Questions tagged [folklore]
For questions on the traditional beliefs, customs and stories of a community or culture.
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Where did OSP Red's idea of the leader of the Wild Hunt being a "dead nobleman named Hackleburg or Hacklebaran" come from?
In 2021, OSP Red from the Overly Sarcastic Productions youtube channel (a mythology/history focused channel for those not aware) made a video on the Wild Hunt.
In that video she mentioned that "...
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One day blinding stew - fact or fiction
I’ve been hearing a little chat about a ‘one-day blinding stew’ which purportedly causes temporary blindness. Details seem predictably hard to come by although I’ve heard rumours (verbally, can’t ...
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Town tricks a besieging army into leaving
I believe the following story qualifies as folklore. The general canvas goes thusly:
A town is besieged by an army, trying to starve it into surrendering
The town is running short in supplies
The ...
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In Finnish folklore is there a single firefox or many?
In the folklore of northern and eastern Finland, the firefox (tuliko, tulikettu, or tulirepo) is a fox with a tail that twinkles fire. Hunters are said to dream of the firefox, and the northern lights ...
user4244
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Folkloric Origins of the Ghost Rider
Marvel's Ghost Rider character always reminded me of tales of the headless horseman for intuitive reasons I was not able to explain, so I always wondered whether there is a connection between this ...
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Where did the idea of cats having 9 lives come from? [duplicate]
Also, a singular cat having 9 lives is an oddly specific number; why not 10 or 12 lives instead? Is this idea more common in European or Asian folklore? Do other animals (dogs, birds, etc) share this ...
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Is there any creature or being with the role of keeping good and evil balanced?
Is there any creature or being in either mythology or folklore that serves as a form of "negotiator" between good and evil, with the role of keep order and balance between them
(whether it's ...
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how/when Jotunheim was created precisely?
I can’t find anything on the origin of Jotunheim. If it was linked, like Muspellheim, to Nilfheim in any way… and I’m not sure how did Ymir arrived in it… I guess it could be unknown like many other ...
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Is there any folklore reference to fairies being divided into Summer and Winter Courts?
Modern fiction about fairies often describes them as being divided into Seelie and Unseelie Courts or Summer and Winter Courts, sometimes Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Courts.
A lot of people seem ...
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Myths about creatures/items/beings that talked with people or took away their problems?
Are there any myths about beings/items/creatures that talked with people in a friendly way? Almost as if the being was a therapist to the human or something? I can think of the caladrius that ...
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Are (or have been) goblins ever associated with anti-semitic characteristics? [duplicate]
Some characteristics used to describe goblins are also depicted in anti-semitic propaganda (they are usually described as greedy, hook nosed creatures).
Were goblins ever been associated with ...
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What are the "nine fearful curses that plague mankind" of Orcadian folklore, besides the 'Stoor Worm'?
The 'Stoor Worm' of Orcadian folklore is described as one of the nine fearful curses that plague mankind, what are the other curses if there are any?
Islanders were terrified of the serpent; it was ...
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What is the origin of fortune-telling cards with faces divided into four triangles, which were known in Russia in 1850?
In her book Reading Russian Fortunes (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Faith Wigzell refers (p.33) to a type of fortune-telling card deck that reached Russia in 1850, ascribed to Marie Anne ...
user1637
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Prior to the 1800s are there any examples of a (preferably mortal) being described as possessing telekinetic abilities in the modern sense?
For the purposes of this question, by telekinesis I mean the generalized ability to pick up and move most objects at will, not the ability to move a particular object under specific circumstances (...
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Are there myths, folklore, tales, or other traditions/tales about monsters regaining their humanity permanently?
Maybe I should have slept on this question for a little bit, but here I go.
I am working on a TRPG and a setting that would accompany the TRPG. In my setting all monsters are or were humans, so rather ...
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