Because I’m more of a folklore and myth fan than modern fantasy fan I had no idea kobolds are usually depicted as lizards in the West and dogs in the East.

I’ve read up on why (in the original dnd manual kobolds looked like weird lizard dog people and afterwards some creators focused more on the lizard aspects while others focused more on the dog aspect, which resulted in some creators depicting them as any random animal they like) but in folklore kobolds are literally just the German version of gnomes, or the Scandinavian nisse/tomte.

They are both small and dress like the peasant class of their respective countries, they both have the ability to transform into animals and inanimate objects, though they tend to change back pretty quickly suggesting they don’t have the “stamina” to keep the illusion up for long, they act as house helpers and protectors but will turn nasty if disrespected sometimes going so far as to burn the whole house down, and they also work on ships both as helpers and bad omens. The ship thing overlaps so much that if you look up ship kobold or ship gnome (skibsnisse) you get the same pictures.

The only big difference I could find is that folklore kobolds are also known to work in mines, though I wouldn’t be surprised if you get some mine nisse/tomte in Norway or Sweden that I just haven’t come across yet. The Danish nisse variant is also known to have a wide variety of jobs like farmer, church helper, scribe and miller.

My general impression is that folklore kobolds are sliiightly meaner gnomes but not by much, so while I’d never tell fantasy kobold fans to change anything about their beloved creature, if I were ever to make a fantasy world I’d depict them as the bad boy relative of the nisses who are very close knit with humans, even living with them, while kobolts prefer more unsavory or unrefined humans and naturally encountering dwarfs more often in the mines, and have tomtes live in nature with more close relations to wild animals but still relatively close to humans and put them all under the species of gnome.

Another one of the many, many, MANY instances where D&D literaly changes the world's perception of a piece of folklore.

Seriously the amount of "folklore" and "legend" stuff in fiction today that comes JUST from D&D tells a lot about how, for example, there's a big Americanization of media, and how a lot of people rely on modern fiction to tell legends rather than study old sources, traditional art, or folklore analysis.

My understanding is that Kobold is literally etymologically the same word as Goblin through a different language?

Growing up in Austria (and therefore lot's of German media) I have understood the cultural meaning of the word "Kobold" to be more like "Gnome", but CAN also mean "Goblin", if in a more D&D or Fantasy related setting. It IS more close to the gnome tho, etymologically. And yeah, the "Klabautermann" is really a "Schiffskobold"/"skibsnisse", OP.

The funniest thing about all the speculation regarding the origins of the Bigfoot myth is that we know where it came from. It was a prank carried out by a guy named Ray Wallace who vandalised a couple of logging camps in California in 1958 while wearing fake feet to conceal his identity. They literally found his collection of giant wooden feet in his basement after he died in 2002, his involvement has been corroborated by multiple accomplices, and the timing of the incidents precisely lines up with when interest in Bigfoot exploded in American popular culture. We've known all this for twenty years, and everybody just quietly ignores it because it's no fun, I guess.

The name and craze originated in the late 50s, but Ray Wallace was building on a very old piece of folklore. There have been legends of giant hairy bipeds for as long as people have lived in North America (also most other places). Most of the indigenous cultures of NA have their own hairy man legend, and there are multiple well documented stories predating Ray Wallace, like the Ape Canyon Incident, the autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt, and Albert Ostman’s story of being kidnapped, just off the top of my head.

Well, yes, but we're not talking about wild-man folklore in general; we're talking about this particular piece of wild-man folklore. Acting like all of these stories are functionally interchangeable on the basis of typically superficial similarities is how cultural erasure happens, which is something we see in action very starkly with Bigfoot; the term "Sasquatch" is often treated as just another word for "Bigfoot" these days, for example, but if you look at actual pre-Bigfoot folklore about the Sasquatch, you'll see a creature which bears little resemblance to modern Bigfoot stories, and about which reliably sourced information is now very difficult to find because of all the Bigfoot-related static. We're not preserving indigenous cultures by lumping all of their various wild-man stories together under the "Bigfoot" umbrella – in practice it's often quite the opposite.

Can we get a bit of the OG Sasquatch folklore? Either what you remember or a link to a source?

Folklore as The Seasons ↳ Eras Tour Series Part 3/?

selkie wood cut-out

Winter is a time of darkening nights, colder days and gloomy skies. Despite the weather, there are still plenty of folkloric figures out and about. Though some bring cheer and gifts to brighten up the winter, others are there to make it worst – bringing threats of coal, kidnapping and even bodily harm to make sure that people are behaving themselves over the winter period.

Grýla

The Icelandic giantess Grýla lives in a cave in the mountains with her lazy husband, Leppalúði. Predating Christmas, she is said to come down from the mountains during midwinter and Yule to snatch up disobedient children. She carries them home in her sack, killing them and cooking them up for dinner.

