tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45066930610662266762024-03-12T18:01:17.726-07:00Ty Hulse - Fairies and Fairy TalesAnalysis, art and stories of the worlds fairies and fairy tales.Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.comBlogger405125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-46920823328061658652023-11-02T03:12:00.002-07:002023-11-05T09:55:02.332-08:00Free Fairy Encyclopedia and Other eBooks<p> I've posted a number of ebooks online for Free and am going to post more as time goes on. </p><p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport" target="_blank">"Fairy Encyclopedia"</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="237" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY5Cu3joa_Psv2kHaqJpPBYwSqzfqnriTQaZo5IN4HQJGu0wKFVoPhvNctjk47jHNqscoc0XMPO9UcxXxousaVdSUXmnawVleHp-AdKM9QBTCDRuBO9njzoaZHudf4_l5lWv2jArr3JVNQNxs8H4pkFmnfd7FVjy5UZlx-XP0VR-xorNh4Lxt_ZzTRIgs" width="165" /></a></div><br /><p>Many of the fairies and spirits mentioned within this book come from regions where information on the fairies isn’t readily available in English elsewhere. A few of these include; Mari-El – In the heart of an ancient forest which was so vast and isolated it allowed the people within to remain the last pagans in Europe. For the people of this land never converted to Islam or Christianity, and so to this day they still value the spirits of the forest. Their woodlands are filled with a dizzying array of spirits, from bathhouse spirits that appear as shooting stars to spirits which always run and move backwards.</p><p>Coloring Books</p><p><a href="https://tinyurl.com/58mxftbn" target="_blank">Pooh in Fairy Land</a> and <a href="https://tinyurl.com/4fvtu85s" target="_blank">Christmas Gnomes Part 1</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK99FVHMkqN70Y49l7BHcUNj-tcyDn5zRcShLXXxytYDNQo3oXmv0OaWcJFDpqR1-iWOwI2hrBaYWHwFlliy7QZvRXaj-YfhH9btP2IVEO1GjFbSob1JK6OtvnO-XifGnEDSxgk690HfrytoEAArlnabTTVsuA0iswACyEaScuAQ4IA5n1ewjQeLUh9uc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="665" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK99FVHMkqN70Y49l7BHcUNj-tcyDn5zRcShLXXxytYDNQo3oXmv0OaWcJFDpqR1-iWOwI2hrBaYWHwFlliy7QZvRXaj-YfhH9btP2IVEO1GjFbSob1JK6OtvnO-XifGnEDSxgk690HfrytoEAArlnabTTVsuA0iswACyEaScuAQ4IA5n1ewjQeLUh9uc" width="193" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-q5-QgTrLL1nOS3UWvdrK0lrOtZm28vj7RAwzg2zlJU6umNPLZ4OkAfbS9VhpvTmyiFHq74gxEtw-TapfqKQhvLJfrre0RhpU6VpLcqnwQfwqiWru0cszavafU2zpFN9Q7W8ebkvtZr9tbNOSMFcmjie5qg75i4Zb9HZYOwwsFMFVlD-SOUERHRJBKqM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="410" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-q5-QgTrLL1nOS3UWvdrK0lrOtZm28vj7RAwzg2zlJU6umNPLZ4OkAfbS9VhpvTmyiFHq74gxEtw-TapfqKQhvLJfrre0RhpU6VpLcqnwQfwqiWru0cszavafU2zpFN9Q7W8ebkvtZr9tbNOSMFcmjie5qg75i4Zb9HZYOwwsFMFVlD-SOUERHRJBKqM" width="120" /></a> <br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://tyhulse.itch.io/wander-witch" target="_blank">Wander Witch, a Journal TTRPG</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://tyhulse.itch.io/wander-witch" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="315" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEE4OAAM85Uxjq-sVpCoCcUne9QoqKYe5GwBQlip73dSPmt9oTIxF8ck6ZS93wgdSu8wIFoKrAKddONiVmDW764QqkNDRDr_JOZB5WML1g6EnrU2-fM_tJUFQJOKhlPfQWSOD7HoWPBbxxAEge44Ne61nDZgR6o_7uC5p19PPfQ5BM0rhlFJ8tldLNBL0" width="302" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-18550355603955016692023-05-05T14:43:00.001-07:002023-11-03T22:32:21.328-07:00Puck: Fairy Lore<p>by Ty Hulse</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cmtaiHP9cDY" width="320" youtube-src-id="cmtaiHP9cDY"></iframe></div><p><i> I've posted a large encyclopedia of fairies on Google Books for free. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-2M3cEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport" target="_blank">"Fairy Encyclopedia"</a></i></p> <p></p><p>Today I would like to talk about Puck.</p><p>You know the ruggedly handsome man who helped women with their chores and of whom they had many naughty stories. </p><p>Or as Buccola put it, </p><p>"Nothing pleases Puck more, Latham claims, than to make the morning fire, sweep the house, grind mustard and malt, draw water, and help the maids with breaking hemp, bolting and dressing flax, as well as spinning…. Robin Goodfellow was typically depicted with a huge phallus and a broom. It takes little present-day imagination to come up with reasons why early modern women might have sat around the fire over their darning sharing tales about a figure with such attributes….</p><p><br /></p><p>That’s right women sewing and spinning loved to tell stories about a huge fairy man who could help them with their chores. </p><p><br /></p><p>Puck is connected to the Robin Goodfellow and the hobgoblins, “rough hairy spirits, which do domestic chores…. Useful as they are they are easily offended and often mischievous. They are not exclusively domestic, but are often associated with streams, pools, and rocks…”</p><p><br /></p><p>At this point it is worth looking at a related fairy from Puck’s Anglo-Saxon homeland, the Puk or Niskepuk. These stories evolved elsewhere and so don’t represent an original Puck but the similarities in their characters are interesting. Here Puck were often wild fairies that people would bring into their homes by building them nests out of straws or logs with holes in them, they could then capture or offer the fairy some food, often butter or oatmeal to live with them. Those homes with these fairies would prosper, beer brewed better, cattle thrived, household choirs got done quicker, and everything seemed to generally go well. </p><p><br /></p><p>That said, inviting a wild fairy into your house is a little like inviting a wild cat into your house. I mean it can go great most of the time, but every once in a while, the mood for mischief will strike, and the cat will pounce on your keyboard while you’re trying to type, or scratch up some of your furniture. Further, niskepuk could steal from the neighbors, but they would fight the neighbor niskepuk if it tried stealing from you. </p><p><br /></p><p>Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” it is interesting to note that the fairy and Puck introduce him differently. For the fairy mentions that he is the one who frightens maidens, steals the cream from milk, makes it harder for butter to churn, and beer to brew properly, causes people to get lost. Yet, she also mentions that those who call him Hobgoblin will have their work done by him and good luck. </p><p><br /></p><p>Puck, however, speaks of making Oberon smile and of punishing those he feels have violated some fairy morality. He takes the shape of a roasted crab apple in a gossips drink, so that he can bob and cause her to spill ale on herself. He also takes the form of a three-foot stool in order to cause those telling sad or boring stories to fall, so that everyone will laugh and have a marrier time. </p><p><br /></p><p>Within these lines we can see the push between Puck’s multiple natures. He is a mischievous trickster on whom bad things were blamed, a helpful figure which was believed to bring fortune, and of course a moralizing figure. </p><p><br /></p><p>Contrasting their wild fairy nature in chapbooks, Robin Goodfellow was often said to be the half human child of the fairy king Oberon, who was granted the power of shapeshifting by his father. Which adds a fun layer when watching him cause Oberon trouble during Midsummer Night’s dream. </p><p><br /></p><p>It’s difficult to say how early this aspect of his character was added, if it was a purely literary device. </p><p><br /></p><p>During this time there was a spike in literacy and Yeomen began writing about the fairies. These writers knew the fairies “well from their mothers and grandmothers, and their new readers knew them, and loved them because they were familiar… they appealed to the court as well as to the country, and the fairy vogue was made.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Further, in the past, people didn’t want to display too much knowledge of fairy lore which could have led to charges of heresy. When this changed, people wrote more regularly and honestly about the delightful aspects of fairy nature. </p><p><br /></p><p>At this time the English world had been turned on its head as it went through rapid changes as well, the religious assumptions were being reexamined. The English Civil War had beheaded a king, holidays like Christmas had been outlawed by his non-king successor. </p><p>People were grasping for something, what people often grasped for during times like this was in part spiritualism and fairies. </p><p><br /></p><p>During this time people began to focus on the more frolicsome, frivolous and tiny side of fairies. </p><p><br /></p><p>“a little school of friends among the poets, Drayton, Browne, Herrick, and the almost unknown Simon stewards, caught by the deliciousness of Shakespeare’s fairies, and coming from counties where small fairies belonged to the folk tradition, amused themselves and each other by writing fantasies on littleness.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Nimphidia and the Wedding of a Fey</p><p> </p><p>The fairies are hopping, </p><p>The small flowers, cropping,</p><p>And with dew dropping,</p><p>Skip thorow the greaves</p><p>At barly break they play</p><p>Merrily all the day</p><p>At night themselves they lay</p><p>Upon the soft leaves</p><p><br /></p><p>The idea of tiny frolicsome and whimsical fairies didn’t begin at this time. Rather these aspects of their nature were emphasized.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another aspect of Puck was emphasized early on, but faded later, that of Puck as a moralizing figure. Like most house fairies he hated laziness and certain bad behavior writers used Puck as a way teach people the importance domestic morality. </p><p><br /></p><p>Over time this was replaced, however, with a focus on whimsy and mischief. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-77774710060930374042023-04-11T10:06:00.004-07:002023-04-24T22:26:12.983-07:00Gnome Mythology<p>I have a much longer article about the gnomes or zwerg as they are called in Germany in my <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2016/08/the-fairies-zwerg-of-snow-white.html">discussion on Snow White. </a> Also, I answer some of the most common internet questions about gnomes at the end of this article.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DzM167HfpWs" width="320" youtube-src-id="DzM167HfpWs"></iframe></div><br /><p>“Once a woman was suffering through a difficult labor alone, when the zwerg that lived underneath her home appeared and served as her midwife, easing her pain and helping her give birth. (Franz Leibing, 1868)” </p><p>This little memorate of a fairy living underneath a German lady’s home, who has clearly come to care about her, illustrates perhaps the most important thing about the fairies, they are humanities neighbors. Garden gnomes or Gartenzwerge, as they are known in Germany from which they came, were named such because they didn’t live in some distant land, but because they frequently inhabited our gardens. Here these zwerg could bless the crops to grow in abundance or could steal the peas, as they so frequently did.</p><p>The German folklorist Grasse (1868) noted that in Wilstermarsch Germany: "Every morning, the housemaids would spill milk for the underground people. Beer and crumbs from the table were also offered to them in a similar way. If the milk wasn't offered, the underground people would steal it. </p><p>People wanted them happy, for everywhere they went they caused the beer brewed better. In Alversdorf, the underground people would steal pots and kettles, and cause other mischiefs. Yet they also blessed people's cattle to never become sick [cattle were a primary means of wealth, so this mattered a lot]. They also left magical pots for people which caused the seeds held in them to grow faster, milk gathered into them to churn richer, and water held in them to make those who drank from them healthier" </p><p>It makes sense that humans would share their food with the zwerg, for fairies needed human food in many tales, or at least food prepared using human ovens and or utensils. </p><p>These zwerg were mischievous to be certain, and could even be dangerous, for as with all fairies and humans there was a contrast between individuals. On the whole, however, they were helpful creatures, not just of the woods, but of the more beautiful lands around our homes and villages. </p><p>the Zwerg were constantly seeking out human food and cooking tools. This connection through food helped to form strong bonds between the humans and the fairies. In one story; </p><p> </p><p>A zwerg would frequently borrow a pot from a farmer. Once when she came to borrow the pot to boil some potatoes the farmer noticed that she was pregnant and mentioned he would be interested in standing godfather for the baby. Later the zwerg’s husband came and formally asked the farmer to be the godfather to his and his wife’s child. </p><p>Later the farmer grew nervous about the prospect of being a fairy’s godfather and went to the pastor for council. The pastor told him that he had to stand godfather, since one couldn’t rescind the offer to do so. So the farmer went to the baptism of the baby zwerg and the feast in the mountain. As he was leaving the zwerg asked him to look behind the door, where he found garbage, which they asked him to sweep up and carry home with him. Annoyed he did so, but to his joy he discovered that the garbage had turned to gold when he got home. </p><p>Zwerg gave people blessings in return for the food and drink that they shared. Yet, because they were our neighbors they might also share their food with people. It was common for a man to be plowing at the edge of his field, in the middle of nowhere, when he smelled some delicious cakes being cooked. He commented on how much he would enjoy those cakes, and when he’d plowed back to the same spot he found a plate with an offering of the cakes upon them, which he ate and thanked the zwerg for the meal. </p><p>I find these tales of humans interacting with the fairies like neighbors absolutely enchanting. </p><p>A few final notes</p><p>In addition to gnome zwerg is often translated into dwarf in English. As in Snow White and the Seven Zwerg. </p><p>The zwerg’s red hats are what they use to turn invisible, so when they stole people’s peas, the people would use sticks to try to knock their hats off so they could see them.</p><p>Breaking these zwerg down is more complex than we have time for, and so it will need to be done in a future video, along with the darker side of zwerg and dwarves. </p><p><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2016/08/the-fairies-zwerg-of-snow-white.html"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Learn more about Snow White and the Seven Zwerg</span></b></a></p><p>What are gnomes? - Gnomes are zwerg in German fairy tales, the same as the 'dwarves' who helped Snow White. They are a synchronization of Norse dwarves and Celtic fairies. </p><p>What do gnomes do? - Gnomes obviously do a lot of things, although they love dancing and celebrating. Indeed, they seemed to have so much fun most of the time that some people wished to marry a gnome and be happy, and some people even did marry gnomes. They would often give good presents to their nieces and nephews after this. Some gnomes liked to mine, many would bless gardens, or on occasion steal from them. Because of the diversity of the things they did it is difficult to come up with a comprehensive answer for "what do gnomes do?"</p><p>What is the story behind gnomes? - If you are wondering about garden gnomes, the story is that gnomes or zwerg as they were called, could bless gardens to grow better, but also might steal form them. If you are wondering about the Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft gnomes, the story behind gnomes is that they were spirits created by alchemists. It is this connection with alchemists that makes them tinkers and researchers in these games. Keep in mind that garden gnome is actually a bad translation of zwerg, so the alchemical gnomes and the garden or fairy gnomes have nothing to do with each other in mythology. </p><p>What is the meaning behind gnomes? There are many, as the zwerg that gnome was translated from could be tutelary spirits of the land, they could be a separate set of magical people, they could be semi-divine beings in old pagan religions. </p><p>Gnomes what are they? I feel like I've answered this already.</p><p>What is the meaning of garden gnomes? It is difficult to say what the original meaning was. They started being made in the 17th century, a time when many people began to amuse themselves by writing stories of fairies and decorating with fairy related items. So it may just be that someone thought they were fun decorations, a call back to the folklore of creatures that helped people in their homes, gardens, and farms. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-21265153165498926832023-03-30T01:47:00.023-07:002023-04-20T04:27:43.918-07:0010 More Things You Didn't Know About Vampires<div>By Ty Hulse</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoR5ViCTiVKzA2JuGkoE1bd0k6vVfOMBOOT3RWJUQCR-1SnSK0nvyqVRbz3QtvQkqGDqroN0u60Sod0GSXP6jjFWSM01Mkpl3qaoF0paI027otpaD4sUW8a5Mzfh5oN5FmmhzRaNdS-8mEsvx1h69mOZyDERM6f96LHDywyf5Qyt5ITTf4gIjhZbe4/s1000/burning%20the%20bones%20of%20a%20vampire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoR5ViCTiVKzA2JuGkoE1bd0k6vVfOMBOOT3RWJUQCR-1SnSK0nvyqVRbz3QtvQkqGDqroN0u60Sod0GSXP6jjFWSM01Mkpl3qaoF0paI027otpaD4sUW8a5Mzfh5oN5FmmhzRaNdS-8mEsvx1h69mOZyDERM6f96LHDywyf5Qyt5ITTf4gIjhZbe4/s320/burning%20the%20bones%20of%20a%20vampire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>"In Popeca, vampires are said to be at their worst before Easter"</div><div><br /></div><div>The blood drinking, milk curdling, lords of the dead who haunted the living in a terrifying parody of what people believed to be good and decent. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's important to remember that there isn't one type of vampire, but many regional variations. Irish vampires might ensnare someone's mind to get them to do as they wanted but in many other places vampires were more likely to crush someone to death. These "things" about vampires then are, as with all things regionally specific. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>1-December is the time of vampires, for there were a series of Holidays starting in November and ending in early January in which they were most likely to come out, sometimes in the form of owls, or mice, or many other animals. In Romania they would all go to the cross-roads and battle each other in a huge night long fight.<br />
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2-Vampires might also fight each other over hunting territory like any territorial animal. There are stories of one vampire chasing someone into another vampires territory, at which point the two vampires fight over who gets to feed on the victim for so long the sun came up and the vampires collapsed, returning to being corpses, allowing the person to escape. <br />
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3-Romanian vampires would sometimes cut their victims faces into a permanent smile, putting them on stakes, and positioning them in such a way that they were most likely to scare the living. One girl thought her friends had survived a vampire attack and waved to greet them happily, only to discover the horrifying truth moments later. <br />
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4-In many places there were people who were born as vampires. Really anyone who was born under weird circumstances could be a vampire. In 19th Century Greece if the elder child began to grow sickly a mother might suspect that their youngest was a vampire. These living vampires would send their souls from their bodies in the form of a bluish flame, an animal, or person, to search for blood. They would also drain cows of their milk and blight fields, just as any undead vampire would.<br />
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While they were outside their body they were vulnerable, for if anyone moved their body they would die.<br />
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In one story from Transylvania a women fed some poor soldiers some porridge. When they'd finished they went to find and thank their hostess, and in the attic they found her with seven other bodies laying down. Afraid they fled. Looking back they saw seven lights descending on the house. These were the souls of the vampires returning to their bodies.<br />
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5-People were more likely to accuse those they knew of being vampires than to accuse strangers. This is because vampires were most likely to attack family members and friends. They did this as a subversion of Christian covenants (evil starts at home).<br />
<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYjSVQY82w" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="300" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWOUy1XMR9Tpgijohr9C7TbhthPgJpPKr898J4828rqZNNChmX-rLl3X-JnmJ5pAT1a6ewM1CTE5D0dh6g4KM5YrDIc_J_K_5fYQyF0DIt0_2uYYoE2fFIQ-b9ylMQZ5-ccLEDoa2f1Emxblh2wVzySqihY2w6_2kG7JWPfr5f072QevFHbxKCVYm/s1600/can%20fairies%20lie%20small.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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6-If a vampire could kill his whole family, then the entire village within seven years they would be able to move to a new country, become human, and have another family which would become vampires on their deaths.<br /><br /><br />
7-Some vampires might return to their families and continue to live as they had in life (secretly) they would chop wood, do field work, care for children, spin thread, whatever they'd done in life. Yet they were likely either abusive or dangerous to the neighbors, as women would at times ask their children to kill the vampire (the reason the children were asked isn't always given)<br />
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8-People would sometimes burn a suspected vampire, mixing its ashes into a drink to give life energy back to the people the vampire had stolen it from. Others would pass through the smoke of a burning vampire to gain protection against evil. If one bone of the vampire remained unburned, however, the vampire would grow back from it.<br />
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9-Vampires could enter unclean homes, homes without clean water, homes in which there was no one, or homes which weren't holy without an invitation. <br />
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10-Many times vampires could ask objects inside a home to let them into the house. Agnes Murgoci wrote in her book on Romanian vampires that "All lamps may be put out and everything in the house turned upside down, so that if a vampire does come, it will not be able to ask any of the objects in the house to open the door."<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> especially thread which was spun in the moonlight (at night). It was therefore dangerous to spin any or sew at night as that gave the vampire an ally within your house...<br />
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By the way it might interest you to know that many factories run 24 hours a day, so many of your clothes would be made at night.<div><br /></div><div>With that pleasant thought, sleep well. </div><div><br /></div><div>11-If a vampire could make you sneeze three times in a row they would have power over you.<br />
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<br /><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYjSVQY82w" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="300" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWOUy1XMR9Tpgijohr9C7TbhthPgJpPKr898J4828rqZNNChmX-rLl3X-JnmJ5pAT1a6ewM1CTE5D0dh6g4KM5YrDIc_J_K_5fYQyF0DIt0_2uYYoE2fFIQ-b9ylMQZ5-ccLEDoa2f1Emxblh2wVzySqihY2w6_2kG7JWPfr5f072QevFHbxKCVYm/s1600/can%20fairies%20lie%20small.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-29911329130567938112023-03-13T15:17:00.006-07:002023-04-20T04:27:58.846-07:00Goblins Mythology and Fairy Tales<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigyz8elmve_XZci-sWXm7ynhR8syT9RVmzmuUm5XVeoi6ZvJ8YF145VDJ_9IgSzshRKuiyNMR5Hd3Mp19qhWJC2hsjXBt8Tq5xPac9ZsNn3YH0VYled_OUdzHVUoAPOgxEHfKqKhuWARNZ0Oc12FNrWBVLneGnGD_W3riM6HyV1HbQhGXDPMLYifze" style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigyz8elmve_XZci-sWXm7ynhR8syT9RVmzmuUm5XVeoi6ZvJ8YF145VDJ_9IgSzshRKuiyNMR5Hd3Mp19qhWJC2hsjXBt8Tq5xPac9ZsNn3YH0VYled_OUdzHVUoAPOgxEHfKqKhuWARNZ0Oc12FNrWBVLneGnGD_W3riM6HyV1HbQhGXDPMLYifze" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://etsy.com/shop/tyhulse" target="_blank">Find on my Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
folkloric nature of goblin is so amorphous as to be impossible to pin down.
This is because people began to use it in a fairly general way, to mean one of
many different possible fairy creatures, but despite the often-frustrating ways
which the English language often mixes words around there does seem to be a
group of beings from which many of the ideas of ‘goblins’ sprang. These are tutelary
deities, that is fairies of the household, which have been driven from their
home, and or wild fairies that people tried and failed to domesticate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Etymologically
the word has two possible origins, one was used to describe traitors and
demonic spirits, the second was used to describe household spirits, protectors
of rooms and perhaps especially the bed chambers. In this one of the goblin’s
folkloric ancestors, the kobold, is well known for its wild and </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">raucous </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">laugh.
More than this they were also well known for stealing treasure from neighboring
households.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">William
Sayer’s in their article on the origins of goblins states that:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">An Old English protector of rooms can
then have been evicted from the home to the wilderness, burdened with a
derogatory foreign name…. An Old English protector of rooms can have been both
evicted from the home to the wilderness and burdened with a derogatory foreign
name. There the goblin survived but surely with an irreversible darkening of
mood.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">While
I state that goblins were likely former domesticated fairies, it is important
to keep in mind that household and forest beings were often intermixed, such
that forest fairies often became house fairies and vice versa, what’s more it
wasn’t always clear which one was dealing with. Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, who dwells
within the woods, also dwelt within the home and helped with the cleaning.
Pixies were at once a fairy of the moorlands and of the farms, who helped with
the threshing and rewarded those who kept their homes clean.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">There
are perhaps five types of household spirits of interest here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">First
are ancestral spirits who continue to live within a house and or with a family.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
second are tutelary spirits that are either connected to the house or the land
it is on. That is, the soul of the house, the spirit who owned the land before
a house was built, etc. One child, for example, was attacked by the spirit of a
tree which had been cut down to make a house.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
third type is the fairy from the wilderness who is invited into the home to
become a house fairy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Third
are the fairies which live near the home and help with domestic tasks but are
still, essentially wild such as the pixies of Dartmoor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Finally
there are the deities of domestic things, such as the fairies of weaving, or
which are involved in churning butter, caring for cows, etc. Even Zeus falls
into this category, as he would take the form of a snake to protect homes and
so might be found dwelling by a person’s fireplace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">These
are, of course, likely intermixed with unrelated fairies such as the zwerg and
knockers of mines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://www.patreon.com/tyhulse_fantasyculture" target="_blank">Explore More on Fairy Lore, Worldbuilding, and Tabletop RPGS on my Patreon</a></i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Loki
and the goblins<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">One
of the easiest ways to understand ‘domestic goblins’ is to examine Loki as
there is so much written about him. Loki in folklore was a house fairy, seemingly
very different from the mythological portrayal of him. As Eldar Heide put it: “It
seems there were two Lokis. One was a vatte 'domestic spirit' living under or
by the fireplace, helping farmers with the farm work and attracting wealth to
the farm. The other, the mythical character, was very different but still
derived from the vatte.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Eldar
Heide has an engaging article explaining the connection between Loki, the
Nordic house fairy or Vatte, and the trickster character of folklore known as
the Ash Lad. These Ash Lads and the Vatte would upset the natural order of
things, aiding the peasants against the wealthy and kings. This would explain
why the mythology we have, which was told and penned down by the wealthy
disliked a figure like Loki, after all, robbing from the rich as Robinhood did,
or overthrowing the judge as Loki did, might be all well and good for a peasant
but it is an evil act in the mind of the nobility.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
ash lad is a dirty boy from a poor family who seems lazy, small, and weak. A
dreamer who thinks in unusual ways he prefers to stay at home by the fire, but
when forced to go out into the world he turns out to be extremely clever and
able to trick powerful beings in order to get what he wants. They also, inexplicably,
end up in the court of a King where traditionally they would seem to have no
business being, just as Loki found himself in Odin’s court, despite being an
outsider. More than this he became Odin’s blood brother.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
king in folklore promises the Ash Lad half the kingdom in return for his help,
but then when the ash lad completes the quest the king tries to backpedal on
his word, before finally having to give in. "It is understandable that the
king is unwilling to accept as his son-in-law and successor on the throne a
dirty, ragged, poor low-born boy who is comfortable with effeminacy and
humiliation and who is supported by oddballs and hags, and animals from the
wilderness. Accepting the Ash Lad amounts to a revolution."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Everyone
assumes the Ash Lad will fail because they are so odd and don’t exhibit what
would be thought of as heroic traits, but instead they succeed because of their
oddness and non-heroic character. He succeeds because he negates the hierarchy
and the snobbish establishment. The otherworld is an inversion of the human
world, and so while the Ash Lad has trouble navigating or understanding the
human world, they are the only ones who can succeed in getting treasures or
rescuing someone from the other world.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYjSVQY82w" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="300" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWOUy1XMR9Tpgijohr9C7TbhthPgJpPKr898J4828rqZNNChmX-rLl3X-JnmJ5pAT1a6ewM1CTE5D0dh6g4KM5YrDIc_J_K_5fYQyF0DIt0_2uYYoE2fFIQ-b9ylMQZ5-ccLEDoa2f1Emxblh2wVzySqihY2w6_2kG7JWPfr5f072QevFHbxKCVYm/s1600/can%20fairies%20lie%20small.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Many
kings would attempt to negotiate with these magical and spiritual outsiders in
Germanic lore. Indeed, Odin became blood brothers with Loki, perhaps as a way
of getting Loki to help maintain Odin’s vision of the world and his power. Loki
in this case being primordial force or spirit that Odin sought to domesticate
to obtain power, the way many will seek to domesticate and sometimes forcibly tame
fairies to serve as house fairies. This worked for a while, Loki saved the gods
on many occasions, helping them out of serious jams and aiding them in obtaining
great treasures the way helping spirits often aided shamans. But as is so often
the case the trying to tame wild spirits can backfire, and so it was the Loki
would inevitably betray and destroy Odin once he failed to keep up his end of
the bargain (Warner).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just
as Loki was an outside spiritual force brought into the home of Odin, house
fairies were often spiritual forces brought into the home. Just as Loki often
went on adventures with Odin’s son Thor, so too did house fairies often
adventure with the children of the house, but this often turned out bad for
them, as Loki often suffered in adventures.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">House
fairies and Ash Lads like Loki used cleverness and cunning and wit to obtain
treasures for the house. Yet like Odin their family would eventually betray
them by acting immorally</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 9pt;">
(notice Loki’s criticism of the Gods), by acting too self-centered and certain
(notice his attack on the judge), or by not feeding them properly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 9pt;">Loki
can be thought of as a lesson on how to treat and avoid mistreating a house fairy,
for fear that they should become a goblin. For m</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">ake no mistake, while some house
fairies were ancestral spirits, many if not most were still wild beings that
had entered people’s homes, more than this they were spiritual beings and such
beings are very ambiguous. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i style="font-size: small; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.patreon.com/tyhulse_fantasyculture" target="_blank">Explore More on Fairy Lore, Worldbuilding, and Tabletop RPGS on my Patreon</a></i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Spiritual
Beings are Ambiguous Beings</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Household
fairies in Germanic lore were often thieves who stole from the neighbors, and
in Slavic lore they were often dangerous to the neighbors. It is possible that
their thieving nature originated as a desire to steal from one’s wealthier
neighbors and as fear that someone’s neighbors would steal from them. Fairies,
as Perkiss points out, are often a reflection of our dark desires and sins. That
is, we accuse them of that which we wrongfully did or want to do. So, people
loved their house fairies but often feared the fairies of others. There are
numerous stories of these fairies stealing from neighbors, trying to smother
house guests, etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Fairies
and ancient deities were ambiguous figures in general. That is, they could act
in ways that were both good or bad depending on their mood and relation to the
person they were encountering. We must first recall that Zeus would protect
people as a domestic deity, but in many stories, he would also assault them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Consider
also Sylvanus, the god of farms and woodlands in Roman lore, who was so beloved
that he was one of the most venerated deities in Rome, however, people also had
to keep him away from women giving birth for he would harm them and the child. Or
Hermes, the god of shepherds who would come down the chimney to snatch children
away. Fairies and deities in lore have always been associated with both danger
and wealth. What else could we expect from nature which gives us food and predators?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">As
I have pointed out in the past fairies and deities are frequently their own opposites,
having multiple souls that can be both kindly and dangerous and we certainly
see that with house fairies. In one Welsh Story, a bwca (house fairy) was
insulted by a servant he’d thought was his friend, he attacked her then turned
into a bogle, a monstrous goblin fairy, haunting houses and causing trouble for
years before finally finding a new friend who could help him settle, then when
their new friend died, they turned back into a destructive bogle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Household
fairies were often capricious, in part, because they existed in a precarious world
in general, torn between humanity and fairyland. We see the danger of this in
the story of “Puss in Boots”. After inheriting nothing but his father’s cat a
young man says; “but for my part, when I have eaten up my cat, and made me a
muff of his skin, I must die of hunger."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jacob
Grimm presumed that the cat in question was a house fairy, and this makes sense
for a number of reasons, and this moment certainly shows the precarious situation
house fairies could find themselves in. Although eating them likely didn’t happen
often in lore, there are certainly stories of them being threatened with knives
or beaten and banished from homes in tears. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Peeves,
Dobby, and the Goblins - It is interesting to note that goblins can often be
thought of as poltergeists or the house fairies from the borderlands between
Scotland and England called dobies. That is, they are the spirits of a building,
place, or ancestral spirits who grow troublesome, or house fairies that are
troublesome.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
Underground Others – </span></b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">It
is likely that there were fairies who dwelt underground and loved shiny things or
were associated with treasure for longer than people have cared about gold. Whether
the zwerg (dwarves) of Germany, the Shirte of the Nenets in Northern Asia, who
have beautiful beaded objects and silver and lived underground, or the little
people of Yupik lore in Alaska.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">These
little peoples most often lived underground and could be associated with industry
and mining, or among hunter-gatherers with hunting luck and food. Yet they were
also tricky and would put people under their spells, deceive people, and of
course steal from people’s food stores. They often had animal features or twisted
features that appeared ugly to human eyes, although some could be beautiful,
they were all strange.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">These
others, or underground people, don’t have to have a common origin per say,
although they might. They could, also however, come from the fact that they tap
into something that many cultures, from Africa through Asia and the Americas
find engaging. They are one of our most important and oldest pieces of folk
religion and folklore, because they have emotional and psychological value,
because they offer us truths.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">As
has always happened people spin false tales about the goblins specifically and
fantasy in general. These new tales are as damaging as any spun by the nobility
and kings of old. Rulers who clung to power by claiming that the others of lore
were demonic figures, were against the heavens, represented something people of
their and our day despised. Those in power have always disliked goblins and the
underground people, perhaps because they refuse to be controlled.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">This
isn’t to say that goblins aren’t dangerous, or that they are safe and good. Goblins
are of value because they aren’t safe. They warn us of mistreating those who
are helpful, they give us symbols of rebellion, they poke fun at the status
quo, they offer us the psychological and emotional benefits of horror stories,
and so much more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrmXGuuoHO_urEQaxklslszdxFE5ZCF1OzzabtZLipzb6bbgqP13xjZQ4HiCUk3CGFfqIt6iLUx917Q5R0EMe0gRhEw9W5i2ADsB2vgjg7zZBfR-gyUO-_BelJEAKG67y6XzFaFGtZ7OcvgdHv7eWN0z_b0xa733YaMKRwjsixUOpIJg5L9-9OCKkx" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrmXGuuoHO_urEQaxklslszdxFE5ZCF1OzzabtZLipzb6bbgqP13xjZQ4HiCUk3CGFfqIt6iLUx917Q5R0EMe0gRhEw9W5i2ADsB2vgjg7zZBfR-gyUO-_BelJEAKG67y6XzFaFGtZ7OcvgdHv7eWN0z_b0xa733YaMKRwjsixUOpIJg5L9-9OCKkx" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://etsy.com/shop/tyhulse" target="_blank">Find on my Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Still
Wild<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">House
fairies aren’t tame, they are supernatural and often wild entities. Say a curse
word around one and it might just burn down the home in revenge. Get in a loud
argument and it might just give you a disease out of spite. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">So,
what are goblins? Well, in this iteration they are fairies and deities when
they are acting destructively as part of their ambitious nature. Or they are
house fairies who have been wronged and turned destructive, or they are wild
beings which someone attempted but failed to tame. Rather than a species of
being then, they can be thought of as an aspect of spirits.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">However, Goblins are also Trickster Beings. Something I will explore more in future articles, along with their more violent and funny natures. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.patreon.com/tyhulse_fantasyculture" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Get
Early Access to all my articles on my Patreon </span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">+Download
the ebook for Understanding Fairy Mythology. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wanner, K. J. (2009). Cunning
Intelligence in Norse Myth: Loki, Óðinn, and the Limits of Sovereignty. <i>History
of Religions</i>, <i>48</i>(3), 211–246. https://doi.org/10.1086/598231<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heide, E. (2011). Loki, the “Vätte”,
and the Ash Lad: A Study Combining Old Scandinavian and Late Material. <i>Viking
and Medieval Scandinavia</i>, <i>7</i>, 63–106.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/45019150<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sayers,
William. “The Dispossessed House-Spirit: The Etymology of goblin and Some
Thoughts on its Early History”<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-81024637626579026542023-03-09T17:21:00.007-08:002023-04-16T19:23:58.103-07:00Positive Psychology: Cute Art<p><a href="http://tyhulse.com" target="_blank">By Ty Hulse</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSlXv1G03ZQQ-jpzyhhBoPDYUlOqjUhg7yIjPDPIpG0cxIVa7VFg0ita_DVq_Ks8AqnB6-VzwIqHAQaD5iCT9b6nCfeySSVvUY7N-L6dNq-idzO5KNgxLCMCIyiV0e_0hf3_H52aNxvYlAbJ__9yOrYmfdeSybhXDl-FAVkvXGuGzK7LO_GttTVbx/s1275/highland%20cow%20small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="825" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSlXv1G03ZQQ-jpzyhhBoPDYUlOqjUhg7yIjPDPIpG0cxIVa7VFg0ita_DVq_Ks8AqnB6-VzwIqHAQaD5iCT9b6nCfeySSVvUY7N-L6dNq-idzO5KNgxLCMCIyiV0e_0hf3_H52aNxvYlAbJ__9yOrYmfdeSybhXDl-FAVkvXGuGzK7LO_GttTVbx/s320/highland%20cow%20small.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TyHulse" target="_blank">Available as a Shirt at my Etsy</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">The greatest value of art is in helping
people emotionally and psychologically. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="paragraph"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ligatures: none;">Although often derided by art critics as kitsch,
cute works of art have power to change the way people think, feel and act, and
most often for the better.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Research into cute imagery by Steinnes, Blomster, et al.
