This sounds interesting - I don't know about the #liberation movements which ended #colonization in much of the world, but I want to.
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I write English-language books about German folklore. I primarily read books about folklore & mythology, history, and tabletop role-playing games.
Mastodon profile: thefolklore.cafe/@juergen_hubert
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Jürgen Hubert's books
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Jürgen Hubert commented on Revolusi by David Van Reybrouck
Jürgen Hubert wants to read Burgen, Schlösser, Parks und Gärten by Hans Krumbholz
Jürgen Hubert replied to Lesemira's status
@luelista Autsch! Das ist schlimm, wenn sich übersetzer keine Mühe machen.
I've translated the following folk tale from this #folklore collection:
"Of Murderous Dead People" ("Von mordenden Todten"): www.patreon.com/posts/murderous-dead-90458855
On one rainy day, a girl from the village walked through the grain field, and discovered a small chicken which was entirely wet. She took pity on the little animal, and took it with her.
When she had brought it home, it started to vomit grain, and in this manner it spat out several sack-full of grains. This was the [above-mentioned] dragon, which was flying through the air at night and was trailing a fiery shine behind it.
— Schlesische Sagen 2 - Elben-, Dämonen- und Teufelsagen by Richard Kühnau (Page 30)
A great collection of hauntings for any researcher of German folklore!
5 stars
During my research of German folklore, I have read numerous old collections of folk tales of highly variable quality - and "Schlesische Sagen" does pretty much everything right. It draws from a very large number of sources (and gives proper citations!) to cover the folk tales of a particular region (Silesia, in this case) in great depth.
Furthermore, it actually has a good structure for the order in which it lists those tales, which is far from universal. Too many collections just add one tale after another without bothering to sort them into a proper context. Among those who do, the authors either list the tales by regional geography or by topic. A good argument can be made for either, but for research purposes I prefer the latter - which is what "Schlesische Sagen" is doing. Yes, this means that you will often read several rather similar tales in a …
During my research of German folklore, I have read numerous old collections of folk tales of highly variable quality - and "Schlesische Sagen" does pretty much everything right. It draws from a very large number of sources (and gives proper citations!) to cover the folk tales of a particular region (Silesia, in this case) in great depth.
Furthermore, it actually has a good structure for the order in which it lists those tales, which is far from universal. Too many collections just add one tale after another without bothering to sort them into a proper context. Among those who do, the authors either list the tales by regional geography or by topic. A good argument can be made for either, but for research purposes I prefer the latter - which is what "Schlesische Sagen" is doing. Yes, this means that you will often read several rather similar tales in a row, but I'd rather have such collections be comprehensive than leave interesting variants out.
This first of the three volumes, "Spuk- und Gespenstersagen", focuses on undead of all kinds - ghosts, revenants, hauntings, will-o'-wisps, and so forth. A particular highlight were the many local vampire variants, which are mostly absent in the more western regions of Germany which I had focused on before.
I can't wait to see what the other two volumes in this collection will unearth!
Jürgen Hubert finished reading Schlesische Sagen 1 - Spuk- und Gespenstersagen by Richard Kühnau
Jürgen Hubert wants to read Oldenburger Erfolgsprofile: 21 Portraits by Imme Frahm-Harms
Jürgen Hubert wants to read Spanien und die Spanier by Goytisolo, Juan.
L. B. Heuschkel replied to Jürgen Hubert's status
@juergen_hubert For those few who read Danish (or trust Google translate), I wrote an essay on the Sibylle in Danish folklore, ages ago!
The people know a strange legend of the Sibyl. Sybylla or the Sibylle is known to them as a great prophetess who is doing penance in an old tower for her sins. The most abominable monsters are in this tower, for example snakes, lizards, newts, turtles, and all kinds of vermin. The people - at least those who have not received an education on this matter, imagine turtles as flying monsters.
[...]
Then, finally, a turtle flew after [the duke of Lichtenstein] in order to tear him apart. However, it had no power over the fleeing man, as he had already passed the boundary [of the Sibyl's realm].
— Schlesische Sagen 1 - Spuk- und Gespenstersagen by Richard Kühnau (Page 555 - 556)