THE GOLDEN TRIPOD

I

ONE morning, long ago, a merchant of Miletus was walking along the seashore. Some fishermen were pulling in a large net, and he stopped to watch them.

"My good men," he said, "how many fish do you expect to draw in this time?"

"We cannot tell," they answered. "We never count our fish before they are caught."

The net seemed heavy. There was certainly something in it. The merchant felt sure that the fishermen were having a good haul.
"How much will you take for the fish that you are drawing in?" he asked.

"How much will you give?" said the fishermen.

"Well, I will give three pieces of silver for all that are in the net," answered the merchant.

[178] The fishermen talked in low tones with one another for a little while, and then one said, "It's a bargain. Be they many or few, you may have all for three pieces of silver."

In a few minutes the big net was pulled up out of the water. There was not a fish in it. But it held a beau- [179] tiful golden tripod that was worth more than a thousand fishes.

The merchant was delighted. "Here is your money," he said. "Give me the tripod."

"No, indeed," said the fishermen. "You were to have all the fish that happened to be in the net and nothing else. We didn't sell you the tripod."

They began to quarrel. They talked and wrangled a long time and could not agree. Then one of the fishermen said, "Let us ask the governor about it and do as he shall bid us."

"Yes, let us ask the governor," said the merchant. "Let him decide the matter for us."

So they carried the tripod to the governor, and each told his story.
The governor listened, but could not make up his mind as to who was right.

"This is a very important question," he said. "We must send to Delphi and ask the oracle whether the tripod shall be given to the fishermen or to the merchant. Leave the tripod in my care until we get an answer."

Now the oracle at Delphi was supposed to be very [180] wise. People from all parts of the world sent to it, to tell it their troubles and get its advice.

So the governor sent a messenger to Delphi to ask the oracle what should be done with the tripod. The merchant and the fishermen waited impatiently till the answer came. And this is what the oracle said:—

"Give not the merchant nor the fishermen the prize;
But give it to that one who is wisest of the wise."
The governor was much pleased with this answer.
"The prize shall go to the man who deserves it most," he said. 

"There is our neighbor, Thales, whom everybody knows and loves. He is famous all over the world. Men come from every country to see him and learn from him. We will give the prize to him."

So, with his own hands he carried the golden tripod to the little house where Thales lived. He knocked at the door and the wise man himself opened it.

Then the governor told him how the tripod had been found, and how the oracle had said that it must be given to the wisest of the wise.

"And so I have brought the prize to you, friend Thales."

"To me!" said the astonished Thales. "Why, there [181] are many men who are wiser than I. There is my friend Bias of Priene. He excels all other men. Send the beautiful gift to him."

So the governor called two of his trusted officers and told them to carry the tripod to Priene and offer it to Bias.

"Tell the wise man why you bring it, and repeat to him the words of the oracle."

II

Now all the world had heard of the wisdom of Bias. He taught that men ought to be kind even to their enemies. He taught, also, that a friend is the greatest blessing that any one can have.
He was a poor man and had no wish to be rich. "It is better to be wise than wealthy," he said.

When the governor's messengers came to Priene with the tripod, they found Bias at work in his garden. They told him their errand and showed him the beautiful prize.

He would not take it.

"The oracle did not intend that I should have it," he said. "I am not the wisest of the wise."

[182] "But what shall we do with it?" said the messengers. "Where shall we find the wisest man?"

"In Mitylene," answered Bias, "there is a very great man named Pittacus. He might now be the king of his country, but he prefers to give all of his time to the study of wisdom. He is the man whom the oracle meant."

III

The name of Pittacus was known all over the world. He was a brave soldier and a wise teacher. The people of his country had made him their king; but as soon as he had made good laws for them he gave up his crown.

One of his mottoes was this: "Whatever you do, do it well."
The messengers found him in his house talking to his friends and teaching them wisdom.

He looked at the tripod. "How beautiful it is!" he said.
Then the messengers told him how it had been taken from the sea, and they repeated the words of the oracle:—
"Give not the merchant nor the fishermen the prize;
But give it to that one who is wisest of the wise."
[183] "It is well," said he, "that neither a merchant nor a fisherman shall have it; for such men think only of their business and care really nothing for beauty."

"We agree with you," said the messengers; "and we present the prize to you because you are the wisest of the wise."

"You are mistaken," answered Pittacus. "I should be delighted to own so beautiful a piece of workmanship, but I know I am not worthy."

