Ballad of the Mountain Fox

Composer's Notes

If any of you are curious, I've written a bit about Arirang. This is the song that started it all!

Arirang is a traditional Korean folksong that, according to Wikipedia (so take this information with a grain of salt) has been around for over 600 years. There are lots and lots of different variations of the song throughout Korea, which is why I had the shaman sing the Arirang incantation differently from how Moon Sun sings it at the end. I based the shaman's version off of the "Milyang/Miryang Arirang," while Moon Sun's is more like the standard Arirang that you hear in the first part of the final chapter.  Other versions of Arirang include "Arirang Alone" (heard in the second part of chapter 35) and "Gangwondo Arirang" (in the video above, sung by Song So Hee at the closing of the Sochi Winter Olympics).

The main theme of Arirang is struggling to overcome hardships, and it is often seen as a representation of Korea and its people's perseverance over the centuries. Of course, since there are a lot of different versions, there are a lot of different interpretations of the song as well, but the usual story is about unrequited love and the difficulties of crossing a mountain pass. Even the mountain pass has different names! Sometimes the mountain pass is called Arirang, whereas others refer to Munyeong/Saejae/Joryeong, or "Bird Pass," which is the version I used for this story. This Bird Pass lies on Joryeong Mountain, but, some versions of Arirang refer to Baekdu Mountain instead! So it's been a bit confusing to me, as a monoligual English speaker (although I'm trying to fix that!).

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And I finally did it!!!! It's done! Thank you everyone who has read, voted, and/or commented on this story. You are the best! I really hope you've enjoyed it and that everything has made sense so far. Please feel free to tell me what you liked or didn't, or where you think I could improve! (like the romance bit with Young Min and Nara at the end...ohhh, I still can't tell if that's too cheesy or not. Is cheese good?) Some parts, I admit, have been a bit rushed in the story writing process, and since it has taken me so long to finish this story (I'm ashamed to admit) my plans for it have changed somewhat since I first started, and that can definitely lead to some inconsistencies.

So, 172 pages of a single word document later (and 74,302 words later--including my crazy notes to myself!), I've come to the end of the longest story I've ever completed so far! It's been an exciting journey and I cannot thank all of you enough for your tremendous support.  Now I would list everyone here but I'm afraid I'd miss a few people and then I'd just feel terrible. But you know who you are! Yes, YOU!

THANK YOU!