ...

21. "I choose you. And I'll choose you over and over and over. Without pause, without a doubt, in a heartbeat. I'll keep choosing you."

— (Unknown)

Love is complicated ...

22. "It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages."

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Love is crazy, mad, wonderful ...

23. "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

— When Harry Met Sally

How love is poetic ...

24. "At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet."

― Plato

How you love like crazy ...

25. "I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you've never left."

— (Unknown)

Why love hurts ...

26. "Pleasure of love lasts but a moment. Pain of love lasts a lifetime."

— Bette Davis

Love is strength ...

27. "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

— Lao-Tzu

How love works ...

28. "Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop."

— H. L. Mencken

Love is life ...

29. "Thinking of you keeps me awake. Dreaming of you keeps me asleep. Being with you keeps me alive."

— (Unknown)

When love finds you ...

30. "We are shaped and fashioned by those we love."

— Geothe

Love is wild and crazy ...

31. "When love is not madness it is not love."

― Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Love is magical ...

32. "You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love, I love, I LOVE YOU."

— Pride & Prejudice

What is love ...

33. "Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused."

― Paulo Coelho

How love should be ...

34. "Love is so short, forgetting is so long."

― Pablo Neruda

Love is freedom ...

35. "One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love."

― Sophocles

How love begins ...

36. "I wish I could turn back the clock. I'd find you sooner and love you longer."

— (Unknown)

Love is unselfish ...

37. "You know it's love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you're not part of their happiness."

— Julia Roberts

Why love is important ...

38. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is to love and be loved in return."

— "Unforgettable with Love" by Natalie Cole

Love is the little things ...

39. "I hope you know that every time I tell you to get home safe, stay warm, have a good day, or sleep well what I am really saying is I love you. I love you so damn much that it is starting to steal other words' meanings. "

— Open-365

Love brings joy ...

40. "I have decided to stick to love; hate is too great a burden to bear."

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

How love lasts ...

41. "You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear."

— Oscar Wilde

Love is worth it ...

42. "Better to have lost and loved than never to have loved at all."

— Ernest Hemingway

How love changes over time ...

43. "When I say I love you more, I don't mean I love you more than you love me. I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us, I love you more than any fight we will ever have. I love you more than the distance between us, I love you more than any obstacle that could try and come between us. I love you the most."

— (Unknown)

Love is silly ...

44. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

— Charles Schulz

Where love lies ...

45. "Where there is love there is life."

— Mahatma Gandhi

Love is unconditional ...

46. "I want you. All of you. Your flaws. Your mistakes. Your imperfections. I want you, and only you."

— (Unknown)

Love is give and take ...

47. "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make."

— Paul McCartney

Because love makes everything beautiful ...

48. "Because I could watch you for a single minute and find a thousand things that I love about you."

— (Unknown)

Love makes you lose your mind a little ...

49. "There is a madness in loving you, a lack of reason that makes it feel so flawless."

— Leo Christopher

Love is EVERYTHING ...

50. "All of me loves all of you."

— John Legend, All of Me

The old gods

The Old Gods The mythical story of the Old Gods by Caroline H. Harding and Samuel B.

The Greeks did not believe that Zeus and the other gods of Mount Olympus were the only ones that had ever ruled over the world. They thought that there had been other great gods long before Zeus, or Poseidon, or Hades, had even been born.

Uranus was the first ruler of the gods, while the earth was still young, and there were yet no men on it to be governed. He had many children, who were called Titans. These were huge, fierce gods, and even their father sometimes found it difficult to control them. Indeed, some of them were so strong and terrible that Uranus did not dare to allow them the freedom of the earth and sky, but kept them shut up tight and fast in the very deepest and darkest places inside the earth. Three of these prisoners were giants, each with a hundred hands; and others of them had only one great eye in the middle of the forehead.

