C is for Cheeks (Body Folktales)

This year, my A to Z Challenge theme is Body Folktales. Enjoy!

(Image from here.)

Today we are talking about the other kind of cheeks.

Atdlarneq the Great Glutton (Greenland Inuit)

This story is about a hunter who keeps taking more food from the sea than he needs. One day he ends up in a house with three beautiful women. Soon the master of the house comes home: a man-like monster whose cheeks are made of copper. He'd a creature of legend, capable of causing great damage by bashing people with his copper cheeks. He forces the hunter to eat and eat and eat, and the hunter learns a lesson about not gorging himself ever again.

How an old man lost his wen (Japan)

A classic "gift of the fairies" tale with a Japanese twist. An old man with a large growth on his face comes across a group of oni (demons) having a party in the woods. He cheerfully joins in, and his dancing is so entertaining that the creatures want him to return the next day. They take the growth off his cheek, assuming it is something valuable that he'll surely return for. The old man has a mean and greedy neighbor with a similar growth, who takes his place the next night. He behaves so rudely that the demons give him the other growth as well, and he returns home with two.

The legend of Mongán son of Fiachna (Ireland)

This is a legend about an Irish hero named Mongán, son of the sea king Manannan Mac Lir. He unwittingly exchanges his wife for some cattle with a neighboring king, and then goes through various adventures to win her back (using trickery learned from his divine father). Finally he meets an old hag, and transforms her into Princess Ibhell of the Bright Cheeks, putting a love-charm on her cheeks that makes the old king fall in love with her. The king exchanges Mongán's wife for the bright-cheeked princess - and has a rude awakening the next morning when the spell wears off.

The Queen of Many Colors (Hungary)

This folktale begins with a queen who has a magic ability: the color of her cheeks changes every hour into a different shade (in some versions, she has seventy-seven different colors). She declares that her son may only marry a girl who has the same exact power. This kicks off a long quest for the prince, who completes tasks to win the only such princess in the world with the help of a friendly ghost.

Which story do you like the most? Do other cheeky stories come to mind?

Don't forget to leave your links in the comments so I can visit back!