Epic of Fedir Zmie

The Epic of Fedir Zmie is an Old Almara epic poem about the start of the fabled city-state Havgander in the tradition of Halic heroic legend. It is viewed as the oldest poem of the Almara mountains and is one of the most translated works of Old Almara and Halic heroic legend literature. The date of the epic is under heavy contention among scholars, the only certain dating is for the older manuscripts one of which was found in the ruins of Malkarth.

It is the only major Almaran epic attributed to the bard Vuk StoneThrower, however the second oldest manuscript notes StoneThrower merely as the bard that kept the epic in any sort of major circulation and from fading to obscurity after the Drowning.  The oldest surviving copies of the poem have no title, but the story became known by the story’s protagonist.

## Synopsis

A young boy, Fedir, after being shipwrecked by a Great Serpent is raised in the Dwarvish coastal village Havgander. The Great Serpent, Zymeir'Gander continues to plague the town as Fedir grows and becomes apprenticed to a blacksmith. After becoming the champion of a hearthgoddess Fedir is able to defeat Zymeir'Gander with the help of Vulka and save the town.

### Exposition (Books 1-2)

The story begins with an invocation to the hearthgods Stovuy, Eprinneon, and Solvuk with what many historians argue is a call and response in the northern bardic tradition of Almara. The epic then quickly sets the scene of Havgander a small city set on a peninsula on the upper coast of the Almaran Mountain range giving an in-depth history of the city and its founders. It then turns to giving a short background on its main protagonist a young half-human named Fedir Skeyl-Aalpīnists.

Fedir's family had been traveling to Havgander when he was a youth to see if they could set up a new line of trade, before they could make port a Great Serpent rose from the sea and set upon the vessel leaving Fedir as one of the few survivors. The fishers of Havgander rescued the young half-human and took him in, however the Great Serpent had lived a long time near Havgander for it had fine beaches for it to sun its large body on when it deemed fit. The epic then goes on to describe the Great Serpent, Zmiey'Gander in great detail noting its strong coiling body, sleek metallic-like scales and many eyes.

The rest of the first few books go into greater detail about how Zmiey'Gander terrified the fishing village and how that affected Fedir's growth as a youth.

### Fedir and Vulka's Duel (Book 3)

Fedir has reached his majority and has joined majority of the village in fishing in the fraught waters of the coast, while trying to find an appropriate apprenticeship in the hopes that he might save enough money to reach another coastal port and head back to his homeland. However, Fedir has caught the eye of the village elder's daughter Vulka Kevmika. Fedir expresses his disinterest in Vulka and staying in Havgander.

After being unsuccessful in catching Fedir's attention Vulka challenges Fedir to a series of challenges after a heated debate. The terms of the challenge is that if Vulka wins Fedir will exchange a favor with her and try to curry her family's acceptance. Fedir's terms for Vulka is that she will set him up with an apprenticeship and leave him to his fishing, learning of a new craft and stay away. Vulka accepts. The two duel with Vulka's sisters, two of her suitors, and several of Fedir's friends as their witnesses.

The challenges are usually listed as a foot race, archery, duel, javelin toss, and a timed fishing contest. Fedir is successful, despite Vulka's efforts and prowess. Vulka admits her defeat and swears she shall no longer pursue Fedir.

### The Apprentice (Book 4-5)

Fedir begins his apprenticeship with the highly sought after Koval. During this time Fedir is visited by Vassari the Wind Goddess who promises to teach him a new way to enchant the weapons that they are crafting if he promises to make a deal with her instead of her cousin a monstrous sea deity. Fedir agrees with the hope that this will impress Koval. Vassari then shows Fedir several new ways to enchant the forge to produce stronger weapons. Fedir stops fishing and turns to focusing on the forge, his apprenticeship and pleasing the temperamental Vassari.

During this time Zmiey'Gander has become more active and has taken to eyeing the village that lingered on the top of the bluffs and many of those that fished had stopped braving the waves. Of the few that still brave the waves is the village elder's daughter Vulka and her sisters.

### The Rout of Zmiey'Gander (Book 6-9)

Zmiey'Gander has escalated their harassment of the village of Havgander and no one dares to leave the bluffs, not even brave Vulka and her sisters. The village elders are starting to worry that the town might need to move to another safer location far from the Great Serpent. It is at one of these meetings that Fedir suggests a solution. He claims that he can kill Zmiey'Gander and save the village with a weapon that he is crafting. All of the village elders save Elder Kevmika tell Fedir to go back to his forge.

