MetaFilter posts tagged with folklore

Old People Wearing Vegetation

Elizabeth the Thirteenth — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:50:30 -0800

Old People Wearing Vegetation. Seniors from Norway and Finland (NSFW) model wearable art made of plants, in Eyes as Big as Plates. Inspired by the romantics’ belief that folklore is the clearest reflection of the soul of a people, Eyes as Big as Plates started out as a play on characters and protagonists from Norwegian folklore. Bonus: Behind the scenes in Forest Park with Bob.

I believe, I believe my time ain’t long...

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:02:58 -0800

“Dust My Broom”: The Story of a Song

Born Digital Folklore

Miko — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:43:40 -0800

"Its not like we all sat in silence and stared blankly at our TVs waiting for the Internet to show up. We have probably always had vernacular webs of communication." Digital studies scholar Robert Glenn Howard talks about vaccines, the Christian right [PDF], AC/DC guitar tutorials and other "born-digital folklore" on the "vernacular web."

Kindness killed, just as surely as the huntsman's knife

The Whelk — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:37:39 -0800

Seven For A Secret - an anonymous fanfic author creates seven unhappy ( or at least, unconventional ) endings for Disney Princesses by placing them in proper historical, mythological, or thematic context.

There's a frog in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza

curious nu — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:14:10 -0800

A frog in the milk bucket keeps the fungus away?

Dead Bears - A Photographic Collection

distorte — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:59:58 -0800

"Dead Bears" is a photographic collection by artist Michael Fortune documenting the regional Irish habit of erecting stuff animals wearing local Gaelic sporting colours as territorial markers. (These nailed-up teddies are very common on certain roads in Ireland, and will be left to decay through the years until they look utterly bedraggled.) The website offers an eclectic body of work, focusing primarily on aspects and oddities of rural Irish life and culture. A documentation of his granny's kitchen. "My Harry Potter Wand" used to discipline the dogs. Fortune has also done a lot of work documenting spoken Irish folklore, and quite a few of the videos are available online. One of these is a 2005 collection of Limerick schoolchildren telling local ghost stories: "The Banshee Lives in Handball Alley". You might require the version with subtitles.

"One thing about living in New England I never could stomach, all the damn vampires."

Ghostride The Whip — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:37:54 -0800

Ever heard of the Jewett City Vampires? Sure, you know about Salem and its witches, but New Englanders also went through several vampire panics that come far closer to the present than any Salem shenanigans. But who were the real people behind the modern legends? One common thread in the American myths: Tuberculosis (PDF).

Illustrated Aesop's Fables through history

LobsterMitten — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:18:26 -0800

Historical versions of Aesop's fables - text and pictures - collected by Laura Gibbs. She gives thousands of historic texts in English, Latin, and Greek, but even better, has Flickr sets of the historic illustrations (that page is sorted by artist) from editions by Rackham, Caldecott, and other artists going back to the 1400s. Incomplete list sorted by story (by Perry index number). Here are a few quickly selected images, to give a taste of the personality in these sets: Wolf, Fox, and Monkey by Brescia, 1557; The Boaster by Crane; Frog and Ox by Caldecott; Monkey and Dolphin by Detmold 1909; The Tall Tree and the Low Bramble by Arthur Rackham; Fox and Grapes by 20th century watercolorist Felix Lorioux (Bonus: this nice look at Lorioux's work at Animation Resources; including a wild cast of insect revelers and this nice crow)

Gingerbread House

The Whelk — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:39:39 -0800

"There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls. It’s been many years since any child was taken. But still, on nights like these, when the wind comes cold from Tsibeya, mothers hold their daughters tight and warn them not to stray too far from home. “Be back before dark,” they whisper. “The trees are hungry tonight.” Tor.com brings us some short horror/fairy tale fiction from Leigh Bardugo, "The Witch of Duva: A Ravkan Folk Tale."

Peasant culture and Russian folklore in Soviet animation.

