Myths and Folklore Blog

For this story lab, I watched the Crash Course mythology videos. I found them somewhat disappointing, but I do not have time this week to do another lab instead. The first video was called  What is Myth?  and the actual content in this one was fine. It is an introduction to their series and it does its job well enough. The problem I had was in an offhand comment from the speaker that Aphrodite would beat Freyja in a fight "between love goddesses." Now, as a reconstructionist Heathen (Norse pagan) I feel the need to clarify a few things about my god Freyja. First of all, she is not a "love goddess," she is a fertility goddess. Secondly, she is not just a fertility goddess, she is also a war goddess. I am sure you have heard of Valhalla. That is where half of those slain in battle go. The other half goes to Folkvangr, which is Freyja's hall. She gets first pick of the slain. She would not lose to Aphrodite. Athena maybe, I'm not trying to pick a fight with the...

Bibliography: "The Elephant and the Ants" from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas. Story Source . Notes:  You know, this reminds me of a version of the tortoise and the hare where the tortoise actually cheats and gets his relatives to stand at different points in the race so that hare thinks he's actually running faster than hare. This one is so short there really isn't much that I can think to change. Might just try for a pure retelling if I go with this one. Part B was not as interesting as Part A. It was mostly just Jackal being rude with very little comeuppance. This is how humans used to hunt you know; they would keep walking toward something until it died of exhaustion. That is our thing: we learn and we endure. That's what college has felt like lately, just learning and enduring. (Image Information: Elephant; Wikimedia Commons ) -A.

Bibliography: "The Killing of the Tiger" from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas. Story Source . Notes: Something about the endings of these stories feel so unsatisfying. Why bother tricking the tiger if the tiger is going to die anyway? The looking glass trick could be adapted as a phone, but that brings up more questions. Plus I'm not keen on taking this from its original context more than I have to.  That is the problem of adapting folklore isn't it? How much do you add for a new audience while still keeping the spirit of the story. Although this story does not have much that could not be translated to any setting. For example, a wolf for a more western telling.  A mountain lion or a bear could work as well. Maybe the main character could be an animal as well, a trickster. Instead of half a kingdom, maybe something else? something related to a trickster animal. (Image Information: Standing White Tiger; Wikimedia Commons ) -A.