Adorkable Randomness

Heya, I'm Hope. I'm a big nerd about a bunch of things, and this is where I go to express it. - Age 30, She/Her, Polyromantic Asexual - Definitely has been here too long. If you're a mutual, feel free to ask me for my Discord so we can keep in touch.

[otherworldmythology]

Blodeuwedd

In the Math fab Mathonwy, the last of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes is cursed by his mother to never have a human wife. The magicians Math and Gwydion used their abilities to create a woman from flowers (meadowsweet, oak, and broom), the most beautiful anyone had ever seen, and named her Blodeuwedd (flower face). Though she was married to Lleu she fell in love with the lord of Penllyn, Gronw Pebr. The two plot against Lleu, however the only way he can be killed is through extremely convoluted circumstances. She tricks her former husband into doing just that, and Gronw harms him with a spear, causing him to turn into an eagle and flea. Gwydion chases after Blodeuwedd and uses his powers to change her into an owl, the bird hated most by other birds. To this day the owl is often called Blodeuwedd.

Pantheon: Welsh

Domain: Owl, origin myth.

Alternate Names: None

Character Traits: Somewhat villainous.

Visual Traits: Not given specific traits, but is made out of the meadowsweet, oak, and broom flowers.

Symbolism: Owl, meadowsweet, oak, broom.

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

Blodeuwedd

In the Math fab Mathonwy, the last of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes is cursed by his mother to never have a human wife. The magicians Math and Gwydion used their abilities to create a woman from flowers (meadowsweet, oak, and broom), the most beautiful anyone had ever seen, and named her Blodeuwedd (flower face). Though she was married to Lleu she fell in love with the lord of Penllyn, Gronw Pebr. The two plot against Lleu, however the only way he can be killed is through extremely convoluted circumstances. She tricks her former husband into doing just that, and Gronw harms him with a spear, causing him to turn into an eagle and flea. Gwydion chases after Blodeuwedd and uses his powers to change her into an owl, the bird hated most by other birds. To this day the owl is often called Blodeuwedd.

Pantheon: Welsh

Domain: Owl, origin myth.

Alternate Names: None

Character Traits: Somewhat villainous.

Visual Traits: Not given specific traits, but is made out of the meadowsweet, oak, and broom flowers.

Symbolism: Owl, meadowsweet, oak, broom.

Sources: 1 2

[sab3rtooth]

patterns left by woodworms on driftwood

[onenicebugperday]

PLEASE search "beetle gallery" and look at images. The patterns larval beetles leave behind under the bark of trees while feeding are so so beautiful

[dappermouth]

And then you had that dream again.

[adhdandcomics]

smuckers v trader joe’s uncrustable lawsuit my roman empire. normally i couldn’t care less what two greedy food empires attack each other over BUT as the evil sandwich monopoly claims intellectual theft or whatever (note: smuckers did not create the uncrustable, this invention was sold to them by the og creators) what truly gets me is that the lawsuit declares that trader joe’s turn over their complete crustless sandwich inventory to be destroyed (and their profits but idgaf about that).

the corporate need to not only halt the sales of the sandwiches, but actually destroy goods, and fucking food for that matter, over something as trivial as “copyright dilution” makes my stomach turn. obviously not the first nor the last example of this kind of thing and not even the most egregious, (i mean, there’s only so much nutrition that goes into a freezer pbj) but it’s just inconceivable to me. (plus my personal stake in it which is that the trader joe’s sandwiches are objectively tastier and i like them better.)

anyway, all this to say, i hope trader joe’s rips smuckers dick off. but not for profit. need i also disclose that trader joe’s is in turn also greedy union-busters engaging in coercion and retaliatory firings.

[otherworldmythology]

Laverna

For the lower class sometimes stealing was all that was left, desperate times call for desperate measures. With a libation poured with the left hand they would pray to a particular goddess, Laverna. She comes from the precursors to the Romans, the Etruscans, originally a spirit of the underworld. She is patron of thieves, monetary gain, and the shadows. She had a sanctuary near the Porta Lavernalis, a gate on the northern side of the Aventine Hill. She also had a sacred grove on the Via Salaria, a road connecting Rome to the Adriatic Sea. She additionally had a mountain sanctuary atop Mount Penna in Tuscany, known as La Verna.

Pantheon: Etruscan, Roman

Domain: Thieves, darkness, fortune, the low class, wealth, underworld, deceit.

Alternate Names: None

Character Traits: She protected thieves and the lower class.

