Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 6: The Rise of Villains

Do you find heroes boring and one note? Would you prefer to explore the darker side of humanity? Do you enjoy laughing with an evil flare? Do you miss the days when Disney Villains were actually intimidating?

Then you might want to explore THE RISE OF VILLAINS!

They are coming for you!

Except, there aren't a lot of villain stories in folklore and mythology, are there? I mean there are a few examples of villains having stories in classic mythology. There's the story of Medea who murdered her children, but is she really a villain or tragic character? Or what about the origin story for Medusa? All of the versions of the story I'm familiar with indicate that Athena punished her after being raped by Poseidon (basically the ultimate rape shame story I've ever read).

But I don't really think of Medea and Medusa as villains.

When I think of folklore and mythological villains, I think of that evil entity that needs to be defeated so that the hero can live happily ever after. They're sort of one note entities that only exist to do bad things and showcase what is not okay behavior in the society the story was written for.

Heroes defeat villains. Every Disney movie made before 2010 made this very clear.

Who wants to join Captain Hook's crew?

Some of the stand out villains that I can name from my childhood are Lord Voldemort, Ursula, Maleficent, Gaston, and Darth Vader. They are all evil and the heroes need to defeat them to end the story. Villains might be redeemed before the end (Darth Vader), but it's not always the case. The villain also might not be the central focus of the plot, but forces attention on themselves because they are the drama queen villain (Gaston and Ursula).

But what makes a villain, a villain? The Hero's Journey has been studied to death and it's still everywhere in popular culture. So what's the opposite? Is there a Villain's Journey?

The Internet answers that question with a solid yes.

And if you guys want a solid example of the Villain's Journey, look no further than the manga/anime "Death Note" (not the Netflix movie, it doesn't exist in my universe). It completely focuses on the transformation of Light Yagami from genius student to self declared god. His path to villainy almost perfectly mirrors the Hero's Journey with a few exceptions.

So here's my version of The Villain's Journey:

WARNING - SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME/MANGA DEATH NOTE - THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!

