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FOLKTALE,FOLKTALES

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GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

on. on the night of nov. 2 the esthonians set food for the dend, and rejoice when they find any of it gone in the morning. in the fellin district near dorpat the departed soitlii are received in the bath-room, and bathed one after the other, hupel's nachr. p. hi, conf. possart's estland p. 172-3; exactly as food is net before angels and homesprites (p. 448j. 2 i confine myself here to one hessian folktale. kurt, a farmer at hachborn, would not quit the farm even after his death, but lent a hand in the fieldwork as a good spirit. in the barn he helped the labourer to throw sheaves from the loft: when the man threw one, kurt would throw another. but once, when a strange servant got up into the loft, he would not help; at the cry' you throw, kurt' he seized the man and llung him on the thrash

hakel= wood can be proved, the only trace of a higher being must be looked for in herand, and that may be found some day; in ch. xxxiii, i shall exhibit hakol in the on. hekla as mountain, hence wooded heights, woodland. in any case we here obtain not only another weighty testimony to woden-worship, but a fresh confirmation of the meaning i attach to the' wiitende heer; and we see clearly how the folktale of hackelberg came to be preserved in westphalia and l. saxony 1 kirchhof's wendunmiit no. 283, p. 342. deiit. sag. no. 171. the braunschw. anz. 1747, p. 1940 says the wild hunter hackelnberg lies in the steiufeld, under a stone on which a mule and a hound are carved. 2 ohg. missa-hahul (casula),st. gall gl. 203; misse-hachil, gl. herrad. 185' is mass-weed, chasuble. graft' 4, 797. 924 sp

quam feras sylvestres a canibus venaticis, agitari atque tandem discerptas inveuiri: quod si hominum quispiam haec [hanc] audiens venationem sua clamore adjuverit, illi partem vel membrmn concubinae dissectum adjanuam domiis mane a daemonibus suspensum/ bebelii facetiae (tub. 1555) p. ip. here the wood-wives are replaced by priests' wives, but the same may already have been done in the 13th cent, folktale. our german tradition says nothing about the reason why the airy hunter pursues the wood-wife^ among the people of upper germany the ivild women themselves play a leading part in the' twelve nights* and in lent they are part and parcel of this 1 these moosleute and holzweibel belong to the class of wood-sprites (p. 483, forming a link between them and dwarfs; it is voigtland legend that k

sau raupt de knechte ok' ha ha* un wie de hunne in'r luft jilpert, sau jilpert un bleft de hunne ut^n dorpe ok alle; do smitt de helljdger on watherunner (somewhat down to them) un schriet* wil ji mit jagen, so konn ji ok mit gnagen' ans se den annern (next) morgen tau seien dauet (went to see, wat on de helljager henne smetten herre, da ist'n olen perschinken (an old gammon of boar' an austrian folktale in ziska's marchen p. 37 tells of another fellow who, when the furious host. 931' wilcle gjoacl swept past, had the audacity to beg for a piece of game to roast; the same in a nethl. story, avolf no. 259. on the other hand, a w. preussen tale in tettau and temme no. 2d0 says, on the buuerberg in the forest of skrzynka, stargard circuit, the wild hunter carries on his operations on barthol

lenbergers, von achilles jason widman (aus scliwabisch hall, nurnb. 1560. eeprinted in hagen's narrenbuch, p. 353. peter leu here plays a trick on peasants, p. 394, by disguising himself as berchtold. furious host berchta, holda, posterli. 933 tales have the story of a little shroud drenched with tears (kinderm. 109. reusch no. 32. thorn. cantipr. p. 501, conf. wolfs wodana p. 153, and the danish folktale of aage and else makes flowing tears fill the coffin with blood; but here we have the significant feature added of the children journeying in perhta's train. the jug may be connected with the lachrymatories found in tombs (see suppl. with berahta we have also to consider holda, diana and herodias. berajiia and holda shew themselves, like frau gaude (p. 925, in the twelves^ about new-year'

o: si potero horrendum friggce spectare viaritavi, quantumcunque albo clypeo sit tectus et album flectat equum, lethra nequaquam sospes abibit. fas est belligeram bello prosternere divam. looking through the rounded arm (chela, xv'^v) enables one to see spirits (altd. blatter 1, 290, so does looking over the right shoulder (p. 459n, superst. i, 996) or between a horse's ears. and this the hessian folktale has preserved. plainly as wuotau is indicated on the whole, the story seems at times to shift itself to donar, for we are also told of a red rider on a red horse and with heron^s plume of red wool, who on certain days of the year gallops round the wooded fringe of the odeuberg: it is the ghost of carolus quintus. the description would better fit frederic bai'barossa who sits entranced in

aait in ilarg. van limb. 7, 040 spectres. frank, sag. 1, 68, and of others in other paints, see mone's anz. 3, 259. 8, 306; as the host passed over wolfartsweiler, one of them shouted down' if thou suffer harm, bind thee with red yarn' 8, 307. we read in heimi-eich's nordfries. chron. 2, 93 that outside tondern in 1637 armies were seen musterino: in the air and fighting, in clear weather an irish folktale gives an account of the ancient chieftain o'donoglme, who yeai-ly on the first of may, mounted on a milkwhite steed, rises from the waters of a lake, to revisit his realm. on an august night, an e>*i.rl of kildare shews himself armed, on a splendid war-horse, and reviews the shades of his warriors (elfenm. 192-3. 233. strikingly similar to the' duris, diirst' on pp. 521. 920 is a finnic t

her naked through the wood every friday, and has her torn to pieces by his hounds: every time she is slain, she rises again, and the gruesome hunt beo-ins anew. manni says the tale is taken out of helinand; it may afford some solution of the wild hunter's pursuit of the wood-wife (p. 929, even if we are bound, as is fair, to trace the novelist's plot in the first instance to the simple basis of a folktale. in the poem on etzel's court, the wunderer shews himself almost exactly such a wild man and hunter; he chases /ra?t scejde with his dogs, and threatens to devour her, as the hunter does the fleeing wood-wife, or the infernalis venator a departed soul (see suppl. far more important is a story in the eckenlied: fasolt hunts with hounds a luild maiden in the forest, just as the wild hunter

