Myths, legends, folklore & fairytales

[Earth-Angel]

This is another subject that I find wonderfully intriguing! So many incredibles stories out there, I wish I could read/be told them all! I especially love tales to do with knights, druids, you know - King Arthur and Camelot style. I also love stories that are native to certain cultures, I remember taking out a book that must have weighed between 3 and 5kgs from the junior school library and reading it cover to cover almost every week! It was barely booked back in and I'd have it out again. It was all about African myths and legends and it completely captivated me. The illustrations were brilliantly done, and I was engrossed in the stories.

Tales of the Tokoloshe, the man with only a head an arm and a leg, the water spirits, the flying Dutchman, Suvari, the Nyaminyami, the legend of Table mountain...

The match is between the tortoise and the elephant.

The story goes as follows:

The tortoise one day met the elephant, and said, "Do you think you are the greatest of all the beasts?" The conversation continued:

"Haven't you seen me, then?"

"Did you ever see your own head?"

"What of that?"

"Why, if I were to jump I could jump over it!"

"What, you?"

"Yes, I!"

"Well, try it, then!"

"Not to-day. I'm tired. I have come a long way."

The elephant thought this was a mere excuse, and told the tortoise he was a liar; but it was agreed that the trial should take place next day. The tortoise hastened away, fetched his wife, and hid her in the bushes close to the spot they had fixed on.

With daybreak the elephant arrived, and found the tortoise already there. He got the elephant to stand in the middle of a clear space, and then took up his position on one side of him, opposite to the point where his wife was hidden in the grass. The elephant said, "Jump away, Tortoise!" The tortoise cried, "Hi-i!" took off for the high jump, and crept into the grass, while his wife, on the other side, cried "Ehe!" The elephant looked and found the tortoise (as he thought) on the farther side, though he had not seen the actual leap. "Joko!" Try it again, for I couldn't see you doing it! This time the wife cried, "Hi-i!" and the tortoise "Ehe!" and the elephant suspected nothing, thinking that the leap had been too swift for his eye to catch, and acknowledged himself beaten, but was sure that he would be the better in a foot-race. The tortoise was willing to try, "but not to-day, for my legs are tired with the jumping. But could you come to-morrow?" The elephant agreed, and the same place was fixed for the starting-point of the course-the race to begin at sunrise.

The tortoise went home, called his children together, and spent the night in collecting the rest of the clan, stationing them at convenient intervals along the course and instructing them what to do.

The elephant appeared punctually in the morning, and after greetings started off at a trot-ndi! ndi! ndi! When he had been running for some time he called out, "Tortoise!" thinking he must have left him far behind, but, to his consternation, he heard a voice in front of him: "Yuba! Why, I'm here!" This happened again and again, till he reached the goal and found the original tortoise awaiting him there. "And so it befell that the elephant was defeated."

What are your favourite stories or local folklore?

[Kevin]

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, along with any Aurthurian lore...Maybe not the same theme , But I LOVE the "Canterbury Tales":

"Whan in April,the spring rain doeth..."

[Foxy]

I find it intiguing as well Sue!! I particularly find Cornwall's folklore interesting as it's where I live

I also live with a hundred miles or so of Tintagel Castle which is said to be King Arthurs Castle.

Cornish legends centre on Giants and Piskies. It is thought that the tales have evolved from the meeting of the tall Celts (the Giants) with the small Bronze Age peoples (the Piskies). St Michael's Mount is said to have been constructed by a Giant.

Another fabulous Giant was Bolster, whose stride spanned six miles and who fell in love with the beautiful St Agnes, only to be betrayed and fooled into killing himself. He was a bad tempered man, who terrorised the countryside. She asked him to prove his love for her by filling up a hole in the cliff at Chapel Porth with his own blood. She knew the hole was bottomless, he did not. He died of the loss of blood, and even today the sea at Chapel Porth is stained red with his blood

Then there was Jack the Giant Killer, a farmer's son from near Lands End at the time of King Arthur. Cormoran, the Giant of St Michael's Mount was terrorising the surrounding area and was stealing cattle.Jack decided to earn the reward being offered for killing Cormoran. He dug a pit near Morvah, disguised the pit with sticks, and lured the giant to the pit by blowing his horn. The giant fell into the hole, jack dispatched him with a blow from his pickaxe, then filled in the hole. Even today there is a large stone near Morvah church marking the Giants Cave, and sometimes voices are heard coming from it.