Uranus may have been quite right in dreading these strange gods, and putting them away where they could do no harm; but their mother was angry when she discovered that they had been fastened in the depths of the earth. She was not strong enough herself to set them free, so she could only try to punish Uranus for his cruelty. She gave her youngest son Cronus a sharp sickle for weapon, and told him to drive his father Uranus from the throne of the gods.

Cronus succeeded in wounding Uranus, and took the throne himself; and he and the other Titans ruled together for a long time. But Cronus never felt secure upon his throne; for he was always fearing that one of his own children would overthrow him, as he had overthrown his father. At last this really came to pass. Zeus and Hades and Poseidon were the children of Cronus; and after many years they rose against him, and drove him from the throne.

Picture of the Old Gods

But although their king was conquered, the other Titans did not give up without a struggle. There were many of them, and they were still very strong and powerful; so they tried to regain what had been conquered by the younger gods. The battle between them lasted for ten long years, and the Titans seemed almost victorious. But at last Zeus set free the hundred-handed and one-eyed giants from their prison in the earth, and asked them to help him. Then they came rushing to his aid, bringing thunder and lightning and earthquakes as weapons. With their help the Titans were conquered, and buried deep under the islands of the sea, so that they might never make further trouble.

Zeus kept the thunder and lightning, which the giants had brought, as his especial weapons, and ruled as king of the younger gods. But he felt as unsafe upon his throne as his father Cronus had felt before him. He was always fearing lest some one of the gods should become stronger than he and conquer him, as he had conquered Cronus, and Cronus had conquered Uranus.

Sometimes the gods were afraid of those who were not gods at all, and who were much less powerful than the Titans whom they had conquered. Perhaps you will remember Otus and Ephialtes, the two young giants who put Ares in a vase, and kept him shut up fro so many months. After they had succeeded so well with Ares they seemed to think that it would be a good plan to treat all the gods in the same way, so that men might be left to themselves upon the earth, with no one to rule over them, or tell them what they should or should not do. So they set about making war upon the gods. As they were mortals, like the other men upon the earth, Otus and Ephialtes could not follow the gods high up in heaven; so to get at them they began to pile one mountain on top of another. When the gods saw the two young giants moving the great mountains of the earth, they were afraid for a while that they might be driven from their homes in the sky. But Apollo, the archer, came down from heaven in a cloud, and soon the two giants were shot dead by the arrows from his golden bow.

The Story of Lovers of Zeus

The Story of Lovers of Zeus The mythical story and hiStory of the Lovers of Zeus by E.M. Berens

TIn addition to the seven immortal wives of Zeus, he was also allied to a number of mortal maidens whom he visited under various disguises, as it was supposed that if he revealed himself in his true form as king of heaven the splendour of his glory would cause instant destruction to mortals. The mortal consorts of Zeus have been such a favourite theme with poets, painters, and sculptors, that it is necessary to give some account of their individual history. Those best known are Antiope, Leda, Europa, Callisto, Alcmene, Semele, Io, and Danae.