1. Ordinary World - Starting out in the ordinary world is essential to both the Hero's and Villain's Journeys. Light starts out as a normal extremely smart high school student. All of that changes on one fateful day...
2. Call To Adventure or The Temptation - Once again we see the similarities in the two Journeys. One random day, Light finds a strange book on the ground with weird rules about how he can kill someone just by writing their name in this book. This is the opening for Light to leave the Ordinary World and enter the Extraordinary.
3.  Skeptical of the Call - The first step that I think separates Heroes and Villains is how they respond to the Call To Adventure step. In Light's case, he doesn't reject the call, but he is skeptical of it. He's intrigued and wants to know more about what he's been presented with. He is tempted to answer the call, but doesn't really believe what he is being offered.
4. Meeting The Mentor - The two paths meet again at the mentor step. Much like Harry Potter has Dumbledore to guide him, Light has Ryuk. Ryuk was the one who dropped the Death Note Notebook in the first place, all because he was bored and wanted to know what a human would do with it. He tempts Light into using the notebook's powers and then guides him on how to best use them. He is entirely indifferent to how successful Light is because he can just find another human to mess with if Light proves to be too boring. Mentors don't necessarily have to be villains, but they often are. Mentors are often another challenge to overcome. Sometimes the villain has to kill their mentor to gain ultimate power or be killed by their mentor.
5. Embracing Temptation - Villains don't cross a threshold, so much as embrace their temptation. In the case of Light, it's when he chooses to use the Death Note and kill anyone who breaks the law. He will be the one to punish them, especially if the powers at be can't punish the criminals. He takes out mobsters, murderers, and thieves left and right all while believing he is doing the right thing. He becomes the mysterious killer known as Kira.
6. Addiction, Minions, and Adversaries - Heroes have tests to see how committed they are to their cause. Villains often find that their success comes naturally, almost too easily. They like this success, this power. It's thrilling and they want to keep feeling that thrill. It becomes an addiction. And unlike heroes, who find strength alongside their friends, villains don't need friends. They have minions. People who do things for them. Minions can be willing or unwilling. Some might be fanatical devoted fans of the villain. Misa's devotion to Light is unquestionable, neigh fanatical. She loves Light's alter ego, Kira, and will do anything to prove her love. Finally, there are adversaries. They're the ones who fight back against the villain. At first they're unsuccessful, like the police force and FBI agents looking for Kira. But then someone worthy shows up to challenge the villain. For Light, that worthy adversary is L.
7. The Point of No Return - This is the step where a villain truly diverges from the path of redemption and heroism. They might still think they are doing the right thing, but everyone else knows the truth. The villain has fully embraced evil. Light hits this point when he chooses to kill the FBI Agent, Raye Penber, and Raye's fiance, Naomi Misora. They weren't criminals. They hadn't broken the law. They were trying to find and arrest Kira. This is when Light showed that he didn't care who got in the way of his goals. He would kill them.
8. The Confrontation - This is when the villain is finally confronted by the hero or heroes. It could be the final show down, but it's usually not. This is when the villain is confronted by his greatest adversary. In my example, it's when Light and L start playing their games, trying to out do each other. Waiting for the other to slip up. 
9. The Conquest - Heroes have their rewards, villains have their conquests. Here's the biggest spoiler of Death Note, despite L being Lights greatest adversary and should be the one to defeat Light/Kira. He isn't. L is ultimately killed by Light. And Light becomes the god he always wanted to be.
10. The Reign of Terror - Villains ultimately end up in a high seat of power. We see this with Lord Voldemort, Darth Vader, and Light Yagami. Light through his alter ego Kira secures his power. He gets to decide who lives and who dies in his world. Crime virtually goes away. Some people see Light/Kira as a hero, someone who made the world a safer place. Others see the truth, that in reality, Light is an evil dictator who can choose to kill someone on a whim. What Light is doing is wrong.
11. The Resistance - This leads to the rise resistance against the villain. This is usually external, but there are cases where there is an internal resistance, such as if the villain is seeking redemption. New heroes rise to challenge the villain and remove them from power. Near and Mellow are L's successors. They are the new leaders of the resistance against Light/Kira. Though I didn't find them as awesome as L (as did almost everyone else who followed the series), they are the ones who will ultimately bring Light/Kira down.
12. End of the Villain - All villains will eventually be defeated. This is true of any story. Some villains end up redeeming themselves at the end of their stories. Most are either imprisoned or killed. Light is ultimately defeated by his own ego. He doesn't think as highly of Mellow and Near as he did L. This leads him to making mistakes and is eventually cornered. Ryuk, seeing that this is the end of his fun, write's Light's name in the Death Note, killing him. 

This 12 Step Guide is really just that, a guide. Villains are known for taking short cuts and finding the path of least resistance. But I think that you could take the journey that I've outlined above and find a way to apply to many different villain stories. Lord Voldemort would easily fit this outline, as would Darth Vader. 

Prince Zuko from "Avatar - The Last Airbender" would also be an interesting case to look at. He's one of those cases where chooses to redeem himself at the end of his journey to become part of Team Avatar. (Actually "Avatar - The Last Airbender" is probably one of the greatest examples of epic modern storytelling).

What makes Light such a cool villain isn't that he ever thought he was evil. He never once thought he was doing the wrong thing. He wanted a world rid of crime and he got what he wanted. Light thought he was a good guy, but he wasn't. He was the villain of his own story. 

Like I wrote above, most villains in classic mythology and folklore don't get a story arc. They are simply The Villain. But I can think of at least one example of the this journey in folklore and religion, that of the Fall of Lucifer. He is the ultimate villain for a lot of people and he had to have gone on some kind of journey to go from most beloved angel to greatest adversary to God.

Stories about heroes and villains have always been popular. They are the stories about good versus evil that we loved as children. Though they can be complex at times, they're usually fairly simple in premise. 

Villains teach us a lot of things. They show us how not to act. They show us what can happen when someone has ultimate power. And they can show us how someone who believes they doing good are actually evil.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Let me know if there's something you'd like me to cover in my series on Folklore and Mythology. I can't promise to work it in, but I'll try to get to it before I move on to a new topic.

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 5: The Path of Heroes

Happy 2018!