Perhaps the most wicked of the giants was The Wrath of Portreath. he lived in a huge cavern known to sailors as his cupboard. he would wade out to sea , grab whole ships and take them back to his cupboard tied to his belt. And the stones that he hurled at ships trying to avoid him can still be seen at low tide forming a dangerous reef off Godrevy Head. Once back there he would devour the sailors for his supper.The cupboard lost its roof in recent times, but can still be seen near St Ives.

Mermaids form another cornerstone of folklore, as you might suspect for a seafaring people. The Mermaid of Padstow is said to be responsible for the Doom Bar outside the port, upon which hundreds of ships have foundered. Another famous mermaid is from Zennor. Matthew Trewella, the son of the local squire at Zennor, was a chorister in the church. One day a beautiful woman in a long dress came and sat at the back of the church. She came regularly and one evening she lured him t the stream tat runs through the village, and from there down to Pendower Cove. he was never seen again. But some years later a mermaid approached a ship at anchor in the cove, and asked the captain to remove his anchor which was resting on her front door. She said she wanted to return to their husband Mathey and their children.

Perhaps the most famous character is this man, Jan Tregeagle, whose ghost is hunted across Bodmin Moor by the devil and his hounds.. Jan was an unjust and dishonest land steward of the Lord of Lanhydrock, who both robbed his master, and extorted unfair rents from the tenants. The story appears to be an amalgam of the lives of five generations of Tregeagles. Tregeagle was sentenced to a number of tasks, which culminated with having to bale out Dozmary Pool with a limpet shell with hole in it. One of his many other tasks is illustrated here, and it was to carry sacks of sand from Porthleven to Marazion, and drop them in the mouth of the Cober River, so creating the Loe Bar.

Fairies, Piskies, Knockers, Spriggans and other Small People The Piskies were all identical little old men, no higher than an inch tall. The wore red caps, white waistcoats, green stockings, and brown coats and trousers. On their fet they worebrightly polished, buckled shoes. The Piskies were good people who helped the old, but they were mischievous and played pranks on people.

Then there were the Spriggans. they were ugly and were feared. They had large heads on small bodies. They stole babies, raised whilwinds to damage the crops, and terrified the lone traveller.

The Knockers were elfin creatures that lived in the mines. The miners treated the knockers with respect. they left food out for them. it was believed that anyone who was disrespectful to Knockers would suffer bad luck When a mine closed, the Knockers lived on in the abandoned mine.

Cornwall is also known for its saints. This stained glass window shows St Neot. Another was St Piran, who is responsible for the Cornish flag (the white cross on a black background below) when his rectangular hearth cracked in the heat of a strong fire, and revealed shining Cornish tin .

Perhaps the greatest of the Cornish saints was St Petroc, who both converted the populace to Christianity, and also slew the last dragon in Cornwall. He created monasteries in Padstow and in Bodmin.

The Lost Land of Lyonesse buried by the sea to the west of Lands End It is said that there was a vast area to the west of Lands End, and that a huge storm on 11th November 1099 flooded it all. This land was Lyonesse, said to contain 140 churches and some fine cities.Only the mountain peaks of Lyonesse are now visible - these are the Isles of Scilly. Only one man survived the flood, he was called Trevilian, and he managed to ride a white horse to the high ground at Perranuthnoe. It is said that the unearthing of human bones in the sand at Crantock is also from this lost land.

There are many tales of the church bells from the lost cities being heard.The Seven Stones Rocks to the west of Lands End are believed to be the remains of a great city. Fishermen called it the Town, and have dragged up doors and windows in their nets in this area. Sailors tell of hearing the church bells below the sea also in this area.

In the 1930's a journalist from the News Chronicle was staying on the coast, and was woken by muffled bells in the night, which his hosts told him were the bells of Lyonesse. Yet with the coming of aqualung diving, no one yet has found Lyonesse.

Other tales from the past The spire of Towednack Church

Towednack church, not far from St Ives, has a very squat tower. the story goes that it was the devil himself who prevented the tower being taller. Apparently after each day's work byu the medieval stonemasons, the devil came in the night and removed the stones that they had added that day. In the end they gave up the struggle, and capped off the tower at the low height you can see today.