(2019) has found that cuteness evokes emotions of kama muta, which media
psychology has shown can cause people to act more caring and kindly towards
others, while also reducing stress and anxiety.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ligatures: none;">When paired </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">with a strong active
message such as “Recycle Now” cute art increases the likelihood people will
take action (Wang and Patrick, 2017).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Of course, anything that can illicit feelings so easily in
others can be hijacked for other purposes. A cute brand logo makes people more
likely to forgive a company that does something wrong (Septiantoa and Kwon). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">And “exposure to cuteness leads men to be more risk-seeking
and women to be more risk-averse.” (Li, Yuan & Yan, Dengfeng)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">What’s more it’s been shown that people work better when
they can see pictures of cute things and are more likely to respond carefully
to questions when there is a cute picture on the survey form, or on a test.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">There are almost no works of so called great art which have
such a powerful and immediate psychological impact on the viewers, and
certainly few would actually cause people to act more kindly towards others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">There is a reason, after all, why so much of the internet
thrives on cute.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">People have a powerful desire to protect that which is
small, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Cuteness, seeming to
have a will of its own, also demonstrates aggression by imposing demands. For
example, it may demand that we allow it to submit to us. Its immediate visceral
impact is often counteracted by the viewer’s sense of having been manipulated,
arousing the viewer’s suspicions. It desperately awaits our evaluation of and
interaction with it. It is a supplicant awaiting our judgment, a judgment that
will give it power over us. Cuteness thereby engenders its own discipline by
enforcing particular behaviors of the viewer; in turn, it engages and
disciplines its viewer. Its disavowal of power is one of its powers. (Elizabeth
Howie)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Cuteness therefore engenders primal emotions, which likely
explains why cuteness is so often used in relation to objects of religious art.
Claire Maria Chambers points out that Korean Buddhist temples have figures of
small chubby monks and “temple devotees ritually bathe a statue of the Buddha
as a small boy.” In America Precious Moments toys have become important to a
number of Christians. These cute, innocent figurines, often include spiritual
and biblical quotes. They are like children but better, “they also sincerely
express experiences of comfort, love, and community in the face of the
difficulties that the riddle of faith presents for thousands of consumers
around the globe.” (Claire Maria Chambers)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/1428429467/otter?click_key=fa4d7517bacc9bed815aa5cf3f56c1d0af7ec415%3A1428429467&click_sum=21968229&ref=shop_home_active_1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img data-original-height="794" data-original-width="794" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhojm6J65t9syyUL0qtErKLXQyIyfbDHZpmFkPCMWb3ILiqhMCo6rkzeYcoFtSVIpcOq6b6ZmgK82crIecymGqhRv5IDuPeuBp8thf0ZEjrh4MKyhblfajBlIeJZRH0WpDao_K5Bh2FZqKm5N5qAkVDFUaRbQokU16uogWImpcm6Gsf8lPfDkbB7O2r=w200-h200" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/1264172600/kawaii-fox-gloriously-bad-ideas?click_key=f2de7fb64e68e28ae1ec92a32f1de26e009940bd%3A1264172600&click_sum=1ce0f932&ref=shop_home_active_8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1140" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSVRcHypugWYDWQCqiUVA3YbxaZ5XZcIZZZYBwMyEMUZbjQm9ZS7QqNahJWv36TGKZSJGQgeqinOBjKg2zjkseGyBVOgwkoESCH8vnPrRFCOn5_A6_WVRpZd1U8mOVCgKQ4Uc1VyWG4NOT4XDMKcKUTempnyGS5yglkv296mO8o-GTO6zNXAXPtzq0=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TyHulse" target="_blank">Shirts from my Etsy Shop<br /></a></i><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Cute is for Adults</b></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">While we associate cute things with children, adults are
more likely to have the need for nostalgia and the level of stress necessary to
fully appreciate the emotions that cuteness elicits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Cute things reduced stress in work environments. While
children do homework that might require this, adults are often much more likely
to suffer stress and anxiety in their daily lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Cute art can relax those who are stressed, anxious, and
fatigued.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Both cuteness and awe
have been shown to be connected to increased levels of prosociality and a sense
of connectedness to others… <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">cuteness has been linked
to stress reduction and, when paired over time with another stimulus, has also
been shown to increase the quality of positive experience with paired stimuli.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">….Awe has also been
repeatedly linked to stress reduction specifically, but is also linked to more
negative affect than cuteness…. Both awe and cuteness however, have the
potential to contribute to an upward spiral in positive affect through repeated
exposure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"> There are exceptions, however, as with all things.
Those who work in healthcare or as online content moderators can suffer from
‘compassion fatigue.’ As a result online moderators who are forced to spend
long periods of time caring and struggling with the worst of humanity become
more anxious and stressed when seeing something cute as the need to protect
builds stress in them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Still, the presence of such strong emotional reactions shows
how readily these images can have a physiological impact on those who witness
them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">So, yes, cute images have power, even if many would deride
them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span face=""Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif" style="mso-ligatures: none;">☆</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"> Author links open overlay panelYuanLiaDengfengYanb<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Li, Yuan & Yan, Dengfeng, 2021. "Cuteness inspires
men’s risk seeking but women’s risk aversion," Journal of Business
Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 239-249.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; letter-spacing: -0.3pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Wang, T., Mukhopadhyay, A., &
Patrick, V. M. (2017). Getting Consumers to Recycle “NOW”! When and Why
Cuteness Appeals Influence Prosocial and Sustainable Behavior. <i>Journal
of Public Policy & Marketing</i>, <i>36</i>(2), 269–283.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44878341</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Too cute to be bad? Cute brand logo reduces consumer
punishment following brand transgressions Author links open overlay panelFelix
Septiantoa Junbum Kwon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Awe Versus Aww: The Effectiveness of Two Kinds of Positive
Emotional Stimulation on Stress Reduction for Online Content Moderators
CHRISTINE L. COOK, National Chengchi University, Taiwan JIE CAI, New Jersey
Institute of Technology, USA DONGHEE YVETTE WOHN, New Jersey Institute of
Technology, US<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Steinnes, Kamilla & Blomster Lyshol, Johanna &
Seibt, Beate & Zickfeld, Janis & Fiske, Alan. (2019). Too Cute for
Words: Cuteness Evokes the Heartwarming Emotion of Kama Muta. Frontiers in
Psychology. 10. 387. 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00387.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;">Evaluation of Kawaii Feelings Caused by Stuffed Animals to
Reduce Stress Michiko Ohkura, Hina Arashina, Takafumi Tombe & Peeraya
Sripian<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8bLBelfm5y5ARnoZYWDMykzjRG2mLr1OGNTvX3211n0kQj-3iPjTFLb0CpFfxIgI3iNv9cXi5K4gQh_ATik6xz3Ci6vYc02rgWC468ppTzcEJL06Fl6QmgNlICD2W3MMrEFWaj-F6s_zkHIhjtSClyyRh4NjGotgGI9Y1i1JoT3NC_TQmwn2BdEf/s3300/paint%20104.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8bLBelfm5y5ARnoZYWDMykzjRG2mLr1OGNTvX3211n0kQj-3iPjTFLb0CpFfxIgI3iNv9cXi5K4gQh_ATik6xz3Ci6vYc02rgWC468ppTzcEJL06Fl6QmgNlICD2W3MMrEFWaj-F6s_zkHIhjtSClyyRh4NjGotgGI9Y1i1JoT3NC_TQmwn2BdEf/s320/paint%20104.jpg" width="247" /></a></span></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-89494509752269822482022-12-26T20:01:00.003-08:002023-04-21T01:15:51.023-07:00Toys and Children in Lore-building and Worldbuilding<p>Toys and children's games can be a fun and interesting piece of your worldbuilding and lore-building puzzle, allowing people to feel a connection to fun and sentimental moments within the societies you have constructed.</p><p>Take the <a href="https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/145021.html" target="_blank">pewter knight on display at the Muesum of London</a>, for example. This is one of the earliest examples of a mass-produced toy, at the time it came out it would have been relatively rare and a signal that the world was changing to allow such mass production, and that wealth was growing to the point where multiple parents could buy such toys for their children. As with today's concern about video games, there may very well have been concerns about children receiving such gifts and talk of wasteful spending. Certainly, there were concerns about the inordinate amount of time children spent reading in the early days of chapbooks and penny dreadfuls. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnOBR9s95BGHB9HQRT6dEt1fUlmHgjlbAvOZ5x_zJFStjEim6kWPud-qyiJq4GfX7fbqHpB6YtVY1ioLwAOYM-4Gw0D2Og0NN5iy5-7Se4eruWGUWO64ZygP92kAHRexL0l_yUGmsgoCLr4O2yO707PpT4wKbUOk1TvNSc1k2-Wn9IvvuX7FvBWBen" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="666" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnOBR9s95BGHB9HQRT6dEt1fUlmHgjlbAvOZ5x_zJFStjEim6kWPud-qyiJq4GfX7fbqHpB6YtVY1ioLwAOYM-4Gw0D2Og0NN5iy5-7Se4eruWGUWO64ZygP92kAHRexL0l_yUGmsgoCLr4O2yO707PpT4wKbUOk1TvNSc1k2-Wn9IvvuX7FvBWBen" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore<br />Medieval toy knight from about 1300</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>More than this, however, how a children in your world plays with toys, and what toys are available can help show bits of your world's history or current political climate. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the Medieval most of the knights for children to play with were on horseback, despite the fact that making these horses required more metal and more work to create. Obviously, peasant children at the end of the Medieval and into the Early Modern dreamed of being knights, rather than foot soldiers or archers. This makes sense, but only because most of us know enough about history to know that knights were the cool heroes of stories. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Imagine a world in which archers were the most popular toys, as might have been the case in early Japan, when samurai used bows more frequently than swords. Or a world where wizards, griffin riders, warrior clerics, are greater than knghts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If there are a lot of 5e style druids in your world, horses might only be used for logistics, as it would be far too easy for a druid to get horses to throw their riders and cause chaos in the ranks of those who they are supposed to be helping. In such a world horse rider would be the boring job in the military and children might dream of being foot soldiers. The point is, the toys children play with, while a background element could help you include interesting bits of lore in your world that get people to think. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-ITpAbYkc-mzwYAsbJ0Vcc1iqF0zi-0up8kLuXifmY31YvjCOq1ApHb65MrW8A_nRMIqWUnTOQZtLjs0LZc_6MY5BZW9w5CkeS8-XxJBNFXZMCx02OqQoojNinxsN2jnXJONCa8kPOc53emLrA3pwXiKNadY_eJJw-1AM102vpYreWRws7O-H-k5Y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="709" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-ITpAbYkc-mzwYAsbJ0Vcc1iqF0zi-0up8kLuXifmY31YvjCOq1ApHb65MrW8A_nRMIqWUnTOQZtLjs0LZc_6MY5BZW9w5CkeS8-XxJBNFXZMCx02OqQoojNinxsN2jnXJONCa8kPOc53emLrA3pwXiKNadY_eJJw-1AM102vpYreWRws7O-H-k5Y" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A simple scene of a mother buying something for a child, or child pleading for them to buy something can be used as a way of letting the characters know what is important in a village. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Market stalls being on the street can provide the player's many opportunities to overhear conversations and see things that can contribute to their understanding of the world. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKK-HV_w0RzYd4XR0HWcgEPCLtr6JDQ8jQJaFPTltp1cgIruQImTeZkL8KGBCNYwn8baQ7dnlbcIuL6xxb5MDCN14q3fJu9sl979c9xcGuNCc_l_E5NndEOqxcl-JFbHHIkZENufjt20zXu0wmcOArHh3qP_XKxNR8o3OJBpNvP6UFwXQVr472EPO7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1935" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKK-HV_w0RzYd4XR0HWcgEPCLtr6JDQ8jQJaFPTltp1cgIruQImTeZkL8KGBCNYwn8baQ7dnlbcIuL6xxb5MDCN14q3fJu9sl979c9xcGuNCc_l_E5NndEOqxcl-JFbHHIkZENufjt20zXu0wmcOArHh3qP_XKxNR8o3OJBpNvP6UFwXQVr472EPO7" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Knight Puppets for fighting around the end of 12th century</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Just as interesting for lore-building are children's rhymes. According to one theory for example, the rhyme "London Bridges Falling Down" comes from a song about a Viking raid which goes;</div><div><br /></div><div><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px;">London Bridge is broken down. —</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px;">Gold is won, and bright renown.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span class="mw-poem-indented" face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin-inline-start: 1em;">Shields resounding,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span class="mw-poem-indented" face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin-inline-start: 1em;">War-horns sounding,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px;">Hild is shouting in the din!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span class="mw-poem-indented" face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin-inline-start: 1em;">Arrows singing,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span class="mw-poem-indented" face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin-inline-start: 1em;">Mail-coats ringing —</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px;">Odin makes our Olaf win!</span></div><div><br /></div><div>While this as the origin of the other song is debatable, both rhymes are interesting and can potentially point to interesting history and so can make for fun background elements.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can see a few more links to Medieval toys below. </div><div><br /></div><br />You can also see a 14th century example of a ceramic knight at <a href="https://previous.bildindex.de/bilder/MI07850c07a.jpg" target="_blank">https://previous.bildindex.de/bilder/MI07850c07a.jpg </a><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="http://www.zum.de/Faecher/G/BW/Landeskunde/rhein/geschichte/spaetma/ka/spielzeug.htm" style="color: #336699; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">or another from Strasburg</a></div><div><br /></div><div>A fancier version of you knights, likely owned by the children of the king Maximilian I in 1500 can be seen <a href="http://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/kultdoku/kataloge/14/html/1206.htm">here</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYjSVQY82w" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="300" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWOUy1XMR9Tpgijohr9C7TbhthPgJpPKr898J4828rqZNNChmX-rLl3X-JnmJ5pAT1a6ewM1CTE5D0dh6g4KM5YrDIc_J_K_5fYQyF0DIt0_2uYYoE2fFIQ-b9ylMQZ5-ccLEDoa2f1Emxblh2wVzySqihY2w6_2kG7JWPfr5f072QevFHbxKCVYm/s1600/can%20fairies%20lie%20small.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt_dqE1G8Zw4oWa_Jl23puSD8j2zkg2oBa3ESYpyHOfOUUnCCGlO_SnRr-giizTJEQVEhx7RcyX5Rp11WRdO1AD5_Rcefo4VK4t71xTU7JojkRT5vlGvvtkpf2BPg_6GzYQxk9DTRgL_rUweOJJIdkDjcn69wsYDkaGUb11Sj2MM3hmGdmr3cPPOnU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="462" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt_dqE1G8Zw4oWa_Jl23puSD8j2zkg2oBa3ESYpyHOfOUUnCCGlO_SnRr-giizTJEQVEhx7RcyX5Rp11WRdO1AD5_Rcefo4VK4t71xTU7JojkRT5vlGvvtkpf2BPg_6GzYQxk9DTRgL_rUweOJJIdkDjcn69wsYDkaGUb11Sj2MM3hmGdmr3cPPOnU" width="185" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-89852156008340851262022-12-18T16:30:00.005-08:002022-12-30T18:08:55.520-08:00Halfling Cultural Dimensions for Worldbuilders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0j5U3kfyCYGplRBRh8U9Y9AV-aPhO4RT8-impj9TWuNtSTwdabQom2hgDArrYGOwu_ZxLG3Qle2_RD42K1YvemPXMQoX7cjZicmEhjbQ0GMIUKOx1ORWT2MZ_nGlA_AvnbE080KsWseQ0N6j227w1mGkGqD8iZIEEK2ZZdNWCdrJV1xqZQycF7kE/s400/halfling%20culture%20dimensions%20blogger.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="400" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0j5U3kfyCYGplRBRh8U9Y9AV-aPhO4RT8-impj9TWuNtSTwdabQom2hgDArrYGOwu_ZxLG3Qle2_RD42K1YvemPXMQoX7cjZicmEhjbQ0GMIUKOx1ORWT2MZ_nGlA_AvnbE080KsWseQ0N6j227w1mGkGqD8iZIEEK2ZZdNWCdrJV1xqZQycF7kE/w200-h140/halfling%20culture%20dimensions%20blogger.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p>Halflings take pleasure in simple things that most everyone else recognizes as good but which most don’t think is enough to fill their lives; such as their gardens, a calm evening in their parlor, good food, and simply doing their job. More than any other genus halflings love their homes, families, and their place in the world. This means that few of them ever leave the place where they live, yet some are struck by a desire to wander and explore the world. These halflings especially can come to enjoy treasures collected and won through luck and skill. Such treasures might include seeds for plants, a folk songs or recipes from distant lands, as much as any treasure that could be sold. </p><p>Halflings feel close bonds to the other members of their community and will rarely seek to make waves which might disrupt the lives of others. Their willingness to simply accept things as they are, their lack of the obsession with creating, inventing, permanence or success that other genus have leads others within their communities to frequently feel a sense of repressive boredom. </p><p>The halflings are joyful, however, and enjoy things that can bring what they see as authentic joy, such as family and entertainments, however, and are frequently especially skilled at stories, plays, and songs. As such they are hospitable and cordial, desiring to maintain stability and avoid confrontations which could lead to a shattering of the peace. They will, in most cases, simply endure unpleasantness until it goes away, but if the thing that makes them uncomfortable doesn’t seem likely to pass they can react with cunning and violence as needed. </p><p><br /></p><p>Cultural Dimensions</p><p>Halflings have their own unique cultural dimensions which reflect the deities that created them, their traditions, and most especially their natural luck. </p><p><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/cultural-dimensions-for-worldbuilders.html">You can learn more about the Cross-Cultural theory of cultural dimensions and how to use it in Worldbuilding here.</a></p><p>In general, however, the members of a culture are surveyed with their numbers for each dimension being averaged, telling us where on the dimension the culture is. For example, a halfling on culture which scores a 70 on the Ambling Dimension would be very ambling, while one which scored are 30 would be contented.</p><p>The purpose of these dimensions is to help make it easy for you to quickly think of new cultures allowing you to give different personalities to various halfling villages. </p><p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/tyhulse_fantasyculture" target="_blank">I have created one of these sets of dimensions for Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, and Seelie Goblins on my Patreon. </a></p><p><br /></p><p>Ambling – hearth</p><p>All halflings take pleasure in simple things, good food, restful squishy chairs, pleasant company, and a fun book being some of their many delights. They rarely ever seek wealth or fame, as ambition for its own sake isn’t something they want and it would be hard for them to imagine simply being happy playing in mounds of gold like a dragon when they could instead lay in the heather with a picnic of delicious cheeses and wines. Of course, their desires do require some effort, and the type of effort they enjoy going to is a major part of their culture. </p><p>Ambling Halflings enjoy the pleasures of the natural world and things that come from the outdoors. They might spend a lot of time breeding the perfect apple trees and delight in eating the apples straight from the tree or dried in the sun, reserving things like pies for rare occasions. They enjoy ambling through the wood searching for the perfect blackberries to mix with simple farmers cheeses and honey. </p><p>Hearth Halflings enjoy the pleasures of home. They enjoy being inside, and so many of their projects and foods reflect this. Their projects generally tend to focus on their homes and the gardens immediatly near them. They will spend a lot of time with friends, playing games and the like. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s320/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Comfotable – Avidness</p><p>Halflings love their homes and simple beauties, but the amount of emphasis they put on each of these is an important reflection of their culture. </p><p>Comfortable Halflings enjoy working and relaxing in their homes or the fields and forest near them. They like nothing more than to simply putter around the house or the nearby wilderness, nibbling on some fruit or cakes and seeing that everything is just so. When they make a quilt, they do their best to make certain it is snuggly and comfy, because that is what they want out of it, after all, something they can curl up in without worry. </p><p>Avid halflings love to discover and create beautiful things. They are more likely to spend time exploring, looking for the prettiest spot and prettiest moment they can, rather than simply relaxing by a stream. What’s more it’s not enough to simply have a snuggly quilt, because they enjoy the process of making it as much or even more than using it, and so will find ways to drag out the time it takes to get all the little details right so that when it’s done they and others can forever see the beauty in it, and they can remember the process of exploring the quilt as they created it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Cordial – Enthusiastic </p><p>Halflings are friendly and kindly hosts. Within their own communities they don’t usually just say hello, they engage those they see in conversation, clasp hands, and likely hug. </p><p>Cordial halflings tend to enjoy pleasant conversations with very little substance. Indeed, happiness to them comes from avoiding anything that might cause discomfort. When they meet a stranger or friend they’ll ask them about foods they like, particularly good meals they had, terrible rainstorms they might have been caught in, or beautiful things they’ve seen. </p><p>Enthusiastic halflings believe in actually getting to the heart of who a person is, that’s how friendships are formed. They might ask questions like; When was the last time you cried and what were you crying about? Or What do you do for fun? Why do you enjoy it? Many who aren’t aware of these halflings culture will feel ambushed by their probing questions and the way they will often share intimate details about their life unprompted. </p><div><br /></div><div><b>I absolutely need feedback and your thoughts on this so that it can be the best resource possible for worldbuilders. </b></div>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-44196713755444199442022-12-18T16:25:00.000-08:002022-12-18T16:25:56.255-08:00Cultural Dimensions for Worldbuilders<p>One of the most used and studied Cultural Psychological theory, Greete Hofstede's cultural dimensions are a series of six aspects of culture which span across human nearly all human societies. These dimensions act as an easy way to understand aspects of a culture and have been some of the most researched and best attested to theories in Cross-Cultural Psychology.</p><p>This is advantageous for worldbuilders because it provides them with new ways to think about the cultures they are building. Playing with these dimensions, along with histories, and the elements of culture can provide you with innumerable different cultures to populate your worlds. </p><p>The cultural dimension are based on Numerical Scale of 1 to over a 100. For example, if a culture has an 80 on the individualism vs collectivism scale, the members of it will tend to be individualist in their thinking, while a culture that scores a 20 will be more collectavist, while those that score 40-60 would tend to be more in the middle of this cultural dimension.</p><p>As a cross-cultural psychologist I would ask that people avoid ethnic bias. It is a mistake to presume that any cultural dimension is better than another, the different dimensions have allowed those who display them to survive in different situations. This is why research has shown that people who grew rice and people who grew wheat have different cultures based on the requirements for growing these crops. That is Fiszbein, Jung,
and Vollrath found in a comprehensive study of the US that farming higher
labor-intensive crops was highly associated with collectivism, while low
labor-intensive crops was associated individualism. So cultures that grow rice
tend to be more collectivist because rice requires more labor and the
management of complex waterworks which benefit a community; “Traditional rice
farmers dealt with the labor demands by forming reciprocal labor exchanges. A
legacy of rice production therefore yields collectivism, and a depressed drive
to innovate... the close cooperation within a village
suggests that benefits from innovation are rapidly adopted by the entire
village. Thus, the benefits of innovation are largely external to the
innovator, reducing the incentive to exert effort in this direction.” (Zhu,
Ang, and Fredriksson) </p><p>Wheat, on the other had tends to be a more individual
activity and so encouraged individualist cultures. This is tendency is
increased by the raising of cattle as a secondary source of food, for people
would have to set out on their own or in small groups “to secure water and
grass for the herd in distant locations. This increased their interaction with
strangers and encouraged trade which fostered the exchange of ideas. Such
exposure to novel ideas and the opportunity to trade new innovative products in
larger markets should have heightened the focus on innovation effort. The lower
labor input requirements also imply that wheat farmers are able to attend to
their own plots with less help from other villagers than is the case for rice
farmers.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Six Dimensions</p><p><b>Power distance index (PDI):</b> This is the extent to which people accept an unequal distribution of power. That is, how much they accept control from their parents, a ruler, nobility, bosses, or others in positions of power. Workers in high power distant societies often want their managers to act as benevolent dictators, rather than as friends. Further, a lower number in this dimension indicates that people are far more likely to question authority. </p><p><b>Individualism vs. collectivism (IDV):</b> For many this is one of the most difficult dimensions to understand and a lot of mistaken ideas have sprung up about it so I caution you to be careful trying to apply this to the real world. </p><p>Collectivist cultures have strong ties and loyalties to their families and ingroups, whom they seek to help, even to the detriment of those outside this group. </p><p>Collectivist cultures are more likely put their family's and group's desires above their own desires, and as a result they would be more likely to take on the role their parents or other members of their group wished them too, rather than trying to express their own identity. </p><p>Individualism, with its emphasis on 'self-actualization' may come in part due to more frequent encounters with strangers and members of an outgroup and less reliance on a large ingroup. This might explain a study by A study by Deborah Cai & Edward Fink which found that individualist cultures are more likely to attempt to avoid conflicts all together, while collectivist cultures are more likely to try to compromise. On the other hand, both are equally as likely to try domination as the way to get what they want when conflict arises.</p><p>In Short:</p><p>Collectivists will tend to put more emphasis on the rights of families and communities over those of individuals. They tend towards rules which promote unity and will seek to work and cooperate with others and tend to be self-sacrificing. </p><p>Individualists see individual rights and the ability to choose the role one wants in society as important. They value their independence. </p><p><br /></p><p>Whether you mean to or not the themes of this cultural dimension are likely to creep into your story one way or another. Case and point, individualism can be thought of as the Disney Animation Values in which Ariel, Bell, Merida, etc. seek to follow their own dream, rather than accepting the role society, their parents, or both have placed on them. That is, these stories feature an individualist character stuck in a more collectivist society which they feel is repressing them. </p><p>Of Disney's "Mulan" the researchers from Jining Medical University in China State that; </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The American version of Mulan adds some American individualistic features. When the emperor heard the news of the Xiongnu attack, he ordered the general to post a recruitment notice throughout the city, and said: "Small soldiers can also make great achievements." The emperor's words show the importance of personal ability and strength. In the battle with Chanyu, Mulan saved the emperor, at this time Mulan's personal strength surpassed the others, which proved that the small soldiers mentioned by the emperor could also make great achievements. The layout of this plot highlights the individualism of the United States. American individualism believes that competition is more exciting than cooperation, and individual glory transcends collective glory. During the battle with Chanyu, Mulan did not follow the orders of the general, adhered to her own point of view and finally won the war. American individualism emphasizes the consciousness of "oneself", the individual will transcend the collective will, and believes that the individual has the right to fight for the protection of his private ownership and to adhere to his own views and beliefs. This cultural feature focuses on individual will and achievements and respects individual decision-making. (<a href="http://academypublication.com/issues2/tpls/vol10/10/22.pdf">Lei Wang, Bing Han, and Guofei Xu</a>)</p></blockquote><p>This isn't bad, per say, the best films and books reflect the culture which made them. Still, it can be useful when trying to depict different cultures in your story to realize that they would value different things. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Uncertainty avoidance (UAI):</b> This is societies willingness to accept uncertainty. Obviously, countries with a high uncertainty avoidance will tend to have strict codes of behavior and guidelines that dictate how one should think. They believe that there is one truth which dictates everything. Those with a low degree of uncertainty avoidance will accept differing ideas and are more accustomed to ambiguity.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS</b>): Masculine societies in this case prefer heroism, assertiveness, and believe that one should be rewarded for their success. In counter to this are cultures which seek cooperation, modesty, and believe that those who have struggled should be cared for. </p><p>Here again we see a clear connection between the environment people needed to survive in and the cultural traits they exhibited. In this case cultures in more temperate climates tended to be more masculine, while those in "In cooler climates with prolonged winter, meeting basic needs for food, safety, and security is much more demanding, which promotes intense parental care for the family." (Hofstede) Similarly, men in cultures in extremely hot climates such as that of the Aka pygmies and the Batek of Malaysia will provide a lot of fatherly care for their children. </p><p>These differences might be accounted for by the fact that more extreme temperatures require parents to spend more time and resources caring for their children, as Hofstede proposes. On the other hand, war tends to be easier in moderate climates, thus the threat of raids might encourage masculine cultures. If true this dimension could be thought of as environmental vs physical dangers. </p><p>It is important to realize that while many tend to think of the care giving and cooperative nature of femininity as akin to Collectivism, cultures like Sweden can be very Individualist and Feminine, while China is Collectivist and Masculine. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation </b>(LTO): Cultures with a long-term view attempt to adapt and solve problems pragmatically. Those who have short-term orientation value traditions and steadfastness in the face of adversity. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Indulgence vs. restraint </b>(IND): Indulgent cultures allow people the freedom to gratify their natural desires, to enjoy life and have fun. While cultures that show restraint have strict social norms. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Dimensions within a Fantasy World</b></p><p>Exactly how these dimensions work within the cultures of your fantasy world is obviously up to you and in many cases, it would be impossible to know exactly how a magical environment filled with vampires, demons, dragons, giants, etc. would impact people's culture. Would such creatures force people to stay closer to home, thus making them more nurturing, or would it force the parents to be 'tougher'? Obviously, only you can answer that question based on the nature of the threat and of course the story you are telling but asking the question will hopefully give you ideas for your world. </p><p><br /></p><p>In addition to human cultural dimensions, I have worked to create seperate elven, halfling, dwarf, goblin, and gnomish dimensions. Obviously, you are free to change, ignore, or use these as you want, it just could be useful to think of how their cultures might work. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-46165363001499788302022-12-08T19:00:00.000-08:002022-12-08T19:00:22.902-08:00Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - Fear and the Sublime<p><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p2.html">Romantic Desires: The Philosophy of Fairy</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIjmxYveWzO2POdUz89nReMnwojYNGAeSroJmzELr2ilNzX1an9WI4kMgD2rS1CQO-w69YchnHMwfpEaNTz9s26Tz6m4tk_g8p4MyvA4xiaEDv1kAJUTTONKI8I2GJtCy1QB4_v1MEoz2-TwNsA2UcicQ8b85-o3-xGeKoeclE0AxvUMdu14GsqtQ/s700/fearandsublime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIjmxYveWzO2POdUz89nReMnwojYNGAeSroJmzELr2ilNzX1an9WI4kMgD2rS1CQO-w69YchnHMwfpEaNTz9s26Tz6m4tk_g8p4MyvA4xiaEDv1kAJUTTONKI8I2GJtCy1QB4_v1MEoz2-TwNsA2UcicQ8b85-o3-xGeKoeclE0AxvUMdu14GsqtQ/w200-h160/fearandsublime.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p>"THE FIRST and the simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is Curiosity. By curiosity, I mean whatever desire we have for, or whatever pleasure we take in, novelty. We see children perpetually running from place to place, to hunt out something new: they catch with great eagerness, and with very little choice, at whatever comes before them; their attention is engaged by everything, because everything has, in that stage of life, the charm of novelty to recommend it." (Burke, 1757)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli11.jpg" width="238" /></a></p><p>Burke’s treatise on the Sublime had a huge influence on artists and writers. The Enlightenment and Industrialism dominated the ‘learned’ thought of the time, and then he came along and argued that darkness, obscurity, things that causes us awe and terror and which are beyond our understanding are perhaps more valuable than logic. Being frightened and made uncomfortable by a piece of or literature “was regarded as a positive experience” as such “Sublime art could not be achieved by slavishly following rules, but rather was an experience that existed above and beyond rules in the realm of artistic imagination.” (Christine Riding and Nigel Llewellyn) The point was to break with what gave people comfort. Loose and wild brush work, wild imagination, and terrifying subject matter were all aspects of the sublime. </p><p>It is rather ironic that a large part of what fueled the rise in supernatural literature during second half of the 18th century was the rise in consumerism and wealth which allowed a burgeoning middle class to purchase stories to read. And while the enlightenment figures bemoaned consumerism and the reading of books which would lead people to have fantastic ideas, the reality is that the middle and lower classes of Britain and Europe in general didn’t give up on their belief in magic for a long time. Thus allowing them into scholarly conversations was bound to lead to discussions of ghosts and fairies that the figures of the Enlightenment derided. </p><p>Into this debate came the artist Henry Fuseli’s painting of nightmares tormenting a woman in a dramatic pose. Fuseli’s paintings are works of counter Enlightenment and some of the earliest rejections of the Industrial Revolution. Many artists of this time began to believe that rationality harmful and would hurt humanity. Facts would, in their mind, destroy morality and certainly social norms changed dramatically following the Enlightenment. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="800" height="259" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli2.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p>Fuseli flipped the art world on its head by depicting “immoral pagan motifs because he fully realized the fantastical potential of Northern European legends. Therefore, he has been labeled a Romantic Classicist, straddling both of the major styles at the end of the eighteenth century. Similar to other Romantic artists, Fuseli was intrigued by the idea of the sublime, that which is not aesthetically beautiful, yet still appeals to the viewer’s inner psyche and invokes strong emotions. He was likely familiar with Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Inquiry into Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful, which was published in 1757, not long before Fuseli started his artistic career. He had a great intellectual curiosity and was exposed to many different philosophers and writers while traveling across Italy and Germany, inspiring his eccentricities. He represents both a true scholarly genius, as evidenced by the literary sources of his oeuvre, as well as an innovative artist, illustrating enigmatic and passionate works. His art mainly focused on the Gothic Sublime - rather than classical Greco-Roman themes - deeply rooted in fear and sensationalism.” (Caroline Giepert Professor Spieth)</p><p>Fear and sensationalism would dominate fantasy literature for a long time, and arguably still do, as most of the movies made with fantastical elements are likely horrors, with ghosts, demons, and the like. Certainly pulp magazines and the earlier penny dreadfuls, in which many of the genres of fantasy were established, sold copies based not only on sensationalist art but their sensationist covers. </p><p>This painting is important for another reason, because it helped bring about the idea that a painting could have nothing to do with a myth, history, or real person or place. Rather this painting came from the artists own mind, something that hadn’t been done in British paintings for quite some time before.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="520" height="320" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli8.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli7.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="800" height="257" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli1.jpg" width="227" /></a></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="731" height="200" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli3.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="599" height="200" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli4.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj519t2wrzY8ivPrDajjKFh_GFtV9pRmUhgYdqypEEDcSr5u-A4GjTcNGsi8GYW9Yz8ljaIA0a_rKU63b0i_p46ZL5XrLQd5DMlUYglQiXveTUvKKuNDLX9a7P92M2GgX8mHvRfBBFMzAPdLyxeN4BhehKVC6sq4S8cPAkaCaugBI0RU-uC_j9c8onu/s1024/Henry_Fuseli6%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1024" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj519t2wrzY8ivPrDajjKFh_GFtV9pRmUhgYdqypEEDcSr5u-A4GjTcNGsi8GYW9Yz8ljaIA0a_rKU63b0i_p46ZL5XrLQd5DMlUYglQiXveTUvKKuNDLX9a7P92M2GgX8mHvRfBBFMzAPdLyxeN4BhehKVC6sq4S8cPAkaCaugBI0RU-uC_j9c8onu/w200-h162/Henry_Fuseli6%5B1%5D.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="775" height="156" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli9.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="656" height="200" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli10.jpg" width="164" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="800" height="153" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli12.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli13.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="610" height="200" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli14.jpg" width="153" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="800" height="153" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli15.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="http://tyhulse.com/art/Henry_Fuseli16.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-73406567532836643762022-12-07T01:02:00.003-08:002023-03-13T17:11:58.062-07:00Fantasy Cultures for Worldbuilders & 5e - Ogma De<p>by Ty Hulse</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A land where
fate is spun can never be fully settled, for the faeries and demons are strong
within its moors, forests and homes. Huge swaths of this land are still ruled
by tribes and kingdoms of giants, with which the people and gods must treat and
go to war. Ogma De breaths with magic, the fey here are a part of daily life,
for each house has one hiding within, who sneaks out at night to help with the
cleaning, freeing the people to do other work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Life Among the
Fairies<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A giggle causes Ellis to pause just before placing her fresh
baked apple pies to cool on the windowsill. She knows better than to strain her
eyes to see the pixies that are certain to be out in the moonlight. They are
likely invisible, but more importantly, they don’t like to be seen. Instead,
she speaks gently into the darkness, telling them that the pies are still too
hot to eat, but makes certain to offer the pixies a slice when they cool.
