I always like to learn about heroines from history and legend, and today I decided to learn a little bit about the Swedish legend of Blenda, a woman from Småland who led the rural women of Värend in an attack on a pillaging Danish army and annihilated the invaders.
     According to the legend, the events took place in the time of Alle, King of the Geats, when this king lead the Geats in an attack against Norway. King Alle had marshalled not only the West Geats, but also the South Geats (or Riding Geats) of Småland, and so many men had left for Norway that the region was virtually defenseless.
     When the Danes learned of Småland's precarious situation, they took advantage of it and attacked the defenseless small lands. Blenda was a woman of noble descent in the Konga Hundred and she decided to send the fiery cross to rally all the womenfolk in the hundreds of Konga, Albo, Kinnevald, Norrvidinge and Uppvidinge. The women armies assembled on the Brávellir, which according to Smålandish tradition is located in Värend and not in Östergötland.
     The women approached the Danes and told them how much they were impressed with the Danish men. They invited the men to a banquet where they were provided with food and drink. After a long evening, the Danish warriors fell asleep and the women killed every single one of them with axes and staffs.
     When King Alle returned, he bestowed new rights on the women. They acquired equal inheritance with their brothers and husbands, the right always to wear a belt around their waists as a sign of eternal vigilance, the right to beat the drum at weddings, and so forth. The five hundreds were combined into the land of Värend, which means the "defense", since it was a bulwark for Geatland. Blenda's village was called Värnslanda and a location near the battle ground was called Bländinge.
     Damn!

 ~Ally

     Berserkers (or berserks) are described as Norse warriors who are primarily reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. What I didn't know about them was that most historians believe that these warriors may have worked themselves into a rage before battle through the consumption of drugged foods.
    The Úlfhéðnar (singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers, mentioned in the Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga, were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle. Úlfhéðnar are sometimes described as Odin's special warriors:

     "[Odin’s] men went without their mailcoats and were mad as hounds or wolves, bit their shields...they slew men, but neither fire nor iron had effect upon them. This is called 'going berserk."

     In addition, a helm-plate press from Torslunda depicts a scene of Odin with a berserker—"a wolf skinned warrior with the dancer in the bird-horned helm, which is generally interpreted as showing a scene indicative of a relationship between berserkgang... and the god Odin" — with a wolf pelt and a spear as distinguishing features.
     To "go berserk" can be also considered to “hamask”, which can be translated as “change form," in this case, as with the sense "enter a state of wild fury" and one who could transform as a berserker was typically thought of as “hamrammr” or “shapestrong”.
     Berserkers appear prominently in a multitude of other sagas and poems, many of which describe them as ravenous men who loot, plunder, and kill indiscriminately. Later, by Christian interpreters, the berserk was even viewed as a "heathen devil."
     The earliest surviving reference to the term "berserker" is in Haraldskvæði, a skaldic poem composed by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honour of King Harald Fairhair, as ulfheðnar ("men clad in wolf skins"). This translation from the Haraldskvæði saga describes Harald's berserkers:

"I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood,

Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated,
Those who wade out into battle?
Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle
They bear bloody shields.
Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight.
They form a closed group.
The prince in his wisdom puts trust in such men
Who hack through enemy shields."

      Emphasis has been placed on the frenzied nature of the berserkers, hence the modern sense of the word 'berserk.' However,  sources describe several other characteristics that have been ignored or neglected by modern commentators, such as Snorri's assertion that 'neither fire nor iron told upon them' and the sources frequently state that neither edged weapons nor fire affected the berserks, although they were not immune to clubs or other blunt instruments.      Similarly, Hrolf Kraki's champions refuse to retreat 'from fire or iron.' Another frequent motif refers to berserkers blunting their enemy's blades with spells, or a glance from their evil eyes. This appears as early as Beowulf where it is a characteristic attributed to Grendel. Both the fire eating and the immunity to edged weapons are reminiscent of tricks popularly ascribed to fakirs.
     In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, sentenced berserker warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, organised berserker war-bands had disappeared.
     Nowadays, the word "berserker" applies to anyone who fights with reckless abandon and disregard to even his own life, a concept used during the Vietnam War and in Vietnam-inspired literature and film. "Going berserk" in this context refers to a state induced by adrenaline (or military-issued amphetamine for long missions) in the human body and brain leading a soldier to fight with fearless rage and indifference, a state strikingly similar to that of the 9th century berserkers. "Going berserk" is also used colloquially to describe a person who is acting in a wild rage or in an uncontrolled and irrational manner. Furthermore,  "berserker" is also a well known character archetype and status in video games and other media.