Another, unrelated tradition at Towednack is the annual Cuckoo Feast on April 25th. It all goes back hundreds of years tto a man putting a log on his fire, and out flew a cuckoo from a hole in the log. He caught and kept the bird, and apparently resolved to commemorate the event with a cuckoo feast each year

Poundstock and its Pirates

The church of St Winwaloe in Poundstock, near Widemouth Bay, has had more than its fair share of rogue vicars. In the 14th century, the curate was a member of a gang of pirates who attacked ships sailing off Widemouth Bay. This Rev William penfold fell out with the gang, and in 1357 the gang tracked him down to the church, and burst in while he was holdiong a service. Penfold was brutally murdered at the altar, and his ghost still haunts the church.

A later vicar was sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in a murder, and yet another hanged for leading a revolt in Tudor times against the changes being made in the Book of Common Prayer.

St Catherine's Church at Temple on Bodmin Moor

Before the passing of the Marriage Act of 1753, which forbade clandestine marriages, St Catherines had a dubious reputation. It is a tiny church, built in the 12th century by the Knights Templar. it was designed as a rufuge on Bodmin Moor for travellers going to the Cornish ports further west. The church was granted the right to conduct marriages without the need for Banns to be read. This led to the church being used for marriages of convenience, and it developed a very bad reputation

Boscastles Ghostly Bells

There are no bells in the tower of Forrabury Church, but it is said that they can be heard ringing beneath the waves where they came to rest. Three bells were ordered by William, Lord of Bottreaux Castle, to ward off the plague in the Middle Ages. The bells never reached the church, as the ship carrying them sunk in the bay just offshore. Lord Willaim was struck by the plague and died. And the ghostly peal of the bells can still be heard when a storms sweeps across the bay

[Earth-Angel]

Cantebury tales are great! I really enjoy Mary Stewarts books about Camelot, brilliant reading. I also love myths and stories surrounding phenomenon like ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies...all the unexplained things that go *bump!* in the night ::

Oh, and things like the pyramids, Bermuda triangle, especially that which was covered in Graham Hancocks "Fingerprints of the gods". Fascinating reading!

Brilliant stories Benita! Everywhere is so rich in its heritage and stories that have been passed down for generations!

[Kevin]

That was a lovely presentation, foxy, but if Cornwall people had their way, ALL British legends of note come from there ... I've heard the same tales in York ! ::

[Kevin]

Ladies, how about "Piers Ploughman" ?

[Earth-Angel]

I've never heard of him, Kevin, but this site has some great info! Thanks for the heads up!

[Kevin]

This is the best thread in months! Have 'ye heard of the lost __Canadian Lake Okanagan.. No joke.. ! Even the Indians are scared of it !! (note no joking graenlins, etc. hello ? ) Sea serpents... she be called.. Ohgopogo---[bleep] off ! Really ! That's her name -- oh-g- po -go .... scary wee beastie......

[Earth-Angel]

October 22 2004, John Casorso reported seeing and video taping Ogopogo the morning of August 9, 2004. He and his family were in a house boat by Trader's Cove at the old ferry docks early in the morning when he heard a thump thump thumping (same reported thumping as by Debbie) and thrashing beneath the house boat and the house boat tilted 20° and rocked. The lake was perfectly calm and there were no motor boats. He saw the object 30 feet away, got his video recorder and video taped a large dark object like a black wave, submerging and surfacing, only still, a hundred yards away - he video taped it for 15 minutes. At times there appeared to be two parallel objects. When he got home he played it back and the object resolved clearly depicting a large object with humps, stretching out at times like a reptile, perhaps the best video yet of Ogopogo.

[Earth-Angel]

The Nazca monkey

Ancient religion? Aliens from outer space? Ancient astronomers? A megalomaniac artist? Water sources?

Since discovery by American scientist Paul Kosok in 1939, the lines on the rocky Pampa San Jose near the small desert town of Nazca have perplexed scholars. Originally thought to be the remains of irrigation lines beyond the verdant Nazca valley, it wasn't until they were seen from the air that the lines were recognizable as figures.

The drawings drew the attention of German mathematician Maria Reiche, who worked as Kosok's translator. She studied the lines from the 1940's to her death in 1998. She lived nearby, walked and photographed the lines, drew maps, developed theories, and drew the attention of the world to Nazca.

The lines are a variety of geometrical figures, trapezoids, triangles and lines, plus animal and bird figures of hummingbirds, a whale, a monkey, a spider, a bird likened to a pelican, another like a condor, and one called the astronaut.

