Susano-oh No Mikoto is a
younger God in the
Shinto Pantheon, a set of beliefs native to
Japan. Susano-oh is the god of
storms and of the
sea; known as a
brave,
swift and sometimes
rash man and had a highly
volatile temper before he came to
Earth. Susano-oh sprang forth from his father
Izanami (one of the twin
deities that created the
pantheon) as he was preparing to go into the
Underworld and
reclaim counterpart and
wife,
Izanagi. As soon as he was
born, Susano-oh began
weeping and
howling for his
mother. His wails were too much for everyone in the
heavens to bear and he was sentenced to be sent down to the
netherworld.
Before he left, however, he wished to bid his
sister,
Amaterasu (the sun
goddess) farewell. At his
approach however, the ground
shook and he made so much
noise that his sister became
fearful him and closed the gates to her
palace. Susano-oh became
enraged and at one point threw a flayed
colt into one of her
temples, at which point she became
terrified, hiding in a
cave, and
thus leaving the
world without the
sun for a time. Eventually, the
Gods gathered and
banished Susano-oh to
walk the
Earth and live as a
mortal as
punishment.
When he arrived on Earth, Susano-oh heard the sound of
weeping, and proceeded to the river
Hi in the province of
Izumo where he found an old
man and
woman along with a
pretty young maiden. He asked them why they
wept so, and they told him of a
terrible dragon that came every
year and had eaten one of their
daughters on each
occasion. The time of his return was
near, and they wept for their remaining daughter who would be
devoured.
The
eight headed
dragon Yamata no Orochi came and did battle with Susano-oh. Eventually, Susano-oh was able to
defeat all of Orochi's
heads, and in it's
tail he found a
sword called
Ama No Murakumo Tsurugi (Sword of
Billowing Clouds), which later was known as the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (the
Grass Cutter). This sword is now one of the
Imperial treasures and is said to have been
presented to the first
Emperor of
Japan by the
Amaterasu, herself.