Picture of Zeus and Antiope

Lovers of Zeus - Antiope
Antiope, to whom Zeus appeared under the form of a satyr, was the daughter of Nicteus, king of Thebes. To escape the anger of her father she fled to Sicyon, where king Epopeus, enraptured with her wonderful beauty, made her his wife without asking her father's consent. This so enraged Nicteus that he declared war against Epopeus, in order to compel him to restore Antiope. At his death, which took place before he could succeed in his purpose, Nicteus left his kingdom to his brother Lycus, commanding him, at the same time, to carry on the war, and execute his vengeance. Lycus invaded Sicyon, defeated and killed Epopeus, and brought back Antiope as a prisoner. On the way to Thebes she gave birth to her twin-sons, Amphion and Zethus, who, by the orders of Lycus, were at once exposed on Mount Cithaeron, and would have perished but for the kindness of a shepherd, who took pity on them and preserved their lives. Antiope was, for many years, held captive by her uncle Lycus, and compelled to suffer the utmost cruelty at the hands of his wife Dirce. But one day her bonds were miraculously loosened, and she flew for shelter and protection to the humble dwelling of her sons on Mount Cithaeron. During the long period of their mother's captivity the babes had grown into sturdy youths, and, as they listened angrily to the story of her wrongs, they became all impatience to avenge them. Setting off at once to Thebes they succeeded in possessing themselves of the town, and after slaying the cruel Lycus they bound Dirce by the hair to the horns of a wild bull, which dragged her hither and thither until she expired. Her mangled body was cast into the fount near Thebes, which still bears her name. Amphion became king of Thebes in his uncle's stead. He was a friend of the Muses, and devoted to music and poetry. His brother, Zethus, was famous for his skill in archery, and was passionately fond of the chase. It is said that when Amphion wished to inclose the town of Thebes with walls and towers, he had but to play a sweet melody on the lyre, given to him by Hermes, and the huge stones began to move, and obediently fitted themselves together. The punishment of Dirce at the hands of Amphion and Zethus forms the subject of the world-renowned marble group in the museum at Naples, known by the name of the Farnese Bull. In sculpture Amphion is always represented with a lyre; Zethus with a club.

Picture of Zeus, King of the Gods

Lovers of Zeus - Leda
Leda, whose affections Zeus won under the form of a swan, was the daughter of Thestius, king of aetolia. Her twin-sons, Castor and (Polydeuces or) Pollux, were renowned for their tender attachment to each other. They were also famous for their physical accomplishments, Castor being the most expert charioteer of his day, and Pollux the first of pugilists. Their names appear both among the hunters of the Calydonian boar-hunt and the heroes of the Argonautic expedition. The brothers became attached to the daughters of Leucippus, prince of the Messenians, who had been betrothed by their father to Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus. Having persuaded Leucippus to break his promise, the twins carried off the maidens as their brides. Idas and Lynceus, naturally furious at this proceeding, challenged the Dioscuri to mortal combat, in which Castor perished by the hand of Idas, and Lynceus by that of Pollux. Zeus wished to confer the gift of immortality upon Pollux, but he refused to accept it unless allowed to share it with Castor. Zeus gave the desired permission, and the faithful brothers were both allowed to live, but only on alternate days. The Dioscuri received divine honours throughout Greece, and were worshipped with special reverence at Sparta.

Picture of Zeus (as a swan) and Leda

Lovers of Zeus - EuropaEuropa was the beautiful daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. She was one day gathering flowers with her companions in a meadow near the sea-shore, when Zeus, charmed with her great beauty, and wishing to win her love, transformed himself into a beautiful white bull, and trotted quietly up to the princess, so as not to alarm her. Surprised at the gentleness of the animal, and admiring its beauty, as it lay placidly on the grass, she caressed it, crowned it with flowers, and, at last, playfully seated herself on its back. Hardly had she done so than the disguised god bounded away with his lovely burden, and swam across the sea with her to the island of Crete. Europa was the mother of Minos, aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Minos, who became king of Crete, was celebrated for his justice and moderation, and after death he was created one of the judges of the lower world, which office he held in conjunction with his brothers.

Lovers of Zeus - Callisto
Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, was a huntress in the train of Artemis, devoted to the pleasures of the chase, who had made a vow never to marry; but Zeus, under the form of the huntress-goddess, succeeded in obtaining her affections. Hera, being extremely jealous of her, changed her into a bear, and caused Artemis (who failed to recognize her attendant under this form) to hunt her in the chase, and put an end to her existence. After her death she was placed by Zeus among the stars as a constellation, under the name of Arctos, or the bear.

Lovers of Zeus - Alceme
Alceme, the daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae, was betrothed to her cousin Amphytrion; but, during his absence on a perilous undertaking, Zeus assumed his form, and obtained her affections. Heracles (whose world-renowned exploits will be related among the legends) was the son of Alcmene and Zeus.