The lines are thought to have been etched on the Pampa Colorada sands by three different groups: the Paracas people 900-200 BC, Nazcas 200 BC-AD 600 and the settlers from Ayacucho at about 630 AD. The Nazca were potters, like the Moche, and their pottery shows their daily life.

Maria Reiche developed the theory that the ancient Peruvians drew the lines to please the gods and secure their good will. She called the desert an astronomical calendar to remind the gods that the desert was dry and needed water; that crops needed blessings; that the seas needed fish.

[Earth-Angel]

Cool story Amy!

Up the coast, about 15 minutes drive from my home in SA, there's a quiet beach called Sardinia Bay. To get there, you have to drive through very desolate areas with no houses, or streetlamps, but surrounded by thick foliage. There is a small guard house at the entrance to the beach's carpark and from there it's about 5 minutes walk to the beach.

Just before the guard house, there is a very narrow, winding stretch of road. If you park your car at the base of this small winding stretch, you will notice that it curves gently upwards. It is said that if you park your car here with your headlights off and put it in neutral at the witching hour, it will begin to slowly propel itself up the road to the guard house. Those in the car are overcome by an icy sensation and a numbness.

You can get out the car, and it will move no further, but once you get back inside, it will continue to go uphill.

There is no one pushing the car, and there is no sound as it moves. It just does.

[Kevin]

Uh-huh, drinking/ smoking; Just what would bring the wee beastie to life ?

[XXX]

I liked Mallory's take on the Arthurian legend and add Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe, I recall seeing the movie from the 50s and was enthralled by all the differing characters with their own purposes and goals. I got the book, watched the other versions, and loved it all. It was a polished version of other mythological warriors by making them more realistic with emotional depth and human dimension. Before that, it was Beowulf, The Nibelungenlied, and assorted Greek myths of old (Homer being be the pinnacle of what I've read). These authors paid so much attention to detail, it's amazing. I've never read something as detailed as that of the locals. The Popol Vuh is the only thing that comes to mind and it's kinda boring on paper. I'm probably more fascinated by the true story of the natives - the Nazca designs, the ancient Mayan ruins, the Easter Island statues, things like that.

[TrampledUnderFoot]

Oh, I just LOVE Greek and Roman mythology. I find it really interesting and I have lots of books on it. You know, like Troy and all the Gods and stuff!

[Earth-Angel]

Oh yes - history has many wonderful stories to tell! On our recent trip to Bath, we learnt so much about the Roman society and saw so many wonderful things to do with their style of life.

Here's a photo I took of the main bath, the water was as green as grass!!

The public baths were a very important social centre in Roman life. Most Roman men went to the baths in the afternoons; the entrance fee was only a quadrans, and anyone could go in. Sometimes a rich man would be generous enough to pay everyone?s entrance fees for the day. In Augustus? time there were about 170 bath-houses in Rome alone, and by AD 300 their numbers had increased to over 900.

The most famous bath-house in Britain is in the town of Bath; in Roman times it was known as Aquae Sulis. Sulis was the Celtic goddess of the spring, and when the Romans arrived they, too, worshipped her, identifying her with their own goddess of healing, Minerva. On the hot spring the baths were built, and next to it, a temple to Sulis-Minerva in a walled enclosure. There were no services in the temple: priests sacrificed animals, and afterwards people went in for private prayers. They prayed standing in front of the statue with their hands out, palms up, and when they finished they kissed the statue?s feet.

A gilded bronze head remains, which was probably part of her statue. On the pediment of the temple there is a carving. In the centre is a Gorgon?s head, with moustaches flowing into the hair, showing that it is male, though the figure is derived from the breastplate of Minerva. The hair turns into sun-flares, the beard to serpents. It features not only elements of water, but of fire and earth.

Not much remains of the temple today; all that is left are the steps and some pieces of decorated stone. The steps are worn down by the feet of the worshippers who walked across them. In the nineteenth century, it was discovered that the Great Bath was lined with forty-five sheets of lead - money must have been no object in constructing the buildings. The overflow drain is still in use today. Enormous quantities of limestone went to constructing the huge complex, which also featured a theatre. The courtyards had highly decorated screen walls, and the entrance was through a magnificent arch.

