Legend of the Christmas Spider

Long, long ago, on one Christmas Eve, the spiders were banished from homes while the
houses were cleaned for Christmas and their webs were broken. They just managed to
survive and had to move to the farthest corner of the attic for the time being. However,
some of the young spiders longed to see the decorated Christmas trees and the little
Christ child that came to bless the homes in the midnight. The elders tried to make them
understand that they were not allowed inside the rooms but the young spiders were quite
curious and adamant. Finally, the oldest and wisest spider came up with a solution and
suggested that in the night, when everybody went to bed, perhaps they could creep out
of their corners and get a closer look of the magical Christmas tree.

Even the adult spiders felt the thrill of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them and in
midnight, when the house of a noble family was dark and silent and everybody was fast
asleep, spiders crept out of their hiding place and slowly reached the Christmas tree.
They were so captivated by the ethereal beauty that they spent all night in the tree,
crawling up and down and examining its beautiful ornaments. They could not curb their
urge to weave pretty and delicate spider webs all over the tree as they danced on its
branches. In the wee hours of the morning, the little Christ child came to bless the house.
He was surprised to find little spiders and their webs on the tree.

He knew that every creature was made by God and yet he knew how the mother who had
worked hard all day to make everything perfect would be dismayed to find the spider webs
on its tree. Thus, with a heart full of love and a lovely bewitching smile on his lips, the
Christ child gently touched the spider webs and set them sparkling and shining in silver
and golden colors that made the Christmas tree look even more beautiful than before. It
is said that this is how tinsel was introduced to decorate Christmas trees. Some people
also hang a plastic spider in remembrance of the devoted little spiders who worked hard
that Christmas Eve.

MORAL OF THE STORY

The moral of the story teaches us that even the smallest creatures are important. It also
gives a moral that hard work and good intentions do pay off in the long run.
 THE LEGEND OF ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
Once upon a time there was a brave knight called George. George had lots of adventures
as he travelled by horse across many lands.
One day he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave next to the village.
The hermit told the knight about the awful things that were happening there. A terrible
dragon had come to live in the lake and attacked the village every day.
The villagers didn’t know what to do. First, they gave the dragon all their food, but the
dragon just took the food and still attacked the village.
So then the villagers gave the dragon all the animals from their farms. The dragon took
all the animals, but continued to attack the villagers.
So then they gave the dragon all their gold and jewels. The dragon took all their money,
but still was not satisfied.
The king sent his army to try and capture the dragon, but the dragon was too strong and
the knights of the army were too scared and they ran away.
With nothing left to give, the king could only think of one thing to help protect his people.
He sent his only daughter, the princess, to the lake to wait for the dragon.
When George heard this he rode as fast as he could to the lake. Just then the dragon
jumped out from the lake and was going to eat the princess.
George attacked the dragon. He fought very bravely, won the fight and killed the dragon.
George and the princess returned to the village and everyone was very pleased that they
would have no more problems with the dragon.
Today, the story of George’s bravery is remembered and George is known as the patron
saint of many countries.

MORAL OF THE STORY

The purpose of the story, as its ending shows, was to commend the benefits of baptism,
which assured believers of the protection of God and would empower them to overcome
evil. Later glosses gave injunctions to rulers that they should maintain churches, honour
priests, diligently attend religious services and show compassion to the poor.
 TYR AND THE WOLF