Kevmika tells Fedir that he will back the young half-human if he agrees to at least enter into 10 year betrothal with one of his daughters. Fedir agrees and Kevmika sways the rest of the Elders to support Fedir. Fedir sets to work on building his mythical weapon, a collection of slim javelins with intense enchantments that will allow them to slip under the scales and strike at the soft skin below. Kevmika's daughters, except for Vulka, help Fedir and Koval in the forge each seeking to foster a relationship with the young man. Eventually the javelins are finished, however there are no boats left in the harbors as Zmeiy'Gander had taken to trying to scale the bluff to get to the village and had smashed what few remained.

Vulka however in refusing to help in the forge had spent her time crafting a small boat that she then filled with several ceramic vessels. She offers the small boat to Fedir to use, citing that she did not wish him to stand on the beach and challenge the Great Serpent and offers to go with Fedir. Fedir accepts Vulka's gift and her help and they set off to kill Zmeiy'Gander.

Books 7-9 detail the battle that takes place between Zmeiy'Gander, Fedir and Vulka in great detail. Vulka would be heavily wounded and Fedir would strike the killing blow with the gift of Vassari's True Aim.

### Entering the Betrothal (Book 10)

The epic ends Fedir returning a hero with a wounded Vulka. Fedir brings back with him the secret of where the Great Serpent's body rests and its gleaming hoard of gold, jewels and sunken ships. Upon his return, the village elders clamor for Fedir to chose one of Elder Kevmika's daughters to enter into a betrothal. All of the Kevmika daughters are paraded in front of Fedir save Vulka.

Fedir claims he cannot marry any of the women present and insists that he cannot honor their original agreement as he wishes to instead marry Vulka. The rest of the book details Havgander's rise to power due to the close ties between Fedir's House Zmei and the ruling house of Kevmika.

## Versions and Academic Debate

There have been few surviving texts of the *Epic of Fedir Zmie*, given that it was originally an oral story passed down from bard to bard. The oldest rendition of the Epic is from the Trulik period and was kept safe as part of a private collection, later it was gifted and kept at the Dustmonger Institute for several years shortly after the institute was founded. The Trulik Edition, also sometimes called StoneThrower's Edition is the version that all others are derived from.

Despite the *Epic of Fedir Zmie* being the oldest known Almaran Epic it is not well known outside of academic circles as it is a time intensive read and contains archaic language even when put into more modern spins. However it is the source of much debate for a continuous group of small scholars as the various copies and renditions changes hands. The main contention is whether or not the village or as later described city-state of Havgander actually existed along the coast as there is no known city-state matching that description and if the feats presented are an exaggeration of a Small Serpent attack growing out of hand through the ages as seen with the *Tale of Guliver.*

Vulgen's translations depicts Zmiey as having Golden eyes and a body of various green colors. However some historians argue that during this time period there were simply more words to describe the way that light and darkness affected the colors green, gold and blue. Vulgen's translation does not include book 3.

Quilven, a Hexian Scholar, argues in his translation that the favor Vulka and Fedir exchange is symbolic of Vulka's love for Fedir and a wish for a return of her affections. Quilven has also gone on to write a variety of academic articles discussing historical courting practices of Almaran city-states along the coast.

Allana of House Weaver, a Hexian scholar and Vulthira StoneThrower, a Almaran anthropologist discuss the way that the Hexian Empire's values on men and masculine feats have affected not just Almaran culture but the way it tells the stories of its own past. Their article *Hexian Gender Identity and Language in Modern Almara: Vulka an Almost Forgotten Warrior* is part of a larger series. In *Vulka an Almost Forgotten Warrior*, Weaver and V. StoneThrower compare and contrast the various translations of the epic and discuss how Hexian modesty culture and gender roles have affected the role that Vulka plays in the story and Fedir's life.

Dimival and Titron argue in their research that the character Koval is not the character's actual name but instead their title. They claim the word Koval is a precursor to the Almaran word for blacksmith and might have been a specific title for those that crafted weapons. They note that most characters depicted in the Epic are introduced with a full name and lineage but that Koval, however, is missing those descriptions. Dimival and Titron were never able to prove that Koval was a title or job as they disappeared on an expedition to discover the location of Havgander.

## Real Life Inspiration

Beowulf - Plato's Dialogue - Illiad - Odyssey - epic poem - The Aeneid - The Epic of Gilgamesh - King Arthur - *Nibelungenlied*