Legends, Myths and Eccentric Ramblings

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Welcome to the Blue Ridge Highlander Legends, Myths and Eccentric Ramblings. We hope you enjoy the tales created by C. W. Pendragon and Nathanael O. Smith. Below is a photo and short description about each story, click the photo or title to go to the full story. New stories will continue to be added, so check back occasionally to enjoy the new additions.

It started out as an ordinary average day, what became of that and how the day ended was something of the extra… ordinary.

It had been a warmer than usual summer and we could surely use the rain. The natural rainforest within the southern Blue Ridge Mountains are at their finest when they receive sufficient rainfall even though the unusual summer heat this year had often just sucked the moisture right back up into the atmosphere. The forest looked rather healthy yet the water levels were down a little. read on....

Black Bears of the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains Long before any man ever set foot on the North American Continent, the Black Bear of Northeastern America could often be seen standing upright on its hind legs surveying its territory from horizon to horizon. Masters of their domain, the great Black Bear enjoyed the prosperity of all that the earth had to offer. When the first Native Americans began to appear, they found benefit in revering the Black Bear both as a source of prey and as a spiritual guide. As brothers often do, they disputed over territory. Even with the loss of a bear's life or the life of a native hunter, they chose to live in continual respect of one another, developing a close relationship both in the physical and spiritual world....read on...

Artists are spirit-driven creatures imitating life into art as an external expression of their internal impression. It’s the nature of this creative spirit that longs to emerge and present itself in the form of natural magic, seeing that which isn’t as though it is, bringing that inspired vision into manifestation. There is an internal craving for creative souls to express themselves in whatever medium inspires them, to share with others a sense of who they are through their art.

Playground of the Gods...

Play Ground of the Gods... Under enormous pressure they burst upon the scene in a succession of earth shattering rumbles. Climbing higher than any known surface under the ancient firmament, they towered above the horizon of the prehistoric world in a dramatic precession. Born of greatness and driven by internal forces, these wonders of His creation accumulated into a land mass higher than the mountains of the Himalayas. As a living force and physical presence they establish themselves as a cornerstone of the earth, shaping the destiny of the antediluvian world of the "blue planet." In time they would be decreed as the first vertical "Gods of the Earth".

Nathanael O. Smith Storyteller Tears of Fairies ...Howdy! I'm Nathanael O. Smith. I've lived in these mountains all my days, wouldn't ever dream of leaving here, my ancestral roots are here to stay. I've been telling tales and hearing tales all my life, its what my family and neighbors have been doing in these parts for generations. Tales about pioneers and the folks that arrived here directly from the "Old World." Some of my fondest tales have been about the Cherokee people, they're really the first mountain people, and they lived here longer than time will tell.

On my twelfth birthday my wise old pappy gave me a special charm he carried everyday of his life. It was a stone of staurolite crystals, or should I say two, two inch long brownish crystals that had crossed through each other. Pappy told me, it was a magical charm, an amulet given to him by a medicine man who once saved his life.

Fire in the Sky...Journey into the heart of a natural wonder set ablaze by the power of nature. The fires came late that autumn, but they came just the same. Beyond a time long forgotten, lies an ancient mystery within familiar flames that are destine to accomplish a goal, set by an eternal clock.

Above the Clouds...Cohutta Wilderness

Above the Clouds ...Steam rose swiftly, while the lingering smoke stung my eyes. One more douse of water and the camp fire was out. Feeling quite stuffed from a breakfast of pancakes, honey and three patties of Nantahala Pork Sausage, I was ready for what I knew would be an exhilarating hike over a mountain ridge.

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