Nomyte — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:15:44 -0800

Peasant culture and Russian folklore in Soviet animation (~400 minutes whereof): Soviet animation abounds in fantasies about the natural, wholesome lives of honorable, strong-willed Russian peasants and folk heroes and their struggles against villainy and adversity. Decorated with splendid folk art motifs that verge on horror vacui, these cel-animated cartoons are excellent aids for learning about (popular conceptions of) Russian folk material culture: decoration, architecture, dress, weaponry, textiles, domestic culture, manners, and so on. Most have lush orchestral soundtracks, which — along with the resplendent costumery and theatrical vocal delivery — create the impression of animated stage drama or early cinema. Together, they compose a body of Slavic folklore and folk myth that has been refracted through the Romantic leanings of nineteenth-century anthologists and the later Soviet populist-proletarian program, emerging as a fundamental text of nativist beliefs and cultural values. [The animation is long-form and some of it is without subtitles. The slow pace, formulaic structure, and grand theatricality of the stories make the plots easy to discern and appreciate. Short synopses are provided for ease of understanding.] THE CLASSICS Breaking with the tradition of Max Fleischer-esque animation of the 1930s and 40s, Soyuzmultfilm produced a number of folk epics and shorter animated films that used detailed rotoscoping and brilliant, dazzling colors and film effects under the direction of figures like animator Lev Atamanov. Гуси-лебеди | Geese-swans^† (1949, 19 min.)

In a peasant village, Masha forgets to mind little Vanya. He is spirited away by magical birds to become Baba Yaga's next meal. On the journey to rescue her little brother, Masha helps three magical creatures, who in turn repay her for the kindness she showed them. † The "geese-swans" of the title are an example of a verbal formula resembling the pillow words of Japanese poetry. Russian folktales abound in this kind of fixed expression.

Аленький цветочек | The Little Scarlet Flower (1952, 40 min.)

(Horrible English dub with wretched video quality: 1 | 2 | 3) Perhaps the crowning achievement of this era of Soviet animation; a version of the tale of the Beauty and the Beast retold by memoirist and slavophile Sergey Aksakov.

Сестрица Аленушка и братец Иванушка | Sister Alena and Brother Vanya^† (1953, 11 min.)

Two children lived in a hut at the edge of the woods: Alena and little Vanya. While Alena is raking hay, Vanya insensibly drinks from a magic puddle and turns into a little goat. Alena is espied by a handsome rider who asks for her hand come autumn. In the meantime, Vanya is lured away from home by a witch in the guise of a crow. The witch also drowns Alena when she comes in search of her brother. The hero returns to defeat the witch and save the siblings. † Dang those Russian hypocoristics and the difficulty in rendering them adequately in English!

Царевна-лягушка | The Frog Princess (1954, 39 min.)

A tale of a well-known type: Vasilisa the Beautiful is abducted by the sorceror Kaschei the Deathless. Spurned by Vasilisa, Kaschei turns her into a frog for three years and three days. Meanwhile, a king dispatches his three sons to find bride by loosing an arrow each. The arrow of Prince Ivan, the youngest, lands in Vasilisa's swamp. Keeping his word, the prince marries the frog. Erewhile, the king demands to see a display of the craft and grace of his sons' wives, whereupon the transfigured Vasilisa stuns the court. But the prince foolishly destroys the frog skin before Vasilisa's term of punishment is up, forcing him to confront Kaschei himself to rescue his beloved. Ivan encounters a wizard, finds several animal allies, and learns the secret of Kaschei's weakness from Baba Yaga.

Соломенный бычок | The Straw Calf (1954, 10 min.)

(Based on a Ukrainian folktale. Note the Ukrainian-style peasant huts, Ukrainian instrumental accents, and clothing.) An old peasant makes a straw calf with tarred sides to entertain his granddaughter. A variety of forest animals get stuck to it. The peasant realeases the animals on condition that they stop making trouble.

В некотором царстве | Once Upon a Time^† (1957, 28 min.)

(English captions: 1 | 2 | 3) Scruffy Emile captures and releases a magical talking pike that grants him magical powers. Meanwhile, princess Marya is resisting her father's efforts to marry her off to a foreign fop. When Emile collides with the foreign prince on his horseless carriage and magically wishes the princess to fall in love with him, her father, the king, locks her up in a tower and demands that his top general bring the offender to justice. War breaks out, and Emile wins handily using his magic powers. The king abandons his throne. † This is not a literal translation of the title, which is an example of a formulaic opening phrase common in Russian folklore: «В некотором царстве, в тридесятом государстве…», or "In a certain kingdom, in the one-score-and-tenth principality…"

PUSHKIN'S VERSE TALES Alexander Pushkin (PDF bio, also previously) occupies a special place in the pantheon of Russian poetry. Folktales in verse are among his best-known works, having contributed many passages and phrases to the range of Russian expression. Though based on the European tales of Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, these stories have firmly entered Russian culture in Pushkin's renditions. Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке | The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish (1950, 30 min.)