Pixies are much like her toddler nephews; they need to know that there is a
reward for good behavior, or they are certain to get into trouble. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before the first house was even built, the ever-curious
pixies of the village of Wickerdown had discovered the wonders of fresh baked
bread, rich butter, and—best of all—the apples that humans brought with them.
Shy as they were, this was an opportunity that they couldn’t pass up. They have
been a part of the villager’s lives for hundreds of years. As a result, Ellis
learned from a young age that if she offered the pixies bread and the last
slice of pie, they wouldn’t cause her too much trouble. Just as important, they
would aid and protect her. When she went out to harvest apples in the orchard
or wild mushrooms and berries, her basket would fill with pixie plucked food as
long as she was always generous with them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A few whispered chants and butter would churn easier as the
pixies used their magic to aid in the natural process. If she told the pixies
she was going out on an important date, the wind wouldn’t muss her hair and the
mud might not splatter on her dress when a wagon went by, for the pixies would
protect her. Perhaps, most important, however, the pixies can use their magic
to keep apple blossoms warm if there is a spring frost, to help the apples grow
larger and to keep the fungus and worms from the trees. Thus, the crops are
larger thanks to the presence of the pixies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, although she’d never seen a pixie, they were still very
much a part of her and everyone in the village’s life. The pixies are invited
to the village’s wildest celebrations—feasts in the nearby castle or the
village square. Here, they are entertained with stories from the table they are
given in a private box, set on a pedestal above the crowd so they can watch
people while still hidden. Children, being children, will often show off in
front of these stages, showing how they can stand on one foot, or acting
especially silly, or telling jokes they’ve heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Occasionally, Ellis and her friends will play a game, going
out among the rocks where the pixies live and writing letters on the ground.
They will then ask an invisible pixie to push a rock around to answer their
questions. The pixies, skilled at spying as they are, and skilled at divination,
know much of what is happening in the world. Of course, there are limits to
what private secrets they will reveal, and they don’t necessarily know
everything. Not to mention the fact that they can find amusement in pranks, so
one must always be careful with the ‘knowledge’ they provide. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once in a while, the pixies will seek a person out—usually a
child—to share an adventure with them. Such an adventure might be as simple as
playing a prank like swapping someone’s cheese for soap or as dangerous as
stealing some treasure from an ogre. Most often these adventures involve
playing pranks on other pixie clans. Obviously, if they are caught doing this,
they will be punished—although usually the punishment is unpleasant but mild. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The pixies of Wickerdown aren’t the only community of their
kind in the area, however. The wild moorlands where people bring their cows
have them, and only the cattle herders are able to work with these. So, when
Ellis goes onto the moors or into the woods, she must be careful, lest the wild
pixies play some prank on her or try to carry her off. Further, the pixies from
neighboring villages will often enter Wickerdown to play pranks and cause
mischief, tickling people’s feet in their sleep, for example, just as the
Wickerdown pixies will cause mischief in those same neighboring villages. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dangers of Ogma De</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Never enter a home before releasing a dog into it, for a
devil or Hexen will always try to take root in a building the moment it is
emptied.” </span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 10pt;">-Advice for Surviving Ogma De</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The village of Wickerdown, like all of Ogma De exists in a
nervous world of malignant spirits, dangerously cruel fairies, and giants that
seem to revel in causing pain. When Ellis was ten, a greedy giant smashed
through the roof of her house and began grabbing herbs from the pantry, as well
as the pair of sheep her family kept inside to distract such a monster from
grabbing the people. Each human constantly carries a concealed knife so that
the giants will grab the sheep first, to avoid the sting of iron, giving the
people time to hide, run, or organize some defense. Or simply so that the
giant, satisfied with the sheep for their meal, will leave the humans alone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to the hexen wyld and giants, everyone will have
encounters with orc bandits from whom they will have to flee, fight, or bargain
with. Even Ellis has done so, offering to make some marauding orcs butter and
to cook them a meal of the cow she was tending, in return for her life. The
ability to bargain with or otherwise influence their enemies is the secret to the
survival of the people of Ogma De.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fairies too, while frequently allies with people can be
dangerous. In the early summer, parents will often hide those children who
might be taken by the fairies to be trained as soldiers for their armies. Nor
is it unusual for a group of fairies to shoot a person with invisible arrows,
to place curses, or simply kill and even drain the blood of a victim. Some of
these fairies are local to a region, but many are from neighboring lands, and
so choose to raid what the perceive as enemies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The worst dangers are usually kept at bay by the local gods
through the use of motes of magic, gathered from the wild places. This is one
reason why horrors hover just beyond the bounds of civilization and the common
areas for forging. When the dangers start to grow greater than the tutelary
deities can handle or the motes of magic begin to ware down adventurers are
hired to fight the worst of it or find new magic to keep the village safe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Society and People of Ogma De <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The people of Ogma de venerate and fear the fairies more
than the otherworldly or even the primal deities. They view the world as being
made up of a series of spirits, which live in everything, and which each have
their own purpose and goals. Thus, fate isn’t spun by grand and powerful
beings, for they can’t control the overwhelming number of spirits in every
plant, animal, object, and emotion. Rather fate is something that is negotiated
between individual spirits and beings. That is, between a person and the bow
they hold, the deer, they hunt, the pixie that lives in the rock by their home,
the hob that lives in their fireplace, and a myriad of other beings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the Ogma de, life is about being amiable and
accommodating to the fairies and spirits, while also being willing to stand up
for oneself. It is the former point that allows the people of Ogma de to
negotiate with the orcs, as often as they fight them. Outsider’s typically only
see the battles, however, and so think that the Ogma de revel in battle, even
with the supernatural world. The people of Ogma de, of course, learn to
distinguish between the soft and hard negotiating positions. They always start
with sweet words, pies, and similar tactics. They are, however, willing to cut
down the tree of a fairy whose goals work against theirs, or to pull a dragon
from its roost and chain it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It might be said that like the fairies, the people of Ogma
de are defined by switching between extreme emotions. They almost always try to
start gentle, even in dire situations, but can shift quickly to vindictive and
furious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes sense that the Ogma
would react calmly to nearly everything, for this is the best way to calm the
fairies who are such an important part of their lives. They not only feel the
fairies’ presence, but frequently hear and even see them, dancing on the hills
and moors around their homes. Each household has learned a few secrets from the
fairies, passed on from parent to child. One house might have a secret that
allows them to churn sweeter butter, another to make candles that burn a little
brighter, or to spin more beautiful thread. These secrets help bring a family
closer to their patron fairies, and helps them find more success, but it also
binds them to the fairies’ whims and to a specific task.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Despite the
closeness of the fey, few people truly understand them, any more than they understand
the true complexity of nature or the inner workings of their own bodies. The
fairies are simply there, and everyone has theories about them, everyone loves
to gossip behind closed doors or share fairy tales that grow with the telling
as any good fish story should. Yet only the Elderich, the Witches, the Priests,
and perhaps a few others truly understand the politics of fairyland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Foodways</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lush berry and herb filled moorlands, timberlands rich in
acorns for feeding pigs, a wealth of tidewater resources such as seaweed and
shellfish. Gathering food in the Ogma De system is a source of spirituality, a way
to connect the fairies of the world around them, as such the people of Ogma De
seek to taste their wild and free spaces of their homeland in every meal
Because of this t</span>he people of Ogma De have a history of mixing the wild
foods of the moorlands, where they commune with the fairies with the foods they
farm in their fields and orchards. <span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This can mean
eating woody and earthy herbs like wild thyme and burdock root, but it can also
mean eating sweet blueberries, lingonberries, and blackberries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The propensity
for mixing wild plants into their food means that outsiders often comment that
the people of Ogma De eat as if they were in a famine, cutting weeds to fry
with wild herbs, mixing seeds, berries, and wild plants into their breads and
pies. That said, its important to keep in mind that much as the people of Ogma
De might like wild foods, fairies obtain substance from foods grown and
prepared by humanity, further there isn’t enough food in the moorlands to feed
the many village of people by themselves. Because of this the people of Ogma
De, as with most humans need to industrialize their food, with large fields of
grain (barley, wheat or oats) and vast orchards of fruit (primarily apples but
also blueberries and pears). Their desire to commune with the natural world by
harvesting wild plants is simply a supplement to this. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The desire
people have to set off into the natural world, mixed with the fact that people
often carry their food to a neighbor’s house so that families don’t have to eat
alone, means that much of Ogma De’s cuisine is highly mobile. Stuffed breads,
small pies that can be carried in a pouch stews so thick that they can easily
be carried in jars, and anything that can be easily wrapped in a fabric pouch
being common. These foods are also useful because it is easy to leave them out
for the fairies. It isn’t an uncommon sight to see someone placing a little pie
under a blueberry bush or in a field of clover and chickweed. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The philosophy
of foods meant to remind one of the wilderness clashed with the ideas of the
Sword Duchies which, once long ago, conquered much of Ogma De for a time. The
people of the Sword Duchies tend to frown on breads stuffed with wild plants,
thinking of that as a prevue of the poor and desperate. Instead, they add
spices from distant lands, or which are difficult to get, to their foods as
often as possible. From this the Ogma De developed a taste for cakes, cookies,
and of spiced pies, as well as complex sauces for their meat dishes. They
further came to love the heartier, frequently heavy foods of the Sword Duchies,
and have developed many pies sausages, and meat and bread stews of their own
design. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">After the
Scattering the people of Ogma De began to admire the people of the Silver
Peaks, which they were dropped into this new world beside. They have since
begun adopting many of the flavors of pickled and spiced foods from these
lands, thus one might have a pork pie, with salt and miso preserved wild herbs,
in addition to the more traditional pork and herbs with blueberry mustard. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some typical food the PCs might encounter:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Creamy, herb and apple pie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A mix of wild herbs, creamy cheeses, apples, wild berries,
and honey or sugar. These are often baked in tiny dumplings so that they can be
put in a pouch with people when they go out onto the moors or into the fields
and orchards to work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blueberry, mustard, bacon sauce.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A sauce made of spicy mustard, blueberries, and a bit of
bacon which can be drizzled over meat dishes, or used as a dip for dry breads. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Moorland Bread<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ground walnuts and hazelnuts, herbs, burdock root, and dried
berries, mixed with flour and baked into small, round loaves of bread.
Sometimes bacon and cheese are stuffed into the center of these loaves as well.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beef stew, heavily spiced with cinnamon, cloves, mace, and dried
blueberries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Apple and pork pie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Spicy apple mustard for dipping chicken, duck, and other fowl.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Relationship with the Seelie Goblyns <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Seelie Court of fairies found themselves in greater need
for mortal assistance here than most other lands, and so the zoomorphic little
animal people’s especially the raccoon and fox like kitlyn have become a common
sight in the villages and along the moors. Indeed, there are a few humans and
seelyn villages have started mixing, with the seelyn living below the human
houses. Humans have quickly found this arrangement especially beneficial, as
the Seelyn tunnels are a safe place for them to flee in case of giant attacks
and so their basements often contain doors into these tunnels. The seelyn for their
part have come to rely on the humans bold and often brash willingness to engage
with the wider world directly. Human merchants, diplomates, and knights
frequently act on behalf of their shyer, more home bound fellows. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Religion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The people of Ogma De venerate a group of local fairies as a
pantheon of divine beings first and foremost. Next they venerate the fairies
and spirits outside of this pantehon as a constant part of life. Only then do
they venerate the larger pantheons of Ogma De, of which there are three.
Worship in Ogma de is typically a very public and noisy affair, with people
holding public performances, where they tell tales and quote the divine beings.
They then go to sacred groves, rocks, or springs where they sing and make
offerings to those who visit or are enshrined within these. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Exactly how they worship depends largely on the personality
of what they are venerating. For example, Dryads are quiet spirits, and so only
a few people go to worship them at a time, and do so in a quite and respectful
manner. On the other hand, the whole village will go and splash in the water to
swim with the River Hag which they venerate, or will dance in the forest that
their gods frequently visit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Village of Wickerdown’s local Pantheon of Gods <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wickerdown’s local pantheon of gods is ruled over by Kowan
Pix, a pixie which takes the form of an owl. When the people first arrived in
this land a hexen wyld ruled the land, and kept stealing the life from people’s
crops in hopes of driving them to cannibalism, some people gave in and are
still living in the wild places under the direction of the hexen wyld. Most,
however, chose to starve until the pixies took pity on them. Kowan Pix took the
form of a deer to lure the hexen wyld from its home, allowing the other pixies
to steal back the life that had been taken from the crops. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With so much energy released into their orchards and fields
at once the people prospered, and with the help of a mote of magic Kowan Pix
was able to keep the hexen wyld from doing as much damage as they had before. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For their part in the plan Kowan Pix was named leader of the
local pixies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kowan Pix is a pragmatist who is more likely to see morality
in terms of what helps a people to survive. That is, what is right is being
able to take care of one’s family, community, and those who have had a bad bout
with fate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kowan Pix’s children<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kowan Pix had a number of children as a result of their
encounter with the hexen wyld. These make up the next four most important local
deities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Karow Ewik (Apple Deer)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Appearing as a deer with multiple mask like faces, including
one on their back, their haunch, and the place a face normally goes, Ewik is
the goddess responsible for helping the apples grow and the deer to flourish.
In addition she is also a psychopomp, guiding spirits of the dead to their
place in the afterlife. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Karow Ewik steals Motes of energy from hexen wyld, and gives
them to the Ogma to grow apple trees, and in so doing instilled it with some of
his essence, as well as the essence of the hexen wyld. From this energy the
spirit of the apple orchards was born. While each orchard still has its own
genii and deus, Karow Ewik is the queen of all the spirits of the orchards. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pell Lowsow (Witch herbs)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Often heard muttering to herself, in the ditches beside the
road and the brambles at the edge of the village and fields, but almost never
seen. Pell Lowsow is the goddess of border lands. She helps keep watch for the
hexen wyld, devils, malign spirits and other dangerous beings which might
attack Wickerdown. She also insures the growth of wild herbs such as thyme and
mint in the common areas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because of the difficulty of her job she teaches other
people, who don’t normally fit into society how to be witches so they can watch
for these evil spirits as well, so that they can feel a sense of purpose while
living apart from the village. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heambol<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Goddess of Swallows, humor, dating, and home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heambol is Kowan Pix’s daughter from a time he spent living
as a swallow in order to steal from a vampire. Originally she was simply a
goddess of the swallows, but because they often nested in the eves of people’s
homes she became a guardian of human homes as well. Here, under the eves, while
it was raining or after night had fallen, people would often stand to tell
jokes and meet with their dates, further expanding Heambol’s area of interest. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Wickerdown <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Seellin <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Regions Within
Ogme De<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Start here East
Daggermoors<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
Daggermoor venerate the many types of pixies more than any other fairy, which
means they value serenity and creativity, alongside valor and humor. They enjoy
trying new things, within reason, which is why they have so many different
types of fruits and herbs planted from distant lands. They are a mix of raiders
from the Land of Daggers who conquered their small region of Ogma De many years
ago, and one of the more aggressive and stoic people of Ogma De. Yet somehow the
culture born from the two groups learned to enjoy calm moments, and the beauty
of a manicured world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
Daggermoor give the most respect to those who succeed through creativity,
rather than through brute strength. They are, after all, heavily influenced by
the pixies, to which end they also enjoy jokes, and mostly benign pranks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Being somewhat
pixieish in their nature, they tend to live clustered together, in small, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">honey-colored stone cottages squeezed together between
orchard trees, separated only by thin herb gardens and connected by a gravel
covered road so thin that only a single cart can trundle down it. Almost no
large pieces of wood are ever used by them, for fear of offending the fairies,
instead the thin branches, especially from willow are used to make the wicker
furniture, baskets, roofs, and even doors and pillars of their homes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks to their close relationship with the Pixies, the
people of Daggermoor are able to produce far more in their small orchards than
would normally be possible, just as their few cattle are able to provide them
with lots of butters and cheeses. This gives the people of Daggermoor
additional time to think of riddles and pranks, that would amuse the pixies and
each other. They also have plenty of time to sit and relax, while learning
something new. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">History <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="adventurestory" style="margin: 0in;"><span class="edittext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The first king
of Daggermoor, Cerker was a ranger who used his knowledge of the monsters
within the forest to lead the resistance against the invading Empire.</span></span><span class="undodeletiontext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first king of Daggermoor, Cerker was a ranger who used
his knowledge of the monsters within the forest to lead the resistance against
the invading Empire. The dynasty he founded was advised by the druidic and
bardic councils, and after generations the king became more a figure head than
ruler. When the next conflict came, his son, Emmert, took the throne. When the
Empire invaded again, Emmert led the revolt with courage and skill. He died in
battle before the empire forces could completely overrun Daggermoor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="adventurestory" style="margin: 0in;"><span class="prompttext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">On the border of
the Empire, Daggermoor has spent much of its history</span></span><span class="usertext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">
fending off and preparing for invasions. As a result they turned their magic
towards summoning and creating monsters who could defend them and strike fear
into the empires soldiers.</span></span><span class="aitext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> The most famous
and popular of these creatures are the</span></span><span class="edittext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> nightmar</span></span><span class="aitext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">es
that prowl the </span></span><span class="edittext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">borderlands, seeking to spread fear and
sow the seeds of horror tale</span></span><span class="aitext"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">. Some say that
the nightmares themselves are merely monsters created by some wizard or dark
creature, but most believe that they are the children of darkness sent from the
abyss to wreak havoc upon the world.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Geography and Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Daggermoor is a land of extensive heather filled moors and
brambles, with only a few batches of trees and small, gently sloping hills,
making it ideal for raising cattle and picking wild berries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Greenteeth River<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Named for the large number of hags which make it their home,
this is the largest river in Ogma De, running from the Nocturn woods down to
Dawnstead, making Greenteeth River an important and busy trade route, with over
half the population of Daggermoor living along its shores. Because of the hags
within, typically only large boats dare ply its waters, and only a few people,
said to be descended from the hags within, can fish in it. Even then they must
make careful offerings of black cattle to do so. Further, many are rumored to
work side jobs as thieves and pirates along this river, sneaking about trading
barges and stealing what they can without raising the alarm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Baranmoor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A cold, perpetually foggy and rainy moorland, said to be
home to a castle of the Winter Court of fairies, it is a place of constant
spring, of blooming flowers and fat – never quite ripe yet – berries. The
people who live around it have developed a number of sour berry pies, using
beet sugars from the Northern Sword Duchies to sweeten them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to the more kindly fairies, however, these moors
are also home to wraiths and headless undead, as well as elves who have turned
to foul magics in an attempt to return to fairyland, and have since come to
enjoy placing curses on people. Those who step onto the moors often start by
stripping and turning their clothes inside out and saying a prayer to the gods
of the moors. They will repeat this action<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>every hour, as a means of staving off the curses and keeping the undead
at bay. Although, this doesn’t always work and sometimes adventurers must be
hired to rescue those who have been spirited away on this moor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Red Tor <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A fairy castle which looks to human eyes like towering
reddish grey rocks. It is forbidden to approach the Red Tor, but adventurers
have been spirited away there for parties with the fairies, where they are
asked to recount tales of their adventures in far away lands. Such adventurers
might also be hired by the fairies within to help them fight Unseelie rivals,
orcs, giants, or devils.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wickerdown<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A typical village of honey colored homes, and a population
of just a few hundred. Wickerdown has recently ended up on the wrong side of a
dispute with a clan of giants, although no one is certain what they did to make
the giants so angry, and it is probable that the giants have gotten them
confused for some other village or are simply inventing a pretext to loot them
of their cattle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Equalar Wood<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Home to kingdoms of horse loving pixies, who have stolen a
number of the animals over the years and now raise them in the forest meadows.
A few of the horses of Equalar Wood have taken on strange properties, and are
invisible in the shadows of trees, and are able to speak the fey language. The
forest is also home to a scheming family of green dragons and spriggon bandits
that serve them, as well as the chimera’s which crave the flesh of horses, both
of which the pixies seek some way to drive off. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Neighbors Peace<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The land of
Neighbors Peace is intermingled with the Nocturn Wood, so the hours of daylight
are sporadic and short, such that one never knows for certain when sunrise or
sunset will come, and even when the sun is out a few stars are still visible in
the dim sky. The fairies here are also more feral than those in most of the
other lands of Ogma De, with many of these fairies having developed a taste for
blood. Even so the people of this land have formed a generally beneficial peace
with these fairies, in much the same way a lost child might with a pack of
wolves that inexplicably adopts them. To reinforce this positive relationship
the people call themselves and the fairies neighbors and peaceful, thus
Neighbors Peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The ‘Peaceful’
are generally outgoing, and enjoy the company of others in their large round
homes where three to six families can live. It isn’t uncommon for families to
own part of two or three homes so that they can shift from one home to another,
both to form strong bonds with every family in the village, but also because
the ‘Peaceful’ tend to avoid conflict as their primary means of resolution.
That is, they will move into another home, rather than engage in an argument
with someone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Because of the
danger from fairies and the uncertain hours of daylight their gardens and
orchards are so small that they must import most of their food. Most of the
‘Peaceful’ earn a living by sitting in circles and lending energy to processing
motes of magic that help make food grow sweeter. These motes of magic are then
sold to places that grow fruit and sugar beets. They also make candles (some of
which have enchantments allowing their light to act as a work of art for
festivals). Another common items floor mats from rushes, mostly for trade with
neighboring peoples as these don’t have enough market value to trade
extensively. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Peaceful
people’s work means that they spend a lot of time inside playing card games, in
which one person acts as a designated dealer, while the others can keep their
hands free to continue their work. Such games include games similar to
solitaire, except with a point system for those who see the next move first.
The people tend to avoid doing anything that would be interesting to watch, in
order to keep from attracting potentially hungry fairies. Additionally, each
house keeps a few small cows, from which they can extract blood to offer the
fairies when they feel one’s presence or one makes itself known by rapping on
the furniture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Almost half the
people of Neighbors Peace are Gnomes, with a number of others being part gnome
and part human, so they tend to be highly creative, figuring out new ways to
make baskets, process their motes, prevent and deal with tooth decay, art from
the light of their rushes, and most of all, to play card and board games. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Encounters and
Adventurers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Although they
are outgoing and friendly, the Peaceful are also reserved, calm, and
softspoken, a common joke being that they could put any monster to sleep simply
by talking soothingly. Negotiations and discussions with the Peaceful will tend
to take longer than many have patients for, as they tend to spend a lot of time
thinking through their words and steering conversations away from business and
similar topics, and towards games and leisure. This is partially because they
have a tendency to think of business and such matters in the form of games, but
also because they are careful about making direct promises with strangers, as
they dislike lying, even by mistake. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Outside
adventurers to the Neighbors’ Peace will usually be treated to a meal of a
variety of sweets and hard cheeses while the leaders of a village explain to
them which fairies and other creatures they should avoid hurting and
antagonizing. After all, a vampire might be helpful to a village – most of the
time, or a giant might have formed a treaty with them and they need to make
certain that these treaties are honored as best they can. Beyond this
adventurers are often hired, either to enforce treaties against faithless
monsters, or to try to force them to enter treaties. Killing a large group of
monsters is usually a last resort, as the Peaceful people have to maintain the
image that they want to get along with their magical neighbors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The fact that
most of the trade between Neighbors’ Peace and the outside world happens with
nations that grow foods like sugar beets, means that the Peaceful buy a lot of
sugar, and so their foods tend to be very sweet. Hard candies made from spices
or ice creams made from fruits are popular, as are cookies and cakes. Most of
these foods are incredibly sweet, and brightly colored as their obsession with
the artistry of light tends to translate into making pastel foods.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Not all their
food is sweet, however, as they also enjoy hard, sharp cheeses, or cured and
aged meats with boar being the most commonly consumed meat, as hunting is an
important pass time for their warrior and wizard classes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">War<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Their small
numbers and propensity towards games and illusions, and their treaties with a
variety of dangerous magical creatures means that it is difficult to predict
exactly how the Peaceful people will fight a war when they are forced to do so.
They might use vampires to kidnap their enemies and giants to dig ditch traps,
or Ettercap and giant spiders to weave webs along the ground which can be
hidden with leaves. What is predictable, is that they will most often try to
capture as many of their foes as they can, in hopes that they can exchange
those captured for a treaty. On the rare occasion that they are dealing with a
monster who doesn’t care about their troops they will often bargain with the
troops for their surrender directly, or act much more ruthlessly if they need
to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">They have a
larger than normal number of illusionists and warlocks, allowing them to use
powerful tricks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Religion <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The primary
deities, fairies, and spirits of the Peaceful people are those connected to the
swamps, as it is from the swamps that they gather the reeds they use to make
the candles, which makes up for the lack of a powerful sun deity in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Important
Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sleepers Patch<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A small grove of
trees which sits in the middle of the Neighbors Peace, but where it is always
night. There are rumors of a ruin of great treasures in the center of it, but
those who step in invariably pass out, and stay that way for years at a time,
before waking up as if they had only slept for a few moments, unaged despite
the passage of time, they wonder out of the woods to discover the world has
changed without them. There are Peaceful who have gone into these woods on
purpose, in hopes of escaping a bad situation, but they typically wake up only
a few days later, after things have gotten worse for them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Meadow of the
Stars<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is a meadow
where you can see the stars, even in broad daylight. Because it is one of the
rare places of dry ground, it has become a popular place for picnics and the
like, and indeed, there does seem to be some force which keeps monsters out of
the meadow. Many think it is perhaps a deity to the stars, but no amount of
veneration or coxing has gotten it to reveal themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Crabs Fen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 125.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A fen that fills
to overflowing with freshwater crabs every fall, although not enough to replace
candle making and magical mote processing as the primary profession, these
crabs have helped this to become one of the most populated regions of Neighbors
Peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Gurrdbury <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Living on the
edge of the giant’s kingdoms’ some of the villages of Gurrdbury have been
conquered and are now ruled over by the giants themselves. The people fight
frequent battles against and alongside these larger beings, forging strong
bonds among themselves and their neighboring villages. There are many tales of
heroic and cunning people becoming kings after overthrowing a giant, or wealthy
after robbing one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
Gurrdbury are sentimental, while being grounded and no nonsense about their
work. Perhaps most important to them, however, is the belief that everyone
should have the right to learn to fight from traveling archers or spell
masters, for they believe that knowing how to fight for one’s family is the
only way to maintain freedom. Because of this even when they are conquered by
giants, the giants must continue to give them some rights or risk being overrun
in a revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
Gurrdbury are prone to revelry and exceedingly strong bonds of friendship which
are often formed in the crucible of battle. For them learning to fight isn’t
just a right but a responsibility, for individual rights and a fair society can
only be obtained if the leaders know that everyone can fight for their rights.
The people of Gurrdbury rarely ever farm, instead, choosing to herd animals, so
they can trade meat and cheeses for grain and other farmed foods. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Important
Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bramble of
Spears<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The sight of the
bloodiest battle between the people of Ogma De and the Empire of Swords (now
broken into the Sword Duchies. Although won by the Empire, this battle broke
their strength and forced them to withdraw from Ogma De for the last time. The
number of souls wondering the battlefield made it a major recruiting ground for
the fairy courts, seeking the spirits of heroic people to join their cause. It
is said that there are so many dead here, not all of them have yet been
claimed, and thankfully so, for after the events of the Scattering this was
once more the sight of a battle between the Eldritch Horrors and people of Ogma
De, and this time many of the heroes of old came to fight alongside the human
defenders. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Because of the
Bramble of Spears significance to the history of Ogma De, it has become home to
one of the only known locations of an Eldrech council. Further, numerous courts
of fairies claim it, and many battles have been fought between them over it,
their wars occasionally spilling out into the surrounding villages.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ankheg’s Fields<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Clusters of
trees growing among fields of wild rye make this the perfect home for the bane
of cattle herders, the ankheg. The giant insect like beasts have created
numerous nests in the hard clay and chalk hills around here. The danger they
pose would normally cause cattle herders to avoid this land, but the cattle
that eat here grow larger than normal, encouraging some people to take the
risk, and to hire adventurers to protect their cattle or reduce the number of
ankheg nests in the fall, when they take the cattle here to get fat before
winter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">War Wizards
Academy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Established as a
joint venture by the people of Dawnstead and Gurdbury to train and experiment
with training eldritch knights, arcane tricksters, and other forms of martial
casters, many of which are unique to this academy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Reaver’s Rocks<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A series of
rocky outcroppings from which people who have turned bandit, along with their
spriggand and fairy allies, are able to launch raids on Dawnstead and Gurdbury.
Reaver’s Rock is mostly lawless, not recognizing the authority of priests or
mage families. Instead they are led by warrior witches who have proclaimed
themselves servants of the free fairies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Knockermoors<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A land rich in
copper and silver, the Knockermoors are primarily populated by dwarves, with
human villages clustered near the mines. These human villages focus on farming
for food to trade with the dwarves in return for metal goods that they can then
sell to the rest of the world. The dwarves, like the humans above, tend to get
along well with the fairies that populate the caverns, who respect their work
ethic, skill at making beautiful things, and rock solid and pragmatic view of
tradition. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Their
relationship with the fairies, especially those of the Raven, have tended to
make these dwarves much more careful about the future. They spend a lot of time
performing divinization rituals to learn about the wider world and to
understand their next moves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Dwarves
connection with the fairies had made them a bit more whimsical than most of
their kin, such that they feel the desire to play random pranks on the people
of the surrounding villages. These pranks can include the typical, making
stairs creak at night or putting a leaky bowl of water in the rafters so that
people think their roof is leaking when it isn’t. The pranks can also include
positive things, like finishing someone’s work for them when they go to bed so
that they are confused in the morning. As the people of Knockermoor have grown
use to such activities, the dwarves have started using fairy paths to go
further afield, especially into the Sword Duchies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The humans of
Knockermoor have taken up many of the traits of the dwarves they trade with,
being stoic, and pragmatic. The cold weather and poor soil limits what they can
grow, making buckwheat and peas their most common crops. In addition they raise
a number of pigs and goats, making sharp cheeses with the milk of the latter. This
simple faire reflects the generally reserved attitude they have towards life. For
them, beauty comes form what is solid, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Wyvern Hall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A break away
cavern of dwarves who have decided to return to their more primordial roots.
The dwarves of Wyvern Hall have taken up worshiping a Wyvern turned deity, and
become feral raiders who threaten the dwarves and humans of Knockermoor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Nathro Mountain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">An important
pilgrimage site for giants who travel here from all over Ogma De and even more
distant lands. It is these later giants who cause the most trouble, for after a
series of wars with them, the people of Knockermoor made a treaty to leave the
giants offerings to their gods alone, in return for their acting relatively
peaceful while here. The giants who aren’t a part of Ogma De aren’t a part of
this treaty, however, and so will sometimes go on religious frenzied raids
after visiting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Nathro is the
name of the largest giant who ever lived in Ogma De, and this mountain is said
to be his funeral mound. His ghost has become a deity and is said to still walk
the mountains around it. In life Nathro had attempted to conquer and subjugate
all the mortal races, before needing to be slain by a god of the old world. His
followers all plan wars to conquer more territory for themselves and force others
to kneel before them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Callmark
Meadows<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Home to what are
perhaps the most cheerful kingdom of fairies in Ogma De, people bring the
injured, sick, and even the dead from all over the world in hopes that the
fairies will heal or reincarnate them. It is difficult to know who the fairies
will bless, and most go away disappointed, yet strangely at peace with the fate
that brought them here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kansimoor<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
the Kansi Pantheon of deities. The Kansish people value safety and individual
wellbeing above all else, things they think are best achieved by supporting
powerful paladins and clerics who can keep them safe from the fiends and giants
that rove their lands. Unlike most of the other people in Ogma De they have
thus formed a highly stratified society, with a large divide in power between
rulers and peasants, in the belief that most people taking on a servitor role
to the strongest among them can encourage the strong to feel responsible for
those they are meant to protect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Kansish
Paladins and Clerics view their role as being heroic, rather than as sacred
stewards, and so will typically hire sheriffs and aldermen to manage most of
the affairs of the country for them, while they go out to fight the monsters
that threaten their land. They do have a sense that their position is a gift
from the divine, however, and so will often overrule these managers with little
actual knowledge of the situation, trusting that their automatic inclination is
correct. As a result, Kansimoor is both one of the most secure lands of Ogma
de, despite the fact that there are so many demon portals, but it is also one
of the most poorly managed. For example, rather than the government building
things like bridges, the bridges here, when built are often constructed by an
enterprising peasant to charge tolls or a group of peasants as a form of
charity for their village. In either case, the lack of funds for such endeavors
means that these bridges are often rickety, and many streams have none at all,
requiring people to wade across the cold waters. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Brie Ekka Bridge<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A slip of land
connecting Kansimoor to Brie Ekka, the land still ruled over by devils. The
Bridge is populated by a series of forts established by the Priests and Eldrech
to keep the devils and their servants from crossing into the rest of Ogma De.
