The tale of Ladon the Dragon, Nimis and the foul frogmen

According to history Ladon the Dragon was defeated and killed by Hercules. Know that this is in no way true. When the mighty dragon had been defeated in the battle, he raised his wings and fled away. Long he flew over the world and many were those who saw his winged body in the sky. After long the mighty dragon at last landed in Ladonia and there he crawled into a cave to lick the wounds that he had been given. He sought sleep but no sleep came to him. Many and long where the years that he laid in the cave, tossing and turning on his bed of rocks. Time is of no interest to such a powerful creature as Ladon, but measured in human time it was somewhere in the 1980s when he in the night heard splashing sounds just outside the cave where he rested. Ladon, who was just about to fall asleep, became filled with rage and lowered his head, looking outside his cave to see who dared to disturb his slumber. This was what he saw; a large number of evil frogmen completely dressed in black had emerged from the water and where silently approaching the fabulous construction Nimis, to which Ladon himself had given his blessing. In their hands they carried saws, hammers and other tolls of destruction. When the mighty dragon saw this he became so filled with fury that he heaved himself out of the mountain, splitting the rock itself with his enormous body, and attacked the intruders. The evil frogmen raised their tools as weapons and sought to defend themselves from the rage of the dragon, but their attempts where in vain. So mighty was the fury of the dragon that he opened his mouth, where raw after raw of sharp teeth glimmered in the moonlight, and let lose his breath of fire and brimstone on the frogmen. The frogmen did not scream as their rubbery skin melted and their flesh caught fire because, as all know, these foul creatures of the sea lack all feelings. But never the less they were burning like torches after the mighty assault of the dragon. The dragon felt his heart fill with joy as he watched the frogmen, who cowardly had sought to destroy Nimis in the darkness of night, cast their burning bodies back into the sea from which they came. But, as the dragon turned his head from the sea back to land his eyes meet a vision so horrible that it felt like a hand of ice gripped his heart. In his fight with the foul frogmen his mighty breath of fire and brimstone had by mistake set fire to the blessed building Nimis. With despair in his heart the dragon threw himself onto the construction and, with his mighty claws, ripped the burning parts of Nimis and flung himself into the sea with the burning wood. When he resurfaced and emerged on the beach with water dripping from his wings the dragon was burned and wounded. With sorrow in his heart he looked upon the black remnants of Nimis and large dragon-tears fell from his eyes. He thrust his head back and from his mouth came a roar of sorrow and with it came also his mighty breath of fire and brimstone. So powerful was the sorrow in the roar and so strong was his breath of fire and brimstone that they set the star-filled black sky on fire. Everywhere the light was to be seen and everywhere the roar was to be heard and all who heard and saw it huddled in fear and asked themselves what had happened.

Background

We found this text regarding Ladon the dragon during one of our archeological expeditions to Ladonia. It was an inscription on a large piece of wood, which was found buried under a number of large rocks. It is our guess that it has been written by someone that was there during 1985 when these events are said to have taken place. Someone who witnessed the struggle between the dragon and the frogmen. This someone must have written the story down after, or during, it happened and then hid the inscription under the rocks. We found this artifact so interesting that we canceled all other activities and focused only on it solely. The wood and the inscription was in very bad condition and it was only barely we could make out the words and write them down before it crumbled in our hands. There for we cannot show you this artifact. It is our belief that this story is true. It is a fact that Nimis was set on fire in 1985 and by who is unknown. Since there has been no other evidence of who set Nimis on fire we hold this inscription for true. The person who wrote it has, as far as we have been able to find out, no reason to lie. Why would he or she? But regardless if it's a true story or not it's still very fascinating so we decided to create a dance and a costume out of it. A costume and a dance, which could become Ladonias own and citizens dressed themselves in and danced on special occasions. So we began the work. The details came very naturally to us so we have reasons to suspect that we are not, as we first thought, creating this dance. We are merely rediscovering it. Regardless if its created or rediscovered we are very proud to present this costume and dance and hope that all of Ladonias citizens will take it to their hearts.

The National Costume

What happened in 1985 is seen as a very special incident in Ladonian history. It was close that Nimis, a Ladonian landmark, burnt down. One of the countries most important architectural buildings was close to being destroyed, no one knows how such a disaster would have effected Ladonias future. Luckily Ladon succeeded to put out the fire. To remember this day, the 25th of Januar 1985, we have created a folk costume. The costume reflects the event in different ways. The costume is creates with big care, it doesn't look like any other national costume and is very special for Ladonia. The costume is mainly green, made of a green t-shirt and a green cloth that you wrap around your body in a special way. To the green you wear a red cap. Your feet are kept warm by a pair of red socks, which make the possibly hard ground softer. That is to save you from getting periostitis. Every costume also has an individual embellishment. A last detail, very important though, is a facial painting. The drawing is a green circle on your left cheek.

Meaning

Since the costume is created with 1985-years incident in mind, everything in the clothing is symbolic. Ladon kind of became a national hero because of him rescuing Nimis from the frogmen, although the mistake almost burning it down at the same time. To honour Ladon is the clothes green like Ladon himself. The red cap symbolises the flames coming from Ladons mouth when he put the sky on fire. The red socks symbolises the fire that made the trespassing frogmen run back in to the sea, and unfortunately also put Nimis in fire. The individual embellishment is very important. The costume wants to honour Ladon but it's also important to show that the one wearing the costume isn't really Ladon, but an individual with personal qualities. The circle on the right cheek symbolises that Ladonia is a global country. Since Ladon today is very ill and rarely dare to go out of his cave, the citizens of Ladonia can't put their trust to him any longer. They must together keep the frogmen away, wherever they are in the world.

The Folkdance of Ladonia

The folkdance of Ladonia was created referring to the event mentioned above. The dance is intended to symbolise the frogmens movement when Nimis caught fire. The dance is performed in 3 steps. The frogmen moved in a very particular way when they raised from the sea, approaching Nimis. The first part of the dance contains the movements and steps performed by the frogmen when they came ashore. The second part is influenced by the steps taken by the frogmen as they attacked Nimis, fought Ladon, and caught fire. The last and ending part of the dance contains the frogmen's escape back to the sea. The dance is intended to be performed together with the national anthem, the sound of stones thrown into the water. The dance is also performed during the special holidays, when it's considered suiting. It's also performed when it's full moon, and you have seen a two-headed cow and it has been raining for 24 hours. It's very important that the participants always wear the national costume when performing the dance.

Part 1
The dancers are laying on the ground with their face down.
1-8
1: Look up.
2: Lift up your right foot and place it on the ground.
3: Lift up your left foot and place it on the ground.
4: Stand up leaning forward with your hands in a "sneaky" position.
5-8: Sneak 4 steps forward.
Part 2
1-8
1: Clap your hands together and thrust them forward.
2: Keep your hand together and move them forward to your upper right.
3: Hold your hands together and move them towards your left shoulder.
4: Strike forward with your hands together. 5: Protect your face, using your hands.
6-8: Move 3 steps backwards.
1-8
1-7: You are on fire! Run like a flaming torch.
8: Stop, look up and raise your arms as if you were in great pain.
Part 3
1-4
1-3: Turn around and walk 3 steps back to where you first started in part 1.
4: Throw yourself to the ground.

Performing the dance

The dancers are all standing on a straight line. The straight line is to be held throughout the dance, except when the dancers are set on fire. At the ending of part 3, everyone should be back on the line again facing the opposite direction. The dance is first performed to the left, and then to the right of the line. In other words, part 1 - 3 are performed twice.