Harvian Narratives

The Harvian Narratives (Opolni: Bidola Harvennsialen) is a body of texts that encompasses both traditional Harvian fiction and oral stories. The term was coined by the Opole academical world and is now used throughout Harvia to refer to the combined total of Harvian epics, dramas, poems, stories, myths, legends and other traditional folk tales.

The Harvian Narratives all have some characteristics in common. Most of them don't have a known author. When the author is known, the validity of that claim is questionable at best. All stories are very old and rooted in Harvian folk culture. They are all part of oral traditions and have no definite version. A lot of variations on the same themes and characters can be found within the Harvian Narratives, as well as a surprising amount of different versions of one single story. Many stories can be traced back to one single culture, but often there are big similarities between stories of cultures that are thousands of miles apart.

Types of Narratives
The Harvian Narratives are commonly subdivided in the Epics (Aragha), the Elegies of Love (Beammhart'trin Hasua No Chul), the Blood, Life and Country stories (Ir Ea Fal), the Folk Tales (Burin), the Poems of Reverence (Thrunannsaouhil), the Myths (Aleid) and the Stories of the Dark (Anuguchujul).

Aragha
The Aragha are ancient, lengthy stories about old wars and deal with themes such as heroism and the clash between good and bad, light and dark, serene and chaotic. Aragha typically feature heroes (Ara), the destruction of a city (Eseburugtrag) and an epic final fight (Trhan Solei). Common characters include the Silent Angel (Thjiriale), the King of the Good (Falar Im) and the Representative of the Devil (Unugthira). Characters are mere stereotypes, the focus is completely on events and a set of archetypical heroes. The Aragha feature a lot of call and response storytelling techniques and lengthy speeches and adresses.

Examples include the most well-known Aragha of all, the Aragha of Opole and the Chanisj, a trilogy of stories from the Disji region of Kadaitska. Other examples are: the Mesarubaiju (Cassai), the Onnodrhangin (Ondiann), the Aragha of Dassai (Cetaia and Envina) and the Keenokalat (Urok).

Beammhart'trin Hasua No Chul
The Beammhart'trin Hasua No Chul are poetic love stories, set after the death of one of the lovers. They are structured as monologues by the father of the remaining lover, who tells about the life of the two lovers. Themes are happiness, dramatic irony, the inevitability of death and the love between young people. They end with a melancholical song.

Ir Ea Fal
The Ir Ea Fal encompass various legends and sagas that serve as the pseudo-history of a certain region, city, dynasty, family or person. The introduction of those stories consist of the description of some feature of the region, city, dynasty, family or person, whose origins are then explained in the story itself. Common characters include the Monster (Othin) and Unknown Brother (Pentalan Ussannmabthinese). The Ir Ea Fal always concern a central hero leaving his home to go on an adventure, and returning as a rich/knowledgeable man. They are essentially coming of age stories.

Burin
The Burin encompass fairytales, fables, children stories and numerous animal stories. It is one of the most varied categories of stories. They always end with a moralistic lesson, and feature talking animals and a set of supernatural characters: the Aledintin.

Thrunannsaouhil
The Thrunannsaouhil are descriptions of the lifes of historical figures, such as saints, monks and kings. They are often poetic and feature lots of interruptions where accompanying songs are sung by all people listening to the story.

Aleid
The Aleid are stories about the gods and are explanatory tales of the existence of some sort of phenomena or thing. They are often short, and reference a lot of other Aleidi. Aleid also include creation myths, called Alerid Nachra.

Anuguchujul
The Anuguchujul are encompass campfire stories that revolve around supernatural concepts, witches and wizards, magic and monsters. They are often set in dungeons or caves, and begin around a campfire.

Excerpt from the Thrunnansaouhil of Epperu
The Thrunnansaouhil of Epperu tells the story of the life of Epperu, an Envinan healer and saint:
 * "On the first day in Salangu, his holiness Epperu cured the daughters of Manchala, the Snake Killer. I swear with my left hand on my right arm that it happened exactly as follows. They had been sick with the flu of the snake for days, after playing in the corn fields, like good children do, and bad children ought to do. Then, one particularly cold morning their father forgot to pray to Sanichuen, the Ghost of the Morning. Angered with this ignorant soul, the Ghost sent a snake to his daughters. While they played their usual games in the corn fields, the snake bit first the oldest daughter, Lefhear, then the youngest daughter, Manchalerien."


 * [...]


 * "Epperu told Manchala of Salangu to kill a snake and eat it, and then pray to the Ghost of the Morning for forgiveness."


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 * "They were sick for days when Epperu appeared again, and told Manchala to feed his daughters the liver of four rats. A terrifying sight followed, where the daughters crawled out of their skin and stood naked in the room, quickly seeking the modesty of the curtains of his altar."