Folklore

1. Folklore Some universal characteristics of myths, legends, proverbs, folktales, etc. of literary tradition

2. Creation Myths – Working more with these Down the Ol’ Road • Present for most cultures • Explain humanity’s advent/place in the world • Examples • A Giant and a cow form from melting ice and are the basis for the creation of the rest of the early deities. The giant’s corpse later becomes the earth and the sky • Norse • After waking from a long slumber, a man breaks out of a giant egg with a broadax and stands as a pillar separating earth and sky. When he dies, his body becomes elements in nature • Chinese • A Water Monster floods the land killing all but one person who is rescued by an eagle. They marry and bear children to start over again • Lakota • Woman decorated with skulls, snakes, and lacerated hands is impregnated by an obsidian knife and gives birth to the moon and stars. She is impregnated again by a ball of feathers, so the moon and stars plot to kill her, but she gives birth to a fiery war god who, with the help of a fire serpent, kills his siblings, beheads his mother, and throws her into a gorge • Aztec

3. Common FOLKLORE themes • Catastrophe • Slaying of Monsters • Sibling Rivalry • Incest • Castration • EXAMPLE – Ragnarok

4. RAGNAROK!!!! • Read the story in the Anthro Readings books • Quick discussion • Link to a kind of cool timeline • Your first art creation task of the art unit: • Folklore “Translation” • Take an example from your favorite/a common piece of folklore and “translate” it into another form of art • You may use the Ragnarok tale if you don’t have a favorite • Giesen will show you some examples

5. The HERO TALE – Universal • Hero (sometimes flawed) • Call to Adventure • Benevolent Forces/Figures • Malevolent Forces/Figures • Quests • Triumphant return • Transformation of hero