For a malicious harbinger of winter, Grýla is an unusually social creature. In addition to her husband, she has thirteen sons, each happy to cause mischief and – in modern interpretations – leave treats out for children. On different days during December, households are visited by a different son – each named for the type of mischief he causes, whether that’s stealing milk, harassing sheep or stealing food.

Keep Reading 

MELUSINE (pronounced Mel-ew-seen, also given as Melusina) is a legendary figure from European folklore depicted as a mermaid, sometimes with two tails, as a serpent from the waist down, or as a dragon. She is associated with the ruling houses of Anjou, Lusignan, and Plantagenet and supposedly warned nobles of these houses of impending death or change.

Also known as Melisande, her tale is best known from the work of the 14th-century French writer Jean d’Arras who wrote his Roman de Melusine at the request of Jean, duc de Berry (Duke of Berry, l. 1340-1416), and presents her in a sympathetic light. According to the legend, and d’Arras’ work, Melusine was cursed by her mother to become half-serpent every Saturday until she married a man who would respect her privacy on Saturdays and not look upon her or accept her as she was.

She marries the nobleman Raymondin, promising to make him wealthy and famous, on the condition that he leave her alone every Saturday. Raymondin keeps his promise, and Melusine does the same, until he is persuaded by family to spy on her one Saturday in her bath. When he breaks his vow to her, she leaves him, returning only to visit her children or fulfill the obligations of the curse to warn of death or announce a change in fortunes.

Read More Here

The Hymn of Kassia

The Τροπάριον της Κασσιανής (Tropárion tis Kassianís, Hymn of Kassia) is a Greek Orthodox Chant performed in the evening of Holy Tuesday.

Kassia or Kassianí is a saint venerated by the Orthodox Church as well as the Latin and Eastern Catholic Church. Kassiani was a Byzantine Greek composer, hymnographer and poet. A famous legend is associated with her.

Kassiani, Classics Illustrated.

Kassiani was born around 807 in Constantinople into a wealthy family and she was well known for her exceptional beauty and intellect. She participated in the "bride show" organized for young Emperor Theóphilos, who was of Phrygian (Cappadocian) Greek descent. Theophilos was enraptured by her beauty. He stopped in front of her and offered her a golden apple, according to the custom, while saying: «Ὡς ἂρα διά γυναικός ἐρρύη τὰ φαῦλα» (Os ára ðiá yinekós eríi ta fávla), "So, through a woman the baser things come forth", meaning Eve's sin. Kassiani did not touch the apple and responded promptly: «Ἀλλά καὶ διά γυναικός πηγάζει τά κρείττω» (Alá ke ðiá yinekós piɣázi ta kríto), ¨But also through a woman the most excellent things spring¨, meaning the Christ being born to Mary. Of course, a commoner answering back to an emperor, let alone a woman, was not exactly well accepted in the Byzantine etiquette. Theophilos, outwitted in front of his whole court, turned and gave the apple to another girl, the modest Theodora, who was of Armenian descent.

The emperor Theophilos chooses his empress A.D. 829 - Val Cameron Prinsep (1838-1904)

Little is historically confirmed about Kassiani until 843, when she founded a monastery west of Constantinople but she had become a nun before that. According to some sources, she chose the monastic life after her heartbreak, while others argue Kassiani was primarily interested in religious studies and other intellectual endeavours, which she could pursue much more easily in a monastery than as a regular woman in the Byzantine society. Kassiani wrote many hymns still used in the Byzantine liturgy. She also composed the music to accompany her spiritual poetry. 261 works of secular literature are also attributed to her, covering themes such as ethical ideals and weaknesses, social structures, femininity and the defense of women's rights.

Emperor Theophilos was a fierce iconoclast. He persecuted supporters of the veneration of icons and Kassiani did not escape the imperial policy. She was scourged with a lash. Yet she remained outspoken, saying at some point: "I hate silence when it is time to speak." Ironically, Empress Theodora was also against the Iconoclasm and she restored the veneration of icons when her emperor husband died.

Theodora is also venerated as a saint.

According to tradition, Theophilos regretted rejecting Kassiani because of his wounded ego. When he sensed his death was near, he visited her monastery in order to see her one last time. (Theophilos died young, aged 30, from illness.) Kassiani was in her cell, composing one of her hymns. She heard the imperial carriage stopping at the yard and understood. Panicked, she hid herself inside a closet in order to not be tempted to break her monastic vow. Theophilos entered the seemingly empty cell and saw her writings. He sat down, read the unfinished hymn and then added a line of his own. The line attributed to him is this one:

Transliteration: On en to paraðísso Éva to ðilinón, króton tis ossín ihithíssa, to phóvo ekrívi.

Translation: In the paradise at sunset, Eve heard the thump of these (feet) and hid herself in fear.

