At the Font of the Marvelous: Exploring Oral Narrative and Mythic Imagery of the Iroquois and Their Neighbors

3 Killer Lizards, Eldritch Fish,and Horned Serpents

43 3 Killer Lizards, Eldritch Fish, and Horned Serpents anyone perusing the liter ature of Native American oral narrative “soon learns to recognize many recurrent patterns or types, which transcend geographical and linguistic boundaries” (Thompson 1929, vii). Here, I discuss three old friends of this sort—story types repeatedly documented either as self-contained tales or as episodes within longer narratives. These tales of marvel are of the Northeast, of course, but they also occur more widely. All, in fact, were distributed over enormous distances. Additionally, they possess rather complex plots unlikely to have been independently invented. Hence, they indicate that communication involving storytelling took place across great reaches of geographic space. This chapter muses on the phenomenon of widespread story distribution —what it implies about interaction between regions, how it might have come about, and what might be indicated about behavior or belief of long ago. When something is known of historical circumstances, as is the case with the first plot considered here, one follows the facts trying to make sense of the story’s dissemination. When nothing is known of history, as is the case with the second and third examples, extensive geographical scale testifies to deep time depth. Killer Lizards Popular among the Iroquois around 1900 was a tale about a beneficent lion-being who fights a murderous lizard to the death. Here is the story as first documented by David Cusick in 1827 (Beauchamp 1892, 23). 44 | At the Font of the Marvelous [Centuries ago] a small party went out to make incursion upon the enemy that may be found within the boundaries of the kingdom. They penetrated the Ohio River and encamped on the bank. As they were out of provision, the warriors were anxious to kill a game. A certain warrior discovered a hollow tree, supposing a bear in the tree, he immediately reported. The warriors were in hopes to obtain the bear—went to the tree. One of them climbed and put a fire in it in order to drive out the creature. The warriors made ready to shoot, but were mistaken. There instantly came out a furious Lizard, and quickly grasped [a warrior] and leaped into the hollow of the tree and the young ones devoured it. A grumbling noise ensued, the warriors were terrified at the monstrous creature and were soon compelled to retire, except one stayed at the tree while others fled. He remained until the party was destroyed and the last warrior was chased. The warrior immediately left the tree and ran on the way fortunately met the Holder of the Heavens who advised him to stop and offers the aid of material resistance which was accepted. The warrior was instructed to make fire without delay and to get some sticks to use with which to prevent the Lizard’s flesh from uniting the body or being efficacious. The protector changed into a lion and laid in wait. In a meanwhile the monster came up, a severe engagement took place. The warrior hastened with a stick and began to hook the Lizard’s flesh, when bit off by his defendant and throws it into the fire, by means the monster was quelled. The warrior thanked for the personal preservation. The protector vanished out of his sight. The warrior returned to the fort and related the occurrence. Later versions describe the lizard’s home as a “bear tree,” a high, hollow tree stump covered with claw marks. The story often details a specific number of warriors (or hunters) who will be run down, one by one, by the angry saurian. The party’s only survivor is the man who climbed the tree to toss down burning material to flush out the supposed bear. When it comes time for him to flee, he encounters a mysterious man who, when identified, is none other than the great Iroquois god, Sky Holder. The supernatural protector transforms himself into a lion (or, in two versions, a bear) and engages the lizard in a titanic struggle. The supernatural guardian insists on the necessity of the mortal’s help in the upcoming Killer Lizards, Eldritch Fish, and Horned Serpents | 45 fight. The man must be equipped with sticks to prevent pieces of the lizard from magically reconnecting with the monster. Five Iroquois versions were recorded between 1827 and 1918 (Johnson 1881, 56–57; Rudes and Crouse 1987, 530...