Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part A

Main Characters:

Secondary Characters:

Important things to remember:

Stories told in first person
Sindbad sold his riches to join merchants at sea
The merchants stopped and traded at islands, but weather forced them to stop on a random island
However, this island was actually the back of a sleeping whale
Sindbad was flung out to see while holding onto a piece of wood, and finally came upon another island
He met one of the grooms of the King of the Island and went to a cave and ate
King Mihrage made Sindbad at home, but soon Sindbad went to find other merchants
After learning more about the island and sailing, he returned to find his old ship at the port
The captain did not recognize him but soon after did and gave him all his stuff
Sindbad gave it as gifts to the King and the King returned the favor with many gifts

Sindbad wanted to sail again, and when his crew found an island, he fell asleep and was left behind
He saw a giant bird, which he had heard was called a Roc, and when it fell asleep he tied himself to it so it would fly and take him to another place
He flew attached to the rock and came on a different land that was filled with huge diamonds
The diamonds were in a valley, and Sindbad saw large pieces of meat kept falling to the valley
This was so the diamonds would get caught in the meat, and the eagles would go down in the valley for the meat and bring the diamonds back up towards the sailors
Sindbad took the path of the diamonds, latching to meat so an eagle would take him out of the valley to one of their nests
The sailors found him in the nest and took Sindbad as a friend when he offered diamonds
He later returned to Bagdad with the sailors, giving money from the diamonds to the poor

Sindbad was ready for another adventure, but upon this island, the whole crew was taken captive by savages
They sailed them to another island that had a courtyard full of human bones
A giant came busting out of the doors, picked up Sindbad, but put him down to eat the fat captain instead
Just like the story of Odysseus, the giant would leave and come back and eat a crewmate every night for 2 nights
But after the 3rd was eaten, they spit in his eye when he slept and took off in rafts they had made
The giant and 2 others followed and hurled rocks destroying all the rafts except for Sindbad (with 2 other crewmates).... and they finally came upon another island
On this island, a great snake ate both of Sindbad's companions
Sindbad hid for a while and finally saw a ship sailing by, which sent a boat to rescue him
It was the same captain as his second journey, who thought he was dead

Sindbad on the Roc, via The Second Voyage

MYTHOLOGY & FOLKLORE BLOG, SPRING 2021