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Posted by: Kerry Ward
From atop one of the most sacred places in our country, a soldier walks his 21 steps, halts, turns to face our nation’s capital and pauses for 21 seconds. As we close out this chapter of the year, I can’t help but reflect with gratitude on a recent event that the Veterans History Project (VHP) …
Posted in: Myths, Narratives, Oral History, Storytelling, Veterans Day, Veterans History Project, Vietnam War, World War I
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The popular essay often known as "You Are Quoting Shakespeare," suggests that many common phrases have their origin in Shakespeare's works. This post shows that most of those phases were proverbial folklore, known well before Shakespeare's time. It suggests that attributing them to Shakespeare is a form of what Stephen Jay Gould called a "Creation Myth," and that the credit for many of the phrases should go to ordinary speakers of English. It argues that part of Shakespeare's greatness lay in his ability to use such phrases to create natural dialogue.
Posted in: Metafolklore (Folklore about Folklore), Myths, Proverbs, Shakespeare
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
According to Hindu mythology, there is an unseen “planet” out there in the form of the head of a serpent god, Rahu Ketu. This god wanted to gobble up the sun. To prevent this Vishnu cut off his head. The head, Rahu, and the body, Ketu, became two entities out there circling the Earth (in …
Posted in: Animals, Beliefs, Hispanic American History, Myths, Native American History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
When I was a kid, March signaled kite-flying time. A girl between two boys, I did what my brothers did, and the three of us would go to a large field near our home where kites had less chance of winding up in a tree. We flew diamond shaped kites that my mother favored, or …
Posted in: Games, Legends, Material Culture, Myths, Proverbs, Toys
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson and palaeontologist Sir Arthur Smith Woodward of the British Museum (now the British Natural History Museum) announced the startling discovery of an ancient human ancestor in Sussex in December 18, 1912. The skull of what Dawson named Eoanthropus dawsoni (Dawson’s dawn man), which came to be popularly known as the Piltdown Man, …
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
The 19th century saw an explosion of interest in sea serpents as well as other mysteries of nature in the United States and Europe. This was the dawn of an age when legend met science with the idea that science could solve ancient mysteries. One could say that we are still in that age, although …
Posted by: Stephen Winick
If you’re curious about modern holiday beliefs and calendar customs, you might be reading or doing research about them online. Chances are, you come across some stories that the presenters claim are ancient, and reach into the pre-Christian past. One popular story you might have seen recently involves the origin of the Easter Bunny. Essentially, …
Posted in: Animals, Easter, German Americans, Jacob Grimm, Legends, Myths, Narratives, Religion, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The Easter Bunny, like Santa Claus, is the bringer of gifts on a popular American holiday. Throughout the country, the swift little creature is said to deliver decorated eggs to children on Easter. In some variants of this story, the bunny is even said to lay eggs, presenting a challenge to biology teachers everywhere! So what’s the story on this odd tradition? Let’s take a look. We'll examine claims that the Easter Bunny is related to a pagan goddess, Eostre or Ostara. We'll also look at the origin of the Easter Bunny in Pennsylvania Dutch and German traditions, including the Easter Hare.
Posted in: Animals, Easter, Easter, German Americans, Holidays, Jacob Grimm, Legends, Myths