is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed serpent that appears in Japanese mythology. Both the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record that the kami Susanoo no Mikoto, in order to rescue Kushinadahime, defeated the serpent and that the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, was found within the serpent's tail.
In local tradition, Yamata no Orochi was believed to have survived their encounter with Susanoo and fled to Mount Ibuki, where they were venerated as ). Additionally, figures such as Emperor Antoku and Longnü have been identified as incarnations of Yamato no Orochi.
Name The name Yamata no Orochi (八俣遠呂智 in the Kojiki, 八岐大蛇 in the Nihon Shoki) is variously translated as "Eight-Forked Serpent", "Eight-Headed-Serpent" and "Eight-Headed Dragon", with orochi (大蛇) being used in modern Japanese to refer to a large snake or dragon.
Orochi is derived from the Old Japanese woröti, but its etymology is enigmatic. While Western linguists have suggested that woröti is a loanword from Austronesian, Tungusic, and Indo-European languages, the more likely etymologies put forward by Japanese scholars argue that it comes from oro (尾ろ; "tail"), ō (大; "big/great"), or dialectal oro (峰ろ; "peak/summit"), in addition to chi (霊; "god/spirit"), possibly being a cognate with mizuchi, (蛟; "water spirit/dragon") and ikazuchi (雷; "[god of] thunder").
Yamata (八岐/八俣; "eight-forks/branches") on the other hand, may be related to other instances of "eight" (八, read as either yatsu or hachi) in Japanese literature, used to mean "many" or "several", for example: yata (八咫; "long/large"), yae (八重; "many-layered") and yashima (八洲; "many islands", i.e. Japan).
Mythology Kojiki
The earliest record of the Yamata no Orochi myth comes from the Kojiki, the oldest extant source of Japanese mythology, completed in the year 712 by Ō no Yasumaro at the behest of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Genmei.
After being banished from Takamagahara, the god Susanoo (須佐之男) descended to a place called Torikami (鳥髪) in the land of Izumo, where he found a chopstick floating down the River Hi (簸川, known today as the Hii river). Taking this as a sign that there must be people living nearby, Susanoo traveled upstream and came across an elderly couple and a young girl, all of whom were weeping. The old man introduced himself as Ashinazuchi (足名椎), an earthly deity and child of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi. His wife was Tenazuchi (手名椎) and his daughter was Kushinada-hime (櫛名田比売). Originally the couple had eight daughters, but every year an eight-headed serpent from Koshi (高志之八俣遠呂智, Koshi no Yamata no Orochi) had appeared and devoured one of them. Now only Kushinada-hime remained and she was soon to be eaten too, for this reason the three of them wept. When questioned on the serpent's appearance, Ashinazuchi described it as such:
Revealing his identity as the younger brother of the goddess Amaterasu, Susanoo agreed to slay the serpent in exchange for Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage, to which Ashinazuchi gladly accepted. Thereafter, Susanoo transformed Kushinada-hime into a comb, which he stuck in the locks of his hair, and instructed Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi to brew "eightfold-refined sake" (八塩折之酒, Yashiori-no-Sake). They were also told to build a fence with eight gates, and to place a vat of the sake at each gate. After which they were to await the serpent's arrival.
The sword that Susanoo extracted from the serpent's tail, also called the Kusanagi-no-Tachi, is counted among the three imperial regalia of Japan. The other two treasures being the Yata-no-Kagami and Yasakani-no-Magatama.
Nihon Shoki Following the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki, compiled in the year 720 under the supervision of Prince Toneri, includes six different accounts of Susanoo's deeds following his exile from Takamagahara. Of these six variants, four make mention of Susanoo slaying the mythical serpent.
Version One Having been banished from heaven, Susanoo (素戔嗚) descended to the headwaters of the River Hi, in the province of Izumo, where he heard the sound of weeping from upstream. Following this sound, Susanoo encountered an old man and woman caressing and lamenting over a young girl. When questioned by Susanoo, the elderly man introduced himself as an earthly deity named Ashinazuchi (脚摩乳), his wife was Tenazuchi (手摩乳), and their daughter was called Kushiinada-hime (奇稲田姫). The couple formerly had eight daughters, but they had been devoured year after year by an "eight-forked serpent" (八岐大蛇, Yamata no Orochi), and the two grieved that Kushiinada-hime was soon to be eaten too. In response, Susanoo asked for Kushiinada-hime's hand in marriage, which Ashinazuchi agreed to. He then turned Kushiinada-hime into a comb, which he hid in the knot of his hair, and made Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi brew eight-fold sake (八醞酒, Yashiori-no-Sake). The two were further instructed to build eight cupboards, in each of which they set a tub of the sake, and to await the serpent's arrival.
