(Originally published at https://www.journeymouse.net/ on 2nd December 2018)
I
After Air fought and killed Water, he collapsed of his own wounds and woke to find himself lying in the warm arms of the Earth.
"Let me lie here forever," he said.
But Earth was the daughter of his enemy and resented her father's killer.
"If you remain within my grasp, I shall crush you," she warned Air.
"But I have done nothing to you!"
She hugged him tightly to her and replied, as he gasped, "You have killed my father, the First Waters."
And the two fought, with Earth trying to crush Air within her grasp and Air twisting and slipping to escape.
"If you hate me so much, why did you not kill me before I woke?" asked Air. "Why give me the false hope of the comfort of your arms?"
Earth did not cease, not until the Air promised that he would lie with no other, that no other would bear him children, and that their children would be the most powerful of the gods.
However, Air broke the first of his promise and took a lover. Earth, outraged, took their son, the Harvester, aside and said, "You are the grandson of the First Waters and the son of the Earth. You are the most powerful of your generation and the true king of the gods – yet your father may yet take that away from you."
"What should I do?" the Harvester asked.
His mother gave him a golden sickle and instructions on how to exact her revenge for broken promises.
So the Harvester came upon Air when he lay upon his new lover and tore the one from the other. Both were too surprised to resist as the Harvester cut up his father and threw the parts about so that they could be devoured by the revenge-hungry Earth.
This is how the Harvester became king of all the gods.
II
When the Harvester was the king of all the gods and in the summer of his powers, he saw the full beauty of Plenty. She, however, saw only his cruelty and the fickleness of his love.
"You have lain with all that would have you and many that would not. You have taken everything from them and left them empty shells, without life or beauty or power," she said. "I will not be your wife."
"I promise that I shall love none but you," said the Harvester.
At first, Plenty refused his promise but the Harvester lived as if held to his promise already and, in time, her heart was won.
Then there came a time when Plenty saw the Harvester looking at another with love in his eyes and she plotted her revenge for a broken promise. She looked among her children and chose the most powerful of her sons. She borrowed the Sun's shining spear and the Moon's bright shield and gave them to her son, along with secret knowledge of where the Harvester roamed and the promise that all the gods would crown him king for the deed.
The son stole his father's cloak and, so disguised, went to make an ambush in the place the Harvester met his new lover. The lover, fooled by the cloak, mistook the son for her lover and welcomed him accordingly. Later, when she slept, the true Harvester arrived and was killed by his son's trickery.
This is how the All-Father became king of the gods, although his title came later, and how Mischief was conceived.
III
When Sky-Father became the high king of the gods, he promised that he would share the position with his nephew, Ocean, so that they would each rule for a term of seven years before returning it to the other.
However, when it came time for Ocean to begin his term, the Sky-Father refused to step down and allow him the crown – for the Shining Sun and the Bright Moon had brought the Sky-Father of how Ocean had hidden his palaces deep under water and given shelter to his monstrous siblings, the other children of the First Waters, beneath the high waves he ruled.
The breaking of the promise enraged Ocean and he called his siblings and their offspring to form an army. For the full seven years of what should have been Ocean's rule, they gathered. Then they threw their might against the children of the Sky-Father for the following seven years.
On the final day of what should have been the Sky-Father's rule, he and Ocean met on the field of battle and fought valiantly until they were both bloodied and torn. As the last of the day's light fled the field, Ocean managed such a blow that it cut the Sky-Father's hand from his arm.
The two armies withdrew to regroup as they did every evening but, in the Sky-Father's camp, the gods discussed grave concerns – for an imperfect god could not be high king over them. While Sky-Father was being treated to stop the flow of blood, the others sent Mischief to carry their surrender to Ocean, as the rightful high king of the term that was about to start. They asked only that the Sky-Father's heir would become high king at the start of the next term and that the position be shared as promised before.
This is how Ocean became king of the gods, though he proved to be an ill leader and refused to give up the position in his turn until Sky-Father himself was healed, led his offspring into battle and took it back. But that is another story.
IIII
The All-Father wished to bind the powerful Son of the Wave to his service and sought a way to force an oath that would not break. It was Mischief who came to him and spoke of bonds made of rope or chain that could not be broken, turning an oath of words to an oath of hemp or iron. So the All-Father sent to his craftsmen and had them make a ribbon, as they would for a hand-fasting, that could be used to bind the Sea King to him permanently.
The craftsmen were concerned for, "No magic could ensure the oath is held once the rope is removed. Not against all the might of the sea."
But Mischief laughed at them and said that he could supply the spells they required.
So the All-Father had the craftsmen make a ribbon of hemp, a ribbon of silk and a ribbon of iron, each stronger than the last, so that the Sea King's oath could be taken.
When they were made, the All-Father called all the gods before him in his palace and had each swear their loyalty and to never bring him harm. Each god had their hand bound to his as if to a husband's with the ribbon of hemp and swore their loyalty as if they were his children, whether they were or were not. After swearing, each was released from the ribbon and offered the All-Father's own sword to attack with. Not one put their hand to the weapon for the magic bound their hands.
Until the Wave's Son, who took the hilt easily within his grasp – but laughed and put sword aside, for the love of and loyalty to the All-Father. The All-Father asked the Wave's Son to swear again using the ribbon of silk and, again, the Wave's Son was able to reach for the hilt. The gods muttered amongst themselves but the All-Father asked the Wave's Son to try a third time with the ribbon of iron.
Angered at the continued testing, the Wave's Son turned to Sky, who was known to be fair and just, and asked, "What trickery is our Father planning?"
Sky swore on his own honour, without hesitation, that there was no trickery and that no harm would come from this. Sky's oath pacified the Son of the Wave enough that he put his hand into the third ribbon.
But, when he was able to reach for the sword hilt a third time, it was Sky that the All-Father ordered to cut the Wave's Son down rather than leave the threat standing. Enraged, the Wave's Son defended himself with the All-Father's sword and cut Sky's hand from his arm. He would have reversed the blow and taken the All-Father's head, too, but the magic of his oath prevented him from landing the strike.
So the might of the Sea is bound in service to the All-Father, though the Son of the Wave chafes at his oath and will eventually break free.