coming out he will hang his shield on a withered tree, which will breah into leaf, and a better time will dawn. yet some have seen him awake: a shepherd having piped a lay that pleased him well, frederick asked him 'fly the ravens round the mountain still' the shepherd said yes* then must i sleep another 100 years^ the shepherd was led into' similar questions are put by the blind giant in a swed. folktale, which i insert here from bexell's halland (gotheborg 1818) 2, p. 301: nigra sjoman ifrdn getinge blefvo pa hafvet af stormarne forde emot en okand 6 (seamen from g. driven by storms to an unknown isle, omgifne af morker uppstiga de der (landed in the dark. de blefvo varse en pi afstlnd upptiind eld (saw a lighted fire, och skynda dit. framfor elden ligger en ovanligt mng man, som var bli

chap. xxix evidently have in their manner of appearing much in common with white women. now the pervading thought in all this of being banned and longing for release i take to be just this, that the pagan deities are represented as still beautiful, rich, powerful and benevolent, but as outcast aud unblest, and only on the hardest terms can they be released from the doom pronounced upon them. the folktale still betrays a fellow feeling for the white woman's grief at the attempted deliverance being always interrupted and put off to some indefinitely distant date. the traditional mode of expressing this is peculiar and assuredly ancient: he that shall some day speed in achieving the deed and upheaving the hoard (his predestined reward, must be rocked as a babe in the cradle made of the wood

^di 13. it is certain that the centuries immediately following the conversion still witnessed lighted candles beside holy waters (p. 584. in norway lamhs and kids, mostly black ones, were offered to the watersprite (p. 493; and similar sacrifices were in use among the lettons and lithuanians in modern times. whirlpools and rivers demanded goats and horses (p. 592, hecate black lambs. in a hessian folktale the devil guards a treasure, and will allow no one to lift it unless he offer to him a black he-goat exacth/ a year and a day old. this is an almost invariable incident in^ mone in anz. 8, 450 interprets the devil's mother as demcter -who in the eleusinian mysteries is made the mother of dionysus. 1010 devil. treasure-lifting, and must have been deeply stamped on the people's imagination

ld himself to the devil (atiou. leobiens. in pez 1, 763. in the auuolied str. 46-7 is the story of one volprecht, who gives himself to the devil; another in ottocar cap. 335. in most legends of this kind the devil misses his prey after all^ and is made to give up the damning document. the man may have denied god, but has never renounced the heavenly virgin, so she lends a helping hand. in a swiss folktale the devil bargains that the contracting party shall never say the gospel of john any more (de hanseler uf der lalle ummedriillen, but he comes to grief nevertheless, for the poor shepherd lad tvhistles it from beginning to end. another time the evil one is promised payment of the sum advanced, at the falling of the leaf; but when at fall- time he presents himself, and presses the bargain

rrect to trace the name to our old friend phol; the form wulsgrahen, which occurs in the wetterau (dieffenb. wett. p. 142) and is merely a softened pronunciation of phulsgrahen, is clearly in favour of it; and we have seen several instances in which pliol, pfal, pful interchange. what is more, in various places the devil's wall is also called the schweingrahen (swinedike, and a remarkable swabian folktale says it was scratched up and rooted up out of the ground in the night by a chanticleer and a hog does not that unmistakably point to p/bz the boar (p. 99g? i have scarcely a doubt that popular tradition and local names will yield some further confirmations. on this devil's wall the devil is said to come driving on christmas night (abh. der miinchn. acad. 1, 23, conf. 38, as nearly all the

bores et cortices latere' the swed. song makes enchanting minstrels charm the bark off the tree, the babe out of the mother, the hind from the forest, the eye from out the socket (arvidsson 2, 311-2-4-7. again, the witches' dislike of bells is heathenish: the elves have it, and the giants, p. 459. pious prayer and ringing of bells put their plans out: they call the bells 'yelping dogs' in a swed. folktale (0dm. bahusl. beskrifn. p. 228) an old heathen crone, on hearing the sound of the christian bell from tegneby, exclaims in contempt* nu ma tro, eulla pa rallehed har fddt bjidra' r. the christian church has got a tinkler. as yet there is no thought of witchery. but it is told of swed. witches too, that they scrape the bells loose up in the belfry: in their airy 1086 magic. flight when the

steps toward it, and when they were come near, she threw a ring over herself, and instantly became a vicrewolf, which fell upon the flock, seized one" sheep, and made off with it. the man stood petrified; but when he saw shepherd and dogs run after the wolf, and his wife in danger, he forgot his promise, and cried' ach margareit' the wolf disappeared, and the woman stood naked in the field (hess. folktale. 1096 magic. over it, the bride^ bridegroom and six bridesmen were turned into werewolves. they fled from the cottage, and for three years ran howling round the witch's house. at length the day of their deliverance came. the witch bi'ought a pelisse with the fur turned outwards, and as soon as she covered a werewolf with it, his human shape returned; the covering reached over the bridegro

snua vindum. osinn vissi of allt iarsfe, hvar folgit var (earth-fee, where it was hid, ok hann kunni ;au lios, er upplaukz fyrir honum (unlocked itself to him) iorsin ok bicirg ok steinar ok haugarnir, ok hatt (bound) hann mes ordum einum]?a er fyrir biuggu (dwelt, ok gekk (went) inn ok tok j^ar slikt er hann vildi' afzelius in sagoh. 1, 4 mentions, too briefly and indistinctly, a strange swedish folktale of one kettil runske of kettilsas in alsheda, avho stole odin's rune-sticlis (runekaflai, and with them cast a spell on his hounds and bulls, nay at last on the merwoman that would have come to odin's aid. by this odin seems to be meant a shepherd or giant representing the former god; the surname rimshe evidently has to do with the acquisition and possession of the staves. songs and runes