~Ally

     If you're fond of fairytales as I am, then you should definetely look up Spenser's The Faerie Queene, one of the masterpieces of English poetry, and certainly part of the literary pedigree that culminated in Tolkien. However, the original text is very difficult to follow for modern readers because of the archaic language and spelling - not to mention that not all of us are fluent in English. But don't worry: to our rescue comes Mary Macleod! Her late Victorian retelling in straightforward modern English allows one to plow through Spenser's intricate and allegorical plot. So I thought we sould start with the fist chapter of the tale of "The Red Cross Knight" ("Right faithful true he was in deed and word"), called

The Court of the Queen

     "ONCE upon a time, in the days when there were still such things as giants and dragons, there lived a great Queen. She reigned over a rich and beautiful country, and because she was good and noble every one loved her, and tried also to be good. Her court was the most splendid one in the world, for all her knights were brave and gallant, and each one thought only of what heroic things he could do, and how best he could serve his royal lady. The name of the Queen was Gloriana, and each of her twelve chief knights was known as the Champion of some virtue. Thus Sir Guyon was the representative of Temperance, Sir Artegall of Justice, Sir Calidore of Courtesy, and others took up the cause of Friendship, Constancy, and so on.

Every year the Queen held a great feast, which lasted twelve days. Once, on the first day of the feast, a stranger in poor clothes came to the court, and, falling before the Queen, begged a favour of her. It was always the custom at these feasts that the Queen should refuse nothing that was asked, so she bade the stranger say what it was he wished. Then he besought that, if any cause arose which called for knightly aid, the adventure might be entrusted to him.

When the Queen had given her promise he stood quietly on one side, and did not try to mix with the other guests who were feasting at the splendid tables. Although he was so brave, he was very gentle and modest, and he had never yet proved his valour in fight, therefore he did not think himself worthy of a place among the knights who had already won for themselves honour and renown.

Soon after this there rode into the city a fair lady on a white ass. Behind her came her servant, a dwarf, leading a warlike horse that bore the armour of a knight. The face of the lady was lovely, but it was very sorrowful.

Making her way to the palace, she fell before Queen Gloriana, and implored her help. She said that her name was Una; she was the daughter of a king and queen who formerly ruled over a mighty country; but, many years ago, a huge dragon came and wasted all the land, and shut the king and queen up in a brazen castle, from which they might never come out. The Lady Una therefore besought Queen Gloriana to grant her one of her knights to fight and kill this terrible dragon.

Then the stranger sprang forward, and reminded the Queen of the promise she had given. At first she was unwilling to consent, for the Knight was young, and, moreover, he had no armour of his own to fight with.

Then said the Lady Una to him, "Will you wear the armour that I bring you, for unless you do you will never succeed in the enterprise, nor kill the horrible monster of Evil? The armour is not new, it is scratched and dinted with many a hard-fought battle, but if you wear it rightly no armour that ever was made will serve you so well."

Then the stranger bade them bring the armour and put it on him, and Una said, "Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take

 the helmet of salvation and the sword of the SPIRIT, which is the word of GOD."

And when the stranger had put off his own rough clothes and was clad in this armour, straightway he seemed the goodliest man in all that company, and the Lady Una was well pleased with her champion; and, because of the red cross which he wore on his breastplate and on his silver shield, henceforth he was known always as "the Red Cross Knight." But his real name was Holiness, and the name of the lady for whom he was to do battle was Truth.

So these two rode forth into the world together, while a little way behind followed their faithful attendant, Prudence. And now you shall hear some of the adventures that befell the Red Cross Knight and his two companions.

~Ally

     I do like a gastly story, but when it is a legend told all around the world, things get even better!
    The White Lady or Woman in White is a type of female ghost reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with some local legend of tragedy. Common to many of the tales about them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband, boyfriend or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line or said to be a harbinger of death similar to a banshee.
     In popular medieval legend, a White Lady is fabled to appear by day as well as by night in a house in which a family member is soon to die. According to The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, these spirits were regarded as the ghosts of deceased ancestresses.
    And now, we have some legends about White Ladies from the United Kingdom, for your delight:

• Castle Huntly, Scotland, is said to be haunted by a young woman dressed in flowing white robes. There are various stories concerning her history, one of which is that she was a daughter of the Lyon family who occupied the castle in the 17th century. When her affair with a manservant was discovered she was banished to a tower on the battlements. Unable to endure her suffering, she threw herself to her death from the tower. The ghost of the White Lady has been seen a number of times over the years, often on the grounds surrounding the castle. She has also been seen in the room in which she was imprisoned.

• In Darwen's old cemetery there is a gravestone of a supposed white lady, whose eyes open when they are touched. There have been reported sightings of her ghost walking around the area at night, seeking her child. The white lady of Darwen is said to have died during childbirth, or to have been raped and murdered by a group of men who stole her child. She is said to manifest in response to the spoken phrase "White lady, white lady, I stole your black baby", before attacking the speaker and causing them to faint. Local folklore says that the white lady of Darwen killed a group of teenagers who were on a camping trip in the White Hall Park in the late 1980s, within two hours of them visiting her grave.