It's a new year and I'm still writing about Folklore and Mythology. And why not? Storytelling is in a fundamental part of our humanity. I don't think I know a single culture that doesn't have a culture of story telling. It's how we pass down our history, morals, and dreams to the next generation.

And wouldn't you guys know it, there was a documentary on mythology on Netflix that popped up the minute I got home. I watched all six episodes of Myths and Monsters in the span of two days. I wasn't super impressed that they only really focused on European mythologies, though. There are a lot of great myths from all over the world, but I digress.

The first episode of this series was about Heroes and Villains, specifically the Hero's Journey. The theory was first introduced by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (note to self: find a copy of this book asap). In it, he claims that most myths and legends about heroes follow the same 12 steps, known as the Hero's Journey.

The call of the adventure! Thank you Dr. Seuss.

The episode then uses Star Wars as an example of this journey. Since the latest Star Wars movie came out less than a month ago, I found this very appropriate. Star Wars has become a modern myth and the first three movies are a classic example of good versus evil often found in myths from our ancestors. Looking deeper at the stories I consumed as a child, I realized that there are many other examples of the Hero's Journey, including Harry Potter.

Since Star Wars has been used to death to show this journey, I'm going to use Harry Potter to showcase the 12 step program to become a hero. For the record the Hero's Journey is flexible and doesn't have to follow the steps as I have listed here. By the way, this will contain spoilers if you haven't read all of the books. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.

1. Starting off in the Ordinary World - Harry is in the Non-Magical World or Muggle World when we first meet him as an 11 year old boy.
2. The Call to Adventure - Harry is given a letter telling him he's been accepted to Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
3. Refusal to Answer the Call - So, I don't like the wording of this one. I wouldn't call it a refusal, so much as a hesitance to answer the call. For example, Harry has to go to school no matter what. He can't refuse to go to school. His refusal instead takes two different forms. The first is his aunt and uncle telling him that the whole thing is crazy and that he can't possibly be going to a magical school. The second is his aversion to being treated like a celebrity once he gets there.
4. Meeting the Mentor - Or in Harry's case mentors who are his teachers. Yes, Dumbledore takes a special interest in Harry because he's "The Boy Who Lived" and is the main mentor, but Lupin or McGonagall or Hagrid also mentor Harry from time to time. 
5. Crossing the Threshold - One can argue that Harry does this when he steps through the barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4 or when he sees Hogwarts for the very first time, but I disagree. I think that this moment happens the instant he is sorted into Gryffindor. This is when Harry makes his first active choice in the Wizarding World (no going to school doesn't count). He chooses to be placed in Gryffindor house over Slytherin. It's Harry's first decision and sets the tone for the rest of the series.
6. Test, Friends, and Enemies - Throughout Harry's time at Hogwarts he is constantly tested (inside the classroom and out) in his magical abilities. He always has finals at the end of the school year as well as one major battle against Voldemort or one of his followers that shows how much he's grown throughout that year. He also makes a lot of friends. Ron and Hermione are without doubt Harry's two best friends, but they aren't his only friends. By the end of the series he has so many people who are willing to fight for/with him that it could easily compare it to a Shonen Manga (think Naruto or One Piece). The same goes for his enemies, starting out with Draco Malfoy and leading up to Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters. For the record, I think this is the largest and most time consuming of this 12 step program.
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave - Despite the confusing name to this step, I think it's pretty clear which step this corresponds to for Harry and his Friends - the entire first two thirds of the seventh Harry Potter book. By this point in the series, things have become desperate for our hero. He can't go back to Hogwarts, a place that had always been safe in the past, and instead must find seven objects that must be destroyed so that he can vanquish Lord Voldemort for good. I'm sure others could argue that when Harry chooses to confront Voldemort in the woods one last time, but I think this takes away from the growth Harry has to go through in the seventh book.
8. The Ordeal - This is the metaphorical and occasionally physical "death" of the hero. For Harry, it's the first part of the Battle of Hogwarts. He's just put all of his friends in danger by returning to the school, found out that Dumbledore knew he was the final "object" that needed to be destroyed, and that he had to die so that everyone he loved would be able to live. The Ordeal ends when Voldemort ends Harry's life in a flash of green.
9. The Reward - Harry is allowed to chose whether he wants to live or die. I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, I was all for Harry choosing to die and finally be at peace. If this had happened, Neville or Ron could have stepped up to lead the final charge, creating a new hero for everyone to rally behind. It would have been a fitting ending, but not necessarily completed the Hero's Journey. Instead he chooses option two: to come back to life. His "reward" isn't just that he gets to make this choice. It also includes protection for his friends because he sacrificed himself to save them.
10. The Road Back - Basically when Voldemort makes Hagrid carry Harry back to Hogwarts. 
11. Resurrection - Part 2 of the Battle of Hogwarts. As Voldemort and his followers arrive back at Hogwarts, everyone thinks Harry is dead (his body is lying limp in Hagrid's arms after all). But then, Neville makes an amazing speech, rallying the remaining good guys. Voldemort responds by placing The Sorting Hat, while it's on fire, onto Neville's head. Neville pulls the sword of Gryffindor out of The Hat, allowing Harry to make his grand entrance as newly resurrected. This step ends when Voldemort dies when the curse he killed Harry with rebounds onto himself (this scene was so much better in the books).
12. The Return - Technically this step has a longer name, but I'm ignoring it. Harry defeats Voldemort, we're given a comforting scene in the Headmaster's Office with just him, Ron, and Hermione. Harry is at peace, but he's not the same 11 year old boy who started his journey. He's older, wiser, and ready to live a somewhat normal life in the Wizarding World. We're then given an epilogue 19 years later with Harry sending two of his children off to Hogwarts. It's the happy ending the fans wanted and JK Rowling gave us (ignoring the play that recently came out of course).