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

nd their way of thinking: their savagery spends itself mainly in hurling huge stones, removing mountains and rearing colossal buildings. saxo gram. pp. 10. 11 invests the giantess harthgrepa with the power to make herself small or large at pleasure. this is a gift which fairy-tales bestow on the ogre or the devil, and folk tales on the haulemutter (harrys 2, 10; and suppl. it is in living legend (folktale) that the peculiar properties of our native giants have been most faithfully preserved; the poets make their giants far less interesting, they paint them, espe cially in subjects borrowed from romance poetry, with only the features common to all giants. harpin, a giant in the iwein, demands a knight s daughter, hangs his sons, and lays waste the land (4464. 4500: 3 when slain, he falls to

trich and charles do duty for a former god or hero, hungarians and avars are made to stand for the old notion of giants. only we must not carry this too far, but give its due weight to the fact that iotunn and]?urs 3 have in themselves an intelligible meaning. 1 hiilphers 3, 47 speaks of lojlige berattelse om fordna jattar? without going into them. 2 it is quite another thing, when in the debased folktale siegfried the hero degenerates into a giant (whs. heldensage, pp. 301-16, as divine oden himself (p. 155) and thorr are degraded into diivels and dolts. a still later view (altd. bl. 1, 122) regards riese and recke (hero) as all one. 3 schafarik (slov. star. 1, 258) sees nothing in them but geta and thyrsus; at that rate the national name thussagetae must include both. chapter xix. creati

calion was rescued affected greece alone, and of such accounts of partial floods there are plenty. philemon and baucis in phrygia (where noah s ark rested, p. 577, had given shelter to the wayfaring gods, and being warned by them, fled up the mountain, and saw themselves saved when the flood rose over the land (ovid. met. 8, 620; they were changed into trees, as askr and embla were trees. a welsh folktale says, that in brecknockshire, where a large lake now lies, there once stood a great city. the king sent his messenger to the sinful inhabitants, to prove them; they heeded not his words, and refused him a lodging. he stept into a miserable hut, in which there only lay a child crying in its cradu (conf. ludara, p. 559 n; there he passed the night, and in going away, dropt one of his gloves

that the oxen of hu gadarn dragged the avanc (beaver) ashore out of the llion lake, and it has never broken out since.3 of still narrower limits are our german tales, as that of the dwarf seeking a lodging at ralligen on l. thun (no. 45, which is very like the philemon-myth; of arendsee (no. ill, where again only a husband and wife are saved; of seeburg (no. 131; and frauensee (no. 239. a danish folktale is given by thiele 1, 227. fresh and graceful touches abound in the servian lay of the three angels sent by god to the sinful world, and the origin of the plattensee or balatino yezero, yuk 4, 8-13 (2nd ed. 1, no. 207. 3 there is above all a dash of german heathenism about the lakes and pools said to have been formed by the streaming blood of giants (deut. sag. no. 325, as the destructive

or his horse. so the heathen fed the horse of wuotan (p. 154, of dame gaue (p. 252; the slavs did the same for their svantevit and radegast (p. 661. of one who blunders in noisily they say, in denmark as above: han gaaer som en helhest, he goes like a hel-horse, dansk ordb. 2, 545a. there are more things told of this hel-hest: he goes round the church yard on his three legs, he fetches death. one folktale has it, that in every churchyard, before it receives human bodies, a live horse is buried, and this is what becomes the walking dead-horse (thiele 1, 137; originally it was no other than the deathgoddess riding round. arnkiel quotes 1, 55 the schleswig superstition, that in time of plague die hell 2 rides about on a three-legged horse) destroying men; if at such a time the dogs bark and h

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

a girl called ursule who drowned. voodoo mythology derives mainly from the fon in nigeria (see pp. 88 89. legba, aido-hwedo, agb, and gu retain many of their fon characteristics, although gu has taken the name of the nagos god of war, ogoun. the harsher petro rites, forged in anger and adversity in the new world, have congo, bomba, and limba roots. ship circle papa god and general death a haitian folktale tells how papa god and general death were walking together one day. general death pointed to a house from which he had taken a soul the day before, and another he was due to take one from the next day. you always take, while i always give, said papa god. that is why people prefer me. but general death did not agree. so they decided to each visit the man whose soul general death would take

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

couple. sacred writings just as it lacks a formal theology, shinto does not have a sacred scripture. the shinto text that comes closest to representing a sacred writing is the kojiki, an eighth-century text and the earliest surviving document written by the japanese. in some respects, it is difficult to categorize the kojiki. it is part scripture (holy text, part history of early japan, and part folktale and myth. the kojiki, which means record of ancient matters, was in large part a political document. it originated in 673, after the emperor tenmu seized the throne of japan and ordered a history of japan to be compiled. tenmu believed that the records of many of his courtiers, imperial officials, and the chief families in the realm had been changed and corrupted. he wanted to see a more

features accounts of the life and teachings of jesus christ, including the sermon on the mount. it is a key part of the christian bible. 610 632 the qur an, the holy book of islam, is revealed to the prophet muhammad by the archangel jabra il. 712 the kojiki, a japanese shinto text, is compiled. it is the earliest surviving document written by the japanese. part scripture, part history, and part folktale and myth, it represents an effort to document much of the history of early japan. it also contains an account of the creation of the world. 1603 the sikh sacred scripture, shri guru granth sahib, is compiled by the guru shri arjan dev ji (1563 1606. c. 1857 baha u lla h, the founder of the baha faith, writes the hidden words. the purpose of the book is to take the most important elements

ence, all was a chaos, unimaginably limitless and without definite shape or form. the kojiki, an eighth-century shinto text, is the earliest surviving document written by the japanese. shinto is a native japanese religion that focuses on the worship of natural spirits called kami. until the end of world war ii in 1945, shinto was the state religion of japan. part holy text, part history, and part folktale (a story passed on through oral traditions, usually containing a timeless truth, custom, or belief) and myth, it represents an effort to document much of the history of early japan. it also contains an account of the creation of the world, one that in many respects is similar to creation accounts contained in the scriptures, or holy texts, of other world religions. kojiki means record of

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

es, and 80 percent of those men were between the ages of 22 to 45. the death usually occurs during the first third of the sleep cycle and results from a miocardial infraction in the lower left ventricle of the heart, thereby causing a heart attack. the victims are found lying on their backs in bed, often with a frozen expression of what appears to be terror on their faces, thus giving rise to the folktale of the fat man having smothered them. sources: chokroverty, sudhansu, ed; robert b. daroff, introduction. sleep disorders medicine: basic science, technical considerations, and clinical aspects. burlington, mass: butterworth-heinemann medical, 1999. lyall, kimina. stranglers in the night. the australian, may 2, 2002 [online] http//www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ o,5942,4240606,00.html. odd

f. as the paramedics are lifting the woman onto a stretcher, a black widow spider crawls from the woman s hair. the poisonous insect had been nesting in the woman s sprayed hair and had bitten her when the beautician began to shampoo her hair. in the late 1960s and early 1970s, male hippies, who wore their hair shoulder-length or longer, became the most oft-cited victims of the spider in the hair folktale. the long hair made it possible by the suspicions of the general public that hippies seldom bathed, thus allowing a deadly spider to remain undetected in their hair until somehow provoked. the internet continues to resurrect both the female victim with her beehive hairstyle or the poisoned hippie with his uncombed, unwashed shoulder-length hair. however, sometime in the late 1970s and ear