Although this is an uneasy place, wars between the devils and Ogma De have been
rare enough that a few Kansi villages have sprung up here to act as trading and
farming hubs for the many warriors based here. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Thrush Bay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Although the bay
is teaming with fish, it is the presence of gold that draws people to this
land, not so much gold that rulership of this land has been heavily contested,
but enough to bring an influx of pirates from the North Sea seeking to retire
to gold hunting intermixing Kansi farming villages with eclectic boom towns.
The presence of these semi-retired pirates has of course lead to an increase in
banditry, especially when the pirates find that making a fortune searching for
the meager gold of Thrush Bay is uncertain at best. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Thistledown<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The largest city
of Ogma De. Originally Thistledown was a place for mercenaries from Ogma De to
seek work protecting ships on leaving Dawnstead to enter the pirate filled
North Sea. It didn’t take long for people to realize that they could make a
fortune building pubs to cater to the mercenaries and the ships stopping to
pick them up. Soon after the merchants came, making Thistledown the main hub
for trade between Ogma De and the outside world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ogma De has
joined the Gilded Cities relatively recently, both so that it can use the
reputation of the league to expand its finance industry, and because the rest
of Kansi was beginning to look upon them as a potential target to raid and
carve up. It is hoped that the protection of the Gilded Cities will prevent an
attack from those seeking to gain the wealth of the growing city in a few
nights of looting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ravenmoor<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Raven
goddess has foretold the end of the world will happen when there are wars but
no kings and traditional moralities break down,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Ravenairs
name their land for the symbol of their most important goddess, for she
sometimes sends people wisdom and prophecy on the wings of ravens. There
goddess is obsessed with modesty, hard work, and tradition. Thanks to the
prophecy that they shall all die when these things are lost, the people of
Ravenmoor tend to be stoic in the face of personal concerns, self-aggrandizing,
and calmly pious. They have a tendency towards mysticism, with people
frequently meditating with the aid of repetitive activities or gentle music.
For knowledge, especially secret and mystical knowledge is one of two things
they hold most dear. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A close second
in importance is a sense of belonging, that is of being part of a much larger
whole. Most of the people of Ravenbur farm in groups and work in cottage
industries, citing in circles in the evening. Thanks to their rich lands they
are the largest exporter of food in Ogma de and so are able to form large
armies, which help make this one of the safest lands. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Adventurers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people of
Ravenmoor see it as their duty to aid and instruct would be adventurers, even
from foreign lands. Because of this they often give easy tasks that could be
handled by local armies to young adventurers, making this a good place to gain
experience. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Raveniates
are quick to help these young adventurers with foresight they gain through
divination spells and meditation, as well as instructions on the nature of the
metaphysical and spiritual world. It isn’t uncommon for an adventurer to have
spiritualists sit down, uninvited, with them in the pub and begin offering
advice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Locations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Gindon <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The second
largest city of Ogma De. Gindon is home to large groups of craft people.
However, thanks to the tariffs placed on ships sailing on the Silver Peaks side
of Ogma De, most of their goods have to be brought across land to Dawnstead.
This extra cost has caused a number of the craftspeople in Gindon to go out of
business or simply leave. The city has been trying to join the Gilded League to
counter the power of the Silver Peaks, but the League is worried about taking
on a member that practically guarantees they would have to go to war with the
Silver Peaks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Some of the
leaders of Gindon have started secret talks with the Grey Assembly, hoping that
they might offer some solution to the city’s problems. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ethereal Slopes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Frequently
misty, the slopes are one of the largest growers of oats in the world. They
also play frequent host to young red dragons, looking to raid the Silver Peaks
or other neighboring lands. The people of the Slopes tend to ignore these
dragons, so long as the mischief they cause happens elsewhere, making this a
relatively safe place for such dragons starting out. The presence of red
dragons has also drawn young copper and brass dragons seeking to battle against
their rival. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Thunder Swam <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A marsh filled
with trolls and lizard folk, as well as an eldritch horror that has been
licking its wounds from the battle after the Shattering. The Horror frequently
captures animals and creatures of the swamp and twists them into unique
aberrations that are sent to haunt the human realms. Most, of them, however,
end up simply hiding in the swamp from their creator, choosing to hunt pray
that enters the swamp, rather than leaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Government of
Ogma de<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">There are five
forces which rule over Ogma de, the first is the warrior class, known as the
Uchelwr. Second are the priests, third are necromancers known as the eldriche,
fourth are the witches who work with the fairies, and finally there are the
villagers themselves who establish some of their own laws. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Uchelwr<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The nobility of
Ogma De, the Uchelwr aren’t a unified force. Rather they are an aristocratic
warrior class which each own their own plots of land. They can<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>set some of their own rules for living on and
using their land, and charge fees and rents to the people to live in or visit
the villages they own. They are obligated to do their best to protect those who
live on and visit their land, that is, anyone from whom they’ve collected a
fee. Their power is limited, however, for if they don’t seem to be strong
enough to protect people, or overtly cruel the priests can and will replace
them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Priests, also
known as the Dryw<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The real law
within any villages are the priests known as the Dryw. The Dryw meant to
oversee an individual village or city are chosen by circles of Dryw which exist
in each region. These priests act as judges and executives, determining the
laws for each village, with permission from the order they are a part of, which
doesn’t give permission to change the laws lightly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In order to
become a priest a child must pass oral tests with one of the regional priests
that travel to each village once a year in search of new recruits. A child who
passes these tests will be apprenticed with the priests in their village until
they are old enough to go and learn from the order directly. After this, they
will be appointed to various tasks within the order, until they have enough
experience and skill to be appointed leader of a village or to join the
leadership of the order itself, although not all of them ever achieve either of
these two goals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Elderich<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Elderich are
a council of necromancers who speak with the heroes of the past, and sometimes
call forth their ghosts to aid the people in times of need. Being able to speak
with the great heroes of the past gives the Elderich a lot of power, allowing
them to overturn and even banish a priest who is seen as being unfair.
Generally, they live outside of and above the politics of Ogma De. Dwelling
instead in isolated places, and will normally only speak to elected village
councils that come to visit them. Or on rare occasion they will travel to speak
to a village council, providing messages from the ghosts. When they do this,
they imbue the council with absolute authority over the affairs of their
village, for a short time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Witches<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The people whom
the fairies have chosen to deal with directly. Most witches begin their careers
when the fairies snatch them up and take them into fairyland. The cunning folk
have no specific authority, but the fairies will become angry if they feel
their chosen representatives are being disrespected. Thus, people will tend to
at least pay lip service to respecting the witch’s ideas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Although the
witches are necessary, and even beloved, they are also greatly feared. There
are stories of people waiting for hours outside a cunning persons house for
help, too afraid to knock, but too desperate to leave.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Village
Council<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Because the
villages are relatively small, the councils which they choose to represent them
and to oversee the care of orphans and the elderly, aren’t chosen during specific
elections. Rather, whenever a majority of people wants to replace someone who
is on the council with someone else, they may do so. Of course, the council
typically has very little power and mostly acts to organize charity and
caregiving for those in the village who need it, as laws are overseen by the
priests. The council’s actual power only comes if the priests act out of line,
in which case they can go to the Elderich to discuss their concerns, or when
the Elderich grants them more power for a short period of time. For the
Eldrerich will only tell their secrets and give instructions to village
councils, so when they have a message from the heroes of the past this is given
only to the village councils. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">History of
Ogma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>De<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The fairies were
fading, being hunted by the devils that had taken control of the mortal realm
just outside the doors to fairyland in Northern Ogma De. Some of the fairies
surrendered to the devils, choosing to exist as servants to these dark powers
rather than being hunted. Others still sought help further afield and
discovered the primordial halflings and humans, still living as wild creatures.
They took these mortals in and taught them, so that they could act as allies
against the devils. Still other fairies left their homes entirely, entering the
mortal realm, they became the elves and the gnomes. These new peoples aided the
fairies in driving the devils back. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">But the powers
that had allowed them to fight the devils made them dangerous to the fairies. And
mortals are nothing, if not faithless. They soon proved nearly as dangerous as
the devils had been. So it was that the fairies went into hiding, for at least
it was easier to hide from the mortals than it had been from the devils. And
because the devils and other evils were always searching for a new way to take
the mortal realm, the fairies could not fight the mortals, they still needed
them, so an uneasy and often broken peace was formed between mortal and fairy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As the people of
Ogma de moved south, they encountered more fairies, who having heard the need
to fear them, hid in advance of their coming. Still, these fairies too found an
advantage to having the humans around, as they enjoyed their food and worried
less about the occasional raids from fiends, which the mortals were good at
fighting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">With the support
of the fairies the people of Ogma de thrived, forming into hundreds of small
collections of villages, ruled over by the warrior families whose ancestors had
led the battles against the devils. Occasionally these families and villages
would unify to fend off raids by fiends, or large empires and foreign raiders.
These moments of unity were always temporary, however, for the Eldrech and
Priests prefer that no family become powerful enough to make themselves into
Emperors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Scattering<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Scattering
dropped Dawnstead and the Silver Peaks between Ogma De and their traditional
enemies, the Empire that broke apart into the Sword Duchies. Once the years of
battle with the fiends and eldritch horrors that occurred immediately after the
Scattering had ended, the people of Ogma de found themselves without their
traditional enemy, free to focus on each other. The result was decades of war
between the villages. This chaotic time allowed the lands of the Silver Peaks
to take control of the sea between them, such that the Ogma de fishers on that
side of their land must pay a tax to kingdoms in the Silver Peaks, in order to
fish the waters right off their shore. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The wars between
the Ogma De ended just a few decades ago, when the giants found a rift into
their land, and came in mass, establishing their own small kingdoms and raiding
the human lands. Although an uneasy equilibrium was quickly formed between
humans and giants, skirmishes between the two are frequent enough that wars
between human villages have become relatively rare. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-71642423871883383082022-12-06T23:39:00.005-08:002023-03-13T17:11:37.005-07:00Alphonse Mucha and the Art of Cultural Identity<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p8.html" style="background-color: white; color: #9acb38; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; outline: none;">Previous</a><span face="Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400;"> </span><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4abfb6; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Index</a><span face="Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400;"> </span><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p10.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4abfb6; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Next</a><span face="Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">Alphonse Mucha and the Art of Cultural Identity</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNzS80dOxQKzivqYSLVILhJT4av1bQQ-ZCh5YAO1VVhfJOtjUep8-9X0ql__cblmXsbXWzqtOfUp3adJbq4QbX1iDSLk2ID4eEA8kGQVsjL3YeoYLRF-FGWt4HkfUq3JdrbTQytKXpA6WnpJ5QuarUfTueQa5sZ1Uhdz4c7ukL9aNQ5pDE2p4qe0T/s700/alph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNzS80dOxQKzivqYSLVILhJT4av1bQQ-ZCh5YAO1VVhfJOtjUep8-9X0ql__cblmXsbXWzqtOfUp3adJbq4QbX1iDSLk2ID4eEA8kGQVsjL3YeoYLRF-FGWt4HkfUq3JdrbTQytKXpA6WnpJ5QuarUfTueQa5sZ1Uhdz4c7ukL9aNQ5pDE2p4qe0T/s320/alph.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">by Ty Hulse</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">The 19th and early 20th Century was defined by the idea of nationalism, or more specifically the search for a common identity with other people's who spoke the same language or had similar histories. Romantacism as an art exalted passion and emotions above enlightenment values of logic and the social good. The romantic artists loved fairies and magic, primarily as it was associated with folklore. The Brothers Grimm were inspired to collect German tales and lore based on this idea, in hopes of unifying the many German nations into a single whole. They were frequently in conflict with kings and nobles<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">Certainly, Alphonse Mucha, famous in Paris for helping create the Art Nouveau would join a movement of artists and idealists seeking to bring independence to his Slavic Czech homeland. He believed that art inspired by the fantasies, myths, and folklore of the Slavic people could help inspire a revolution. He was inspired to this end while in Paris, as he said; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">“It was midnight, and there I was all alone in my studio… I saw my work adorning the salons of the highest society or flattering people of the great world with smiling and ennobled portraits. I saw the books full of legendary scenes, floral garlands and drawings glorifying the beauty and tenderness of women. This was what my time, my precious time, was being spent on, when my nation was left to quench its thirst on ditch water. And in my spirit I saw myself sinfully misappropriating what belonged to my people. It was midnight and, as I stood there looking at all these things, I swore a solemn promise that the remainder of my life would be filled exclusively with work for the nation.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">After this he left Paris, returning to his Czech homeland in order to create art that would inspire his people, including a series of fantastical paintings inspired by Pan-Slavic writings. Pan Slavism was a cultural movement that stated in the middle of the 19</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 7.3259pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"><sup>th</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> century. While his art was revolutionary and a call to overthrow the Austrian government, Mucha could discuss them in terms of fairytales to avoid the ire of the authorities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">The public was lacking something. It was obvious that it needed to breathe fresh air and find peace and harmony. The existing harmonies were exhausted, empty, taken over from old Renaissance motives, and people were glad to quench their thirst for beauty with a new draught. It seems that it was the refreshing new Slav element they were looking for. Posters were a good way of educating a whole population. They would stop on their way to work and derive from them spiritual pleasure. The streets became open-air art exhibitions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">The goal of these movements was largely positive, to escape the repression of dictators. In order to achieve these ends people created a falsified history and mythology. For example, they sought to portray the Slavs as peace loving, as having been over taken by the violent warrior Germanic people. This, of course, ignores the fact that the Slavs were only in Western and Central Europe because they had fought to displace the people who were already there. In order to create their new cultural identities, many people invented many of the fantasy elements and even the myths we still cling to today. The idea of a preexisting earth mother being one such myth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">Obviously the people who were being oppressed at the time deserved the right to escape repression, what’s interesting for us is that the fantasies people created were able to trump reality, because fantasy and lore are powerful forces. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">Mucha described his posters in the following terms:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">I must choose a technique which doesn’t take too long. . . .This is why I think oil painting is too technical and not suitable for expressing ideas. In oils the technique is always visible, and this I don’t want . . . if it is broadly painted it’s just shallow virtuosity, unworthy of serious subjects. And if it is too meticulous and naturalistic, the harsh colours will kill the idea and the whole thing looks terribly heavy handed and forced. My work must be like sudden shouts without any bravado technique, honestly felt and honestly expressed, with no showing off, no acrobatics of the brush. I think I will do it like the tragedy of the German Theatre, only better and more seriously worked out, with the main stress on drawing, while the colour, harmonious and natural, should be subordinate. Now I’m looking for a method and I think I have found it. Contemporary oil technique has nothing in common with the Slav spirit. . . it is French, or Dutch, perhaps even German or Italian, but not Slavonic. We must start from a completely different angle . . . not painting because … we get satisfaction from effects of light and colour, but because . . . painting is a more direct way of conveying feelings. And these feelings must remain the principal object while technique and colour must be subordinate. This is my new approach . . . and perhaps I’ll be able to do something really good, not for the art critics but for the improvement of our Slav souls.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">Epic Significance: Placing Alphonse Mucha's Czech Art in the Context of Pan-Slavism and Czech Nationalism Erin M. Dusza (2012)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">“Mucha’s advertising posters reflected a new mythology of modernity: the desire for universal harmony and happiness.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua"; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-default-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-greek-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latin-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-ligatures: none;">The Image of Homeland in the Works by Alphonse Mucha “Madonna of the Lilies”, the Poster for “The Lottery of the Union of Southwest Moravia” and the Poster for “The Slav Epic Exhibition” Yuliya S. Zamaraeva*, Kseniya V. Reznikova and Natalya N. Seredkina 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-74874690455018882922022-12-06T23:06:00.000-08:002023-03-13T17:11:38.571-07:00 Art of Djer-Kiss: Pleasure, frivolity, and aesthetics<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p13.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4abfb6; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;"> Previous</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4abfb6; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Index</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p15.html" style="background-color: white; color: #4abfb6; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Next</a></p><p><b>Art of Djer-Kiss: Pleasure, frivolity, and aesthetics</b></p><p>by Ty Hulse</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJE-iCt7E17TvnxWb2lbikyfJ02NDqqnq8la0UGevm73pq7wn_eAT2RXZ77e_vPRE9VYfr1bgYZaG3X_XszkzkelJiZPrSO1HM25OWTTIY2UCnDDvvJi5szUBcOmgp9f4UCi_zxQ5kXlXvnOFo4-W13qIcUWre8qj3OX1Z1IEo9ea8RKj9cDGQ_g98/s700/djerkiss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJE-iCt7E17TvnxWb2lbikyfJ02NDqqnq8la0UGevm73pq7wn_eAT2RXZ77e_vPRE9VYfr1bgYZaG3X_XszkzkelJiZPrSO1HM25OWTTIY2UCnDDvvJi5szUBcOmgp9f4UCi_zxQ5kXlXvnOFo4-W13qIcUWre8qj3OX1Z1IEo9ea8RKj9cDGQ_g98/s320/djerkiss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The 1920s was still haunted by the ghost of “The Great War” which had ushered in modern mechanized warfare with the birth of tanks, chemical attacks, bomb carrying planes, and the disease filled trenches that nearly killed Tolkien. This time, after the war, came to be known as the Roaring 20s, and a frivolous generation. In truth, however, the people of that era were in fact running, trying to escape the horror and, in many cases, the shell shocked post-traumatic stress of a war that had left many of the old values dead beside those they loved. </p><p>In 1917, near the end of the war which must have seemed to go on forever a pair of girls photographed what they claimed were fairies. Their photographs caused an emotional and psychological stir in society that lingers to this day.</p><p>It was a period when the majority of the population had lost a close relative in the first world war, and understandably there was a consequent surge of interest in manifestations of other worlds and the after life such as spiritualism, theosophy and the fairies. Edward Gardner, who discovered the fairy photographs, was a theosophist, and Conan Doyle, who had lost his son in the war, was a committed spiritualist. It is perhaps this sense of desolation following the losses of the war, and the desperate search for signs of an afterlife (Postmodern Fairies by Helen Nicholson)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO3-l-D6IdOOCpIrcFYzlH3v_qGyf2LJ9NPhGe4G3SetKW-Hib0tWk6wAwkTyFaYxQ2MScmtCjQDJpNQN-dmHr3ztWgT_2ETfdRE0J4uxUIkyswf8h060IrSD3TLgmtO3ImDd3jGTobCMK9iI96dphdWiXNHLraeRsdus0-4BEPay8MwqM-T-iA3la" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="447" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO3-l-D6IdOOCpIrcFYzlH3v_qGyf2LJ9NPhGe4G3SetKW-Hib0tWk6wAwkTyFaYxQ2MScmtCjQDJpNQN-dmHr3ztWgT_2ETfdRE0J4uxUIkyswf8h060IrSD3TLgmtO3ImDd3jGTobCMK9iI96dphdWiXNHLraeRsdus0-4BEPay8MwqM-T-iA3la" width="192" /></a></div><br />It is into this world the Djer-Kiss released a series of ads featuring whimsical and beautiful paintings of fairies, one of which promised a return to “pre-war prices” below a celebration of white, dancing beauties. The fairies, like many such paintings are surrounded by a circle of dark wilderness, yet within their circle is a purity and brightness. Yet it isn’t a full circle, there is a gap opening up in it, not one that faces directly towards us, but one that is moving towards us, where the fairies have parted in preparation to invite us, the viewers, in. <p></p><p>Featuring fairies in this way wasn’t an accident, fairies had often been a symbol of hope. In a early 19th Century German memorate a young woman, struggling with her hard Industrial Era job asks her friend; “Wouldn’t you like to marry one of the fairies?” as they hear the sounds of the zwerg reveling in the hill beneath their feet. For many, fairyland must have seemed a type of heaven, which is likely why graves in Ancient Greece sometimes read that the children’s spirit would now be able to play forever with the nymphs. </p><p>We see this sort of desperate hope for purity, for a sort of heaven and peace in these paintings. They beg us not to return to the war that was, to move forward towards a better world.</p><p>Another ad features fairies swinging joyfully on vines. In some ways this is reminiscent of the paintings of the Rococo period. Like the 1920s the aristocracy of the early 1700s would ponder what happiness is and like the 20s they seem to have ultimately come to the conclusion that what makes someone happy is what feels good. That what is good is to enjoy life. Have romantic trysts in which you playfully let one man look up your skirt, while being pushed on a swing by another. Dress frilly and bright. Travel, eat, drink, and enjoy beautiful things. </p><p>Because of the decadent and sexualized nature of the Rococo it is often depicted with a naughty, sexual twist. Much as the fairies had often been thought of. There was, after all, a history of men and women dreaming of beautiful fairy lovers. Further, fairy decadence and celebration, like the Rococo had often been depicted with a mischievous edge to it, such as in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0OdSI2ZJ0znlbgUG0PMZZzWFdVOlcCwDccc4NRcs0e5t_sdMRA9n4XwsEvjw57J4CbYKovNe54cfldjZsP1hbXd4Qaw2epPuFKyTERbNeETzHbUZEqR_8ba7akKl9k0qOtXOXgiulSBb3X97HymOajtpdwHO98nEfxY4KDQ44YCJs7a5NllVOj2cO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="564" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0OdSI2ZJ0znlbgUG0PMZZzWFdVOlcCwDccc4NRcs0e5t_sdMRA9n4XwsEvjw57J4CbYKovNe54cfldjZsP1hbXd4Qaw2epPuFKyTERbNeETzHbUZEqR_8ba7akKl9k0qOtXOXgiulSBb3X97HymOajtpdwHO98nEfxY4KDQ44YCJs7a5NllVOj2cO" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicAvF0PzqENXYTUgT3_y9elZ9IRXanfZylSGs8PORfsw_9TkYfbLcxkF9JpoN_9lL8sSLGlODayZ10BWPBZw7jrxT_nH1tbi235BqKDEcZ2GzMPVDCzXPTUgEbjJtCCLFUGB5bbLlVPU9dJyAPRzH3nt6PMEX_OjuHCrpDRd-3OqcS-hBIR7iNd6e4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="564" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicAvF0PzqENXYTUgT3_y9elZ9IRXanfZylSGs8PORfsw_9TkYfbLcxkF9JpoN_9lL8sSLGlODayZ10BWPBZw7jrxT_nH1tbi235BqKDEcZ2GzMPVDCzXPTUgEbjJtCCLFUGB5bbLlVPU9dJyAPRzH3nt6PMEX_OjuHCrpDRd-3OqcS-hBIR7iNd6e4" width="157" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ1lGWZPULC2IftXt1bF01KUt31XZ6kGo9FOmnExupNh6LbnhX9ZGh8e09kRkrm6phInHaN6-SXWh2fY2XexyLeF6SXmKciIc0p974c0Cd1i0tNZb1pq3XDqrCef_IyE6W1Yt9Uv6tSrDfec1mx3T5Q3FJqS0TSmPXeO-QVZNjJcQpzJCRyhWiGmPQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="563" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ1lGWZPULC2IftXt1bF01KUt31XZ6kGo9FOmnExupNh6LbnhX9ZGh8e09kRkrm6phInHaN6-SXWh2fY2XexyLeF6SXmKciIc0p974c0Cd1i0tNZb1pq3XDqrCef_IyE6W1Yt9Uv6tSrDfec1mx3T5Q3FJqS0TSmPXeO-QVZNjJcQpzJCRyhWiGmPQ" width="159" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO2CEQH-lvXTeEPnWihwgj9E4yh0G6-eh0Mfe7ZOBgpmTmQwIFgFzPDiz3BUvj0Lf-9XApIerPKIkOMm8jDxgkXA__dIpA54KcE2q4sFHjUw7I7Gxd5-vaY2fuzZnxU2gdWh5DvBMHqaTshHokSmM5qAJ3D1akvZh6boSbZ7Ai3CdUd8O_myQE-gH9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="564" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO2CEQH-lvXTeEPnWihwgj9E4yh0G6-eh0Mfe7ZOBgpmTmQwIFgFzPDiz3BUvj0Lf-9XApIerPKIkOMm8jDxgkXA__dIpA54KcE2q4sFHjUw7I7Gxd5-vaY2fuzZnxU2gdWh5DvBMHqaTshHokSmM5qAJ3D1akvZh6boSbZ7Ai3CdUd8O_myQE-gH9" width="169" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /></div></div><p></p><div><br /></div>
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Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-77739706288909069042022-12-06T21:18:00.003-08:002023-03-13T17:11:40.155-07:00Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - Cute Sweaters<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p8.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p10.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Christmas Sweaters. Love and Cuteness. The Voice of the Voiceless. </p><p>by Ty Hulse</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCZrIRFCMikEduL_Lu5Xk5fFa5sKfdwpCbPtRAdKjq_zwEUhoWhhu5mHfwnUxMdQy3dtA1YLR5S6YHAuCAZko5OsAhxFxGzCF5o2alIj7ifZ3U5GMeqjAUc41LrhvNCHnBIhfnFM7LSt482KuzAuSYy31TYoHeH9N-MeQQX0ZSXMrrMho46ux_Sl5T" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCZrIRFCMikEduL_Lu5Xk5fFa5sKfdwpCbPtRAdKjq_zwEUhoWhhu5mHfwnUxMdQy3dtA1YLR5S6YHAuCAZko5OsAhxFxGzCF5o2alIj7ifZ3U5GMeqjAUc41LrhvNCHnBIhfnFM7LSt482KuzAuSYy31TYoHeH9N-MeQQX0ZSXMrrMho46ux_Sl5T" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>When many people wish to express love or affection, they turn to something cute such as teddy bears given as gifts on Valentine’s Day. Another example are Christmas sweaters historically knitted by an aunt or Grandmother. The first Christmas sweaters weren’t ironic or ugly, they were artistic expressions by people who had spent much of their life with a limited ability to express themselves. Handmade cute sweaters reflect a desire to care for others. They are knitted by loving hands, often as a present. In this they reflect both the desire to love and to be loved and on some deep level we realize this, this is why people wear them when the maker comes to visit, because they are demonstrating this affection or at least comforting the creator with a forced display of affection. </p><p>Rather than trying to understand the aesthetic or emotions behind these works of art, however, society derided the creators, regulating them to kitsch to later be used as the butt of jokes. It is common for people to deride and belittle cute art without ever trying to fully understand its function in people’s life. This is the danger of creating cute art, that it will be not only misunderstood but wrongfully derided. </p><p>It is rather amusing to read art Critics who support an industry of artists selling art for thousands or even millions of dollars, deriding the happiness that a teenager or elderly person can get from giving five dollars for something to place on their shelf or hang on their wall. Kisch, in essence, means that many people with little money are able to take joy in it – while ‘high art’ means something that only a single wealthy person owns and few well ever enjoy. I imagine the wealthy art collectors take joy in their million dollar painting, while kicked back in a leather chair while sipping on cognac that costs more than an average person’s yearly wages. I don’t have a problem with this, joy is joy, after all. Still, why would we ever seek to take that opportunity away from the teen sitting on their bed, with a cookie they shouldn’t be eating there, staring silently at the affordable art around their room as they contemplate their life and future? Or the elderly person, rested in a mechanical chair, pondering the world that they’ve been a part of while absently staring at the knickknacks they’ve chosen to represent themselves.</p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-10343932350318734572022-12-06T20:56:00.001-08:002023-03-13T17:11:43.756-07:00Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - Index<p> </p><p><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p1.html"><b>Intro</b></a></p><p><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p2.html"><b style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Romantic Desires: </b><b style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">The Philosophy of Fairy </b></a>-p2</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p3.html"><b>Geeks, Wild People, and Fairies - p3</b></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p4.html"> Heroism and Fantasy - p4</a></b></p><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p5.html"><b> Playful and Whimsical Art and Stories - p5</b></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/art-of-djer-kiss-pleasure-frivolity-and.html">Djer Kiss - Fairy Illustration and Advertising</a></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p6.html"> Dragons: The Need for Altruism and Heroism</a> - p6</b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p7.html"><b> Heroic Fantasy and Strength</b></a> - p7</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p8.html"><b>Cuteness, Love, and Protectiveness - p8</b></a></p></div><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p10.html"><b> Horror: The Sublime Through a Dark and Uncertain World - p10</b></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p11.html"> Awe and Transcendence in Fantasy - p11</a></b></p><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p12.html"><b> Politics and Philosophy - p12</b></a></p></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p13.html"> Greed, Heroism and Longing for Connectedness - p13</a></b></p></div><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p14.html"> Villains, Antagonists and Foils - p14</a></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p16.html">Psychology and Media - p16</a></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p17.html"><b> Why Do People Rewatch and Reread Stories? - p17</b></a></p><p style="background-color: white;"><span face="Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p18.html"><b>Understanding Fairytales and Fairy Mythology - p18</b></a></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white;"><span face="Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p19.html">Our Fairy Neighbors - p19</a></b></span></span></p></div><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lora, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p20.html"> Common Fairy Traits - p20</a></b></p></div><div><br /></div>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-2155941782365579222022-12-06T20:31:00.017-08:002023-03-13T17:11:56.177-07:00Understanding Fairy Mythology -Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p18<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p17.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p19.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Understanding Fairytales and Fairy Mythology</p><p> by Ty Hulse</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirJ5VVHEKqaKqGFGwoImEyEbiRRElqKGqaS_nLohKl7MpJbmCVyEZfTTq1ywWEOhOibqq8MBkW9hNcxJeTsr4aiDmb2L76vgNlqijBUiY9tOTXPnkgu3OMBq3JZ2Ok3i_3fi024cU_HDXwkdwT_TlDbzlDW-egdHpZawoMXo0svrTwa9OFkxxr70Qh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirJ5VVHEKqaKqGFGwoImEyEbiRRElqKGqaS_nLohKl7MpJbmCVyEZfTTq1ywWEOhOibqq8MBkW9hNcxJeTsr4aiDmb2L76vgNlqijBUiY9tOTXPnkgu3OMBq3JZ2Ok3i_3fi024cU_HDXwkdwT_TlDbzlDW-egdHpZawoMXo0svrTwa9OFkxxr70Qh" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The sun is setting and you are so hungry its difficult to think, despite the inedible leaves you stuffed yourself with in hopes of staving off the pains of starvations. That’s when there’s a knock at the door. On answering you discover a tiny man with a goose’s foot, a fairy! Your first reaction is to slam the door in the fairy’s face, for you have heard stories about fairies eating people’s brains, known people who died when ‘scared to death by the fairies’, or have been carried off to work for the fairies forever. But you hesitate, you are starving and you have also heard of fairies making people wealthy beyond belief and granting people food and success. </p><p>What to do when someone encountered a fairy was once a serious question that people pondered frequently. </p><p>Because of this fairytales are frequently stories of people’s encounters with the otherworld and their moral often is how to react when one encounters a supernatural entity or finds themselves in a strange and enchanted land. </p><p>Emma Wilby states that; </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Most people today would consider themselves to have little or no knowledge about early modern familiars. In reality, however, the basic dynamics of the relationship between a cunning woman or witch, and her spirit ally, is easily recognizable to all of us, being encapsulated in narrative themes running through traditional folk tales and myths from throughout the world. Classics such as Rumpelstiltskin, Puss-in-Boots, the Frog Prince and so on, are representative. In these tales the protagonist usually finds themselves alone and in some kind of trouble, when a supernatural being appears suddenly before them and offers to help in some way. These fairy stories and myths originate from the same reservoir of folk belief as the descriptions of familiar-encounters given by cunning folk and witches in early modern Britain.</p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKZc9qjFwnFjsa5WT5nuMN60UK3YhArjtnnh5gfIkdgaWI44k-dCom8nx10gvwL66t6u_xhruqoR8jefjJfiFdyiu-V_LUrB5hHPAiosVfMFZd1qJRsqyQygdUCMORI4D2vg98-8UeRmpYRGAXHBNmmKWcIZDI8MD-HiL-WoTYMfxxz5oBrktiTtZ1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="862" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKZc9qjFwnFjsa5WT5nuMN60UK3YhArjtnnh5gfIkdgaWI44k-dCom8nx10gvwL66t6u_xhruqoR8jefjJfiFdyiu-V_LUrB5hHPAiosVfMFZd1qJRsqyQygdUCMORI4D2vg98-8UeRmpYRGAXHBNmmKWcIZDI8MD-HiL-WoTYMfxxz5oBrktiTtZ1" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Fairytales are frequently “closely tied to rituals, customs, and beliefs of tribes, communities, and trades. They fostered a sense of belonging and hope that miracles involving some kind of magical transformation were possible to bring about a better world. They instructed, amused, warned, initiated, and enlightened.” (Zipes)</p><p>Many fairytales have these magical encounters between animal spirits or fairies and humans, and so could potentially provide us with some of the general rules for surviving and thriving because of such an encounter. That said a large part of the challenge of understanding fairytales is that a single fairy tale might be made up of motifs from multiple eras and lands, not all of which the teller even understands.