#Tag
I've reached a milestone: There are now 300 translations of German folk tales on my wiki.
471 further tales to go. Of course, by the time I have added _those_ I will probably have finished a few dozens of further translations...
#folklore #wiki #translation
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Main_Page
I've reached a milestone: There are now 300 translations of German folk tales on my wiki.
471 further tales to go. Of course, by the time I have added _those_ I will probably have finished a few dozens of further translations...
#folklore #wiki #translation
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Main_Page
A #folklore question: Do you of any "Wild Hunt"-type phenomena from outside of Europe?
With this, I mean processions of spirits that roam the land at night. So far, I have found the "Night Parade" from #Japan and the "Nightmarchers" from #Hawaii , but I am curious how many others are out there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmarchers
A #folklore question: Do you of any "Wild Hunt"-type phenomena from outside of Europe?
With this, I mean processions of spirits that roam the land at night. So far, I have found the "Night Parade" from #Japan and the "Nightmarchers" from #Hawaii , but I am curious how many others are out there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmarchers
Fletcher Moss is a hero of mine. In the early 1900s he wrote, printed and self-published a series of handsome 'Pilgrimages' books describing bicycle trips with his photographer friend to ancient manor houses, old inns and churches. His 1898 book boasts a few ghosts, too. #31DaysOfHalloween #folklore
Fletcher Moss is a hero of mine. In the early 1900s he wrote, printed and self-published a series of handsome 'Pilgrimages' books describing bicycle trips with his photographer friend to ancient manor houses, old inns and churches. His 1898 book boasts a few ghosts, too. #31DaysOfHalloween #folklore
As I study German #folklore , I am constantly reminded how very, very lucky Germany was that there was a mass movement of scholars who had an interest in writing those tales down before the oral storytelling traditions they came from ended.
German folk storytelling thrived in environments when large households - or even several households - gathered together on a regular basis. As a result, such storytelling continued well into the 1950s, but then largely died out as family sizes became smaller and family units became more splintered.
But until then, thousands of people - scholars and lay enthusiasts alike - gathered tens of thousands of tales and published thousands of works - a rich body of scholarship that Germans today (such as myself) still profit from.
So if you live in a part of the world where such oral storytelling traditions still exist (I know that this is the case for parts of #SouthAsia and #SouthEastAsia , for example), then please support any organized efforts to write them down. Future generations _will_ be grateful!
One fascinating topic in German #folklore that doesn't get as much attention as it should is the Protestant Reformation, which turned most of the country - and the rulers of the assorted German states - into two competing faiths which eventually lead to the Thirty Years' War - and the aftereffects of this conflict still shape German religion, culture, and politics to this day.
And unsurprisingly, the Protestant Reformation left a large footprint in folk tales. They often sought to slander the leaders of the other side (there are quite a few tales in the veins of "...and Martin Luther only escaped the righteous rage of the citizens with the help of the Devil!"). There were omens that supported one side or the other (sometimes even ghosts reporting on the state of affairs in the afterlife).
And it is no coincidence that this conflict blossomed at the same time as witch hysterias, and each side was eager to portray the other side as being "less effective" in combating supernatural menaces...
One fascinating topic in German #folklore that doesn't get as much attention as it should is the Protestant Reformation, which turned most of the country - and the rulers of the assorted German states - into two competing faiths which eventually lead to the Thirty Years' War - and the aftereffects of this conflict still shape German religion, culture, and politics to this day.
And unsurprisingly, the Protestant Reformation left a large footprint in folk tales. They often sought to slander the leaders of the other side (there are quite a few tales in the veins of "...and Martin Luther only escaped the righteous rage of the citizens with the help of the Devil!"). There were omens that supported one side or the other (sometimes even ghosts reporting on the state of affairs in the afterlife).
And it is no coincidence that this conflict blossomed at the same time as witch hysterias, and each side was eager to portray the other side as being "less effective" in combating supernatural menaces...
