Myth-Folklore 2019

In my youth, I was the most beautiful fox in the forest, with luscious red fur and a wide, bushy tail. I held a secret, however--none of my fox brethren knew that I could become a human at will. I simply tugged at my fur and it came off, transforming me into a beautiful woman in the process. I never revealed this secret to the creatures I lived with in the forest as all, to some extent, were terrified of humans and for good reason--hunters frequented our little woods and made short work of any unfortunate animal who happened to cross their path. One day, I grew bored of my life in the forest and longed for human interaction. I never was satisfied with my life as a fox and, in my youthful folly, decided to join mankind. I knew of a young hunter who lived near the edge of the woods and decided that he would be my husband, though of course he had no idea of this. Every day, I watched his house, waiting for him to go hunting, at which point I swooped in, ripped off my fur, and labored al...

For this week I chose to read Native American marriage tales from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). My favorite story for the second half of this week's readings was The Girl and the Turkeys . In this story, which is very similar to the story of Cinderella, a poor girl tends a flock of turkeys and the birds grow to love her as she is very good at caring for them. The poor girl is scorned by others in her community and makes her living by caring for their turkeys. One day, she is told about a dance that will be held and wishes she were able to attend. The turkeys promise her that they will help her attend and transform her raggedy clothing into a fine and beautiful outfit and make the girl incredibly beautiful. The turkeys tell the girl that she must not forget about them, otherwise she will risk losing her good fortune. The girl promises to never forget them and goes to the dance where she is incredibly popular. Every man wants to dance with her and no...

For this week, I chose to read Native American marriage tales from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). My favorite story out of this week's readings was The Fox-Woman . In this story, a single man notices that when he returns from hunting, his dwelling is completely cleaned, his clothing cared for, and his food prepared. Amazed and curious, he pretends to go out hunting one day while secretly hiding and waiting to see who is doing these things for him. He sees a fox enter his home and when the man goes in after the fox, he finds inside a beautiful woman with the skin of a fox hanging nearby her. He asks her if she has been the one doing the cleaning and cooking, to which she replies that yes, as his wife, she has been the one doing these things. The two live together for a bit until one day the man mentions a musky odor, which the woman declares is her. She declares that she will not stay if he finds fault with her and leaves in a huff, running away as a...