Questions tagged [folklore]
A traditional body of stories and customs about supernatural beings within a culture.
39 questions
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Boy slowly turns to stone in late 80’s/early 90’s teen fantasy
I keep thinking about a novel I read when I was a young teenager or tween in the early nineties. It starts with a family on holiday, the son is the hero of the novel, meets a girl and gradually gets ...
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British or Celtic folklore fantasy book from the 80s
Searching for a book I read in the 80s. It featured Fae/fairy woodland type characters, one of which had a torn wing. They lived in a forest that was slowly shrinking as the modern world encroached on ...
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Does the idea of a human being tricking demons (a bit like Constantine) come from folklore or some particular story predating Hellblazer?
A few years ago, I started reading the Hellblazer comic-book series, and while I enjoyed it a lot, I felt that the concept of a human being tricking demons (something the character Constantine is ...
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From what horror film does this clip of a man flying behind another originate?
I recently watched Woodlands Dark & Days Bewitched, a documentary on the folk horror genre. It features clips of over 100 films, not all of which are flagged up to the viewer.
Toward the beginning ...
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From what horror film is this clip of a grey-skinned, clawed hand emerging from a tree root?
There are a lot of film clips used in the folk horror documentary, Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched: A History Of Folk Horror, and as far as I can tell, not all them are identified for the viewer.
...
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Teenage boy transported to Medieval Ukraine
I read this in the late 1990s. A teenage boy in New York is transported (possibly by entering something like an Anderson shelter) to the middle of the woods in what turns out to be medieval Ukraine.
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Book of Irish fairy stories, including a story about a girl who rescues her father from selkies after he harms one
When I was young I often listened to books on tape during car rides. One that I have fond memories of was an audiobook with a collection of Irish folk/fairy stories. I was hoping someone would know ...
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YA Book about a Banshee
When I was in middle school ( 2012ish?), I read a book that had a young girl as the main character. The young girl had come from a line of banshees. She screams when she is by someone who will die/...
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Were elves inspired from Celtic/Irish mythology or Germanic mythology? [closed]
Celtic mythology has the Tuatha Dé Danann, druids, Arthurian legends, Camelot and Summer Isles of the Divine, things associated with wood elves.
Germanic mythology has light elves (Ljósálfar) who ...
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Movie about Koschei the Immortal
I remember watching what I think was a Soviet or some other Eastern European movie about the mythical Koschei the Immortal. It was in color and ended with the characters finding Koschei's soul inside ...
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Russian Horror/Fantasy Film with magical constructs as farm labourers
A film, I'm 95% sure was Russian. I watched it within the last two years and I got the impression it was not very old, say post-2015.
Filmed in colour.
The scene I remember was a raggedy creature that ...
user83948
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YA Fantasy Anthology featuring folklore legends in original stories - 80s-90s
I'm looking for YA fantasy anthology from the late 80s, early 90s. I'm pretty sure the cover was black. It featured stories that were based on regional/ethnic folklore. One story that stood out for me ...
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Folklore and mythology in The Witcher's bestiary [closed]
The Witcher's world has a very rich bestiarium.
For example the arts of a vampire:
Higher Vampire
Alpor
Katakan
Moola
Bruxa
Nosferat
Ekimma
Fleder
Garkain
Plumard
Or the Necrophages:
Abaya
...
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Why do Vampires have to be invited into your home? [closed]
Why do vampires have to be invited into your home? Is there a specific reason, or is it just some random thing someone made up?
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Japanese Wedding Chant from Ghost in the Shell
What more is known about the Japanese mythical and folk origins of the Wedding Chant in Making of Cyborg and Reincarnation, the main theme songs of Ghost in the Shell?
Making of Cyborg is the amazing ...
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Voldemort and Koschei the Deathless [duplicate]
I love the Harry Potter books and movies, and I love all kinds of Folklore and Fantasy as well.
I thought the Potter book's concept of Horcruxes sounded familiar but I couldn't pin it down. The idea ...
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French folklore: giants trying to raise a ladder into Heaven to overthrow God
In Frédéric Mistral's epic poem, Mirèio, is the following short passage (Canto VIII, "La Crau", stanzas 25-28, English translation by Harriet Waters Preston):
Then was revealed La Crau, the ...
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Is there an identifiable origin for the association of minotaurs with battle axes?
I was playing an old video game today, and I had to kill an minotaur armed with a battle axe. Afterward, I thought to myself, Minotaurs in fantasy imagery tend to carry axes a lot. I wonder where ...
