N is for Noses (Body Folktales)

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

Noses are, once again, a pretty common theme in folktales. I have written about them during A to Z multiple times (e.g. here and here). Here are some fun stories to add to the list:

The Princess of Tomboso (Canada)

This is one of those folktales where a princess cheats a man out of various magical items. Eventually, exiled from her kingdom, he finds a tree of apples that make his nose grow long like an elephant's trunk - and another tree with fruit that has the opposite effect. He uses them to blackmail the princess into giving back his treasures. (Find more versions of this tale type here.)

Silver Nose (Italy)

Silver Nose is Bluebeard's Italian version, who also happens to be the Devil himself. If the girls who work for him don't obey his orders, he tosses them into hell. One clever girl, however, manages to rescue her sisters and herself from Silver Nose by trickery. (The mother warns her daughters in advance that the rich man with the silver nose seems suspect).

The magic pipe (Norway)

Three brothers set out to win a princess, and encounter a woman with a yard-long green nose that is stuck in the crack of a log. She begs them to free her, for her nose has been stuck for two hundred years, but only the youngest brother helps her. She rewards him with a magic pipe that he can use to win the princess.

The hyena, the dog, and Nose-of-Mud (Hausa people, Niger)

Nose-of-Mud, a man with a nose made of mud, goes out hunting with the help of Hyena. He makes Hyena rile up a bunch of antelopes by insulting their mother. The antelopes chase Hyena inside the nose of mud, where they die. After the successful hunt, Hyena decides to do the same and makes a mud nose for himself, inviting Dog along to repeat the trick. However, his mud nose breaks, and they both had to flee from the antelopes for their life.

What Spider knows (Ghana)

Anansi the Spider goes out hunting in times of famine, and encounters a strange little old man with a very long nose. He makes Anansi carry his nose around, and they go hunting together. When they want to kill an animal, the man makes Anansi point his nose at it, and the animal falls dead. When he returns home, Anansi makes a long clay nose for himself and tries to hunt with it - without success. The moral, claims the story, is not to be too ashamed to ask, to learn things properly.

Any more morals you can glean from these stories? Or any other nose stories you remember?

J is for Joints (Body Folktales)

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

(Image from here)

The adventures of the twins (Congo)

Twin brothers set out to find their father who had gotten lost on a trading voyage. They travel through a strange country where people can do whatever they want with their bodies. Some take out their bones before climbing a tree so they don't break in the event of a fall. Some turn their feet backwards at the ankle so they don't stub their toes. Some turn their knees backwards so they don't scrape them if they trip, or their arms so they can fall backwards without harm. At a marketplace, everyone is missing their jaw - it later turns out they made it a rule to avoid quarreling.

Sana (Zarma people, Niger)

A beautiful girl vows to only marry a man who has no joints in his body. A snake turns himself into a man with no joints, and proposes to her, spiriting her away from her family. By the time she realizes who her husband is, it is too late. After many troubles and adventures, her outcast brother rescues her.

How people got joints (Dogon people, Mali)

Dogon mythology is full of fascinating imagery and symbolism. Among them, there is a story about an ancestor who was a heavenly smith, who decided to come down to earth on a granary full of plants, animals, and people. He made the journey down the rainbow, defending the granary from the attacks of the Nummo spirits who had no joints in their limbs. Neither did the smith, but the impact of his landing broke his arms and legs, creating the joints that he then passed on to humans, making their limbs capable of working.

Ha! Managed to sneak another body part that starts with J into this post :) Did you see it?

H is for Hands, Hair, Hips, Heels (Body Folktales)

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

(Yes, I am aware it's Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels, but it was low hanging fruit.)

HANDS

There were some obvious choices here that I'm omitting, such as Beaumains from Arthurian legends, or the folktale type of the Handless Maiden (which I really hate, except for one Hungarian variant).

Invisible Grandfather (Italy)

A girl sets out to seek her fortune, and ends up in an enchanted castle. She encounters no one except a floating pair of hands that serve her food and make her bed. The hands turn out to belong to Invisible Grandfather, who helps the girl secure a king as a husband - but when she doesn't follow his instructions, he curses her to grow a beard. Unusually for folktales, the curse is lifted by an apology.

The most beautiful hands in the world (Philippines)

A girl is proud of her beautiful, soft hands but refuses to do any work to help others. She mocks another girl for having rough, dirty hands. And yet, when that other girl helps a poor woman, she is rewarded with riches - and told that her hands are the most beautiful.