Vampire

The first vampire may be traced to Greek mythology in the story of a young Italian man named Ambrogio and love of his life, Selena. The story includes many features of mainstream vampire tales such as passion, blood-sucking and extreme sun sensitivity.

According to the myth, Ambrogio fell in love with Selena after visiting the legendary Oracle in the temple of Apollo, the sun god. He asked her to marry him, but little did he know the jealous Apollo wanted her for his own. Apollo cursed Ambrogio by causing his skin to burn whenever it was exposed to sunlight.

In desperation, Ambrogio turned to Hades, the god of the underworld, and then Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, for help. After stealing Artemis’s silver bow to fulfill a deal made with Hades, Artemis cursed Ambrogio so silver would burn his skin. She later took pity on him, though, and gave him super strength, immortality, and fangs to kill beasts to use their blood to write love poems to Selena.

Eventually, the mortal Selena escaped Apollo’s grasp and reunited with the immortal Ambrogio. Artemis told Ambrogio he could make Selena immortal by drinking her blood which would kill her body but make her spirit live on. Their combined blood could then turn anyone who drank it into a vampire.

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve—how they came to be created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story you find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem. It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

The story opens in hell, where Satan and his followers are recovering from defeat in a war they waged against God. They build a palace, called Pandemonium, where they hold council to determine whether or not to return to battle. Instead they decide to explore a new world prophecied to be created, where a safer course of revenge can be planned. Satan undertakes the mission alone. At the gate of hell, he meets his offspring, Sin and Death, who unbar the gates for him. He journeys across chaos till he sees the new universe floating near the larger globe which is heaven. God sees Satan flying towards this world and foretells the fall of man. His Son, who sits at his right hand, offers to sacrifice himself for man's salvation. Meanwhile, Satan enters the new universe. He flies to the sun, where he tricks an angel, Uriel, into showing him the way to man's home.

Satan gains entrance into the Garden of Eden, where he finds Adam and Eve and becomes jealous of them. He overhears them speak of God's commandment that they should not eat the forbidden fruit. Uriel warns Gabriel and his angels, who are guarding the gate of Paradise, of Satan's presence. Satan is apprehended by them and banished from Eden. God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about Satan. Raphael recounts to them how jealousy against the Son of God led a once favored angel to wage war against God in heaven, and how the Son, Messiah, cast him and his followers into hell. He relates how the world was created so mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in heaven.

Satan returns to earth, and enters a serpent. Finding Eve alone he induces her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam, resigned to join in her fate, eats also. Their innocence is lost and they become aware of their nakedness. In shame and despair, they become hostile to each other. The Son of God descends to earth to judge the sinners, mercifully delaying their sentence of death. Sin and Death, sensing Satan's success, build a highway to earth, their new home. Upon his return to hell, instead of a celebration of victory, Satan and his crew are turned into serpents as punishment. Adam reconciles with Eve. God sends Michael to expel the pair from Paradise, but first to reveal to Adam future events resulting from his sin. Adam is saddened by these visions, but ultimately revived by revelations of the future coming of the Savior of mankind. In sadness, mitigated with hope, Adam and Eve are sent away from the Garden of Paradise.

The Great Flood

The Great Flood

OUTSIDE the ark, the people went about their life the same as before. They still did not believe that the Flood would come. They must have laughed more than ever. But they soon stopped laughing.

All of a sudden water began to fall. It poured down from the sky as when you pour water from a bucket. Noah had been right! But it was too late now for anybody else to get into the ark. The door had been closed tight by Jehovah.

Soon all the low ground was covered. The water became like big rivers. It pushed over trees and rolled around big stones, and made a lot of noise. The people were afraid. They climbed up to higher ground. Oh, how they wished they had listened to Noah and gotten into the ark when the door was still open for them! But now it was too late.

