#FolkloreThursday: `#Fairies were not evil. However, they were amoral, not tied to the moral and ethical demands of humanity. They were merely playful troublemakers rather than devilish opponents. They commonly tried to lead travelers astray. This was a minor inconvenience and could be quite frightening, but even without protection, the #fairy eventually grew bored with the trick and released the ensnared human.
More seriously, the fairies attempted to lure useful or attractive people into the #Otherworld, to do their bidding until released.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

The Complete Norwegian Folktales and Legends of Asbjørnsen & Moe. The most comprehensive edition ever. The whole collection appears for the first time in English.

Paperback editions, or .pdf files for less than half the price. Details here: https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/the-complete-norwegian-folktales-and-legends-of-asbjornsen-moe

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

"Uncle Remus might well have heard of him, for some of El-Ahrairah’s adventures are those of Brer Rabbit. For that matter, Odysseus himself might have borrowed a trick or two from the rabbit hero, for he is very old and was never at a loss for a trick to deceive his enemies."
― Richard Adams, "Watership Down"

I have uploaded .pdf copies of both editions of The Complete Norwegian Folktales and Legends of Asbjørnsen & Moe to ko-fi, where they are now available for purchase at less-than-half the cost of the Amazon paperback books.

Details and links on my Website here:

https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/the-complete-norwegian-folktales-and-legends-of-asbjornsen-moe

I think you should choose the annotated edition; here’s what you get:

1. Three chunky volumes (815 pages, 617 pages, and 665 pages).

2. Original prefaces from eight editions.

3. Jørgen Moe’s substantial introduction to the folktales, in which he discusses the origins of folk narratives, and how the Norwegian material exemplifies his ideas.

4. All 122 folktales Asbjørnsen & Moe published during their careers.

5. 28 hulder tales and folk legends, a genre Asbjørnsen defined, in which he embeds the legends of the hidden folk.

6. Approximately 350 illustrations by some of the most accomplished artists Norway has known, including Hans Gude, Erik Werenskiold and Theodor Kittelsen.

7. Asbjørnsen & Moe’s notes on the folktales, which detail the variant(s) the collectors used to compose each folktale, sketch out other variants they collected, and compare the Norwegian folktales with similar traditions from other regions.

8. Newly-researched editor’s notes, which identify the collector responsible for the composition of each text, give collection data, including tale type, geographical origin, collector, informant, and date of collection, sketch biographical details of informants, where known, give previous publication and translation details, trace historical and literary sources, and draw attention to points of particular interest.

9. Editor’s prefaces to each volume, which trace the publication history of the original volumes represented, as well as previous translations.

10. Comprehensive – perhaps even exhaustive – bibliographies to each volume.

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

Ilmarinen the Smith Goes Courting

Ilmarinen the Blacksmith never grew tired of hammering. One day, as he was putting some iron in the forge, a maiden came to his smithy. She stood upon the threshold and called out to the Blacksmith: “If you knew what I have to tell you, Ilmarinen the Blacksmith, you’d not put that iron in your forge.”

Read the whole #folktale, which is inspired by #Kalevala, on this #KalevalaDay.

https://norwegianfolktales.net/folklore/ilmarinen-the-smith-goes-courting

#folktales #legends #folklore #nordic #folklorethursday @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday

Extreme weather in Nordic lore is caused by Thurses, chaotic nature spirits that cause great shifts in the natural world. These include Jotnar, the giants, and if the name isn't obvious, Thor himself: Thor's mother is the Earth. #FolkloreThursday

: T. A. Sahsnotasvriunt

Lots of things you've always wondered about #Norwegian #troll #illustration (#Kittelsen, #Werenskiold, etc.)

A video by Kim Diaz Holm, who draws a pretty mean troll himself.

https://youtu.be/7yvUdUX2mlQ

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday

#FolkloreThursday: `While in Judeo-Christian cosmology heaven is usually seen as the abode of the dead and of the divine forces, the #Celts located both in the #Otherworld, which could be found out to sea, under a hill, or in an invisible universe parallel to ours, but never in the sky.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

In #JapaneseFolklore nobusuma are bats that live to very old age & then transform into #yokai. They eat nuts and fruit like regular bats but also feed on fire & blood sucked out of humans or animals. They prey on travellers, swooping down from trees, extinguishing fires and... #FolkloreThursday 1/3

What happens next?

Erotic folktales from Norway

https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/erotic-folktales-from-norway

#norwegianfolktales #eroticfolktales #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

Erotic folktales from Norway are like no tales you've read before.

https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/erotic-folktales-from-norway

#norwegianfolktales #eroticfolktales #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

Erotic folktales! Get your erotic folktales here!

https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/erotic-folktales-from-norway

#norwegianfolktales #eroticfolktales #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

I have published an updated edition of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen’s retelling of what presumably is a folktale, “The Three Bears, or, The Visit in the Bears’ Cabin.” Illustrated by H. Krüger. Brief afterword included.

€1.49 from my Ko-fi shop.

https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/the-three-bears

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

Enough! Let's bankrupt Amazon, one book at a time.

I have new plans for my books, outlined in a new blog post. Take a look.

https://norwegianfolktales.net/2025/02/15/rethinking-publication

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon

As it is St. Valentine's Day tomorrow, and no doubt there will the usual nonsense about how it was either invented by card companies or an ancient Roman werewolf festival, here's the real origins - https://www.hypnogoria.com/folklore_valentines.html

In #JapaneseFolklore tomorokoshi no obake are deformities in ears of corn that transform them into #yokai. Temperature fluctuations can cause abnormalities in the corn, often resembling eyes, mouths or fur. These were once attributed to spirits that, while harmless, were... #FolkloreThursday 1/2

Here is the reason I refuse to have a side hustle.

Hustle (verb)
1. push roughly; jostle.
2. obtain illicitly or by forceful action.
3. engage in prostitution.

Hustle (noun)
1. a state of great activity.
2. a fraud or swindle.

(Definitions from Oxford dictionaries.)

In fact, I appear to have turned my back on the idea of exhausting myself by producing a constant stream of promotional material, and posting it to every online platform under the sun, disregarding how much money my content allows the most anti-social people on earth to make off my back, in the scant hopes of a sale. It would be a foolish waste of my time, attention, and energy that is better spent translating and writing more books.

The books are out there, but I am not going to try to manipulate people into buying them. That said, if you want to buy books full of amusing, silly, dark, strange Norwegian folklore, lovingly translated into English, please take a look at my stuff: https://norwegianfolktales.net/books/. If you don't even take a look, that's OK, too.

Yes, my books are available on Amazon, making one of the chief arseholes of the world money, but at least Amazon’s POD outfit is an honest business transaction: they offer a service unavailable elsewhere, and I purchase that service. (Other aspects of Amazon meet the definition of hustle above.)

#norwegianfolktales #norwegianlegends #folklore #folklorethursday #folktales @norwegianfolktales @folklore #fairytales @folklorethursday #bookstodon #antiCapitalism

I hope your Sunday is as good as it may be.

Despite being the firstborn Olympian in Greek mythology, Hestia is the quietest and humblest of them. She is the goddess of the hearth and home, tending the fireplace while others adventure. Hestia gave her throne to the young god Dionysus because there wasn't space for a new throne.

Sailors considered polydactyl cats (cats with extra toes) to be good luck charms.

They thought the extra toes gave the #cats better balance on the rough seas, making them better mousers and contributing to safe voyages.