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

cutting creature, the shamir. in a sephardi folk tale, the date of which is unknown, the single stone in solomon's ring is said to be blue in color, suggesting the sapphire. this is interesting, since the word sephiroth comes from the hebrew word for sapphire. the brilliant, sparkling light of the sapphire was considered purer the ring of solomon the seal of solomon than all other colors. in this folktale, solomon uses his ring to command the four winds and activates the ring's power by kissing the blue stone. richard f. burton presents a somewhat different picture of the ring. he says that it was composed of stamped stone, iron, copper, and lead (the book of the thousand nights and a night, 6.84, and elsewhere (7.317) says that it was set with four jewels presented to solomon by four ange

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

rn for slaveowners because of their own belief in its power. apparently many whites were acquainted with supernatural practices and beliefs, in part through their own exposure to black folk traditions "most of the superstition among the whites" wrote wells brown "was the result of their close connection with the blacks" wells brown recalled that some african american caregivers would tell magical folktales and stories to young white children in nurseries, but "they learned more, as they grew older, from the slaves in the quarters, or out on the premises" white writers reflected on these traditions in their published reminiscences of their youth. edward pollard, a novelist and civil war historian, stated that he was deeply affected by the "superstitions" that he had imbibed, growing up amon

night and riding him to exhaustion. the belief in riding also appears in european contexts with minor variations.sometimes the witches ride humans who are transformed into animals.but the human-as-mount motif in the tale has been related in black american folklore since the early 1800s. other european witchcraft traditions such as broomstick riding, for example, are negligible in african american folktales.[64] among african americans, beliefs in witches and witchcraft were accompanied by numerous practices designed to prevent the malice of the witch. anti-witchcraft precautions and remedies became standard in black supernatural traditions. prophylactic measures such as the scattering of salt, for example, in areas believed to be plagued by witches and ghosts were widely practiced and can

over from bondage. these cultural reformers hoped that the rites and revels of the slave past would give way to more proper expressions of religious faith.[14] implicit in the defamation of conjure as heathenism was its identification with indigenous african religions, which african american supernaturalism had sustained for more than a century. octave thanet, an anglo-american collector of negro folktales, articulated this view "conjurers are a feature of african life" he wrote "they probably represent the survival of the old fetich worship, brought from africa "it may be worthwhile to mention an old custom of southern negroes" stated the folklorist louis pendleton, referring to the persistence of conjure practices in the latter nineteenth century "the origin perhaps\ 130\ may be traced t

s before the civil war" new york folklore quarterly 11, no. 1 (1985: 11.12; see also katherine l. dvorak "chapter" in masters and slaves in the house of the lord: race and religion in the american south, 1740.1870, ed. john boles (lexington: university press of kentucky, 1988, p. 176; on african spiritual traditions, see parrinder, west african religion. 20. maria leach, whistle in the graveyard: folktales to chill your bones (new york: viking press, 1974; mary lyons, raw head, bloody bones: african-american tales of the supernatural (new york: macmillan, 1991; newbell niles puckett, folk beliefs of the southern negro (chapel hill: university of north carolina press, 1926; sobel, world they made together, pp. 45, 97.99; richard dorson, american negro folktales (greenwich, conn: fawcett pub

lack yankees: the development of an afro-american subculture in eighteenth-century new england (amherst: university of massachusetts press, 1988, p. 80; see also cross "witchcraft in north carolina" p. 219. 57. according to one source, the hag is the "disembodied spirit of an old woman who practices witchcraft" rather than a shape-shifting female human. see federal writers program, south carolina folktales (folcroft, pa: folcroft library editions, 1976, pp. 89, 92; see also joyner, down by the riverside; basil duke, reminiscences of general basil w. duke (new york: deale publishing, 1906, p. 32; sobel, trabelin' on, p. 69; raboteau, slave religion, p. 287. for a tentative discussion of african american moral constructs in occultism, see norman whitten "aspects and origins of negro occultis

joy (madison: university of wisconsin press, 1986, p. 109; todd l. savitt, medicine and slavery: the diseases and health care of blacks in antebellum virginia (urbana: university of illinois press, 1978; gladys marie fry, night riders in black folk history (athens: university of georgia press, 1991, ch. 6; lyle saxon, edward dreyer, and robert tallant, comp, gumbo ya-ya: a collection of louisiana folktales (greenwich, conn: fawcett publications, 1967, pp. 75.76; alison davis and john dollard, children of bondage: the personality development of negro youth in the urban south (new york: harper and row, 1964, p. 45. 9. georgia writers' project, drums and shadows: survival studies among the georgia coastal negroes (athens: university of georgia press, 1940, pp. 61, 165; michael anthony cooke "

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

entity a secret; they covertly manipulate events on the surface world; they have surface humans working for them through the priesthoods, cults, and secret societies; they have a putrid smell like "sulphur and brimstone. the accounts are incredibly consistent over thousands of years. mott writes "the reptilian aspect of some underworlders permeates folklore. one universal theme that recurs in the folktales of many, many cultures is that of the snakehusband or snake-wife, who can transform into a "human" or humanoid form and is invariably (of course) of royal blood among his or her own kind (talk about the 270 children of the matrix ultimate pick-up line. often the snake or serpent-man exacts a promise of marriage, or the hand of an unborn human child in betrothal, consistent with the theme

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

t of some mortal woman whose destinies have become linked by some accident with those of the family she follows. it is related how the banshee of the family of the o briens of thomond was originally a woman who had been seduced by one of the chiefs of that race.an act of indiscretion which ultimately brought about her death. the banshee is not confined to ireland, since she is also the subject of folktales in the highlands of scotland, where she is known as bean-nighe, or little-washer-by-the-ford. she is said to be seen by the side of a river, washing the blood from the clothes of those who will die (see also fairies) sources: lysaght, patricia. the banshee. dublin, 1986. mcanally, d. r. irish wonders. 1888. reprint, detroit: grand river books, 1971. o donnell, elliot. the banshee. london

wrote and produced plays locally in perthshire and oxfordshire. during world war i, she served in the women s auxiliary air force, then became a free-lance writer. she was a member of the bibliographical society, the historical association, the american folklore society, and the english folkdance and song society. in 1969, she was awarded a d.litt. by oxford university. her dictionary of british folktales in the english language is widely regarded as a monumental scholarly achievement; her various works on fairy lore also established her as a preeminent scholar in this field. however, in spite of her encyclopedic knowledge of fairy lore and her enthusiasm for the subject, she did not believe in the reality of fairy life, stating specifically: this is not an attempt to prove that fairies a

