#Which isn't to say there couldn't be pre-Christian hangovers in some folk tales- the ones derived from Irish legends of Fionn Mac Cumhaill | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

the-busy-ghost · 4 years ago

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Who do I have to blame for turning every single minor character out of the fairy tales I knew as a child into a Mystical Mother Goddess, worshipped in a Generic Celtic Culture (despite having the most Lowland Scots or Norse name and story I have ever seen) and whose name was allegedly blackened by those Evil Christians who crushed the pure native Established Pagan Religion of... *checks notes*... eighteenth century Scotland?

#Do people do this with the German fairy tales that the Grimms collected?#Like are the Bremer Stadtmusikanten supposedly remnants of Ancient Teutonic Fertility Rites?#Which isn't to say there couldn't be pre-Christian hangovers in some folk tales- the ones derived from Irish legends of Fionn Mac Cumhaill #but really people have GOT to stop treating every single minor character in a Borders folk story like the secretly worshipped Mother goddess #And fairy belief may well have roots very far back in history- but I really doubt that early modern people were fully aware of this #It's also rather interesting because they're often neutered and presented in a generic Celtic or British environment #When they are very explicitly associated with a particular culture in a particular part of Scotland #Once again rather like our border ballads though there are common motifs with tales al over Europe (and further afield)#it is a bit annoying when they're presented as generic British or even English ballads #Look Francis James Child did a lot for the study of folk and oral culture but sadly his popularity has kind of robbed some of those ballads #Of their particular context even if he did set them squarely in the wider context #And funny how many of Joseph Jacobs' 'English fairy tales' have a load of Scots words and place names in them #Funny that #Anyway Tam Lin is not Generic English Fairy Belief- Carterhaugh is a real place and the Borders are an important context #Although OF COURSE there will be lots of similarities and even the same details shared with neighbouring England #People crossed the border so naturally their stories crossed with them #It's certainly got more in common with Northern English folklore than idk whatever kind of ancient Celtic stuff people have going on #Selkies are not Generic Celtic Mermaids the word selkie is derived from a Scots word for a creature often seen in a Norse setting #found in the areas of Scotland that were settled by the vikings in the Early Middle Ages- Orkney Shetland Caithness and neighbouring areas #Yes there are similar creatures in neighbouring Gaelic speaking areas- this is to be expected #both due to geography and the fact that Norse settlers went there too #But they are slightly different and once you get really far down to Ireland they are completely different creatures #There are much closer parallels between selkies and the seal people in the folklore of nearby Iceland and the Faroe Isles #Also!! The seal is the point! They are not just sexy mermaids they are usually associated with seals!#Look Scotland is not Unique all of these folk tales have common motifs and share a wider context and similarities with nearby cultures #But at the same time if you're going to use the *specific* occurrence of that motif then you should research its *specific* context #By the way it's not that it's Offensive or Cultural Appropriation or anything it's not that serious it's just a tiny bit frustrating #Because there are lots of fascinating aspects of Scottish folklore but it's fascinating BECAUSE there were lots of different cultures #and they all interacted with each other in different ways and produced variations on similar themes or sometimes brand new things #Have fun with these stories but remember that Scotland wasn't a Pagan Matriarchal Celtic Paradise nor basically just England

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