folklore – Planet Laurel

laura's mathom house 2022-09-04 17:25:33

Hmm, if you mean modern media inspired by those type of folktales, I’m afraid not. My interest lies with the folktales much more than modern fantasy! But if you mean “modern folktales”… Possibly my favourite fairy tale about a deal with the devil is a literary fairy tale written in 1965 by Dutch writer Godfried Bomans. I’ll try to do it justice in a retelling, it’s called The Stolen Heart:

There once was a fisherman who was rich in family but lacking in almost everything else. He and his wife lived in a little house by the sea. They had six children and one more on the way, but the fisherman barely caught enough fish to feed them all.

Since he loved them all very much it hurt him terribly to see them hungry. And one evening when he had caught even less than usual, he sighed: “If only I was able to catch more.”

“That can be arranged,” a voice behind him spoke, and the fisherman saw the voice belonged to a richly dressed nobleman who was blowing on his hands as if he was freezing cold. “Sell your soul to me and you will be rich beyond belief. All you have to do is breathe into my mouth.”

The fisherman considered this and while he did so a chill wind touched his face. “Then you are the devil,” he replied.

The nobleman stopped smiling. “Sell me your soul and you will be rich beyond belief.”

“Alright,” the fisherman relented and he did as the nobleman instructed and exhaled his breath into the mouth of the stranger. The very moment he did so he felt a coldness in his chest where his heart ought to beat. “What have you done with my heart?” he asked, frightened.

Keep reading

laurasimonsdaughter:In a piece of Scottish folklore from Selkirk it is described how a woman was…

laurasimonsdaughter:

In a piece of Scottish folklore from Selkirk it is described how a woman was able to protect herself and her baby from some malicious fairies that had snuck into the house by wrapping her husband’s waistcoat around them both
Isn’t that just the softest concept? Isn’t that just a most peculiar, domestic kind of magic? Such a simple, intuitive kind of protection. And we do this all the time!
“Your shirts are nicer to sleep in.”
    “It’s cold out, take my coat.”
    “I miss you, so I’ve stolen your sweater.”
    “Borrow my blazer for your interview!”
    “I wore this when I was your age, it is just your size.”
All the clothes we lend, steal and hand down so affectionately! All the fabric we wrap around us that is full of another person’s thoughts of us! It’s all magic. Magic so old that we don’t even remember that it is

laurasimonsdaughter:Merry Midsummer Night!Traditionally the night of the 23rd and the morning of the…

laurasimonsdaughter:

Merry Midsummer Night!
Traditionally the night of the 23^rd and the morning of the 24^th of June is the time to celebrate Midsummer in Northern Europe (rather than the astronomical solstice), specifically within Germanic paganism. Later the Christian feast of Saint John the Baptist took this place, but even then the old rituals persisted.
The Midsummer celebration was (and is) celebrated with eating, drinking, singing, dancing and flirting. Whatever was dreamed during this night was thought to be prophetic, and it was the perfect time to find a partner, or ensure marital bliss and fertility. It was also one of the nights when spirits, witches and werewolves were known to roam free, and a lot of the rituals belonging to it in the Netherlands have to do with protection:
The Fire
The bonfire is central to the celebration. This bonfire needed to be lit fresh, not from an already burning fire, as it was a cleansing fire.
People would dance around it in a circle and sing. People also jumped over it, both alone and in pairs, to ensure all the good fortune Midsummer might bring.
Cattle were also brought to walk past the fire to bless them.
The ashes from the fire could be taken home to be scattered at the door for protection.
The Flowers
Plants gathered on this day were thought to possess great magical power. Some herbs were thrown into the fire during the dance.
People wove garlands of flowers and leaves (like cornflowers, St John’s-wort, and beech and hazel) and wore them during the dance.
These wreaths were carried home and kept until they wilted, so they would protect against evil and misfortune, like thunder, fire and illness.
In some places bunches were made instead of wreaths, which were hung above the doors or windows for the same kind of protection.
The Dew
People washed themselves in the morning dew for good health.
Those who were not able (or willing) to go rambling and rolling in the grass at the crack of dawn could spread cloths on the grass during the night, to collect the dew that would form in the morning.
In some places the custom was to bathe in the running water of a stream.