"Then to whom shall we take it?" asked the messengers.

"Take it to Cleobulus, King of Rhodes," answered the wise man. "He is the handsomest and strongest of men, and I believe he is the wisest also."

IV

The messengers went on until they came at last to the island of Rhodes. There everybody was talking about King Cleobulus and his wonderful wisdom. He had studied in all the great schools of the world, and there was nothing that he did not know.

"Educate the children," he said; and for that reason his name is remembered to this day.

When the messengers showed him the tripod, he said, [184] "That is indeed a beautiful piece of work. Will you sell it? What is the price?"

They told him that it was not for sale, but that it was to be given to the wisest of the wise.

"Well, you will not find that man in Rhodes," said he. "He lives in Corinth, and his name is Periander. Carry the precious gift to him."

V

Everybody had heard of Periander, king of Corinth. Some had heard of his great learning, and others had heard of his selfishness and cruelty.

Strangers admired him for his wisdom. His own people despised him for his wickedness.

When he heard that some men had come to Corinth with a very costly golden tripod, he had them brought before him.

"I have heard all about that tripod," he said, "and I know why you are carrying it from one place to another. Do you expect to find any man in Corinth who deserves so rich a gift?"

"We hope that you are the man," said the messengers.

[185] "Ha! ha!" laughed Periander. "Do I look like the wisest of the wise? No, indeed. But in Lacedæmon there is a good and noble man named Chilon. He loves his country, he loves his fellow men, he loves learning. To my mind he deserves the golden prize. I bid you carry it to him."

VI

The messengers were surprised. They had never heard of Chilon, for his name was hardly known outside of his own country. But when they came into Lacedæmon, they heard his praises on every side.

They learned that Chilon was a very quiet man, that he never spoke about himself, and that he spent all his time in trying to make his country great and strong and happy.

Chilon was so busy that the messengers had to wait several days before they could see him. At last they were allowed to go before him and state their business.

"We have here a very beautiful tripod," they said. "The oracle at Delphi has ordered that it shall be given to the wisest of wise men, and for that reason we have brought it to you."

"You have made a mistake," said Chilon. "Over [186] in Athens there is a very wise man whose name is Solon. He is a poet, a soldier, and a lawmaker. He is my worst enemy, and yet I admire him as the wisest man in the world. It is to him that you should have taken the tripod."

VII

The messengers made due haste to carry the golden prize to Athens. They had no trouble in finding Solon. He was the chief ruler of that great city.

All the people whom they saw spoke in praise of his wisdom.
When they told him their errand he was silent for a little while; then he said:—

"I have never thought of myself as a wise man, and therefore the prize is not for me. But I know of at least six men who are famous for their wisdom, and one of them must be the wisest of the wise."

"Who are they?" asked the messengers.

"Their names are Thales, Bias, Pittacus, Cleobulus, Periander, and Chilon," answered Solon.

"We have offered the prize to each one of them," said the messengers, "and each one has refused it."

"Then there is only one other thing to be done," [187] said Solon. "Carry it to Delphi and leave it there in the Temple of Apollo; for Apollo is the fountain of wisdom, the wisest of the wise."
And this the messengers did.

The famous men of whom I have told you in this story are commonly called the Seven Wise Men of Greece. They lived more than two thousand years ago, and each one helped to make his country famous

Lecture: the Invocation and day of Tiamat

In the religion of ancient Babylon, Tiamat is a primordial goddess of the salt sea, mating with Abzû, the god of fresh water, to produce younger gods. 

She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creation. She is referred to as a woman, and described as the glistening one. 

It is suggested that there are two parts to the Tiamat mythos, the first in which Tiamat is a creator goddess, through a "Sacred marriage" between salt and fresh water, peacefully creating the cosmos through successive generations. 

In the second "Chaoskampf" Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos. Some sources identify her with images of a sea serpent or dragon.

In the Enûma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, she gives birth to the first generation of deities; her husband, Apsu, correctly assuming they are planning to kill him and usurp his throne, later makes war upon them and is killed. 

Enraged, she, too, wars upon her husband's murderers, taking on the form of a massive sea dragon, she is then slain by Enki's son, the storm-god Marduk, but not before she had brought forth the monsters of the Mesopotamian pantheon, including the first dragons, whose bodies she filled with "poison instead of blood". Marduk then forms heavens and the earth from her divided body.

