Nàng Ờm
Muong · mortal · Muong traditional religion; continuing · mortal
Nàng Ờm is the heroine of one of the best-loved Mường narrative poems (truyện thơ). Daughter of a lang, she loves the poor young man Bồng Hương, but her family forbids the union and abuses her for it. The lovers flee to Mount Làn Ai in the western uplands of Thanh Hóa, where, unable to live together, they die side by side — she by eating the leaves of a poisonous tree. The pair became a byword for faithful love, and the hill where they perished is remembered in their names. Though a figure of legend rather than cosmic myth, Nàng Ờm belongs to the living store of Mường sacred and commemorative tradition.
Domains
- love
Powers
- dies faithful to her love
Epithets
- nàng Ờm núi Làn Ai
Relations
- lover: Chàng Bồng Hương
Sources
- Nàng Ờm – chàng Bồng Hương (truyện thơ Mường), Minh Hiệu sưu tầm và biên dịch (Hà Nội: NXB Văn hóa dân tộc)
- Hoàng Anh Nhân, Văn học dân gian Mường (Thanh Hóa), giới thiệu truyện thơ Nàng Ờm