In quite a lot of mythologies from cultures all over the world, fire is said to have been stolen by some trickster or culture hero to present to humankind.
After much soul-searching, I have come up with an explanation for the common mythical theme of Grand Theft Fire.
I believe the origins of this practically worldwide theme lay in one thing:
The discovery of fire by early humans
Discovery of fire is perhaps one of our prehistoric ancestors' greatest accomplishments; as it led to the invention of cooking, controlled sources of light and heat...and eventually, the website on which you are currently looking at this post.
Scientists have a theory that our early human ancestors may have seen lightning strike some trees and set them alight...only to get curious about this mysterious new substance and see what it could be used for.
In other words, our very very very distant forebears "stole" fire from the Heavens, which appeared to have put fire onto the trees with lightning.
This could have evolved into mythical stories about fire being stolen from the gods or forest creatures for humankind.
Some Grand Theft Fire stories even have an explanation for the classic method of making fire:
Rubbing two sticks together vigorously
Sadly, since our early human ancestors never wrote anything down ("prehistoric" does mean "before writing" after all), we cannot really say for sure who first discovered fire.
For the sake of this theory of mine, however, I'm just going to say that fire was independently discovered by people all over the world.
Perhaps the Grand Theft Fire story that most effectively backs up this new science-backed theory of mine is...
The Aniyunwiya (Cherokee) story of the First Fire.
Originally, the story says, there was no fire at all.
Then, the Thunder Spirit sent lightning to place fire in the base of a hollowed-out tree on an island.
All kinds of animals tried but failed, and that's why they look and act the way they do to this day.
Water Spider crossed over to the tree, put an ember into a bowl that she had made out of her own silk, and took it back to present to all the other living beings.
If you have the time, feel free to let me know what you think of this theory I have devised based on comparative cross-cultural studies as well as actual scientific theory.
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