The sun was a green egg

The sun was a green egg is a collection of 27 fairy tales by the Austrian author HC Artmann , in which he poetically rewrites creation myths. The first edition was published in 1982 by the Austrian Residenz Verlag ; there are now 3 editions (as of 2015).

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At the beginning of the world, the whole earth was covered with cold milk. Little by little the great spirit creates explainable and inexplicable beings, which cross with each other and again create new living beings.

A canoe made of bark bread floats on this primeval sea of ​​cold milk, which is stranded on the Rikoodlenook mountain. A strange egg rolls out of the canoe from which hatches the magician Nomenquatch, who is considered the first false prophet for leading the world astray. Not only the magician Nomenquatch, but also the Great Spirit tries again and again to deceive living beings. But when he notices that the beings he has created are singing songs against him, he keeps out of their lives more and more and they can develop themselves. Now many different creatures could arise that colonize the earth.

At the end of the book all living things were created; the only thing missing was the crown of creation, namely man. The Great Spirit has a baby daughter who was so small that he carried her everywhere in his breast pocket. But the little girl was slowly growing up too. When she saw that all living things on earth were two, she felt great loneliness. Then, while the Great Spirit was sleeping, she decided to make a man out of clay in the image of the Great Spirit. The figure of a man was done, but it failed to breathe life into it. When the Great Spirit noticed this and saw that she was unhappy, he let blood drip on the man and he came to life. All human beings are descended from these two human beings and now creation is complete.

output

• HC Artmann: The sun was a green egg. About the creation of the world and its things . Residence, Salzburg 1982, ISBN 3-7017-0300-0 .

literature

• Markus Rassiller: Myth-Mimese and absolute poetry. HC Artmanns "The sun was a green egg" . In: Erich Kleinschmidt , Wolfgang Schmitz (Hrsg.): Collecting and reading. The Cologne HC Artmann Collection Knupfer , University and City Library Cologne, ISBN 3-931596-31-1 , pp. 238-265 ( PDF document ).

Reviews

• Artmann, HC: The sun was a green egg. FAZ, July 10, 1982, accessed on January 11, 2015 (PDF).