</p><p>Motifs, like used bricks, can be recycled into new tales of different types. Fairy tales are veritable catalogs of ancient beliefs and practices, some – like the acceptance of fairies or the belief in magic healing wells- that were active well into the twentieth century. Other motifs – like gaining control over a supernatural being by discovering and pronouncing his name (as in ‘Rumpelstiltskin’) or foreseeing the future through the magic gift of understanding the language of birds – died out long ago as generally accepted beliefs but live on in fairy tales. (Ashliman)</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Many of these ancient motifs come from religions and mythologies of other places and times, that were forgotten or never known in the place where the story was being told. Because of this people have long had to search for their own meaning to many of the strange events in fairytales. The Anthropologist Tehrani and folklorest Desilva used a number of techniques borrowed from biology to show that many fairytales are likely more than 5000 years old, and have their origin North of the Black Sea, rather than the parts of Europe where they were collected in the 19th and 20th century. If this is true it would mean that many of the Motifs in the stories collected by Grimm come from a place thousands of miles from Germany, and five thousands or more years before the stories were collected. </p><p> </p><p>This is part of what makes fairytales so exciting and freeing for the fantasy writer, because they allow writers and artists to use their imagination. So, while it can be interesting and inspiring to dig into older interpretations and meanings of a fairytale it can also be fun to come up with as many odd ideas about it as you can. Take “Ella Enchanted” or “Shrek”. In each of these the fairy godmother is a sort of species which comes to grant a gift to every child born, or they are a celebrity peddling in wishes and ‘Hollywoodesque’ dreams. In the original fairytale the ‘Fairy Godmother’ was likely a fairy who had been friends with Cinderella’s mother and so had stood as her Godmother, just as humans and fairies often acted as godparents for each other. This ‘original’ understanding of the motif, however, doesn’t fit with the plots and themes of “Ella Enchanted” or “Shrek” who choose instead to come to their own understanding. This is one of the big advantages of fairytales, their motifs can be interpreted many ways to fit new story ideas and social changes. Still, it can be worth it to try to understand and find inspiration in the original motifs. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0pJfyC--VfleIvqJytTpwvuTnmtqBpROT9LKoeJAoO3d06bXQwTIaDE5tVVxVzLPgz4jaU7wS9-zcCy9Pva00jLdoGNxnEbbppv9bWrgO-18R_FBSU1hhbHtDGdwoMa9iRN3eyCuouEPf9NluI3D9sHJbg16Q_-2d-ad9xKl2zF42LsXdCIhMO26n" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="604" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0pJfyC--VfleIvqJytTpwvuTnmtqBpROT9LKoeJAoO3d06bXQwTIaDE5tVVxVzLPgz4jaU7wS9-zcCy9Pva00jLdoGNxnEbbppv9bWrgO-18R_FBSU1hhbHtDGdwoMa9iRN3eyCuouEPf9NluI3D9sHJbg16Q_-2d-ad9xKl2zF42LsXdCIhMO26n" width="178" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p><p> </p><p> </p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-49957213310548601402022-12-06T20:31:00.016-08:002023-03-13T17:12:20.699-07:00Why people rewatch films - Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p17<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p16.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p18.html">Next</a></p><p> Why Do People Rewatch and Reread Stories?</p><p>by Ty Hulse</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiW6Vw67UwDxNFPEOA8yJBktrv4qmXKGNnvTDZJBAJqcCaElhCa_Ow5m50wVhTyoRQ4J4j5tbE0chmjqnKqP2RITyy3oVtv1Y4P48y3NJPHQPQgJ3KPGMB0IotyLE0jTpDTf6KxsZlpvNgNB7BcLsjYYJNeaW-qL2w8RiU5UhF57hRiFBrw3zDuzSC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiW6Vw67UwDxNFPEOA8yJBktrv4qmXKGNnvTDZJBAJqcCaElhCa_Ow5m50wVhTyoRQ4J4j5tbE0chmjqnKqP2RITyy3oVtv1Y4P48y3NJPHQPQgJ3KPGMB0IotyLE0jTpDTf6KxsZlpvNgNB7BcLsjYYJNeaW-qL2w8RiU5UhF57hRiFBrw3zDuzSC" width="300" /></a></div><p>A Valuable question for any entertainer to ask is; “why do people seek to reexperience a story by rereading or rewatching it, or by watching its sequels?” People don’t simply seek entertainment for its own sake, rather they seek to experience specific emotions during specific moods. (Vorderer, Klimmt, and Ritterfield, 2004.)</p><p>The seeking of these emotions is more than just a desire to feel something, it is a way of balancing one’s psychology, which is the risk one takes when making a sequel. Since people watch a film or read a book to feel something specific, it is likely that they engage with sequels to feel the same thing they did when they participated in the original. Because of this a sequel that doesn’t instill the correct emotions will be rejected, as it will have failed to help people deal with the stress, depression, sorrow, boredom, etc., that people needed to deal with, and so will leave the viewer’s needs unsatisfied and possibly cause them to be more stressed and depressed than before they watched it. </p><p> </p><p>While we have discussed the three primary psychological gratifications [hedonic, transcendent, and eudaimonic] that people will seek out, Mood Management Theory indicates that people seeking emotional experiences will usually prefer an intermediate amount of emotions, rather than to feel extreme emotions. That is, as Zillmann’s (1988) research found, people will seek to avoid states of boredom and high arousal or stress. Thus, people who experience stress will often watch something calming, such as light comedies or travel shows. This is where rewatching films such as Princess Bride or even Star Wars can be useful, as the films familiarity can allow people to relax while still alleviating boredom through emotional arousal. </p><p>What this means is that the most rewatched films, stories, and even video games tend to be the ones that aren’t overly emotionally stimulating. The same appears to be true about mental stimulation. It is likely that people want worlds that are compelling enough to get us to wonder and consider them, but not so complex that we have to struggle to understand them. This has certainly been found to be the case with the philosophies a movie espouses as well. Movies that explore broader philosophies, which leave people with room to discuss and ponder what the story and world are saying, but aren’t overly complex or ‘preachy’ are more likely to be successful. Specifically, Oliver, Hartmann, and Exploring found that the best philosophies for movies to explore are often ‘that life is a fleeting gift that we should enjoy rather than squander it’, ‘that there is virtue in our inner beauty,’ ‘that human endurance can prevail,’ ‘and we should have faith in our own convictions.’ </p><p>None of these philosophies leave much room for disagreement, in large part because they are so open ended that while they might be emotionally meaningful, they aren’t complex or specific to any one ideology in the most common American cultures.</p><p>Take, for example, what a person being interviewed about why they rewatched Forrest Gump stated: “The overall theme is that you don’t have to be smart, rich, or famous to have an important life. If you have a good heart and live to do good for others, you can find reward in everything you do.”</p><p>The first psychological lesson—from Mood Adjustment is that you don’t need to create a high-minded drama, as these likely have no more value than a comedy or light action movie. Lucas Nielsen, in his journal article Marvel Films as Effective Cinema Therapy, states that “These episodic films and the content of superheroes provide a form of therapeutic benefit in coping with trauma and establishing trauma narrative.” In other words, the repeated positive emotions associated with strength and triumph of good over evil can help in therapy, so it would make sense that these things can help people in general. This same thing is true of video games. Those who are feeling stressed prefer easier, low demand video games, while those who are bored prefer to play higher demand video games. </p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>According to the statistical company FiveThirtyEight the most rewatched movies include;</p><p> </p><p>1<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Star Wars<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>2<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Wizard of Oz<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>3<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Sound of Music<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>58</p><p>4<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Lord of the Rings (series)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>5<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gone With the Wind<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>6<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Godfather<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>6<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Princess Bride<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>8<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Shawshank Redemption<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>9<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Harry Potter (series)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>10<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s A Wonderful Life<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>11<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Forrest Gump<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>11<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Grease<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>13<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Dirty Dancing</p><p>14<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pulp Fiction<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>14<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Titanic<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>16<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Lion King</p><p>16<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pretty Woman</p><p>18<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Casablanca<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>19<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Matrix<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>19<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Notebook</p><p>21<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Star Trek<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>21<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Finding Nemo</p><p>23<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Goodfellas<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>24<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pride & Prejudice</p><p>25<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Caddyshack<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>25<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Avengers<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p> As one should expect these movies would provide people with a goodly mix of emotional gratifications.</p><p> More than personal gratifications, however, Patricia, Et al. found in their research on the most rewatched films in Portugal that the most sought after gratification was the social aspect, or as they put it, “because it inspires me to talk about the movie with others.”</p><p>This is an interesting finding, although not entirely surprising, that the films people enjoy the most aren’t happy or sad, they are the films that people can easily talk about. This is a second reason that fantasy and sci-fi films have an advantage. The worlds of these films and the world they create invite people to speculate on, to ponder, and question. </p><p> When it comes to the three most popular fantasy books for youth of the last couple of decades; Harry Potter’, ‘The Twilight Saga’ and “The Hunger Games’, Garmon, Glover, and Vozzola found that young people reread and rewatched these stories primarily because they satisfied entertainment and sensation-based gratifications. According to this idea people are most likely to want to engage with something which makes them happy, whether that is music, film, or games. Such entertainment allows people to forget their responsibilities and worries for a time. Nearly as important, in the sensation dimension, people prefer films and stories that include intense and powerful stimuli. Such films are often fast paced, and filled with action scenes, quick pace funny moments, or any moment which provides a level of vicarious excitement to the viewer.</p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-46640670635773478182022-12-06T20:31:00.015-08:002023-03-13T17:13:57.621-07:00Psychology and Media - Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p16<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p15.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p17.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Psychology and Media</p><p> by Ty Hulse</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4gf9zlxenWVgPkxDkZnZR17DfPQmDk6WiH5-qklDry1SFLGSoDwlxI93yFyEjbi2BxYnJKd2-pywKq1xdBufzpiXmTCemznhll43vm5DBMCO7qkNQxzBK_8HdefneVb_JDnpJ4Rr2bfH1BKYQFbBuo-1Vv8rW02qlHvO1NxNPMz_yFWqxN82JZzSz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4gf9zlxenWVgPkxDkZnZR17DfPQmDk6WiH5-qklDry1SFLGSoDwlxI93yFyEjbi2BxYnJKd2-pywKq1xdBufzpiXmTCemznhll43vm5DBMCO7qkNQxzBK_8HdefneVb_JDnpJ4Rr2bfH1BKYQFbBuo-1Vv8rW02qlHvO1NxNPMz_yFWqxN82JZzSz" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>Above all else, art is about emotions, for the emotions in tales can provide real psychological benefit. Indeed, it can be argued that people seek out entertainment primarily to fulfill psychological needs, as well as to feel emotional pleasure. (Raney Et Al.) Studies have repeatedly found that people use entertainment as a way of regulating and intervening in their emotional states (Eden, Johnson, and Hartmann, 2018) and that doing so can have not only psychological and social benefits, but also benefits to productivity as well. Reinecke and Trepte (2008) found that “those suffering from low arousal [boredom] performed worse on cognitive tasks” than those who alleviated this boredom by playing videogames for a few minutes. Reinecke et al.’s later studies (2011) found that video games were generally very effective at satisfying our needs for mastery and control, where as other activities were better suited to calming down. </p><p> Just a few other findings include the fact that;</p><p> “viewing cute images improved performance on tasks that required carefulness” (Nittono Et Al). Chen, Hu, and Plucker found that positive moods can help with certain types of creativity, while Miller and Benoit found that horror could help with others. Christensen and Scrivner point out that horror has been used by some as a way to deal with anxiety and that some individuals with PTSD have used horror to aid in their emotional recovery. </p><p> It should be obvious then that telling and hearing stories can have huge emotional and psychological benefits, in ways that sometimes don’t make obvious sense and have little or nothing to do with the morals, themes, text or subtext of a story. A fairytale or fantasy story may not have a subtextual or overt moral that we can find, rather its purpose could be entirely emotional.” (A Worldbuilder’s Guide to Understanding Fairies and Fairytales)</p><p> The value of emotions in art and stories is why psychologists can use fantasy tales in therapy. According to Nielson (2007);</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> the emotional release, possible due to a clear narrative, is mentally healthy but also connects to better physical health, as a result. The narrative is critical to releasing these emotions in an effective manner where one’s role in their trauma can be understood and therefore promote personal growth in oneself</p></blockquote><p>Many of the stories mentioned for helping people in therapy include fairytales or fantasy stories. For example, Doctor Wolz states that therapists have used Lord of the Rings to help patients because “One of the themes that attracted my attention in the Lord of the Rings is that of personal evolution. Each one of the members of The Fellowship is simultaneously a participant in two quests: one which revolves around the destruction of the ring, and another which revolves around the confrontation of demons/fears that obstruct that character’s personal growth.”</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Again Nielson points out that: </p><p>The superhero concept is naturally very therapeutic in its storytelling and characters, due to their usual archetypical standards of simplicity in good vs. evil conflicts. This is partially why children have a strong reaction to superheroes in stories, therefore suggesting that they will be effective in cinema therapy.</p><p>Stories in which characters overcome obstacles after struggle and have emotional arcs can all be extremely beneficial and such struggles and arcs are often built into the world. Lawrence and Jewett (2002) have found that there is psychological value in fantasy worlds that aren’t ambiguous, that have clear cut evil empires, so that the good characters can easily defeat the problems of the world. This isn’t to say that there isn’t value in darker and more ambiguous worlds, but it is also worth pointing out that there has been found to be important psychological value in worlds where heroes can have “pure motivations, a redemptive task and extraordinary powers” (Lawrence and Jewett, 2002). </p><p>Given the psychological value of stories one shouldn’t mistake engaging with stories for emotional reasons as a quest for blind happiness. Strizhakova and Kremar (2007) did a study of the types of movies people watched when feeling different emotions and found that;</p><p>In general, those who felt angry and bored chose fewer dramas; those who felt calm chose more comedies, and those who felt energetic chose more action movies but avoided crime dramas and comedies. Those who felt nervous, however, chose more–not fewer–horror movies. In addition, those who felt sad chose more–not fewer–dramas and crime dramas but avoided dramatic comedies. Rather, sad people seemed to gravitate to serious films.</p><p>In other words, people likely choose different stories at different times based on their mood and psychological needs. Thus each type of film and game offers something different to help people in different moods reach a more optimal state. After all, there are many ways which a story can fulfill someone’s psychological needs, but in general they have been broken into three categories: Hedonic, Eudaimonic and Transcendent. Not every one of these gratifications is necessary to making a show entertaining (and most stories likely don’t gratify people in most of the ways possible), but people who have a healthy mix of emotions from each category will tend to have a higher sense of well-being. (Raney Et al.) </p><p> </p><p>Hedonic Motivations involve seeking out pleasure and happiness. These emotions are usually found in fun and exciting stories. </p><p> </p><p>Eudaimonic motivations include seeking out a deeper meaning—feeling a sense of elevation and connectedness with the self and others. </p><p>Eudaimonic entertainment commonly involves stories that address difficult aspects of the human condition, such as life struggles, death and suffering, and portrayals of human virtue such as kindness, helpfulness, love, and connection… Admittedly, eudaimonic films for example rarely generate the top box office revenues. However, they are more likely than hedonic fare to receive critical acclaim. (Raney et al.)</p><p> </p><p>Transcendent gratifications come from entertainment that makes people gain outward focused insights as opposed to eudaimonic entertainments which are mostly inward focused. In other words, transcendent entertainment “takes the audience member beyond personal benefits to a greater understanding of their interconnectedness with others or with a higher nature. Increased appreciation for and understanding of shared humanity and values of moral beauty, hope, courage, and humility.” (Raney Et al.)</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hedonic </b></p><p>Every mammal plays games, or put another way, every mammal seeks to learn through fun and pleasure. This is what hedonic well-being is, pleasure, happiness, fun, carefreeness, relaxation, and enjoyment, and along with this a lack of emotional pain and stress. </p><p>Entertainment, which allows people to work through and roleplay emotions in their mind can act as the ultimate sandbox for people to mentally explore experiences and feelings. People seek out entertainment for three types of escape; sociological – that is stresses related to work, social psychological – stresses related to negative social interactions with others and the world, and individual – that is to help improve individual mood and psychology. This use of entertainment to escape and increase well-being is of particular note to fantasy artists, given the value of digital games and fantasy for escaping. “Several studies have found that escapism and being immersed into a fantasy world to be relevant motivations of players. Especially complex games like online role-playing games are often used for escapism-related motivations like immersion/fantasy.” Games and fantasy “provide an optimal environment for pleasurable escape from the restrictions and difficulties of the real world.” )Video Games and Well-being Press Start 2019)</p><p> </p><p>This might explain why the most successful MMORPG is ‘World of Warcraft’, an artistically somewhat cartoonish game with moments of tongue in cheek lore, because the whimsy of the art is able to contribute to the hedonic pleasure people feel when playing this game. In any case, researchers have found that sadness is often best relieved by playing video games. </p><p> </p><p>Of course, pleasure isn’t the only purpose of entertainment, after all horror, vast landscapes, and tragedies are all important works of art that people frequently seek out. Studies have found that films that cause people to feel moved “elicited more reflective thoughts, which in turn predicted individuals’ overall positive experience of the film” (Bartsch, Kalch, and Oliver).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Transcendence </p><p>Transcendent gratifications come from a feeling of spirituality induced by entertainment and art such as is found in the original ‘Star Wars’ films, ‘Avatar, The Last Airbender’, ‘Lord of the Rings’, and more. Transcendent art and media causes people to care and think about others and increases their feelings of a shared humanity, values, spirituality, moral beauty, courage, hope, humility, and feelings of awe and wonder, as well as feelings of connectedness with nature and higher powers. Transcendence can have a positive impact on someone’s sense of well-being, while promoting authentic happiness. At the same time transcendence also causes people to care more about others, increasing their generosity and kindness. </p><p>Psychologists have identified a number of forms of transcendence. Elevation, the feeling we get when we encounter moral beauty. Admiration that comes from witnessing an achievement or skill that inspires and energizes the viewer. Gratitude, that comes from witnessing not only good deeds, but also by witnessing a character who is willing to show gratitude. Thus, an audience is often more likely to feel positive emotions when a protagonist is helped and thankful rather than when they can accomplish everything on their own. Viewing gratitude is important because it increases altruism but also helps people feel greater levels of life satisfaction. </p><p>Perhaps the most important aspect of transcendence for artists is awe. That is being made to feel small and insignificant because of amazement, wonder, the beauty of nature, or fear. Such feelings of awe and wonder can reduce aggressive behavior. Images of nature can help to induce awe, which perhaps helps to explain why scenes of nature were shown to improve psychological well being, increasing "feelings of affection, friendliness, playfulness, and elation."</p><p> </p><p>The stress reducing effects of nature art can help improve patient outcomes in hospitals, among other things. “For example, adult patients in a procedure room reported better pain control when exposed to a nature scene. Murals (as distraction) resulted in a significant decrease in reported pain intensity, pain quality, and anxiety by burn patients. Breast cancer patients reported reduced anxiety, fatigue, and distress during chemotherapy when exposed to VR intervention displaying underwater scenes.”</p><p> </p><p>During quite moments in a game people can feel a similar sense of transcendence as a result of the art and the emotions related to the games scene, as well as its music. </p><p> </p><p>The power of transcendence induced by beauty may very well be the biggest reason that the film “Avatar” had the biggest box office of all time. The use of such beauty to move people is obviously important to artists, just as the use of spiritualism to help people feel transcendence is important to fantasy and related stories. “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, “Star Wars”, “Lord of the Rings”, and many more have all used some form of spirituality to help make us feel a sense of transcendence. </p><p> </p><p>Such transcendence leads to feelings of appreciation which Oliver and Bartsch (2011) found “is most evident for meaningful portrayals that focus on human virtue and that inspire audiences to contemplate questions concerning life’s purpose.” Similarly, Janicke and Rambasubramanian found that “while personally chosen favorite movies can be enjoyable from pleasurable and hedonic aspects, these films also gain appreciation from rich spiritual content”. The belief in the spirituality being depicted isn’t necessarily important to a person’s feelings of transcendence; after all, it is likely that very few people believed in ‘the force’ exactly as it is depicted in ‘Star Wars’ yet the emotions elicited by it, as well as by moral and hopeful behavior with Star Wars films, helped people enjoy the films more. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p><b>Eudemonic Well-Being</b></p><p>Eudaimonic entertainment creates emotions of appreciation, rather than pleasure, such entertainment addresses struggles, death, suffering, and sorrow. More than this, however, Eudaimonic entertainment shows us human virtues such as kindness, love, connection, helpfulness. These are the gratifications that lead more to appreciation of the 'artistic’ merit of a piece of art than enjoyment of it. Such potentially negative emotions are most effective when mixed with positive feelings that lead to feelings of bittersweetness and poignancy. </p><p> </p><p>The psychologist “Ryff distinguished between six different contours of well being: mastery (successfully mastering the challenges of life), autonomy (experiencing self-actualization and inner freedom), personal growth (developing and expanding as a person), self-acceptance (having a positive attitude toward oneself), positive interpersonal relationships (being able to love and build up intimacy), and life purpose (finding a goal and meaning in life).”</p><p> </p><p>People will often turn to entertainment that makes them feel sad, especially when such sorrow provokes deeper thoughts on the meanings and deeper purposes of life. Stories such as the final moments of “Avengers End Game” when Iron Man sacrifices himself and the funeral which follows in the movie leave us feeling both sad and strangely warm. Such experiences in entertainment help us feel more connected to and caring towards others, as well as making us feel more cared for. In a strange way these sad moments can help impart a sense of control on us, helping us feel more free. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>We don’t enjoy these sad moments exactly, rather, we appreciate them. Such appreciation of stories comes from a perception of deeper meanings and of course feelings of being inspired. The stories that help us to feel this appreciation more often tend to show complex moralities and imperfect characters whose own values and morals can be very different from our own. Thus, the reason people can so strongly appreciate and even enjoy antihero narratives. The morally ambiguous antihero or even villain who acts as the protagonist in a show can help audiences experience things they otherwise wouldn’t and can allow them to explore deep and meaningful philosophical questions. </p><p> </p><p>People don’t necessarily identify with the ambiguous morals on display, nor do they come to an agreement with them. Rather, people frequently disengage from morals that are so far from their own. Instead people will tend to engage with the positive aspects of these characters; even if these are their intelligence, their willingness to get things done, etc., rather than moral aspects of their character. </p><p> </p><p>Meaningful entertainment can help motivate people to become better, even increasing their levels of spirituality and hope. Tragic films have even been show to lead to a reduction of anxiety and self-efficacy for as much as four weeks after. </p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-61024526092249701372022-12-06T20:30:00.010-08:002023-03-13T17:13:53.089-07:00Our Fairy Neighbors - Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p19<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p18.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p20.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Our Fairy Neighbors </p><p> by Ty Hulse</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVrowreJpVemXqeOBfSN2ar3Hp7vdD75p86jLMyg5UNZeiRAHdB-lW11Ej88gvWuxC3_da9ZVXpNEi7R8yO_Mf4osqCyxCzrgpoG33XryLO0ssCRDZYIlVs8nC6bW1u70ye90MHfCzjzof9EMCRM-stOW1QPsL5jfwTUdEZXtW9Rs8Yoc1q76LHhC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVrowreJpVemXqeOBfSN2ar3Hp7vdD75p86jLMyg5UNZeiRAHdB-lW11Ej88gvWuxC3_da9ZVXpNEi7R8yO_Mf4osqCyxCzrgpoG33XryLO0ssCRDZYIlVs8nC6bW1u70ye90MHfCzjzof9EMCRM-stOW1QPsL5jfwTUdEZXtW9Rs8Yoc1q76LHhC" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>An English woman clutches her feverish child close as she runs up the side of a hill. Just a few hundred feet from her village is a small cave, home to a fairy known as a hob she hopes will cure her child’s illness, that had been caused by the shot from an elf’s invisible arrow. On the far side of Europe, a teenage girl, who is being chased by a vampire, runs into her bathhouse and calls out “Grandfather Bunnik, come save me.” At which point the bunnik who took care of her mother while she was being born in the bathhouse, and who has taken care of the girl her entire life, jumps out and tackles the vampire. </p><p>Perhaps the most important thing you need to understand about fairies is that they were the magical beings with which we could form emotional connections, for they were our neighbors. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSzLbB4AasC2eEHGNkUrBMs7vjG80mdmYXzm7T2lSqWSHH1HXNWCSfwlNU0MutvVEW6NJth2KhgmGKJrI-D_4Z12Ij5oQd1dHgr6Po105VHQVrPRL48ceSDsE6S-9mroklxTlCuSfpajJLwaGgY-ixOUy4mCDkQgHo5mADV2ATU6StQCsrzi4ElKzd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="578" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSzLbB4AasC2eEHGNkUrBMs7vjG80mdmYXzm7T2lSqWSHH1HXNWCSfwlNU0MutvVEW6NJth2KhgmGKJrI-D_4Z12Ij5oQd1dHgr6Po105VHQVrPRL48ceSDsE6S-9mroklxTlCuSfpajJLwaGgY-ixOUy4mCDkQgHo5mADV2ATU6StQCsrzi4ElKzd" width="165" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In the Odyssey when Odysseus finally made it home, after decades of facing monsters and every challenge the gods could throw at him, he fell to the ground, kissed the earth, and greeted the nymphs; </p><p>Ye Naiad nymphs, daughters of Zeus, never did I think to look on you again, but now be ye greeted in my loving prayers: yea, and gifts as aforetime I will give</p><p>As Larson points out ““With the ‘dear nymphs,’ unlike the Olympian gods, one could feel an intimate bond.” In the odes of Pindar… “an individual nymph is elevated to represent the city itself; she personifies at once the land, its familiar topographical features, and local mythic genealogy.” The nymphs represented people’s homes, they were tutelary deities who could encourage prosperity for the city, herds, and farms. They were the mothers of the heroes of a land, the ones who raised people and even gods to greatness. It is no wonder than that coins were so commonly stamped with their faces. </p><p> </p><p>Although the nymphs were important to the wealthy, and relations with nymphs were evoked by the rulers as justification for their position, it was the poor who most often sought the aid of the nymphs and their servants. Those who could not afford to go to the oracles of Apollo sought out the prophets who worked for the nymphs and would tell people’s fortunes by rolling animal knucklebones in a similar way to how tarot cards might be read now. The nymphs were the goddesses of farming, herding, hunting, and domestic work. Thus, nymphs were in many ways the benefactors of the poor.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyFX_3MjFw1VXYgz21-IN0mtpl0hFJUjzzq5SDdDXq7G892o0nJBgultwqdbeezDCojPJB-k6pQzE43wEIktbjk-rOlIA4JcHQNHqKl9mFg7swFbn57DHW5u0tPyafAYFt75n-RsgiikcilKFuve43Ik6ZlX705QihbJG2notW6E_ZJHmspTdtdZP6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="696" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyFX_3MjFw1VXYgz21-IN0mtpl0hFJUjzzq5SDdDXq7G892o0nJBgultwqdbeezDCojPJB-k6pQzE43wEIktbjk-rOlIA4JcHQNHqKl9mFg7swFbn57DHW5u0tPyafAYFt75n-RsgiikcilKFuve43Ik6ZlX705QihbJG2notW6E_ZJHmspTdtdZP6" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Just as the nymphs were frequently seen as benefactors of the poor in Ancient Greece, in Early Modern England the fairies demanded generosity from those who could afford to give alms to beggars. People presumed the cunning folk and witches were among the poorest people because they imagined that the fairies sought out the most desperate of people and taught them secrets to magic, allowing them to find a better living helping the poor with healing, finding lost cattle, discovering thieves, and telling fortunes. This isn’t to say that the wealthy didn’t seek the aid of these fairy doctors and cunning folk, they very often did, but when they did they contributed to the income of a peasant person the fairies had chosen to aid. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>There has always been, to some extent, a private religion, separate from the larger state religions. This is especially clear when looking at Silvanus, a Roman god of the forests, herds, and farms. In the city of Rome Silvanus had more inscriptions to him than all the deities but Jupiter, yet almost nothing is written about him. "He stood completely outside the public cult. He had no state temple, festival or holy day." The senators and wealthy had little interest in him, “most of Silvanus' devotees were humble fold, including slaves, freedman...” (Dorcey). So while he was one of the most important gods in Rome, very little was recorded about him during the hundreds of years of Roman Worship. </p><p>Fairies were folk religious figures who presided primarily over domestic and agricultural concerns. They were involved in things such as the churning of butter, the cleaning of homes, spinning of thread, and plowing of fields. Perhaps more importantly, however, the fairies acted as spiritual entities of transition. This made the fairies important to survival, but also terrifying figures. Van Gennep states that "Danger lies in transition states, simply because transition is neither one state nor the next, it is undefinable. The person who must pass from one to another is himself in danger and emanates danger to others. The danger is controlled by ritual which precisely separates him from his old status.”</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYmsOPaRib2oMTE8LsWncQ4fJN0l_NxOHe42lb7vN4ZJfQatcM5y6Oa8QmSX7yAcguMFYC-CXEuDSGnTnwrOfAO-XyOTICkHEgROmwOLQ0q6YLn1fwyr36wbfXSTi6-DQHKGyYA2A5WzBe_4NCHnVAYhXG5vHTkEsTshuAEmP32ISZBeq7yY7nG4TL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="530" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYmsOPaRib2oMTE8LsWncQ4fJN0l_NxOHe42lb7vN4ZJfQatcM5y6Oa8QmSX7yAcguMFYC-CXEuDSGnTnwrOfAO-XyOTICkHEgROmwOLQ0q6YLn1fwyr36wbfXSTi6-DQHKGyYA2A5WzBe_4NCHnVAYhXG5vHTkEsTshuAEmP32ISZBeq7yY7nG4TL" width="169" /></a></div><p></p><p>Fairies presided over these liminal rituals and existed during these times of transition. They decided who would survive and who wouldn’t, when crops would succeed or fail, etc. As Purkiss states “A fairy is someone who appears at and governs one of the big crises of mortal life…. She presides over the borders of our lives, the seams between one phase of life and another. She attends christenings and stages funerals, organizes first party-dresses and lays dead kings to rest.”</p><p>This makes fairies ambiguous beings, which are difficult to ever fully understand, and the moment one feels they have a grasp of one concept of their nature it seems to slip away like so much falling water. Or put another way “One can no more commit fairies to paper in concrete specificity than one could take home a waterfall as a souvenir from a hike in the woods” (Buccola). Fairies and humans frequently found each other to be inexplicable, or uncanny, beings. </p><p>People were often well aware that what the fairies did was mysterious, but they often seemed to think that the supernatural beings were befuddled by humans as well. A fairy known as a zwerg in German lore stated that humans couldn’t be trusted, because we are inexplicable, and this was so often why fairies chose to hide from us. In Sami lore Akanidi, the Sun’s daughter “understood all the animals that lived and brought them happiness. Only people were beyond her comprehension: sometimes they rejoiced at her warm gaze, sometimes they scowled behind their tent flaps.” (Riordan) We understand, of course, why a person might enjoy the warmth of the sun one moment and be annoyed by it another, but for Akanidi such behavior was befuddling, and so it is with the fairies, that we and they often struggle to fully understand each other.</p><p> </p><p>Still, there is something of the fairies’ nature which we can grasp, for they cared about humanity. What’s more, humans and fairies feared and needed each other. Thus, as the book ‘Mansi Mythology’ states; "The relations between the people and the guardian spirits had the character of gift exchange. The man satisfied the spirit’s requirements with different sacrifices. A special respect to the spirit was expressed by perfectly following the standards of relations with them… every new sacrifice destroyed the barrier between human and spirit and included the spirit into the sphere of human relations, making him act in accordance with the rules of human society… the spirit became a kind of ‘business partner.’” And in this case when the spirits didn’t fulfil their obligations people could complain about it to the son of the supreme god Mir-Susna-Xum. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixGsgKRuIi8SGcrmDzhaAx4SKKREiOKjXDEbWiHcfTmpuCTbMuaHO0mY0ihENd0fXuOtPP-gbbSr2kbKgZ0JhtUcTrpPwIfnc0hcF1t-iEOkUZrI_trwNj56D1khiqD1san7Y9t4zec0O82I7EV6vlVTa0EI3uUzS0TUYH2P9qHYnYtLVBvM-JvG_y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="944" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixGsgKRuIi8SGcrmDzhaAx4SKKREiOKjXDEbWiHcfTmpuCTbMuaHO0mY0ihENd0fXuOtPP-gbbSr2kbKgZ0JhtUcTrpPwIfnc0hcF1t-iEOkUZrI_trwNj56D1khiqD1san7Y9t4zec0O82I7EV6vlVTa0EI3uUzS0TUYH2P9qHYnYtLVBvM-JvG_y" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>While somewhat different in Western Europe it was still presumed by people in Ireland and England that if they left water and bread out for the fairies, that if they gave them oatmeal in Norway, the fairies would be generous in turn and help them. In Buckow Germany some people were fishing when a nix came out of the water and asked them for cloth to make trousers. One refused and the other gave what was requested. From that day on the man who had given the nix cloth would catch a great many fish, while the one who refused never caught fish again. </p><p>From such ‘business’ relationships we gain a means of understanding the fairies. Perhaps most important to this quest, however, is their connection to us as our neighbors. </p><p>“Berking stresses the importance of reciprocity as the basis for relationships between humans and supranormal entities on several levels: As the organizational principle of social cohesion par excellence, gift exchange cannot simply be equated with the reproduction cycle of the social community. Rather, it encompasses both the living and the dead, the nature that gives everything and to which one owes so much, the supernatural forces and gods to which one sacrifices a little in order to obtain a lot.” (Stark)</p><p>Often humans would seek to enter alliances with the fairies, and fairies with humans. Among the Sami, for example, there was an underground people known as Saiwo, who as with fairies, lived underground in ways that mirrored that of humans, but they were far happier than humans and had a greater understanding of magical runes. Humans, for their part, would seek to enter into alliances with the saiwo, asking them to become their guardians and provide them with luck, and in return the humans would serve the Saiwo, providing them with gifts.