Story of Lamang Review

By Eric Dulay
IP411: Ilokano Literature in Translation/English


Legends are made from epics and a good life story could be told and passed on to future ears. Life of Lam-ang is an epic that is important to the culture of the Ilokos; it has been told even before the Spanish invaded and ruled the land of the Philippines. It is a story that we can be proud of because it was made exclusively form Ilokanos. The part that I liked in the epic is the battle between the checkered Igorot’s and Lam-ang.
First of all, Lam-ang is great at being a fearless and self sufficient child. He doesn’t need anyone to tell him that he can’t do anything. I’m guessing at the time that he was at least eight to nine months old of age he asked his mother Namongan where and who his father was; she said that his name is Don Juan and he went to the blackest mountain to fight the Checkered Igorot’s. What I thought was cool was that instead of shrugging it off and going on his merry life, he decided to go and search for his father in that area. His mother tries to tell him that he is too young to go but of course he goes.
Secondly, I liked the different rocks that he brought. These rocks are very magical in powers that help Lam-ang in his invincibility. Basically they are Talisments that give an extra boost of power to what he needs, which I really whish I had myself. He uses the Centipede stone to swiftly move about and travel to the blackest mountain. This stone would actually be good if we could use it around UH so we can make it to class in time. The other rock that he carried were between birds and cats it is the belief that they posses great powers.
Lastly, the battle itself was made in an unbelievable way. He brought over a shield and sword for his battle with the Checkered Igorots. For being eight to whatever his age actually is at this point of the story, he is strong. He had a dream come to him during his nap telling that his fathers head was being looked down upon and was ready to be mutilated. He immediately got up and went to the area that his father was at and faced the Igorots even though his father was already killed. Now this part was the greatest part of the story to me when he used the lawlawigan the magic of the song bird to gain the power of impenetrability. The Igorot chiefs sent word to others around neighboring villages to send their warriors. The battle itself sounds like the battle of the 300 Spartans that needed to hold off invading forces of the Middle East. The more that charged Lam-ang the more got killed until ultimately Lam-ang killed all but one Igorot which he tourched and made and example to the villages around there. So his main wepons were the magical stones, his borne, and the calling of winds.
Over all, the part that I liked in the epic is the battle between the checkered Igorot’s and Lam-ang because he was a fearless and a self sufficient child, he used rocks to gains some magical powers, and the battle that he perused against the Checkered Igorots. I thought the story in general was good to see and good to read and I think if I still retained my Ilokano speech I would of gotten a better understanding off of the Ilokano side of the story.