ubject, she did not believe in the reality of fairy life, stating specifically: this is not an attempt to prove that fairies are real. i am agnostic on the subject. briggs died october 15, 1980, in kent, england. sources: briggs, katherine. the anatomy of puck: an examination of fairy beliefs among shakespeare s contemporaries and successors. london: routledge& paul, 1959. a dictionary of british folktales in the english language. 4 vols. bloomington: indiana university press, 1970.71. an encyclopedia of fairies: hobgoblins, brownies, bogies, and other supernatural creatures. new york: pantheon books, 1976. the fairies in english tradition and literature. 1967. reprinted as the fairies in tradition and literature. london: routledge and kegan paul, 1967. folktales of england. chicago: unive

as removing deformities or breaking the spells of witches; performing mischievous pranks like milking cows in the fields, soiling clothes put out to dry, curdling milk, and spoiling crops. fairyland was usually underground or in some magical other dimension. here time became mystically changed.one night in fairyland might equal a lifetime in the human world. some of the most romantic and poignant folktales concern mortals who fall in love with a fairy queen and are transported to the magical world of fairyland where all wishes come true, but through breaking some taboo or indulging in homesickness for earthly existence, the mortal is suddenly returned to his world, in which scores of years have passed. in the seventeenth century, rev. robert kirk investigated the fairies of aberfoyle in sc

but is generally of a shadowy or ghostly appearance. the fetch may be seen by more than one person at the same time and, like the wraith of england and scotland, may even appear to the person it represents. there is a belief, too, that if the fetch is seen in the morning, it indicates long life for the person, but if seen at night, a speedy death may be expected. the fetch enters largely into the folktales of ireland, and it is hardly surprising that so many tales have been woven around it, for there is something gruesome in the idea of being haunted by one s own double (an idea that has frequently been explored by more sophisticated writers than the inventors of folk tales. patrick kennedy, in his legendary fictions of the irish celt (1866, referring to the irish fetch, quotes the tale of

ce derives from divine law. much of the great body of superstition, folklore, and sorcery relating to visibility and invisibility derives from the earliest experiences of humankind and the prescientific observation of natural phenomena incorporated in religious and magical beliefs. many of these beliefs appear untenable to scientifically trained minds. invisibility in folklore a constant motif in folktales throughout the world is the power of becoming invisible, giving the possessor of this power special advantages in overhearing an enemy s plans, winning battles with powerful adversaries, or merely stealing valuable objects unperceived. usually invisibility was conferred by an object or garment, such as a magic ring, stone, cap, shoes, or cloak. such magic possessions were sometimes assoc

k legend, the hero perseus, who slew the gorgon, had magic shoes that carried him through the air, in addition to a cap of invisibility. in the ancient sanskrit story book kathasaritsagara (ocean of story) of somadeva, the brahmin gunarsarman becomes invisible by putting a magic ointment on his eyes, and is thus able to penetrate the camp of king vikramaskti. the cloak of invisibility is known in folktales throughout europe, and even in the apache indian legends of america, where child-of-the-water gets a cloak from lizard, enabling him to get near to the monster buffalo without being seen. in arthurian legend, the king himself had a cloak of invisibility. the motif-index of folk-literature (1932.36) compiled by stith thompson lists 28 magic objects that confer invisibility, including a st

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

may identify the mhorag monster, since the waters of the loch are crystal clear. but as of the mid-1990s, no clear evidence of mhorag has been produced. sources: campbell, elizabeth montgomery, and david solomon. the search for morag. london: tom stacey, 1972. clark, jerome. encyclopedia of strange and unexplained phenomena. detroit: gale research, 1993. robertson, r. macdonald. selected highland folktales. north pomfret, vt: david and charles, 1977. michael an archangel whose hebrew name means he who is equal to god. he is mentioned in the book of daniel as a character in daniel s visions who is a prince of persia contending for the hebrew people. after the hebrews returned to palestine from their exile, they began to develop their doctrine of angels. seven archangels, including michael a

n s creativity, especially american children s creativity. the creation tales, specifically, are short and vivid enough to attach in a child s mind and therefore aid in their creativity. today, the religious make-up of polynesia is largely catholic and protestant, with some traditional beliefs and myths incorporated into the christian ideology. sources: black, sharon. using polynesian legends and folktales to encourage culture vision and creativity. childhood education 75 (september 1, 1999: 332.35. gall, timothy, ed. polynesia. worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life. vol. 3. farmington hills, mich: the gale group, 1998. guerreiro, antonio. the pacific: the coming of the ancestors. unesco courier (december 1997: 14. long, max freedom. recovering the ancient magic. london, 1936

d. chicago: saint germain press, 1934. ransom, josephine. a short history of the theosophical society. adyar, madras, india: theosophical publishing house, 1938. saint germain. violet fire: the torch of freedom s holy light. portland, ore: universariun foundation, 1983. raj-yoga math and retreat encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 1276 rakshasa an indian demon. in one of the indian folktales he appears black as soot, with hair yellow as the lightning, looking like a thunder-cloud. he made himself a wreath of entrails and wore a sacrificial cord of hair; he gnawed the flesh of a man s head and drank blood out of a skull, thus adding him to the list of the world s vampires. in other stories, these rakshasas have formidable tusks, flaming hair, and insatiable hunger. they wande

or water spirits, kindly to people on shore but somewhat treacherous in their own element. another water spirit was the likho, the slavonic polyphemus, a dreaded and terrible monster. the leshy was a wood demon, norka was the frightful lord of the lower world, and koschei was a kind of ogre whose specialty was the abduction of princesses. witchcraft the witch was frequently mentioned in slavonic folktales, especially among the southern slavs. she was called vjestica (masculine viestae, meaning originally the knowing one or the well-informed one. in dalmatia and elsewhere among the southern slavs the witch was called krstaca, the crossed, in allusion to the idea that she was of the horned race of hell. it was said that it enraged the witches so much to be called by this word that when they

s necessary to enable him to transform himself into various animal and human forms. s. baring gould, in his book of folklore (1913, states that in such cases the consequence of a spell being cast on an individual required him or her to become a beast or a monster with no escape except under conditions difficult to obtain. to this category belong a number of so-called fairy tales that are actually folktales. wherever the magical art is believed to be allpowerful, one of its greatest achievements is the casting of a spell so as to alter completely the appearance of the person on whom it is cast, so that this individual becomes an animal. one need only recall the story in the arabian nights of the calendars and the three noble ladies of baghdad, in which the wicked sisters are transformed int