Calendar of the Sun

7 Blutmonath

Tiamat's Day

Color: Sea green
Element: Water
Altar: On a sea green cloth place a large chalice of salt water, strings of pearls and beads in a spiral pattern like a whirlpool, and figures of dragons and sea serpents.
Offerings: Pour water on yourself. Allow yourself to experience conflicting and turbulent emotions that you would otherwise avoid.
Daily Meal`: Fish. Seafood. Seaweed. Soft food with sauce whirled in a whirlpool pattern.

Invocation to Tiamat

Mother of Dragons
Mother of Serpents
Sea of Aether that swirls
Deep within our minds
From the waters we came
From the waters we are born
To the waters we shall return
For our rebirths.
You whose body is the world
Who is all around us
Sacrificed in order to become
Omniscient
Mother of Dragons
Mother of Serpents
Lead us onward through the tides
Of our uncertain lives.

Chant: Aiyu Tiamat Tiamat Tiamat
Your body all around

(Each person stands forth and speaks of themselves as an emotion, saying, "I am happiness" or I am sorrow". Then one person who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual takes a sword and walks around the circle, miming slaying each person, who falls to the ground, saying, "Die, and become one with the earth.". All lay on their backs with hands joined, heads facing inward, and each visualizes themself as part of the earth, and they speak out what part of the earth they and their emotion have become - "I who was joy am now rivers!" "I who was anger am now desert." "I who was wonder am now mountain ranges!" and so on. End in a choral OM.)

Hungarian mythology

A 9th century fastener unearthed in Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine; the finding belongs to the possibly Hungarian "Subotcy find horizon"

Hungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians, also known as the Magyars.

Sources of knowledge

Much of Magyar mythology is believed lost. However, a significant amount of Hungarian mythology has been successfully recovered in the last hundred years.

The most important sources are:

• Folklore, as many mythical persons remain in folk tales, folk songs, legends, also special traditions linked to special dates, unknown elsewhere
• Medieval chronicles such as codices and manuscripts
• Secondary sources such as accounts about Hungarians by other authors (mostly before 850)
• Mythological cosmology

The World Tree carved on a pot

In Hungarian myth, the world is divided into three spheres: the first is the Upper World (Felső világ), the home of the gods; the second is the Middle World (Középső világ) or world we know, and finally the underworld (Alsó világ). In the center of the world stands a tall tree: the World Tree / Tree of Life (Világfa/Életfa). Its foliage is the Upper World, and the Turul bird dwells on top of it. The Middle World is located at its trunk and the underworld is around its roots. In some stories, the tree has fruit: the golden apples.

Upper World

The gods and the good souls live in the Upper World. Gods have the same rank, although the most important figure of them is Isten (Hungarian for "God"). He controls the world, shapes the fate of humans, observes the Middle World from the sky, and sometimes gives warning by lightning (mennykő). Isten created the world with the help of Ördög("the devil" representing Evil). 

Other gods include: 

• Istenanya ("Mother God"), also known as Boldogasszony ("Blessed Lady", literally meaning "happy/merry woman"; later identified with Catholicism's Virgin Mary), and Hadúr ("warlord" or "commander").
• The major celestial bodies, (the Sun and the Moon), are also located in the Upper World. The sky was thought to be a big tent held up by the Tree of Life. The several holes in it are the stars. The Sun, Moon, and symbols of the cosmic word, are known from Hungarian grave findings from the period of Hungarian conquest.

Middle World

The Middle World is shared among humans and many mythological creatures; the latter are often supernatural.

 There are ghosts of the forests and waters, who are ordered to scare humans.

 They have different names in different places. There are females, for example, the sellő(mermaid), which lives in water and has a human torso with the tail of a fish. 

The wind is controlled by an old lady called Szélanya (Wind Mother) or Szélkirály(Wind King). 

The Sárkány (dragon) is a frightening beast: he is the enemy of many heroes in fairy tales, symbolising the psychical inner struggle of the hero.The Sárkány usually has 1-7 heads. 

The lidérc is a ghostly, mysterious creature with several different appearances, its works are always malicious.

 The manók (elves / goblins) and the törpék (dwarfs) are foxy beings living in woods or under the ground.

 Óriások (giants) live in the mountains. They have both good and bad qualities. 