Deep in the forests of Jötunheim, lay the hall of Angrboda. It was here that the giantess
gave birth to three children of Loki. Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel. Fenrir, or Fenris as he
is sometimes called, was born a wolf cub. Jörmungandr was born as a snake, and Hel
was born half dead. For a brief time, they lived in their mother’s hall on Jötunheim, and
were left in peace. However, the Æser discovered their existence, along with a prophecy
that these three beings would help bring doom to the Æser during Ragnarök, the end of
the world. It was then that Loki’s children were declared to be monsters. Such a threat
could not go unchallenged, and so the Æser decided to solve the problem while the three
were still children. In the middle of the night, the Æser crept into Angrboda’s hall and stole
the children away. They were taken to Asgard, and to Odin the AllFather to decide what
must be done with them. Jörmungandr’s fate was to be dealt with first. He was thrown
down to Midgard’s oceans to dwell. He would grow slowly, but would eventually encircle
the earth and bite his own tail. Hel was cast down to Nilfheim, the land of cold and ice.
There, she would rule over all those who did not die in battle. Fenrir, on the other hand,
would be kept in Asgard.
It was Týr, god of law and honor, who mainly cared for the wolf cub. Each day he would
haul meat out to the outskirts of the courts to feed him, and would play with the cub for a
time before returning home.
However, none could forget the prophecy, and many were alarmed when they saw how
quickly the young wolf was growing. It was soon possible that none of the Æser would be
able to hold him, or beat him in a contest of strength. Now truly afraid of the wolf, it was
decreed that he be bound. Fenrir, by tacit consent of all involved, would not be told his
fate. The blacksmiths of Asgard created the first binding, Lædingr, and it was brought out
to Fenrir. It was posed to him as a test of his strength. If he could break the binding, he
would become famous for his strength. So Fenrir allowed them to bind him. He waited
until the Æser had stepped back, then heaved mightily. It only took one heave to snap
the binding away, and Fenrir roared with pleasure. He was indeed stronger than that
binding.
The second binding was again made by the smiths of Asgard, but this one was half again
as strong, half again as long, and half again as wide. Drómi, they named it. This time,
when they presented the binding to Fenrir, the wolf was wary. This one looked much
stronger than the last, but then again, he was stronger than last time as well. Besides,
how would he become famous if he never went into any danger? Despite his wariness,
he allowed the Æser to bind him again. It took far more than one heave to break the
binding, but break it Fenrir did. Now the Æser were distraught. Nothing they created was
able to hold the giant wolf.
Odin the AllFather sent one of the Æser down to Svartalfheim, the land of the master
smiths, the dwarves. There, the messenger was able to convince the dwarves to make
the strongest binding possible, Gleipnir. The dwarves made this out of six things- the
noise a cat makes, a woman’s beard, the breath of a fish, the spittle of a bird, the roots of
a rock, and the sinews of a bear. So used, these things no longer exist. This binding was
the most deceptive of the three. It was soft as silk, and thin as a ribbon. Delighted, the
Æser once again went to the young wolf. By now, Fenrir was convinced that there was
another reason the Æser continued to test his strength by bindings. Highly suspicious, he
refused to allow himself to be bound. Each of the Æser present taunted him, claiming that
since he tore apart the strongest iron binding, this little silk band would be nothing. This
did little but make Fenrir more suspicious. Finally, he relented under the condition that
one of them put their hand in his mouth. If it were a trap, as he suspected, then that Æser
would lose their sword hand. But if the deal was done in good faith, and he was released
from the binding, then no harm would come to the Æser. Silence fell at this
pronouncement. All knew that it was a trap, a trick to bind Fenrir, and none of them were
willing to part with their weapon hands.
Finally, it was Týr who stepped forward, and laid his right hand in the wolfs mouth. The
binding, named Gleipnir, was placed on Fenrir. No matter how he thrashed and heaved
he could not break the binding. When none came to his aid, the bit off Týr’s hand at the
wrist, and lunged at the assembled Æser, howling and trying to bite at them. However,
the Æser, except for Týr, only laughed, relieved. The binding had worked! The more Fenrir
struggled, the tighter the binding bit into him. They took an unbreakable chain, Gelgja,
attached it to the binding, and dragged the raging wolf to an island named Lyngvi. There
the chain was tied tight to a rock, which was then pounded into the earth and another
stone used to fasten it. Fenrir still howled and tried to attack, so one of the Æser took his
sword and thrust it through the bottom of his jaw, pinning it open. The saliva that drops
from his mouth is what created, and feeds the river Ván. There they left him, alone and in
pain.

It is said that when Ragnarök comes, Fenrir will break the binding upon him, and run
through the world, devouring all in his path. He would devour the sun and the moon while
the battle raged, and would ultimately devour Odin himself. He would then be killed by
Odin’s son, Viðarr, and not return for the next cycle. So goes the legend of the Fenris-
Wolf

Moral of the story:

There are several lessons we can take from this tale today. For one thing, it is important
to keep one’s own council and listen to one’s own instincts, even if someone who you
trust explicitly is telling you otherwise. Fenrir trusted Týr, and ended up being bound for
it. Another lesson to be learned is to be wary of creating the very evil that you fear. Many
stories are based around self-fulfilling prophecies. While this one is not explicitly a self-
fulfilling prophecy, it would make sense for it to be classed as such. Fenrir was bound not
only for his rapid growth, but also for the foreknowledge the Æser had of Fenrir devouring
Odin and the sun and moon.