Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

Text: If you pass a sharp object such as a knife or scissor without placing it on a flat surface, it means a bad omen

Context: “Anytime I go back home to India and I’m passing cutlery or like silverware to my friends, specifically a knife or a sharp object, they always tell me to place it on a flat surface or like a surface before they take it, just because if I pass it to them directly, there’s a myth that I’m gonna have a fight with them or they’ll walk out of my life or something bad and negative will happen to them.” This is what my friend told me when I interviewed him. He’s Indian and his friends back home believe in this, but although he doesn’t believe in this, he’s forced to follow this tale. On the positive side, he said that his friends’ beliefs about this make him question if there is “another force in the universe.”

Analysis: This folklore tale delves into deep cultural and interpersonal dynamics. This practice, while seemingly rooted in superstition, underscores a broader cultural wisdom emphasizing caution and respect in human interactions. It resonates with Ülo Valk’s insight that folkloric entities are “shaped by the perspectives…of storytellers” (Valk 31), suggesting that such tales reflect communal values and the social fabric of a culture. Similarly, Domino Renee Perez’s observation that folklore figures like La Llorona “wield power by making often incomprehensible choices” (Perez 155) highlights how folklore governs individual actions, even beyond personal belief. This tale, therefore, is more than a superstition; it’s a ritualistic expression of mindfulness and a nod to the collective wisdom that guides social conduct. It connects individuals to their cultural heritage, fostering a sense of continuity and respect for the unseen forces that shape human relationships. Moreover, this tale interestingly highlights the permeation and resilience of cultural beliefs through social networks and friendships, even among individuals who may not personally subscribe to these beliefs. My friend’s adherence to this practice, despite his skepticism, underscores the compelling nature of cultural norms and the respect for the beliefs of others within one’s community.

Greek Mountain Village Tale

Text: In the remote mountain villages of Greece, connected by deserted roads, there’s a tradition: when faced with the unfamiliar, one should make the sign of the cross. A young woman was traversing these paths alone, a rarity as custom dictates that she should be accompanied by a male relative. Along her journey between two villages, she stumbled upon an infant. Initially, she felt no need for the protective ritual because it was only just a child. However, instinct prevailed, and she made the sign of the cross just before touching the baby. To her astonishment, the infant spoke in a chilling tone, revealing itself as a demon. It confessed that had she not performed the sign, it would have taken her to hell.

Context: When he was 12 years old, the informant  heard a story during a coffee hour following a Greek Orthodox church service. An elderly Greek woman, who had grown up in a small village but now lived in the Bronx, shared the tale, alternating between Greek and English. His mother helped translate parts of it for him. He noted that he hates the story and thinks it is “hickish” and backwards. He thinks that it’s very uneducated and the type of thing you would hear in a small town. As a Christian he doesn’t like that type of superstition/ fear element being connected to his faith.

Analysis: This story reflects the deep rooted christian beliefs held by those communities and their diaspora here. Greece has one of the highest rates of Orthodox Christianity in the world and when isolated in small mountain villages, stories like that definitely will arise. I think it reflects the dangerous conditions of the time, the informant specifically made sure to point out that the woman shouldn’t have been traveling alone because it was too unsafe but she was anyway. At the time in these tiny villages The churches were the sources of protection and knowledge for the people living there, and this story reflects that they listen to the Church’s authority. 

“Noah Body” (Tale)

“My dad would tell me [ever since I was young] about this guy who was kidnapped by a huge cyclops. – He’s super scared and wants to make his escape but the cyclopes won’t let him go, so what happens is that he begins to befriend the cyclops, until the cyclops asks him for his name, and he answers “Noah Body”. He then goes and attacks [the cyclops] by stabbing him in the eye- but when the cyclops in in pain and runs to tell another cyclops what the man did and says ‘Noah Body hit me! Noah Body hit me!’ the other cyclops is slow to react asking ‘What do you mean nobody hit you? What’re you talking about?’ and the man was able to make his escape.”

This story was told to my informant by her father repeatedly in her youth. At the time, she considered it as something that entertained her, but as she grew into the story she realized, “It was about cunning and wit – my dad tried to use it as a lesson on being smart and how to cleverly get yourself out of situations.”

Her father would recite this colorful story to encourage her and her siblings to be consistently clever, so they may more easily navigate their way out of issues that arise.

What interests me as well is the sheer absurdity and nodes of violence in the story, especially as a mode to inform children of life lessons. Many children’s tales are outlandish or horrific in nature in order to be more captivating for their audience, like many iterations of Snow White, or Little Red Riding Hood. If children are more entertained or frightened by a story, the more likely the intention will stick with them.

Rumors of a Mexican Village

In the small village from where my parents are from (in rural Zacatecas, Mexico), on the foot of the biggest hill in the area lies a secret, well hidden entrance to a tunnel leading deep inside where it is said to lead to a stolen treasure dating back to the Mexican Revolution. The inside of the hill is so dark not even a lamp helps navigate through it. A river also runs through the inside of the hill which supposedly leads to said treasure. Some people have allegedly ventured inside to try and retrieve it, tying ropes around their waist from the entrance so as to not get lost. No one has been able to find this mysterious treasure. 

This is a very popular tale told around amongst the community from where my parents come from and it tends to jumps back and forth between a simple tale of fiction and a probable rumor depending on who is telling the story.

The way I’ve heard this story be told sounds to me like things parents would tell their children similar to that of a legendary tale of lost treasure, a common theme in children’s stories that circulate around the families of this ranch including my own.

Horror Story of an Old Woman

An old woman’s daughter became pregnant out of wedlock and when the child was born, the old woman dipped her daughter’s newborn into boiling water. Sometime later, the old woman became paralyzed and could only move her eyes. The day she died, it was foggy and dark and animals would bark and make noise. As the woman was about to die, the window opened and a chicken came in. She wanted it to go away and her son began to shoot at the chicken. As the shot hit the chicken, the woman died.

These kinds of gory stories about death were popular to tell according to my mom, especially since they involved some kind of karmic element and gruesome end to the villain of the story.

The story was a bit confusing to me and it sounds as if the old woman became the chicken itself but I’m confused as to why and what that had to do with the old woman killing her infant grandson. Definitely freaked me out a little.