8 Comments
User's avatar
Diane's avatar

Brilliant as always. Loved the Mountain face one. Reminded me of Neil Gaiman's American Idols where the gods are struggling because people don't believe in them any more

Expand full comment
Jeannine Lawall's avatar

Whoa, that's quite a compliment, thank you! The Old Man of the Mountain was real, though, and Daniel Webster really wrote that he was a sign hung up by God to show that "there He makes men."

The Abenacki myth about Old Stone Face (the same geological formation as the Old Man of the Mountain: different culture, different name) is beautiful and sad. I wrote about it way back in Teeny Tiny Tales #4 (https://jeannine85f.substack.com/p/my-weekly-microdosing-stories-4). I'll paste the story here so you don't have to go digging, but you really should Google it to find an authentic version, it truly is a beautiful story, but I had to condense it down to 100 words:

There was once a young man, who married a young woman. They lived happily, until his wife received word that that her father was deathly ill. She rushed to her home village to tend him. The husband sat on a mountaintop, tending the fire that would guide his love home; but the disease killed her, too.

He waited for her return, as many days, weeks, months passed, until he became one with the mountain, becoming the great Stone Face. Years, decades, eons passed, yet still he waited.

Finally, her spirit returned. Stone Face crumbled away as the two lovers reunited.

This is a retelling of an old Abenacki myth, which describes the origins of "The Old Man of the Mountain" of New Hampshire. Stone Face collapsed in May, 2003.

Expand full comment
Diane's avatar

You're welcome. I think that Gaiman got some ideas from old American mythologies.

Expand full comment
Jeannine Lawall's avatar

I think he borrowed ideas from several different cultures' mythologies, it's one of the things that I like about him.

Expand full comment
Diane's avatar

I think we're only meant to like that about him now, aren't we?

Expand full comment
Jeannine Lawall's avatar

I was going to say, "Huh?" But then I decided to do some googling. With my caregiving duties, I haven't been able to keep up on a lot of stuff, including the news. Men can be so stupid and assholish, sometimes... though I guess I shouldn't be sexist, women can be assholes, too. But man, what a way to tarnish everything he's ever written. How can I read any of his stuff again without remembering? 😥

Expand full comment
Alison Redford's avatar

60 mg of Home made me think a little differently about the prospect of being home alone. And I love the Mountain face one, too! All are so very good. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Jeannine Lawall's avatar

Thank you, I'm glad you liked them!

60 mg of Home can be comforting or terrifying, depending on how one feels about sharing their space with non-human critters. I'm one of the ones who finds it comforting. 😉

The Old Man of the Mountain fascinates me. I'm bummed that it's no more, but you can find the image everywhere in New Hampshire.

Expand full comment