Favourite creatures are the tündérek (fairies), who are beautiful young virgins or female creatures (often depicted either as personified purity and innocence, or as playful and foxy). They aid humans, who sometimes can ask three wishes from them. 

Their opposites are the bábák, who are equated with catty old witches. (Bába means "midwife" in modern Hungarian, and originally they were wise old women, later equated with witches as Christianity became widespread.)

Underworld

The Underworld is the place of bad souls (this includes evil spirits and the souls of dead people who were cruel and evil in their lives) and the home of Ördög, creator of everything bad for humans: for example, annoying animals such as fleas, lice, and flies.

Religion

One of the theories about the ancient Hungarian religion is that it was a form of Tengrism, a shamanic religion common among the early Turkic and Mongolian people, that was influenced by Zoroastrianism from the Persians whom the Hungarians had encountered during their westward migration.

 Another theory ties the religion to that of the Huns and Scythians due to similar or even identical legends to the Hungarian origin myth. 

Speculation about contact with early Varangian settlers and merchants West of Atil also prevail due to similarities shared with Germanic / Norse mythology.

The shamanic role was filled by the táltos ("wise man / blessed scholar"). Their souls were thought to be able to travel between the three spheres via révülés (meditation). They were also doctors. A taltos was selected by fate; their slight abnormalities at birth (neonatal teeth, caulbearer, white hair, and additional fingers were believed to be the sign of a divine order. The steps of their introduction:

Climbing up on the "shaman ladder / shaman tree" symbolized the World Tree;

Drenching the ghosts: drinking the blood of the sacrificed animal.

They had the ability to contact spirits by specific rituals and praying. Thus, they interpreted dreams, mediated between humans and spirits, cured and removed curses, and had an ability to find and bring back lost souls. They directed animal sacrifices and guessed the reason of an ancestor's anger.

After death, the human soul leaves the body. The body is buried by relatives on the other bank of a river, looking towards east. If the soul had been good, it gets to the Other World (Túlvilág), for eternal peace. If it had been bad, it must suffer in the underworld (Alsó Világ / Alvilág), where Ördög ("the devil") and numerous evil ghosts live.

Deities

Arany Atyácska (god)Meaning "Golden Father." He was the consort of Hajnal Anyácska and father of Hadúr, Napkirály and Szélkirály.

Boldogasszony(Mother goddess)Also called "Istenanya." Her name means "Blessed Lady" or "Bountiful Queen". She was the goddess of motherhood and helped women in childbirth.  

After Hungarians were Christianized with the help of St. Gerard of Csanad, her figure fell out of favor for that of the Virgin Mary. In later years the name "Boldogasszony" and "Nagyboldogasszony" (Great Blessed Lady) was primarily used as a moniker for the Virgin Mary. She is also considered the "Queen (Regina) of Hungary".Hadúr (god)Short for Hadak Ura, meaning "Warlord" or "Master of Armies" and was the war god in the religion of the early Hungarians. He was the third son of Arany Atyácska (Dear Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dear Dawn Mother) and was also the metalsmith of the gods. He wore armor and weapons made of pure copper, which is his sacred metal, and it was said that he forged the Sword of God (Isten kardja) which was discovered by Attila the Hun and secured his rule. It was customary for the Hungarians to sacrifice white stallions to him before a battle.

Hajnal Anyácska(goddess)Meaning "Dawn Mother." She was the consort of Arany Atyácska and mother of Hadúr, Napkirály and Szélkirály.

Isten (god) Meaning simply "God." Isten was the god of the sky and the head of the Hungarian pantheon.

Nap Anya(goddess)Meaning "Sun Mother."Napkirály(god)Meaning "King of the Sun", he is the Hungarian sun god and is the oldest son of Arany Atyácska (Dear Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dear Dawn Mother), brother of Hadúr and Szélkirály. He rides his silver-haired horse from East to West every day, seeing everything below him.

Ördög (god)He was the god of death, diseases and wicked things, and ruled the underworld realm Pokol.

Szélanya(goddess)Meaning "Wind Mother," she is the goddess of wind and female counterpart of Szélatya. She is a wise, elderly woman who lives in a cave on top of a huge mountain somewhere at the end of the world. She rides the winds and creates storms and whirlwinds.

Szélkirály(god)Meaning "King of the Wind", also called Szélatya ("Wind Father"), he is the Hungarian god of wind and rain and male counterpart of Szélanya. He is the second son of Arany Atyácska (Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dawn Mother), brother of Hadúr and Napkirály. His armor and weapons are made of pure silver, his sacred metal.