The legend of St. Kilda (Scotland)

According to legend, people from both Uist and Harris coveted the island of St. Kilda. They decided to have a rowing race, and agreed that whoever lays a hand on the island first will be its owner. As they neared the shore, people from Harris were winning - but the leader of the boat from Uist, Colla MacLeod, chopped off his left hand in the last minute, throwing it to the shore, and thus won the race.

HAIR

Hair is very common in folktales. Think Rapunzel, think the Devil's three golden hairs, think Lady Godiva, or The youth with the golden hair (ATU 314). From mythology, think Sif's golden hair, Sedna's tangled hair, Prince Zal's white hair, or the myth from Guam where women catch a monster fish with their hair. (If any more come to mind, sound off in the comments!)

I picked some lesser known, interesting examples:

The king's daughter who lost her hair (Akamba people, Kenya)

My favorite hair-themed story. A haughty princess goes bald from a curse, and sends people out to find a magic tree that grows hair. A young man travels far and finds the enchanted island where the tree grows; he brings back all kinds of hair for the princess.

The maiden with the red-gold hair (Hungary)

This is a "False bride" folktale where the false bride (forced into pretending by her mother) is treated surprisingly kindly. The story tells about a prince who is looking for a special maiden with red-gold hair, and an evil countess who disguises her own daughter to fit the description.

The raven-haired prince (Slovakia)

In a kingdom where everyone has red hair, a raven-haired prince is born. His parents try everything to change his hair color but nothing succeeds; eventually they send him abroad to try his luck. On his way home his servant blackmails him to swap places. After that, the prince goes through a series of dangerous quests, even dies and is revived, and eventually reclaims his rightful place. And his hair turns red.

The girl who became a bird (Hausa, Niger)

A very beautiful Cinderella variant where the prince falls in love with the girl when he sees her at the party in tattered clothes, and asks about her life. Later, her stepmother braids a charm into her hair and turns her into a bird; she is found and rescued by her brother and her husband.

The dragon prince (Spain)

A girl encounters an injured dragon in the woods, and helps him. Later she discovers he is an enchanted prince who can only be saved if someone creates a suit of golden hair for the giant who cursed him. The girl takes up service as a princess' handmaid, and begs her for her golden hair - but she has to promise her the prince's hand in exchange. Luckily, it turns out the golden-haired beauty is the dragon prince's sister, so our heroic girl gets to marry him in the end.

HIPS

Father and Daughters (Morocco)

This is a "Basil Maiden" type folktale, about a clever girl who saves herself and her sisters from the intrigues of a prince. When he tries to put sleeping powder in their food, she manages to stay awake and kicks the guy out of the house so hard he breaks his hip. Later on, disguised as a doctor, she shows up at court to treat his injury (and get up to more shenanigans). At the end of the story the prince is sentenced to death for trying to harm her, but she commutes his sentence.

The lazy beauty and her aunts (Ireland)

A "Three Spinners" type tale, where a lazy girl is taken to a prince's castle with her mother's promise that she can work miracles in spinning and weaving. Three mysterious old women show up to help her - one with large feet, one with a large nose, and one with wide hips (Cailleach Croman Mór, Woman of the Big Hips). Each in turn tells the prince that their shape is due to the hard work they had done all their life. Alarmed, the prince forbids his bride from working ever again.

HEELS

The most obvious example would be Achilles' heel, but I'm not going to repeat it. If you are curious about a lesser known myth about the same, you can find it in my book.

How mosquitoes came to be (Tlingit)

A giant keeps killing people and devouring their heart. A brave man pretends to be dead, and the giant takes him to his house. There, he discovers that the giant is unkillable because he keeps his own heart in his left heel. As he enters the house again, the hero plunges a knife in his heel, killing him. He then burns the body - and the ashes turn into the first mosquitoes.

How rice came to Earth (Indonesia)

A poor boy walks up to the heavens on the rainbow, following some fairies. There, he encounters rice for the first time, but he is forbidden from taking any of it. When he tries to steal some, he cuts his heel on the rainbow bridge while fleeing and gets caught. The second time, he hides some grains inside the healing wound on his heel, and smuggles them safely down to earth.