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Who is the skeleton in the black robe in the Hellboy story "Darkness Calls"?
In "Darkness Calls", Baba Yaga and Koku are sitting at the tree with the skull lamps watching Hellboy fight Koschei and with them is a skeleton wearing a black robe and hat, that looks similar to the ...
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What’s the origin of the Weird Sisters in Macbeth?
The use of a trio of witches is quite common in literature and lore. Greek, Slavic, and British tales have used them as antagonists or catalysts in their (sometimes cautionary) stories. In other ...
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In-universe, is Gesar the same person as the central Asian folk hero?
The head of the Moscow Night Watch in Sergei Lukyanenko's Watch series is named Gesar. When I asked about why the Russian name Гесер (Geser) is transliterated to English as Gesar, I learned about the ...
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Character identification: folklore villainess with a coat made of live animals
I think I remember hearing something about some snow queen who had a coat made of live animals; like it was just a bunch of stoats or ferrets or something clinging to her, maybe plus a fox as a stole. ...
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What was the origin of the idea that dragons can take human form?
Everything I knew of dragons as a child involves them being huge lizard-like beings, usually with wings. Most fairy tales and popular fantasy works (such as the Hobbit) follow that pattern.
I've ...
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Ending of Song of the Sea
In Song of the Sea, where did Saoirse's mother go at the end of the movie, what would have happened if Saoirse went with her, and would Ben and Saoirse ever see their mother again?
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Spider demon in Japanese folklore that feeds on human beings [closed]
Details: I am positive it does appear in Japanese folklore, it is some type of spider demon that feeds on human beings, and it could either be a centaur type creature with a woman's torso or straight ...
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Who or what is Mr. Mighty?
In the comic Spider-Verse #2, one of the tales follows Anansi. I'm vaguely familiar with Anansi, as an African trickster god, and was able to find some information on Shango, who appeared in the story....
user1027
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Can Slenderman be harmed by ordinary weapons like knives and guns?
I'm moderately familiar with the two Slenderman games on PC, in which the player can't do much besides run away and shine a flashlight at things.
So I was wondering: In the broader Slender Mythos (...
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What kind of creature is a "Foliot"?
In the high fantasy novel The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison one of the many kingdoms are the Foliot Islands. The leader of these people is the Red Foliot.
What kind of creature is a foliot? From ...
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Poem or short story: silver cocklebur(r)?
Does anyone know of a short story, or possibly a poem, that involves a silver cockleburr?
The story has a fairy tale vibe. I think the protagonist is a young woman. There's somewhere she's not ...
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Why are bastards named "Snow" in Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series?
I have read up to the third book, so the answer may be far ahead in the series, but I have always wondered if there is a reason or a story on the vast lore that explains why giving the last name Snow ...
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Where did the idea of living toys, dolls, and dummies come from?
Where is the first use of a self animated doll, dummy or toy, in fiction or legend?
user22021
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Where did the idea of vampires procreating by sharing blood originate?
In modern vampire fiction, it is almost universally true that vampires are created when a vampire drains a human of blood, then forces/entices/allows the human to drink blood from the vampire in ...
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Where does the lore about salt and ghosts originate?
I have watched Supernatural through season seven and always thought the salt thing was particular to the world of "Supernatural." I have not watched or read a lot of "ghost stories."
While watching ...
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What are the main World of Warcraft books?
I have been playing WoW for years now, and I enjoy the history and story lines within the game, but find it difficult to really follow all the various character developments and motivations. Is there ...
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Is being a Time Lord a dominant trait?
Is there anything referenced in Dr. Who and any other related species that shows that being a Time Lord is a dominant trait? I remember watching an episode where Dr. Who started out as a John Smith, ...
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Why are broomsticks associated with Witches? [duplicate]
It's a given. Witches ride flying broomsticks. Why? How did brooms become a part of their bag of tricks?
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Why didn't Cinderella's shoe vanish?
Everything Cinderella got by magic would last until 12 midnight. After she noticed that it was almost 12, she dropped the dance with prince and ran away (and lost one of her shoes at the palace).
At ...
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Are the supposed names of beasts/wesen in Grimm based on folklore or history?
Are the supposed names of beasts (or "wesen") in the television show Grimm based on folklore, history, or are they made up for the show?
Examples:
Blutbaden
Reinigen
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What is the earliest literary appearance of zombies?
I guess I have no doubt that zombies are part of the human imagination, and that they would simply spring up in our dreams even if we'd never heard of them. But I'd still like to know what the ...
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