#folkloristics

19th-century author Charles Mackay proposed in The Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe (1877) that the seemingly meaningless string of syllables "Fa fe fi fo fum" is actually a coherent phrase of ancient Gaelic, and that the complete quatrain covertly expresses the Celts' cultural detestation of the invading Angles and Saxons: Fa from faich (fa!) "behold!" or "see!" Fe from Fiadh (fee-a) "food"; Fi from fiú "good to eat" Fo from fogh (fó) "sufficient" and Fum from feum "hunger". Thus "Fa fe fi fo fum!" becomes "Behold food, good to eat, sufficient for my hunger!

I am not sure I believe Mackay's theory, but I am also now firmly on the Giant's side in Jack and the Beanstalk.

A man was in love with a woman who disliked him and wanted nothing to do with him. He tried every way to win her favor, but with no success. At last he grew discouraged and made himself thinking about it.

Mole came along and finding the man so low in mind, asked what the trouble was. The man told him the whole story and when he had finished, Mole said: "I can help you. Not only will she like you, but she'll come to you of her own free will."

That night, burrowing underground to the place where the girl was asleep, Mole took out her heart. He came back and gave the heart to the discouraged lover, who couldn't see it in the dark, even in his own hand. "There," said Mole. "Swallow it and she will be so drawn to you that she has to come."

The man swallowed the heart, and when the girl woke up she somehow thought of him at once. She felt a strange desire to be with him, to go to him immediately. She couldn't understand it, because she had always disliked him, but the feeling grew so strong that she was compelled to find the man and tell him that she loved him and wanted to be his wife. And so they were married.

All of the wise men and women who knew them both were confused and wondered how this had happened. When they found that it was the work of Mole, who they always thought was too insignificant to notice, they were angry and threatened to kill him.

That's why Mole hid under the ground and still doesn't dare to come up.

under the cut is a list of all werewolf media (books, film, and tv) for my upcoming.. project thing. i thought i'd post publicly for fun. i crossed out what i've seen and read before, but i might have to re-read/watch a few. i'll also sort short stories into their own category later when i find enough, and add other categories for stories from folklore.