#9: The Cru Write Tolkien: Echidna

Echidna was the mother of monsters in Greek Mythology, and her children- including the Lernean Hydra, Nemean Lion, Cerberus, and fearsome Chimera- are all fair game for tonight's prompt! It's The Lotus' night off, but the rest of The Cru chat about J.R.R. Tolkien and attempt to write pieces inspired by his style and his work. One member  doesn't care for Tolkien; the other two respond appropriately. From Hesiod's Theogony: "Men say that Typhaon [Typhoeus] the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her [Ekhidna (Echidna)], the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthos (Orthus) the hound of Geryones (Geryon), and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Kerberos (Cerberus) who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Haides, fifty-headed, relentless and strong. And again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the goddess, white-armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with the mighty Herakles . . . She was the mother of Khimaira (Chimera) who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasos (Pegasus) and noble Bellerophontes slay."Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!  Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do. Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.