• The White Lady of Willow Park is native to a small, heavily wooded park of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, in northwest England. She is thought to be the tormented spirit of a bride who was drowned in the lake by her husband on their wedding night. Variations on her method of death include being bricked up in a cave and hanging herself in the kitchen.

• The White Lady (also known as the 'Running Lady') of Beeford, East Yorkshire resides on the "Beeford Straight", a stretch of road between Beeford and Brandesburton. Motorists have reported her apparition running across the Beeford Straight toward the junction of North Frodingham. Anecdotal tales also report a motorcyclist picking up a female hitchhiker on the same stretch of road. A few miles later the motorcyclist, upon turning around, noticed the passenger had vanished. In one instance, a car crashed into a tree killing 6 people . It is rumored to be her curse.

• Muncaster Castle in the county of Cumbria is reputed to be one of England's most haunted houses. The vengeful ghost in white of Mary Bragg, a foul-mouthed local girl who was murdered by being hanged from the Main Gate by drunken youths in the 19th century after they had kidnapped her for a joke, is also referred to as the white lady. The white lady has been sighted in Chadkirk, Manchester going across the canal on a banana boat.

• Roughwood Nature Reserve in the Black Country also has had a high number of paranormal incidents, including sightings of a woman in a white dress, drenched in ichor from the lake where it is rumored her body was abandoned. Local myths suggest this is the spirit of Pauline Kelly, who with her daughter Evelyn disappeared in the mid-19th century. The local community has a Halloween tradition involving wearing white dresses and speaking the mocking rhyme: "White Lady, White Lady, I'm the one who killed your baby." This rhyme came into being after stories involving the kidnapping of the child after the death of Mrs. Kelly, which keeps her rooted to this world.
  

• There have also been reported sightings of a White Lady in Sidcup at the Foots Cray Meadows. It is seen every night and is slow walking its very bright white colour. The story is that her husband died in the war and every night she walks the meadows scattering flowers for her lost loved one. In the local church there is a diary of hers with the final words being, "I will see you soon." It is rumored that she committed suicide in the meadow after having written this.

• Last but not leasr, the Old Mill Hotel, Motherwell, is said to be haunted by a ghost called the white lady from long ago. A lady was engaged to a man and was due to be married in the old mill hotel. On their wedding day, the lady's fiance never arrived to the wedding, as he was beaten up by another man who also wanted the lady. The lady was upset and angry, so she ran to the Nine arches where the trains run past. She sat on the edge crying and forlorn. A train rushed passed her and she jumped in fright, falling to the ground dead. For the rest of her fiance's life, the white lady (the lady who died in her white wedding dress) haunted him for apparently not loving her. Her grave is near the old mill hotel and she is said to be seen sitting under a beautiful tree.

~Ally

     The Huldra is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name comes from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as the skogsfru or skovfrue (meaning "Lady of the forest"). She is known as the skogsrå (forest spirit) or Tallemaja (pine tree Mary) in Swedish folklore, and Ulda in Sámi folklore. She is also considered the same being as the völva Huld and the German Holda. There are also male hulders, called huldu, or, in Norway, a huldrekarl. This being is closely related to other underground dwellers, usually called tusser. Like the female counterpart, the huldrekarl is a shapeshifter who often lures girls under a fair countenance.
     The female creature, however, is descrived as a stunningly beautiful naked woman with long hair, and has an animal's tail. In Norway, she has a cow's tail, and in Sweden she may have that of a cow or a fox. Further in the north of Sweden, the tail can be entirely omitted in favor of her hollow or bark-covered back. The huldra is one of several rå (keeper, warden), including the aquatic Sjörå (or havsfru), later identified with a mermaids, and the bergsrå in caves and mines who made life tough for the poor miners.    
     The huldras were held to be kind to charcoal burners, watching their charcoal kilns while they rested. Knowing that she would wake them if there were any problems, they were able to sleep, and in exchange they left provisions for her in a special place. A tale from Närke illustrates further how kind a huldra could be, especially if treated with respect (Hellström 1985:15). Read it below.

     "A boy in Tiveden went fishing, but he had no luck. Then he met a beautiful lady, and she was so stunning that he felt he had to catch his breath. But, then he realized who she was, because he could see a fox's tail sticking out below the skirt. As he knew that it was forbidden to comment on the tail to the lady of the forest, if it were not done in the most polite manner, he bowed deeply and said with his softest voice, "Milady, I see that your petticoat shows below your skirt". The lady thanked him gracefully and hid her tail under her skirt, telling the boy to fish on the other side of the lake. That day, the boy had great luck with his fishing and he caught a fish every time he threw out the line. This was the huldra's recognition of his politeness."