Visual Traits: None described, no current monuments or statues known.

Symbolism: None

Sources: 1

[otherworldmythology]

Brigid

Child of The Dagda and wife of Bres, she is one of Ireland's most notable and powerful goddesses. Her sphere of influence attributes to just how powerful she was, for she was worshiped for just about everything from the elements to the Sun to poetry to warfare. She oversaw the plight of women especially as well as domesticated animals. Through Bres, who had Fomorian kinship, she had a child named Ruadán who was slain in combat, and upon seeing him she is credited with being the first to invent keening, or funeral wailing. She was patron of the filí, a high class of poet-seers. Sometimes she is said to be three "Brigids", one a goddess of poets, one a healer, and one a smith, sometimes attributing the common triple goddess aspect to her. In a similar fashion she is sometimes equated with the figure Bríg Brethach, said to have written the Bretha Bríg in favor of women's laws. Most notably she is often said to be the inspiration for Saint Brigid of Kildare, one of the three saints of Ireland, who has many similar traits such as poetry, healing, protection, livestock, and flames.

Pantheon: Irish

Domain: Protection, healing, light, fire, hearth, handicraft, prophecy, divination, keening, poetry, writing, speech, smithing, hearth, the Sun, light, cows, sheep, pigs.

Alternate Names: Brigit, Bríg.

Character Traits: Primarily a healer and beneficial goddess who embodies several positive traits.

Visual Traits: In modern art she's shown as a woman with red hair dressed in white or green.

Symbolism: Flames, Brigid's cross.

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

Criminel - Kriminèl 

Often called Mèt, Baron, or Djab, he is one of the more unpredictable Petwo lwa to work with, often counted among the Gede lwa as well. He is sometimes said to be the first man to ever commit murder who was put to death, now delegated to the punisher of other criminals and judgement upon misdeeds. As his name would suggest he is crafty but also violent, many fear calling him down to the chwal as he is known to be violent toward them and others nearby, either hurting himself or trying to hurt them. He is considered hard to work with and a lwa who wants a high price, often pigs or bulls. Though violent he can also, like all lwa, be of benefit, and in his Baron aspect he is sometimes said to guard graves like the other Gede lwa. He is counted among the djab, often called 'devils' though they are more like wild untamed spirits, which includes other lwa such as Lenglensou.

Pantheon: Vodou

Domain: Punishment, judgement, crime, violence, death, cemeteries.

Alternate Names: Baron Criminel, Mèt Criminel.

Character Traits: Violent and unpredictable, was a criminal in life.

Visual Traits: Often shown wielding a knife or whip, wearing a hat and/or suit.

Symbolism: Knife, whip.

Sources: 1 2 3

[otherworldmythology]

Cethlenn

She of the crooked teeth, wife of the Fomorian king Balor of the Evil Eye. By him she begets Ethniu, who begets the god Lugh. The Fomorians, long at war with the Tuatha Dé Danann, come to war with them at Magh Tuired. Cethlenn, a prophetess, warns her husband of his inevitable defeat during this battle, but still they fight. Balor comes to be slain by his grandson Lugh when he uses a sling to gouge out his eye, but during the battle Cethlenn also participates and manages to wound The Dagda, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann's greatest assets, with a thrown javelin before she herself falls.

Pantheon: Celtic

Domain: Prophecy

Alternate Names: Caitlín, Cethleann, Ceithlionn, Ceitleann Chraos-Fhiaclach, and many other variations.

Character Traits: No traits are precisely given other than her nickname, "of the crooked teeth", and her killing of The Dagda.

Visual Traits: None, though the Fomorians are described as dark or monstrous.

Symbolism: None

Sources: 1

[otherworldmythology]

Baba Yaga - Баба-Яга

The witch of the woods, one of the most famous characters in Slavic folklore. It is said she lives far off in the Faraway Tsardom alone in a hut that walks on rooster feet, her nose so long and vile that it touches the opposing wall inside. She flies around most often in a mortar with a broom to sweep away her tracks as she moves. She appears in many stories, sometimes as a rancid witch who eats her visitors such as in The Maiden Tsar and sometimes as a helpful crone such as in Vasilisa the Beautiful. Sometimes she may even appear as multiple witches all named Baba Yaga, and she may also present with daughters or sons who are equally as vile. Other regions can be found with similar characters leading scholars to believe they all derive from a similar source.

