The kickstarter for Season 2 is now live! There are a range of great rewards for backers, including signed script books and a chance to be in the drama. This series is an expanded exploration of the folklore of Shropshire and its eponymous Owd Scratch. Please share as widely as possible and donate if you can so we can continue the story!
@TarkabarkaHolgy
Slightly related is the play Quality Street, by J.M. Barrie who later did Peter Pan.
Quality Street Chocolates/caramels originally had Regency scenes and characters inspired by the play. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31266
“There is no mention of the devil in the oldest accounts of these women who fare abroad in Holda’s company by night; he was only introduced later. But the whole thing is reminiscent of Odin when the witches are called caped riders. Their intercourse with the devil, and his choice of the one he likes best as witch queen on Walpurgis night is probably associated with the wedding feasts of Odin and Freya, which were celebrated at these times. It is likely that folklore has attached to these wedding dances the idea that the witches dance the snow off Bloksberg on the night of 1st May.”
Happy #EarthDay! The hākuturi are birdlike guardians of the forest from Māori mythology. When Rātā cut down a sacred tree to build a canoe without performing the appropriate rites, the hākuturi not only re-erected the tree but put all of its discarded wood chips back in place. #MythologyMonday
Mitchell's Fold in Shropshire. Standing on a upland plateau at the foot of Corndon Hill, on a clear day there are tremendous views of Cader Idris, Aran Fawddwy and Y Berwyn.
The circle has plentiful #folklore, especially the legend of a magic white cow that gave a pailful of milk to all who wanted one, until a witch milked it into a sieve. The cow left in disgust (there are variations of the ending)
In #Folklore, the belief that metal can harm #fairies reflects a captivating intersection of ancient myth and practical symbolism. Pliny the Elder¹ speculated in his Naturalis Historia that iron nails in tombs can repel nocturnal spirits, offering a possible explanation for this mystical connection.
Additionally, the fierce warrior culture of the #Celts, known for their intricate metal craftsmanship and rituals, likely influenced the perception of metal as a potent force against otherworldly beings.
In general, it is still common to hang horseshoes on doorsteps in order to bring luck. You can also read it… to keep fairies, or bad luck, away.
@godsipclub@folklore hey, just a heads up for the image description: links should not be put into the image description and please try to rewrite it with what is actually visible in the picture: "a picture of different charms" isn't enough. Imagine describing this image like you would have in school or to a friend on the phone who wants to know what is visible on the picture.
I feel that critters from German #folklore would be better known if they had snappier names. Or, in many cases, any names at all.
I know that the German language has a reputation for "having a word for everything", but the folk tales largely go for unnamed horrors. Which makes writing them up for #ttrpg monster manuals more difficult. 😉
The owner of a West Country zoo which was immortalised in the Hollywood film ‘We Bought a Zoo’ starring Matt Damon, has claimed that big cats are living wild in Britain. Ben Mee, who has been running the zoo since 2006 and was portrayed by Damon in the movie, shared his encounter with a big cat in the UK during an interview...
I know we have had this prompt. How do name something?
It's time to name a new youkai.
Appears as a night-blooming flower
What fits that description that grows in Japan? Needs to be tall (?Sunflower-like?) I find nothing like that but vines yes. And that will work.
Morningglory, Moonflower
Japanese Bindweed is a similar plant. Minor change the creature doesn't hypnotize like I first thought but binds
We gather all the JP names for these
Bindweed: 昼顔 ヒルガオ Calystegia japonica (Noontime Face)
Morninglory: 朝顔 あさがお (Ipomoea nil) (Morning Face)
Moonflower: 夜顔 よるがお (Ipomoea alba ) Night Face
What luck a pattern [something] Face
Pull up some kanji that is descriptive of the creature. False, lie, deceit, falsehood 偽 (That was easy got it on the first try)
偽顔 にせかお Nise kao False face
Easy to say which is good.
Slap on an ending to show it is "sentient" 女性 Onna sounds good
False Faced Woman
Flower-like, deceitful, vine-like
Oh, DeepL wants to translate にせかお as a smirk. We just learned something new about our creature. (It's a bad translation TBH)
@NaraMoore
I am fascinated by Japanese names. Considering the number of common names I see, I wonder if people do concoct names these days as you've demonstrated, or is it just a western fantasy?
First, the name I concocted is for a Youkaiand it follows the general rules of such names. It is descriptive with hidden puns.
My understanding of people's names is there is a list of kanji that is recommended but not required. Name or more often choose for their auspicious means than to sound pretty.
Authors in JP concote names for characters as well. Some names we take quite seriously are jokes.
Personally, when naming characters I work with an app that tells me the names frequence. I try to stay away from names that are very rare or names that don't appear at all.
Blaze TV (home of Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies, *Weird or What? With William Shatner" and The UnXplained With William Shatner) have a new series exploring the rum and uncanny corners of this strange isle of ours....