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

ey had known persons who saw the wreckage. analysis of metal samples allegedly of the airship, however, proved it was an aluminum alloy of fairly recent vintage. there is no reason to believe that a martian died in aurora, texas, late in the nineteenth century. still, the legend inspired the 1985 film aurora encounter, a low-budget et set in the old west, and it remains one of texas s more exotic folktales. see also: allingham s martian; brown s martians; dead extraterrestrials; dentons s martians and venusians; hopkins s martians; khauga; martian bees; mince-pie martians; monka; muller s martians; shaw s martians; smead s martians; wilcox s martians further reading chariton, wallace o, 1991. the great texas airship mystery. plano, tx: wordware publishing. cohen, daniel, 1981. the great ai

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

peasant of this day hears the noise of it, he says' de wode tilt (zieht/ adelung sub v. wiithen; so in pomerania and holstein* wode jaget/ w. hunts (p. 15g. wuotan appears riding, driving, hunting, as in norso sagas, with valkyrs and einheriar in his train; the pi'ocession resembles an army. full assurance of this hunting wode's identity with the heathen god is obtained from parallel phrases and folktales in scandinavia. the phenomenon of howling wind is referred to osin's waggon, as that of thunder is to thor's. on hearing a noise at night, as of horses and carts, they say in sweden* oden far fvrhi^ in schonen an uproar produced perhaps by seafowl on november and december evenings is called odens jagt^ in bavaria they say nacht-gejaid or nachtgelait (processio nocturna, schm. 2, 264. 514

t yule-tide, when there is much carousing. if you hear them come, you must get out of the way, or throw yourself flat on the ground^ and feign sleep, for there have been cases of' guro rvsserova= gudrun horse-tail' suppl' quia mors secus introitum delectationis posita est' eegula benedicti, cap. 7^ conf' manes ridere videns' in the waltlarius loio. as on p. 922: a precaution prescribed in all the folktales (bechstein's thiii. sag. 4, 234 and frank, sag. 1, 57. it is practised in italy when hot winds blow. 946 spectees. living men being dragged along with the moving mass. an upright man, who takes that precaution, has nought to fear, save that each of the company spits upon him; when they are gone, he must spit out again, or he will take harm. in some parts, this ghostly array is called aas

nd guarded. indicated by the re-appearance of those vanished heroes and white dames; indicated and watched by dogs, snakes, dragons. also the flickering flame (wavcr-lowe, p. 602) or the flower in bloom bewrays it, and swarming beetles (p. 694) are a sign of it (see suppl. to get into the mountain in which it is concealed, one usually needs a plant or root to clear the way, to burst the door. the folktales simply call it a beautiful wonderfloiver, which the favoured person finds and sticks in his hat: all at once entrance and exit stand open for him to the treasure of the mountain. if inside the cavern he has filled his pockets, and bewildered at the sight of the valuables, has laid aside his hat, a warning 972 teanslation. voice^ rings in liis ear as he departs 'forget not the best' but i

tund. 51, 17. diabolus in effigie hominis nigerriini, caasar heisterb. 7, 17. der swarze hellewirt, ms. 2, 254. der hellewirt der ist siuarz, parz. 119, 26. der helle- io, walth. 33, 7. der helsce more, fundgr. 1, 25. der hewe-grdve, anegenge 39, 46. as a dark colour hides, the evil spirit gets the name of the hidden, the secret: os. dernea wihti (spiritus latentes, hel. 31, 20. 92, 2. but in our folktales he is also indicated as grayman, graymanikin, conf. graa told, dan.y. 1, 169. 180, which reminds of wuotan and of berhtold; i therefore lay stress on the fact, that as berhta and berhtolt hand empty spindles (pp. 274-9, the mark legend tells exactly the same of the devil' you must not spin of a thursday evening, for the evil one would throw an empty spindle into your room, and call out

4, who with his tail drew the third part of the stars from heaven^ it is in this biblical sense that our old poets call the devil sjange, hellewurm, lohengr. 141, heuetracke, mart. 141; but there also went with it an inkling of the native superstition about venomous fire-spitting worms, treasure-guarding dragons (p. 978) and wondei'ful serpents (p. 684. as a dragon the devil appears in numberless folktales, e.g. deutsche sag. nos. 520. 858. here i draw particular attention to that fairytale, in which it is variously the devil, or the dragon, or the bird griffin, that has feathers plucked out of his tail in his sleep, kinderm. nos. 29.57. 165. norske folkev. 1, 31 33. mailath's magyar, m. 1, 179. the dragon of misfortune dogs mankind, and one whom everything goes against will say' on all my

e, and are devils. medieval poetry is full of such statements. i have shewn in ch. xxxi the way in which wuotan, distorted into a wuotunc and wutende (furious) inmter, appearing at the head of the wild host, was made a devil of (p. 920. that is why the devil is called helle-jager, mart. 62^ 174' er rnscme als der tiuvel in dem rore' msh. 3, 187 'als in (him) der tiuvel ya(/e^e' livl. chr. 96. our folktales make him either ride a hlack steed, or drive in a magnificent car (mone's anz. 8, 184) like wuotan and like donar. devil's geandmothee. 1007 wuotan was known as the god and inventor of gaming, and of dice in particular (pp. 150. 160: it was he that gave the allwinning die to player jack in the fairytale. but very commonly dice-playing is ascribed to the devil, in folktales he looks on at

s diaboli, thieps hand, engl, devil's hand or deadman's hand, nethl. doode mans hand, oude mans hand, fr. main de diahle, main de ladi'e, de larron, conf. forneotes folme, p. 240. lycopodium clavatum, devil's claw; euphorbia, devil's milk; clematis vitalba, devil's thread; scabiosa succisa, devil's bite, boh. cert-hus; adonis, devil's eye; convolvulus arvensis, devil's gut, etc, etc- probably the folktales of an earlier time knew the exact reasons of such names, conf. superst. i, nos. 189. 190. 4-7g. the thunderbolt, the elf-shot, was also called devil's finger, pp. 179. 187 (see suppl^ caterpillars, through shedding their skins, becoming pupje, and gradually changing from creeping and dead-like creatures into flying ones, have something uncanny, ghostly in them- hypericum perforatum, cjer

