Andrew Elaryan's Mythology and Folklore Blog

What is Myth? I loved the Slurpee simile to start off the series, as it is important to acknowledge that there are so many concepts that go into myths that the subject has to be looked at holistically. Myths are also not just important because of the stories themselves. Arguably, the interpretation is just as, if not more, important, and can be affected by societal and cultural factors. As myths are often older stories, there is also the aspect of translation and language barriers which may cause interpretations of the same story to differ depending on the language. Myths which we are concerned with are significant, in that they explain something important in the natural world or carry a moral message, and have staying power, which is evident by the fact that we are even studying those stories thousands of years in the future! Theories of Myth The most interesting part of this video, for me, was the explanation of similarities between myths in different cultures. I have found...

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900). The Terrapin's Escape From The Wolves Persimmons: First of all, before I even read the story, I have to shout out persimmons. The stories mention that the Possum and the Terrapin go out together to look for persimmons. Persimmons are the most underrated fruit of all time. They bring a combination of a very firm texture and high sweetness that is rare in many other fruits. Personally, I have them EASILY in my top 3, but I have a lot of friends who have never even had them! Cross-section of a persimmon. Source:  Wikipedia Ears As Spoons: All I have to say is I really hope the Terrapin washed those ears before using them as spoons. Also, that is pretty dang disrespectful, but at the same time, the wolf started it. I am not sure which side I'm on yet. Terrapin Shell: I like how the story explains why terrapin shells are patterned the way they are. The shell broke when he was thrown into the water and hit a ...

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900). How The World Was Made Story Idea: In this story, the water beetle goes down into the vast ocean from the sky to explore. He brings up some mud from the ocean floor which expands to create the earth. My idea, however, is to have the earth's surface already exist. I'll have the Water-beetle go down to the surface as a dare, but when he gets there he finds out that land is pretty cool. It's definitely a lot easier to stand on than the soft, mushy clouds. Eventually, all the animals come down to land and decide to stay there. Perhaps I could add in a small ending bit about the animals wanting to go back up, but the birds can't carry them back because they have all gotten fat and lazy. Mountains: Being from Virginia, it is cool to have seen the mountains that the Cherokee were talking about being molded by the wing flaps of a Great Buzzard. In the story, the Buzzard's wings were able to create mountains and val...

"I don't know, honey, this seems dangerous..." "Oh hush, darling, trust me we'll be fine. Have I ever let you down before?"  Mr. Tanuki grabbed his flashlight and peeked around the corner. It was almost midnight and time for another one of his heists. The mission was simple: sneak into the jewelry store under cover of darkness and take whatever they could fit in the bag. The jewelry store had just moved into the city from the next town over and had made the mistake of bringing over some of their inventory before the security system was fully installed. Mr. Tanuki, of course, would take advantage of this. The store was fairly protected from the outside. Standard camera setup, barred windows, motion detectors, the whole nine yards. The inside, however, did not have these same cameras and motion detectors yet, so it was only a matter of finding a way inside. A classic break-in would be futile and certainly leave evidence. However, the ventilation sys...

The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901). The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903). Greed: One thing that I've noticed in the stories that I have read so far this unit is that greed is never rewarded well. Usually, the reward for greed is death. This is shown in The Crab and the Monkey  but is also apparent in The Envious Neighbour and The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue .  How the Wicked Tanuki Was Punished Tanuki: I have actually seen a tanuki in real life at the zoo! It was really cute and looked like a mix of a fox and a ferret and a raccoon. Although the one that I saw looked nice and cute, these stories show that a lot of them can be evil in Japanese folklore! A tanuki, the Japanese "raccoon dog". Source:  Wikimedia He Kind of Forgot: Wait... so the tanuki's son just kind of... forgot he could do magic? This is giving me major Game of Thrones Season 8 flashbacks. How do y...

The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903). The Stonecutter Grass Always Greener: I love how the story comes full circle. He wishes for all these things but simply ends up being a stonecutter again in the end. It also shows that there is no absolute scale of "mightiness". Just like rock paper scissors, there are different advantages that certain entities have over one another, but none is all-powerful. Rock Paper Scissors diagram. Source:  Wikimedia Not Granting the Wish: I wonder if there is a story where the spirit or genie just does not want to grant the wish. That could be because it is something bad and the genie tries his best to prevent it, or it could just be a wacky wish and the spirit is trying to look out for the person wishing. This may be an interesting topic to think about or a potential story. Personability: I think making the spirit of the mountain more personable would add to the story. In a lot of the Arabian...

I am pretty happy with my progress so far. Admittedly, I missed a few assignments early on, but as I've gone along in the course I've definitely found my rhythm and fallen into a routine. The grace period is really useful because there are a lot of times when I may be working late into the night doing homework and could use some sleep to get the creative juices flowing again In the future, I absolutely want to start getting assignments done ahead of schedule. My plan is to work a little bit over spring break and get a lot of my reading done. That way, I can focus on the creative portions of the class during the week with a bit less stress. Shia LaBeouf's "Just Do It" motivational video. Source: Flickr