Pantheon: Slavic

Domain: Bogeyman, magic, wilderness, evil, multiplicity, nature, weather, cannibalism.

Alternate Names: Iaga Baba, Kostyanaya Noga (Bony Leg), S Zheleznymi Zubami (With Iron Teeth), appears with several different epithets and names.

Character Traits: Is most often an evil figure who eats children, but in some tales is helpful to the hero.

Visual Traits: Usually an old disgusting woman with a long nose who flies around in a mortar, wielding either a broom or pestle.

Symbolism: Mortar and pestle, broom, chicken hut.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

[otherworldmythology]

Bakasura - बकासुर

A rakshasa who lives in the forests near the town of Garhbeta in the Mahabharata. He protects the village people with the caveat that they must deliver food to him in a cart every week, upon which he'd eat the food and the cart driver. The hero Bhima is the one who ultimately comes face to face with him. He sneaks by night to Bakasura's dwelling and eats his provisions, waking him, and the two fight by uprooting trees and using them as weapons. Bhima eventually kills Bakasura by snapping his spine and his family, upon seeing his corpse, vow to never eat human flesh again.

Pantheon: Hindu

Domain: Gluttony, cannibalism.

Alternate Names: Baka, Bakasur

Character Traits: Gluttonous and mean, a cannibal.

Visual Traits: Described as ugly with red eyes and a furrowed brow.

Symbolism: None

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

Bake-kujira - 化鯨

A yokai from western Japan, described as a skeletal white whale. In one legend from Shimane Peninsula the fishermen spotted the unusual creature which swam up to them, accompanied by unusual birds and fish, before all of them retreated back out to sea, leaving the fishermen to tell the tale of the ghost whale. Some modern retellings of the myth attribute disaster and doom as following the spirit around and that it needs to be appeased, either as retribution for whaling practices or simply a spirit of disease.

Pantheon: Shinto

Domain: Death, oceans, disease, destruction, whales, doom.

Alternate Names: Hone Kujira/Bone Whale (骨鯨)

Character Traits: Said to bring disaster with it.

Visual Traits: A skeletal whale devoid of all flesh, followed by 'strange' birds and fish.

Symbolism: Birds, fish, whale skeletons.

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

Bastet - bꜣstt

Primarily a goddess of protection and of cats, a symbol most important to the Egyptians. She was worshiped predominately in Lower Egypt at Bubastis, originally a lioness and associated with the goddess Sekhmet who is sometimes said to be her more violent equivalent. Bastet is one of the many warriors of Ra who fend off the serpent Apep each night. She is also worshiped by women for fertility and protection during childbirth, as well as healing and possibly has an association with medicinal ointment. The killing of cats was seen as forbidden, however they were often mummified upon death and offered to Bastet.

Pantheon: Egyptian

Domain: Cats, protection, fertility, health, medicine, war, the sun, disease, women, passion, pleasure, dance, happiness, rulership.

Alternate Names: Bast, Ubaste, Ubasti, Bubastis, Ailuros.

Character Traits: Shown mostly as a protection goddess, had mostly positive and protective traits.

Visual Traits: Originally had the head of a lioness but became more depicted with that of a cat. She is usually holding an ankh, a sistrum, an aegis, and is possibly associated with alabaster.

Symbolism: Ointment and oil jars, cats.

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

Xolotl

Twin brother of the god Quetzalcoatl, as Quetzalcoatl is the light and morning star Xolotl is the dark and the evening star. In one of the creation myths the Fifth Sun did not move upon creation, prompting the wind god Ehecatl to slaughter the other gods as sacrifice for it. Xolotl, being a master shapeshifter, hid from him in the form of maize, maguey, and an axolotl, ultimately being caught in the end. During this tale he cries so much that his eyes fall out of their sockets. He also aided his brother in retrieving bones from Mictlan to make new life. Xolotl guides the sun through the underworld, Mictlan, in order to protect it from the dangers there. Symbolically he is tied to fire and lightning, but also to negative traits such as deformities and specifically twins, which were also seen as a deformity.

Pantheon: Aztec

Domain: Fire, lightning, death, psychopomp, disease, deformity, Venus, dusk, sky, wind, protection, underworld, twins.

Alternate Names: None

Character Traits: A protector mainly, though seen with negative possibly pitiful traits, the 'darker' half to his brother.

Visual Traits: Depicted most commonly as a dog (the xoloitzcuintle) with skeletal or emaciated features, sometimes bearing a torch, and sometimes with his limbs facing backward.

