Story Time

‘Once, in a time immaterial, in a land closer than one might think, there lived the Naga-loka, the serpent people. One day, the serpent prince and a human king entered into a wrestling match to settle a quarrel. During the match, the human had an opportunity to kill the serpent, but instead, spared his life. As a reward, the king was brought to the Naga palace, and offered an object of his choosing from the vast treasure room. But the king did not lust after earthly riches, and chose the smallest jewel of all the treasure. At this further proof of the young king’s wisdom, the Naga prince vowed to himself that the two of them would meet again as friends.’
This story was a simplified retelling of a portion of one of my favourite novels, ‘The Iron Ring’ by Lloyd Alexander. Go now to your library and check this book out, and if you find yourself making jewelry inspired by the reading of it, by all means, post a link! I’d love to see a picture!

The Iron Ring has given me numerous ideas for jewelry; many of which are still in the works at this time. This is the first completed one. That amulet was sitting around in my bead box for years. I never could quite think what to do with it, until the day I realized it matched my serpentine beads. (By the way, it really is called serpentine; and no, I didn’t pick the stone for its name!) The amulet is carved with the likeness of Shesha the serpent prince, and along the necklace there are pearls, serpentine and turquoise beads.