4 ms·
Thunderbird and Whale
- flobosg 3y agoReminds me of Trentren-Vilu and Caicai-Vilu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Trentren_Vilu_and_Caicai_Vilu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Trentren_Vilu_and_Ca...
- EdwardDiego 3y agoThey've got a relative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Serpent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Serpent
- Tao3300 3y ago> when disturbed [the Serpent] can bring great chaos Not the Dragon of Chaos again!
- soperj 3y agoI live in the area. Most of the city I live in is built about 6-15 meters above sea level. All of it would be wiped out in a smaller event than what this legend is based on.
- Syzygies 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake The 1964 Alaska "Good Friday" earthquake is the second most powerful earthquake in recorded history, estimated to have been stronger than the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. In 1970 I wandered the ruins of the original city of Valdez. They relocated up the hill. The next morning, sleeping in our homebuilt camper van, there was a rolling 5.9 earthquake right under us. Yikes.
- xattt 3y ago> All of it would be wiped out in a smaller event than what this legend is based on. “The seagull and the mackerel”
- pineaux 3y agoI was wondering if "earthquake lights" might have something to do with this myth. Those strange lights that are seen in the sky with strong earthquakes. Believed to be caused by huge electro mechanical forces of large earthquakes. I was wondering what a Thunderbird had to do with an earthquake and suddenly remembered an earlier post here on HN. Sound like a plausible explanation to me: 1) there is an unrelated famine. 2) suddenly eerie lighting like flashes are seen in the air above the sea. 3) followed by earthquake tremors. 4) followed by a tsunami. Many canoes are destroyed. A landslide buried a forrest. 5) the tsunami throws whale(s) onto the beach. Solving the famine by delivering a large amount of whale meat. 6) unrelated, the rains come and the animal and agriculture can thrive again. 7) the aforementioned steps are linked together in a logical coherent (be it a fantastical) story. Or: It has nothing to do with real life events and was just thought-up by a creative storyteller.
- cperciva 3y agoIt's possible, but if that's the case then it wasn't the earthquake which this story has been linked to, since that earthquake was in Japan.
- truculent 3y agoNo - the earthquake was strong enough to send a tsunami to Japan. Its epicentre was on the west coast: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake
- cperciva 3y agoOops! You're quite right of course. I remembered Japan because that's where we had the written records of the event.
- dclowd9901 3y agoDoesn’t it seem like an earthquake of that magnitude would have corresponding lore from natives basically among the entire western region of North America? Why only the PNW tribes?
- akeck 3y agoMore info: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pacific-northwest-prepares-for-massive-earthquake https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pacific-northwest-prep...
- N19PEDL2 3y agoAt first glance I thought this was about the Thunderbird email client and the Whale browser.