Well that was long and sure some of the Steps in this 12 Step Program to go on your very own Hero's Journey don't always align. Heck, Harry isn't the only one to go on the journey in this series. Neville also goes through it, even if we only see part of his journey (most of it takes place off screen during the 7th book). Cedric Diggory starts his own, but is tragically killed before he can complete it. 

And Harry's journey doesn't exactly fit the steps as they are presented. I had to make a few examples fit and arguments could be made for different events in Harry's story to be used. 

This also isn't the only way to define how a hero is made. It's just a theory (more like a pattern) that was noticed by the scholar, Joseph Campbell. It's heavily skewed towards European myths and legends. Though there are examples of this pattern showing up in the ancient world outside of Europe, it isn't a general rule. I would argue that the story Journey to the West (as I remember it) doesn't quite fit this mold. The story of David and Goliath could also be considered a Hero's Journey story and doesn't seem to fit the pattern (again, I'm going off of memory...it's been a while since I read it).

Harry's story is both modern and ancient. It's unique and new, while giving us a sense of familiarity. His story pushes our cultural boundaries, while also passing on a story telling tradition that goes back thousands of years. Fitting, as JK Rowling is a fan of classical literature. 

My point is, the heroes I am most familiar with in both ancient mythology and modern stories, often follow similar journeys to become a hero. It's a pattern that some of us really like and can easily identify with. 

Because if we know the 12 Step Program to becoming a Hero, we might be able to follow it and become Heroes ourselves. Now wouldn't that be a dream come true.

Next week, we'll look at a slightly different journey: The Villains Journey.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week! Muahahahaha!

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 4: Life After Death

Happy New Year everyone - let's talk about death!

Or at least the stories associated with death because there are a lot.

Confused about why I chose this topic as my kick off to 2018? That's alright, I'm often confused by where my mind goes when it's left to wander around without a focal point to focus on. But I've been traveling around the Internet (and received a request to look into the myth of Sisyphus - basically the story of a guy trying to get out of dying) and stumbled upon a ton of mythology and folklore about that unknowable experience that is death and the afterlife.

I'm not really surprised by the number of stories associated with death, the afterlife, and dealing with the dead. It's one of the greatest mysteries about life. What happens after we die?

There are a lot of theories. The atheists I've talked to all say that there's nothing after death. Basically we just go poof. Reincarnation is another popular possibility and one I favor (one life time is just too short to experience everything this world has to offer). However, places such as underworlds seem to pop up a lot in the different mythologies and religions I'm most familiar with.

