Long ago, when the Old Gods still walked the earth, the forest, Sheřa, spent her time building beautiful ecosystems and filling them with animals. But still Sheřa was lonely, so she crafted men from the bark of the trees and the dirt from the ground and added them among the plants and the birds. And for a time they lived happily, and Sheřa took pleasure in watching the humans multiply and thrive.
The ocean, Zořk, saw how the humans made Sheřa happy, and wished for some of her own. She had no bark nor dirt, so instead she took some of the weed and sand from her floor and put them together and created fish. She was sure she had done it wrong, so she tried again - this time with a little more sand and a little less weed - and made the shark. She tried this again and again many times with different amounts of sand and weed, but all she made were fish and sharks and whales and all the many creatures of the ocean.
Zořk was envious of Sheřa’s creation and tired of her failures, and so out of spite she caused a great wave to steal man, sweeping many of the humans into her vast waters so they would be with her. But she was disappointed when she learned that the humans could not survive among the waves and perished.
Sheřa was horrified when she learned what Zořk had done. But she was kind and she saw how badly Zořk wanted to share her company with man. So Sheřa went to their brother the mountains, Dyao, and asked him to make Zořk an island. Dyao was busy forming tall peaks and covering the steep sides with plants and animals, but Sheřa had given him the secret of trees so he went with her to Zořk.
At first Zořk was afraid because Dyao was also a fierce warrior and she feared Sheřa had brought him to take revenge. But Dyao and Sheřa set to work creating an island for Zořk, with ridges and valleys and a thick forest. Sheřa took some bark from the trees and mixed it with dirt from the ground and put humans and animals on the island. Zořk loved the island, and she enjoyed watching the humans and animals flourish. She was thankful for the forgiveness and the kindness Sheřa had shown her, and so she gave her a ribbon from her hair which became a river, running from Dyao's peaks and down to Zořk to further nourish the woodlands Sheřa so loved.
Use the player to the right to listen to the myth and follow along with the translation below.
Header is Island Concept by Parkurtommo