Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad

Sindbad is the absolute last man on earth I would ever take a voyage with. The amount of pure bad luck that follows this man is unbelievable, and his exploits as chronicled in each of the four voyages thus far are as bizarre as they are miraculously lucky (for him, that is). The luck factor needs to be explored! Maybe he, by some bizarre set of circumstances, inadvertently absorbs the luck of those around him. What if his mother did some kind of ritual to keep him "safe" and "lucky" as a child (like Achilles and his famous heel), dooming his future companions to all manner of unfortunate experiences while he sauntered on by?

The "island" that was really a whale could be a really fun story all by itself, and gives me a weird mental picture of each continent really just the exposed surfaces of different creatures of unfathomable size. A lot of cultures saw the world as resting on the back of a giant animal of some sort (some still do). This also reminds me so much of that scene in Star Wars where they realize that "This is NO CAVE!" I love the microcosm idea of entire worlds and galaxies resting in the tiniest of places, so this could be a fun place to start for a story. 

"This is no cave."

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Makeagif

The death-custom was fascinating, and I'd love to know more about how that developed in Sindbad's living burial story. This idea also abolishes the "till death do us part" wedding vow addendum. Marriage was definitely a lot more permanent for these people, and I wonder if the king deliberately chose not to reveal this fact to Sindbad prior to his marriage, or if perhaps he assumed the custom was universal. Either way, the toll on Sindbad could make for a fun piece on the true cost of marriage. I wonder where the custom came from, and if it has a historical basis.

Bibliography
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898)