Symbolism: Dogs, skeletons, torches, deformities.

Sources: 1 2 3

[otherworldmythology]

Mbombo

In the mythology of the Kuba people of Central Africa there exists a primordial being named Mbombo, also called Bumba. He is a white giant who exists before all things in the primeval waters and chaos of the universe, and upon feeling a pain in his stomach he vomits up all matter. This includes the stars, the Sun, the Moon, the first people, and nine characteristic animals: Koy Bumba (leopard), Pongo Bumba (crested eagle), Ganda Bumba (crocodile), Yo (fish), Kono Bumba (tortoise), Nyanyi Bumba (white heron), Budi (goat), an unnamed beetle, and Tsetse (lightning). These nine animals created all other animals similar to them: the beetle made insects, the heron birds, and so on. Three of the first beings, Mbombo's sons, attempted to create other life as well. Nyonye Ngana vomited up white ants but perished in the process, Chonganda brought the first plant which created all other plants, and Chedi Bumba tried hard but could only create a new bird, the kite. Mbombo's last task on earth was showing humans how to create fire from the trees. The troublesome lightning, Tsetse, is finally chased into the heavens by Mbombo for her troublemaking, though she still appears from time to time to rend the earth with her flames. Loko Yima, his final son who is white in color like Mbombo, becomes the ancestor to all kings as Mbombo leaves the world in human hands.

Pantheon: Kuba, Bantu, Central African

Domain: Creation

Alternate Names: Bumba, M'bombo, M'bomba

Character Traits: He is shown as kind to humans and helps them, though in the end he becomes a distant god archetype who watches from afar.

Visual Traits: He is described as giant and white in color.

Symbolism: The nine animals, sun and moon, stars.

Sources: 1 2

[otherworldmythology]

La Llorona

A spirit from Mesoamerican and South American folklore, said to roam near bodies of water. Her tale varies but in almost all of them she is a woman who drowned her children, either after a jealous rage after seeing her husband with another woman, because the children are illegitimate, or because she is simply evil. She ultimately ends up drowning herself, but rather than going to meet them in the afterlife she is forced to roam the earth forever looking for them. Sometimes she is identified with the Nahua woman La Malinche, a slave and interpreter for the Spanish who aided them in their conquest, leading her to be seen as a villain in many stories. Children are told the story of La Llorona as a cautionary tale not to wander near bodies of water or go out alone at night, for she is said to steal them or try to drown them as well. She is noted for her lamenting wailing, "¡Aaaay, mis hijos!" (Oh, my children!) which she cries into the darkness.

Pantheon: American Folklore

Domain: Bogeyman, Children, Water, Vengeful Spirit

Alternate Names: Depending on the tale she is named as María, La Malinche herself, or many other names.

Character Traits: Her weeping and wailing is signature, and in some versions she attempts to whisk away or drown chidlren.

Visual Traits: Her only iconic trait is the white dress she is said to wear, though sometimes she is said to have black hair as well.

Symbolism: Water

Sources: 1

[aureentuluva70]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: one of the only few bad things about Tolkien's legendarium is that it makes 90% of all other fantasy worlds look either completely or somewhat mediocre in comparison.

Like, what do you mean you don't have a fictional language for your fantasy world? WEAKLINGS

[aureentuluva70]

This man right here gets it.

[farewell-to-lorien]

Yep, Tolkien's linguistic puns and translation jokes are legendary. Although it's not accurate to say the in-universe origin of the books is that an elf told the stories to Tolkien. Rather, Tolkien is translating them from a volume he found, written in Westron, called the Red Book of Westmarch. This contains Bilbo's book (The Hobbit), Frodo and Sam's additions to it, (LoTR), as well as Bilbo's translations of Elvish histories he encountered during his time in Rivendell (The Silmarillion). These were all in one volume and Tolkien himself made the editorial decision to publish them all separately. Even more fascinating, the Red Book is not even the original writings, which of course would have been lost by now to time and disintegration. It's actually a copy of the original, or probably a copy of a copy, multiple times removed. And it wasn't copied from the original, either, but from a copy that made it to Gondor where it was annotated and corrected. There's probably even more to its history that I'm forgetting, but yeah, even this kind of metatextual provenance was something Tolkien thought a lot about that very few writers even consider anymore. Which, of course, they're not obligated to; but the fact that Tolkien was even interested in that kind of thing just shows how above and beyond he went

[tuulikki]

Professors will do literally anything other than grade your exams (valid)