folklore Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Tales of Times Forgotten

The Bizarre Origin Story of the Demogorgon

Most people are familiar with the term Demogorgon. It is the name of a monster in Dungeons and Dragons and also the name of a monster in the American science fiction horror web television series Stranger Things. The story of how the name Demogorgon came about, though, is actually really bizarre.

As it turns out, this famous monster most likely originates from a single scribal error made by an unknown copyist in an unknown manuscript sometime around 2,000 years ago or so. Somehow, from these humble origins, Demogorgon went on to be mentioned by great writers including Christopher Marlowe and John Milton before eventually becoming one of the most iconic monsters of today.

Who Were the Green Children of Woolpit?

The story of the so-called “Green Children of Woolpit” is one of the strangest stories that has come out of medieval England. It is the story of two children, a boy and a girl, with green skin who were, according to two chroniclers writing independently, discovered outside the village of Woolpit in around the middle of the twelfth century. Although all kinds of bizarre explanations have been proposed, I think that the most mundane explanation is probably the most likely.

The Truth about Atlantis

If you are like most Americans, chances are, you probably believe that Atlantis or another civilization like it once existed. A survey conducted by Chapman University in October 2014 found that, at that time, roughly 63% of people in the United States agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “ancient, advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed.”

These numbers do not seem to be rapidly falling away either; when Chapman University conducted the same survey again in October 2018, they found that, this time around, 57% of people in the United States agreed or strongly agreed with the exact same statement. In other words, they seem to fairly consistently find that roughly six in ten people in the United States believe in the existence of Atlantis or another highly technologically advanced civilization like it.

These numbers are absolutely astounding considering that Atlantis is pure fiction; we know exactly where the story comes from, who made it up, and where he drew his inspiration from. This would be like if, in 2,500 years, 57% of people in some futuristic civilization believe that Westeros once existed. It is truly astonishing. Nonetheless, it seems there is just something so romantic about the idea of a lost, highly advanced civilization that no one wants to accept the reality that Atlantis is totally made up.

Most Bizarre Deaths from Classical History

Classical history is kind of notorious for its menagerie of stories about bizarre and humiliating deaths. Today we will hear stories about a philosopher who covered himself in cow manure and was devoured by wild dogs, a military leader who committed suicide by drinking bull’s blood, a playwright who was killed by a falling tortoiseshell, a poet who jumped into a volcano to make people think he was a god, a tragedian who was killed like a character in one of his tragedies, a tyrant who was assassinated with a poisoned toothpick, a Stoic philosopher who literally laughed himself to death, and even a Christian religious leader who pooped out his own internal organs. All of these stories are almost certainly apocryphal, but they are still interesting to retell!

“Ring around the Rosie” Is Not about the Black Death, Nor Has It Ever Been

A popular urban legend that has been circulating for decades now claims that the beloved children’s nursery rhyme “Ring around the Rosie” is actually about the Black Death. Although this may make for a good story, it is, in fact, totally false; the song “Ring around the Rosie” did not even first appear until centuries after the Black Death had been effectively eradicated in England.

The Not-So-Pagan Origins of Easter

If you have been on the internet at all around this time of year, you have no doubt at some point encountered claims that Easter is actually a pre-Christian pagan holiday and that popular modern Easter traditions such as the Easter bunny and painting Easter eggs are actually thinly-veiled pagan customs. I am here to tell you that these claims are essentially bunk. Although the holiday of Easter takes its name in English from an obscure Anglo-Saxon dawn goddess, the holiday itself is of Christian origin and there is no evidence to support the notion that popular traditions such as the Easter bunny and the painting of Easter eggs were ever pagan.

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No, Julius Caesar Was Not Born by Cesarean Section

Everyone knows that a cesarean section, also known as a “C-section,” is when a child is removed from the uterus via surgery rather than by the natural birthing process. The name of the procedure, however, is misleading. Although the term cesarean section most likely does indeed come from the name of the famous ancient Roman general and dictator Gaius Julius Caesar (lived 100 – 44 BC), this is not because Julius Caesar was actually born by cesarean section, but rather because of a later legend with no factual basis claiming that he was.

Debunking Popular Myths about the First Thanksgiving

Most people think that they know the story of the first Thanksgiving. The truth, though, is that much of the traditional narrative that we have all been taught about the so-called “first Thanksgiving” is historically inaccurate. Here, in this article, I debunk a few of the most popular misconceptions about the so-called “first Thanksgiving,” including when it was held, why it was held, and who was present at it.

The Ancient Greek Cinderella

The story of Cinderella is a classic European folk tale that almost everyone in the western world has known since childhood. Most people here in the United States were first introduced to the story through the classic Walt Disney animated film Cinderella (1950), which was based on a French version of the story published in 1697 by the French writer Charles Perrault in his book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (“Stories of Past Times with Morals”). The story of Cinderella itself, however, is far, far older than Perrault. In fact, the oldest known version of the story of Cinderella was actually first recorded by a Greek writer in Hellenistic Egypt during the early first century AD.
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