(English verse translation presented in captions | English translation with parallel Russian here) A verse tale about greed and just deserts, following the outlines of the similar Brothers Grimm story. Includes an animated rendition of the well-known prologue from Ruslan & Ludmila.

Сказка о мертвой царевне и о семи богатырях | The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Warriors^† (1951, 30 min.)

(English verse translation presented in captions | text of English translation here) A Snow White tale, minus the dwarfs. Pushkin's verse follows the Brothers Grimm version of the story. † The actual word is богатырь, a kind of archetypal warrior-hero.

Сказка о золотом петушке | The Tale of the Golden Cockerel (1967, 30 min.)

A tale of hubris, supernatural peril, and magical retribution (complete English translation of the poem here). Scholars identify in it clear influences of Washington Irving's "Legend of the Arabian Astrologer" (from his The Alhambra), Friedrich Klinger's Die Geschichte vom Goldenen Hahn, and other literary contemporaries. The animation is notable for its unusual, starkly stylized appearance.

Конёк-Горбунок | The Humpbacked Foal^† (1975, 71 min., remake of 1947 version)

(English translation of the poem; English captions, blurry video: playlist missing part 1 of 8. If you like, a dubbed, edited version is available as Mikhail Barushnikov's Stories From My Childhood: Ivan and His Magic Pony.) Possibly of interest to fans of My Little Pony. A tale in verse by a contemporary of Pushkin's, it combines the motifs of the third son, who is an idiot, a magical animal servant, and tasks of supernatural difficulty. There is a long-standing controversy regarding the poem's authorship, attributed by some in whole or in part to Pushkin himself. (Bonus: the 1947 version of same — compare the style of the animation.) † The difficult-to-translate word is the diminutive of "horse," best rendered by the Spanish caballito.

Сказка о царе Салтане | The Tale of King Saltan (1984, 53 min., remake of B&W 1943 version)

(Blurrier video with simultaneous English subtitles: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | playlist) This cartoon has everything: betrayal, wicked sisters, magical heroes, island fortresses, enchanted princesses in animal guises, insects, magic squirrels that gnaw on golden nuts with emerald kernels, merknights… no Hoombas. The animation of this late effort doesn't have the same striking, gemlike quality. However, it does include the entire verse — all 900-odd lines (Russian with lovely illustrations, rather loose English translation).

HUMOR AND REVISIONISM As any living tradition, Russian folktales have been subject to humorous reinterpretations and revisions, deriving comedy from the clash of contemporary values and temperaments with historical archetypes and plot devices. Вовка в тридевятом царстве | Bobby in the Kingdom of Faraway (1965, 19 min.)

(With surprisingly good English captions: 1 | 2) Bobby is lazy and would rather read wish-fulfillment fantasies than more practical books. He is transported by his school librarian to the magical land of folktales where he is berated by a king who paints fences around his own court. He escapes and meets the old woman with her broken basin from The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish and is ridiculed by the magic fish for his arrogance. Next, he is bored by a lecture on differential equations at a conference for magical princesses. Finally, he finds a pair of magical servants who will do everything for him — they will even enjoy the fruits of his wishes for him. Sick of being a failure, Bobby takes matters into his own hands and learns how to do stuff on his own.

Летучий корабль | The Flying Ship (1979, 19 min.)

The old king wants his daughter, the wilful princess Zabava, to marry the corpulent merchant Polkan. Zabava falls for the scruffy commoner Ivan and tells her father that she will only marry a man who can get her a flying ship. Ivan seeks the help of a depressed, lonely vodyanoy and a coven of musical witches. Polkan steals the ship Ivan builds, but only Ivan knows the magic words to make it fly. Notable for multiple musical interludes sung by the well-known performers of the day with rockin' instrumentation. † The witches' musical number is an example of chastushka, a kind of fast folksong made up of rhyming quatrains, usually humorous and usually sung by women.

