Tablets VIII & IX

Well, not much happens in Tablet VIII except that Gilgamesh is very sad that Endiku died and tells everyone that they should be sad too, then makes an offering to the gods.

Let us observe a minute of silence in memory of Endiku the stormy-hearted.

In Tablet IX, Gilgamesh decides that he's terrified of death (apparently Hotel Hell didn't sound pleasant to him. How strange!), so he decides to avoid it. Simple, but efficient. I like it.

He decides that the only person who knows the secret to being immortal was Utnapishtim (no wonder he's immortal. He must've spent thousands of years trying to figure out how to pronounce that name), and sets off on a journey to to find him.

The journey begins, and Gilgamesh braves lions and tigers and bears and hunger and monsters, oh my!

Finally he crosses the path were the sun travels at night. It was freezing and barren and he was utterly bear, but since he's two thirds god and one third man he managed and arrived in a sort of paradise where he saw (gasp!) the sea!