Greetings, everyone. Just curious: what are your favorite myths and legends? I mean those stories from early times, as opposed to modern creations like those of Tolkien etc.
There's a long medieval legend about the exploits and adventures of the Emperor Charlemagne (742 ~ 814) and his knights. Briefly this legend concerns Charlemagne's battles to defend Christendom against Moslem invaders, and it covers an extremely wide geographical scope, ranging as it does from all of Europe through Africa and the Middle East to East Asia. There are even trips to the
moon itself.
There are dragons, giants, sea monsters, wizards, fairies, angels, valiant knights and damsels in distress, and you'll find Vikings, Moslems and even some Chinese. In fact at the beginning of the story Charlemagne and his court are actually visited by a
Cathayan princess -- named
Angelica ... Roland, a nephew of Charlemagne, was to fall so deeply in love with the princess that he would lose his sanity later when she spurned him, and another knight had to
travel to the moon to retrieve for him his lost sanity -- hence the story of
Orlando Furioso, The Madness of Roland. There are several versions of the legend, but the one most readily available is
Bullfinch's Mythology: The Legends of Charlemagne.
I think it would be simply great if this legend could be made into a TV series along the lines of
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Just imagine: a blend of medieval and Nordic legend, the Arabian Nights, and Chinese mythology and martial arts. What more can you ask for from a fantasy TV series? [img]smile.gif[/img] (I've also come across rumors that the producer of the Hercules series has a great liking for Hong Kong swordplay movies.) Its production would probably have to be a truly international effort in view of the scope of the content, with perhaps the American and European film/TV industry doing the scripts and acting for the medieval and Arabian Nights portions and the Hong Kong TV/film industry doing the Chinese portions, but I think it will be worth it.
Got some other ancient legends in mind, but for now I should like to hear from you folks. [img]smile.gif[/img]