Growing up as a Protestant Christian, I was taught that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell. My Catholic relatives might have talked about Purgatory on occasion (and were a little confused as to what happened to the Souls there when the Papacy no longer recognized it), but it wasn't really part of my belief system.

Of course, Christianity isn't the only religion in the world and doesn't have a monopoly on afterlife doctrine and it has gone through a number of changes over the years. There are a number of influences from Greek and Roman mythology (*cough Hades *cough), not to mention Norse mythology (*cough Hel *cough).

In fact, one of the most famous depictions of Christian afterlife, Dante's Divine Comedy, could easily be described as gratuitous self-insert fanfiction. Sadly, these aren't my words, I stole them from Overly Sarcastic Productions (I might reference this YouTube channel a lot in this post).

I could go on about the many depictions of Heaven and Hell (like I've written in all my posts about Folklore and Mythology), but that would create a sub-series into this series and I would prefer to avoid doing that. I also don't want to just list off the many different afterlife places that ancient people said they were going to. That would take forever and require more research than I'm willing to put into this post.

With that written, I want all of you reading to take a quick detour to YouTube to watch this video on underworld mythology and this one about a guy kidnapping death by Overly Sarcastic Productions (see, I told you guys they'd be referenced again) you can get a quick overview of a few myths I've been looking into. I'll wait for you to come back...

My general feelings on underworld and death mythology is that it's trippy as all get out. They have two basic flavors such as when one member of a loving breeding couple dies tragically or someone doesn't want to die, captures death, and causes tons of problems because of the situation (insert facepalm here).

Then there's the mythology and folklore about Death itself (not the act of dying, the physical embodiment of death). Usually, I think of Death as the skeleton like figure cloaked all in black, carrying a scythe known as the Grim Reaper. It's the image that has been ingrained in America's popular culture. Lindsay Ellis did a really interesting YouTube video on the depiction of Death in popular culture (mainly movies) and how this image has barely changed over the years.

The idea of Death as a person has actively been a part of my culture since I was a kid. I remember watching the shows "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Dead Like Me". J. K. Rowling and Sir Terry Pratchett created their own versions of Death for their respective fantasy worlds. The common denominator between all of these versions is that Death just kind of wants to do their job and doesn't like it when the natural order is messed with.

The dementors from Harry Potter look a lot like the modern interpretation of the Grim Reaper

Or at least that's my interpretation of all the folklore and mythology about this subject that I've been exposed to.

Also if you do try to rescue your dead loved one from death/the underworld, don't turn around until you've gotten back to the land of the living.

I'm off go back to working on my coming-of-age-horror novel (which is partially why I did this research in the first place - no spoilers). Hopefully I'll be able to finish it before it's 2019. Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 3: A Very Merry Christmas Eve

Happy Holidays everyone! It's Christmas Eve and I thought I'd take a quick peak at some of the mythology and folklore of the Christmas season. Believe it or not...there's a lot.

Now, since I'm from the United States, I've been immersed in the American version of Christmas. I have a Christmas Tree with either an angel or star on top. I learned about Santa Claus and watched the strange stop motion animated features every year. Occasionally I set up an advent wreath and light the candles in the correct order.

But this wasn't how Christmas was always celebrated in the United States.

Most people are familiar with the fact that it was the German immigrants that brought the Christmas Tree to the United States, but before the tree came into popular culture the Colonial Americans had very different traditions. They celebrated Christmas for 12 days and often featured a Yule Log as part of the celebration. The College of William and Mary has a Yule Log ceremony every year, though it's not accurate to what colonial America would have had.

Santa Claus wasn't even part of Colonial American culture.

Speaking of Santa Claus, I've heard a lot of different origins for Santa Claus. Now, there was a real life Saint Nicholas who was known for giving gifts to people in need and was a Bishop of Myra of modern day Turkey. I find it more interesting that he's the Patron Saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers and students (depending on where you are). His feast day is also in December (the 6th if you’re curious).

He certainly doesn't sound like a jolly old elf who lives in the North Pole...

