#half these gifs got deleted by giphy

[nicolethered]

Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy in Obsession

[lovewillthaw-j]

Deer/reindeer myths

Having watched the deleted prologue of F2 and making this gif:

I decided to do research on legends of men turning into reindeer/deer. I know the writers did a lot of research on myths especially for the spirits and so I'm basically retreading their steps. (I'm not including the Greek one where artemis punishes a man for seeing her nude by turning him into a stag and sending her hounds to kill him)

I've found 3 of note, 2 are Celtic:

In Celtic tradition there were two aspects of the deer: the feminine element, called Eilid in Gaelic, the female red deer, symbolizing femininity, gentles and grace. It was believed that the deer called to men from the kingdom of the fairies to free them from the trappings of the earthly world and taking them to the world of magic. Deer often turned into women in such legends in order to avoid being hunted. On the other hand, there was also Damh, the masculine element, which was also related to the sacred and to forests, independence, purification and pride. The stag is the king of the forest, the protector of all other creatures.

Now I'm having weird thoughts of Iduna/Honeymaren turning into deer...

Source: https://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/notes-on-the-symbolism-of-deer/

In Celtic religion the stag was a symbol for the god Cernunnos, “The Horned One”. Cernunnos was often portrayed with antlers himself, and was a god of the forest and wild animals. He was also seen as a god of ‘Plenty’, and the large Celtic ‘Cauldrons of Plenty’ often featured deer motifs amongst their ornate decoration. The magnificent Gundestrup Cauldron, for example, shows an antlered man alongside a deer and other wildlife. Though this is often regarded as a representation of Cernunnos, his pose in a half lotus position suggests he could also be a Celtic shaman.

Source: https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/trees-plants-animals/mammals/deer/deer-mythology-and-folklore/

In Canada, where reindeer are wild and called caribou, an Innu man once fell in love with a caribou woman. He became a caribou himself and master of all caribou. If an Innu doesn’t follow the traditional hunting rituals to show respect for animals, the Caribou Master would keep animals out of the hunter’s path. The Caribou Master lived in a remove dangerous land, in a house surrounded by a deep layer of discarded antlers.

Source: https://www.lapland.fi/visit/meet-reindeer-ailo/reindeer-myths-legends/

This is reminding me/is a parallel of Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke. There was a forest spirit in the shape of stag, who got killed by a human, and then his spirit form unleashed his rage on all humans. Gif from google/giphy/frederikstumblr. (this is a Ghibli show I cannot watch again... It was soooo scary for me.)

If u have other knowledge on this, feel free to contribute! @super-mam-te-moc? Your general knowledge is formidable 😁

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On a light hearted note, this adds a WHOLE new meaning to this scene! Or all the times Kristoff "speaks" for Sven!

Maybe Sven is Kristoff's reindeer brother! Or Kristoff has an alternate reindeer mode? Or in some weird way, Sven is Kristoff!!!! OK that's going too far 😂...