</p><p>Yet, despite the fairy’s role in helping humans, they were just as quick to punish those who displeased them. Indeed, for many the emotion most commonly assigned to supernatural agents was anger, wrath against the greedy, the lazy, and disrespectful. </p><p>The Uralic people’s have a number of prayers and rhymes meant to ask supernatural agents for forgiveness, for example; </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>Water, golden king, Waters’ masters, waters’ mistresses, </p><p>Golden tresses, golden brows Forgive me this once, </p><p>If you forgive, then between us there will be great harmony. </p><p> So that you believe there stands my witness</p><p>Waters’ masters, waters’ mistresses, children big, small, and middle-sized, serving-maids, farmhands, priests, sextons, servants of the church, waters’ kings. Waters’ emperors, emperors’ emperors, and the whole of waters’ empire … forgive me… (Stark)</p></blockquote><p>This prayer appeals to the water spirits desire for harmony, while also mentioning a whole community of beings that live and work in the water. For people envisioned the denizens of fairyland as living much as they would, often with similar sorts of farms. Indeed, these fairies might sometimes hire humans to herd their animals for them, in France a young woman who was hired to watch a fairy’s cow, eventually became the fairy children’s ‘human godmother’</p><p> </p><p>One young girl tells how she was sickly and week until she was 15 years old, at which time, her grandmother being a skilled tietäjä [healer/witch/shaman] performed a divination to find out that the girl had somehow angered the forest spirits. As the girl says “Grandmother took hold of my hand and led me to the forest. When we were at a sufficient distance and grandmother was sure that there was no one to see us, the bowing started” (Stark)</p><p> </p><p>The grandmother offered apologies and begged the forest spirits for forgiveness and so the girl was able to heal and get better. </p><p> </p><p>Among the Sammi too, one had to be careful for there were many sacred places in the wilderness where people would pile reindeer antlers and if a child walked too close to these they might become lame, and parts of the animals killed in these places, such as the head, feet, wings, etc., had to be left as offerings to the forest beings. </p><p> </p><p>It is easy to see, given the danger that fairies posed, how people could have become so afraid of them. Further, for every helpful and protective fairy there is likely to be a harmful one. For many fairies were dangerous and cruel, and even the kindest of them could be somewhat devilish. Indo-European’s tended to think of the world as having duality, which it does to a point. There are floods from the river that brings life, disease, and dangers in the peaceful forest. Because of this fairies were often divided into two other groups, those who acted more kindly and those who acted destructive. In Herefordshire people were warned “be very careful not to offend the wicked old fairies, or they would do us dreadful injury. These always accompanied the pretty bright fairies, who were always draped in white, with wands in their hands and flowers in their hair.”</p><p> </p><p>“In old [English] pantomimes, the demons or evil spirits and their followers enter on one side and stand in lines; the good fairy and her followers enter on the opposite side and stand in line; the principal characters advance from the line, and talk defiance to each other”</p><p>It is perhaps because of their inexplicable nature, and their willingness to help those who are down and out that fairies became representative of rebellious movements, the desperate, and outcasts. Indeed, the fairies and the fantasies they stood for have been central to many of the most important artistic movements. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidYmWVkBaMt-G_yZvmNphsupmVK0DdMAPuN96eudGjzvIGEK1jdgmPFhbdJP690Ti4XWTwWbWai7Uog1s7Mj6vxepVsg1a3FgwB1bU9ayx-AULpWw_tg3ZeG2r1BZ5444pcZmEQz_SxC9W6M6Riercb8zz6xOP1aTx_c8VYttnFoqt3H27IvrcbhHp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="634" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidYmWVkBaMt-G_yZvmNphsupmVK0DdMAPuN96eudGjzvIGEK1jdgmPFhbdJP690Ti4XWTwWbWai7Uog1s7Mj6vxepVsg1a3FgwB1bU9ayx-AULpWw_tg3ZeG2r1BZ5444pcZmEQz_SxC9W6M6Riercb8zz6xOP1aTx_c8VYttnFoqt3H27IvrcbhHp" width="173" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-969582961243048512022-12-06T20:29:00.002-08:002023-03-13T17:14:02.152-07:00Politics and philosophy of Fairy Art <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p11.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p13.html">Next</a></p><p>Politics and Philosophy</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGklQ5ndV2HqS3MYUoDdA8ML3xYo-SQGrje7jqDJae0vR8fjlzNAXcFXiTGonqsY14EiYG7TjFzbZZYZiJOCuBria31ly7ScJtBBWb6neF9S09BPc6jLA02_EZ0Lpqj6aB6lXvsWsKQ9zEbNm3mihPQx8AIhXV1X2_y9DoHplSQI_sROCwOCLyQyMb" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGklQ5ndV2HqS3MYUoDdA8ML3xYo-SQGrje7jqDJae0vR8fjlzNAXcFXiTGonqsY14EiYG7TjFzbZZYZiJOCuBria31ly7ScJtBBWb6neF9S09BPc6jLA02_EZ0Lpqj6aB6lXvsWsKQ9zEbNm3mihPQx8AIhXV1X2_y9DoHplSQI_sROCwOCLyQyMb" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Although often seen as simple and cute, Cicely Mary Barker’s series of paintings “Flower Fairies” are more than “beauty for its own sake”. They beckon us to return to a more innocent time, to a purer morality. </p><p>The horror of World War I left people fleeing towards what they hoped would be a brighter future through the parties of the Roaring 20s, jazz, cars, and a changing moral standard. In this flight they found the problems that come with decadence and thoughtless, self-serving behavior; including a rise in crime and many forms of emotional scarring. </p><p>For Cicely M. Barker this must have been a terrifying time. She was, after all, a devout Christian who had donated much of her money to missionaries and had painted post cards of angels for the “Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge”. Thus, when she turned her skills to drawing innocent, cherubic children as fairies she likely hoped to remind people of the purity and wonder of childhood. For her this was likely the path to a better world, a way to counter the hedonism of the 1920s that would eventually lead to the Great Depression.</p><p>Fairies, Fantasy and fairytales are frequently used as a part of moral instruction, and for many that meant tying them to religious themes. Indeed, early fantasy art was often about religious themes. Whether it was a painting of “Saint George” battling a dragon or a unicorn which was symbolic of Christian ideals, Krampus who was invented by Christian plays as a punisher of immorality, and the tales of King Arthur.</p><p>Perrault wrote down fairytales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Cinderella” in hopes of instructing children on proper morals, altering the fairytales to fit with the lessons he wanted to teach. More recently “The Chronicles of Narnia” channeled old Christian plays which used animals as symbols for Christian moralism, with the lion often symbolizing Christ, in order to pass on Christian ideas through a fantasy story. </p><p>In the world of art, however, few were so inspiring as Barker whose paintings of pure and innocent fairies became the standard that many people thought of fairies. Obviously, she didn’t exist in a vacuum and there had been other fairies that approached this level of innocence before her, but none so famous, and few so perfect in their display of purity. And given the enduring success of these fairies, this was clearly what many people needed from their art. </p><p>More than just morality, fairies and their ilk have long been used by leaders to evoke their right to rule or people to show their right to live on or use a land’s resources. In lore fairies and deities frequently justified building dams, canals, and watermills used to calm and harness the waters and would bless those people who had built these. In other cases, people might rescue fairies, aid them in a war, or negotiate some treaty involving offerings and tributes to them in return for the land, which explained why certain people deserved the right to live on that land. Darwin (2015) points out that noble families frequently told stories about how they had a fairy or other magical ancestral spirits. “Noble families stand to benefit from having such stories told about them: by connecting their ancestry to originary events, they legitimize the rule and prestige which they currently hold, and by connecting themselves to a supernatural ancestor, they encourage the idea that they themselves are exceptional or superhuman.”</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWOIwS3bEkupgJUka4b8MNIYBwhMqH_UCsdjDRHpywhDLoynmoYb_eFeKIlsgy4EKNahirEXmsWQ-Wmz5C5D156zpX5ExGn1VfXK-VxvQTIYt3tZdDbGUbEk0cuttMotWkoC2TBIbFSQmeNcAb-guRQd7zME2989FqNFLDXiIggmPb1CiLPTNQx3LU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="616" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWOIwS3bEkupgJUka4b8MNIYBwhMqH_UCsdjDRHpywhDLoynmoYb_eFeKIlsgy4EKNahirEXmsWQ-Wmz5C5D156zpX5ExGn1VfXK-VxvQTIYt3tZdDbGUbEk0cuttMotWkoC2TBIbFSQmeNcAb-guRQd7zME2989FqNFLDXiIggmPb1CiLPTNQx3LU" width="285" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Folk tales frequently alluded to fairies’ involvement in human politics. From rulers of fairy and humanity visiting each other, to fairies aiding humans in their wars with each other, or fairies aiding rebels in attempting to overthrow their king and choosing which family should have the right to rule. </p><p> </p><p>For many during the 19th century the primary divide between belief or disbelief in fairies was more philosophical and political than anything else. Those who wanted to or did believe in fairies were associated with a desire for romantic beauty and conservative cultural ideals. Those who chose to ridicule the belief in fairies were associated with ideas of liberalism and industrialism. It might very well be that belief in the fairies or unbelief in them had more to do with politics and philosophy than actual belief. </p><p> </p><p>The three eras of attitude towards fairy belief through the Georgian, Regency, and Victorian eras, reflect political and philosophical ideas. These include traditional beliefs before the 1820s, attempts to force skepticism from 1820-1860, and the rise of romantic belief in the 1860s through the 1920s and beyond. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFClWi-zDbJYqbGD3nw1It6kwbcuqRQ3Oa2gww3EzlsTCv_4f8vevwQSFBKfEGPx1Quf4iA0SZ22payLzpx2EhQ46IqtgV6Iiau9yormQ-tjE2COIhSmLELgEpMopr-DFnW925pTV0Z1NAtf3hcsWYIMHDto_wNyyT6ZD5hAlpNQxsb3AHHJL0jG-2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="634" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFClWi-zDbJYqbGD3nw1It6kwbcuqRQ3Oa2gww3EzlsTCv_4f8vevwQSFBKfEGPx1Quf4iA0SZ22payLzpx2EhQ46IqtgV6Iiau9yormQ-tjE2COIhSmLELgEpMopr-DFnW925pTV0Z1NAtf3hcsWYIMHDto_wNyyT6ZD5hAlpNQxsb3AHHJL0jG-2" width="173" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">During this second era, according to Waters “Liberal, Whig, and Radical journalists were particularly enthusiastic disparagers [of magic and fairies], no doubt because witchcraft belief in particular could be used to embarrass their Tory and Anglican opponents.” What’s more newspapers and other periodicals could make themselves appear as founts of knowledge and sobriety by attacking belief in magic. Again, Waters states that;</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">An alternative to this reading of the attack on "popular superstition" would be to interpret as a self-serving campaign designed to legitimize the social hierarch. Victorian elites, it has been argued, justified their privileged positions by stigmatizing and slandering their social inferiors with accusations of superstition.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>These sorts of attacks weren’t limited to England during the Victorian Era, however. We see similar fears manifest in Japanese History, when the Imperial Court and Shogunate tried to rein in many of the beliefs of dangerous peasants by outlawing their belief system and forcing the Shinto temples to all align their beliefs with that of the ruling classes desires. To be clear, the leaders likely believed, at least to a point, in localized kami and similar beings, however they also realized that if local people venerated them over the kami that were related to the Imperial family, it could challenge the status quo.</p><p>All the way back in ancient Rome there were mass executions out of fear of people who believed the wrong thing and performed illegal ceremonies. So just as the Victorian era had “a mountain of anxiety about the masses and their potential for delusive disorder..." so too had many people’s in previous times and places. </p><p>During this time too fairies and fairy stories came to be used to evoke nationalism and to represent the true people of a nation by revolutionaries. The Grimm Brothers weren’t collecting fairytales merely for curiosity, they were doing so to help engender national pride so that Germany could unify into a single nation. The Irish philosophers and poets used fairies as inspiration in Ireland’s struggle for freedom from British rule, the Scottish used fairies to evoke their own unique nature, as did the English. </p><p>Romanticism, with its focus on tradition, was heavily involved in nationalistic movements of the 18th and 19th centuries and their interest in the fairies reflected this. Obviously, as already stated, there had been some precedent for fairy involvement in politics and culture, as well as symbols of a region. The Greek city states would print the faces of their local nymphs and the people of ancient Greece often prayed to the nymphs first. These fairies, after all, were the representatives of the morality of their culture and their homeland itself. </p><p> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-39378763239275049432022-12-06T20:28:00.014-08:002023-04-20T17:58:49.202-07:00Common Fairy Traits <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p19.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> </p><p>By Ty Hulse</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/unhVeG6vh6A" width="320" youtube-src-id="unhVeG6vh6A"></iframe></div><p></p><p>Many of the writers of fairies within plays and poems believed that fairies were something they could encounter, that the experiences of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” were similar to one that they might have, for fairyland was just a misplaced step away. Indeed, “Early Modern theatergoers considered it possible to interact with an otherworldly, fairy realm even as the characters that they watched on stage were supposed to do” (Buccola). People believe that Puck, or perhaps at times multiple puck creatures, would cause mischief in the home, help keep things tidy, and even listen to women telling stories around the fire. He was, after all, a domesticated fairy of the home and morality, and a wanton and wild fairy. More importantly like many fairies he was humanity’s neighbor and took a deep interest in what we did. </p><p> The writers of early fairy plays and poems had likely been raised on stories of fairies, listening to gossip about encounters with them, as readily as we might hear gossip about someone who knew someone who saw a cougar or something similar. </p><p> These fairies would at once hide from humans but also seek human acknowledgement. In Italy, for example, there was a fairy that lived in an apartment with a human who refused to believe in fairies. Frustrated by this state of affairs the fairy caused trouble for the human who continued to refuse to believe in them until at last the fairy had to go and beg the human to acknowledge his existence. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDe9EnCf8jNXE23IW6SLpYF8W5E6c7ZF9cr76H0tZ6laFCVd7bX8Kc7KaTxysItl-lBEgUNWk8719b7OIZgfldtj7Upzs0WxfLwuQjfMegWS3w5KUq59lSJ7KtTKJY0WhWEDhOLtt8PTfTWoXxsXsU2u7Wkad7zVGejwVWeJEJEqCBMZ7-IDIX259i" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="604" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDe9EnCf8jNXE23IW6SLpYF8W5E6c7ZF9cr76H0tZ6laFCVd7bX8Kc7KaTxysItl-lBEgUNWk8719b7OIZgfldtj7Upzs0WxfLwuQjfMegWS3w5KUq59lSJ7KtTKJY0WhWEDhOLtt8PTfTWoXxsXsU2u7Wkad7zVGejwVWeJEJEqCBMZ7-IDIX259i" width="175" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The Complex Character of the Fairies in Fairytales</p><p>When most people today read or hear a fairytale they might not even recognize that the beings within it are fairies, or know the many dozens of other stories and bits of lore surrounding the fairy within it. For fairytales are filled with momentary encounters with supernatural beings that are far more complex than the story lets on. Consider the story of the Wichtelmänner, or “Elves and the Shoemaker” as it is translated into English. The Wichtelmänner in this story feel sorry for a poor shoemaker around Christmas and help him by making shoes for him at night, until the shoemaker, feeling sorry for the naked fairies, leaves them some clothes. The Wichtelmänner grow excited by these clothes, put them on, and run off never to return. </p><p> </p><p>Because there are a lot of additional stories and encounters with Wichtelmanner, there is more to them than this quick story can show. For one thing, they had an affinity for horses, whom they enjoyed riding about and braiding the hair of. For another, while some were wild, dwelling in caves many had come to live in human homes, and so wouldn’t have left the house at night. Further, while they were often kindly, helping people who were lost in the woods or healing the sick they could also be vindictive and dangerous, leading people astray and causing illness. </p><p> </p><p>All the fairies in fairytales have lairs of complexity that one can only learn by reviewing multiple fairytales and folk traditions about people’s encounters with the magical beings. Even then, how a fairy acted depended in part on their mood. </p><p> </p><p>In an Italian tale an old widow and her child are starving, when one night she discovers some rodent like fairies known as buffardello stealing some of the only food she has left. Upset she scolds the buffardello who realizing what they’ve done, feel guilty. Later the woman discovers that the buffardello have brought her some bread to make up for their theft (this bread was likely also stolen), and in addition they bless the plants in her garden to grow extremely well. </p><p> </p><p>The buffardello in this story, like many fairies, are clearly wild creatures who are sympathetic to the plight of humans, but still live and think very much like rats or squirrels might, and don’t fully comprehend the morality of the people who have moved into their territory. These buffardello are freer beings than many other fairies, for when they are given clothes they are often offended by the thought, just as a cat often is when someone tries to dress them up. </p><p> </p><p>Even fairies and fairytales which we think of as being well known have layers of complexity to them, thanks to numerous stories that aren’t as well known. In one fairytale reminiscent of “The Three Little Pigs” a pixy in a shoddy wooden home is gobbled up by a fox when it comes to call. The clever pixy, who lives in a house of stone, uses multiple tricks and spells to outwit the fox who continues to try to hunt him every time he has to leave his home to get turnips or go to a fair. This pixy, this magical being is made relatable by their nearly humanlike activities and the character of a somewhat amusing trifle. Yet there is clearly far more to pixies than this simple story would indicate. Indeed, most people know of pixies as mischievous creatures. The book ‘English Forest’ goes on to write that pixies;</p><p> </p><p>delight in plaguing dairy-maids, — upsetting their milk-pails, souring the cream, hindering the butter " from coming," and diverting themselves with a thousand practical jokes. The farmers, too, complain of their pranks ; for when the whim seizes them, these mannikins mount the ponies or colts left in the fields all night, and pulling hairs from their tails, twist them into stirrups for their tiny feet, or knot the mane, and sitting astride on the neck, ride away over moor and fell, faster and faster, until the poor beast sinks down from sheer exhaustion…</p><p> </p><p>The pixies lead people astray and cause all manner of other mischief. Yet there is also even more to the pixies character than this. For pixies have a folk religious bent to them, such that they taught good witches their healing craft and people would behave morally so that the pixies would reward and look kindly on them. In another fairy story from the same region as that of the pixy and the fox a farmer heard from his threshing barn “voices raised in a merry chatter. Guessing it was the pixies, he had not dared to peep into the barn… Accordingly they allowed the busy little threshers to do as they pleased within the building, and only approached it when the sounds of labour had ceased. What was their delight on entering to find a large quantity of corn threshed, and the straw placed on one side in neat bundles. The farmer being desirous of rewarding the elfin laborers, sent his man for some bread and cheese, which was placed in the barn as an offering to them”</p><p> </p><p>We are further told that “The Fairies no longer inhabit Somerset, for they were defeated in a pitched battle with the Pixies, and everywhere west of the River Parrett is now Pixyland.” The fairy fair that was once in Somerset is now a pixy fair. Earlier “the fairies tried to conquer part of Devonshire, but the pixies defeated them, injuring the fairy king Oberon’s leg so badly not even magic could cure it.”</p><p> </p><p>This is why the fairies live as refugees in the forests in Southwest England, while the pixies live in the open moorlands. However, there is an even darker side to this, for the pixies, powerful in magic as they are, shrink every time they cast a spell and will eventually grow so small that they vanish all together. This in turn gives their character a touch of nihilism. </p><p> </p><p>Thus, pixies are more than mischievous, they are often warlike, frequently nihilistic in philosophy, joyous, helpful to farmers, moralizing, and more.</p><p> </p><p>Because there are so many types of fairies, each with their own stories associated with them, it is far easier to think of their most common traits when reading through fairytales to try to glean what the fairy’s motivations are and their actions mean, than it would be to find every fairytale and bit of lore associated with a particular fairy. This is especially true, given that most of the old stories and bits of lore were never recorded. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDMCR4e34i-T45eAzQdEaXBe5WtwYZsQ8sRylrAn2loHQ0b8MFPEBrRsG36q019s7JCHOe6kUWO57sTWADjbKLHy7ey5hj8BR05oD83p_iX8gqvnIwO5ZDi7Q3mdh_E_8TWvE7i2D5ApTWQwnRPLi8B5nKDoYGkCxIYAYkodXhVMu3eAQvu_2dHlg7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="696" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDMCR4e34i-T45eAzQdEaXBe5WtwYZsQ8sRylrAn2loHQ0b8MFPEBrRsG36q019s7JCHOe6kUWO57sTWADjbKLHy7ey5hj8BR05oD83p_iX8gqvnIwO5ZDi7Q3mdh_E_8TWvE7i2D5ApTWQwnRPLi8B5nKDoYGkCxIYAYkodXhVMu3eAQvu_2dHlg7" width="315" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Common Fairy Traits</p><p>The following wheel represents the most common traits exhibited by the fairies of folk religion, lore, and tales. Not every fairy necessarily exhibits all of these traits, still, thinking about the fairies in these terms can help you better understand many of their actions in fairytales. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Depend on and Afraid of Humans</p><p>A fairy man and woman once entrusted the up -bringing of one of their offspring to a man in Netherwitton. He received along with it a box of ointment, with which he was enjoined regularly to rub its eyes, but he was to be careful not to touch his own with it, otherwise he would incur a heavy penalty. Curiosity overcame his scruples, and he anointed one of his eyes with the ointment without experiencing any inconvenience. Having gone to Long Horsley fair, he saw both the man and woman moving about among the fair people, and thinking there could be no harm in it he accosted them. Surprised to be thus recognized, they inquired with what eye he saw them , and he told them , whereupon they blew into his eye and it became blinded . The child was removed before his return home. (Denham)</p><p> </p><p>The above story illustrates how fairies were often integrated closely with human societies. Not only do the fairies in this story entrust a human family to raise their child, but they also attend human fairs in disguise. That said it also indicates that the fairies want to keep their world hidden from mortals and will attack anyone who threatens this secrecy. </p><p>The story also raises another key question, namely ‘why would the fairies want their child raised by humans’? We may not have an exact answer for this specific case as the story doesn’t say, but fairy children were often sickly. Indeed, fairies in general, from their queens to their poppers could become sickly and weak, with only human food and aid acting as a cure. Because of this fairies often left their sickly children with humans to raise, perhaps hoping that the human food and aid would cure the fairy child and make them stronger. </p><p> </p><p>Fairies and other magical beings needing something from humans is a common theme in ancient religions, with a story from central Siberia illustrating the push and pull between early humans and fairy like beings very well. </p><p> </p><p> THE WATERS AND WATER SPIRITS IN VOTIAN FOLK BELIEF* Ergo-Hart Västrik</p><p>In ancient times there was a place in a little valley of our village where cows and sheep used to sink and drown. No spring passed without a cow or a sheep or a horse drowning in this place… </p><p>Old people all gathered together and discussed what to do if this spring eye was going to take a horse or a cow or a sheep every single year. And so they thought that we would promise a ram to the spring. Every spring the village people would buy a ram, when the earth softens. Then the ram’s head is cut off and the whole ram is cast into the spring, saying: “Here’s the whole summer’s food for you!” Then they leave the place. All the village people tramp on molehills. Then they return to the village. The molehills were tramped down for making the hay raking easier and to prevent the growing of sods on the hay field. The village elder gives the collected money and they buy half a bucket of vodka. The whole village drinks and celebrates the wake of a ram. And so every spring a ram was slaughtered and molehills tramped down. </p><p> </p><p>The above story illustrates that humans had a lot to lose when the fairies were unhappy, but also that fairies desired certain things – such as food from humans. In addition fairies often needed humans to make and repair simple objects, to clean, or to act as midwives. Briggs relates the story of a farm laborer who was crossing Wick Moor when he heard someone crying and found a small broken shovel. Being kindly he stopped and fixed it. “he called out, “there ‘tis then – never cry no more,’ and went on his way.” While returning home he found a fresh cake where the shovel had been. He ate this, found it delicious, called out a ‘Good night” to the fairy and prospered after that. </p><p> </p><p>The fairies had many enemies that only we seemed capable of defeating, such as the aforementioned giants and dragons. This is a common idea in Indo-European lore, that divine beings needed humans to help them defeat the giants. The Greek Gods certainly did, for they could not harm the giants that Gaia had created to kill them and free the titans unless a mortal struck these beasts first. Similarly the fairy King of Wales sought out a human king to help him defeat a monster the fairies couldn’t. </p><p> </p><p>Despite the fact that fairies often needed and could get along with humans, people are fickle and dangerous things, quick to go back on our word, to lie, and to turn greedy. In German medieval sagas humans were tasked with helping to protect the zwerg from dragons and giants, but many humans chose instead to rob the zwerg of their treasure or hunt them down like animals. People could catch leprechauns with their bare hands and often did so to force the fairies to give up their treasure. One girl in Dartmoor snatched up a pixie and shoved it in her picnic basket like it was nothing more than a slow moving rabbit. In Brittany France a man snuck up on a fairy and hit it over the head, killing it, out of spite. In Carmarthenshire “a woman once actually caught a fairy on the mountain near Pant Shon Shenkin, and that it remained long in her custody, retaining still the same height and size, but at last made its escape. (Sikes)”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Worse, humans had numerous uncanny powers, we could use symbols such as stars and crosses that drained fairies of their powers, iron and garlic which hurt them and broke their spells, and even our look seems to have rendered them unable to turn invisible for so long as we gazed upon them. It makes sense than that they feared us so greatly that they preferred to remain hidden when they could.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Extreme Emotions</p><p> </p><p>Tink was not all bad; or, rather, she was all bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete change. (Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie</p><p> </p><p>Barrie’s description of fairies as being so completely filled with an emotion that they wholly become that emotion is a commonality in fairy tales. For the fairies seem to feel things far more deeply than mortals and are much more committed to them. Thus when a kind and friendly house fairy becomes offended they might burn down the house of the people they live with and love, as in the Aitvaras of Lithuanian folk lore. Who can turn from a kindly house fairy to a fiery dragon, turning completely on the people they love. At the opposite end of the spectrum the fairies are quick to bless those who show them even the smallest bit of kindness with great wealth and happiness. Consider how often a fairy creature asks for a crust of bread, and when it is given, they bless the giver with the power to have gems fall from their mouth each time they speak, or with an endless supply of thread, or a bowl of food that will never empty. </p><p> </p><p>In fairytales the fairies are almost never slightly annoyed or a little grateful, rather they are violently, even murderously outraged by someone who sings badly or whistles while they are relaxing. By the same token they are exceedingly delighted by beautiful singing, a funny joke, or a kind action. </p><p> </p><p>This is why the way to survive fairyland is through kindness and politeness, for the fairies entire personality can be shifted by saying the right or wrong thing. The young man who calls Baba Yaga ‘Grandmother’ can expect her to prepare him dinner, despite the fact that she is best known for devouring people. When one woman is looking for her husband she encounters the grouchy and angry North Wind. At first, he is angry that she is intruding upon him, but then she cries and tells her story. Instantly the North Wind feels sympathy for her and can do nothing but help her. </p><p> </p><p>This last story leads to one more important aspect of the fairies’ extreme emotions, that they have an overabundance of sympathy. They frequently help poor peasants and others in great need, for no other reason than they seem unable to stand to see others in pain, at least when they aren’t angry. </p><p> </p><p>The fairy’s extreme emotions impacts every other aspect of their nature. It may even explain one reason why they avoid people, after all we are filled with negative feelings and drama which they might wish to avoid. Certainly the Rusalka were said to flee Russia and the Zwerg parts of Germany because they couldn’t stand the increasingly negative emotions associated with the people in those lands. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Joyous/Artistic and Childish</p><p> </p><p>As part of their extreme emotions, the fairies have a propensity to act in ways many might consider childish, which seems to stem from a zest for life. For example, in Bergichen</p><p> </p><p>Late one evening a blacksmith heard some beautiful music which seemed to emerge from the grass behind some stones. Curious he searched for the source of the marry fiddle and horn music until he finally spotted numerous tiny figures dancing on the stones. One of the little men was dancing atop a rock that jutted out of the water. He seemed far more joyful than the rest for he cheered as he threw his silvery hat into the air over and over again, loving the way it looked in the moonlight, before skillfully catching it. Then, all at once this zwerg cried out as he missed the hat and it fell into the water. None of the zwerg could get it back.</p><p>That is when the smith stepped out from behind the bush. “Little man, I saw your hat fall if you want to be patient until morning I’ll retrieve it for you.”</p><p>All the tiny people applauded him and promised to give him a rich reward. </p><p>From that point, for quite a while after the smith found all his work done in the morning. </p><p> </p><p>Sagen und Märden des Bergiſchen Landes HER geſammelt von Dr. Franz Leibing, Ord. Lehrer an der Realſchule I. Ordnung zu Elberfeld . 1868</p><p> </p><p>This childishness can manifest itself in dangerous ways as well, for fairies can frequently throw tantrums. One zwerg, for example, wanted the flower a girl was holding, when she refused to give it to him he bit her. Further, it isn’t atypical for the zwerg to steal and cause mischief simply for amusement. There are stories of them having rivalries with the youth of villages, where in they would engage in prank wars with each other. While the stories of them swapping out the roast goose with a live goose for a wedding are amusing, they do point to a silliness that is common in human encounters with the fairies. </p><p> </p><p>The immaturity of fairies causes many of them to act in a manner that is almost like a child without parental supervision. The Norggen in Germany would tease the livestock, mix </p><p>the peas with the flower, the beans with the barley. When it got dark, he would giggle gleefully as they ran about the houses causing trouble while invisible (Lyncker, 1854). There are numerous other tales, especially from central and southern Europe, about fairies who pull the covers off people's beds, tickle their feet at night, and engage in all sorts of other mischiefs. It is true of course that some of the mischievous fairies may actually be the children of fairies, but it's likely that most of them are fully grown, but are unable to fully mature. Indeed, the stories of fairy mischief are among the most common tales. When the villagers in Germany held festivals and </p><p>carnivals, the dwarfs would amuse themselves by seeking to outsmart them. When some young men held a grand ball, the dwarfs didn't want to let the opportunity pass without some </p><p>prank. So three of the dwarfs snuck into the party and pretended to be humans in order to steal the pig that was going to be used for the feast (Jergerlehner, 1907), making the fairies </p><p>seem like goofy children having a slumber party rivalry.</p><p>(A Writer’s Guide to Spirit Journey’s)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Liminal, Illusionary, Dreamlike, Vanishing</p><p>The fairies exist between states of being, and indeed might very well be the gods of such transitional states. This is likely why they are most often found at cross-roads, the boundaries between lands, bridges, etc. </p><p> </p><p>The fairies exist in the world between gods and humanity, they are semi-divine but also close to the mortal realm. “Fairyland conflates protection and menace, the familiar and the exceedingly odd… Vaguely envisioned as somewhere between celestial heavens and the pit of hell, fairyland could be anywhere and everywhere – the guts of mountains, the middle of country roads, the mossy darkness of a dense forest.” (Buccola)</p><p> </p><p>Fairies such as nymphs, are according to Purkiss, stuck in a particular phase of life and are forever caught between being young girls and women, they have “failed to pass from a transitional phase to a phase of completion”.</p><p> </p><p>Fairies live on the margins of human society, much like those going through transitional rituals. “Not bound by any structure, the liminars are likely to defeat behavioral expectations, and ritual license that provides them with the grounds to do so renders invalid any potential charges that could be levelled against them. Whatever crimes the initiands perpetrate, they cannot be held accountable for breaking laws because they are free from the constraints of structure as such, including moral order. Neither good nor evil but licensed to do both as they please, they embody “the peculiar unity of the liminal: that which is neither this nor that, and yet is both”. </p><p> </p><p>Living outside of morality and between two realities, the fairy world is both seemingly very real but at the same time nothing there is what it seems, what appears to be worthless is treasure and treasure is very often worthless. Many fairies are impoverished beings, yet they can make their poor homes look beautiful through illusions and make their nearly inedible food seem like a delicious feast. Not only is it difficult to tell what is real in fairyland, it is also often difficult to tell if one is awake or asleep when encountering them. Often witches would lay down in deep meditation, appearing to be asleep or even dead, so that their souls could leave their bodies and join the fairies in their halls and on their journeys. Emma Wilby points out that the witches’ experiences with their familiar fairies is perhaps similar to the meditative state which shaman’s fall into to speak with their helping spirits. </p><p> </p><p>The liminality and illusionary nature of fairies is perhaps partially due to the fact that they are always weakening and vanishing. In many beliefs fairies were a former people driven into hiding, while the pixies specifically, were also said to be shrinking as they use magic and will eventually vanish all together. Fairies were often sickly, they had difficulty baring children, and were often thought to be dying off. There is a seemingly eternal sadness about many of the fairies who seem to be on the edge of vanishing. No matter when people wrote about fairies, from the medieval to the modern day, people always thought that the fairies had nearly gone forever, yet they always lingered on, just barely. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Grandparental</p><p>Contrasting their childish nature is the fact that many of the fairies are not only ancient and wise, but grandfatherly / grandmotherly. The nymphs and rusalka of Greece and Russia, for example, are the ancient founders of cities. People believed that they not only taught humans the arts of weaving, of music, of math, science, and more but that these fairies were in fact humanities great, great, great grandmothers or aunts. Banshees in Ireland and Scotland took on a similar role which is likely why they and perhaps the wood wives of Germany would visit new babies to bestow gifts and blessings like a doting grandmother. </p><p> </p><p>Most fairies could and often had lived for thousands of years. There are stories which indicate that the zwerg, for example, were as old as the forests of Germany themselves. As such the fairies could often take a sort of grandparental attitude towards people. When encountering a fairy or ancient magical being, even a dangerous one, people would often gain their aid by calling them Grandmother or Grandfather. People called the house fairies “grandfather’ in Russian lore. </p><p> </p><p>We see this benevolent grandparent like behavior time and again, especially from the fairy queen and spirits like Mother Holda or Perchta of Germany in the Alps. In many cases this is because these fairies are considered to be grandparents. In the lore of most people humans were descended from the tree spirits or some other spirit. Further many families had legends about and ancestor who married a swan maiden, a water woman, or some other fairy. </p><p> </p><p>Even when fairies aren’t related to people they are much, much older. Older people will often dote on young children, even if they have no connection to them and fairies do the same. Take, for example, the following story from Tyrol in the Austrian Alps…</p><p> </p><p> Tale of the Alps</p><p>One icy cold winter’s day a poor mother asked her two children to gather firewood. While they were at the edge of the woods a blizzard swept down from the mountains. Unable to see through the wind whipped snow the two children were soon lost, stumbling through the forest. Finally after many hours they met a friendly little man. He took them to his home, built a fire for them to warm themselves and served them delicious rahmmus* (hot cream based desert). At first the children were afraid of the strange little man, but by and by they came to trust him.