I've heard some people suggest that the origin of our modern Santa Claus comes from a combination of European cultures and Norse mythology. They suggested that Odin had somehow merged with Saint Nicholas to become our version of Santa Claus or Father Christmas. I'm not sure how much I buy that explanation, but it was very interesting.

Lego even put out Santa's workshop as a set!

I could go on and on about the different versions of Santa Claus or his nastier counter parts like Krampus, but there are so many and I'm unfamiliar with most of them. I would like to mention that many Christmas celebrating nations have had changes to their mythos. In Iceland for instance, they have the Yule Lads (each with their very own ridiculous names). They were originally mischievous spirits or trolls, but eventually began to take on the qualities similar to Santa Claus.

If you've never heard of the Yule Lads or their child eating mother Grýla, I suggest looking into them.

Some countries don't even have a Santa Claus in their Christmas tradition. In Spain, it was tradition to give children presents on Epiphany rather than Christmas (though Wikipedia says that this is changing) and it wasn't Santa who gave these presents, but the Three Kings or Magi.

If you’re a person of faith, you guys might have noticed that I've left out the most important person when it comes to Christmas: Jesus.

Every Christian has heard the story of Jesus's birth. The Angel Gabriel announced the birth to the Virgin Mary, had to convince Joseph that his wife didn't cheat on him, and summoned the shepherds and wise men to witness the birth. As far as I know, there isn't that much variation between stories that are told.

The only real controversy is when Jesus was actually born.

Yeah, believe it or not no one can seem to decide when Jesus was actually born. Some modern scholars put the date at some point in March based on the astrological charts we have on record. There are all sorts of theories as to why we celebrate Christmas on December 25th and keep the traditions we do.

The most likely explanation (and the one I typically go with) is that the early Christian Church was trying to prevent major culture shock with their new converts. It was easier to absorb and appropriate many pagan traditions (like decorating a dead tree with lights) than completely wipe away the local customs.

No matter how you celebrate the holiday season, I hope it's fun and peaceful. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivious (the holiday for the rest of us), Happy Hanukkah, a Good Winter Solstices, and a Happy New Year!

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Onward to 2018!

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 2: The American Tall Tales

As I said in the introduction to this series, folklore and mythology are often a reflection of a society's values and fears. America is a rich melting pot of cultures. We're a big country with a ton of different people of all sorts of backgrounds.

Legend has it if you walk across the Crim Dell Bridge alone you're doomed to stay single forever, but if you kiss your significant other at the top of the bridge, you'll love each other forever.

I've heard around the Internet (and possibly a few classes back in College) that America's modern mythology lies within the comic industry. I think I agree with that idea. Our superheroes and villains can easily be equated to the demigods of Greek and Roman mythology. We don't worship them as deities, but we do portray them as upholding or reflecting our society, much like how Hercules and Achilles.

But before our popular culture was flooded with super geniuses, super strong aliens, multi billionaires with too much time on their hands, and mutants, the United State had tons of local legends that spread like wildfire.

Many of them are still taught to our children today as stories and songs. Most kids who grow up in the US know a little bit about Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan. A few might have read the Legend of Sleepy Hollow or seen the Disney movie (or even the Johnny Depp movie). And nearly everyone has heard the story about George Washington chopping down a Cherry Tree (regardless of how true it is).

The heroes of these stories aren't royalty. There's very little magic in them and if there is, it's more of a hyperbole or magical realism than actual magic. One of the overarching themes of these stories are that the heroes are strong, hard workers who are dedicated to serving their communities. Johnny Appleseed is helping to plant apple trees. John Henry helped build the American rail system and raced a steam powered machine that was trying to replace his job. Paul Bunyan along with Babe and Blue Ox were well known for their super human strength as a lumberjack.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox!

Then there are the creepier tales that have snuck into the American mythos. Everyone has heard a story about Big Foot and UFO encounters around Area 51. The Jersey Devil is a famous legend that most people have heard about, even outside of New Jersey. These stories fuel our curious nature and give us a glimpse into the darker side of our society.

