Tag Archives: legends

Lady Triệu

Background: My informant is a Vietnamese college student. Their parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam when their parents were around 20, for religious and other reasons. My informant’s identity and worldview is largely shaped by their Vietnamese culture and immigrant upbringing. One of my informant’s main life goals is to one day move back to Vietnam and be in their homeland. My informant is interested in studying decolonization and has done so in college. Thus, this story about Vietnamese decolonization is especially important to them, although they did express that they are not certain about how this history of Vietnam being colonized affects their identity.

Context: Context: This conversation was recorded on a zoom meeting that we had on a Monday evening. My informant is a friend of mine, and the conversation occurred in both of our rooms. The purpose of the call was specifically so that I could gather folklore from my informant, and they were aware about that as well. After our call, some other people joined the zoom call and the atmosphere was generally friendly.

Main Piece:

For most of our existence as a country(Vietnam), we’ve been colonized, and mostly by China. So we have a lot of like … we have stories about warrior people who fight and like try to rebel against China, meaning that and a lot of these stories are usually women. Because apparently Vietnam used to be a matriarchy or something so a lot of our stories usually involve women fighting against China. 

Here’s this woman. Her name is Lady Triệu. Orphan woman. But she lives with her brother and his family. And her sister in law was kind of horrible to her. And so she killed her sister in law and runs away to the mountains and like starts mountain training. And her brother tries to convince her to come down and that sort of thing but she doesn’t because because she wants to train and so she enlists in the army. 

So sometime between like the mountains and her listing she gets married has baby or at least one baby.

And like in all the depictions of her. It’s like she’s a fierce woman with long boobs. And when she goes into battle she throws her boobs over her shoulders.

Me: So like, just for, like, so I can categorize this. Like do people actually think this happened?

Think of it more like like the story of Hercules where it may happen, but a lot of the stuff is exaggerated, all the time.

Thoughts: Thoughts: This was interesting to me because I was previously unaware of Vietnam being colonized by China. The first time I heard of this story was in friendly conversation and we made light of the fact that the woman is primarily characterized as having long boobs. This was obviously sexualized in our discussion and I wonder if that feature had the same context when it was told throughout history. Lady Triệu also plays into the tendency of warrior leaders in uprising who tend to become historical legends or folk heroes.

The Soo koo yant

In my grandparents’ native country of Dominica, the tradition is to pass on to the upcoming generation intriguing stories that would transcend generations. In an effort to dissect this legend I’ve been told when I was little, I turned to both my grandparents for clarity.

D: “One particular belief in Dominica is that some older ladies engaged in witchcraft and that they should be avoided.  Those older folks were called “soo kooyans”, pronounced –“Sue koo yan”.  

It is said that the soo koo yants can only engage in witchcraft at night time.  That they have to shed their skins in order to transform themselves into evil spirits.  It is believed that when these beings are transformed they receive superpowers that enable them to fly and travel long distances but that they have to return to their homes before daylight otherwise they won’t be able to return to their human form.  The soo koo yant enters people’s homes through small openings and feeds on human blood leaving bruises on the body.  It is believed they need human blood for their energy and they live in the countryside.”

D: “Others are claimed to have traveled from Dominica all the way to the United Kingdom and returned to Dominica with attire such as a dress that belonged to the Royal Family.”

The informant later explained that nobody could afford this woman’s dress and no one had seen her dress in all of Dominica. The fabric was never found on the island. According to the lore, these people are afraid of certain plants. 

D: “When one wants to know if an older person in the community is a soo koo yant, they would get a special grass, named “Pat Pool” a patwa word that translates to “chicken foot”, and when these people are walking on the sidewalk that if one should send or scatter the grass in their path that they would panic and turn around and not dare walk across or over the grass, this goes on to this day when younger folks hear that someone is a soo koo yan they would engage in this act to verify if they are really witches.” 

H: “When a soo koo yant travels at night, you see a bright ball of light that is coming and it descends on your house and then it tries to open windows to break in. It comes while you’re sleeping. Sucks up your blood. And it has to move before daybreak. When it wants to rest it jumps from tree to tree.”

H: “It takes a ritual or spell to turn itself into a witch. When a soucouyant leaves its home it says certain words to remove their skin and they put it into a wooden box. It has to come back before daybreak to put on their meat suit. And they’re afraid of salt and pepper. Older people would salt the doors and windows because it would burn their skin.”

For the informants, this legend is important to them because it is a story that is passed down through generations to be wary of those around them because everything is not always as it seems. According to lore, Soo koo yant is basically an old hag. While in most communities the elderly are regarded as trustworthy and caring, this legend carries the message that this isn’t always true. My takeaway from this story is that those who are constantly overlooked can sometimes be the devil in disguise.

Pele, Kamupua and the Pali highway

Context:

The informant is a 28-year-old woman, of Indonesian and Caucasian ethnicity. Her hometown is Honolulu, Hawaii. While in school in Hawaii, she learned about Hawaiian Folklore. This story was told to her by her instructor.