Troll diversity!

laurasimonsdaughter:

Contrary to what is represented in most modern media, there are a lot of different types of trolls in the Nordic tradition. As a Dutch person my research is necessarily second-hand, but here is a short introduction of “the common troll” as depicted by the stories I know from various countries:
Norwegian Trolls
Appearance: Very large, almost giant-like, scary and aggressive looking. Often have big noses. Sometimes have one eye, three heads or a tail.
Habitat: Usually inside mountains where they have entire palaces or hoards with rare riches, but are also found stomping through the forest. Usually live alone, but often as neighbours, where sometimes three brothers or sisters live in a row.
Characteristics: May kidnap princes or princesses to marry. Some are capable of using powerful magic. Can smell “Christian blood” or “Christian bones” and may very well eat people, especially children. Often turn to stone in sunlight.
Swedish Trolls
Appearance: Larger than humans but not huge. Often have very long, matted hair, big noses, long ears and a tail, so are often described as ugly.
Habitat: The forest or the mountains. Have a society of their own with a “troll king of the mountain”, often live in big clans.
Characteristics: Might kidnap children or youths because they like them, but could also eat them. Can leave changelings that grow up normally, but stay rather trollish at heart. Have a habit of stealing farm animals. Might be helpful or kind when treated with respect. Sometimes turn to stone in sunlight, but many are out and about during the day. Some have to keep their word or rule of trades like fae and cannot harm those pure of heart. Some possess (simple) magic.
Icelandic Trolls
Appearance: Ranging from large to huge giants, with big teeth and a terrifying, ugly appearance. Apart from that rather human, no tail for instance. Often female, while tales from other countries usually skew a little to the male side.
Habitat: Mountains and cliffs. Often live alone but as neighbours, may live in family groups.
Characteristics: Have terrifying, booming voices and are generally aggressive and violent. Fast runners and climbers, fearsome fighters. Kill and/or eat people. Are generally afraid of the sound of church bells or Christian blessings, and of the sun, which might turn them to stone.
Danish Trolls
Appearance: Human sized, often has a tail and sometimes short horns.
Habitat: The woodland, hills or mountains which might hide their treasures but may also just be big cosy camps. Live in large family groups.
Characteristics: Like to party with lots of food and drink and dancing around the fire. Sometimes steal children but never eat them. They may leave a troll changeling or a log turned into a child in their place. Some trolls wanted human children because they could go onto hallowed ground, which trolls could not. Inclined to steal things. May be befriended by leaving food and drink out for them. Has no problem going out during the day. Some can make themselves invisible to humans or use other types of magic.
The ‘trows’ from Shetland and Orkney (honorary trolls)
Appearance: Short, usually ugly or strange looking but might pass for human. Often called “the grey neighbours”.
Habitat: Inside grassy mounds and hills, called “howes” or “knowes”. Inside these mounds they have dazzling halls to have parties in.
Characteristics: Trows behave like some Swedish and Danish trolls came over to the Scottish Isles and decided to turn a bit fae. They usually only come out at night and are often invisible even then. They are fond of visiting people’s houses to play mischievous tricks on them. They might kidnap people, especially musicians or children. One story tells of them carving a wooden likeness of a wife and child to leave behind in their place.

Mermaid Romances

laurasimonsdaughter:

Now the story of @thefishermansfavour is getting good and Flirty TM, I wanted to dive (no) into the folklore that led me to write a chaotic bi fisherman and a gay merrow: mermaid romances

Spoiler alert, most of them aren’t really romantic.

They basically all begin the same way: a young fisherman is out fishing and finds a mermaid in his net. What he chooses to do next determines what kind of story it’s going to be:

In most Dutch and Flemish stories the mermaid gets dragged ashore, to be kept as a wife, maid or even just a curiosity, sometimes magically acquiring legs in the process. But she almost always curses the people who took her from the sea by warning them that the waves will roll inland as far as they take her. Soon enough a storm comes and the sea rises to reclaim the mermaid, flooding the fisherman’s village and destroying the mermaid’s new ‘home’.

Sometimes the man is kinder. One tale tells how a Dutch captain catches a mermaid and takes her home, but sees that she wilts on land, so when he sets off on his next journey he brings her back to the sea. In return she swims along with his ship and calls out to him whenever there is a whale nearby for him to catch.