Big Foot sightings continue because there are some parts of the US that are still largely unexplored. Anything regarding government secrets is going to draw curious onlookers. While the story of the Jersey Devil features a creepy curse and the dark superstitions of a deeply religious society (most accounts of the story set it somewhere during the colonial period).

Don't forget that the United States is a huge country and there are a lot of regional legends and folklore (especially of the ghost variety). I could tell dozens of stories about my home state of Virginia. The town of Williamsburg has many ghost stories as well as a few urban legends that don't seem to want to fade with time.

But if you were to ask someone from outside of Northern Virginia about The Bunny Man Bridge, they might give you a funny look. I know I would have been very confused as a young kid if I'd been asked if I had ever seen a Melon Head (no I'm not making this up - here's the wiki page to prove it) or what the Mothman was.

If there was one aspect of American folklore and mythology I wish I knew more about it would be the Native American stories. I've been able to read a few stories and go to the National Museum of the American Indian, but I'd love to learn more.

I'd like to end this post with one of my favorite stories from my home city of Washington D.C. There's a huge mural in the National Air and Space museum (not the one in Virginia) in the World War 2 Air Force exhibit. The story goes that the gentleman who painted this mural insisted on having a beer everyday with his lunch, but the museum wouldn't allow the consumption of alcohol on the grounds. Much to his annoyance, this gentleman would leave to have his lunch outside of the museum everyday. It annoyed him so much in fact that he painted a can of beer into the mural as part of his signature.

I don't know how true the above story is. I do know that my dad once overheard a tour guide tell the story and there's definitely a can (though it's hard to tell if it's beer or not) in one of the guy's hands in the mural. It's a fun tale to tell when taking people to that museum and it usually gets a laugh out of anyone who overhears us tell the story, especially when they find the can.

What this does tell us is that Washington DC loves it's rules, but some people are really good at circumventing undermining them. It's also just a funny story.

I know I didn't cover nearly everything that I could have in this post. There are tons of tall tales I could have written about. Heck, I didn't even touch on the stories that have popped up like rabbits in heat that have come about because of the Internet (*cough slender-man *cough creepypastas *cough).

Let me know what some of your favorite American myths, legends, and folklore are in the comments.

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 1: A Modern Appropriation

So based on the number of clicks on last week's blog, I'm going to assume that people are interested in me going looking into Folklore and Mythology. I just wanted to thank you guys for reading and giving me my second blog post with over 1
00 hits (the first being the one where I declared my love of all things pumpkin...go figure).

So let's start by taking a quick peek at how the modern world has been telling some of our favorite myths.

How DC and Marvel Confused My Inner Nerd...

Thor and his hammer!

It might be fair to say that my first introduction to European mythologies was by reading comic books and watching Disney's Hercules. Now the main comic book series I was reading as a kid was Asterix and the only time mythology really turned up was when they were taking their respective gods' names in vain. It took me a little longer to dive into the more popular (at least in the US) DC and Marvel comic books, but when I did I was very confused by some of the characters they were representing.

Now, it would be a missed opportunity for me if I didn't start this series off with a lot of American's introductions to mythology: DC and Marvel. It also helps that Wonder Woman came out this summer and I recently saw Thor: Ragnarok in theaters.

[WARNING: There will be spoilers for Wonder Woman and Thor: Ragnarok in the upcoming post. If you haven't seen the movie yet, read at your own risk.]

DC and Marvel have managed to appropriate two entirely different mythologies and bring them to the forefront of American Culture. DC's Wonder Woman is clearly depicted as being part of Greek Mythology and Marvel has explicitly stated (at least in the movies) that Thor's people influenced Norse Mythology on Earth (insert complicated explanation here).

And yes, I am going to say that these two comic book giants appropriated these mythologies.

There are very few similarities between what the comics, TV shows, and movies present and the actual mythologies. Some examples include Thor being a red head (extremely minor) and Ares being a battle crazed super-villain since even the slightest injury would send him running to his father Zeus to whine (see The Iliad for details). It's even harder to imagine Ares actually being able to kill all of the other gods on Olympus.

