Biag ni Lam-ang
Biag ni Lam-ang
Main page
1951583

Biag ni Lam-ang

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
1951583

Biag ni Lam-ang

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Biag ni Lam-ang

Biag ni Lam-ang (lit.'The Life of Lam-ang') is an epic story of the Ilocano people from the Ilocos region of the Philippines. It is notable for being the first Philippine folk epic to be recorded in written form, and was one of only two folk epics documented during the Philippines' Spanish Colonial period, along with the Bicolano epic of Handiong. It is also noted for being a folk epic from a "Christianized" lowland people group (the Ilocano people), with elements incorporated into the storytelling.

As oral literature, the poem is believed to have originated in pre-colonial times, evolving as it is passed on from poet to poet and generation to generation. The poem's first transcription is sometimes attributed to the blind Ilocano poet-preacher Pedro Bucaneg, but historian E. Arsenio Manuel instead attributes its first written documentation to Fr. Blanco of Narvacan, working with the publicist and folklorist Isabelo de los Reyes.

As oral literature, the poem is believed to have originated in pre-colonial times, evolving as it is passed on from poet to poet and generation to generation.

Pedro Bucaneg, who supposedly dictated it so that it could be written down.[better source needed] However, it is unclear whether this "transcription" refers to an extant copy of the Biag ni Lam-ang text. Some texts, such as Celedonio Aguilar's Readings in Philippine Literature even state that this transcription occurred in 1640—long after Bukaneg is believed to have died.

Instead, historian E. Arsenio Manuel attributes the first written documentation of Biag Ni Lam-ang to the parish priest of the municipality Narvacan Fr. Gerardo Blanco and to publicist and folklorist Isabelo de los Reyes. It was Fr. Blanco who sent the text of the poem to De Los Reyes, who then published the text, in Ilocano, along with a Spanish prose translation, in his paper, the El Ilocano, 1889 to 1890.

Lam-ang is an extraordinary being, when he was born, he was already able to speak, thus enabling him to choose his own name and told people to be called by this name.

His adventures begun when his father, Don Juan, set out for a battle but never returned. Barely nine months, Lam-ang goes to search for Don Juan in the highlands where the latter was said to have gone. Aware that her child was a blessed, exceptional creature, his mother Namongan allowed him to go. Lam-ang then went off in search of his father, leaving his grieving mother behind.

He saw his father beheaded and the head put on a spike. While the headhunters were celebrating, in his anger, he challenged all of them to a duel. The headhunters threw spears at him, but he just caught them and threw them back to the headhunters. He defeated the headhunters, killed them all and took his father's head down to the plains.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.