Unanswered Questions
242 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Was the moon god Libulan resurrected?
Libulan is a moon God of the Visayan pantheon. His story is roughly something like this:
Kaptan is said to be the father of Lihangin, the god of the wind, while Magwayen sired the goddess of the sea, ...
CommunityBot
- 1
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why does Dante spend so much time in Malebolge?
Dante spends thirteen cantos in Malebolge, the eighth circle of Hell. This is a lot longer than he spends with any other circle.
Why do the sinners in this circle get so much of his attention?
9
votes
0
answers
260
views
Primary sources for Persian land of Shadu-kam?
I'd like to find the primary sources (if any) for a Persian mythical land called Shadu-kam. It's supposed to be the realm of the Peris, a kind of fairyland, but I can't seem to find much about it.
I ...
CommunityBot
- 1
9
votes
0
answers
239
views
What is the significance of Peradur asking about (or not asking about) the bloodied spear?
In the story Peradur in the Mabinogion, Peradur is told by his Uncle not to ask questions if he sees anything strange, unless someone explains the strange thing to him.
Leave, then, the habits and ...
8
votes
0
answers
120
views
What did the Mayans hope to accomplish from ritual sacrifice?
There are many descriptions of Mayan religious practices involving human sacrifice. For example, the Wikipedia has a long article on bloodletting and human sacrifice by the Mayans. However, these ...
- 954
8
votes
0
answers
372
views
Is there any folklore in non-European culture that may be an attempt to "explain" similar to changeling myths in Western Europe and Scandinavia?
It has been suggested by some authors that stories of changelings in Scandinavia and western Europe are an attempt by ancient peoples used to try and explain developmental abnormalities in children, ...
- 181
8
votes
0
answers
355
views
What are the earliest known origins of Sasquatches in Native American culture in the Americas?
What are the earliest known origins of Sasquatches in Native American culture of North or South America?
Almost everybody has heard about these mysterious creatures known as Sasquatches or Bigfoot, ...
8
votes
2
answers
358
views
What concepts exist to describe how motifs change from time and place
In the question How to search for patterns/motifs in folklore or mythology, I introduced the concept of motifs/tale-types, which are essentially the folkloristic equivalent of tropes (an example of a ...
CommunityBot
- 1
8
votes
1
answer
562
views
Why did Ninḫursaĝa cure Enki?
In the story of Uttu and Enki, Ninḫursaĝa cursed Enki:
Ninḫursaĝa cursed the name Enki: "Until his dying day, I will never look upon him with life-giving eye."
However, later on in the text and ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
0
answers
115
views
Perception of echoes and myths concerning its nature in Northern America
I was recently listening to a song from the movie "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", this song to be more precise. Anyway, at some point as you can see in the video, the voice of the singer ...
- 996
7
votes
1
answer
493
views
Did Helen and Stentor have voice-related "super-powers"?
Helen's Many Voices
In Odyssey 4.274-289 Menelaus recounts a story from the time that he and other leaders of the Greek forces at Troy were hiding in the famous decoy wooden horse which they used as ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
0
answers
116
views
Sami tale where the fox is left as sole speaker of human language
Does anyone know the Sami tale where all the animals gather inside a mountain and decide they won't be speaking the same language as humans from now on? If I remember correctly, they agree that one ...
- 71
7
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Why does Perseus carry a sickle instead of a sword?
Perseus armed with a sickle has a well established iconography in Greek mythology:
From Theoi.com:
But why does Perseus carry this "weapon" instead of a proper sword, like it is shown in later ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
0
answers
73
views
Zeno's influence on the conception of the Hydra?
I am referring to Zeno of Elia (c.490 –c.430 BCE) and his famous Dichotomy Paradox. This paradox has to do with infinite divisions based on 1/2.
It seems to be that the conception of the Hydra as ...
- 14.2k
7
votes
0
answers
214
views
Are there any sort of chief pantheon in Japanese mythology? Who do they consist of?
I've read some of the more well known ones like Izanagi and Izanami...Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, and Orochi... I mostly want to know about the Shinto side but Japanese Buddhism legends are good ...
- 6,725