Well, I had in mind the sense of the uncanny, the eerie, dreadful, etc. Allowances may need to be made, when one reads a folktale in stark print, for the story's having earlier been told aloud, perhaps in a dwelling less brilliantly-illuminated than our homes tend to be, at night, without distracting noises from appliances, etc. (When my children were little, I might brush up on a story, then go up to one of their rooms, have a candle as sole illumination, and tell the story with some improvisation, trying to conjure the sense of deep woods or whatever. I certainly didn't try to creep them out traumatically.)

Here's another folktale:

There once was a woman from Stausland in the county of Vest-Agder, who was to attend the sermon on Christmas morning. In the middle of the night she woke up, and saw a light coming from inside the church. Not a single churchgoer was in sight.
Believing that she had overslept, she rushed out of bed, threw on her best coat, and hurried down to the church.
Once inside, the church was full of people as she had anticipated, but she wondered why she did not know any of those who were there. When the priest had stepped up to the pulpit, she cast a glance at the old woman who was sitting beside her. Rather bewildered, she saw that it was a neighbor of hers, who had passed away some time ago. “Get on your coat,” said the old hag, “and get out before the priest has finished his sermon. For this is the Mass of the dead, and they will kill you if they catch you here!”
The woman did as her neighbor had said -- before she had stood up from her seat, they were after her. Just as she rushed out the door, they tore off her coat, and she ran home like crazy.
In the morning when people came to the church to attend the morning Mass, only bits of the coat were left behind on the church steps.

Abigel Stokkeland, (b. 1844), as told to Peter Lunde in 1919
[legendsofthenorth.blogspot.com]
Norsk Folkeminnesamling: ml4015. De dødes messe. Id: SIN228. År: 1919. Sted: Søgne, Vest-Agder. Informant: Abigel Stokkeland, f. 1844. Samler: Peter Lunde


Here's a link to one that reminds me rather a lot of Blackwood's "Wendigo":

[52books.blogspot.com]

One more:

[www.pitt.edu]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 24 Jan 21 | 07:14PM by Dale Nelson.

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I had in mind the sense of the uncanny, the
> eerie, dreadful, etc.

Well, I think the examples I gave in my last post would count to some extent.

There's also "The Fiend" (or less correctly, "The Vampire") which is one of the Russian stories collected by Alexander Afansayev in the 19th Century.

Speaking of Russian Stories, Baba Yaga is a pretty grisly character, if you don't think she's too cartoonish.

There is also "The Princess in the Chest", which is one of the fairy stories collected by Andrew Lang, from the Danish, in his PINK FAIRY BOOK. He did not tone it down too much. If you want to know what you are missing, I think you can probably find a more-faithful translation under the title "The Princess in the Coffin". I also recall a Polish version, under the title "The Pitch Princess".

Also, thanks for the links.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 24 Jan 21 | 09:35PM by Platypus.

Russia is filled with grisly stories, some of which would have easily made a home in the pages of Weird Tales. Was "The Fiend" about a young woman courted by a dashing gentleman who did some hellish things at a church?

Baba Yaga, and her emaciated male counterpart Koshchei the Deathless, are some nightmarish characters. Baba Yaga's house alone sounds eerily anomalous, with its one or more legs, its hidden entrance, and its fence of glowing skulls. The tale of "Vasilisa the Beautiful" is a good example of this witch. I think the "cartoonish" quality of Baba Yaga, and quite a few Russian folk tales, makes the atmosphere all the more anxiety-evoking, detaching me further from the reality I know. But I understand this might not have the same effect on others.

The Russian tale of "Father Frost" always gave me chills, and that pun was not at all intended but very much appropriate. I can't think of any other story, folkloric or not, that so perfectly conveys the oppressiveness and even horror of an increasingly cold winter.

This subject made me realize that CAS visited eastern Europe in exactly one story: "The Tale of Sir John Maundeville." It takes place in a fictional province of Georgia, directly below Russia, and I think it has the most folkloric atmosphere of all his fiction:

[www.eldritchdark.com]

Other than this, CAS didn't seem to acknowledge eastern Europe.

Speaking of which, the Finnish Kalevala has a few grisly stories, between its tales of magical creation and domestic drama. There are several which take place in the Finnish underworld, Tuonela, home to a black river filled with strange creatures, and a dark land with creepy characters who are more than eager to keep the witless living among the ranks of the dead. Meanwhile, the story about Kullervo, a cursed young man who brings death and despair everywhere he goes, has some rather disturbing scenes that would probably suit a modern horror film. His story, by the way, reminds me a lot of Scandinavian sagas, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was some connection there.