Tűz Anya(goddess)Meaning "Fire Mother." The goddess of fire and the female counterpart of Tűz Atya.

Tűz Atya (god)Meaning "Fire Father," also called Tűz Apa. The god of fire and the male counterpart of Tűz Anya.

Víz Anya(goddess)Meaning "Water Mother." The goddess of water and the female counterpart of Víz Atya.

Víz Atya (god)Meaning "Water Father," also called Víz Apa. The god of fire and the male counterpart of Víz Anya.

Animals and spirits

Csodaszarvas(animal)A central figure in the legends surrounding the origin of the Hungarian people. The name translates to "Miraculous Deer". 

According to Hungarian legend, preserved in the 13the century chronicle Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorumby Simon of Kéza, while out hunting, the brothers Hunor and Magor saw a miraculous white stag(sometimes described as golden). They pursued the animal, but it always stayed ahead of them, leading them westward into Levedia, where they married two princesses and founded the Huns and Hungarian people. One of the main reasons for claims of religious and cultural ties between Huns and Hungarians is the stag and the brothers Hunor and Magor. 

Bába(creature)Meaning "old woman", she was originally a good fairy who later degraded and became evil. Although she had magical abilities, she was not a witch (boszorkány). She was thought to live in fountains, and if young children went too close to her lair, she lured them in.

Boszorkány(witch)A hostile, harm-doing, supernatural old lady, the witch. She had an ability to transform, fly and curse. A boszorkány corrupted the animals, for example, soured the milk of the cows. For humans, she brought an abrupt illness. They "operated" in the night, or in the nightfall.

Bubus (spirit)A small being that lives in caves. See →Mumus.

Fene (spirit)The demon of illness. Today, a common saying still uses its name: "A fene egye meg!", which literally means "Let it be eaten by the fene!", and is uttered when something does not occur as one wishes. "Fene" is also considered the place where demons roam, i.e. the popular Hungarian curse "menj a fenébe!" is equivalent to the English "go to hell!".

Guta (spirit)A fearsome Hungarian demon who beats his victims to death, often associated with strokes, heart attacks, or sudden paralysis.

Lidérc(creature)A unique supernatural being of Hungarian folklore. It has three known varieties, which often borrow traits from one another: a miracle chicken or csodacsirke(the traditional form); a temporal devil or földi ördög; and a Satanic lover, ördögszerető.

Szépasszony(spirit)Meaning "Fair Lady", she is a female demon with long hair and a white dress. She appears and dances in storms and hail, and seduces young men.

Turul (animal)The great bird resembling to a falcon that was sent forth by Isten to guide the creation and destiny of the Magyar people. The first kings after St Stephen I. were the hereditiary of Turul("Turul nemzetség")

Vadleány(creature)Meaning "Wild Girl", she is an elusive forest sprite who seduces shepherds, saps their strength and makes the forest rustle. She is usually nude and her long hair reaches the ground. She can sometimes be lured and caught with one boot (she tries to put two of her feet to one boot).

Griff (animal)Also known as griffin in other European countries, but without special features. 

In Hungarian mythology, it is similar to turul. Featuring in some fairy tales (like Fehérlófia, The son of the white horse), it is a cruel, greedy bird eating humans, but it's the only way to get back from Under World to Middle World.

Sárkány(dragon)Appearing in almost all folk tales, a creature not similar to dragons. It is always man-shaped, can ride a horse, and has usually seven heads, sometimes three, 12 or 21 (relating to numbers in astrology). 

Dragons usually symbolized human behaviour or character, i.e. when the hero was fighting with him, he was fighting to overcome his own bad behaviour, habit or characteristic.

Heroes and human figures

Hunor and Magor(people)Legendary twin patriarchs of the Huns and Magyars (Hungarians), respectively. They were said to be the sons of the Biblical Menrot (Nimrod), or of Japhethaccording to a slightly different version of the legend.

Álmos(person)Son of Ügyek and Emese. He was a semi-legendary figure born in c. 819 and the ancestor of the house of Árpád. Álmos ruled the Magyars in Levedia and Etelköz. His name means "dreamy" as his birth was foretold in his mother's dream (see the legend of his birth at Emese.)

