10
votes
Accepted
Zombies and ways of stopping them?
Jiang Shi meaning "Stiff Corpse" is a kind of zombie from Chinese Mythology.
The Jiang Shi can be stopped by throwing rice or coins on the
ground, as they will not pursue their target until they ...
- 4,068
9
votes
Cows adapted to life on a steep hillside
I think the animal is a sidehill gouger.
Sidehill gougers are North American folkloric creatures adapted to living on hillsides by having legs on one side of their body shorter than the legs on the ...
- 1,273
9
votes
Accepted
Does Pippi Longstocking have mythological roots?
Explicitly, no.
(I will have to start by apologising, as I will only quote sources in Swedish for this).
Vivi Edström, in Vildtoring och lägereld, analyses several of Lindgren's books. A lot of ...
- 6,037
9
votes
What are the origins of the snowman?
Snowmen were a phenomenon in the Middle Ages, built with great skill and thought. At a time of limited means of expression, snow was like free art supplies dropped from the sky. It was a popular ...
- 1,273
9
votes
What are the origins of the snowman?
Bob Eckstein is the author of a the book The History of the Snowman. In the book, he says that the first documentation of a snowman that he found was in 1380 in an illuminated manuscript, where he ...
- 2,863
8
votes
Accepted
Were the grottoes of the Mitcham Fair in South London really connected with the veneration of St. James of Compostela?
Image taken from Chambers' book of Days.
The calendar of liturgical feasts or celebrations may have different dates of celebration for a particular saint or mystery. These differences may be due ...
- 2,863
8
votes
Accepted
What is a Planetnik?
This is the abstract a paper published in an (apparently) respectable academic journal (2010): the russian original 'planetnik' is rendered as 'hobgoblin':
In the regions of Orawa and Podhale, ...
- 96
8
votes
Accepted
What is the specific term for those creatures that exist because people believe in them?
If I understand your question correctly, you are referring to things becoming real because people believe in them. The term you are looking for is tulpa, also known as "thoughtform" (follow the link ...
- 396
7
votes
Are there any elf like creatures in non-European folklore?
There really aren't any that I can find. Elf-like creatures are pretty stricly Germanic, however there is the duende.
A duende is a fairy- or goblin-like mythological creature from Iberian, South ...
- 1,273
7
votes
Accepted
Are there parallels between Ymir/Auðumbla and Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox besides the obvious?
In a sense - but while Bunyan and Babe actively change the landscape, Ymir is chopped up by others (Odin & Co) to make the world. Both Bunyan and Ymir are associated with cold - PB with the "blue ...
- 5,920
7
votes
Accepted
Are there any stories that present solar eclipses as a good sign?
It is true that the vast majority of solar eclipse folklore, myths and superstitions are looked upon in less than favorable light.
Throughout history, solar eclipses have been viewed with dread ...
- 2,863
7
votes
Accepted
Why did Rumpelstiltskin want the baby?
In most tales, as in Rumpelstiltskin, there is no reason given for fairies or goblins wanting to take human children. I would like to note, though, that in some tales similar to Rumpelstiltskin, the ...
- 483
7
votes
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Crystal taped to radiator?
There are many myths surrounding crystals. They are held by many to be capable of channelling positive energy and so promoting health and wellbeing.
Your picture looks like quartz. Quartz in ...
- 1,066
6
votes
Are there any stories that present solar eclipses as a good sign?
There appears to be a folk belief in Italy that "flowers planted during a solar eclipse are more colourful than those planted at other times of the year"1.
I'm afraid that although there's a ton of ...
- 17.1k
6
votes
Myths/folktales/fairytales of areas/buildings/objects that disappear and reappear at fixed intervals?
My sense is the Smurfs were probably inspired by Brigadoon, a famous Broadway musical (Lerner & Loewe) that was adapted into a very famous film starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.
The story ...
- 14.2k
6
votes
Myths/folktales/fairytales of areas/buildings/objects that disappear and reappear at fixed intervals?
This sounds reminiscent of Vineta, a city on the coast of the Baltic sea, which was supposedly flooded as punishment for the inhabitants' ungodly ways. Some versions of the story have the city ...
- 6,037
6
votes
Where do Leprechauns live?
From livescience.com
In his collection of Irish fairy and folk tales, W.B. Yeats offered an 18th-century poem by William Allingham titled "The Lepracaun; Or, Fairy Shoemaker" which describes the ...
- 433
6
votes
What is the specific term for those creatures that exist because people believe in them?
So I actually looked the mob psycho episode 2 season 2 as I said and actually, I've been a bit deceived. The answer I give to you here is really simpler than what we could expect:
Urban legends
...
- 615
6
votes
Accepted
The unreadable book: Voynich manuscript?
Since the V.M. has been extensively studied, as far as its physical properties go, I don't think much can be said for "mythical origins" of the book. It's known to be old and most likely made in ...
- 623
6
votes
What's the secret behind the infamous 'Backrooms' creepypasta?
It is indeed 4chan, per Know Your Meme:
On April 21st, 2018, an anonymouse 4chan user posted the image in the /x/ forum in a thread about cursed images (shown below).
On May 12th, 2019, an anonymous ...
- 388
5
votes
Who's afraid of steel? Is iron different?
All the sources I've looked at do indeed say that iron repels fairies, and horseshoes, nails and shears have all been used to keep travellers and the newborn safe.
There are many theories as to why ...
- 5,920
5
votes
What were the origins of the Santa Lucia processions in Sweden featuring candle-wearing Lucia and the cone-capped star boys?
The tradition of Lucia processions as known today was started in 1928. There were some precedents, but nothing matching exactly.
Some background: the oldest part of folklore that is relevant to the ...
- 6,037
5
votes
Accepted
Did the vikings/medieval Scandinavians actually worship Odin, Thor, etc?
Yes, they did. The god Freyr was popular in Sweden, and had a huge temple at Uppsala. According to Adam of Bremen, a Christian historian, the temple also had images of Thor and Odin, flanking a ...
- 5,920
5
votes
Accepted
The Origin of Werewolf: Deities Cursing People into Animals?
A possible candidate for the story you have in mind is the legend of Lycaon:
In Greek mythology, Lycaon (/laɪˈkeɪɒn/; Greek: Λυκάων) was a king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea, who, in the ...
- 17.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Why can't a vrykolakas cross the sea?
What is the reason that makes it impossible for a vrykolakas can not traverse the sea?
The reason for this may be in the salt contained in the water, but this in itself can not be verified.
There ...
- 2,863
5
votes
Origin of "horses that instinctively open a vein with their teeth in order to breathe more freely"
Here is the original Goethe text: http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/view/goethe_werther02_1774?p=24
Man erzaͤhlt von einer edlen Art Pferde, die, wenn ſie ſchroͤklich erhizt und aufgejagt ſind,...
- 581
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