Context: PH is a 20 year-old student who lives in San Diego, California. She learned about the folk creature of the dropbear through her friend who is from Australia. She told me about it in an interview. Text: PH: my Australian friend tried to convince any non-Australian person she met about the existence of dropbears…. Continue Reading »
Main piece: (The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and interviewer.) Interviewer: Would you tell me your version of the legend of the Piasa Bird? Informant: My version… back in the olden days, tribes of Indians lived on the bluffs above the Mississippi River. Which was not even the Mississippi river then,… Continue Reading »
Main Piece: “I think in the 70s it was, I know the name of the town because it’s called Louisanna, Missouri. It’s on the Mississippi river in the south of the state and in the 70s apparently a few people reported seeing a very tall, like 7 to 8 foot tall, ape-like swamp creature in… Continue Reading »
CML is my tutor at USC. She is 22 and a fourth year student at USC. She lived in Knoxville for 15 years. She learned about local culture at school learned urban legends from family and friends that were commonly spoken about. CML told me this piece of folklore during one of our tutoring session…. Continue Reading »
In western Wisconsin lives the Hodag, a creature of folk legend native to Stephen’s Point that the informant described as their version of Bigfoot, but more evocative of a mongoose-like creature. It lives in the woods, and people frequently report sightings. The informant claims most people don’t truly believe in the Hodag, treating it more… Continue Reading »