Emese(person)Wife of Ügyek, mother of Álmos (meaning, "the one from/with the dream"). She was impregnated by a turulbird, which appeared to her in a dream and told her "a river will spring from your womb, which will flow and spread to a new land". The táltos (shaman) explained the dream as saying that she would give birth to a son, who would be the ancestor of a great ruling family in a foreign land.

Dula(person)Dula's name appears in the Legend of the Csodaszarvas. He is said to be a prince of the Alans. In fact, he probably was a kind of chief of the Volga Bulgarians.

Garabonciás(person)A male figure who learned magic, unlike the →táltos, who had the ability by birth. He is able to create storms. Some alumni were thought to possess these abilities as late as the 19th century.

Göncöl(person)A legendary táltos (shaman) who was believed to have medicine that can cure any illness. He, or his wagon (known as Nagy Göncöl) is represented by the stars of the Big Dipper.

References

• ^ Attila Turk, HUNGARIAN ARCHAEOLOGY, The new archaeological research design for early hungarian history, 2012, p. 3
• ^ Türk Attila Antal: A szaltovói kultúrkör és a magyar őstörténet régészeti kutatása. In.: Középkortörténeti tanulmányok 6. A VI. Medievisztikai PhD-konferencia (Szeged, 2009. június 4-5.). szerk.: G. Tóth P. –Szabó P. Szeged (2010) 284–285, és 5. kép,
• ^ Bokij, N. M. – Pletnyova, Sz. A.: Nomád harcos család 10. századi sírjai az Ingul folyó völgyében. AÉ. 1989, 86–98.
• ^ András Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History, Central European University Press, 1999, p. 366
• ^ Diószegi 1998
• ^ Hoppál 1998
• ^ Hoppál 1975
• ^ Hoppál 2005
• ^ Hoppál 1994
• Hungarian Mythology I
• Hungarian Mythology
• Excerpt of the legend of creation from the Hungarian saga

RELATED ARTICLES

Shamanism in Siberia

Soul dualism

Shamanistic remnants in Hungarian folklore

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.

What are fairies and Where do they come from?

To understand what they are, we should look at some of those found in Celtic mythology and other Celtic traditions. But, then you would discover that fairies are not just confined in Celtic traditions. Many cultures and civilizations have their own versions of fairies.

There are enough kinds of fairies to confuse anyone, because sometimes writers have associated one fairy with a different kind.

In Celtic religion, there was Celtic deities in Gaul (France and Belgium), Hispania (Spain) and Britannia (Britain) during the Roman occupation of these regions or provinces. But the situation changed when Christianity spread to the west and north. These deities that were worshipped before the conversion to Christianity were reduced to the status of fairies in Celtic mythology and folklore.

So in Ireland the gods in the Tuatha De Danann were degenerated to the roles of fairies (eg. Dagda and Lugh), people living under the dune mound or fabled islands, or even within underwater domains. Similar degeneration occurred with old deities in Wales, Scotland and other surviving pockets of Celtic kingdoms (such as Cornwall, Brittany and island of Man).

These earlier Celtic traditions of fairies, the former Irish or Welsh deities were also not fairies in the usual sense. They looked very much like human, in size and shape, except that they have special magical powers and they seemed eternally young, but they don't have wings. The Dananns or their Welsh counterparts were usually seen as race of fair people. They can die just as mortals can, but their lives could last hundreds or even thousands of years.

The problem is that sometimes, the Christian authors have also turned them into beings serving the Devil, and that the fairies were actually demons. However this view is no longer shared, today.

These medieval fairies are different from the common folklore and fairy tales of today. The Tuatha de Danann is nothing like the brownie, leprechaun and goblin of these later traditions.

The Huldra myth

A Hulder is a forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore; in Norwegian folklore, she is known as the Huldra. She is known as the skogsrå or Tallemaja in Swedish folklore, and Ulda in Sámi folklore. These fair-haired blonde beauties are often said to lure men into the woods by their lovely singing, appearance or hypnotic harp playing to do their bidding. The Hulder if betrayed are known to punish their victims severely. They help and punish, set limits, make trouble for people or generously endow valuable gifts; the way a Hulder reacts to you is based on how you treat her. Treat her with respect and she may reward you, treat her cruelly and receive the same. The moral of this story is treat others how you want to be treated.

Appearance: A beautiful and seductive woman having a hollow, bark-encrusted back and/or an animal tail.