en' occurs already in ls. 3, 72, he receives such names as jungling, junlcer, schonhans, and feather-ornaments or wings are a favourite ascription, hence the names feder, federhans, federling, federhuscli, weissfeder (white-f, straussfeder (ostrichf, strausswedel(-plume, qrilmoedel. of all the names confessed by witches, none is commoner than flederwisch (voigt's abh. 62-8-9. 105-9. 113. 129, but folktales give that name to kobolds (jul. schmidt 158, and carousers in their cups used to drink 'to all flederwischen (franz. simpl. 1, 47. 57: by flederwisch we mean the end limb of a (goose) wing, used for the purpose of dusting, hence kelirwlsch also occurs as a devil's name, aptly denoting the rapid whisking to and fro of a spirit. then again proper names of men are in great request, especial

o p. 74. the devil is reported to have said, there was but one cure for the kuga, that was mattock and hoe, meaning burial (vuk sub v. metil. a finnic song (schroter 60) adjures the plague to take herself away to steely mountains in the gloomy north: saddle-horse and carriage-horse shall be given her for the journey. she is called rutto, the sudden, like our mhg. gahe tot. in l. germany they have folktales about the heidmann (heath man) who peeps in at your loindow at night: any one he looks at then, must die within year and day; just so does berhta look in at the window (p. 274, so does death (p. 772. in tyrol too they tell of a ghost that goes about at the time of one's death: whatever window he looks into, people die in that house, ds. no. 266. in the lausitz smertnitsa in white array p

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

when he wished to speak to his chum oden at hersmala two or three miles off, he went up a neighbouring hill hogatoft, from which you can see all over ydre (widegren s ostergotland 2, 397. the first of the two names is apparently the on]?umbi (stultus, inconcinnus, conf. p. 528, but the other is that of the highest god, and was, i suppose, introduced in later legend by way of disparagement. german folktales make such giants throw stone hammers and axes to each other (deut. sag. no. 20, which reminds one of the thundergod s hammer. two mines living, one on the bberstein, the other on homburg, had but one axe between them to split their wood with. when the eberstein hime was going to work, he shouted across to homburg four miles off, and his friend immediately threw the axe over; and the cont

aking bread. it was an ancient custom to stick swords or knives into a tree standing in the middle of the yard (fornald. sog. 1, 120-1; a man s strength was proved by the depth to which he drove the hatchet into a stem, ra. 97. the jumping into the blue lake savours of the fairy-tale, and comes before us in some other narratives (kinderm. 1, 343. 3, 112. but, what deserves some attention, swedish folktales make the divine foe of giants, him that hurls thunderbolts and throws hammers, himself play with stones as with balls. once, as thor was going past linneryd in smaland with his henchman (the thialfi of the edda, he came upon a giant to whom he was not known, and opened a conversation: whither goes thy way? i go to heaven to fight thor, who has set my stable on fire. thou presumest too mu

ine, and see nothing bad, nothing fiendish in it: zezhulice sits on the oak, and bewails the passing away of spring, koniginh. ms. 174. the servian kukavitsa was once a maiden, who wept her brother s death till she was changed into the bird; sinia (gray) kukavitsa, yuk 3, 66; three women turned into kukavitsas, vuk 1, no. 321. in songs of lit. russia still a moping melancholy bird; and in russian folktales we have again a young girl changed into a cuckoo by an enchantress (gotze s serb, lieder, p. 212. of small birds, the swallow has been mentioned, p. 672. frau nachtigall is often named by our minnesingers; but the myth, that her children are born dead and she sings them alive, seems not of german origin. the lark and galander (crested lark) must have been actors in the animal legend ofte

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

nds at buto contained a floating island or why amun could be shown with a ram s head. these are not unlike the kinds of tales told to gullible tourists by unofficial egyptian guides at the monuments today. the bizarre legends herodotus relates about some egyptian kings, such as a tale of king mycerinus (menkara) raping his own daughter and burying her inside a cow, may have reflected contemporary folktales. the egyptians had a long tradition of telling unflattering stories about past kings. between 404 and 343 bce, several dynasties of egyptian-born kings were able to keep the persians out of egypt. the three kings of the thirtieth dynasty instituted a style of art and architecture that was to continue under their foreign successors. a thirtieth dynasty mythological text about the reigns o

1. see richard b. parkinson, individual and society in middle kingdom literature and types of literature in the middle kingdom, in ancient egyptian literature: history and forms, ed. antonio loprieno (leiden and new york, 1996, 137 156, 297 312. 32. the text is translated by richard b. parkinson in the tale of sinuhe and other ancient egyptian poems 1940 1640 bc (oxford, 1997),166 199. 33. in his folktales of egypt (chicago, 1980, hasan m. el-shamy argues that book stories and oral folk stories develop in parallel, but he cites a number of crossovers. 34. for translations of these tales, see appendix: primary sources under p. westcar. 35. the story is translated and discussed by hans goedicke in the story of the herdsman, chronique d gypte 45 (1970: 244 266; and by parkinson in the tale of

s the story occurs in few sources, it cannot be seen as a very important part of the mythical cycle, but the names of the sun god recorded in the story reflect the kind of theological speculation found in new kingdom hymns to the creator. gaining power over a supernatural being by discovering its secret true name is a constant theme of egyptian magical and funerary texts and a common motif in the folktales of many cultures. the true name of ra. the story begins with a statement by serqet that the creator made heaven, earth, the waters, the breath of life, gods, people, small and large cattle, reptiles, birds, and fishes. deities and people were both ruled by the creator in his identity of ra. he appeared in many forms and was known by many names, but none of these was his true name. this n

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

at a particular angel or group of angels have the specialized task of meting out death. only in postbiblical literature does the idea of an angel of death as such emerge. this angel gradually develops into a demonic figure who begins to act on his own initiative. by the time of the talmud, the angel of death was identified with satan, and the notion of an evil angel of death was reflected in many folktales and in many folk practices associated with death, burial, and mourning. for instance, one commonly known bit of folklore is that it is impossible to die in the midst of studying torah. the many folktales associated with the angel of death fall into roughly three categories. in the first group, which we might call tales of horror and magic, the stubborn and cruel angel of death is a kind

