Lanna Folk Tales and Legends: A Story Map

Lanna folk tales and legends are the stories northerners have told for generations in the temple, in the village yard and in sung verse: a city that sinks in one night, a golden deer that leads a prince into a cave, a hen and her seven chicks in the sky. These stories have different names: tamnan (ตํานาฯ, Kham Mueang reading tam-nan), a story told down the generations; jia (เจ้ยฯ, chia), a tale told among friends; and jataka, a story from Buddhist tradition. This page is the home of our Lanna tales series, with every story that is already live on one map.

Tamnan, jia, jataka: what is the difference?

The dictionary defines tamnan as a story passed down over a long time, with the example "the legend of the city of Chiang Mai", and notes that the form tam-nan (ตำนาฯ) is another way of writing the same word.

Jia means miscellaneous tales, little funny anecdotes, stories told to friends. Telling one is called "lao jia". Two relatives follow: jia kom (เจ้ยฯก้อฯม, chia kom), short funny tales, and jia jon (เจ้ยฯจ่อฯร, chia chon), a story composed with good content as a moral lesson.

Jataka is not a headword of its own in the Moradok Lanna dictionary, but it appears inside other entries, such as khao tham (ระฯค่าฯวฯธัม์มฯ, khao tham), which the dictionary explains as a khao so or khao ham verse whose story is a jataka. In its common Buddhist meaning, a jataka is a story about the bodhisatta, the Buddha in his earlier lives. The jataka Lanna people hear most is the Vessantara Jataka, preached in the tang tham luang (ปาเวณีตั้งฯธัม์มฯหลฯวฯง, pa-we-ni tang tham luang) tradition. See Tang Tham Luang.

The map of Lanna tales and legends

Tap "Show what is coming" in a group to see topics not yet published. Topics that are not online have no link and become links when they are published.

Group by group

How Lanna tells stories

Before reading the stories, see where they live and how they were told. Khao is the chain-rhymed verse form, Khap so is sung verse, Pap sa are the paper and palm-leaf books that record the literature, and Jia kom are short funny tales for learning Kham Mueang one story at a time.

City legends and chronicles

Yonok nakhon (โยน฿กฯนคอฯร, yo-nok na-khon) is, as the dictionary says, the state of the Tai Yuan on the plain of the Kok River. The legend says it sank into a swamp after its people ate the pla yian phon (ปลฯาอยฯยฯรพอฯร, pla yian phon), the white eel. Read it in Wiang Nong Lom. Chao Luang Kham Daeng tells of the golden deer and the spirit lord of Doi Luang Chiang Dao. The palm-leaf chronicle of Chiang Mai is in the Chiang Mai chronicle, the Pali chronicle of Buddhism in Lanna is in Jinakalamali, and the stories of King Mangrai and Queen Chamadevi round out the group.

Relics and Buddha images

A that (ธาฯตฯ, that) is a stupa that holds relics, and Lanna belief gives every birth year its own relic: see Birth-year relics. For famous Buddha images, the dictionary uses phra kaeo (ระฯพแก้วฯ, phra kaeo), an image made of a gem. The legend of the Emerald Buddha's journey is in The Emerald Buddha in Lanna.

Spirits, gods and nature myths

A phi khun nam (ผีขุรนาฯ, phi khun nam) is the guardian spirit of a river source. The legend of the guardian of Chiang Mai is in Pu Sae Ya Sae. The sky story is Dao Wi Kai Noi; the dictionary records dao wi kai noi (ดาวฯวีไก่ห้นฯอฯ, dao wi kai noi) as the Pleiades and as a tale used to teach children. The beast of Wat Phra That Doi Khao Khwai Kaeo in Chiang Rai is the maeng si hu ha ta (แมงฯสี่หูห้าตา, maeng si hu ha ta), told in Maeng Si Hu Ha Ta.

Khao so and jataka stories

Khao so (ระฯค่าฯวฯซํอฯ, khao so) is verse composed for singing, and many plots come from jatakas. Read the summary and origins of Hong Hin, then try the real text line by line in Reading Hong Hin. Another famous sung drama is Noi Chaiya with its song, and the jataka preached at big merit festivals is in Tang Tham Luang.

Origins and wise-fool tales

The first story in this group is The White Crow Legend, about the five eggs of the white crow and the crow's-foot wick in the Yi Peng lamp. Tales of the first couple and the Sithanonchai trickster tales are in preparation.

A map of places in the tales

Many stories are tied to real places you can visit. This table uses only articles that are live.

Quiz yourself on what you have read

Read a tale, then guess what happens next. Each question has an answer and the Kham Mueang words from the story.

How to read this series

• Start with the group you like: city legends, sky stories, beasts or khao so. Open any of them from the map.
• Check the words at the end of each story. Every article has dictionary cards; search more at the Moradok Lanna dictionary.
• Compare versions. One story can have several versions, and the article says so when sources differ.
• Come back for new parts. This page gains a link whenever a new article goes online.

Summary

• Tamnan is a story told down the generations, jia is a tale told to friends, and jataka is a story of the bodhisatta, the plot of many khao tham and khao so.
• Jataka is not a headword in the dictionary but appears in the meaning of khao tham and tang tham luang.
• Seven groups of stories are live, from city legends to the white crow legend.
• The places in the tales lie in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun.

Start with Wiang Nong Lom or Dao Wi Kai Noi, and look up any word at the Moradok Lanna dictionary.

Sources

• Moradok Lanna dictionary: ต่ำนาน · ต๋ำนาน · เจี้ย · เจี้ยก้อม · เจี้ยจ่อน · ค่าวทำ · ค่าวซอ · ป๋าเวณีตั้งธรรมหลวง · โยนกหนะกอน · ธาตุ · พระแก้ว · ผีขุนน้ำ · ดาววีไก่หน้อย · แมงสี่หูห้าตา · ป๋าเหยี่ยนปอน
• The plot, origin and sources of each story are in the articles linked above. The meaning of jataka in khao so is from Nattaphong Panchaburi and Sirisan Mueanphothong (2022), as summarised in Khao.