By the Gods!
RSSPosts tagged with "folklore"
Selkie
Way up north, sitting by the sea, looking at seals all day, who could honestly say they haven’t had at least one romantic thought about those little water-dwelling blubber-bags? The story of the Selkie is the story of that love that dare not speak its name (basically).
In the folk tales of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands the Selkie pops up from time to time; maintaining the form of a seal while in the water, the Selkies can come ashore, shed their skin, and take the form of a beautiful human. Nearly every story involving a Selkie is a romantic tragedy of some sort, whether it’s that of a beautiful lady Selkie tricking a sad farmer boy into the water to smash him up on rocks, or a guy with nothing better to do stealing the shed sealskin of a Selkie maiden and forcing her to marry him, the tales generally aren’t “feel-good.”
The males of the supernatural species spend most of time seeking out women who are angry or dissatisfied with their husbands and seducing them; their homewrecking abilities are unquestioned.
The leading theory on where the Selkies come from, regardless of what they do, is that they are the bizarre reincarnation of restless drowned souls.
Huldufólk
I’m sure that most of you have heard tell of the elves and faeries who live in woods and dells, dwelling just beyond the reaches of human perception right? Right! Well, the Nordic peoples who spread across Western Europe brought with them the tales of their elves (or alfar) wherever they went, and those stories persist even to this day, though in some places they’re closer to the cultural surface than they are in others.
Germany and Scandinavia have hidden alfar or elves (or a close Germanic derivative), but Iceland is an interesting example of further cultural intermingling with their Huldufólk. Norse settlers had their alfar, but Irish settlers out of the more separate Celtic tradition had their hill folk. Some tradition even attaches the Huldufólk to Adam and Eve in Christian mythology, as the second string of “unclean” children Eve bore and tried to hide from God, who then declared “What man hides from God, God will hide from man,” demonstrating what can only be described as a firm grasp of reason and judgment.
Depending on who you ask (and when you were asking them), the various breeds of hidden people in germanic myth can be good or wicked. The Huldufólk seem to be less malicious than some mischievous elves have been known to be, and indeed are respected in much of the Icelandic cultural tradition. Some folk have even built tiny lil’ dwellings for the little people to reside in!
The origins and attitudes of the Huldufólk can change dramatically depending on who you ask about them, but their existence in Icelandic folklore can certainly be traced back a long way, even as far back as in the verses of the Eddas.
Phooka
Original art by myself, influenced by the work of Brian Froud. :)
The Phooka is an Irish demon. It takes many forms and demi-forms. The most common are that of a horse, a goat, an eagle and a cow with long horns. The Phooka tricks weary travellers into accepting an invitation of a ride. Once upon the back of a Phooka, the rider is taken on a wild ride through the countryside until the Phooka dumps the rider into a marsh into a ditch. The sound of manic laughter afterwards is the laughter of the Phooka as it runs away.
View submitter’s personal blog here!
—-
Another great submission! To submit your own, click here! For more info, visit the store!
The Salmon of Knowledge - An Irish Legend
A young lad named Fionn (pronounced Fyun) was a promising youth. After his father died, his mother brought him to a poet named Finnegas to learn all he could so that in time, he could join the Fianna. The Fianna was a band of Irish warriors. But in order to join, a man needed to have wisdom and a wide knowledge of poetry, art and history.
Finnegas taught Fionn all he knew and the lad grew to be a fine young man. One thing that Finnegas talked about often was the myth of the salmon of knowledge. The salmon of knowledge was a fish that swam through the rivers of Ireland, the myth went that anyone who ate the salmon would gain all the wisdom of the world. Finnegas often sat by the river outside the hut where he and Fionn lived, fishing in hope to catch the salmon.
One day, Fionn heard Finnegas calling him from outside, running to the river, he saw that Finnegas had caught none other than the salmon of knowledge! Finnegas instructed the boy to cook it for him to eat, but warned him not to taste the fish at all, or he would gain the wisdom. Fionn did as he was told and began cooking the fish over a crude fire. he watched it carefully so as not to burn it. Suddenly, a bubble rose on the fish’s skin. Reaching out, Fionn burst it with his thumb. The bubble popped and burned his finger. Instinctively, Fionn stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked it to soothe the burn.
When Finnegas saw what the boy had done, he grew very sad that he would never gain all the wisdom of the world, but was cheered at the thoguht that Fionn would be the greatest warrior the Fianna had ever known.
Fionn grew to be the leader of the Fianna. It is said that they sleep in a cave beneath Dublin and will rise when Ireland is in his greatest need. Their coming will be alerted by the sound of his hunting horn.
——-
Thanks for the submission! We can always use more Celtic mythology on here!
Tarot cards were originally designed not for being stared at by people while they listen to ethnic harp music, but for a card game similar to modern-day bridge. People only started using them for fortunetelling about 250 years ago, a good 400 years after the cards were imported from the Middle East. In fact, normal playing cards have a longer history in Europe than tarot cards, preceding them by about 50 years. So you’re technically indulging in a more venerable ritual when you play “go fish.”
Tarot’s new fortunetelling function was quickly seized upon by 19th-century fans of occultism, which was what bored white people used to do in the 19th century before backpacking around India was invented. The occultists “discovered” tarot’s long history and renamed the two parts of the deck “Arcana” to replace the slightly less spooky trumps and pits.