As I study German #folklore , I am constantly reminded how very, very lucky Germany was that there was a mass movement of scholars who had an interest in writing those tales down before the oral storytelling traditions they came from ended.
German folk storytelling thrived in environments when large households - or even several households - gathered together on a regular basis. As a result, such storytelling continued well into the 1950s, but then largely died out as family sizes became smaller and family units became more splintered.
But until then, thousands of people - scholars and lay enthusiasts alike - gathered tens of thousands of tales and published thousands of works - a rich body of scholarship that Germans today (such as myself) still profit from.
So if you live in a part of the world where such oral storytelling traditions still exist (I know that this is the case for parts of #SouthAsia and #SouthEastAsia , for example), then please support any organized efforts to write them down. Future generations _will_ be grateful!
Traditionally, there was the assumption in #Christianity that people who did not get baptized would not go into heaven.
And based on my readings of Austrian #folklore , the notion that newborn children might die without even receiving an "emergency baptism" by a midwife was a major source of trauma to parents, since even those innocent souls would technically not be able to get into Heaven. And folklore would fill in the gaps left by Christian theology.
For instance, some tales claimed that the souls of such children would be led into a beautiful garden by Perchta (one of the incarnations of the female spirit/goddess Hulda/Holda/Holle). There, they would play for all eternity, and even after Earth was destroyed on Judgment Day, this garden would remain.
There is even one tale where a "miracle doctor" promised to use his quackery to reanimate the dead infant for just long enough that it gets baptized - but instead, Perchta shows up and made clear that she has already claimed the child's soul.
In other, darker tales, these souls would transform into black night birds and accompany the Wild Hunt on their travels.
It's a fascinating subject, and shows how folklore spins its own narratives that go beyond official doctrines.
Traditionally, there was the assumption in #Christianity that people who did not get baptized would not go into heaven.
And based on my readings of Austrian #folklore , the notion that newborn children might die without even receiving an "emergency baptism" by a midwife was a major source of trauma to parents, since even those innocent souls would technically not be able to get into Heaven. And folklore would fill in the gaps left by Christian theology.
For instance, some tales claimed that the souls of such children would be led into a beautiful garden by Perchta (one of the incarnations of the female spirit/goddess Hulda/Holda/Holle). There, they would play for all eternity, and even after Earth was destroyed on Judgment Day, this garden would remain.
There is even one tale where a "miracle doctor" promised to use his quackery to reanimate the dead infant for just long enough that it gets baptized - but instead, Perchta shows up and made clear that she has already claimed the child's soul.
In other, darker tales, these souls would transform into black night birds and accompany the Wild Hunt on their travels.
It's a fascinating subject, and shows how folklore spins its own narratives that go beyond official doctrines.
It's interesting how rest periods were justified among the rural population in pre-union periods:
In one particular story, the justification was:
"Don't spin flax on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or else the undead corpse of your husband will tear you into pieces!"
#folklore
https://archive.org/details/grabersagenauskaernten/page/n221/mode/2up
It's interesting how rest periods were justified among the rural population in pre-union periods:
In one particular story, the justification was:
"Don't spin flax on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or else the undead corpse of your husband will tear you into pieces!"
#folklore
https://archive.org/details/grabersagenauskaernten/page/n221/mode/2up
One of the reasons why I vastly prefer local legends to fairy tales is that the former are often set in recognizable real world locations which are fascinating in their own right.
For example, I am currently researching a tale about a #dragon , and I just learned that in its #cave there were discoveries of human remains that date back several tens of thousands of years, as well as the remains of more than 30,000 cave bears.
#history #bear #folklore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drachenh%C3%B6hle
Thanks to some encouragement by @mariam_al_masri_author , I have now finished adding all #vampire tales from German folklore which I have translated.
Have fun!
#folklore
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Vampire
Thanks to some encouragement by @mariam_al_masri_author , I have now finished adding all #vampire tales from German folklore which I have translated.
Have fun!
#folklore
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Vampire
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