A magical sword with the power to change fate is given to the warrior king Le Loi by a golden turtle who lives deep beneath the waters of Hoan Kiem Lake.
Hoan Kiem Lake, the tranquil body of water located within Hanoi’s Old Quarter, plays an important role in Vietnamese mythology. While there are several variations of the tale, all include the central figure of Le Loi, a great warrior defending Vietnam from the Ming Dynasty of China, as well as a fisherman, a deified golden turtle and Thuan Thein, a powerful weapon bequeathed to Le Loi by a Dragon King.
Le Loi and Le Than: The Warrior and the Fisherman
Le Loi was a real person who lived in the 1400s. A revolutionary who became emperor, he began a dynasty that would last 360 years.
According to the nation’s founding myth, the Vietnamese people are the offspring of a sea dragon and a mountain fairy. With such fantastical creatures running around, perhaps it’s not surprising that a local god, Long Vuong, called the Dragon King, happened to possess a magical sword.
The weapon was divided into two parts: the blade and its handle. The blade was discovered in Than Hóa Province by a fisherman named Le Than. Believing he had caught a big fish, he was bewildered to find a long thin piece of metal entangled in his net. He tossed it back into the water and recast his net in a different location. He was puzzled to have the same thing happen again. When the sword ended up in his net for a third time, he accepted his fate and decided to take it home with him.
Meanwhile, the young general Le Loi set out to assemble an army. While recruiting from the surrounding villages, he paid a visit to the province of Than Hóa, happening to stop at the fisherman’s home. Though the interior was dimly lit, the blade unexpectedly emitted a shimmering glow in Le Loi’s presence. Le Than sold the blade to Le Loi, which was inscribed with the words “Thuan Thein” (According to Heaven’s Will).
There was only one problem — there wasn’t a safe way to grasp it.
Sometime later, while fleeing the Ming army, Le Loi climbed a banyan tree to conceal himself, and it was there that he discovered the sword’s hilt. The two pieces fit together perfectly. Problem solved.
Imbued with magic, Thuan Thein enlarged Le Loi to giant size and gave him the strength of 1,000 men. The sword brought Le Loi one victory after another, until he was able to vanquish the invading Chinese army.
The Lake of the Restored Sword
Like the legend of Excalibur, the magical weapon wielded by King Arthur, Thuan Thein had to be returned to its watery source. After the war, Le Loi rowed out onto Luc Thuy, Green Water Lake, in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, and was met by the golden turtle god Kim Qui. In a human voice, it asked Le Loi to return the sword to its divine owner, lest it corrupt him. The noble emperor drew the sword and cast it into the lake. With great speed, Kim Qui caught the sword in its mouth and retreated to the bottom of the lake, never to be seen again.
To commemorate this extraordinary event, Le Loi renamed the lake Hoan Kiem, Lake of the Restored Sword.
A stone structure now rises from a small islet in the lake. Known as Thap Ruá, or Turtle Tower, it was built to honor Kim Qui, the magical aquatic guardian of the sword. –Duke