Luda, The Reindeer Maiden

A Siberian Folktale as told by Lady Scholastica Joycors

ON A WINTERY DAY IN SIBERIA, a very long time ago, the Moon gazed down on the snowy fields. He watched the people traveling across the land together, he grew lonely, and so he drifted nearer and nearer to watch them more closely. After a while he decided that he needed to visit this place and get to know the people better, so the Moon transformed into human form so that he could move more freely about the world mingle with the people and studying their ways.

While he was traveling about he came upon a wandering herd of reindeer led by the reindeer herder's daughter, Luda.

Every winter, the reindeer herder gave Luda a magical reindeer and sent her to lead his large herd from their home deep in the snowy land to lush faraway pastures. As the reindeer traveled towards the pastures, Luda played her flute to entertain herself and to fill the long, dark, lonely days.

Many times, as the Moon traveled across the sky he had heard the maiden's melodies. Now that the Moon was traveling on earth, he heard the familiar music, and it beckoned to him. He began to follow the reindeer maiden and her herd. He watched her every movement; he gazed at her face. He listened to her wistful tunes and his heart swelled within in him and before long he felt like he could not live without her and must marry her and take her back to the sky. So much did he believe that would cure his loneliness he resolved to capture her.

But the magical reindeer sensed the Moon growing closer, and she heard the voice of one of her reindeer whispering, "The Moon wishes to capture you. You must take care." Luda also felt the Moon's presence and wondered what she should do. You see, she had no desire to be captured - not by the Moon or anyone. She loved her life just as it was. She loved taking those long treks across the snowy landscape. She loved her music. She loved the friendship of she had with her animal herd. And fear began to swell up in her heart.

The reindeer sensed Luda’s fear and slowed down enough that the Moon caught up with the herd. The reindeer maiden whispered to her magical reindeer, "Help," and with his magical powers, he turned the maiden into a snowdrift and so that she disappeared.

When the Moon reached the herd, he looked around, puzzled, he asked, "Where has your maiden gone?"

The creatures ignored him. They simply moved on, trampling icy snow underfoot, taking great care not to step upon Luda. As soon as the magical reindeer saw that the Moon was lost among the herd, he turned the maiden back into human form, and together they dashed toward the sturdy yaranga, the tent where the maiden slept at night.

Meanwhile, the Moon searched through the herd and found her not. Suddenly he saw a light, he looked up, and he rushed toward the tent, but just before he reached the opening, the magical reindeer turned the maiden into an oil lamp.

The Moon walked inside and cried, "I've found you," but there he saw only a bed and the tent poles, a block and a hammer, and in one corner a shimmering oil lamp. He scratched his head and wondered, "Where are you? Please come out I wish to marry you…" He listened and looked but all he saw was the flickering light of the lamp and heard only the steady breathing of the great herd of reindeer outside.

The Moon called again. "Where are you? Please come to me," he pleaded. But there was no one answer.

He walked outside and once again began to search through the herd, and the moment he was outside, the maiden transformed into her own body. There was a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face as she opened the tent flap. She cried into the frigid air, "What's wrong with you? Can't you see I'm right here!"

Hearing her voice, the Moon raced back toward the yaranga, but before he reached it, the reindeer maiden again turned into an oil lamp. Now the Moon was growing frantic. "Where are you? I hear your voice but where have you gone?"

Again, nobody answered, and again the Moon walked outside to search, and once more the reindeer maiden turned into herself, and again she walked to the opening of the tent and called, "What's wrong with you? I'm right here…"

Each time the Moon tried to find her, the Luda transformed her shape once more, and in this way, she remained hidden from his sight.

The Moon was desperate. He rushed this way and that, crying, "Please, please…let me find you, let me see you…" And in his frantic search, he grew exhausted.

When the maiden saw that the Moon had grown weak and tired, she grabbed a sack, slipped out of the tent and threw the bag over the Moon's head. Then she bound his legs and arms and pulled him inside her warm tent. She smiled. "Now I have captured you! How do you like it?"

The Moon begged, "Please, set me free."

"And if I do? What will you offer me in return?"

The Moon thought awhile. Trapped inside that tent, unable to move, he longed for the sky, for the sweetness of his nighttime journeys, for the freedom he had so loved. "I promise if you set me free, I shall return to the sky, and I will offer light to your people."

The maiden thought about this for a while. Then she said, "But sometimes we will wish for darkness."

And so the Moon agreed. "When the people wish for darkness, I shall disappear, and I shall measure out the year, season by season. Each month I will give you a different light. There will be times for hunting and times for frost, times for new leaves and times for newborn calves and brand new days."

The reindeer maiden smiled, but then she thought again. "If I let you go, you will grow stronger and try and capture me again. I too love my freedom."

The Moon realized they both wanted similar things and as much as he loved Luda, the reindeer maiden he had learned his lesson. He now understood why the maiden loved her life just as it was. "You have my word. As much as I love you I love my freedom too so I will care for you and your people from my place in the sky."

And so, the reindeer maiden set the Moon free, and he changed from his human form and drifted back to the sky.

From that day forward the Moon kept his word and spread his light upon the earth, and sometimes he hides his face as his heart sighs when he remembers the reindeer maiden, and his light fades or even goes out. It is in those times that the people know the Moon is dreaming of Luda that courageous and wondrous reindeer woman he loves.

©2022 MyLinda Butterworth - found in Crazy About Christmas permission to tell this story is granted as long as attribution to the author is given. It is also found in The Yeoman-December 2022

Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.