Ferdinand Magellan encountered what he claimed was a race of giants during his voyage around South America. Legends of these "Patagonian Giants" made their way back to Europe and were even referenced on early maps of the New World, such as this one from 1562. #MythologyMonday
Lavender in folklore was used for protection and was said to drive away evil spirits, harmful magic, and the evil eye. It could protect a home if it was planted in a garden on the property. It is also said fairies like lavender as well. #FolkloreSunday#folklore#mythology
My latest post explores the ghosts of Benthall Edge and the influence of the Industrial Revolution on their stories. These tragic hauntings make for difficult but necessary reading.
I still can't believe I found out where she is buried. It still makes me emotional. When I started this journey, I hoped to rewrite her legacy and emphasise her humanity. Sometimes, behind the Folklore and stereotypes is a far more interesting story ✨️
#WritersCoffeeClub 4. Do you feature real-world political and social issues in your work?
Yes. For starters, the 19th century German folk tales I am translating were deeply embedded in the political and social issues of their day.
For another, many of these issues are still relevant in the modern day. For instance, #antisemitism was unfortunately very common in German #folklore , and I wouldn't be doing my job if I just ignored this. And the #witchcraft panics have clear modern equivalents, like the "Satanic Pedophile Rings" conspiracy fantasies cooked up by #QAnon and others.
Human thoughts and human societies are shaped by their narratives. It is my hope that by shining a light on the narratives of the past, we can get a better understanding of the narratives of the present instead of being caught up in them.
It's the name of the trope (according to TV Tropes) where someone expects a stranger to look unattractive, and then they show up and turn out to be hot.
A man sets out with a sword and encounters a sleeping 7-headed dragon. Not wanting to kill it while it is asleep, he lies down and snuggles it. The dragon wakes up later, sees the sleeping man, and decides to not kill it while asleep either.
In the early stories of Merlin, he would often laugh when his powers of prophecy revealed ironic situations, such as a man expressing love for his "son" without realizing the boy isn't his, or a woman buying a dress even though she'll drown before she wears it.
Using a garter to mark the boliaun plant that a Leprechaun revealed his pot of gold was buried under, Tom Fitzpatrick ran off to get a spade. While the Leprechaun promised he wouldn't remove the garter, every boliaun in the field sported an identical garter by the time Tom returned. #MythologyMonday
@TarkabarkaHolgy It's forced marriage is a big issue and should be illegal everywhere.
Been reading Mary Burchell and while she was once a top Mills & Boon author I don't think she created unrealistic ideas for girls or young women. Many seem like warnings, though there was always HEA. But red herrings like cosy detective fiction.
Plenty of romance tropes in Folklore & "Fairy stories". Disney spoils them.
In the Lancashire area there was a specific Goddess that was worshipped called Brigantia. She was associated with rivers. She may have also been connected with the Goddess Brigid and also Saint Brigid. #FolkloreSunday#folklore#mythology
Tis my Birthday this weekend and my sister bought me the game "Bramble: the mountain king".
The #game is "Little Nightmares" but with Scandanavian folklore. Overall, l'd say it succeeds. It is mostly inspired by folklore, with only about half of the creatures being lifted directly from it while the rest are only loosely based on folklore creatures.
However, it is a horror game. I don't understand why the only modern adaptations of #folklore is as horror. Folklore is uncanny, less so gruesome.
In German #folklore , magical methods for attaining treasure could mean:
Holding a ritual within a house for three days and nights so that the treasure chest will come closer and closer to the front door. The ritual will be successful if the treasure chest has entered the house.
German #folklore is full of tales of evil, prideful nobles who were eventually punished for their sins.
So why is modern media - starting with #Disney , and moving on from there - so full of pro- #monarchy propaganda instead? Lots of "Just Kings", "Plucky Princesses", and so forth. Why is the implication in media nowadays that being exalted by the circumstances of your birth is likely to make you a good person? Instead of being totally oblivious to your own class privilege - and that's probably the best case!
I wonder if anyone has done any scientific research on all these "pro-monarchy" narratives in modern media, and how they came into existence.
@Jer@juergen_hubert In a counterfactual where the British won the US war of independence, the pressures that led to the US Civil War would have led to another rebellion well within the same time frame. (And if you want to know how well the British treated defeated rebels, consider the grisly aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.)
@cstross@juergen_hubert It's kind of amusing how many pieces of fiction there are based on the premise that the US president and a bunch of others have been killed and now some previously unknown person has to be president due to obscure succession rules.
If you changed "president" with "monarch", the story would be almost the same. And the unexpected president is pretty much always a good person. It never makes you think that it'd be better to just have another election.