Ивашка из Дворца пионеров | Vanya from the Young Pioneers' Club^† (1981, 9 min.)

Baba Yaga sends her magic geese to abduct a child for her upcoming birthday party with Kaschei the Deathless, Zmei Gorynych, and Hypnocat. The child turns out to be a plump, but resourceful scout who thwarts the witch's plans using his superior mastery of woodworking tools, magnets, and duct tape. No need for Masha to save him. † The Russian title has "pioneers' palace," which is a kind of architecturally monumental children's recreation center (e.g.).

Enjoy, and feel free to ask about anything that you might find unusual or unclear. The paintings and illustrations used are by fin de siècle illustrator Ivan Bilibin and painter Viktor Vasnetsov.

And With Every Step Pain

The Whelk — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:36:45 -0800

A visually inventive, super-stylized, 27 minute Soviet cartoon telling of The Little Mermaid / Rusalochka from 1968.

The wizard under the hill

Artw — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:49:21 -0800

Alan Garner's Weirdstone of Brisingamen trilogy is to be concluded with Boneland, over 50 years after it started.

Alan Lomax's Global Jukebox

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:16:54 -0800

A decade after the death of renowned folklorist Alan Lomax, his vision of a "global jukebox" is being realized: his vast archive — some 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs and piles of manuscripts, much of it tucked away in forgotten or inaccessible corners — is being digitized so that the collection can be accessed online. About 17,000 music tracks will be available for free streaming by the end of February. NYT article here.

Kist o Riches Indeed

RedEmma — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:43:29 -0800

Tobar an Dualchais will keep you busy for awhile. It's a collection of over 26,000 oral recordings made in Scotland, from the 1930s onward. Folklore, songs, music, history, poetry, oh my. Includes some fascinating material from Belle Stewart, the McPake Sisters of Peebles and John the Bard.

The Aarne-Thompson Classification System

Bulgaroktonos — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:19:05 -0800

Originally published by Finnish forkloristAntti Aarne and expanded by American Stith Thompson and German Hans-Jörg Uther, the Aarne-Thompson Classification System is a system for classifying folktales based on motifs. Some Examples: Beauty and the Beast: Type 425C Bluebeard: 312 The Devil Building a Bridge: Type 1191 The Foolish Use of Magic Wishes Type 750A Hansel and Gretel and other abandoned children: Type 327 Women forced to marry hogs: Type 441 The Runaway Pancake: Type 2025 Wikipedia has a complete breakdown and here has examples of most of the tale types.

wear dogwood like it’s yo’ bling

Lovecraft In Brooklyn — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:26:04 -0800

Fuck Yeah Chinese Myths is a more sober, Chinese-centric version of Myths RETOLD (previously).

Stetson Kennedy

Miko — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:10:46 -0800

Stetson Kennedy died yesterday at 94. The folklorist and writer was best known for infiltrating and exposing the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, increasing public resistance to the organization and helping lead to the revocation of their national charter. Kennedy revealed details of the KKK to writers of the popular radio show "Superman," giving the Man of Steel a new postwar enemy through 16 episodes of the series "Superman vs. the Klan". Kennedy became friends with Woody Guthrie. In 1952, Kennedy ran for Florida Governor, and Guthrie wrote a campaign song for him. Here's the Billy Bragg and Wilco version of the song. Kennedy was classed 4F during WWII and was unable to enlist. Of his motivation, he said "All my friends were in service and they were being shot at in a big way. They were fighting racism whether they knew it or not. At least I could see if I could do something about the racist terrorists in our backyard." Photo gallery. Kennedy coined the term Frown Power. His papers are archived at Georgia State University Library..

Into the woods...

starvingartist — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:21:06 -0800

Whitestone Motion Pictures presents Blood On My Name, a short musical film in the style of Americana folklore. From the filmmaker's description: "On the run after a botched robbery, Erwin, who’s experienced a change in heart, tries to take advantage of a deal he’s made for himself and fellow thief Thomas. Instead he calls down the agents of a malevolent supernatural force who will hunt him to the ends of the earth rather than see him escape." Stars Justin Welborn and Sean Bridgers.