Regarding the matter of "weird" folklore, I admit I must have been a little reckless when I made that title. I'm fine with any example of folklore in this thread, from raunchy jokes to lullabies. It's interesting to consider what counts as "weird" or suitable to the tastes of HPL, REH, etc. but I'm not picky!

Edit:

I think this painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela is a fitting expression of the haunting character of Kullervo:

[en.m.wikipedia.org]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 25 Jan 21 | 12:48AM by Hespire.

I read "The Vampire" (as it's called in my Russian Fairy Tales Pantheon paperback. Whew! "Ghoul" would be more accurate than "vampire," I suppose, but I wonder what the actual Russian word is.

I wonder if this is worth looking up: Perkowski, Jan L., Vampires of the Slavs. Cambridge, Mass.: Slavica, 1976.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 25 Jan 21 | 12:14PM by Dale Nelson.

Dale Nelson Wrote:
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> I read "The Vampire" (as it's called in my Russian
> Fairy Tales Pantheon paperback. Whew! "Ghoul"
> would be more accurate than "vampire," I suppose,
> but I wonder what the actual Russian word is.

Nechistol (literally, "The Unclean"):
[www.gutenberg.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 25 Jan 21 | 01:45PM by Platypus.

Thanks, Platypus, that's interesting. I see the editor of that edition commented, "Marusia’s demon lover will be recognized as akin to Arabian Ghouls, or the Rákshasas of Indian mythology."

Lafcadio Hearn, Kittelsen, Miyazaki, e-readers... This thread is like a map of my brain!

One of my golden childhood books is Sagen en Legenden van de Lage Landen (1980), written by Eelke de Jong and beautifully illustrated by Piet Klaasse. Anyone who read this collection of folk tales from the Low Countries as a Dutch ten-year-old will never have forgotten it. Its great strength (other than how memorable many of the stories are) lies in de Jong's ability to present a written story convincingly as something you are being told over a camp fire, while at the same time being quite refined. Some of his sentences will haunt me to the grave. ("De heksen solden net zo lang met hem tot hij geen draad vlees meer aan zijn lijf had. Toen lieten ze hem los.") Klaasse's illustrations are witty and creepy in equal measure.

A. W., can you tell us if there is a good collection, aimed at adults, of Dutch folk tales?

I'm going to play a game with myself, with your assistance, if so motivated.

Your forum name, Avoosl Wuthoqquan, is the money changer/jeweler guy in the Hyperborea series, right? The guy who was eaten at the end...

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A. W., can you tell us if there is a good
> collection, aimed at adults, of Dutch folk tales?

I'm afraid nothing comes to mind. I doubt that we have a very rich folk tradition. But I sent a message to a friend of mine who knows more about this than I do. Let's see if she comes up with something.

Sawfish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Your forum name, Avoosl Wuthoqquan, is the money
> changer/jeweler guy in the Hyperborea series,
> right? The guy who was eaten at the end...

That is correct, sir.

Avoosl Wuthoqquan Wrote:
>"De heksen
> solden net zo lang met hem tot hij geen draad
> vlees meer aan zijn lijf had. Toen lieten ze hem
> los."

An American friend in the Netherlands translated this thus:

"The witches messed around with him just long enough that there was not a fiber of flesh left on his body. Then they let him go."

Thanks, AV!

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Avoosl Wuthoqquan Wrote:
> > "De heksen
> > solden net zo lang met hem tot hij geen draad
> > vlees meer aan zijn lijf had. Toen lieten ze
> > hem los."
>
> An American friend in the Netherlands translated
> this thus:
>
> "The witches messed around with him just long
> enough that there was not a fiber of flesh left on
> his body. Then they let him go."

Your friend did a fine job. I like "messed around" for "solden" very much.

Avoosl Wuthoqquan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dale Nelson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Avoosl Wuthoqquan Wrote:
> > > "De heksen
> > > solden net zo lang met hem tot hij geen draad
> > > vlees meer aan zijn lijf had. Toen lieten ze
> > > hem los."
> >
> > An American friend in the Netherlands
> translated
> > this thus:
> >
> > "The witches messed around with him just long
> > enough that there was not a fiber of flesh left
> on
> > his body. Then they let him go."
>
> Your friend did a fine job. I like "messed around"
> for "solden" very much.

Oh my God!...

;^)

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~