Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday! Free Give-away, Of Course, But My Gift to you this season is An Old, Old Legend

It’s Christmas Time!  It’s a season for giving.  And today I will be giving away not only a free e-book of my latest release, THE LAST WARRIOR, but I’ll also be giving away another free e-book or mass market book (those that I have on hand). So come on in, leave a comment, and also please sure to check back here for the winners on either Wednesday or Thursday evening.

One of my most favorite Christmas memories is being told a story the night before Christmas in an attempt to get me to go to sleep.  It didn’t work very well (getting me to go to sleep).  But it is a wonderful memory.

And so I thought I’d regale you with this beautiful story, an ancient, timeless, American Indian Legend.  I’ve told you this story before, once last year, but I hope you’ll enjoy it all the more, the second time.

This is the tale of a girl who married a star.  It’s origin is Sioux — I don’t know if that’s Lakota or Dakota or Nakota.  All three are Sioux, just different dialects.  By the way this story comes to us from the book, Favorite North American Indian Legends, printed by Dover.  Before I start, I wanted to say that this story reminds me of a legend from one of my books, Soaring Eagle’s Embrace, which is now in e-books.  Although the story of Soaring Eagle’s Embrace is based on a similar legend as the one I’m telling you today, it is a little different.  Mainly in Soaring Eagle’s Embrace, it was the young man who fell in love with a star.  Okay, that said, let’s pretend we are sitting around a fire in a warm, warm teepee.  The scent of smoke is strong in the air, and loved ones surround us as we wrap ourselves in warm blankets.  And so the storyteller begins:

Long ago, there were two sisters, one whose name was Earth and the other’s name was Water.  This was at a time when all people and animals were in close communication with each other and so the animals supplied the sisters with all their needs.

 One night the sky was clear and beautiful and both sisters looked up to the sky through their wigwam — comment, now we know that this was most likely the Dakota since they were living in Wigwams — anyway, they looked up through the hole in their wigwam and admired the beautiful stars.

Earth said to her sister that she’d had a dream about a handsome young man and that she thought he might be a star.  Water responded saying that she, too, had seen a man in her dreams who was a brave man.

The sisters chose stars that they thought might be these men that they had dreamed of.  Water chose the brightest star for her husband.  Earth chose a little star that twinkled.

Then they slept.  When they awoke, they were in the land of the Sky.  The stars were, indeed, people.  Now it happened that the man that water chose was an older warrior and that the man that Earth chose was a young, handsome man.  Both sisters married these men and they were very happy.

One day the sisters went out onto the plains to dig turnips (a much favored food at this time in history).  Both of their husbands warned them not to strike the ground too hard.  But Earth, in her haste to dig the turnips, struck the ground so hard that she fell through the sky to the ground.

Earth was found and cared for by two older people who tried to help her.  But she was so upset about losing her husband that all she did is cry.  She could not even see her husband in the sky because he had blackened his face because he was now a widower.  Earth waited and waited for him to come to her, but he could not.  However, he did give her a most precious gift.

That night when she went to sleep, she dreamed of a beautiful red star.  It had never been in the sky before.  She knew at once that it was her son.

When she awoke, she found a handsome boy by her side — her son.  Although Earth’s husband could not come to rescue her, and though he loved his son deeply, he gave to his wife the only gift that he could — their son, Star Boy.  It was a gift from his heart..

‘Tis the season of giving.  I hope you have enjoyed this story, short and simple though it is.  I thought it was quite beautiful.

Now one more message to say before I end.

THE LAST WARRIOR was just recently released into e-books on Amazon and AmazonUnlimited.  This is one of the e-books I’ll be giving away today.

THE LAST WARRIOR is one of my favorite stories, if only because it is a song that is the key to unlocking the mystery that enslaves the last band of a clan of people.

Off to the right here is the cover for the e-book SOARING EAGLE’S EMBRACE.

PHOT0043The picture below is of myself and my husband with Chief Mountain in the background, the setting in the book, SOARING EAGLE’S EMBRACE — on the Blackfeet reservation.

And so from my heart to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!  And, or, Happy Holidays!

 

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KAREN KAY aka GEN BAILEY is the multi-published author of American Indian Historical Romances. She has written for such prestigious publishers as AVON/HarperCollins, Berkley/Penguin/Putnam and Samhain Publishing. KAREN KAY’S great grandmother was Choctaw Indian and Kay is honored to be able to write about the American Indian Culture.
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29 thoughts on “Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday! Free Give-away, Of Course, But My Gift to you this season is An Old, Old Legend”

  1. What a sad, but beautiful story Karen. Love hearing your stories. I’ve also enjoyed a couple of your books and look forward to reading more. Happy Holidays to you and your family Karen. Would love to try for a Mass market copy of Soaring Eagle’s Embrace.
    Carol Luciano

  2. I have always thought this to be a beautiful legend! A few years ago, my grandchildren’s Uncle died sadly and unexpectedly. Their parents struggled with how to help small children cope with his being gone, as they had been super close. They taught the children that their uncle and his love were now a star in the sky watching over them. That is still how they think of him.

  3. That is a very beautiful story. It kept me spellbound to the end. Thank you for sharing this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. ?

    • Hi Theresa!

      Thank you very much. I, too, thought it was a beautiful story — especially at this time of year and gift-giving. To give from one’s heart. : )

  4. That is a very beautiful story. It kept me spellbound to the end. Thank you for sharing this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

    • Hi Theresa!

      Thank you very much. I, too, thought it was a beautiful story — especially at this time of year and gift-giving. To give from one’s heart. : )

  5. Thank you for telling this lovely story, Karen. I love myths, legends, fables and the like. This story piqued my interest–as your posts so very often do–and I have a couple of things to share with you.

    The Shawnee and Algonquin each have a legend about a man and a star who fall in love.
    The Micmac and Chippewa have legends about two women who married stars.
    There’s a Cheyenne tale of woman who married the Morning Star and had a star hero for her son.
    And of course Charles Eastman, a Santee Sioux (Dakota), told Sioux origin legends about Little Boy Man and Star Boy.

    There’s also a Blackfoot legend about a woman falling in love with the Morning Star and being taken up into the sky, having a son Star Boy, and digging up The Great Turnip so she could see her village below. Because she was disobedient in digging up the Great Turnip (a sin), she and her son were sent back to earth (which looked like a falling star). The story goes on on on from there with the son eventually bringing the sun dance to his people from his grandfather The Sun.

    Thanks again, Karen.

    There are many other Indian legends regarding various star stories and books about them but two general ones are “They Dance in the Sky: Native American Star Myths” and “Stars of the First People: Native American Constellation and Star Myths.”

    • Hi Eliza!

      Thank you for sharing all of this. I will have to get these books and read them — I’m always interested in the legends of the People, and I love reading about them.

  6. Hi Karen, nice to read the story of your memory. Merry Christmas to you and your family (from across the Ocean – the Netherlands).

  7. I’ve never heard this story before. You feel so many emotions when you read their stories. They make you think and respect the gifts of nature that we take for granted.

  8. Thank you for sharing this lovely tale. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
    Blessings,
    Connie
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

  9. My friend, Cindy, couldn’t get into the blog today, and so I told her I would post her comment for her, and here it is:

    What a beautiful story Karen. Thank you for sharing it.

    Thanks Cindy for being so persistent with me and for caring. Merry Christmas!

  10. I loved reading this old legend. Thanks for sharing it! Is the book Favorite North American Indian Legends available to read? That sounds very interesting! Merry Christmas, Karen!

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