CLARE HEDGES
Scottish Mythology & Legend
The Brownie
Description of the Brownie -
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Small creatures with bulging eyes
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Face furred like a donkey
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Teeth like battered stones
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'But a Brownie is a helpful soul, and although they are not wanted around the house or a farm, they work a kind of magic and help to clean and tend to the farm or run the mill, for just the price of a bowl of cream' (Sullivan, 1998). This description reminds me a lot of the house elves in Harry Potter - perhaps this was an influence.
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Brownie Costume: They wear brightly coloured clothes which are made from wool or linen with gold ornamentation. They normally carry leather pouches and tools for repairing leather, wood, and metal.
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Witches and Warlocks
The Wizard Laird of Skene
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Foremost practitioner of Black Magic - on brightest day he never cast a shadow - the devil stole his shadow
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Never seen without familiars; - a crow, a hawk, a magpie and a jackdaw
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said to open graves of unbaptised infants as food for familiars
Kelpies
A water creature whose form was usually that of a horse but had the ability to shapeshift into a handsome young man or an attractive woman. The Kelpie would lure victims into the river and drown them.
Mythology & Folklore
Northern Europe - SCANDANAVIA
Medieval literature of the Scandinavian Northlands is where most of our knowldge of myths comes from, particuarly from Iceland in late Viking age.
Germanic myths
- Conflict between gods and monsters
- Gods established order, law, riches, art and wisdomw
- Monsters and 'frost giants' posed constant threat, bringing chaos
- People turned to Aesir and Vanir (deities of sky and earth for support)
LOKI
- Loki is important in Northern Myth - is a trickster, thief and slanderer - abusing the gods but also saving them. Close companian of Odin and Thor, yet he gives birth to the monsters which will destroy them.
- Not clear if Loki is a god or giant.
ODIN
- In Viking belief, Odin is the All-Father and ruler of Asgard.
- Odin has close links with the underworld and the dead.
- He was the god of kings, supporting young princes yet destroying them when the time came
- Cremation, often necessary to dispose of the dead after battle, was linked to Odins ocult.
- Odin was a god of magic and divination, particularly in military context - sacrifices were made to him of captives taken in war.
-Odin gave one of his eyes for the sake of knowledge and appeared on earth as an old one eyed man, in a cloak and broard brimmed hat.
THOR
- Thor is the thunder god, as well as the sky god akin to Jupiter and Zeus
- His axe hammer a symbol of thunder and lightning
- Rocks and mountains shattered before him
- He was a popular deity, especially in Norway and Iceland
- His red beard perhaps represented lightning
FREYR
- The main scandinavian god of fertitlity
- The cult of Freyr was popular in Sweden in Viking Age and gradually swept to Norway and Iceland
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Could be interesting recreating one of these characters? However, Loki and Thor have obviously been done in the 'Thor' films. It could possibly be interesting to do my own interpretation of these.
TROLLS
Scandinavian trolls tend to be very big, hairy, stupid, and slow to act.
Trolls live throughout the land, dwelling in mountains, under bridges, and at the bottom of lakes. While the trolls who live in the mountains are very wealthy, hoarding mounds of gold and silver in their cliff dwellings, the most dangerous trolls live in lonely huts in the forest. The trolls have their own king, called Dovregubben, who lives inside the Dovre Mountains with his court.
FEMALE CREATURES
Hudra
The Huldra is a dangerous seductress who lives in the forest. The Huldra is said to lure men down into endless cavesystems, that they would not be able to find their way out from, or lure them into the forest. She has a long cow's tail that she ties under her skirt in order to hide it from men It is said.that the young and beautiful Huldra is moody and dangerous, but when she becomes old and ugly, she also becomes gentle and caring
Mermaids
Mermaids in most mythology have a bad reputation of luring men to their demise. In Scandinavian folklore, they are good-natured beings who sit on rocks and comb their beautiful gold hair. Unlike their evil sister, Lorelei, who does lure men to their death, mermaids warn sailors from the rocks.
There is little difference between mythology and folklore - the terms are often used interchangeably. Mythology usually refers to something extremely large in scale and scope, often covering a wide geographical range and thousands of years. Folklore, however, is usually smaller in scale and is often thought of as the mythology of common people, though these stories can be just as well known.
Although I have briefly looked at many various folklores, I found that Scandanavian and the folklore of the United Kingdom were the most interesting which is why I focused my research mainly on them.
Bean Nighe
A Bean Nighe is a is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherside. A type of Banshee. As the "Washer at the Ford" she wanders near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die.
Appearance - A bean nighe is described in some tales as having one nostril, one big protruding tooth, webbed feet and long-hanging breasts, and to be dressed in green.
This sounds similar to the legend of Jenny Greenteeth
Shellycoat
A shellycoat is a type of bogeyman that haunts rivers and streams. The name comes from the coat of shells these creatures are said to wear, which rattle upon movement.
The description of a Brownie sounds a lot like the house elves such as Dobby in Harry Potter - could have been the inspiration for the character.
English Mythology
Jenny Greenteeth -
She would pull children or the elderly into the water and drown them. She was often described as green-skinned, with long hair, and sharp teeth. Jenny Greenteeth inspired the lake monster (Meg Mucklebones) in the 1985 Ridley Scott fantasy film Legend.
Fig. 26
Fig. 24