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

adition to the alfablot. in recent scandinavian folklore elves are important as supernatural nature beings in danish and icelandic tradition. see also asir; alfablot; alfheim; volund references and further reading: two readable treatments in english are those of jon hnefill a.alsteinsson, gfolk narrative and norse mythology, h arv 46 (1989: 115.122 (reprinted as ggiants and elves in mythology and folktales, h in jon hnefill a.alsteinsson, a piece of horse liver: myth, ritual, and folklore in old icelandic sources, 129.139 (reykjavik: haskolautgafan, 1998, and lotte motz, gof elves and dwarfs, h arv 29.30 (1973.1974: 93.127. 110 norse mythology eyrgjafa one of nine giant mothers, perhaps of heimdall, listed in hyndluljod, stanza 37 (part of the gshort voluspa h. see also heimdall; hyndluljo

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

roviders. other scholars see in this myth the navajo cultural theme of a complementarity of the sexes. it was a woman s adultery that caused the trouble, but in the end both sexes suffer from the separation and reunite, realizing they need each other. either way, as with all myths, this one reflects the history and culture of the mythmakers. anthropologists have also found that origin myths, like folktales and other oral and written literature, are commonly structured through binary oppositions pairings of contrasts such as good and evil, male and female, culture and nature. the account in genesis abounds with such binary oppositions earth/heaven, dark/light, night/day, land/sea, man/woman, to name a few. anthropologist claude le vi-strauss considered that binary oppositions are so common

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

nd his wife condwiramurs. he has a twin brother, kardeiz, who inherits parzival s earthly thrones, while lohengrin inherits his spiritual ones. act ii of the opera siegfried by aubrey beardsley (1872-98) lohengrin s prohibition against being questioned about his name and background recalls cupid s warning to psyche not to attempt to look on his face (see pp. 34. such a taboo is common in european folktales, and can be found in stories of marriage to magical swan maidens, with which the original lohengrin story may have been connected. lohengrin this illustration shows the end of act 1 of wagner s opera, lohengrin. at this point lohengrin has mysteriously arrived and beaten friedrich in combat, clearing elsa of the dreadful charges made against her. siegfried and the nibelung treasure siegf

became the wind, and his voice the thunder and lightning. finally, pan gu s fleas became humankind. the eight immortals 118 the eight immortals the taoists venerate eight immortals who, through piety and virtue, have achieved eternal life. they have nothing in common apart from their immortality, and lived at different times in history, but they are usually depicted in a group, although myths and folktales attach to each of them individually. they live with the gods in the kun lun mountains at the center of the earth. here, they feast and amuse themselves in the gardens of the jade emperor, the supreme ruler of heaven, where the magical peach-tree of immortality grows. every 1,000 years, they are invited, together with the gods to eat the peaches at a great feast given by the jade emperor

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

has grown in popularity in modern times. perhaps the most famous is jala l ad-d n ar-ru m, often referred to as simply rumi (1207 1273. rumi, who wrote in persian, is best known for his mystical poems. his major work is the masnavi, a title that means spiritual couplets (a couplet is a two-line poetic verse. written in three volumes, the book contains more than 25,000 lines of poetry. it includes folktales, fables, parables, philosophy, and lyrical poetry. his subjects include the saints of islam, commentaries on the qur an, and mystical interpretations of a wide range of subjects, both religious and nonreligious. the masnavi is the most widely read poem among muslims. in fact, among muslim texts, it is regarded by some as second in importance only to the qur an. it is sometimes even calle

otion. some read almost like love poems to jala l ad-d n ar-ru m 182 world religions: biographies allah, but many readers believe that they were written as much in honor of shams as they were to allah. jala l s major work is the masnavi (spiritual couplets (a couplet is a two-line poetic verse) written in three volumes, the book contains more than twenty-five thousand lines of poetry. it includes folktales, fables, philosophy, lyrical poetry, and parables, which are simple stories that illustrate moral or religious lessons. the book s subjects include the saints of islam, commentaries on the qur an (the sacred text of islam, and mystical interpretations of a large number of subjects, both religious and nonreligious. the masnavi is the most widely read poem among muslims. in fact, among mus

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

ding to celtic lore, arthur helped stave off invasions by angles and saxons, germanic tribes that subsequently conquered britain in the fifth century. arthur became more established as a historical figure during the 1100s, when a book written by geoffrey of monmouth (c. 1100.1154, history of the kings of britain, included details of his heroic reign. much of geoffrey fs material was gathered from folktales and contains historical and chronological inaccuracies. however, geoffrey fs work was popular and was translated from its original latin into french (by a poet named wace) around 1155 and into middle english (by a poet named layamon) a few years later. between 1160 and 1180, the french poet chretien de troyes (fl. 1170) wrote five major works about arthur and his knights based on history

books, 1968. avalon avalon is the place where the legendary king arthur was taken after receiving mortal wounds in battle. although it is a mythical place, there are sites on which avalon may well have been based. avalon is mentioned in a widely read text in history of the kings of britain (1138, written by geoffrey of monmouth (c. 1100.1154. part fiction, part history, and partly based on celtic folktales, geoffrey fs work was the first popular source to depict the exploits of king arthur, a leader believed to have ruled in britain during the fifth or sixth century. that era falls within the dark ages, a period after the roman empire retreated from northwestern europe and the area was assailed by invaders from eastern europe and scandinavia. not much is known about the history of that per

THE GOD OF THE WITCHES

ave driven them out of their old haunts, there would be no feed for their beasts asin the old days. to paraphrase sir thomas more "the sheep ate up the fairies. more's remark was written in1515; by the time shakespeare began to write two generations at least had passed; the fairies were no morethan a memory, believed in partly as human beings, partly as little people on whom were fathered all the folktales2424horrible, pretty or comic2424which were current. from this medley shakespeare drew his inspirationwith far-reaching results.the theory that the fairies began as the neolithic folk is supported by the irish tradition of thetuatha-da-danann, who are the same as the english and continental fairy-folk. they were "greatnecromancers, skilled in all magic, and excellent in all arts as builde

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

queen, but the king is much less prominent than the queen, and perhaps less powerful. this is not true in all the accounts of fairies, but it is so in the majority of tales. shakespeare's play a midsummer night's dream (c. 1595, in which king oberon and queen titania rule fairyland together as equal partners, does not reflect the countless encounters with the fairy queen that occur in more simple folktales. sometimes the queen is met on the road mounted upon a fine white horse, accompanied only by her hunting dogs, as she appeared to thomas learmont of ercildoune, who went with her to fairyland and there acquired the occult knowledge that caused him to be remembered by sir walter scott as the "merlin of scotland" at other times she passes by travelers in a splendid procession, composed of

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