For those wondering how Sneaky Spy is going: I'm learning things.
19th-century author Charles Mackay proposed in The Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe (1877) that the seemingly meaningless string of syllables "Fa fe fi fo fum" is actually a coherent phrase of ancient Gaelic, and that the complete quatrain covertly expresses the Celts' cultural detestation of the invading Angles and Saxons:
Fa from faich (fa!) "behold!" or "see!"
Fe from Fiadh (fee-a) "food";
Fi from fiú "good to eat"
Fo from fogh (fó) "sufficient" and
Fum from feum "hunger".
Thus "Fa fe fi fo fum!" becomes "Behold food, good to eat, sufficient for my hunger!
I am not sure I believe Mackay's theory, but I am also now firmly on the Giant's side in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Also? "Covertly"? Mackay, the next fucking line is "I smell the blood of an Englishman"!
9 favorite books I read this year!!! (but I only managed to finish 17 and I'm in college😶🌫️🌟) Lowkey liked lolly willowes better than one of these but the pic wouldn't save💔very good book though
@sweetwolf4evr requested a story from the Cherokee Nation this time, a shared community we both belong to, so I was so happy to have a few on hand. (Although, this one is a little short and a little disturbing. TW for consent issues, as I believe this would fall under Thomson Motif D1900 "Love Induced by Magic")
A man was in love with a woman who disliked him and wanted nothing to do with him. He tried every way to win her favor, but with no success. At last he grew discouraged and made himself thinking about it.
Mole came along and finding the man so low in mind, asked what the trouble was. The man told him the whole story and when he had finished, Mole said: "I can help you. Not only will she like you, but she'll come to you of her own free will."
That night, burrowing underground to the place where the girl was asleep, Mole took out her heart. He came back and gave the heart to the discouraged lover, who couldn't see it in the dark, even in his own hand. "There," said Mole. "Swallow it and she will be so drawn to you that she has to come."
The man swallowed the heart, and when the girl woke up she somehow thought of him at once. She felt a strange desire to be with him, to go to him immediately. She couldn't understand it, because she had always disliked him, but the feeling grew so strong that she was compelled to find the man and tell him that she loved him and wanted to be his wife. And so they were married.
All of the wise men and women who knew them both were confused and wondered how this had happened. When they found that it was the work of Mole, who they always thought was too insignificant to notice, they were angry and threatened to kill him.
That's why Mole hid under the ground and still doesn't dare to come up.
A dark one for sure, but not all of the world's stories can be completely happy. This story dates back quite a while, but this particular edition was collected in the late 1800s.
This is another animal story, though it's less of an origin story and more of a lesson in paying attention, even when something or someone seems insignificant or unimportant.
The ATU, or Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index is a cataloging system used by folklorists to classify folktales based on plots and motifs. It contains over 2,000 types of folktales and was originally a much smaller list collected by Antti Aarne, a Finnish folklorist, and later expanded on by American folklorist Stith Thompson, whose work was even further expanded upon by Hans-Jorg Uther.
As always, requests for specific or area-specific stories, folklore, and mythologies can be made at any time in my asks. You can also be moved to the head of the line by becoming a Patreon!
The recurring folk tale type that I think mostly comes up in central Europe and like also South Asia maybe? That's like prince is a serpent but undergoes painful physical transformation into being a beautiful boy is like incredibly gay and transgender what's up with that . folk tale type snake prince I love you ...
Tickled by how many of these old Coyote stories would make great Looney Tunes shorts. My favorite so far has him trying to trick a giant talking meatball into letting him eat more and more of it by lying down in the road in front of it and pretending to be dying of hunger. The meatball eventually catches on
under the cut is a list of all werewolf media (books, film, and tv) for my upcoming.. project thing. i thought i'd post publicly for fun. i crossed out what i've seen and read before, but i might have to re-read/watch a few. i'll also sort short stories into their own category later when i find enough, and add other categories for stories from folklore.
film
an american werewolf in london
the wolf of snow hollow
underworld
teen wolf (film)
red riding hood
cursed
blood and chocolate
ginger snaps
ginger snaps back
howl
werewolves within
wolfwalkers
wer
bloodthirsty
jack & diane
good manners
the wolfman (original)
the wolfman (remake)
skinwalkers
late phases
an american werewolf in paris
bad moon
silver bullet
when animals dream
wolf
the company of wolves
november
books
blood and chocolate
shiver trilogy
the dark divine trilogy
twilight
the devourers
sisters red + sequels
fangs
walking wolf
those across the river
the wolf hunt
the tattooed wolf
what big teeth
the wolf's hour
when we were animals
moon dance
cycle of the werewolf
the last werewolf + sequels
mongrels
lobizona
hemlock grove
little nothing (?)
welcome to hoxford
the wolf gift + the wolves of midwinter
the nightwalker
red moon
the pack
nightbitch (dogs, not wolves, but i'm counting it)
In the early 1970s, hundreds of Americans petitioned Congress to make the square dance our national folk dance.
One petitioner praised square dancing as “a clean, wholesome way to enjoy associating with other people in any part of our land.” Indeed, the petitions came from all over—from New York and California, from Kentucky and Idaho, from as far away as the territory of Guam.
Many of the petitioners were affiliated with local, regional, or state square dance clubs or associations. The petition above came from Bill Burke, a member of the Polka Dots.
His fellow petitioners were from the Silver Buckles, Krazy Daizies, Ankle Knockers, See Saws, Curli Qs, Circle Squares, Surf Twirlers, Peat Dusters, Highland Hillbillies, Stanislaus Stumblers, Bootjack Stompers, and Squarenaders, not to mention the Squares & Flares, Boots & Bloomers, Skirts & Flirts, Swing Ding Dandies—and others too numerous to mention.
Since the early 1970s, 32 bills or resolutions elevating the square dance to national folk dance status have been proposed. Most of these attempts went nowhere. In 1982, a joint resolution designating the square dance the “national folk dance of the United States of America for 1982 and 1983” was passed. Come 1984, however, America was once again officially dance-less. Hearings on the matter were held that year, but no further action was taken on the bills then under consideration.
The most recent legislative attempt to honor the square dance was the 2003 Promenade Act. It garnered 29 cosponsors but died in committee without coming to a vote.
Square Dance Petitions Received by the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, Committee on the Judiciary, 93rd Congress, Records of the U.S. House, Record Group 233