The soldier and the wizard (Russia)

The folktale version of a villain being brought down by his own monologuing. A soldier encounters a wizard at night in a cemetery and goes on a clandestine nighttime adventure with him. At one point the wizard takes blood from a young couple, and tells the soldier they can only be revived if someone cuts them on the heel and restores their blood. In the end, the soldier learns all the wizard's secrets, and kills him.

Did you have fun with the stories on this list? Do you have a favorite?

Folktales about women who slay monsters (International Women's Day)

It has become tradition on the blog to post a collection of folktales for International Women's Day. I've had a different theme every year: Women in war, Woman healers, Women helping women, and Badass Grandmas.

This year, I decided to collect stories about women slaying monsters. Many people cling to the belief in traditional stories monster-killing is a man's job, while women wait around helpless to be rescued. Often, this is raised as the main critique of telling folktales in "modern times" - "outdated values" and whatnot. And yet, people who complain the loudest tend to have no idea how many monster-slaying women exist in traditions around the world.

So, on this International Women's Day, let's hear it for them!

(You know the drill. Links in the titles. Image from here.)

Margaret the Giant-slayer (Ireland)

A prince sets out on his ship to seek adventure, and a girl named Margaret asks to join him. As they sail, a sea monster threatens the ship, and Margaret sacrifices herself for the crew. She manages to get away from the serpent, however, and reaches a land threatened by giants. Margaret accompanies her (returned) prince to the giants' castle, and while the prince is asleep at night, she battles the giants and kills them.

Rebeka (Transylvanian Roma tale)

There are several variants of the "Treasures of the Giant" folktale type (a.k.a. Jack and the Beanstalk) with women as protagonists. One of my favorites is the story of Rebeka, which I published on this blog in full English translation (see link). It's about a girl who rescues her sisters from a dragon, and then keeps returning to trick the monster out of various treasures. In the end, she even captures the dragon, although she doesn't kill it. (See also: Molly Whuppie)

The Ginkgo Fairy (China)

In this beautiful story a young man falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a ginkgo fairy (an old tree whose spirit took on human form). When her husband is kidnapped by evil serpents, the fairy takes up her father's sword, battles the serpents, and rescues her beloved.

The giant caterpillar (Ivory Coast)

A caterpillar as large as an elephant blocks a village road and swallows a little boy. The men of the village set out to fight the monster, but they get scared and run away. Then the women take up various household instruments and attack the caterpillar together, beating it until it's dead, and rescue the boy from its stomach.

The girl made of mud (Transylvanian Roma tale)

An old, childless couple fashions a girl from mud, and their devotion brings her to life. She soon turns out to have magic powers. First, she battles a cursed knight, then a dragon; she even follows the monster into the Underworld, fighting devils and serpents with an ax, and eventually manages to slay the dragon in a shamanistic duel of shapeshifting. (The book linked is in Hungarian).

Li Ji slays the serpent (China)

When a giant serpent threatens Fujian Province and demands maidens to devour, a brave girl named Li Ji volunteers to be sacrificed to it. She asks for a sword and a snake-hunting dog. She lures the serpent out of its cave with sweets, and kills it with the help of the dog. Then she buries the remains of the previous victims. (I blogged about this tale here.)

Durdana Chelmard (Pakistan)

Durdana is a famously clever girl; after a game of riddles, a king decides to marry her. His other wives, however, are jealous of the newcomer, and they convince their husband to abandon Durdana in the wilderness. Alone, she puts on her husband's clothes, and begins a new life as a warrior. She fights and defeats various monsters, goes on a quest, and even saves a princess. Eventually her husband shows up again, but she refuses to go back to him, returning to her parents with all he treasures instead.

Nana Miriam (Songhai, Mali/Niger)

When a monstrous hippo attacks a community, the best warriors and hunters try and fail to defeat it. It is not only ravenous, but it also melts any weapon thrown its way. Finally the chief's daughter, Nana Miriam, goes out to face the beast, and gets into an epic duel of strength and magic. When the hippo, as a last ditch effort, tries to attack her father, Nana Miriam simply grabs its hind legs, and yeets it away so hard that it is never seen again.

Aicha the Demon-hunter (Algeria)

Aicha, the clever youngest daughter of a merchant, traps and kills a man-eating ghoul. However, the ghoul curses her with its last breath, so she can never rest or stay in one place. Turning the curse into a blessing, Aicha sets out on a journey and has several adventures where she defeats sea serpents, ghouls, and werewolves with her expert skills in magic and swordsmanship. Eventually, she manages to get rid of the curse, and becomes a queen.