The water kept getting higher and higher. For 40 days and 40 nights the water poured out of the sky. It rose up the sides of the mountains, and soon even the tallest mountains were covered. So just as God had said, all the people and animals outside the ark died. But everyone inside was safe.

Noah and his sons had done a good job building the ark. The water lifted it up, and it floated right on top of the water. Then one day, after the rain stopped falling, the sun began to shine. What a sight it was! There was just one big ocean everywhere. And the only thing that could be seen was the ark floating on top.

The giants were gone now. No more would they be around to hurt people. All of them had died, along with their mothers and the rest of the bad people. But what happened to their fathers?

The fathers of the giants were not really human people like us. They were angels that had come down to live as men on earth. So when the Flood came, they did not die with the rest of the people. They stopped using the human bodies they had made, and went back to heaven as angels. But they were no longer allowed to be part of the family of God’s angels. So they became the angels of Satan. In the Bible they are called demons.

God now made a wind blow, and the waters of the flood began to go down. Five months later the ark came to rest on the top of a mountain. Many more days passed, and those inside the ark could look out and see the tops of the mountains. The waters kept on going down and down.

Then Noah let a black bird called a raven out of the ark. It would fly away for a while and then it would come back, because it could not find a good place to land. It kept doing this and each time it returned, it would rest on the ark.

Noah wanted to see if the waters had run off the earth, so next he sent a dove out of the ark. But the dove came back too because it did not find a place to stay. Noah sent it out a second time, and it brought back an olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the waters had gone down. Noah sent out the dove a third time, and finally it found a dry place to live.

God now spoke to Noah. He said: ‘Go out of the ark. Take your whole family and the animals with you.’ They had been inside the ark for more than a whole year. So we can just imagine how happy they all were to be outside again and to be alive!

Sigurd

A Legend From Sweden – Sigurd

Sigurd was a member of the royal family of Denmark and a descendant of the god Odin. He was raised by a blacksmith named Regin, who made him a special sword from pieces of a sword owned by Sigurd’s father.

Sigurd used his sword to kill the dragon Fafnir and so acquire its golden treasure. When Sigurd roasted and ate the beast’s heart, he was able to understand the language of the birds around him. They warned him that Regin was going to betray him, so Sigurd beheaded the blacksmith. Sigurd took the treasure and put a ring on his finger. He was unaware that the ring bore a curse, which brought misfortune to its wearer.

After slaying Fafnir, Sigurd came upon a castle where he awakened the warrior maiden Brunhilde, whom Odin had cast into a deep sleep. Sigurd gave his ring to Brunhilde and promised to return to marry her. But during his journey Sigurd was given a magic drink that made him forget Brunhilde, and he married the princess Gudrun instead.

The Stone in the Temple

The Stone in the Temple
A Muslim Legend

Retold by Aaron Shepard

Printed in Cricket, June 1995, and Australia’s School Magazine, Oct. 1995

“The sons of Makhzum should raise the Black Stone,” declared one of the men in the circle. “It is our right as foremost of the tribes.”

“Who gave you such a position?” demanded another man. “The sons of Jumah will raise it!”

“Not while the sons of Abdu Manaf stand here,” said another. “The honor should be ours.”

“Then you will have to fight for it,” cried another. “None but the sons of Abdul-Dar shall raise the stone!”

In the years before Muhammad’s holy mission, it happened that the tribes around Mecca decided to rebuild their temple, the Kaaba. In those days, the Kaaba was simply a yard enclosed by a wall. Their plan was to build a higher, thicker wall and add a roof.

Each tribe had chosen a section of the wall and started pulling down the stones. The sacred Black Stone, built into the east corner, had been removed carefully and set aside.

At last they had gotten down to the foundation laid by Abraham. They had begun to rebuild, and the wall had grown steadily higher. But when the time had come to raise the Black Stone back to its place, they could not agree on which tribe would have the honor.

