Let's Talk Mythology and Folklore

As you know, I had resolved to never go to sea again. My terrible fortune at sea and the hardships that I endured after my last voyage guaranteed that I would not find the prospect of a water voyage appealing again. However, I had not been home in Bagdad for more than two years when I felt the pull of adventure calling me again. Disdaining to travel by boat, I instead put together a caravan with wonderous goods from my own stores and set out with many other traders whom I knew. We did a brisk trade all the way to the Indies, growing richer and richer as we traveled. But alas! On our return to Bagdad, we were set upon by bandits. Half a dozen of our caravan lay dead before we surrendered. When at last we gave in to our captors, we were bound hands and legs and left upon the desert while the bandits drove our horses and camels away. Sprawled on the desert floor, I cursed my wanderlust. We wept at our misfortune and thrashed about, desperate to loosen our bindings. The heat of t...

How many times do you have to be shipwrecked before you learn that sailing may not be for you? There seem to be a lot of islands within drift-able distance at any given point for Sindbad. I wonder if this is accurate for the area that he supposedly sails? Sindbad always makes a point to say that, on returning to Bagdad, he gives lots of money to the poor. Is this something to do with the custom or religion of the time? Sindbad's luck seems to only come in the extremes. Either it's extremely bad or extremely good. How can a river that flows directly from a mountain and away from the ocean have a cave that is strewn with ambergris? The dynamic of the man drawn to the sea but the sea that always seems to seek to kill the man is very interesting. The story of the Old Man of the Sea was interesting. I feel like I've heard the phrase "Old Man of the Sea" used in other myths or stories but I cannot recall exactly where.  I think there is a Greek myth about a ti...

Seriously, there are some weird fish in this story... I like the way that he just casually mentions some really strange things: Fish that were "two hundred cubits long" Fish that had the heads of owls Huge snakes that could swallow an elephant A valley full of diamonds. Camphor trees big enough to shade a hundred men. Fish that looked like a camel Fish that was "like a cow" with skin thick enough to make shields out of The cavern he was trapped in just happened to have diamonds and rubies and emeralds strewn about the floor Lots of bird riding. The Roc Honestly, Sindbad is incredibly lucky. Or he's making a lot of things up. Either way, it's a good story. Tells a story of how rhinoceros fight elephants, transfix them on their horns, get elephant blood in their eyes, and then get carried away by a roc. He then suggests that if the listener doesn't believe this story they should "go to Rohat and see for yourself."  I fe...