In the Great Bath, many suppliants left votive offerings. Among them were curse tablets, written backwards to help the magic. One of them lists the names of some people who seem to have abducted a girl called Vilbia. Archaeologists can use these tablets to find out the names of people who lived in Roman Britain; one of Vilbia?s abductors was apparently named Catusminianus. Basilica?s curse tablet demands that whoever stole her silver ring, or even knows anything about it and has not told, should be cursed in their blood, eyes, and every limb, and have all intestines eaten away.

People went to the baths to exercise, gossip with friends, conduct business, and even to get clean. Slaves stoked the fires outside the building, and hot air circulated under the floors and through vents in the walls, then out through chimneys. People had to wear clogs to avoid burning their feet on the hot floors. The fire was kept going 24 hours a day, because it would have been too expensive to keep shutting it down and starting it up again, so the baths were never closed for business. Women usually had separate baths, or went in the morning.

[Tenacious_Peaches]

Up the coast, about 15 minutes drive from my home in SA, there's a quiet beach called Sardinia Bay. To get there, you have to drive through very desolate areas with no houses, or streetlamps, but surrounded by thick foliage. There is a small guard house at the entrance to the beach's carpark and from there it's about 5 minutes walk to the beach.

Just before the guard house, there is a very narrow, winding stretch of road. If you park your car at the base of this small winding stretch, you will notice that it curves gently upwards. It is said that if you park your car here with your headlights off and put it in neutral at the witching hour, it will begin to slowly propel itself up the road to the guard house. Those in the car are overcome by an icy sensation and a numbness.

You can get out the car, and it will move no further, but once you get back inside, it will continue to go uphill.

There is no one pushing the car, and there is no sound as it moves. It just does.

Shut up...that is too scary... ::

[Earth-Angel]

I know! ::

[invisible_r]

Being greek, I have to mention greek mythology, its what roman mythology is mainly based on, i.e. all the roman gods are the same as the greek gods but have different names.

One of the most interesting places in greece is delphi, which is where the oracle pythia gave people advice which was supposedly conveyed by apollo (as that place is the temple of apollo)

but being from athens, i have to mention the myth of the acropolis. according to it, athina and poseidon wanted to be the god-protectors of the city, so they were told to create something valuable for athens. poseidon created a well, and athina an olive tree, which is the symbol of peace and prosperity. AThina thus won and the city was named athens, with the parthenon being the temple in athina's honour.

[Earth-Angel]

Quite interesting, channel 4 is screening a series called Wierd Worlds every weekend.

Tonight it's called The Last Dragon.

Loch Ness Monster aka Nessie

There is something in the water 100 metres offshore. Its grey and grainy form is poorly defined in the gloomy light of a Scottish winter. But the trail of ripples suggest a gliding, ghost-like motion. Only as it draws closer does the compelling spectacle become clear. It's another boatload of American tourists looking for a monster.

'Nessie' may be the mother of all mythical creatures, but it's also an animal with a serious identity crisis. Thousands of alleged 'sightings' have produced little in the way of zoological consensus. A 1972 study found that there was enough food in Loch Ness to feed about 20 beasts, weighing a tonne and a half each. But what kind of beasts could they be?

One popular idea is that the monster is a plesiosaur, a giant sea-dwelling reptile with a long, slender neck and tail, small head and paddle-like flippers. But while this description may match up nicely with some eyewitness accounts, there is a small snag ? plesiosaurs went extinct with the dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago. Even if a few individuals somehow managed to survive the mass extinction, the cold, dark freshwater of Loch Ness seems like the last place a large, cold-blooded marine reptile would choose to set up home.

Many sightings of the monster refer to a series of undulating humps, but this drives another nail into the coffin of the plesiosaur theory. Reptiles are good at flexing their bodies sideways, but not up and down. That's more of a mammalian feature and suggests nothing more mythical than a train of swimming otters or seals.

But all air-breathing animals ? reptiles, mammals, amphibians and birds ? seem unlikely candidates for the monster's true identity. For wouldn't an animal that needed regular intakes of air provide us with more frequent sightings? Nessie's apparent diffidence is more consistent with the lifestyle of some kind of fish ? perhaps a giant eel, a catfish or a sturgeon.

Now, here are 2 I have never heard of before:

The Mongolian Death Worm

If you ever find yourself traipsing through the desolate Gobi Desert, tread carefully. Lurking beneath the sand is a creature so feared that many locals dare not speak its name. Its appearance is unflattering ? imagine a two-foot long salami, blood-red in colour, with no obvious external features. But what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. If reports are to be believed, the Mongolian Death Worm is the ultimate animal psycho. Get on the wrong side of it and you can expect to be sprayed with a lethally acidic venom that can corrode metal. Or maybe you'll be zapped by an electric shock from its eyes.

