Maelog and Valawr

Valski creation legends feature a dragon of terrible power and darkness known as Maelog. Tales of her are often dramatically regaled to children on Harvest Eve, as reminders of the evil that slumbers beneath the tallest peaks and must never be disturbed.

 

According to Valski folklore, aeons ago - before humankind, before elves, before even beasts roamed the land - Alva was ruled by an eternal night. The sky was pitch-black without stars and a bitter wind froze all the seas and land. Enthroned upon this endless darkness was Wymara, the King of the Night. He was a cruel and greedy being who ate every bit of light and warmth that tried to grow in the world, and revelled in the lifeless silence left behind. In his eyes, a cold and empty kingdom was a perfect one, and so it remained that way.

 

Under his rule, the night lasted an eternity. But eventually, all the life Wymara ate began to overflow into his dreams. They danced in broken images of beasts and colour behind his eyes, until finally they could not be contained. With a deafening crack that shattered the silence of the world, a pearly egg split open from his head. Life poured out. From one half of the eggshell came a dark, terrible creature born from the evil king’s thoughts. She was Maelog, the great dragon of ice and destruction. Her head towered above mountains and her wings spanned the sky. She was the first of Wymara’s servants.

 

From the other half of the eggshell came all the light, warmth and courage that Wymara had stolen from the world. Ribbons of colour spilled across the night sky, forming the polar lights. Burning golden rays pierced the frozen land. The daylight that poured forth from the shell was endless, as endless as the night that Wymara had ruled before it. Across Alva, rivers melted and green buds rose from the earth.

 

The dark king was furious. How dare this light thaw his kingdom? He threw the eggshell filled with light far away into the sky, where it became the sun. It slipped below the horizon, casting the world into night once more. Wymara then threw the rest of the eggshell, Maelog’s half, away into the sky as well. This he flung less far, for the pearly glow of it was already corrupted by Maelog’s power. It became the moon.

 

Icy darkness returned to Alva. Lakes froze and plants wilted. But the light, the sun, was not so easily defeated. Seeds of radiance were sown across the night sky, filling it with stars. Wymara sent a ferocious icestorm to tear the seeds down but one, the most tenacious, blossomed into a human - the first human of Alva. She was Valawr, the Daughter of the Sun. 

 

Valawr immediately pulled the sun back up above the horizon, bringing the dawn. Once more, plants unfurled and animals awoke. But Wymara, angrier than ever, would have none of it; this time he sent the fearsome Maelog to devour Valawr. With a mighty snap of the dragon’s jaws, Valawr collapsed and dusk fell.

 

Yet the light in Valawr’s heart was not extinguished. She knew of tenacity, of courage, of the undying warmth of her mother, and as long as she did, her soul would burn brighter than forged steel. She rose to her feet and pulled the sun high again. Again, Maelog tore her down relentlessly. And again, she rose. The cycle continued for another eternity, bringing the dusk and the dawn, the sunrise and sunset. But for all her efforts, victory was never truly Valawr’s. Wymara still reigned above her and Maelog’s battles, commanding his barren, frozen winter across the land.

 

So the sun poured out its own blood for Valawr, who then forged it into a crimson spear more radiant than a thousand fire opals. She walked over the tundra to face Maelog for the final time, and the earth trembled under the might she held. As Maelog rose into the sky before her, Valawr threw the spear with all her strength. As straight and swift as a shaft of sunlight, the spear pierced Maelog’s chest. The dragon screamed in agony, a terrible sound that churned the seas, and fell to the ground. The impact of her body shattered the earth into sharp peaks and buried her, forming the mountain range that now traces Maelog’s Spine.

 

At last, Valawr faced Wymara directly. His winter waned as he turned his power upon her and for the first time, summer touched the world. Into the thawing earth, Valawr planted her own seeds of light to help nourish and warm the land. Each one grew into a tribe of Valsk. Then, resolve bright in her eyes, she challenged the king down from his throne.

 

To this day Valawr, the Daughter of the Sun, and Wymara, the King of the Night, continue to fight. The sun rises and falls and the seasons turn as one triumphs over the other. And beneath the mountains Maelog still slumbers, awaiting the day she can wake again and return the world to a dark, endless winter.

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