The Nihon Shoki also notes that, according to one account, the original name for the sword was Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣; "Sword of Gathering Clouds of Heaven"):
Version Three
After his exile from Takamagahara, Susanoo came down to the headwaters of the River E (愛之川), in the province of Aki. There he encountered a god by the name of Ashinazu-Tenazu (脚摩手摩), and his wife, Inada-no-Miyanushi-Susano-Yatsumimi (稲田宮主簀狭之八箇耳), who was pregnant. The two deities lamented that, though they had borne many children, whenever one was born an eight-forked serpent came to devour it. Now that they were about to have another, they grieved that it would also be eaten. Hearing this, Susanoo proclaimed that he would slay the serpent for them, and instructed the two deities to take all manner of fruits and brew from them eight jars of sake.
According to this passage, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was held at the village of Ayuchi (吾湯) in Owari, where it was the god venerated by the Hafuribe of Atsuta (熱田祝部). Additionally, the sword that Susanoo used to slay the serpent, called the Orochi-no-Aramasa (蛇之麁正), was held at Isonokami Shrine. The child that Inada-no-Miyanushi-no-Susano-Yatsumimi gave birth to, named Inagami-Furukushi-Nada-hime (真髪触奇稲田姫), returned to Izumo where she grew up at the head of the River Hi. Susanoo later took her as his wife and had by her a child, whose descendant was Ōnamuchi-no-Mikoto.
Version Four
Susanoo wished to favor Inada-hime, and so asked Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi for her hand in marriage. However, the two requested that he first slay a great serpent (大蛇), which had stone firs growing on each of its heads, and mountains on each of its sides.
The passage likewise claims that the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was located within the province of Owari, though the Orochi-no-Karasabi is instead said to be held by the Kanbe of Kibi (吉備神部). The mountain at the upper reaches of the River Hi in Izumo is also noted as the location in which the serpent was slain.
Version Five
In response to Susanoo's unruly behavior, all the gods imposed on him a fine of a thousand tables [of offerings], leading to his banishment from heaven. Susanoo, accompanied by his son (五十猛神), therefore descended to the land of Silla where he dwelt at a place called (曾尸茂梨). Wishing not to stay in this land however, he formed a boat out of clay and embarked eastwards across the sea, until he arrived at Mount Torikami (鳥上之峰, Torikami no Take) at the headwaters of the River Hi in Izumo.
Susanoo decided not to keep the blade for himself, and sent his descendant (天之葺根神) to offer it up to Heaven. Henceforth, the sword was known as Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
Sendai Kuji Hongi
The slaying of Yamata no Orochi is further recounted in the Sendai Kuji Hongi, a record of Japanese history supposedly written by the legendary Prince Shōtoku. The antiquity and authorship of the text were brought into question during the seventeenth century however, and the Kujiki instead appears to have been a later creation, incorporating elements of the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki and Kogo Shūi. Moreover, the elaborate mythical origins attributed to the Mononobe lineage suggest that the text was authored by a member of the clan.
Due to this composite nature, the text largely reiterates elements from the above-mentioned accounts of Yamata no Orochi, such as Susanoo's descent to the land of Soshimori in Silla alongside his son Isotakeru, his arrival at Mount Torikami at the headwaters of the River Hi in Izumo (though the text simultaneously states that he arrived at the headwaters of the River E in Aki), and his marriage to Kushiinada-hime. However, the Kujiki also notes that, when Susanoo tricked the eight-forked serpent from Koshi (高志八岐大蛇) into getting drunk on the sake brewed by Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, he chopped the serpent into eight pieces. From these eight pieces emerged eight thunder [gods] (八雷), who ascended to heaven.
Heike Monogatari
In book eleven of the Kakuichi-bon (覚一本) edition of the Heike Monogatari, compiled in the year 1371 by the blind monk Akashi Kakuichi, a retelling of the Yamata no Orochi myth is included in the chapter titled Tsurugi (剣; "The Sword"):
According to the epic, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was lost during the Battle of Dan-no-Ura after Taira no Tokiko threw herself, and Emperor Antoku, overboard while carrying the blade. As such, it was believed that Yamata no Orochi had reincarnated as Emperor Antoku to retrieve their stolen sword:
The identification of Yamata no Orochi with Emperor Antoku may stem from the belief in which the latter was a reincarnation of the Taira clan's tutelary deity, Itsukushima Daimyōjin (厳島大明神), as noted in the Gukanshō, composed about a generation after the Battle of Dan-no-Ura by the Buddhist monk and poet Jien. Itsukushima Daimyōjin was herself understood to be the third daughter of the Dragon King Sagara, and the sister of both Empress Jingū and Toyohime (淀姫).
Emperor Antoku is additionally acknowledged as the reincarnation of Yamata no Orochi in the noh play Kusanagi (草薙), in which the monk Genshin is told of how the serpent assumed the identity of Emperor Antoku to reclaim the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Yamata no Orochi is then said to have reappeared to impede Yamato Takeru in his conquest of eastern Japan.
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