If you ever find yourself traipsing through the desolate Gobi Desert, tread carefully. Lurking beneath the sand is a creature so feared that many locals dare not speak its name. Its appearance is unflattering ? imagine a two-foot long salami, blood-red in colour, with no obvious external features. But what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. If reports are to be believed, the Mongolian Death Worm is the ultimate animal psycho. Get on the wrong side of it and you can expect to be sprayed with a lethally acidic venom that can corrode metal. Or maybe you'll be zapped by an electric shock from its eyes.

The Mongolians call it Allghoi Khorkhoi ? 'the intestine worm'. But chances are, it's probably not a worm at all. Worms are hopeless at retaining water, so they don't do well in hot, dry conditions. More plausibly, the worm is actually a skink ? a slender lizard with small or vestigial limbs. Skinks do like to burrow in sand, but they aren't venomous. In fact, there are only two known species of venomous lizard ? the gila monster and the Mexican bearded lizard. Neither are found in Asia.

If not a lizard then maybe a snake? Some cryptozoologists (who examine mysterious animal sightings) have suggested that the worm matches the description of the death adder, a highly venomous snake from Australasia. Death adders are closely related to cobras, and some species of cobra can spit venom in self-defence. But the sprayed venom is only dangerous if it gets in the eyes, and it certainly doesn't have any corrosive properties. An electrical discharge seems even more unlikely. Some eels and a few other species of fish can call on these shock tactics, but it's a skill totally lacking in all land animals.

El Chupacabra

1995 was a bad year to be a goat in Puerto Rico. A spate of gruesome attacks left dozens of animals dead. In each case, their necks had been torn open and their bodies mysteriously drained of blood. Locals immediately blamed El Chupacabra ? 'the goatsucker'. Descriptions of the animal were sketchy, but eyewitness accounts pointed towards an improbable mix of kangaroo, lizard, bat and comic-book alien.

In March 1996 the mysterious beast was featured on a national US TV show, based in Miami. Days later, reports were coming in of a fresh El Chupacabra atrocity in Sweetwater, a predominantly Hispanic neighbourhood in the south of the city. How El Chupacabra got to the mainland US is unclear. But in one night alone it was blamed for killing 69 animals. The victims included ducks, geese and chickens, as well as goats. Evidently, El Chupacabra wasn't too fussy about its food, but it sure was greedy.

From Florida, El Chupacabra spread its wings even further, causing carnage in Arizona, Texas, and Mexico. In many cases, evidence left at the scene of the crime was consistent with attacks by dogs. But El Chupacabra is a stubborn old myth that doesn't die down that easily.

In April 2000 it was up and running again, this time in Calama, a mining town in northern Chile. Farmers woke up one morning to find their livestock had been decimated. Common sense blamed the puma, or any number of smaller predators that inhabited the wilderness bordering the town. But common sense can't hold a candle to El Chupacabra. Seasoned observers suspected Nasa involvement, even suggesting that El Chupacabra was some kind of eccentric field trial in genetic engineering. Though the Chilean government concluded that wild dogs were responsible for the attacks, it didn't stop the rumours. Three El Chupacabra eggs had been discovered in the desert ...

[Foxy]

A wild and rugged area steeped in history, Bodmin Moor (about 50 miles from me) has more than its fair share of myths and legends - from its strong connections to the stories of King Arthur right up to present day reports of farmers livestock being hunted down by the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Since 1983 there have been over 60 reported sightings of a big cat on Bodmin Moor. This still taken from some video footage shows an animal which is some three and a half feet in length. Despite an inconclusive enquiry by the government many locals remain convinced that there is one or more big cats at large on the moors.

In November 1999 a squadron of Cornish RAF reserves spent a night on the moors trying to track the beast with the lastest hi-tech military night-vision equipment. Unfortunately bad weather hampered their operation, but they will be back again - the hunt continues...

