Fourth king of Shilla. T’alhae was born to the queen of King Hamdal in Wanha, and was said to have hatched from an egg. This was unheard of at the time, and the king’s advisors warned him that it was a bad omen. He put T’alhae in a large chest with various precious stones and [...]
The Korean god of the mountains.
This myth tells of the first settlement on Cheju Island, located off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. In the beginning, before any people roamed the land, three demi-gods (Yangeulla, Koeulla, Pueulla) emerged from the ground. They wandered through the land and hunted, making clothes from the skins and subsisting on the meat. One [...]
The youngest of three demi-god brothers, appearing in the Samseong myth.
In ancient Korea, he is the sun god and founder of the realm of light. Palk is the personification of all that is light, good, and beneficial. The opposite force is Kud, the dark one. Palk’s cult included sacrifices that took place on mountaintops and which were strictly oriented towards the east.
The Koreans regard themselves [...]
First king of Shilla. The area where Shilla was later to emerge was first called Ch’inhan, and it was occupied by six towns (most probably city-states). According to the mythology, the leaders of the towns gathered together and decided that they needed a king to rule over them, primarily because there was no fixed rule [...]
The “Five Dragon Chariot” was the chariot which Haemosu rode when he descended to earth and ascended into heaven. Given the name, it was most probably pulled by five dragons, and it was said to have ridden on the wind and the clouds. It could transport the rider anywhere almost with the speed of the [...]
Among the deities and semi-deities of ancient Korea, the chosen method of battle was magic. Unlike Western magic, which often involves incantations cast to harm the enemy, metamorphosis magic was more indirect. Rather than directly attempting to harm the enemy, one would test one’s strength against an opponent by changing into various animals. The transformation [...]
A famous giant in Korean mythology who became the island of Cheju.
Kumiho means, literally, “nine-tailed fox.” The following description appears (word for word) in both the Donga Color World Encyclopedia (Tonga wonsaek segye paekhwasajeon) and the Dusan Great World Encyclopedia (Tusan segye taebaekhwasajeon):
“A fox with nine tails that commonly appears in the oral tales of our country. It can freely transform into, among other things, a [...]