The dispute grew fiercer and fiercer, till it seemed likely that blood would flow. But then Abu Amayya said, “Brothers, let us not fight among ourselves. I have an idea: Wait for the next man who comes through the gate, then give the decision to him.”

All agreed and settled down to wait. And it happened that the first man to enter the gate was Muhammad, he whom they called “The Trustworthy One.”

When Muhammad had listened to their claims, he considered for a moment. Then he said, “Bring me a cloak.”

They brought one, and Muhammad spread it on the ground. Then he took the Black Stone and placed it in the center.

“Each tribe will choose a man to hold the cloak by its edge. Then all will raise the stone together.”

This was done, and Muhammad himself set the stone in place. Then all the tribes were satisfied, and work went on with no further dispute.

About the Story

Muhammad, the founder of Islam, lived in Arabia from 570 to 632 A.D. Though in later years he took to warfare to spread his religion, Muhammad’s teachings were often aimed at conciliation—a trait found also in this tale of his early life.

The story concerns the Kaaba (“KAH-buh”)—meaning “Cube”—a Muslim shrine in the Arabian city of Mecca. Muslims believe the original Kaaba was built by Abraham and his first son, Ishmael, legendary founder of the Arab race. In any case, it existed well before Muhammad, and at the time of this story was used as a temple for tribal gods.

Set into one corner of the building is a black stone about eight inches in diameter, said to have fallen from heaven. This stone—possibly a meteorite—is the most sacred relic of Islam.

All Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives if they are able. Today, as many as two million pilgrims a year visit the Kaaba and kiss the Black Stone.

La Befana

A Legend From Italy – La Befana

Three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small house to ask for directions. Upon knocking, an old woman holding a broom opened the door slightly to see who was there. Standing at her doorstep were three colorfully dressed men who were in need of directions to find the Christ child. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. Prior to the three men leaving they kindly asked the old woman to join them on their journey. She declined because she had much housework to do. After they left she felt as though she had made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with the kind men. After many hours of searching she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hopes that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child’s house to leave those who were good treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal.

King Dan

The story is told that, in olden days, there were three brothers: Dan, Nor and Østen. They were the sons of King Ypper, who lived in Uppsala in Sweden, which was named for him.

The brothers went their separate ways, settling each in a different country. Dan went to Denmark, Nor to Norway, and Østen stayed in Sweden, in the countries to the East.

At that time, the realm of Denmark did not yet exist. Dan ruled only over the island of Zealand and the lesser isles. Jutland, Funen and Scania were each separate kingdoms. The Jutes were, at that time, at war with the German king. They built up earthworks and a palisade along their southern border, in that place where Queen Thyra later caused Dannevirke to be built. They named this wall Kovirke. But, when the German king came with a mighty host, they sent messengers to King Dan asking for his help.

Dan went to war with the Germans, and a great battle was fought before the wall. Most of the enemy fell, “biting the grass”, as the saying goes, and the rest fled. When the Jutes saw how brave King Dan was, they led him to their thing-place, and placed him upon a great stone, proclaiming him their king. This stone was since called Daneryge (ryge being a Jutish word for “large stone”), and it was there, later, that Danish kings were acclaimed. Daneryge was to be found on the the thing-place outside Viborg, and the entire place has also been called Danerlyngen.

When the people of Funen and Scania heard of this, they also elected Dan their king. Dan now summoned the best men in all the realm, and he said to them: “This land is fair and fertile, yet it has one flaw: it lacks for a name.”

They answered him: “You are Dan, and therefore the realm shall be called Danmark, and this name shall last for so long as the world lasts.”

King Dan built himself a royal palace at Lejre near Roskilde Fjord. He was called Dan the Grand or the Mighty, because no man before him had had such a great domain. After his death, the Danes built a barrow. They placed him in the tomb chamber fully armed and arrayed for war, mounted on his horse. Then they cast earth upon the tomb, making a mighty burial mound.