Now we come to one of Cornwalls most famous ghost. On Sunday 14th April 1844 Charlotte Dymond was found murdered on the slopes of Roughtor. Her lover, a crippled farmhand called Matthew Weeks was later hanged at Bodmin Gaol for the crime. Since that time, and especially on the anniversary of her death, Charlotte has been seen walking in the area, clad in a gown and a silk bonnet. There is a memorial stone at Roughtor Ford which marks the site of her murder and her grave lies in the churchyard at Davidstow.

[Earth-Angel]

Seeing as I am in Sweden...

Gerd the Giantess

Gerd was a giantess, whom became wife of the Vanir Freyr. Gerd was the daughter of the mountain giant Gymir and Aurboda. Gerd may have an unnamed brother who was killed.

Freyr fell in loved with Gerd, when he sat on Hlidskialf, Odin's throne in the hall called Valaskialf. Hlidskialf allowed the person to see the entire world, no matter the distance. Freyr sent his shield-bearer, named Skirnir, to woo her for him.

At first, Skirnir offered rich gifts to Gerd, which she refused, claiming to dislike all the gods. Not even when Skirnir threatened to cut off her head with Freyr's sword, cause her any fear. It was only when Skirnir threatened to put a curse, to make her old and ugly, that she even considered meeting Freyr in nine days later at a grove called the Barri.

Though the story never says that Freyr and Gerd married, other writers say that they had a son named Fiolnir.

Gerd became a goddess of light, and was a Asyniur in her own right, like the giantess Skaldi, Freyr's stepmother and the second wife of Njord.

Viking Runes and Rune Stones

Like wrestling, swimming and fighting, writing was considered a special skill among the Vikings. The alphabet they used was invented by their ancient Scandinavian ancestors. According to legend, Odin, chief of the Norse gods, speared himself to a tree in an attempt to receive knowledge and learn the mysteries of the runes. He then passed this knowledge to his people. Since the Vikimgs believed the runes were a gift from the mighty Odin, they treated them with respect and believed they possessed divine, magical powers.

The letters or runes more than likely came from the greek and latin alphabets and were changed slightly probably because of the limited writing materials available to the Vikings. They did not have paper and did not use parchment or paper-like material. Their history and culture was, until 1200 A.D. passed down through stories and poems.

The Viking alphabet is often called the futhork after the first six letters of the original alphabet of twenty-four letters. The alphabet was later reduced to sixteen runes. This made spelling difficult for the carvers because all of the sounds in the language could not be covered. It also made it difficult for translators who tried to understand their meaning.

Viking runes weren't written with pen and ink on paper. Instead, runes were carved with a knife or chisel into stone and wood. To make carving into these surfaces easier, the runes were made using only straight lines. Words were formed by separating groups of runes with a period.

Runes weren't used to write stories. They were put to practical uses by ordinary Vikings. They were used for everyday writing such as labeling household items and personal belongings. They were also used by merchants to keep records of items bought and sold. Viking warriors decorated their swords and spears (like the ones pictured here) with runic characters too. The runes identified the owner of a weapon, and because the Vikings believed the runes were magical, they made the weapon stronger in battle. Viking believed that warriors who knew how to read and write runes could blunt enemies' weapons, break chains, cure illnesses, guard against witches and be protected in battle and on threatening seas.

Wherever the Vikings went, they left rune graffiti on rocks and buildings. Runes have been found carved into the altar railings of European cathedrals and stone statues like the one pictured here. In one way, it's lucky for us they did because some of what we know about them has come from these carvings.

The Vikings also used runes to inscribe memorial stones. Some of the inscriptions were tributes to fallen heros and loved ones. Others mocked a dishonest Viking who had betrayed friends and family. Nearly 3000 rune stones have been discovered across Scandinavia. Much smaller numbers have been unearthed in other parts of Europe.

Rune stones were usually large surface boulders with at least one naturally flat surface. The stones were often decorated with black, red, blue and white paint extracted from berries, garden plants and clay-like earth. The stones often depicted snakes, horses and ships along with the inscriptions. These stones and the sagas recorded by Viking poets called skalds, have helped archaeologists reconstruct some of what we know about the Vikings. Some rune stones are petroglyphs and give us a glimpse of what Viking life was like. What do your think the sign of the cross on this stone means?

Other runes were written on wooden slabs. Many of the slabs have rotted since the Viking Age and their stories have been forever lost. The memorial stones remain the single most common source of Viking runes still around today.

Viking rune characters were also inscribed on thumb-sized stones. They were placed in bags and removed one by one by Viking fortunetellers and magicians to tell the future, heal the sick, banish evil, or bless people, places, and things.