</p><p>After eating the Rahmmus and some white bread they said their prayers and the little man gave them a little bed where they slept warm until he sun was high in the sky. </p><p>When morning came they rubbed their eyes and the little man served them breakfast. They said their morning prayers and ate the most wonderful white bread they’d ever eaten. They were so hungry it seemed like they hadn’t eaten in months. </p><p>Once they had eaten the little man gave them some bread for the road, helped them re-gather their bundle of wood. </p><p>On their way home the children were surprised to discover that despite the previous storm the road was clear of snow on their return home. When they got home their mother turned pale with fear for she thought that they were ghosts as they had been gone all winter. It turned out that rather than just sleeping for one night the children had slept the whole winter through in the little man’s hut. Once the children explained what had happened, however, there was great joy in the house, a joy that became greater when they discovered that the bread had no end.</p><p>Story Collected by Joh. Adolf Heyl in Volkssagen, Bräuche und Meinungen aus Tirol </p><p> </p><p>Notes</p><p>Sleeping through the harsh winter was a dream come true. It’s difficult for us to imagine how miserable winter could be. A fire barely warms the corners of a house. With shoes too expensive to ware constantly the children would have to walk around on the icy floor with bare blue feet. They would work with their fingers constantly frozen. Indeed there is another story in which the opportunity to sleep through winter is the gift a poor fairy godfather gives to his godsons family. </p><p> </p><p>This Grandparental attitude is likely why the fairies taught humans so many domestic arts such as cheese making, for they felt a grandparent like sympathy for the poor, cold, hungry humans. Even grouchy fairies will often become kind if people act like young children in need. Baba Yaga is one of the grouchiest and perhaps one of the cruelest fairies yet can become kind-hearted and affectionate when a lost traveler calls her “grandmother.”</p><p> </p><p>Like grandparents (and many children) fairies have a strong sense of traditional morality. We can see this in the original version of “Snow White” the zwerg’s home is immaculately clean and tidy when she arrives. Yet in true fairy fashion the zwerg willingly take care of her, while putting her to work, for the fairies can’t stand idle hands. Perhaps more importantly, they teach Snow White the traditional values that one can presume her wicked Stepmother failed to. In a way then, the zwerg became Snow White’s grandparents, caring for her and teaching her how to survive and proper behavior when her Step-Mother failed to. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ancient, Conservative, Moral, Wise, and Folk Religious figures</p><p> </p><p>“Order rather than morality is part of the fairy code” (Briggs)</p><p> </p><p>Fairies could be thought of as the guardians of a culture, as one of their primary functions was to punish those who broke social mores, people who dressed wrong, cursed, and acted immodestly. </p><p>“Fairies of Stuart Literature were conservative, among the working class they demanded cleanliness and hard work in the house, at cottage industry tasks, and on the farm.” (Swann, 2000). </p><p>One fairy noted that they were older than the forest itself. Most fairies are incomprehensibly ancient, which likely explains why they often act like grandparents. It also helps to explain their often staunchly conservative way of looking at morality. They tended to adhere to and obsess over ancient traditions and ways of looking at the world. </p><p>Along these lines they were frequently used as a means of maintaining the status quo of society such that; "the evocation of "faeryland" by courtly writers was designed to legitimize an hereditary aristocracy." (Swann) This makes sense given their folk religious role, but also given the fact that they were ancient beings. This isn’t to say that the fairies only sided with the nobility, for their hatred of greed often meant that they would punish miserly landlords and cruel rulers. It wasn’t uncommon for rebellious elements in society to evoke fairies in their revolutions and philosophies. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>What are Fairies </p><p>There are a number of things people believed fairies were, although more often than not what they were wasn’t so important as what they did. Most fairies were simply a part of the natural order of things. They were the controllers of fate and or the natural world, and this was primarily what people were interested in. That said, there are five primary origins for fairies; first they are frequently spirits of the dead, second they can be spirits of the land or animals, third they can be gods of the past or which dwell on earth, fourth they can be a past people who went into hiding, and finally they can be their own species of beings. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Deities and Fairies</p><p> </p><p>In fairytales many ancient gods are similar to the fairies themselves and would frequently travel with them. Indeed, it could be argued that many of the stories of fairies were at first stories gods whose original roles were forgotten. Many religions, including folk religions related to the fairies are built on superstition and supernatural beings that are close at hand. Among the Celts:</p><p> </p><p>The gods could be helpers or hinderers: “They frequently entered the world of men and played tricks upon those they chanced upon. They were not invincible.’ In sum, ‘The lives of the pagan Celts – and, to a certain extent, of their Christian successors – were hemmed in and imbued with superstitious feelings and petty ritual observances. (Anne Ross)</p><p> </p><p>Consider Odin, who was captured by a dwarf in one myth, and to get his revenge he aided a human in slaying this dwarf, after the dwarf had turned into a dragon. Odin frequently took on the role of strange old man giving advice to those that had set out to seek their fortune, a role that would later be taken by fairies. Zeus, with his shapeshifting trickster’s nature and his constant praying upon women, or Artemis and her connection to the woods and the danger she posed to hunters could both have had their stories turned into tales of encounters with fairies. </p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t atypical for people to worship these gods in the forests, rocks, and mountains near their home. Thor and Zeus were both said to have been connected to ancient and interesting looking oak trees. The Roman Tacitus, speaking of the Germanic people’s religions stated that</p><p> </p><p>Another kind of reverence is paid to the grove. No person enters it without being bound with a chain, as an acknowledgment of his inferior nature, and the power of the deity residing there. If he accidentally fall, it is not lawful for him to be lifted or to rise up; they roll themselves out along the ground. The whole of their superstition has this import: that from this spot the nation derives its origin; that here is the residence of the Deity, the Governor of all, and that everything else is subject and subordinate to him. These opinions receive additional authority from the power of the Semnones, who inhabit a hundred cantons, and, from the great body they compose, consider themselves as the head of the Suevi.</p><p> </p><p>The Mari-El, the last unconverted pagan society in Europe still frequently worships their gods at trees. They don’t necessarily believe that the gods live in the trees, so much as they visit them. Still, the presence of these gods means that people could encounter them, and likely often did in fairytales. </p><p> </p><p>The scholar Devyatkina lists a number of domestic deities of the Mordvinian people such as; Kardazava, the deity of the Cattleshed who lived under a stone in the middle of people’s yards. People would offer her blood sacrifices after the Epiphany in order to increase and protect their cattle. She was a ‘self-willed’ creature who would attack animals she disliked and plait the manes of horses. Norowawa a harvest deity who dressed in silvery clothes, or Paksyava, the grouse woman for whom people would leave a patch of unreaped grain. Additionally, there was a spirit of the fields. “When the rye is blooming, at midnight, the deity of the field is said to produce sounds. People listened to them very carefully and concluded: if the sounds resembled whistling, it promised a good harvest, if they were weeping it betokened a poor harvest… at this time it was forbidden to make noise…. It was advisable that one should stay at home with the windows closed, because she like silence…” There was also Sera, the deity of grain who was yet another such deity who appeared as a skylark or hare, or someone dressed in gold and silver with a copper hat. She had children with whom she lived much like a human family would. People would offer her the blood and bones of animals in return for a good crop and protection against hailstorms. </p><p>All these deities seem to have lived close at hand, as did the goddesses of the fireplace known as Tolava or the home known as Kudwa. Every home had one of these, as well as her husband Kudatya and their children who lived under the cellar floor. When people moved to a new home, they would brew beer and make bread to share with her and invite her to follow them to the new house, where she might occasionally be seen sitting at the table eating and drinking, while talking to herself. She had an interesting habit of plaiting people’s hair, and it was a bad idea to then unplait it. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ancestral Spirits</p><p>It is likely that most people throughout human existence have believed that their ancestors could watch over them in some form another. Often these ancestral spirits exhibited many of the same traits as the fairies, and in many cases they inspired the stories of fairies that have been shared to this day. Indeed, in many cases the place people went when they died was close to the village. In Sami and Icelandic lore, the hills and rocks were filled with the spirits of the dead. Some spirits even remained within the home they’d built, watching over everyone who lived there afterward. Even ghosts that went to another would when they died would often travel about on certain days of the year such as Christmas and Halloween. In Germanic lore, there was a troop of women who traveled about at night, and people would leave them gifts, and or food. In return, they would bring prosperity and fertility to the households they visited. Very often these were thought to be the spirits of the dead, led by a female deity figure. </p><p> </p><p>According to the 1819 Edinburgh Magazine the Seelie Court of Fairies was primarily made up of; Babies who had cruel parents that the kindly fairies took to fairyland to be raised properly, the spirits of good people who feel in battle, and good people that had died not quite ready to go to heaven. Meanwhile the Unseelie Court was made up of the wicked who had died in battle, wicked people, and children who were cursed by their parents in anger. It was common for people in Britain and throughout Europe to encounter people with the fairies who they knew had died. </p><p> </p><p>Past Peoples </p><p>The Daemons, earthly gods meant to aid people in Greek mythology were said to be an ancient people who predated humanity. After their age was done these Daemons were tasked by Zeus with remaining on earth to help humanity. Among the Siberian Nenet the Sikhirtia or Sirte were the mythical people who inhabited the Arctic tundra before the arrival of the Nenets. When the Nenets arrived, they fought a series of wars with Sirte, and despite the Sirte’s ability to disappear and reappear the sirte were driven underground, typically coming out only at night they have the power to bring joy or misery to humanity. This is reminiscent of the Tuatha de Danann of Irish lore, who the humans also fought a war with and drove underground. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Nature Spirits</p><p> </p><p>Many of the beings we think of as fairies were the spirits of places and natural phenomenon. Often in folklore these spirits owners of the land often lived so much like humans it was often difficult to tell when one had encountered them in their home. As people moved into new lands, they became neighbors to these spirits who often welcomed and cared for humans as they would any other animal, so long as the humans were polite. Indeed, the nymphs famously took humans under their wing in Greek mythology and taught us about morality and civilization, as did the Rusalka of Russia, and other fairies throughout Europe. </p><p> </p><p>"According to the beliefs of Southern Altaic peoples, every mountain, every lake or river has its own spirit owner, which owns the place, and is in command of the animals and birds living there. It could protect people who lived there or crossed the area. Spirit owners were believed to be able to understand human speech, and the myths associated with them say that, like people, they also had children, and one could obtain their goodwill with prayers, supplications and sacrifices" (Alekseev quoted by Hoppal).</p><p> </p><p>"According to Yakut beliefs, the icci is a unique category of being, present in certain specific objects and natural phenomena as a mysterious inner force…. If certain rules are observed, they can be helpful to human beings in various life situations, people can regard them as protectors... For all the icci bloodless sacrifices were made." (Gogolev quoted by Hoppal).</p><p>Natur Worship in Siberian Shamanism</p><p>Mihaly Hoppal</p><p>Folklore 1997</p><p> </p><p>It was important, however, to make certain one got along with these fairies. Thus, in the past when the people of Ireland would build a new home they would leave some food in it overnight before moving in. If the food hadn’t been eaten by the fairies, they would take it as a sign that the fairies didn’t accept their presence in the house and wouldn’t move in. (Wentz) Fairies were the original residents of any and every land, and so humans typically had to get their permission to live on said land or drive them away. </p><p>These fairies were often, although not always, the spirits of the land, of nature. Kvideland and Sehmsdorf point out that “people responded to nature in the way they experienced it, namely as animate and possessing will and thus capable of aiding humans but also doing them harm.” (Rieti). Fairies then could be kind or harmful, almost at seeming random, there were however some that were far more ‘domesticated’ than others. </p><p>Wentz pointed out that; </p><p> </p><p>belief in fairies often anthropomorphically reflects the natural environment as well as the social condition of the people who hold the belief. For example, amid the beautiful low-lying green hills and gentle dells of Connemara (Ireland), the ‘good people’ are just as beautiful, just as gentle, and just as happy as their environment; while amid the dark-rising mountains and in the mysterious cloud-shadowed lakes of the Scotch Highlands there are fiercer kinds of fairies and terrible water-kelpies, and in the Western Hebrides there is the much-dreaded ‘spirit-host’ moving through the air at night.</p><p> </p><p>Fairies as their own people</p><p> </p><p>The fairies of nature and spirit owners of the land could, in many cases, be thought of as stewards of the land, rather than its true owners. A such they still had to share their land with humans, as a lord might with the peasants. In Greek lore the Daemons were often believed to be humans that were created during a golden age of the world, that were assigned to act as local gods and helpers of humanity. The Menkw in Mansi lore are forest spirits that were the first humans created by the supreme god, or the children of Crow in other legends. They lived much as ordinary people would, hunting as humans do, but not the same animals. Although they were tall as trees and able to change their shape, and could only be killed by copper weapons, they were somewhat dim and easily deceived. As with other magical beings they could serve as guardian spirits of people’s and villages, and be put into idles. (Gemuev et al.) The Mis Maxum are another group of forest people with long slender necks and seven fingers on each hand who dwell in remote forest places. Although they are clearly beings of the wild, hunting using sables instead of dogs, and having cabins filled with rich furs, they will change their shape to appear human or turn invisible to shop in human cities. As with many similar magical beings they could grant those they liked with luck in hunting and fishing. (Gemuev et al.)</p><p> </p><p>These are fairies who are in essence another group of people, people who might have greater knowledge of magical things, different abilities, and may be closer to nature, but still other humans. The dwarves that were said to spring from the body of the giant from which the world was made aren’t humans, but they aren’t nature spirits. Rather they are another group of beings that share our world with us. Often such peoples lived very much like humans would. Briggs states that “People entering their brughs, have found the inmates engaged in similar occupations to mankind, the women spinning, weaving, griding meal, baking, cooking, churning, etc., and the men sleeping, dancing, and merrymaking, or sitting round the fire in the middle of the floor.” </p><p> </p><p>Similarly, the Dwarves of Germanic lore were said to have come into being separately from humans, and yet they lived very much like humans did. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Value of the Artist and Storyteller</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>At the heart of every fairytale is a longing, a fear, and a desire to transcend the mundane world. </p><p> </p><p>This desire to transcend the normal world is a powerful one. Powerful enough that the following humble illustration and the poem it was drawn for was able to change the world and so become one of the most important, all be it lesser known pieces of art in history. </p><p> </p><p>This illustration represents the very first time Santa rode a sleigh drawn by reindeer. This piece of art was one of the first in a movement that put the focus of Christmas on children, wonder, magic, and generosity. These images of Christmas tapped into our need for fairytales and fantasy, and in so doing were able to transform multiple cultures and touch countless lives. </p><p>As this work of art shows fairytales can be one of the greatest sources of inspiration, for few stories have transformed the world so much as fairytales and their descendants fantasy stories have. </p><p>As with many of the greatest fantasy stories those that transformed Christmas built upon existing fairy lore. Santa, also called “jolly old elf” in “The Night Before Christmas” draws on older traditions with hundreds of stories of gift giving fairies. In Wales fairies would leave coins in people’s shoes, in other places they would bring luck, in still others they would bring food. </p><p>Many have used the term escape to describe the function of a fantasy story, and while Tolkien has pointed out that escaping the drudgery of the world can be a heroic act, the role of fairy tales and fantasy stories is far greater than that. Fairytales are an emotional and philosophical exploration of our inner selves. Fairy stories are also one of the best ways to help many people achieve psychological and emotional equilibrium, something that is necessary for peak productivity. </p><p> </p><p>According to Weisl and Cunder;</p><p> </p><p>There is a certain refuge in reading a story that takes place in a truly different world, not only in place but in time as well. There is a subtle magic in reading about elven spellcasters who live among the trees… a magic even in reading about knights who must defend their castles against an ogre hoarde.</p><p> </p><p>Part of the appeal of fantasy and fairytales is that their imaginary status provides “an acceptable outlet for the expression of fears and taboos. Helpless children are abandoned in the forest, then threatened by a cannibalistic witch, but they survive.” (Ashliman) Because of this fantasy and fairytales can serve many functions. They can act as a rebellion against society and a conservative way of preserving it through the instruction of the young and a reinforcement of the society’s values for adults. In “Breaking the Magic Spell” Zipes states that “fairy tales have been considered subversive” in that they project better worlds than our own, and show attempts to create more just societies.” Yet at the same time in “Why Fairy Tales Stick” he states that Fairy tales have a tendency to be “politically conservative in theme and structure and reflect the dominant interests of social groups that control cultural forces of production.” Meanwhile, even Tolkien’s novels, especially when put in paperback were seen as ‘countercultural’. Paperback fantasies were ‘new and rebellious’ not the stuff of stuffy professors. “Moreover, Tolkien’s nostalgic medievalism and its focus on rustic simplicity also paralleled the hippy ethos of rejecting technology and returning to nature.” (Helen Young)</p><p> </p><p>It is important to note that despite the fact that most in the modern day would view fairytales and fantasy as something unreal, mythology and folklore weren’t always intended to be untrue stories, rather they were religious and magico-religious tales people believed were based on something true. People left bread, water, butter, and other gifts for the fairies and did their best to avoid offending them. As we’ll explore later, fairytales could be said to be folk-religious stories that explain how to survive in a world people believed was filled with magic. Even these magico-religious tales, however, were an expression of people’s longings and fears, and obviously it is from them that modern fantasy stories sprung. </p><p>Once shamanistic stories were used as a means of helping people understand their culture, morality, the world, and of course to help heal and maintain the psyche. </p><p>The purest present day sources of the kind of shamanic storytelling that once sustained the psyche are epic fantasy and science fiction, they are the myths and legends of our time and in them archetypes and the experience of the collective unconscious are validated and affirmed. This affirmation provides a context for our modern experience, a way of understanding not only the world, but ourselves. Epic fantasy provides a refuge from the modern world, a place to which millions of young minds can escape. But hidden within this escape is the potential for personal redemption, if individuals can be taught how to unlock and decode the symbols of heroism (Haitsma, Thomas)</p><p>Writers and artists are drawn to philosophies and people as a general rule “expect a book to satisfy our moral standards, except when it has won an exception by being labeled fine art, in which case anything goes.” (Martin Green)</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-16950500538937071892022-12-06T20:28:00.010-08:002023-03-13T17:13:42.174-07:00Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p15<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p14.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p16.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Medievalism, Steampunk, and Creating a Dreamworld of the Past</p><p> Ty Hulse</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixh7X16C_bFx1r6KPGpVHgHU0zQ1Zrs4mAV9gig1RuXINDttcs23gVTJvYGoAhydQmubDD_Q-oKGQ67nQacmO6NhiY04oRwDFf-H4BCXJ_rHqyFmb1tTGw6ZtKC9Tz37SXOo9d4SjXKHdEQOZoaLwPegcs9sLCC3G1hY4-f48fif8HWXX82yLDcyiQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixh7X16C_bFx1r6KPGpVHgHU0zQ1Zrs4mAV9gig1RuXINDttcs23gVTJvYGoAhydQmubDD_Q-oKGQ67nQacmO6NhiY04oRwDFf-H4BCXJ_rHqyFmb1tTGw6ZtKC9Tz37SXOo9d4SjXKHdEQOZoaLwPegcs9sLCC3G1hY4-f48fif8HWXX82yLDcyiQ" width="300" /></a></p><p>Fairytales have succeeded by using aspects of real-world societies to describe the fairies and people of the other worlds so that their audiences could understand their motivation. The fairy court had nobility and peasantry that mirrored that of past and present human societies, a person in the otherworld might encounter a magical being herding cattle, a nix goes to church as any normal human would. As game creator D’Amato puts it “most of our favorite worlds were inspired by the work of other authors, mythology, real world culture, or history.” For fantasy the most common inspiration is that of the imagined medieval.</p><p>Fantasy, even Urban Fantasy, is often “deeply rooted in medievalism, in both aesthetic and origin. As Selling has noted, “out of all the imaginary landscapes one could place a fantasy in, a consistent choice of setting is one resembling a simplified version of the Western European Middle Ages […] where the characters wear medieval dress, fight with swords, and live in hierarchical vaguely feudal, semi-pastoral societies with low levels of technology.” (Cook)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicMRBTRNu0dopAXx4UUGsneNZ13wRyWaYmwoXMjR93h2TvB29fW1jFX-fon1qicgAd28rhl5sE2CVwqUPJCeQVJrvwJmsWU8sgSJ_9dH4NB9P9JlgzvoxBiq65Z2hbT9EPic5khiSkqooPh5_rYPx8cljzDzhYpzytuyFiuq46sX613ESD3KIwDtop" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="692" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicMRBTRNu0dopAXx4UUGsneNZ13wRyWaYmwoXMjR93h2TvB29fW1jFX-fon1qicgAd28rhl5sE2CVwqUPJCeQVJrvwJmsWU8sgSJ_9dH4NB9P9JlgzvoxBiq65Z2hbT9EPic5khiSkqooPh5_rYPx8cljzDzhYpzytuyFiuq46sX613ESD3KIwDtop" width="294" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Given the importance of the past to successful depictions of fantasy it’s worth discussing then how the real world, especially the medieval world has been used in fantasy stories and art. Just as importantly is the question of why the past, and especially the Medieval era is so commonly used as inspiration for fantasy stories.</p><p>The reason for medievalism in fantasy is one that will likely be familiar given the uses of fairies by artists and writers. America’s fascination with the Middle Ages occurred after one of the worst pandemics in modern history and during one of the most severe economic depressions, as well as a number of industrial and cultural upheavals that occurred in the 1890s. During this time “Americans appropriated Europe’s medieval past, as they longed for an agrarian and rural land now tainted by the railroad and those made rich from it.” (Haines, 2013)</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Because of the time when Medievalism became popular, “the ideologies and views of the Middle Ages often stem more from Victorian medievalism than from the Middle Ages… in which the Middle Ages is celebrated as a time of gloriously resplendent beauty and simplicity.” During this time the art and especially the music meant to represent the Middle Ages was “the embodiment of the natural, the innocent, and the divine.” (Helen Young)</p><p>As is typical of this pattern, upheaval leads to a longing, thus the reason beauty and fantasy are, after all, frequently born from challenging times. Thus medievalism is useful because, as with earlier Romanticist works of pastoralism and magic, a faux middle ages is fundamentally appealing, producing nostalgia and a deep desire for a more pure world that modern settings struggle to replicate. That said, fantasy artists don’t use actual medieval style in creating their games, because they want their stories to be accessible (Lind 2016). Although I also suspect that artists aren’t completely accurate to history because they want to be free to let their imagination flow, which is a good thing, after all great artists are skilled at helping audiences explore emotions. Even stories set in the modern day often use some elements of Medievalism, such as “Harry Potter” which is about a boy who gets to escape to a castle where he uses quills on parchment. </p><p>When discussing fairytales and fantasy audiences C.S. Lewis posited; </p><p>"Does anyone suppose that he really and prosaically longs for all the dangers and discomforts of a fairy tale? really wants dragons in contemporary England? It is not so, it would be much truer to say that fairy land arouses a longing for he knows not what. It stirs and troubles him with the dim sense of something beyond his reach, and far from dulling or employing the actual world, giving a new dimension of depth."</p><p>I think that part of the power of fantasy stories is that the desires of fantasy are ineffable. Even those who read it with longing can likely only rarely fully explain the desire and need. What fantasy does is express that which cannot ever be fully expressed or understood, often during times of confusion and uncertainty. Robert Olen Butler stated that "we are the yearning creatures of this planet. There are superficial yearnings, and there are truly deep ones always pulsing beneath, but every second we yearn for something. And fiction, inescapably, is the art form of human yearning."</p><p>Yearning for a past, just as Neo-Classicists and Romanticists yearned for ancient Rome and Greece, seems to be built into us. Thus, the reason Steampunk and similar fantasy genres become popular. As with the love of an imperfect fantasy world, this longing for a fictional past doesn’t mean people think the past was ‘better’, rather it is a desire to reimagine what could have been and what could be. For example, the 1960’s musical “Camelot became the hallmark of a new form of Western escapism,” offering images of “the world as it might have been” as well as a fantasy of what it might yet come to be.” Thus, using the Middle Ages as inspiration for this play was in part a way of expressing “aspirations” for a vague but peaceable, idyllic future.” (Young, 2015)</p><p> </p><p>The past further allows us to rebel against current concerns, thus the reason so many rebellious and counter cultures have looked to often fictionalized early times. Rebelling against social conventions and modern problems is a frequent feature of fantasy, such that even “Tolkien’s novel in paperback format was seen as an indicator of its countercultural status. Hardback novels were the prescribed texts of crusty professors, whereas paperbacks were new and rebellious. Moreover, Tolkien’s nostalgic medievalism and its focus on rustic simplicity also paralleled the hippy ethos of rejecting technology and returning to nature.” (Young, 2015)</p><p> </p><p>If we accept the premise that for many fantasy helps give a voice to unexpressed longings and a desire to battle uncertain fears, we should also understand that "While the fictional Middle Ages can play many roles, what is found in music and the fine arts is an attempt at transcendence, an attempt to create an experiance in which art regains a kind of ritual and spiritual function that separates it from works arising in both earlier and later periods." (Young)</p><p> </p><p>Thus, the purpose of drawing on the past for inspiration is emotional, not authentic. As such the creator of fantasy art must choose what will draw the audience into the story, and what will be too unusual or off putting to include. This, of course, depends on the audience. Stories of dark political intrigue like “Game of Thrones” will obviously include much darker elements from the medieval past than stories like the animated children’s show “Gummy Bears”. This can be a fine line to walk as if the art created is;</p><p> </p><p>Too far in the direction of the familiar, and the reader expecting magic and adventure is disappointed. Too far toward the strange, and there’s nothing for a reader to grab hold of, to relate to in the story. The fantasy author, in order to maintain the suspension of disbelief for the reader, has to pay close attention to this balance, as well as make their world engaging and enjoyable from the perspective of the reader. (Casper Miller)</p><p> </p><p>As a result fantasy worlds do not mirror history, they extract ideas and themes, many of which are themes that exist in our minds rather than reality. They then add and alter these themes to be more appealing to modern audiences. This is because the goal of art is to stir emotions, rather than to act as a perfect reflection of reality. This is certainly true of fantasy which uses imagination to at most, shine a light on what the artists believes is real or should be real, and to invite thinking on philosophical ideas. </p><p> </p><p>We can learn a lot about striking the balance between the familiar and the past through the music used for fantasy video games. Such music has often struck this balance by including things like Gregorian chants, fanfares, bards, ballads, and folk musical elements often being use to indicate medievalism. That is, musicians often choose elements from the past that we think would fit medieval ideas to create their music. Thus the composure for the game “Descent Of Erdrick” draws on Bach and Baroque era music to give us the feeling of a medieval world. </p><p> </p><p>“In Dragon Warrior, the effect is striking. Through its historical allusion, Sugiyama’s short work exudes refinement and elegance, simultaneously depicting the grandeur of Lorik’s richly appointed thrown room and imbuing the scene with a pomp and circumstance befitting the dragon-slaying quest the player is undertaking.”</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOnJdDACw8ni_tLUQLu9K7ZY0_qLTMkT5e1Q99l5rMLbqAP7g9T6-5jKiogaPvkh2B2P_hQYvf_4gFuvD7Ste8RHGnqv6sHbEaY3zba0U-W9AkR8_SJJv_FX6dO3UcETvgFMX2XXfWIexX15hkSfjHN_iqxCoZEET60rtugCO4GlL4tRbD5uycoHG2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="934" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOnJdDACw8ni_tLUQLu9K7ZY0_qLTMkT5e1Q99l5rMLbqAP7g9T6-5jKiogaPvkh2B2P_hQYvf_4gFuvD7Ste8RHGnqv6sHbEaY3zba0U-W9AkR8_SJJv_FX6dO3UcETvgFMX2XXfWIexX15hkSfjHN_iqxCoZEET60rtugCO4GlL4tRbD5uycoHG2" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Castles and large buildings were common in early Nintendo fantasy games because they offered players spaces to explore. Part of what resulted from this was that Bach was often used to convey “a sense of seriousness, grandeur, and even pomp onto the events it underscores. (William Gibbons)</p><p> </p><p>Thus, in order to give people a sense of the medieval, these games use musical elements from the Early Modern. This use of the Early Modern era as a stand in for Medievalism is actually fairly typical in general, for we commonly associate things from the Early Modern with the Middle Ages. Mass inquisitions and witch burnings, for example, were less common in the Middle Ages than the Early Modern when the Spanish Inquisition took place and King James the First began the largest witch hunts in British history, and the guide to hunting witches known as the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ (1486) was published and used. Jousting as we think of it, with two knights charging at each other on either side of a wooden fence to keep them in their lanes wasn’t invented until the very end of the Medieval period and was more common during the Early Modern. Further, in the Middle Ages meat was typically boiled, with large chunks of roast meat becoming popular in and later eras. Natural stone castles were usually plastered white in the medieval, or covered with tapestries and art on the inside, such that people rarely ever saw the grey stone we so commonly associate with castles. Thus, most of what we think of as the Middle Ages is based largely on things that happened after them. </p><p><br /></p><p>Wolterink (2017) in the journal Gamevironments states that societies view of the past comes from "a cultural archive, which can be seen as a collective historical consciousness, filled with nostalgia, popular perceptions of the past and cultural memory." Thus, while people in the middle ages were actually afraid of roast meat, due to philosophical ideas from Ancient Greece, we tend to view meat as being roasted, rather than boiled like it was in the middle ages because we remember the 17th century philosophies about cooking which led to the idea of roasting meat as being primitive. That is, we tend to lump aspects of the past and our own ideas of what is primitive together to create a mental database of what entire periods of the past looked like. </p><p> </p><p>Often fantasy worlds will pick specific regions on which to focus in order to help ground the narrative, just as the game ‘Skyrim’ focuses on Medieval Scandinavia. The game uses historical associations such as allusions to the fall of Rome, the Viking Age, Beowulf, etc. One way it does this is through the use of architecture, such as is present in Dragonsreach which has building designs based on Norse stave churches, which well not entirely used in an authentic way, its use helps make the world feel authentic and interesting. </p><p> </p><p>Often, making a game, film, or work of art feel medieval simply requires the placing of a few things people associate with the past, such as banners, torches, market stalls, people wearing smocks, etc. Being too simple or fantastical with such design, however, does run a number of risks. </p><p> </p><p>Skyrim’s predecessor Oblivion, which was deemed as a “too generic” fantasy setting by fans. Skyrim seemed to address this fact by greatly increasing the medieval (and Viking) 'feel' or atmosphere of the entire videogame. Indeed, recognizing our own Middle Ages in the game-world is quite important, according to Hedda Gunneng (2012). It motivates players to continue playing by intensifying their playing experience with historical baggage and weight. As implied by Skyrim’s lead environment design artist Noah Berry (2015), 'details' (authentic imagery) are crucial to reinforce the specific aesthetic direction a videogame wishes to take. They make the world seem grander, feel more alive and become extensions of the world itself. (Wolterink)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The fact that the medieval and fantasy worlds depiction is based on the needs of the artist and audience, rather than pure reality means that what is used to represent it can and has changed. Again in music we see that “There has been a historical move from the representation of the fantasy medieval through rock to its representation through folk In more recent years.” (James Cook)</p><p> </p><p>At one time depictions of medieval worlds used rock, sexualization, scantily clad people (such as Conan the Barbarian), heavy armor, and images of Satanism as well as the iconography of heavy metal and rock as a form of rebellion. At this point fantasy represented the rebellion of the seventies and eighties, as much as anything else. Thus movies like “Highlander” drew heavily on metal aesthetics. Rock too is a frequent theme in “Game of Thrones” in which composure Ramin Djawadi “mixes aspects of postromantic filmic composition, folk, diegetic period style music, and more ambient horror-type music… rock is used in the series. In a way, rock is a constant silent presence throughout many scenes…” yet it isn’t allowed to become a dominant or even a strong presence (James Cook). Instead folk music is used to evoke a rustic feel in many places. The same is true in the game “Age of Conan” where folk music is used to represent the countryside and Renaissance pastiche is used to represent ‘civilized’ and potentially elegant places. </p><p> </p><p>“Central to this understanding, though is a sense of nostalgia, of safety. The medieval is, for us, a space in which such ideas may be navigated without attendant danger and without risk to civilization.” “The medieval can operate as a site of projection for fantasies of wholeness and escape from cultural repression, or as a repository for the violence and dirt that are anathema to, and a source of humor for, modern life.”