Lam-ang is the marvel-born hero of Biag ni Lam-ang, the great Ilocano folk-epic and the best-attested figure of the tradition. He speaks at the moment of his birth, names himself, and sets out while still a boy to avenge his father Don Juan, who had been slain by highland headhunters; single-handed he destroys the enemy band. Returning, he bathes in the Amburayan river with the help of the townswomen, then journeys to Kalanutian to court the beautiful Ines Kannoyan, overcoming the rival Sumarang and spurning the temptress Saridandan along the way, and winning her with the aid of his charmed rooster, hen and dog. His diving for the rarang shellfish demanded as a marriage rite proves fatal when the monstrous fish berkakan devours him; his bones are gathered and, at his rooster's crowing, he is raised to life again. First committed to writing in the late nineteenth century, the epic is regarded as the earliest recorded Philippine folk-epic.