And don't even get me started on the crazy changes between the comics and movies that just came out totally throw the original mythologies out the window. I think the one I am most confused at is Hela being Odin's daughter and not Loki's (that and Fenrir is kind of her brother...not a pet she brings back to life). In both the comic books and the original mythology Hela is Loki's daughter, though her personality is very different between the two mediums (same is true for Loki).

Then there's Wonder Woman's parentage. Apparently, in the New 52 universe and the movie that came out this summer, Zeus is her father, but in Justice League Hades says he's her father. I've already mentioned above that Ares was the "father" of the Amazons in Greek mythology, but Diana isn't a Greek Amazon. She's the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature (the equivalent of Artemis in Greek mythology).

Basically, DC and Marvel took preexisting stories and remade them for a modern audience. The fundamental characteristics are still sort of present, but there are a lot of changes. The story lines are a little more "family friendly". Roughly 75% of the original stories I've read with Zeus as the protagonist are who he's sleeping with, which kid is now his, and how Hera is going to torment everyone because Zeus can't keep it in his pants. Then there's the story about how Loki transformed into a mare and became pregnant with a six legged horse. It was bizarre to say the least.

DC and Marvel taking these stories and making them their own is nothing new. Greek and Roman mythologies have a ton of similarities. A few of their gods even share names. Disney's version of Hercules is another take on Greek mythology, even though they use the Roman version of his name and for some weird reason make Hades the bad guy (yeah, Hera's the one who's pissy in that story).

Which brings me to another confusing point. Why is Hades constantly being updated as the "bad guy" in a lot of the modern stories? He's probably one of the few Greek gods who isn't a total dick (minus the whole thing with Persephone...depending on how you interpret the myth).

Maybe it has something to do with the influence of Christianity on these myths. I'm sure I'll get around to ranting about that at some other point.

Until next week:

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. If you have a folklore or mythology you'd like me to look into (or even just read) let me know.

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology: The Intro

As I've been pursuing the Internet over the past few weeks, I keep coming back to mythology and folklore. If there's one culturally universal "thing" that all humans seem to enjoy, it's a good story. From fairy tales to ghost stories, religious text and mythology to tall tales, everyone seems to have a story to tell.

Stories that are remembered and retold can say a lot about a culture. They often contain elements that are important to the culture that story was written in. Most of these stories have a lesson that the protagonist and reader learn together. Then again, these stories might not have any point at all and simply show how a culture tells a story.

I especially love the folklore and fairy tales that are about mysterious magical creatures that challenge the protagonist. I loved hearing about Baba Yaga, the Kappa, and the Jersey Devil and how the hero would escape encountering these creatures. They were fantastical and mesmerizing, but also frightening. These stories taught young me how to be brave and that there are different ways to fight an opponent that I'm no match for.

This is a type of Tengu (according to Google)

Ghost stories often encompass a culture's history. I first got into hearing ghost stories by watching Haunted History on the (used-to-be) History Channel. The show would pick a city or state and tell spooky stories about select locations. They'd include an explanation of the culture of the time and why someone would take the actions that they took in the context of the story. Young me enjoyed learning history with a slightly spooky edge. It made things interesting.

Mythology is everywhere in our modern culture. The third Thor movie just came out and there were a lot of (incorrect) references to Norse mythology. One of the top movies of this past summer, Wonder Woman, was (if you squinted) all about Greek and Roman mythology. Several TV shows incorporate mythology into their story lines such as Jackie Chan Adventures (Chinese), Xena Warrior Princess (Greek), Lucifer (Christian), and Supernatural (pretty much everything under the sun).

I couldn't conclude this post without mentioning the books that often introduce kids to these stories. Percy Jackson is probably the best known series right now, but I was introduced to these mythologies and folklore through Fruits Basket, Asterix, The Immortal Diaries of Nickolas Flamel, and Harry Potter.

So over the next few weeks, I'm going to be looking at different folklore and mythologies and how they have influenced, reflected back, and changed with modern culture (particularly American and western culture). I want to see if some stories are truly universal, such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast are often claimed to be.

Disney has created a whole franchise dedicated to fairy tales.

I am doing this because we are a people who love stories and how better to learn people than by listening to their stories.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Please let me know in the comments if there is a specific folklore or mythology you'd like me to look at.