In many stories of Celtic origin the fisherman bargains with the mermaid and she exchanges her freedom for some sort of gift. My favourite Scottish story of this kind is one where the mermaid gives the fisherman a ring that she promises him will help him “win his true love” (The Fisherlad and the Mermaid’s Ring) and it does just that, except not at all how he expected it to.

Then there are of course all the stories that follow the “siren” theme, where the mermaid is a beautiful creature that lures a fisherman or sailor into the waves with her. A nice mix of these themes is “Lutey and the Mermaid” from Cornwall:

Keep reading

laurasimonsdaughter:I am always on the lookout for unusual changeling stories and I found a very…

laurasimonsdaughter:

I am always on the lookout for unusual changeling stories and I found a very delightful one from Cornwall!
It explains how the fae of the area, the piskies, had a habit of seeking protection from humans at times. When this happened one had to help them, because kindness to them would be greatly rewarded, but to anger them would bring terrible bad luck. So when the inhabitant of a farm finds a weak little piskie baby near their home, they immediately adopt the changeling into the family as one of their own.
The changeling soon grew stronger and when they were healthy again they turned out so lively, clever and good-humoured that they became a true favourite of the family. They did have some very strange habits, but nobody paid any mind to that, because they all knew they had piskie blood.
The family was happy and prosperous and nobody ever thought of having to lose their little foundling. But one day the changeling was leaning out the open half-door, looking wistfully out over the fields, when a clear voice suddenly came calling from a distance: “Coleman Gray, Coleman Gray!”
The piskie jumped to attention, laughing and clapping their hands, and exclaimed: “Aha! My daddy is come!”
A moment later they were gone and they were never seen again.
It’s rather sad that the changeling did not say goodbye, but it is delightful to me to see a story where a child is left in a human’s care without taking another in return and the fae come back for their child in the end. So I’ll just choose to believe that the human family will have found little tokens of thanks and affection from their adopted child and their family around the farm often enough to comfort them a bit for their loss.

laurasimonsdaughter:Merry no-longer-quite Midwinter everyone! On this Christmas Day, I wanted to…

laurasimonsdaughter:

Merry no-longer-quite Midwinter everyone!
On this Christmas Day, I wanted to share with you that some Greek and Slavic folklore states that children born on Christmas eve or day are destined to be vampires after death and sometimes already demonic during life.
In Poland and Germany the curse sometimes extends the whole 12 days of Christmas and leads to becoming a werewolf instead of a vampire. While in Italy you could grow up to be either a werewolf or a witch.
I have found two general explanations for these curses:
These are the Darkest Days of the year and no matter how many flames we light in the dark, evil is strong in these times.
Jesus takes his birthday very seriously and gets real pissed off whenever someone tries to make him share the spotlight.
In any case, blessings upon all newborns and to all of you as well. Don’t let the darkness get to you 🕯️

nonlinear-nonsubjective: patron-saint-of-smart-asses: doctorbluesmanreturns: supreme-leader-stoat:…

nonlinear-nonsubjective:

patron-saint-of-smart-asses:

doctorbluesmanreturns:

supreme-leader-stoat:

supreme-leader-stoat:

Okay so imagine your Standard Medieval European Fantasy Setting™. Now imagine there’s no magic. Like there’s still a concept of it sure, with superstitions and all that. But you will never encounter an actual wizard or anything.

But you know what is in this otherwise-fantasy setting? Superpower mutations.

Sir Lawrence, the otherwise unremarkable knight who once outran his own horse and traveled four hours without rest to alert his lord of another lord’s treason and impending invasion.

The Sage of the North is shrouded in rumor and mystery; some say he is a holy man, blessed by God and able to work miracles. Others think he is closer to a witch than a priest, and still others believe he is simply a sage and healer whose skill has grown unrivaled in his old age. In comparison to these stories, the known fact that he lives beneath a freezing waterfall unbothered by the cold or lack of air barely raises any interest.

Scandinavian folklore is often Like That, there’s a whole subgenre of “hero collects men with really specific skills to win the hand of the princess” (like a guy who can run so fast you can’t see him move, a guy who can hear stuff on the other side of the world, and a guy who can shoot an arrow through an acorn from 10 miles away) and it’s not counted as sorcery but as just those guys can Do That.

Round Table of Guys Who Can Do That

“My liege, I knoweth a guy.”