Hiiaka's battle with demons (Hawaii)

Hiiaka, younger sister of the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele, has her own epic story in which she sets out on a quest and faces many obstacles. Among them, she fights Pana-ewa, a reptile-man and his army of creatures. Hiiaka has a magic skirt that summons lightning, and a knife to wield, and she puts up an epic battle against all kinds of monsters and creatures, eventually defeating them all.

Never let anyone tell you that girls can't fight monsters.

Happy International Women's Day!

Hausa tales of wisdom and adventure (Following folktales around the world 104. - Niger)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!

With today's post, the series is going on a shirt spring break: The A to Z Challenge begins next Monday! Come visit any day in April, and read some wonderful Fruit Folktales from around the world :)

Hausa Folktales from Niger
Robert S. Glew, Chaibou Babalé
Ohio University Press, 1993.

The book contains forty Hausa folktales, translated by the author in the late 1980s. They were being broadcast in Hausa on national radio at the time. The tales were told by two storyteller ladies (Hadjia Rahamu and Hadjia Angéle), who at that point had been entertaining the country's children and adults for more than eighteen years on the air. They collected stories for children, especially stories with morals and teachings. The collection features animal tales, wonder tales, trickster tales, lots of monsters and adventures, and a few very bloody incidents. The book comes with a short introduction and a glossary.

Highlights

picture from here

The tale of The girl who turned into a bird was very pretty, and a little similar to both Cinderella and Snow White. The girl was the daughter of a second wife, being abused by the first wife. One day she attended a celebration where she met a king's son, and he asked why she was wearing rags while her sisters were wearing nice dresses. She confided in him, telling him she was being treated badly, so he gave her some money. They fell in love and married, but the stepmother found out, and, braiding an amulet into the girl's hair, turned her into a bird. She was eventually found and rescued by her little brother and her husband.
In the story of The donkey who pretended to have horns, a donkey teamed up with a lion to terrorize animals - until a brave rabbit proved to everyone that the donkey has ears, not horns, and therefore he is harmless.
The boy who married the king's wife was a variant of my favorite superhero team-up folktale type, but it was so much fun that I have to highlight it. The team consisted of Dodger (who dodged everything), Seer-of-Things-in-the-Distance, Doer-of-Things-Quickly, Thief, Bushrat, and Potassium. I was eager to see what Potassium would contribute to the story, but all she did was carry messages between lovers. Bushrat didn't really do anything either.
Gizo, the local spider-trickster was also featured in several stories. The tale of Gizo and the snake, for example, was about trust. Gizo borrowed the snake's skin, but had no intention of giving it back, and so the snake had to live hidden and naked underground. Eventually the snake managed to talk a dove into helping him find Gizo and get the skin back. At first, the dove was scared of the snake, but she learned to trust him along the way. The story ends with a question - what do you think happened? I'd like to believe that the snake got his skin back. A girl named Daya was also saved by a dove from the monster she had been promised to before her birth.

Connections

Since we are in Africa now, of course there were a lot of tricksters. I have encountered the "trickster asks for a boon" tale type in the Caribbean before; here, Jackal asked a malam (wise man) for more cleverness, and the malam made him bring various hard-to-acquire things. When the Jackal managed to get all of them, it became clear that he is already more than clever enough. He also played the role of the judge in the classic "ungrateful rescued animal" story of The man and the crocodile. Next to Jackal, there was the above mentioned Gizo, the spider, who featured into several tales.
Some stories were similar to stories that also exist in Europe. The tale of Hare and the Hyena was like the King and Unkind girls, except here it was Hare who served in a mysterious house, and received a gift for it, while Hyena was punished for his rudeness. Another story, The Fulbe hero and the dodo (dodo is a monster) was of the same type; here the hero went to get his hair braided by the dodo's wife, and got away alive, but others who wanted to copy him failed. There was also an interesting Cinderella-variant, where the father had two wives, and the girl abused by her evil second mother was helped by her half-sibling in marrying the king's son. There was, of course, a Magic Flight story - A girl who married a snake was running from her husband with the help of various items thrown behind her. The girl who saved the king's son was similar to the Italian Canary Prince, and The Arab's daughter and the king was a nice variant of the sassy, dressed-in-men's-clothes mediterranean Basil Girl.

Where to next?
Mali!