해와 달이 된 오누이
Description
A fairy from the folklore of Korea. "The Brother and Sister Who Became the Sun and Moon" (Korean: 해와 달이 된 오누이; RR: Haewa Dari Doen Onui)
Origin & Background
The tale of the brother and sister who became the sun and the moon is a traditional Korean folktale that explains the origins of the sun and the moon. This story is also known by the name 'The Reason for the Red Sorghum.'
The Legend
The story begins with an old mother who is eaten by a tiger on her way home after finishing work at a wealthy neighbor's house. The tiger, wearing the mother's clothes, goes to the mother's house and asks her son and daughter to open the door. The brother and sister peek outside through the crack of the door and realize that the visitor is a tiger, so they escape through the back door and climb up a tree. As the tiger chases them, the siblings climb to the top of the tree and pray to the sky god. The sky god sends down a wire, and the siblings climb up it, becoming the sun and the moon, respectively. The tiger also prays to the sky god but receives a weak wire, which breaks, causing the tiger to fall onto a sorghum stalk and die. The tiger's blood turns the sorghum red. The younger sibling, afraid of the night, switches roles with the older sibling, with the older sibling becoming the moon and the younger sibling becoming the sun.
This article is based on the Wikipedia article "The Brother and Sister Who Became the Sun and Moon" (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikipedia
Abilities
- Supernatural power
Weaknesses
- Sunlight
Sources
- Wikipedia (Korean folklore)
Genres
Story Hooks
- A fairy from the folklore of Korea. "The Brother and Sister Who Became the Su