Monthly Archives: May 2023

The Bunyip

An urban legend in Connecticut that describes a creature called The Bunyip. The Bunyip was described to the informant as a weird mix between a platypus and a frog. It eats children. It dwells in swamps, rivers, lakes, marshy areas, etc.

Informant heard about this legend growing up in Stanford, Connecticut. They are aware of the legend dating from Australia, so it’s likely from Aboriginal or Eurpoean colonizers’ legends. But it somehow made it to Fairfield, Connecticut. Informant lives near a reservoir, so the legend was particularly scary to them, as The Bunyip was said to live in lakes and watery areas. Growing up, the informant would see pictures of the Bunyip that would illustrate the monstrous creature and it would scare them.

This legend is one that is geared towards scaring children, which is a common theme among legends. This one seems to not be driving the children to do something specific, rather just to put the fear of something bigger than themselves into them. It’s was really interesting to have an informant who lived close to where this specific legend was said to occur, because it meant they had a really personal connection to it, especially when growing up. So I could understand exactly what this legend was doing to the people that heard about it. It created a lot of fear. My informant said they were worried the creature’s “paws would go over the top of the hill” that was right next to where they lived. I had fun collecting this one because it’s a big, unnatural monster, so it was fun to think about it in relation to other legends like the Loch Ness and such, which helped me understand how these types of legends come to be so popular and effective at creating certain feelings and narratives.

Spoons for Snow Day

If you put spoons under your pillow before going to bed, you’ll have a snow day the next day.

Informant is from Chicago, where this belief is popular. He believes he heard it from either his mother or from the news. It was popular with his age group when he was younger as they would try to get snow days to get days off from school. This made him excited when he would try this trick at a young age.

One of the more interesting things about collecting this folklore that stood out to me was that the informant said he might have heard it from the news. This was interesting to me because I would not have expected that a belief that seems more geared towards children would be spread on the news, but he said that he thinks reporters would say, “make sure you put spoons under your pillows” to encourage the belief. I think this shows how this belief was so wide-spread and collectively known, at least in this area. This seems to be a form of sign superstition, as it is believing that if you do something, you will make something else occur. It’s interesting to see how this superstition intersects with myth in a way, because the idea is that this is how certain natural phenomena are occurring, which relates to what myths are.

Ghost Story – Personal Experience

Nationality: Asian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student

Context: 

This story was told by one of my fellow folklore classmates (CM). She shared with me a personal ghost story that she experienced while camping with her family

Text: 

Me: “Okay you can tell your story”

CM: “Alright, so this was a long time ago so it might be a little patchy but I want to say probably 10 years ago maybe 12 years ago my family and I went camping. My brother and I were very young and after we went camping, on our way back home we visited this ghost town. It was pretty cute; the ghost town had rides or these tours or you could just walk through it yourself, so that’s what we did. My family and I walked through the town and my brother, who’s younger than me, probably about 5 or 6 at this time, was a very giddy fun little cute kid you know just playing around and looking at all the cowboy stuff. As we’re walking we pass by this bar, this old saloon-type bar, and his demeanor suddenly changes like a complete 180. He points at the bar and he goes this is where my father died. Me being a little kid I was like what are you talking about your dad is right here like he’s right next to us walking with us, but he keeps this character, this demeanor. He keeps walking through the town pointing at different buildings and going this is where the Indians shot him and this is where he fought with so and so. He kept this demeanor throughout the entire strip of the town until we finally exited, and then he snapped back into his old self again. It was really weird because it was such a stark difference and my mom was very convinced that he was possessed in the ghost town.”

Analysis: 

Ghost stories are often a way for people with similar beliefs to share their experiences. It can create a sense of community. They are also fun experiences to share. The audience also can choose to believe the story or not, which adds an entertainment level to these stories. In this case, I think the setting of a ghost town adds to this supernatural environment. Also, the fact that the informant’s family was affected adds to the ghost’s credibility since most people know their family’s personality well.

Tale – Shimchong: The Blind Man’s Daughter

Nationality: Korean
Age: 19
Occupation: Student

Text: 

This is the story about this kind daughter who lives with a blind dad then she hears this announcement that to whoever volunteers to be the live sacrifice to the ocean or the people who have to sail um they will 100 bags of rice to that family because they were too poor and the daughter wanted her dad to be able to survive have food to eat she volunteers to be the live sacrifice so they sail out and at the point where theres a tornado in the ocean the girl dives in to be the live sacrifice and the dad finds out later because suddenly he is gifted with 100 bags of rice but at that point she had already sailed off and jumped into the ocean but the girl jumped in and she sank down into the ocean kingdom the ocean king heard the story and he thought she was very nice for she was a very good daughter and her love for her dad like he thought it was big like he considered it big like he valued her doing so so he decided to send her back up so they put her into this giant lotus and sent her off to up to the surface where she was fund by other fisherman who brought her back to the land back to one of the nobles parties that day the dad was also at the party because in Korea when the nobles throw a party they often open up their front yard and all the food for the people in the village too so it was like a whole party like feast going on and her dad was invited to when the girl entered and when the dad heard her voice he recognized her and when he turned toward her voice he was suddenly able to see again so that’s a happy reunion and this girl falls in love with either the nobles son or something like that the point is they values her actions and sent her back up

Context: 

This was told by one of my friends who is from South Korea. She explained that this is a well-known fairy tale that everyone has known of from a young age. She liked this story when she was young because the book was “tiny [and] it was easy to carry around.” Looking back she says that it appears to be a “very brutal story for the girl” which she did not notice as a kid. 

Analysis: 

This story is a common fairy tale in Korea. It teaches kids from a young age the values of Korean culture. The overall message this story shows is that one should love their parents and make sacrifices for them. This is because even though it seems like a sacrifice at the time it will eventually work in favor of both parties. It also shows that people reward those who are considered good children. The ocean king rewarded the girl for her actions and allowed her to go back to her family.

Myth – Hindu Cosmology

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student

Text: 

“One of the biggest beliefs in Hinduism is the belief of reincarnation and that kind of stems from how the universe started. For Hindus, the universe was created by Lord Brahma who was the creator who made the universe out of himself. There are different beliefs on how he created the universe. One of the beliefs was that after he created the universe, the power of Lord Vishnu, which is part of the power that the universe carried, turned into a kind of you could say the responsibility of life and death and the cycle. It’s more specifically described as karma; the more good you do the better your next life will be until you achieve a kind of enlightenment stage. The third part is Lord Shiva who is responsible for the destruction of the universe; we believe that at some point that’s going to happen. As for how the universe came into origin specifically, one of the theories was that Lord Brahma divided himself into two parts one man and one female to start life. Another theory is that after he created the universe, Lord Vishnu grew a lotus flower and that flower was divided into three parts: the sky, the earth, and the heavens, which brought life.”

Context:

This story was told by my roommate who is from India. Her religion is Hinduism so she hears this creation story from a young age. She always remembered this story as it is a part of her religion as well as a part of her identity. When she explains this story to people it is not just a belief that’s written somewhere, it is her belief as well.

Analysis: 

I think for each religion there are differing beliefs in the creation of the universe. In Hinduism, there are three main gods with powers that are divided between the three; one represents destruction, one represents destiny, and the other represents the cycle of life and death. Even though the three gods are separated all three are needed in the creation of the universe symbolizing this idea of completion and divinity. Also, the god that represents the cycle of life emphasizes karma; the better you do in this life your destiny for the next life will be better.