Main Piece:

There are many stories of the Hawaiian Goddess of lava and volcanoes. The most common are of sightings of an old woman walking along the Pali highway. These are spread throughout our communities and in school so it’s difficult to tell you where I heard it first. Everyone says not to bring pork over the Pali because if you do your car will stop till you get rid of it. I learned later in my senior portfolio research in high school, that it was because Pele and Kamupua’a (the pig god) were lovers but they fought constantly. Kamupua’a stayed on one side of the island and Pele on the other. The Pali highway connects these two sides so if you try to bring pork from his side to her’s she’ll stop you.

Notes:

I am not familiar with Hawaiian Folklore, however after doing a little research, Pele which is pronounced peh-leh, is described as the goddess of lava, of fire, lightning, wind, dance and volcanoes. There are many different stories as to how Pele came to be. Most stories include her sister, Namakaokahai either attacking her, or killing her. In one instance, Pele was said to have seduced Namakaokahai’s husband and was sent away by her father. The story of Kamupua and Pele is well known among locals in Hawaii and the stories come from actual happenings of people accidentally taking pork in their vehicles across the Pali highway. This is due to Kamupua calling the Windward side of the Island, home and the leeward side belonging to Pele. Because of their radical relationship, bringing pork across the freeway is bad luck and the vehicle carrying the pork will stop until the pork is removed.

 

 

For more info about Pele and legends about the Pali highway check out these sites:

 

https://www.robertshawaii.com/blog/legend-behind-hawaiis-goddess-fire/

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7322206/pork-and-pali-are-recipes-for-disaster/

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/33478838/spooky-stories-pork-over-the-pali/

The Fair Folk

Context:

The informant is a 35-year-old Caucasian male of Irish and Polish descent. He will be referred to as DB. The Folklore piece came to him from his father’s side of the family which is his Irish side. The story was shared by his grandmother and is told in his own words:

Main Piece:

The Fair Folk (or Fae) were fairytale creatures that lived “under” Ireland in what was known as a Faery Raft. They loved humans, loved tricking them, and loved marrying them or trapping them. If you fell asleep, you could be lulled into the Faery raft. You NEVER ate or drank in the presence of the Fae. If you ate or drank anything from the Raft, you were trapped there for 100 years. Little kids were usually taken because the fae loved them and loved raising them in the raft, and then letting them go hundreds of years later when they got tired of them as children. They also loved wagers, and could be tricked out of things like magic, gold (leprechauns), and favors if you could best them at things. They loved riddles, they were the reason you would lose mittens or socks or your favorite things, and they were most active under a full moon.

Background:

DB was told this story of the Fair Folk by his grandmother who enjoyed telling him these stories when he was a kid. DB finds the story important because he isn’t connected to his Irish roots and this story is a way to stay connected to them as well as to his grandmother. He doesn’t believe in the Fair Folk however, but he feels the tradition of passing on the story is important, and he believes in that.

Notes:

The story of the Fair Folk seems to be a tale told by parents to their children. Like many other creatures in stories shared from other countries, these fairies are known to be tricky or mischievous. The story seems to be a warning to protect themselves from their tricks. They also serve a purpose as an explanation for missing things. When something in one’s home goes missing, this is a way to explain why. People need to have an explanation for things to put them at ease. When something cannot be explained, it creates more questions, so it seems like these creatures are made to explain what can’t be. Talismans made from steel or iron are used to protect against fairies and their negative magic as they are unable to touch or be near these metals.

 

 

Parrot Legend of Los Angeles

“If you have been in Los Angeles for a little bit, eventually you notice the parrots. It’s weird because you wouldn’t think parrots live in Los Angeles but there are tons of these very loud and annoying green parrots. There are a couple different stories about why they are here, like, one of them is that these green parrots escaped from the LA Zoo and had no predators so now there are way too many. That’s the main one I heard. I think the other one I heard more recently is that they came from some guy who ordered these pet parrots and they got loose.”

Context: The informant grew up in Pasadena, California and was home from college at the University of Chicago. We were at her house and I prompted her with what reminds her of home.

Informant Analysis: “Honestly, I never thought about where the story came from, I just kind of assumed it was true. I guess, it’s like, you never really think about where the parrots came from unless they are being particularly loud.”

Collector Analysis: As the informant said, people tend to only be reminded of the legend is while they are currently being annoyed by the birds. The legend itself carries on because most people do not know the truth or falsity of the legend. Of course, it could be possible that these parrots are indigenous to this area, but most do not believe that such a tropical looking bird could be from here. I think there is actually an undertone of politics intermixed with this legend. The idea comes from the worry of invasive species and trade imports. Recently, there has been a lot of fear over Chinese imports bringing in beetles that destroy our pine trees. The parrot idea of importing this invasive species that are a nuisance may be a legend generated or propagated because of this similar fear.