</p><p>“Viewed through this lens, our genres of folk, heavy metal, and progressive rock can be seen to have very different roles to play. When present as medieval – that is real, authentic medieval music – folk evokes the sense of temporal distance that is necessary for nostalgia. Separated by this clear temporal divide, ‘Game of Thrones’ may safely stand as a “repository for the violence” of the Red Wedding, for instance. Folk is therefore a distancing feature…” (James Cook)</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1ab4kepLAUnic5zKm94uVsS_xs_9Kz2YzYrw7oTB-jlWNfJFGCn02leKPlseI41ysFPPcol1rCQkTWgGboEVl9YrcDl15fnIBzgmoPWfuGRju4OIto9wqOfCnF5HdKpbxKMlNeqLKo5ke3F8lPwhQpCt4H5yS126-d5UB2C4GnK1B3sByGOn0rUf4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="888" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1ab4kepLAUnic5zKm94uVsS_xs_9Kz2YzYrw7oTB-jlWNfJFGCn02leKPlseI41ysFPPcol1rCQkTWgGboEVl9YrcDl15fnIBzgmoPWfuGRju4OIto9wqOfCnF5HdKpbxKMlNeqLKo5ke3F8lPwhQpCt4H5yS126-d5UB2C4GnK1B3sByGOn0rUf4" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-15969192290087004832022-12-06T20:27:00.007-08:002023-03-13T17:13:45.958-07:00Fairy Tales and Fantasy for Artists - p11<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p10.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p12.html">Next</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>Awe and Transcendence in Fantasy</p><p> by Ty Hulse</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrNTKUZUvpklbjRNfjfvU7QYpnEzH_O0Ycwxww_S9RyK_JSohTDWGtjEvuQndV31knOYzV_H9Nk4e2hIQbgRQjzz4heF5NzTwyAYoF-T6lWY_tjUbfnbM9kE9-3IPK-l8roslU9_Bw0nuwfwCF8CxE6zq4o6taQAkY5gWYQDte_HCt6_zJtOwyTO_B" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrNTKUZUvpklbjRNfjfvU7QYpnEzH_O0Ycwxww_S9RyK_JSohTDWGtjEvuQndV31knOYzV_H9Nk4e2hIQbgRQjzz4heF5NzTwyAYoF-T6lWY_tjUbfnbM9kE9-3IPK-l8roslU9_Bw0nuwfwCF8CxE6zq4o6taQAkY5gWYQDte_HCt6_zJtOwyTO_B" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Awe is of particular interest to artists because a large part of this powerful gratification is fulfilled through visuals. Awe can be found in “a beautiful seascape in the final scene of The Shawshank Redemption in which the two friends are finally reunited or grand vistas in video games such as Skyrim presented at the end of dangerous areas.” (Possler and Raney) Awe is also found in images of beautiful people, dangerous and charismatic figures such as Darth Vader or skilled speech givers. Specifically awe is; </p><p>Experienced as being much larger than the self, or the self’s ordinary level of experience of frame of reference” (Keltner and Haidt, 2003) Second, due to their novel and unusual characteristics, awe-inducing stimuli challenge a person’s established understanding and cannot easily be assimilated into existing mental structures. Rather, a person has to update her mental concepts to make sense of the experience, a process often called “accommodation”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikuEPOxTK7X59ggVwYlDFaHzaX5qD8BBX8c3vyO2ZL9tUNCRo9u1dcuddX2orywr3gI3MPuVX3MV8FgiQF1pfUa2vucU-aZHHq1tspO-0XLr_VOyZjnGCemM1QCdbecop857Dd2YqA0N0GuP5VDYcJ6vhy-56ueORXpdUWno99TWWnJGMFKPmDbXmQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="518" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikuEPOxTK7X59ggVwYlDFaHzaX5qD8BBX8c3vyO2ZL9tUNCRo9u1dcuddX2orywr3gI3MPuVX3MV8FgiQF1pfUa2vucU-aZHHq1tspO-0XLr_VOyZjnGCemM1QCdbecop857Dd2YqA0N0GuP5VDYcJ6vhy-56ueORXpdUWno99TWWnJGMFKPmDbXmQ" width="140" /></a></div><p></p><p>Awe comes from things that seem vast, that is things that make a person feel small and force them to transcend their ordinary frame of reference so that they must accommodate new cognitive processes to try to grasp what they are experiencing. This sense of awe can come from fear, aesthetic pleasure (seeing something beautiful and grand), admiration (often of someone’s extraordinary skill), elevation (from witnessing or being a part of virtue), and elements of the uncanny or supernatural. Darth Vader is specifically mentioned as one who can create negative awe, likely because of his raw power and supernatural, and during his first appearance his little understood supernatural powers. This use of misunderstood and supernatural powers, as well as natural beauty, to elicit feelings of awe is an important part of what fairies do as well.</p><p> </p><p>Again, you will recall the sometimes terrifying and sometimes generous, but often awe inspiring and inexplicable nature of fairies. It seems probable that through their stories they could inspire a certain sense of negative and positive awe in people. People tell stories to achieve some gratification, and during hard times stories of dangerous fairies often became popular. Mehmet, Peacock state of transcendent emotions that; </p><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>For people who have lost everything, the struggle may seem like a futile attempt to endlessly push a rock uphill… Paradoxically, the greatest discovery of dialectical psychology is radical acceptance, the idea that to embrace and make the best use of all of one’s pain for a better life is a better alternative to finding healing and flourishing…. </p><p>the worst of times is also the best of times, but we cannot celebrate the best without overcoming and transcending the worst. This sums up the power of self-transcendence, which achieves the dual purpose of transforming suffering into resilience and motivating us to pursue the highest ideals. </p><p>In sum, when probably understood, self-transcendence represents what is good and noble about humanity. It is like a symphony celebrating the heroic efforts of those who sacrifice themselves in order to lift others above their suffering to a higher ground of faith, hope, and love.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Transcendence and awe have been associated with more positive affects that could be easily named. They can induce mood improvement, prosocial actions such as generosity and kindness, as well as aiding people win mental and even physical health. As importantly, such awe is something that gratifies us. This is likely why “The Lion King” and “Avatar” were so successful, the incredibly beautiful vistas and the spiritual elements in each gave people ‘goosebumps’. Because beautiful speeches can induce awe it might very well be that people telling stories of beautiful nature and wonderous magical beings such as fairies could have had a similar effect on people’s psyches. Regardless, however, it is now possible to take advantage of people’s modern reactions to beautiful art and awe inspiring stories. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjv_2uTP43O3TfheKuQWk7G3pAvfUefE5xAVmMZx9XZwpPVJWMpiQuhkhTn0_-xkfQKGMZA--alH1_IFgH2jCaGXQVFJTncfQwg86PLIU4YA368LciwxAJI99do75Vzl6LNzVvlm_5DQ39nC2YDgwVfncgjQNk3nB2gg0ysyFY_iW3n7Gksi0eBvHGU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="870" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjv_2uTP43O3TfheKuQWk7G3pAvfUefE5xAVmMZx9XZwpPVJWMpiQuhkhTn0_-xkfQKGMZA--alH1_IFgH2jCaGXQVFJTncfQwg86PLIU4YA368LciwxAJI99do75Vzl6LNzVvlm_5DQ39nC2YDgwVfncgjQNk3nB2gg0ysyFY_iW3n7Gksi0eBvHGU" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>C.S. Lewis wrote that “Fairy land arouses a longing for he knows not what. It stirs and troubles him with the dim sense of something beyond his reach, and far from dulling or emptying the actual world, it gives it a new depth. As with Fairy stories, video games and similar fantasy stories have the ability to inspire feelings of awe. </p><p>Video games variously reflect not only the beauty of transcendence but also the terrifying intrusion of transcendence. Hayse (2011) argues that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo EAD, 2002) mediates the longing for transcendent beauty in its art, music, narrative, and procedural structure. The game’s brightly tinted palette and cel-shaded animation evokes a Pixar-like quality of wonder, once restricted to the silver screen. The music teases its hearers with a rolling sense of anticipation that rarely resolves into the tonic. The narrative mediates the monomythic Hero’s Journey of separation, initiation, and return (Campbell, 1962). A serialized structure regulates this hope-filled quest at a pace that the player cannot accelerate, insistently pointing toward the revelatory horizon of eucatastrophe but delaying its dawning. Likewise, the procedural structure incrementally reveals layer upon layer of unfolding mystery, tantalizing the player with actions and artifacts that prove sufficient for the present moment while hinting at greater vistas that remain unexplored for the time being. In contrast, games such as Alone in the Dark (Infogrames, 1992), Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Silicon Knights, 2002), and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Bethesda, 2005) taunt the player with the horrifying threat of transcendent intrusion. (Hemenover and Bowman)</p><p> It is interesting to note that the feelings of awe in games are best elicited during the quite moments of the game because the players need to be able to pay attention to the environment around them and to contemplate what is happening (Possler, Musik, Hannover, and Klimmt). Similarly, people who were feeling a lot of stress were more likely to select games that had low levels of demand, as a means of mood repair. These players too tended to gravitate towards games that satisfied their need for autonomy and competence. The addition of these later two factors is likely why researchers have found games to be better sources of mood repair than most other forms of media. (Bowman and Hemenover)</p><p>Not all awe is the same of course, there are six flavors of awe; threat, beauty, ability, virtue, and supernatural. </p><p>Threat-based awe is likely accompanied by fear; stimuli that may elicit threat-based awe include a charismatic leader like Hitler or an extreme weather event like an electrical storm. </p><p>Beauty-based awe is flavored with “aesthetic pleasure” and may be elicited by a person, a natural (e.g., the Grand Canyon), or a work of art (e.g., Monet’s Water Lilies). </p><p>Ability-based awe is thought to co-occur with admiration of a person’s “exceptional ability, talent, and skill.” Examples include seeing an especially talented musician or stellar athlete. </p><p>Virtue-based awe—the awe one feels when in the presence of someone displaying virtue and strength of character—would likely be accompanied by feelings of elevation. An example of virtue-based awe might be reading about the lives of saints. </p><p>Supernatural causality-based awe—as one might experience if they saw an angel, a ghost, or a floating object—will be tinted with an “element of the uncanny,” which can be terrifying or glorious depending on the source. It is important to note that these “flavorings” are theoretical variations of awe experiences rather than experimentally validated categories. (Allen, Summer)</p><p>Experiences of awe cause one to feel smaller, but at the same time cause one to feel a greater connection with the world around them. In a way awe is an altered state of consciousness, as much as it is an emotion. The state of awe fosters empathy and altruism, while also calming a person, allowing them to feel better about themselves and the world. (Long and Cupchik) The value and power of awe may be one reason that video games frequently utilize religious architecture. Certainly “Videogames commonly simulate the process of personal transformation, the process of social and environmental interconnection, and the process of transcendent lure.” (Hayse)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGMUPS5KEj1gePesgBgHOKRcEKYDXburjrxtFPeAnKRrRpx-NpLSJoH3Dlqr2sEMNIZ2ZFEUiXGupfaCm43pAOUyCsihPrZcnA66l41AFLURa5slBJ5_R5DjA8owDtKGXXfAUo1y23NLXTOB3kwO6DMXKVP2R6YTtCV7V2azhzcKv8EqfNTs-IvuaP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="564" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGMUPS5KEj1gePesgBgHOKRcEKYDXburjrxtFPeAnKRrRpx-NpLSJoH3Dlqr2sEMNIZ2ZFEUiXGupfaCm43pAOUyCsihPrZcnA66l41AFLURa5slBJ5_R5DjA8owDtKGXXfAUo1y23NLXTOB3kwO6DMXKVP2R6YTtCV7V2azhzcKv8EqfNTs-IvuaP" width="174" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-63692401144118939222022-12-06T20:26:00.040-08:002023-03-11T09:46:20.665-08:00Heroism in Fantasy and Fairy Tales<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">By Ty Hulse</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh1ttlW_nd_1KD2mIVELo4flsxuQ8HGP559z5-4oOu7jifSuIUKScflo4fDDl0cdNfclR6090IlEUJ47QudofGByon_jH--h8Yz6eiWYnuNX6nfUdYR43sYD3IzD0UTwwKTHkFB6HBTQyvaX1Dd8lI_HrfVyKpuk8-9ES9jcgmTp-IpCXHsj2_6eZh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh1ttlW_nd_1KD2mIVELo4flsxuQ8HGP559z5-4oOu7jifSuIUKScflo4fDDl0cdNfclR6090IlEUJ47QudofGByon_jH--h8Yz6eiWYnuNX6nfUdYR43sYD3IzD0UTwwKTHkFB6HBTQyvaX1Dd8lI_HrfVyKpuk8-9ES9jcgmTp-IpCXHsj2_6eZh" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>It wasn’t just soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy to rid the world of the scourge of Naziism, comic books were there too. Indeed, soldiers in the warzone read more comics with larger-than-life superheroes than anything else. Likely because imagining oneself as a superhero has been shown to have great psychological benefits. Prihatsanti, Ratnaningsih, and Prasetyo found that such imaginings could help new college students increase their level of hopefulness and improve their feelings of self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism. It should be no wonder than that Superhero’s became so popular among soldiers during the worst war of the 20th Century. For “when a hero is needed a hero is born… societies and culture give birth to the mythological heroes they need. “ (Johnson) </p><p>The exact nature of this hero is in part dependent on the age when they come into being. During the Medieval era tales of Arthur became popular as a larger than life hero who could defeat giants so large the largest mountain of Wales became their grave after Arthur slew them. On the other end of the spectrum peasants likely told fairytales about protagonists without superpowers such as those of Jack the Giant Slayer who could defeat giants and become wealthy through cunning, luck, and resilience. </p><p> No matter the era people have longed for heroes, a longing that stems from a desire to feel protected, to protect others, to better self-actualize, and to dream of adventure and a better life. As importantly, heroes can benefit a society, for heroes have a unique power to bring people together, to get them to have conversations, and to fight for themselves and others. Jules Feiffer explains the power of Superman for those who were living in the midst of the Great Depression:</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVuUAM53Dh1W09vdX2YsTjZSSkewIgD16mj8Y5xCzzAWcteKdTn_Py2gAtE8Txd3Y77jeVxsPbboGp6vi57HbxmUz0ugprADUG-bqxg9ay7wClvyIjrLnSsGLPiYK3wlp01Gy9ornTFqkR7NK735i-98vPdQjY4xOTbZbKmIcjh3Xu7f02W5DMlDn-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="702" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVuUAM53Dh1W09vdX2YsTjZSSkewIgD16mj8Y5xCzzAWcteKdTn_Py2gAtE8Txd3Y77jeVxsPbboGp6vi57HbxmUz0ugprADUG-bqxg9ay7wClvyIjrLnSsGLPiYK3wlp01Gy9ornTFqkR7NK735i-98vPdQjY4xOTbZbKmIcjh3Xu7f02W5DMlDn-" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>“Those of us raised in the ghetto neighborhoods were being asked to believe that crime didn’t pay? Tell that to the butcher? Nice guys finished last; landlords first. Villains by their simple appointment to the role were miles ahead. It was not to be believed that any ordinary human could combat them. More was required. Someone with a call. When Superman at last appeared, he brought with him the deep satisfaction of all underground truths: Our reaction was less “How original!” than “But of course!” (Johnson)</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>In the modern Era we are often faced with confusion and loneliness because a rapidly changing culture leaves everyone feeling like outsiders. This is part of what makes traditional fantasy heroes so important, as Roger Kaufman points out that “Psychotherapists who practice in a gay-affirmative” can use fantasy stories such as “Lord of the Rings”, “Star Wars”, and “Aliens” to help their clients self-actualize and deal with what are often deep emotional scars.” Similarly, psychological researchers Lawrence and Jewett have found that psychologists can indeed help many of their clients through the use of Superheroes. For “Although clients do not have superpowers or fatal flaws, identifying with the physical and moral strengths of a superhero can be transformative and aid in overcoming disability and deficiency, whether real or perceived.” He also goes on to point out that people have arch enemies, bullies, abusive parents, emotional struggles, etc. Further, the concealed and dual identity of the superhero sets “the stage for externalization of inner conflicts” helping clients deal with their own conflicting emotions. Heroes help people with their personal struggles involving “equality, esteem, and connection… Superheroes are seemingly tailor-made vehicles for exploring” complex and abstract issues related to morality, development, etc. Further, programs that use Superhero imagery during children’s cancer treatments have “shown promise in bolstering resilience. It does so via special comics, animated videos, and superhero plastic covers for IV bags.” In other words, strategically placed images of superheroes, as well as stories about them can help those struggling through cancer. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil-AHF4NgW3y5Wb5nVufLtvyfgyMSmK4D5CNGcdgGGPLenRAn2KZnUlPVCXqfOEoIDA9870b1nd0GB3LepzgnvXgMW7rT1J_W_yVfTxDZLM9LrBEpEqLBZ95B3L8lCIROq3740h7WfsCUwak8u5erMOGgOwBwtOU1sY033lu0zMxgpZbLYbWCWbYdL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="594" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil-AHF4NgW3y5Wb5nVufLtvyfgyMSmK4D5CNGcdgGGPLenRAn2KZnUlPVCXqfOEoIDA9870b1nd0GB3LepzgnvXgMW7rT1J_W_yVfTxDZLM9LrBEpEqLBZ95B3L8lCIROq3740h7WfsCUwak8u5erMOGgOwBwtOU1sY033lu0zMxgpZbLYbWCWbYdL" width="199" /></a></div><p></p><p>Kaufman quotes Danny Fingeroth in stating that the basic qualities of a superhero are: “strength of character,” a “system of positive values,” “a determination to, no matter what, protect those values,” and the possession of “skills and abilities normal humans do not” have. Further they point out that to be as successful as possible in aiding people psychologically such superheroes should not permanently die. </p><p> </p><p>In general, each of these aspects of a hero’s nature make sense given the psychological need people have to feel inspired by them. Yes, Eudaimonic feelings can come from sad endings and self-sacrifice, still the last point of the hero not dying can be important given that people who have suffered trauma and or need to discover themselves use these heroes as larger than life models, not only through engaging with the heroes’ adventures but by imagining their brighter future. Stripping away that bright future will take away the ability of people seeking affirmation in the face of social and family disapproval or emotional trauma, to feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them. </p><p> </p><p>Lawrence and Jewett state that “The monomythic superhero is distinguished by disguised origins, pure motivations, a redemptive task, and extraordinary powers. He originates outside of the community he is called to save, and in those exceptional instances when he resides therein, the superhero plays the role of idealistic loner.”</p><p>This last point makes heroes extremely important in the modern day when loneliness is one of the greatest enemies we face. This is perhaps why Dungeons and Dragons is increasingly more popular. Tabletop games have the ability to bring people together, giving them a reason to meet, and stave off loneliness. More than this, however, it offers people the opportunity to tell stories of themselves as the heroes. A therapist used D&D to help a patient and found that; “the fantasy play released fears, enhanced ego development, improved the patient’s interactional abilities, and increased the patient’s feelings of comfort with himself.” (Bowman and Lieberoth) So in this era, when traditional heroes are derided and dismantled by many storytellers, open ended games offer people the opportunity to seek out exactly the hero they need.</p><p>Fairytales too offer people the opportunity to imagine themselves as a hero and it is worth noting that “In the wonder tales, those who are naïve and simple are able to succeed because they are untainted and can recognize the wonderous signs” (Zipes, ‘When Dreams Came True’). Being untainted by the larger world, seemingly innocent and even naïve has clearly long been an important part of many of the most beloved heroes. It is as if the purity of those who set out on the hero’s journey can help to purify us, help us to transcend our own corruption and anxieties. </p><p>Heroes, such as the underdogs of fairytales can give people hope, and hope is associated not only with psychological but also physical benefits, which is why hope is so frequently used in wellness interventions. Viewing an underdog succeeding against all odds was shown by Prestin’s (2013) research to increase hope in a relatively durable way. In other words, having a character who seems like they shouldn’t be able to find victory, who must struggle to find it can provide the audience with important psychological benefits. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZcrOjKVtXpWMI11Uw88BFPZWU53jkr6lurm4rtRJ1y_9fRLu5o9_KyuznteNZfr1E1ENh2L9dKVEibQLLNHWupGhUggq02jnuOWdgbVMPj2mndZYzH-7sZoFH4mG-3nA0tlxKhoJ-wlqrJACyAz1vSV2xmohEFcVyDwk1ZbHGJfE-itHy0P1lGwhO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="376" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZcrOjKVtXpWMI11Uw88BFPZWU53jkr6lurm4rtRJ1y_9fRLu5o9_KyuznteNZfr1E1ENh2L9dKVEibQLLNHWupGhUggq02jnuOWdgbVMPj2mndZYzH-7sZoFH4mG-3nA0tlxKhoJ-wlqrJACyAz1vSV2xmohEFcVyDwk1ZbHGJfE-itHy0P1lGwhO" width="168" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>A large part of the power of the hero comes from their ability to transcend the everyday world so that they can bring some form of salvation to others. Frodo was an outsider in the world beyond his home, for almost no one knew where the Shire was, it was as if it were a fairy realm that most struggled to find. Like many other heroes his greatness came from caring about people and a willingness to persevere/resist temptation that would cause most to fall. Greatness comes from caring about and being a part of the world but also from transcending its rules, limitations, and the selfishness of people. </p><p> </p><p>Overall, the concept of heroism is a complicated one, for cultural heroes have always been deeply flawed beings in mythology and history. However, for a long time these flaws were embraced as a part of who the heroes were. The Yupik god and creator of the world, Raven was also a thief and liar who would often end up suffering due to his own mischievousness and dishonesty. Even historical heroes were frequently flawed in some way, and indeed, they were often celebrated because of these flaws. Genghis Khan is the hero of Mongolia, yet he like Alexander the Great and Chief Seattle was, in essence, a warlord who raided and destroyed many enemies. What’s important to understand is that the heroes who have been admired were larger than life people who could help their culture, rather than perfect people. No hero has perfected the world, otherwise we would exist within a perfect world. Rather they have helped some people to survive and strive towards better lives. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhzKpVl5nqAWqVWSb-sT6f-N7kiTfzhO1C5IJbJPF4HrqfvmVNqPA-S2Jvx09ijl02YpNqfMGabw4pCGk1t4duCLbUBnBsTmRv7ciZY0kO0H4Hpv7S4t8R2dl56Nl48LFBVjNoxdKbixHlT3DUZ0wOGNcWVNgoR3PiCoBR4XJpIFrLHD2Sx3yiaVHC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="382" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhzKpVl5nqAWqVWSb-sT6f-N7kiTfzhO1C5IJbJPF4HrqfvmVNqPA-S2Jvx09ijl02YpNqfMGabw4pCGk1t4duCLbUBnBsTmRv7ciZY0kO0H4Hpv7S4t8R2dl56Nl48LFBVjNoxdKbixHlT3DUZ0wOGNcWVNgoR3PiCoBR4XJpIFrLHD2Sx3yiaVHC" width="173" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4506693061066226676.post-71629092216445135152022-12-06T20:26:00.033-08:002023-03-13T17:13:37.181-07:00Playful and Whimsical Art and Stories: Fantasy for Artists - p5<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p4.html"> Previous</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists.html">Index</a> <a href="http://fairies.zeluna.net/2022/12/fairy-tales-and-fantasy-for-artists-p6.html">Next</a></p><p> </p><p>Playful and Whimsical Art and Stories</p><p>By Ty Hulse</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6iU9dzJmABt5UB68sEa4GTks7JJmIKnF-PquiWOslk5iYIMg7D6oNhO0ir0ndfeH9waP23n8CGgpgaTqTivza9H71ItrzaCnccEcsWtJOzTUIpv13VlYeA34dCAXb0Rd8CxeBFWDA8tk8ao_2yDOoLJ2sT_UAcUldnZAvFvm4SF-5jFXPqWgtHtpz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6iU9dzJmABt5UB68sEa4GTks7JJmIKnF-PquiWOslk5iYIMg7D6oNhO0ir0ndfeH9waP23n8CGgpgaTqTivza9H71ItrzaCnccEcsWtJOzTUIpv13VlYeA34dCAXb0Rd8CxeBFWDA8tk8ao_2yDOoLJ2sT_UAcUldnZAvFvm4SF-5jFXPqWgtHtpz" width="300" /></a></div><br />Playfulness and whimsical stories matter, because while people during wealthier times tend to think of fun as ‘trivial’, it has been whimsy and imagination verging on the edge of nonsensical that has gotten people through the worst of times. Clark points out that “As animation grew in popularity, Americans struggled under the weight of the Great Depression that followed the 1929 stock market crash. This economic crisis did not stop the Disney brothers from producing animated films… The Great Depression thus brought great hardship that inspired the need for laughter.” (Jordan Virginia Clark). <p></p><p>It is important to note how important cartoons like “The Looney Tunes”, Mickey, and “Silly Symphonies” became during the darkest days of the modern era (The Great Depression and WWII). Three years after the start of the Great Depression Disney released the fairytale animation “Three Little Pigs”, the film was such a hit that the Daily News called it “the most talked about picture ever made.” “One could rarely escape hearing the tune (from “Three Little Pigs”) over the radio or whistled down the street. The song was a cultural phenomenon that served as a New Deal anthem, while social commentators and critics increasingly saw the film as a fable for the Depression that somehow ameliorated anxiety” (Wagner).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhonoG5OFp8m_iVsCIniN-oqOGBB9yz24Vt7CeU9bOKZK8zPyxwigIKfDBWvnsHLTAy6mk3fge3whoxEtSH6xO6L403u0OZVu5ylnFDwbQ4ZOIXO1h3TTvY2D7Mg8iU66-Zt9A92UKaU4lErFGqHIauFlgyYh23j6eyosisg85QsfNXeWUYhopTlYBi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhonoG5OFp8m_iVsCIniN-oqOGBB9yz24Vt7CeU9bOKZK8zPyxwigIKfDBWvnsHLTAy6mk3fge3whoxEtSH6xO6L403u0OZVu5ylnFDwbQ4ZOIXO1h3TTvY2D7Mg8iU66-Zt9A92UKaU4lErFGqHIauFlgyYh23j6eyosisg85QsfNXeWUYhopTlYBi" width="305" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Animation, through the vivacious personification of ideals and the unification of its poignant lyrics with narrative, came to portray not only the upheaval of traditional American values but the ways in which these values were overturned and replaced. The fairytale world of Mickey Mouse and his friends masks a sensitive realism and portrayal of Depression America</p><p>Animation was able to portray the day to day angst of those wanting relief from their present situation, mostly through an obsession with becoming rich, hence alleviating the stresses of every day hardship. (Mollet)</p><p>Mood Management Theory holds that people will attempt to balance their emotions, often through the use of media such as cartoons, so it’s no coincidence that ‘The Golden Age of Animation’ happened during the Depression, at a time when cartoons were almost entirely tied to whimsy and wacky hijinks. People suffering from stress will often watch something ‘calming’ because psychologically they need to relax and reset their minds, the way someone who has just undergone an intense work out will relax, stretch, and sip water. This explains not only the value of simple cartoons, but also why movies like “Princess Bride” get watched over and over again, for it can be both moderately exciting while also relaxing. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/tyhulse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHc45ssO-JtcnBGgmKW4LgRhvLxL4mqZmJiG5-kcmezKo0FGcKwRG-Bd5HACUYjufd3dMy_rg998QdCcXJUZoqZrCGuIwls-a9QdlrUTsu05_DIhavWqxEmsOGlh9iYg-9iJlVwlWLz5H37ONIFAoUSUhAjd_vMPZ7ltuIn2Gw2-gv1Z7Xj12ECBuk/s16000/books%20on%20fairylore.jpg" /></a></p><p>Fairy tales were similar, as they are often rooted in people’s need for humor during trying times. Peasants of the past told stories of many silly tricksters who would bluff giants in ridiculous ways or con their way into wealth. Even magical spells meant to cure the sick and punish those who cast the evil eye could include fart jokes as demonstrated by the Eastern European charm;</p><p>"A mouse walks along a shelf, carries a squash on his rear, the mouse gives a fart, the squash bursts apart. Let those eyes burst apart, whether they're blue, whether they're dark, whatever kind they are, they put the Evil Eye on, whether from a man, whether from a woman, let them be blasted to pieces.” (Condrad)</p><p>Even serious magic and the gods could become fodder for humor, as could the fairies which often acted exuberant to the point of childishness. For example, in the Shetlands a trow woman came to watch a human dance, she watched “‘till she could contain herself no longer, and suddenly skipped into the middle of the room, but her appearance was so frightsome that no man sought the honour of being her partner. Then she whirled about and screeched, so that everybody heard – </p><p>Hey quo Kutty, an “hoe” quo’ Kutty,</p><p>Noo whau’ll come reel wi me, quo Kutty?</p><p>Sad sicht be seen up der crupeans I –</p><p>I’ll henk it awa mesel, quo’ Kutty.</p><p>Kutty henked (danced like a bird, springing about) to the amusement of many, until finally, exhausted she vanished, leaving behind the memory of her.”</p><p>This story of a fairy who grows so exuberant they can’t contain themselves, illustrates an important fairy trait. Fairies have such a zest for life they often seem to be childish. A zwerg in Germany, for example, got so excited by a human celebration that he accidently fell into the river while dancing wildly, and had to be rescued by some farmers. Another fairy in Scotland threw summersaults while running, likely for no particular reason but the joy it gave them.</p><p> </p><p>Such childish displays of fairies in stories likely come in part from the fact that fairy stories were often meant to be humorous. Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is perhaps the most famous example of fairies being used in comedy. The function of the fairies in this story is to make us laugh, whether they are the King or Queen of the fairies or the famed trickster Puck. Within the story, the fairy king Oberon “agrees to withhold future remedy for the sake of present laughter and so the show may go on. The lovers again become "the players" at this fairy king's court, the unconscious performers for others' amusement. Shakespeare has provided royal license to enjoy, to laugh at the farce of these lovers' confusions and misunderstandings.” (Comtois)</p><p> </p><p>The story has a moral and philosophical function in this comedy, of course. As Comtois continues to explain: “Fickleness is presented not as a characteristic of personality but as a characteristic of adolescence. In this play they neither cause their own ills nor effect their own cure, but instead they dance to a tune they believe that they have heard the piper Love play. The implication is that however comic the action may be, it is also an inevitable stage in adolescent development, a necessary ritual action youth must perform.” </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVYfWRwWOTVi3On5VwtqrWycFfWdmRQoR7tltgnNR-PQHgZ75sv_MeWzprdf2ITHuNmN2KjfOhZr-JK5Zyp-3oUNgcgX3PkONJsn7ufk3EXQxyavt-mt1kvzg4B99BllzDb4s6RxA0EZ9JU4hwI9-nbTYgONwp5G4eBRXaaZgTMfH1bvFV2b8cAgPs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="702" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVYfWRwWOTVi3On5VwtqrWycFfWdmRQoR7tltgnNR-PQHgZ75sv_MeWzprdf2ITHuNmN2KjfOhZr-JK5Zyp-3oUNgcgX3PkONJsn7ufk3EXQxyavt-mt1kvzg4B99BllzDb4s6RxA0EZ9JU4hwI9-nbTYgONwp5G4eBRXaaZgTMfH1bvFV2b8cAgPs" width="295" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>However, while comedy is useful for elevating one’s mood, those who are feeling too strongly negative will tend to avoid comedy (Zillmann, 1988, 2000, 1980). This may be because the hostility and discomfort that people find funny when they aren’t emotionally upset can make people feel uncomfortable when they are already in a bad mood. This likely explains why animations like Mickey and Silly Symphonies were more popular than Looney Tunes during the actual Depression. Consider, for example, the animation “The Old Mill”. This is a beautifully painted animation about animals seeking shelter from a storm in a dilapidated mill. There is no real plot or protagonist. In many ways the animated short is similar to relaxing while staring at a fish tank, a campfire, or a painting. </p><p> </p><p>Yet after The Depression and War ended, moving into the 1950s and beyond, the Looney Tunes grew in popularity and many of “The Silly Symphonies” were forgotten, or at least enjoyed less. This may come from the fact that boredom was one of the biggest problems when people got stable jobs in factories, offices, and similar locations. Once the concerns of The Depression had passed, most people didn’t need to watch cute and nostalgic feeling animations to calm themselves, they needed something to reinvigorate them after a long and boring day. </p><p> </p><p>The humor people enjoy often changes according to a variety of factors. Historically adolescents tended to prefer “television shows featuring disparaging and slapstick humor, while television shows featuring coping humor are not” nearly so popular. This changes as people grow older, such that aggressive humor becomes less popular and humor as a coping mechanism increases. According to this research there are three primary types of humor; “The first two are aggressive (antisocial) in nature, namely disparaging (making fun of someone, ridiculing someone) and slapstick (physically aggressive, “pie in the face”) humor. The third is a prosocial humor type called coping humor, which functions as a coping mechanism to deal with life’s difficulties by joking about frustrations, hardships, and so on.” (Wal, Pouwels, Piotrowski & Valkenburg, 2022)</p><p> </p><p>Regardless of what they prefer, people who are exhausted from work and social interactions will tend to spend more time watching TV, as Borius et al.’s (1999) research confirmed. This exhaustion doesn’t just come from repetitive, boring, or hard tasks but from simple self-control. Indeed, the more self-control a person has to exert the less likely they will be to avoid some form of entertainment after work (Hofmann et al. 2012). It is this level of emotional depletion from exerting self-control that indicates what type of films people will choose. People who are emotionally ‘depleted’ were far less likely to choose films that were suspenseful or meant to be meaningful and chose instead films that were fun. </p><p> </p><p>Eden et al. (2018) stated in their research of story selection that;</p><p> </p><p>media can restore depleted self-control and act as a recovery process for fatigued individuals. Therefore, we argue that our findings do not condemn the choices of the creature seeking comfort in media. Instead, we endorse a more nuanced understanding of how, why, and under what circumstances the individual—whether feeling fully human or depleted to feeling like a base creature—makes their choices is required.</p><p> </p><p>Obviously not everyone in a society is feeling the same thing. At any given time, there can be people who are stressed from and wanting to escape work, as well as people who are worried about losing their job or who desperately want one. What’s important to understand is that there is real psychological and even social value to whimsy and what is normally considered light hearted entertainment. </p><p> </p><p>Take romantic comedies, for example. It is often believed that idealistic romances will lead viewers to have unrealistic expectations of love and life. However, Hefner (2019) found that only “predominantly idealistic” romances could have a positive influence on the viewers life satisfaction. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0nsN7k8zeVncWqM3FUd7WobWhLCqvbvZjOEzz0EcqDNLgVvOs0K86SwWA6jb73qqgzQxeN9pSlJBJTCMDfcEKmPlgOFBm87Jt9tGAosN-hTRZwvYmQccVf9kqaN_TrB_ZQCKStJdJnYr79WNDiC6nevMd-ZOzvPHm9HXKDs3_sGhczenk6_UixBZW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="350" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0nsN7k8zeVncWqM3FUd7WobWhLCqvbvZjOEzz0EcqDNLgVvOs0K86SwWA6jb73qqgzQxeN9pSlJBJTCMDfcEKmPlgOFBm87Jt9tGAosN-hTRZwvYmQccVf9kqaN_TrB_ZQCKStJdJnYr79WNDiC6nevMd-ZOzvPHm9HXKDs3_sGhczenk6_UixBZW" width="135" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Strange as it may seem then, unrealistic idealism, can and often does have a more positive effect on viewers than depictions of realism, not only emotionally but even morally. As another example, while ‘Disney Princess’ animations have long been criticized by philosophers for their impact on women and girls, psychological studies have found that engagement with Princesses “was associated with lower adherence to norms of hegemonic masculinity and higher body esteem.” The head of this research project, Dr. Coyne said "Princess culture gives women key storylines where they're the protagonist. They're following their dreams, helping those around them, and becoming individuals who aren't prescribed a role because of their gender…” further “Boys who are exposed to princess culture earlier in life tend to do a better job expressing emotion in their relationships.” (Stahle)</p><p> </p><p>This shows us that a joyful and fun story is very likely to have a positive overall effect on the viewers regardless of any ‘message’ critics might imagine it has. </p><p> </p><p>We see something similar in comedy sitcoms like “Big Bang Theory.” This show followed a group of awkward and often painfully clumsy scientists. Many people disliked it because “the show suggests that anyone who works in a scientific field or is a fan of superheroes and science-fiction must be a pathological, socially awkward mess.” (Morrison) Such criticism, as with most ideas without evidence, was incorrect, however, as the show tended to make most people like scientists more. Indeed, the show was repeatedly credited with increasing the number of people studying physics. It is difficult to fully quantify this but the number of people taking physics courses in England increased 10% when the show aired. (Townsend) So after watching scientists make socially awkward fools of themselves on a sitcom, large numbers of people decided to study science. This shows that what’s important isn’t necessarily what the show depicts but the emotions associated with the characters. The scientists in the show make people laugh, which plants positive emotions about scientists in people’s minds. </p><p> </p><p>There is a long history of these ‘simple’ stories becoming popular during times of high stress, for the people in most need of them. In their article “It’s Ok to be joyful? My Little Pony and Brony masculinity” Mikko Hautakangas points out that the humor and stories found in the titled children’s cartoon offers a joy that isn’t easily available in other stories. This is why so many adult men were drawn to the story. </p><p><br /></p><p>Even more telling is that people who suffered through World War I and other horrors would frequently turn to whimsical fantasy. After having nearly died in the trenches during World War One. Tolkien began thinking of his book “The Hobbit” while recovering with his aunt at Bag End. Creating a series of fantasy stories then was part of Tolkien’s recovery process from the horrific experiences he had while fighting in the first mass mechanized war. Another writer who loved fairy stories Dickens, as a child had to work ten hours a day pasting labels on pots. He wrote of this experience “how could I have been so easily cast away at such an age.” He, like Tolkien would grow up to create whimsical and enchanted stories that showed the value of human life. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhn6HbOQm5sutYEYCC2feJTacS9j2ngPbIuYsvcBSQ98n_ahsFLve-Wagc7lZ7hd9kalMbzDCTTJ_ENcd2XA2qw1-A0AJj_oyw_6d-FykLwHjp_EcSxSLf52olUacMhBJ49TZj7GnDSFL0-FdZwF6r-IPPhnPEygDwrlyEl1mWG0gVGCLR1Gq5c8zwc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="332" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhn6HbOQm5sutYEYCC2feJTacS9j2ngPbIuYsvcBSQ98n_ahsFLve-Wagc7lZ7hd9kalMbzDCTTJ_ENcd2XA2qw1-A0AJj_oyw_6d-FykLwHjp_EcSxSLf52olUacMhBJ49TZj7GnDSFL0-FdZwF6r-IPPhnPEygDwrlyEl1mWG0gVGCLR1Gq5c8zwc" width="171" /></a></div><br /> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09XBTR8VK?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXcLJ3CP_dPTlE6r6d1uNCVMlwOFGDZGR1k3p2E5nD8YOpIapayNVzUrga9i_IxUjxTy4b0Y4CXFpZ_DwmZN5NiTU7q_m7GPvo45udL_k1KNtOX5drsR8EPANZ_X2U1aY-NoEe0EE8FOSrlDQYjFof78J-hDqTCjw5m8yF0c4cVstiO1NwZNIJH7q/s16000/enchantedcoloringbooks.jpg" /></a><p></p><p> </p><p> </p>Nukiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03348251039053145580noreply@blogger.com0