An amazing epic hero from Naguilan, La Union, according to the myth, is Lam-ang. At birth, the myth says Lam-ang was already able to talk like an adult and also possess a powerful physique. While an infant, he decided what his name would be—and that was the name given to him. The myth adds, at nine months, he was fully grown with supernatural physical prowess. He was feared in their village. Yet, despite his superiority, he was discontented. He missed his father. The father had been hunting somewhere in the lands of the Igorot, a feared head-hunting mountain tribe, before he was born and never came back.
So one day, the myth says, Lam-ang decided to look for his father in the land of the Igorots up further North. Then he discovered his father’s remains in an abandoned Igorot camp, beheaded. He determined to have his revenge. So, the myth says he flew (yes, he could fly) up to the Cordillera mountain ranges and attacked tribes of Igorots and defeated them savagely. Having completed his fierce revenge, he went back to his village.
In his village, he recounted the ways he decimated the feared Igorot tribes and the village folks feared him more. Then he heard about a rich heiress who lived in another place—in Caluntian—who was very beautiful. Despite his mother’s pleas not to marry someone outside their tribe, Lam-ang, according to the myth, pursued the heiress from Caluntian, Donya Ines.
In Caluntian, Lam-ang found himself up against formidable rivals But he bested them all with his powers and the supernatural pets he had brought with him—a rooster, hen, and a dog. Finally, the last challenge was to dive for a rare native fish called Rarang. According to the myth, Lam-ang had a premonition of death in this last challenge, but he proceeded with it anyway. He was swallowed by a big shark and died.
Donya Ines suffered the loss of Lam-ang, but his pets promised his resurrection if only his bones could be salvaged from the sea. Marcos, Ines’ servant, recovered Lam-ang’s remains from the sea. And with some magic, the myth says his pets were able to bring Lam-ang back to life. And so Lam-ang, Donya Ines, and the pets lived happily ever after.
The myth on Lam-ang depicts a man of strength and passion. He was ready to face any challenge till the end, even when the last challenge in his life meant his death. This somehow reflects the courage
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