Lore: Like the Greek nymphs of lore, Huldra have overactive sex drives and will seduce and lure men into the forest in order to have sex. If the man can satisfy her needs, she lets him live and even blesses him with her power. However, if the man cannot satisfy her sexually then she will usually kill him. Even if a man can sexually satisfy a Huldra it doesn't imply his safety, for it is believed that he will be unable to resist her advances and will literally exhaust himself to death via repeated couplings.

Like fairies, Huldra will abduct human children and leave behind a changeling, one of her own children in it's place. Also like fairies, Huldra can and often do marry mortal men. When such a situation arises, the Huldra will extract a promise from her mortal husband. 

However, if a man did marry her (in a church in the name of god), tales tell that she would turn into an ugly woman. But in return she would gain the strength of ten men if not more, and she would lose her tail.

Despite their dangerous side, Huldra do have a beneficial role. Huldra do offer assistance, usually in the capacity of keen observers and warning of anything that might go wrong. In return for their service, Huldra are offered food and drink.

As to the origin of the Huldra, according to legend the Huldra originated when God visited a woman with a great number of children. The woman had only bathed a certain portion of her children and only presented the clean children to God when he asked to see them. The woman hid her dirty children from God. God became so angry at her trick that he cursed her saying from then on her dirty children should continue to be hidden from mankind, ultimately giving rise to the Hulderfolk.

One of the quickest ways to arouse the wrath of a Huldra is to make fun of, or be rude concerning, her tail. Be warned.

Powers: Fairy glamour, power to cause insanity, incredible strength, and the power to grant bountiful catches in fishing and hunting.

Defense Against Huldra: Being similar to fairies, Huldra might fear iron objects and salt. Huldra women who marry men will lose their powers of fairy glamour when blessed by a priest. According to folktales it is possible to outwit Huldra.

Lecture: Mare (folklore)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Mare (Old English: mære, Old Dutch: mare; mara in Old High German, Old Norse and Old Church Slavic) is an evil spirit or goblin in Germanic and Slavic folklore that rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams (or "nightmares").

The mare is often similar to the mythical creatures succubus and incubus.

Etymology

The word "mare" comes (through Middle English mare) from Old English mære, mare, or mere, all feminine nouns. These in turn come from Proto-Germanic *marōn. *Marōn is the source of Old Norse: mara, from which are derived Swedish: mara; Icelandic: mara; Faroese: marra; Danish: mare; Norwegian: mare/mara, Dutch: (nacht)merrie, and German: (Nacht)mahr. The -mar in French cauchemar ("nightmare") is borrowed from the Germanic through Old French mare.

The word may ultimately be traced back to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *mer-, "to rub away" or "to harm". Hungarian folklorist Éva Pócs endorses an alternative etymology, tracing the core term back to the Greek μόρος (Indo-European *moros), meaning "death".

In Norwegian and Danish, the words for "nightmare" are mareritt and mareridt respectively, which can be directly translated as "mare-ride". The Icelandic word martröð has the same meaning (-tröð from the verb troða, "trample", "stamp on", related to "tread"), whereas the Swedish mardröm translates as "mare-dream".

Beliefs

The mare was also believed to "ride" horses, which left them exhausted and covered in sweat by the morning. She could also entangle the hair of the sleeping man or beast, resulting in "marelocks", called marflätor ("mare-braids") or martovor ("mare-tangles") in Swedish or marefletter and marefloker in Norwegian. The belief probably originated as an explanation to the Polish plait phenomenon, a hair disease.

Even trees were thought to be ridden by the mare, resulting in branches being entangled. The undersized, twisted pine-trees growing on coastal rocks and on wet grounds are known in Sweden as martallar ("mare-pines") or in German as Alptraum-Kiefer ("nightmare pine").

According to Paul Devereux, mares included witches who took on the form of animals when their spirits went out and about while they were in trance (see the Icelandic example of Geirrid, below). These included animals such as frogs, cats, horses, hares, dogs, oxen, birds and often bees and wasps.^[4]

By region

Scandinavia

The mare is attested as early as in the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century. Here, King Vanlandi Sveigðisson of Uppsala lost his life to a nightmare (mara) conjured by the Finnish sorceress Huld or Hulda, hired by the king's abandoned wife Drífa. The king had broken his promise to return within three years, and after ten years had elapsed the wife engaged the sorceress to either lure the king back to her, or failing that, to assassinate him. Vanlandi had scarcely gone to sleep when he complained that the nightmare "rode him;" when the men held the king's head the it "trod on his legs" on the point of breaking, and when the retinue then "seized his feet" the creature fatally "pressed down on his head." 

