Help me remember a legend...

[Klaus]

I vaguely remember a legend (can't recall the culture, though) of a guy who got bathed in some substance (I wanna say dragon blood?) to become invulnerable, but when he did it, a leaf got stuck on his body and prevented the substance from making that spot invulnerable. Of course, he dies of a wound to that spot.

Does this ring any bells?

 

[Therek]

Greek...It was Achilles. His heel was left untreated and that is were the term Achilles Heel comes from for a weakness.

 

[jerichothebard]

And it wasn't dragon blood - though accounts differ. I have heard versions of the legend where his mother held him by the heel and dipped him in the water of the river Styx, and also that she held him over a sacred fire of some sort (memory fuzzy).

 

[Umbran]

I have heard versions of the legend where his mother held him by the heel and dipped him in the water of the river Styx, and also that she held him over a sacred fire of some sort (memory fuzzy).

The standard "Bulfinch's Mythology" version is that it is the river Styx. His heel is left untreated, as his mother had to hold him by it while dipping him in the river.

 

[William Ronald]

I vaguely remember a legend (can't recall the culture, though) of a guy who got bathed in some substance (I wanna say dragon blood?) to become invulnerable, but when he did it, a leaf got stuck on his body and prevented the substance from making that spot invulnerable. Of course, he dies of a wound to that spot.

Does this ring any bells?

This myth, much like that of the Greek hero Achilles, refers to the Norse hero Sigurd -- perhaps better known by his German name Siegfried. (Wagner did a whole cycle of Germanic mythology operas where the Siegfried tales figured prominently.) The name of the dragon was Fafnir.

 

[Wycen]

I believe Baldur, of Norse mythology, was also invulnerable due to a ritual, except his mother missed mistletoe. Loki killed him with a spear made of mistletoe.

 

[Umbran]

I believe Baldur, of Norse mythology, was also invulnerable due to a ritual, except his mother missed mistletoe. Loki killed him with a spear made of mistletoe.

The "Bulfinch Standard" on Baldur is that he is slain by his brother Hoder. In one version, Baldur is not invulnerable, and they are fighting over a woman. In the other, Baldur's mother, Frigga, has bound all things by oath to not harm Baldur, but she missed mistletoe. Loki then tricks Hoder (who is blind) into using a misteltoe twig or dart against Baldur.

Loki is far too crafty to get into hand-to-hand combat if he can at all avoid it

 

[Klaus]

Sigurd! That's it! Thanks, William Ronald!

The version of Achilles I know is that his mother Tethis held him by the ankle while dipping him into the Styx (she alternated between Styx and a hearth fire), so that's why he was vulnerable there.

I didn't know the "leaf" myth was also a version of Achilles' myth.

 

[jester47]

This myth, much like that of the Greek hero Achilles, refers to the Norse hero Sigurd -- perhaps better known by his German name Siegfried. (Wagner did a whole cycle of Germanic mythology operas where the Siegfried tales figured prominently.) The name of the dragon was Fafnir.

I read somewhere once that archeological evidence suggests that the Norse were in fact people who traced back to Coastal Turkey from about the time of the Trojan War. It was one of those long migrations taking hundreads of years. So if this is true, it could very well be that Sigurd and Achilles are the same person.

just a thought.

Aaron.

 

[Sir Elton]

William the Conquerer, the Duke of Normandy, had 3 lions couchant on his standard. He claimed, through Genealogy, to be a descendant of King Priam of Troy. The Normans were originally Scandinavian Vikings.