In the Heike Monogatari, Tomoe Gozen appears as
a general in the troops of ( Minamoto ) Kiso Yoshinaka, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo's
first attack force.
Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long
hair, and charming features, usually equipped with strong armor, a naginata
and a mighty bow.
She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swords-woman
she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god,
mounted or on foot.
She handled horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed
down perilous descents.
Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out
as his first captain, who performed more deeds of valor than any of his
other warriors.
Her last act, on the verge of Yoshinaka's defeat, is the
subject of many plays and poems.
Tomoe was one of the last five of the Kiso standing at
the tail end of the Battle of Awazu, and that Yoshinaka, knowing that death
was near, urged her to flee.
She told her husband that she would hold off the enemy
long enough for him to commit seppuku, the samurai s ritual suicide in
defeat, but he was struck by an arrow.
Though reluctant, she flung heerself upon the strongest
Minamoto warrior named Onda no Hachiro Moroshige, cut his head off, and
then fled for the eastern provinces.
Some have written that Tomoe in fact died in battle with
her husband, while others assert that she survived and became a nun.
There is also a legend that she was taken captive by
Wada Yoshimori and had a son, Asahina, considered to be the strongest warrior
of the later Kamakura era.