Viking Berserkers

At the beginning of the Viking Age, Norwegian and Danish Vikings plundered many defenseless monasteries along the coasts of Ireland and England. The attacks were sudden and the Vikings fled in their longships as quickly as they had arrived.

As the Norse desires for land and wealth increased, more Vikings returned. This time they attacked small towns and village that lay beyond the coastline. But, unlike the Vikings who had raided the monasteries and fled, these stayed. Eventually, many of them married the local women and settled down to farm and raise families.

The assimilation of the Vikings into English and Irish societies went beyond marriage. The Norse language was absorbed too. Consequently, many words spoken and written in English today have Norse origins. It's not surprising many such words like anger, knife, hit, ransack and club, have to do with fighting. But other Norse words tell the other side of the Vikings. Household words like window and lathe, farming words like eggs, plough and axle and family words like husband have Old Norse roots. Probably the most interesting Norse word that crept into the English language is berserk. It is derived from the name and behaviour of a unique Viking warrior- the berserker.

The Fearsome Warrior

The word berserker comes from two Norse words bjorn meaning bear or bare (naked) and serkr meaning shirt, a reference to the fact that a berserker warrior went into battle dressed in bear skins or without any armor at all. Berserkers thought that by wearing the fur of the bear, they would become possessed by the animal's spirit and would gain its strength- a way of shape-shift into the animal's form. Shape-shifting was important as their pagan gods also had this ability. The meaning of the word berserker is derived from another characteristic of this warrior- berserkergang- a word meaning crazed behaviour. Before a battle, berserkers spent hours working themselves into a frenzy by painting their faces, howling like animals, banging helmets, consuming large quantities of alcohol or eating hallucinogenic mushrooms. This crazed state, they believed, made them immune to pain and helped them shrug off the non-lethal blows by enemy weapons. Today, the word berserk means to act crazy.

The existence of the berserker is recorded in the writings of Christian missionaries and monks who claimed to have witnessed their murderous behaviour. In some of the Viking sagas, berserkers are portrayed as ferocious fighters and villains who often killed, plundered, looted and burned whatever was in sight. The men, women and children spared this fate were often taken as slaves.

The berserker is also preserved in Viking art. Chess pieces depicting a berserker show them biting their shields. Viking foil reliefs picture them dressed in bear or wolf skins.

Odin's Men

Berserkers were loyal to their Viking war god Odin and believed he would protect them, give them superhuman strength and if they died an heroic death, a place in Valhalla in the afterlife. Consequently, berserkers were also called "Odin men". They fought in groups of twelve and often charged heedlessly into the ranks of the enemy or formed a circle to provide the best defense when outnumbered by an opponent. Their unpredictable behaviour and bear-like appearance were meant to strike fear in the enemy and demoralize him so much, he would not fight. When the berserkers did fight, it was to the death.

Berserkers Outlawed

Like most things Viking at the end of the Viking Age, the berserker disappeared too. The unpredictable behaviours that made them great warriors also made them dangerous among their own kind. In their frenzied state, they sometimes turned on their friends and family, acts which are also recorded in some Viking sagas. The influences of Christianity and the unwillingness of Viking kings to use them as bodyguards meant that by the 1100 ?s the berserkers were gone for good.

Some scholars of the Viking Age have tried to find other explanations for the berserker. Some argue, the warrior-type never existed and believe the sagas that record them exaggerate their ferocity. Other historians acknowledge the existence of the berserker but blame the irrational behaviour not on toxic mushrooms but on an oversized skull that would have caused pain and unpredictable behaviours. It has even been suggested the behaviour could have been caused by illnesses such as epilepsy or hysteria. They cite examples of frenzied behaviour occurring in the middle of daily work when the warriors were being farmers, fishermen, husbands and fathers. It began with shivering, chattering teeth, and cold sweats. The face of the warrior swelled and changed color. This was followed by rage, howling, and brawling. When the rage subsided, the berserker was exhausted. According to sagas, many of their enemies chose this period of weakness to get rid of them.

Whether they actually lived or were imagined by 13th century Viking skalds, the legacy of the berserker warrior lives on in Scandinavian names. The name "Bjorn", for example, is Norse for bear and was often added to the end of Viking names as in Gerbjorn- an indication that he was a berserker. Even the myths associated with werewolves are linked to these most unusual Vikings.