Work Text:
Amazonian audio books presents Dānu and the Pond:
She inflicts fear upon those she faces in battle, stronger than her sisters, sitting tall on a steed of blinding loyalty. Out of all of them she is best in combat, riding, speed, raiding, dueling, and knocking an arrow. It is she who provides the most, she who howls the song of the gods. The thundering of hooves follows her where she goes, known for her sharp tongue and even sharper blade. Those who have died at her hand are so many that it fills tartarus thrice over. Her name was Dānu.
One midsummer's morning as the sun was peeking over the horizon Dānu found herself waking earlier than the other members of her clan. Unsure of what woke her, she looked around and upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary she got up and started to dress in the lightest leather and bronze armor she had. It was still heavy but she paid it no mind, welcoming the feeling of the weight, grounding her and chasing away the sleepy haze that still clouded her thoughts. She decided that she would go fill her water skins for a long day of riding was ahead. Finding her mare, Lewle*,who was grazing, reins tied to a tree, she quickly mounted and started at a walk. Slowly moving through the camp and into the woods, the echoing clip clop of Lewle’s hooves the only noise in the otherwise still woodland.
She gently swayed in her saddle furs, Api* sending her breath through the trees, lightly touching each thing as if to wake them from their slumber. The forest started to wake, birds started to sing melodies of sorrow and delight. The sound of a small stream caught her attention, as a huntress she was well versed in the forest and knew every plant and animal that roamed within. The stream was not far off, dismounting, she stooped down and stood still hoping to get a better sense of where it was. If she followed the stream, she could find a pond or lake in which to fill her water skins. As she followed the brook, leading her mare by the reins, she saw many of the small forest inhabitants observing her to which she laughed and acknowledged them with a slight nod of her head, knowing she would later catch a few to feed herself and the others.
She soon found herself at the pond which she had been expecting, however she noticed a creeping feeling starting through her body. She chose to ignore it and started to free her water skins from her horse's saddle bags. She slips off her shoes so as to not cake them in mud and make them ineffective for riding walks towards the edge of the pond. There’s a complete absence of noise except for Lewle’s light hooves and breath. She stoops down at the edge of the water only to quickly jump back in surprise and fear.
She slowly gazes back into a still pond expecting to find her reflection, thinking what she had seen was just a trick of Svalius’s*, for he was known to give mortals a fright. But instead she finds that what she had seen was no trick, it was someone else looking at her through the water. This strange woman was like her but stronger, taller, leaner, fiercer. Joined by gods that weren’t her own, wars that weren’t her own, words that didn’t echo her own. Sounds that slipped from alien tongues telling of exploits she couldn’t understand. “Epiléxame, échoume érthei na sas dósoume evlogíes kai ti dýnamí mas”. Her armor and animal skins were impressive, unlike anything Dānu had seen before. Weapons glinted under a sun that seemed to hail from nowhere in particular, a bow and quiver on the woman's back as a spear and shield were in her hands and a sword rested at her side. As Dānu’s steed was standing next to her, a thundercloud grey coat, muddied hooves, dirty saddle furs. The steed mirrored in the pond was a gorgeous jet black mare, not a fleck of dirt on her shining coat. She snorted and pawed at the ground, she was wrestless to move, to battle.
“Dānu” the woman said, “Dānu”. Now she was speaking in a tongue that Dānu could understand, she was speaking in her native tongue. The mysterious warrior woman beckoned for Dānu to come closer, so she did.
“We have come to give you a great gift Dānu”, the woman said. “I am Hippolyta, a queen of warrior women such as yourself.” At this, Dānu got down on her knees and started to worship, she did not want the queen to become filled with rage at her lack of respect.
“Dānu, stop that. I have come to give you a gift not to be worshipped.” She stopped as she was instructed and Hippolyta continued. “I have noticed your great courage, bravery, and skill with sword and horse. I want to gift you the strength and bravery of my people, the sword of my people, the horse of my people. In return you must use it and use it well. I ask that you train other women to be as great a warrior as you.” Hippolyta drew her blade carefully from the sheath and then removed the sheath from her waist placing it beneath the sword. The hilt glinted bronze and was made far better than any sword Dānu had ever seen. Hippolyta lifted the blade and sheath with both hands out towards the surface of the water, inviting Dānu to take it from her. Dānu submerged her hands in the water and carefully pulled out the sword which Hippolyta had just bestowed upon her. With the last words “Chrisimopoiíste to kalá”, Hippolyta was gone and Dānu was left feeling overwhelmed with a new sense of purpose. As she gazed back in the water she found, to her shock, she was taller, stronger, Lewle was just as brilliant looking as the other woman’s horse had been. And Dānu was wearing the finest armor in all of the known world, she was certain of it. The way the gold and iron glinted in the orange light of Svalius’s rays was unmatched by any metal she had ever seen. A true fit for the warrior as she was to become.
From that day forth Dānu was the leader of her tribe, her own amazonian queen. Drawing inspiration from the warrior woman who blessed her with her strength and most importantly, her independence. She was able to fight like a man, even better than a man, she was able to fight like a woman.
I hope you enjoyed this reading of Dānu and the Pond. If you liked this story be sure to check out the tale of Narcissus and Echo as well as the tale of Psyche and Eros.
*Scythian goddess of the earth & water mother
*Scythian sun god
*Lewle means spirit (it's a she-ra reference, her horses name was spirit when he wasn’t transformed into swift wind)
Dānu - word meaning river in Scythian so it shall her name be