According to the Vatnsdæla saga, Thorkel Silver (Þorkell Silfri) has a dream about riding a red horse that barely touched ground, which he interpreted as a positive omen, but his wife disagreed, explaining that a mare signified a man's fetch (fylgja), and that the red color boded bloodiness. This association of the nightmare with fetch is thought to be of late origin, an interpolation in the text dating to circa 1300, with the text exhibiting a "confounding of the words marr and mara."

Another possible example is the account in the Eyrbyggja saga of the sorceress Geirrid accused of assuming the shape of a "night-rider" or "ride-by-night" (marlíðendr or kveldriða) and causing serious trampling bruises on Gunnlaug Thorbjornsson. The marlíðendr mentioned here has been equated to the mara by commentators.

As in English, the name appears in the word for "nightmare" in the Nordic languages (e.g. the Swedish word "mardröm" literally meaning mara-dream, the Norwegian word "mareritt" and the Danish "Mareridt", both meaning Mare-ride or the Icelandic word "martröð" meaning mara-dreaming repeatedly).

Germany

In Germany they were known as mara, mahr, mare.

German Folklorist Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn records a Westphalian charm or prayer used to ward off mares, from Wilhelmsburg near Paderborn:

Hier leg' ich mich schlafen, Keine Nachtmahr soll mich plagen, Bis sie schwemmen alle Wasser, Die auf Erden fließen, Und tellet alle Sterne, Die am Firmament erscheinen! [Dazu helfe mir Gott Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist. Amen!]

Here I am lying down to sleep; No night-mare shall plague me until they have swum through all the waters that flow upon the earth, and counted all stars that appear in the skies. [Thus help me God Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!]

Such charms are preceded by the example of the Münchener Nachtsegen of the fourteenth century (See Elf under §Medieval and early modern German texts). Its texts demonstrates that certainly by the Late Middle Ages, the distinction between the mare, the alp, and the trute (drude) was being blurred, the mare being described at the alp's mother.

Slavic countries

In Polish folklore, zmora or mara are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair or as moths. Accordingly, Polish mara, Czech můra denote both a kind of elf or spirit as well as a "sphinx moth" or "night butterfly". Other Slavic languages with cognates that have the double meaning of moth are: Kashubian mòra, and Slovak mora.

In the north-western Russian and South-Russian traditions, the mara means a female character, similar to kikimora. Mara is usually invisible, but can take the form of a woman with long flowing hair, which she combs, sitting on a yarn. According to other sources, the mara is black, shaggy (olonets, tul.), And also a terrible and disheveled creature (Kaluga).

In Croatian, mora refers to a "nightmare". Mora or Mara is one of the spirits from ancient Slav mythology. Mara was a dark spirit that takes a form of a beautiful woman and then visits men in their dreams, torturing them with desire, and dragging life out of them. In Serbia, a mare is called mora, or noćnik/noćnica ("night creature", masculine and feminine respectively). In Romania they were known as Moroi.

It is a common belief that mora enters the room through the keyhole, sits on the chest of the sleepers and tries to strangle them (hence moriti, "to torture", "to bother", "to strangle"). To repel moras, children are advised to look at the window or to turn the pillow and make a sign of cross on it (prekrstiti jastuk); in the early 19th century, Vuk Karadžić mentions that people would repel moras by leaving a broom upside down behind the door, or putting their belt on top of their sheets, or saying an elaborate prayer poem before they go to sleep.

Other

In Hungarian, the creature is known as éjjeljáró or "night-goer." In Estonia the mare-like spirit is called Painaja (presser) or Külmking (cold-shoe). In Thailand this phenomenon is well documented and called ผีอำ (pee ahm), pee meaning "ghost". Buddhist residents wear amulets (พระเครื่อง) blessed by monks to ward off spirits such as these. In Turkey the mare is known as Karabasan (tr) (ominous-presser).

See also

• Mara in Buddhism
• Mara (Hindu goddess)
• Alp (folklore)
• Batibat
• Lietuvēns
• Maya (illusion)
• Marzanna (Slavic goddess of death and winter)
• Moroi
• Moros
• Nightmare
• Pesanta
• Sleep paralysis, medical term for the condition the mare is thought to cause.
• Slavic fairies