Raven Frees Mahome

In the Gods Age, we and the animal people had no fire. High Lord Yelm provided light and warmth from the sky, and Lord Genert and his relatives provided all else. Then High Lord Yelm became afraid that if mortals knew too many of his secrets they would become as powerful as he. He grew cold and distant, and refused to help Genert against the Devil. We and the animal people grew cold too, but Yelm refused to share his warmth. We and the animal people grew hungry, for without Genert our food now needed to be cooked, but Yelm still refused to share his warmth.

When Raven came along, he found all the people very cold and miserable, living amid the snow and ice.

"Raven, please help us," all the people begged, "Bring us warmth from the sky or we will die."

"I will see what I can do," said Raven.

As soon as cold Yelm came into the sky the next morning, Raven began traveling up the World Mountain to the sky to look for the place where Yelm kept fire.

When Raven found it, he saw that three wise old Fire Furies, all sisters, took turns guarding the fire all day and all night. While one kept watch, the other two ate and slept in a building nearby. When it was time to change the watch, the Fury at the fire would go to the door of the building and say, "Sister, get up and come guard the fire."

At dawn, the Fury who had kept watch all night would be stiff with the cold, and she walked slowly through the snow and ice to the building door to get her sister. "This is the time to steal a brand of fire," thought Raven to himself. But he knew, too, that he would be chased. And he knew that even though the Fire Furies were old and wise, they were also swift and strong runners. Raven needed a plan.

Raven thought and thought, but he could not think of any plan which would work. Then he remembered his three sisters, who lived in his stomach in the form of skullbush seeds. He knew they were wise and could tell him what to do, so he decided to ask them to help him.

Raven defecated his sisters into his left hand.

At first, Raven's sisters refused to help him. "You always forget about us and get yourself into trouble. You only talk to us when you have a problem," they said. "Besides, if we tell you what to do, you will only say that you knew what to do all along and forget about us again," they said.

Raven remembered that his sisters were very afraid of thunder, and so he held his palm with the skull-bush seeds in it up into the air. He called, "Thunderhawk! Thunderhawk! Where are you? I have my three sisters here for you!"

This made Raven's sisters shake with fear. "Stop! Stop!" they cried. "Don't call Thunderhawk down from the sky. We will tell you what you want to know."

Raven's sisters told him how to steal the fire and get it down the World Mountain to the people without being caught by the Fire Furies.

When they had finished talking, Raven said, "Yes, that was my plan all along." He then swallowed his sisters, and forgot all about them again.

Raven went to see the people again. He called everyone together, as his sisters had directed, and told each person - Baboon, Fox, Badger, and all the others including the children of Eiritha and the tribes of Man, to take up certain places along the mountainside. When they were all in place, they stretched in a long line from the top of the World Mountain down into Prax.

Raven went back up the mountain and waited for cold Yelm to appear again. The old Fury who was watching the fire had keen eyes and she saw him. But she thought he was just a scared animal looking for scraps.

At dawn, the Fury left the fire and walked slowly to the door of the building. "Sister, get up and come guard the fire."

Just at that moment, Raven sprang from the bushes and grabbed a burning brand of fire. The three Fire Fury sisters were right behind him in an instant. Traveling as fast as he could across the snow and rocks, Raven was showered by the sparks the Furies were giving off in their anger. He was traveling as fast as he ever had in his life. The Furies were right behind him, so close behind that their breath burnt all his feathers black.

Just as Raven was about to collapse in exhaustion, Mountain Goat jumped to Ravens side and took the burning brand from him. The Furies were right behind Mountain Goat in an instant. Mountain Goat ran across the rocks until he was about to collapse in exhaustion. Mountain Cat jumped to his side and took the fire from him. The Furies were right behind Mountain Cat in an instant. Mountain Cat ran until he came to the tree line, where he gave the fire to Mountain Deer. The Furies followed so close behind Mountain Deer that her tail was heated white-hot. Mountain Deer ran until she came to the dense underbrush, where she gave the fire to Red Fox. The Fire Furies could not go into the underbrush, due to oaths sworn by their father Yelm to the Mother of Wood, so they went to catch Red Fox at the edge of the forest. But Impala, who is the fastest of all animals, was waiting there to take the fire from Red Fox. The Furies were right behind Impala in an instant, but they could not catch him. And so it went, one after the other, with all of the people carrying the fire but the Fire Furies staying right behind each of them. (The Furies almost caught Baboon when he slipped on a rock, but they ended up only heating his ass bright red.)

Finally, when all that was left of the fire was one glowing ember, the fire was passed to Frog. Frog swallowed the fire, and hopped as fast as she could. The Furies had almost caught her when she jumped into the River. The River wanted nothing to do with this plan of Raven's, and told Frog to get out. Frog climbed out the other side of River, and saw that the youngest Fire Fury had already leaped across River and was waiting for her. Frog looked around and saw Wood growing on the riverbank. Quickly, Frog spat the ember out onto Wood. Despite what her Mother had told her, Wood was curious about what this strange thing that everybody else had carried around tasted like, and so she swallowed the fire. Instantly she was sorry, for she found she could not get it out and that it changed her. The three Furies looked at Wood, not knowing what to do. Despite Wood's pleas, none of them could figure out how to get the fire out of Wood. After a while they left and went slowly back to Yelm's lodge to tell him what had happened.

Raven then called all the people together, and they all gathered around Wood. Raven, who knew the fire's name, knew how to get the fire out of Wood. He called the fire Mahome, and tried to show all the people how to do this secret. Some did not want to learn the secret and left. Others who learned the secret that day later forgot it. Those who learned the secret included all the tribes of Man. This changed us, and we now know how to cook our food and heat our houses. Because of Raven the world has changed, and it will never be as cold again.

Later, Yelm sent the fire called Oakfed to seek for his sister-fire Mahome. Oakfed ate all the Wood trying to set his little sister free. But, that is another story.

Last Updated: 22 September 1996

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