Mythology and Folklore Blog

The Old Witch (Wicked Witch of the East from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: In this story, a girl goes to find work as a servant. On her way to find a job, she hears a loaf of bread asking to be taken out of the oven. Kindly, she does this. Then she hears a cow asking to be milked. Kindly, she milks the cow. Then she hears an apple tree asking to be picked. Kindly, she picks the apples. Eventually, the girl reaches the home of a witch who agrees to take her on as a servant but warns her to never look up the chimney. One day the girl forgets the instructions and looks up on accident and finds bags of money. She runs away with this money and the witch chases after her. She comes upon the tree and asks it to hide her from the witch. Then she does the same with the cow and the oven. When she gets home she becomes rich and marries her sweetheart and lives happily ever after. Her sister then decides to try and accomplish the same thing but refuses to help the cow, oven, and apple tree. When

For this story lab, I decided to explore the TV Tropes website. I found this website incredibly useful and interesting. To start I looked at tropes directly related to my storybook like Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue  and Suddenly Suitable Suitor . What I really like about these sites is that they give good historical/background information into each trope as well as providing tons of examples. Perusing the examples is definitely the most fun part some of the choices are so obscure or random it really made me laugh. One of the examples of the Suddenly Suitable Suitor is a Scooby Doo episode. In addition to the articles centered on my storybook, I looked at tropes from some of my favorite genres. I love mysteries and thrillers so I looked through several tropes. One of the ones that stuck out to me is the Anonymous Killer Narrator . This is a trope I've seen a lot in books I read so I was interested to read more about it and see more examples. Finally, I was shocked to see ther

Beth Gellert (Blue Greyhound from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: There once was a prince who had a greyhound he loved very much named Gellert. This greyhound was his best hunting dog and as gentle as a lamb. One day the prince was going for a hunt and called for Gellert but he did not come. He went without Gellert and did not get much game. When he came home he found Gellert and noticed there was blood on his lips and fangs. The prince had a one-year-old son Gellert sometimes played with and in a panic, the prince ran to his nursery. In the nursery there was blood everywhere. Distraught, the prince stabbed Gellert with a sword, killing him to avenge his son's death. Then the prince hears a baby's cry. The young son was laying outside his crib and next to it was the carcass of a giant wolf. Realizing his error, the prince wept but there was no way to bring his beloved Gellert back to life. Lesson: Don't doubt your most faithful companions. Ideas: This story is re

The Field of Boliauns (Leprechaun with Pot of Gold from Pixabay ) Plot: A young man named Tom was on a walk when he heard a sound in the bushes. Behind the bushes was a little leprechaun with a pitcher. Tom knew you cannot take your eyes of a leprechaun or you may lose their treasure. Tom then engages the leprechaun in a discussion about beer. The leprechaun claims that he can make beer out of heath which Tom claims is impossible. The leprechaun then tries to trick Tom into looking behind him at some cows. Tom almost takes his eyes off the leprechaun but at the last moment, he grabs the leprechaun and demands he show him his money or he will kill him. So he takes Tom to a field of boliauns and points out a specific bunch saying that's where his treasure is. Tom had to go back to get a spade so he tied a red garter around the specific bunch. Before Tom let the leprechaun go, he made him swear not to move the red garter. When Tom got back to the field he saw that every single

Stealing from the Sun (Black Running Shoes from MaxPixel ) Trevor had been traveling for months. He had graduated from college and was taking a year off to just see the world. On a mountain hike, Trevor got incredibly lost. He'd been walking for days and had run out of water completely. Finally, he saw a strange looking cabin in the distance. It was a bright yellow color with orange trim. Knocking on the door, Trevor hoped against hope there would be someone inside who would let him spend the night.  "Hello? Is anyone home?" asked Trevor. The door swung open to reveal an ancient looking old man dressed in clothes to match his colorful home.  "How can I help you, young man?" asked the old man. "I was wondering if you had some food and water. Maybe a place to stay for a night. I've been walking, lost, for days and have run out of food and water," explained Trevor. "Of course, of course, come in," the old man replied

The Red Eyed Duck (Horned Grebe from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: The Old Man was walking on his travels when a group of ducks persuaded him to stop. They wanted him to sing so they could all dance. The Old Man acquiesced and told the ducks that the next song was a medicine song and they must keep their eyes closed or they will turn red. As the ducks kept their eyes closed and danced around he would beat ducks that came near him with a bat and kill them to eat later. One little duck could feel that there were less ducks around and opened his eyes. He warned the remaining ducks and they flew away. That little duck's eyes were forever red and it became a horned grebe. The Old Man took the remaining ducks and roasted them on a fire. He then fell asleep. A coyote came along and saw the ducks and ate all the ones roasting above the fire. He then found the remaining ones roasting under the fire, ate their insides, and filled the skin with ashes. Then he left. The Old Man woke up and s