Mythology and Folklore

Le Chat Botte ( Wikimedia ) Reading Notes Week 15 EC: Lang’s European Fairy Tales 1, Part A Puss in Boots: · Apparently talking cats in this world are normal, but if I have learned one thing in this class it is that myths often do not include much description in the form of explanation · Puss in Boots would have been a cool trickster to have Reynard go up against. · Monsieur Puss has a very funny sound too it · Insane also that they just let this magic cat right in to see the king · This is an interesting story for a trickster though as it appears the cat is only performing tricks to the benefit of his master, will be interesting to see if this changes. Typically tricksters work for their own self gain, maybe an altruistic trickster? But I suppose he would also benefit if his master became rich · Kind of aggressive for the cat to threaten these people into supporting his cause, seems out of turn from what he had been doing. Maybe a little m

Thor ( Wikimedia ) Storylab Week 15: Thoughts from the Watch: Crash Course videos · Cool explanation of mythology as a blend of all these different fields. Good from to think of it facilitates understanding of certain aspects that may not make sense · Myths are old, that’s what makes them cool! They’ve withstood the test of time because they are essentially · Was about to finish that last thought and then they discussed the idea that we have no idea what exactly myths are which makes more sense · Interesting how they point out the blurry line separating religion and myth early. But I like that they do this because whether you believe in a particular religion or not I think it’s something important to consider particularly in consideration of how that religion came to be what it is today and what role religion and myth both play as evolutionary mechanisms. · They did a good way of approaching that line though and explaining they are talking about m

Witchcraft ( Wikimedia ) Reading Notes Week 15: Russian Folktales, Part B The Witch Girl: ·         Right off the bat the people are audacious. Creepy start. ·         And it only got crazier with a death woman walking around town and forcing people to get into coffins if she looks into their house at night. Insane setup ·         Not sure what to make of this line: Never fear, master! ‘Without God’s will, no pig gets its fill!’” Might have to do some research on that. ·         This Cossack has some insane bravery to just be cutting a witch’s arm off who kills everyone with a shaker. ·         This is an intense witch story that I’m not sure if even Salem stories could match. I like this story and there is potential here for retelling by adding more detail and exposition to the crazier parts. Possibly even telling the story through the witch’s perspective, or the mother’s perspective. Could also add more dialogue to drive the plot rather than manly action p

Goat ( Wikimedia ) Reading Notes Week 15: Russian Folktales, Part A The Dead Mother: · I could learn a thing or two about creating titles that draw interest from this story · Story is short and to the point. It is comprised mostly of descriptive action prose, might be interesting to add a bit more embellishment. I like how direct it is right now but I think there could be a significant amount of detail added. Particularly at the end. · The ending is great and really shocking with the dead baby as well. I think this ending deserves some expansion. Some interesting ways to take it could be that the mother never really died. Could also be that the mother is sentient or “alive” still. I like the creepiness of it and the fact that the baby is dead too adds to the gruesomeness of the story. Could tone it down by making it ghost mother and baby lives. Could also intensify the terror by having the mother bring take the baby with her. Many possibilities. The Treasure