The Vanishing Art of the Dip

steambadger — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:39:04 -0800

The mark strolls along a city sidewalk, fresh out of the bank, his wallet in his back pocket, blithely unaware that he's stumbled into the clutches of a practiced jug troupe. Slate's Joe Keohane mourns the dying art of picking pockets. Celebrated in song, story and film, pickpockets were once the most esteemed of thieves, with their own social structure, traditions, and lexicon. The advent of plastic money and the reluctance of young criminals to practice manual dexterity have greatly reduced their numbers in the U.S.; but they're still out there, if you know where to look. If you're interested in reviving the art form, you can find a Fagin, or take instruction on the web; and if you don't actually want to pick pockets yourself, or have your pocket picked, you can always find the trade preserved as entertainment.

Party On, Weird America

Miko — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:11:20 -0800

The American Festivals Project takes you along on two guys' National Geographic-funded 2008 tour of the "small, hidden, and bizarre" festivals celebrated all over the United States. Through photos, video, and a blog, discover Rattlesnake Roundup, Okie noodling, an American Fasnacht, the Idiotarod, and plenty more. These whippersnappers stole my dream, but I'm posting it anyway.

Octopus II: The Revenge.

darth_tedious — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:23:37 -0800

Come for the Homicide, Stay for the Top Secret Beam-Weaponry Research: The daughter of a man killed along with two others in a slaying some link to the murder of Octopus researcher Danny Casolaro digs into the Web's conspiracy subculture; creates an elaborate online persona; succeeds, nearly thirty years after the murder, in tracking down a suspect via the Web; and then gets him arrested, put in orange jumpers, and hauled into court. Then, on the day of the hearing, Something Happens...

They see you when you're sleeping

Artw — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 21:11:32 -0800

This Christmas Eve spare a thought for the Chrildren of Iceland, who will be suffering a traumatising visit from Kertasníkir, or "Candle Beggar", the thirteenth and final of the strange and somewhat sinister Icelandic Santas, or Yule lads, who are the childre of the ogress Gryla. Most of them don't seem to care if you've been bad or good - mainly they want to steal your food and wreck stuff. The other Yule Lads: Stekkjastaur - "Sheep-Cote Clod" - has peg legs, steals ewes milk. Giljagaur - "Gully Gawk" - hides in gullies, steals cows milk. Stúfur - "Stubby" - Steals scraps of food, also known as Pönnuskefill ("Panscraper"). Þvörusleikir - "Spoonlicker" - Licks spoons. Pottasleikir - "Pot Licker", scrapes and licks pots. Askasleikir - "Bowllicker" - hides under beds to steal food from bowls left on the floor. - Hurðaskellir - "Door Slammer" - compulsively slams doors all night. Skyrgámur - "Skyr Gobbler" - devourers vats of skyr. Bjúgnakrækir - "Sausage Swiper" - devourers sausages. Gluggagægir - "Window peeper" - He likes to watch. Gáttaþefur - "Door sniffer" - Smells out your cookies nad cakes and takes them. Ketkrókur - "Meat hook" - Steals meat through the chimney with a hooked pole.

Scary Sketches to Glimpse in the Dark

Rhaomi — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:00:23 -0800

Nearly three decades ago, folklorist Alvin Schwartz published Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the first of three horror anthologies that would go on to become the single most challenged book series of the 1990s. But most of the backlash was against not the stories themselves (which were fairly tame), but rather the illustrations of artist Stephen Gammell. His bizarre, grotesque, nightmarish black-and-white inkscapes suffused every page with an eerie, unsettling menace. Sadly, the series has since been re-issued with new illustrations by Brett Helquist, of A Series of Unfortunate Events fame. Luckily for fans of Gammell's dark vision, copies of the old artwork abound online, including in these three image galleries: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones. Interested in revisiting the stories themselves? Then don't miss the virtual re-enactments of YouTube user MoonRaven09, or the dramatic readings of fellow YouTuber daMeatHook.

Mother Leeds' Spawn, Geotagged

Miko — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:29:32 -0800

Mapping the Jersey Devil

Campfire Stories (Spoiler: Her head falls off)

Wolfdog — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 07:19:06 -0800

It's October, a fine time to learn some spooky stories to tell while you're gathered around a campfire.