In 1909, two occultists published a new version of the cards, the Rider-Waite deck, which is what most Americans visualize today when they hear the word “tarot.” The new deck switched out the traditional Christian imagery on the cards with pagan symbols to make it look like they predated the New Testament, replacing the Pope and Popess with a Hierophant and High Priestess, presumably so that fortunetellers could say more exotic things than “I see a Pope in your future.”
Article here
Image by Raymond Larose
Banshee
“Banshee” is the modern name for the bean sidhe, or “woman of the fairies,” the traditional fairy of the Irish countryside. Perhaps you recall some of the Tuatha De Danann we’ve discussed in the past? Well, after the arrival of the Milesians (the ancestors of the present-day Irish) from what is now Spain, the gods and goddesses that comprised the Tuatha De Danann disappeared underground to dwell in mounds.
In the centuries that followed, the old gods were slowly transformed into fairies. As a Christian presence infringed and absorbed Ireland’s pagan past, the old gods of the Celts became folk legend and fairies in the woods and hidden nooks of the land. Banshees were the lady spirits that haunted the woods, and it was believed that the wail of a banshee foretold the approach of a human death. The land itself, riddled with the markers and ancient customs of Celtic mythology, still attributed great power and mystery to the spirits of the old religion.
The Tanuki
The Tanuki originate in Japanese folklore as mischievous raccoon-dog creatures with a love of sake. These critters are known for shape-shifting and making a ruckus, but are mostly thought of as kind spirits that bring fertility, financial luck and joy.
The most distinctive feature of a Tanuki would be his hilariously large testicles. In most artist’s renderings, Tanukis are seen lugging around doo-dads the size of two baby sperm whales (no pun intended). They use these gargantuan gonads for every day purposes, whether they need a towboat or to seriously bludgeon a cat fish. There’s even a song about their terrifying tallywags, which goes a little like this:
Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,
Kaze mo nai no ni,
Bura bura
This song loosely translates to : “Tan-tan-tanuki’s testicles, there isn’t even any wind but still go swing-swing-swing.”
Testicles aside, they appeared as Raccon-dogs that walked upright, with large eyes and large tummies. The Tanuki were known for being harmless and productive members of society, who would partake in an occasional sake binge followed by a prank or two. Nowadays they are believed to only present their shape-shifted form to the greater public, so as not to upset the world. Possibly also due to unavoidable dress code mishaps.
Adlet
The Adlet are blood-sucking creatures based in Inuit mythology. They are also known as Erqigdlit to the peoples of Greenland and Baffin Island. Werewolf-like in appearance, it is said they are the result of a union between an Inuit woman and a giant red dog. I’d be willing to guess that’s one story about Clifford that PBS isn’t going to ever publish.
The woman gave birth to ten fur-covered puppy-kids. Terrified, she set five of them adrift in the sea. According to the myth, these five managed to cross the Arctic and Atlantic and spawned the European races.
The other five became known as the Adlet. They remained with their mother, apparently because she decided she could handle just five little abominations. Instead, they grew into five big abominations that developed a taste for human flesh, fighting, and presumably, causing trouble for their mom by trying to be too damn helpful. The Adlet and their offspring (also called Adlet) now wander the tundra in packs, seeking out Inuit villages to feed on.
The real tragedy here is this whole thing probably could have been averted if the poor little guys had a solid father figure in their lives. Clifford, stay together, for the puppy-kids.
Bakus
Have you ever woken up from a scary dream to completely forget it moments after? If so, you may have encountered a Baku, a japanese dream-eating spirit. These little monsters are said to be very lucky to have around and closely resemble malaysian tapirs.
Bakus appear as tapir-like spirits, with long snouts, the claws ‘n paws of a tiger and an overall fuzzy-wuzzy appeal. Though these lil’ critters may not be the cutest spirits around, they are the handiest to keep in the bedroom. They consume the nightmares until the supply runs out, then they wander off to the homes off those that are overly-paranoid or that have just watched “Paranormal Activity”.
There are other Baku descriptions that contradict the above info, stating that they are more prone to infesting a household. Some say that they horde into a home and eat every dream they find, whether it be a nightmare or otherwise. This thieving of the dreams leaves people dreamless, boring automatons.
So, to break it down, Bakus are either dream-eating gluttons or the spirit versions of night-lights. Personally, I’d take a Baku over a build-a-bear any day. No matter how much I love my lil’ Ahuizotl..
Tommyknockers
Tommyknockers are small grizzled mining spirits that originate from irish and welsh folklore. They are said to warn endangered miners of collapsing mine shafts with echoing knocks along the shaft walls (hence the name “Tommyknocker”). They are also said to cause the collapsing mine shafts. Though they may cause the collapses, at least these little critters have the decency to give warning.
Tommyknockers appear to be little men, ranging from one to two feet tall with frizzled beards and the gruff garb of a miner and they carry the title of trickers. Though they are known for stealing the occasional tool and loaf of bread, they are thought to be spirits of the neutral good, keeping the miners safe and warning them of collapses. Miners often threw the last chunk of a pastry down the shaft as offerings for the Tommyknockers.
These little people were thought to be the pre-human inhabitants of the Celtic west. Skilled in the arts of mining and tunnelling, they taught these arts to the British, and eventually fell out of history. These legends may have influenced Tolkien’s concept of the Dwarves, consummate miners and stoneworkers who taught these skills to men.
Tip of the day: If any of you good folk visit a mine, beware of that tappety-tap of the Tommyknocker.
About By the Gods!