Emperor Theophilos.

It is thus said that Theophilos understood Kassiani was hiding in the closet. However, he respected her wish to not be seen / tempted and left without a word. Kassiani got out and read what the emperor had written. She kept his addition and finished the hymn with three more lines. The hymn is about the woman caught in adultery and saved by Jesus and not about Mary Magdalene as it is often believed. The hymn is easily recognized by its opening line:

Transliteration: Kýrie, e en polés amartíes peripessússa yiní...

Translation: Lord, the woman that fell into much sin...

and it is the one chanted today according to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Easter.

Saint Kassiani the Poet.

Groundhog Day

On February 2, 1886 the first Groundhog Day celebration was held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The next year the tradition was held at its current location of Gobbler’s Knob. So where did this curious tradition of observing whether or or not a rodent sees its shadow and using this to predict the weather for the coming weeks arise from?

German immigrants to Pennsylvania brought with them the tradition of observing a hedgehog on the holiday of Candlemas, however since there are no hedgehogs in the Americas, they substituted groundhogs. This stems from an earlier tradition of the lighting candles on that day for a blessing for the rest of winter, later this shifted to being used for weather prognostication.

The groundhog who does the predicting has been held by tradition to be the same groundhog since the very beginning, and is given the name “Punxsutawney Phil”. The celebration is very tongue-in-cheek, during Prohibition Phil was said to have threatened 60 more weeks of winter if the people of Punxsutawney were not allowed to consume alcohol.

Fuck, the nisses in Hilda are so much better presentation of the brownie/house spirit mythology than certain other authors’ take

(they live in the ‘unused’/empty space in people’s houses, allowing them to travel very quickly and are the reason things like socks and pens go missing - they take things that have been lost, on the presumption they’ve been abandoned/given up. Hilda’s home’s nisse helps her mother store things in exchange for cooking, which they all acknowledge is reminiscent of more traditional offerings made to Nisses to help keep up the home.)

🕯🌼🌾🧀🐑🕯

Bríd’s cross hung over the door

Did the house from fire secure

And though the dogs and servants slept

By Bríd’s care the house was kept.

Fuck, the nisses in Hilda are so much better presentation of the brownie/house spirit mythology than certain other authors’ take

(they live in the ‘unused’/empty space in people’s houses, allowing them to travel very quickly and are the reason things like socks and pens go missing - they take things that have been lost, on the presumption they’ve been abandoned/given up. Hilda’s home’s nisse helps her mother store things in exchange for cooking, which they all acknowledge is reminiscent of more traditional offerings made to Nisses to help keep up the home.)

AMABI’E (said like armor-be-yey) with its pal holy Rabbit wishes everyone in the world safe and happy life in this hard time.  AMABI’E is a popular spirit that is believed to protect people from deseases, while the rabbit serves familiarly the Moon God who resides in Mt. Gassan.  Paper dolls 100%-hand-made and hand-colored by Harikoma-Ya, Sakata.  アマビエと月うさぎ

September is almost here so here’s a messy doodle of some of the things that have made me happy this past month.

take me to the lakes, where all the poets went to die

[The Lakes - Disney Princess Edition]

Poland is a country full of unique traditions and customs, especially those rooted in the Catholic faith. Wielkanoc (Easter) is the oldest and the most important Christian feast in Poland, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On Holy Saturday, millions of Poles head towards churches all over the country to bless their traditional Easter baskets.

Easter baskets usually contain eggs, bread, salt, sausages, bundt cake, dairy products and some kind of sweets. Another component of the basket is a miniature lamb, most often made of sugar, butter or dough. The basket is usually decorated with sprigs of boxwood and is lined with the traditional Polish folk fabric.

The food blessed in the church (“święconka”), remains untouched until Sunday morning, when it is shared with the relatives during Easter breakfast.

OMG, Okay I just started to see the new Netflix series Hilda. After I first saw the trailer, I thought, “Hey, it looks like Norway / Sweden”. And I mean in every detail, from landscape to house and interior. BUT the best and most unexpected thing is that it’s a legit beautiful and cute representation of our myths and folklore. No typical American figthing with ridiculous over powerd creatures as its often is display as on tv. No pure good vs pure evil shit like in lord of the rings. But more how the fairy tales actually is told here!

The trolls fear of bells, the life of the last giants,  people who invade the Huldrefolks settlements! It’s like my grandmother’s fairy tales I heard as a child. The normal life of a normal human and the normal “hidden world.” 

So this series is not only cute and aesthetic, it is smocked with cultural undertones and folklore references, as well  a good show  representation our myths of the “hiden world” of elfes, trolls, huldror, rå and giants.

The creators of Hilda did their research, i if you have the cultural understanding of the myths it gives sooo much more depth and meaning to ditales! 

12/10 would recomend!