     In some traditions, the huldra lures men into the forest to have sexual intercourse with her, rewarding those who satisfy her and often killing those who do not. The Norwegian huldra is a lot less bloodthirsty and may simply kidnap a man or lure him into the underworld. She sometimes steals human infants and replaces them with her own ugly huldrebarn (changeling huldre children). In some cases, the intercourse resulted in a child, being presented to the unknowing father. In some cases, she forces him to marry her.
     Sometimes she marries a local farm boy, but when this happens, the glamour leaves her when the priest lays his hand on her, or when she enters the church. Some legends tell of husbands who subsequently treat her badly. Some fairy tales leave out this feature, and only relate how a marriage to a Christian man will cause her to lose her tail, but not her looks, and let the couple live happily ever after. However if she is treated badly, she will remind him that she is far from weak, often by straightening out a horseshoe with her bare hands, sometimes while it is still glowing hot from the forge or even lift up a tree trunk.
     If betrayed, the huldra can punish the man severely, as in one case from Sigdal, when she avenged her pride on a young braggart she had sworn to marry, on the promise that he would not tell anybody of her. The boy instead bragged about his bride for a year, and when they met again, she beat him around the ears with her cow's tail. He lost his hearing and his wits for the rest of his life.
    The hulder has long been associated with hunting; she might blow down the barrel of a huntsman's rifle, causing it never thereafter to miss a shot. Some men are not so lucky, or perhaps skilled, and escape her only after surrendering their sanity. The huldra myth has also been associated with Christianity in the past, and a tale recounts how a woman had washed only half of her children when God came to her cottage; ashamed of the dirty ones, she hid them. God decreed that those she had hidden from him would be hidden from mankind; they became the huldrer.

~Ally

      It's back to mythology and folklore today, folks! And I must say: I missed it a little!
     Today I want to tell you a bit about the Alp Luachra, also spelt Alp-luachra or Alpluachra, and also known as a Joint-eater or Just-halver. This is an evil and greedy fairy from Irish mythology that seems to be always lurking for food through humans.
    When a person falls asleep by the side of a spring or stream, the Alp-luachra appears in the form of a newt and crawls down the person's mouth, feeding off the food that they had eaten. According to Robert Kirk's "Secret Commonwealth of Fairies", this creature feeds not on the food itself, but on the "pith or quintessence" of the food. Another famous occurrence is in Douglas Hyde's "Beside the Fire", which tells of how a person got back at an Alp-luachra by eating large amounts of salted meat and sleeping near the stream. The Alp-luachra fed upon him, but jumped to the water in thirst.
     Next time you fall asleep next to a strem and wake up with a nasty or strange taste in your mouth, blame the Alp-luachra, not your lack of teeth brushing!

~Ally

     "'You do!' 'Do what?' 'Remind me of the Babe!'"
     Ok, Labyrinth movie jokes aside, today I decided to read a little about Hoodoo and to discover what are the differences between it and Voodoo, if there are any.
     Hoodoo has some spiritual principles and practices similar to spiritual folkways in Haitian, Cuban, Jamaican and New Orleans traditions, and it seems to have evolved in the Mississippi Delta where the concentration of slaves was dense. Then, the belief spread throughout the Southeast as well as North along the Mississippi as African Americans left the Delta beginning in the 1930s.
     There is still strong mainstream American prejudice against hoodoo, based on the myths that hoodoo is practiced primarily with selfish, hurtful intentions, or that it is related to worship of the Christian devil, Satan. Hoodoo is sometimes thought of as "folk magic" or "superstition". These terms tend to perpetuate the misperception that hoodoo is a childlike belief in tricks. The efficacy of hoodoo as a spiritual influence on outcomes in the physical and social world is comparable to that of mainstream religious rituals.
     Spiritual folkways like hoodoo are an ever-evolving process, continuously synthesizing from contact with other cultures, religions and folkways. What is striking about the hoodoo folk process is the use of biblical figures in its practices and in the lives of its practitioners. In fact, most practitioners of hoodoo integrate this folkway with their Christian religious faith. Icons of Christian saints are often found on hoodoo shrines or altars.
     Like voodoo, hoodoo shows evident links to the practices and beliefs of West African spiritual folkways. The ancient African folkway of Vodoun is a more standardized and widely dispersed spiritual practice than hoodoo. Vodoun's modern form is practiced across West Africa in the countries now known as Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso, among others. In Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands, the worship of the Vodoun gods (called lwa or loas) is practiced in a syncretic form that has been greatly modified by contact with Catholicism. The Voodoo of Haiti and Louisiana Voodoo are related more to Vodoun than to hoodoo; similar Vodoun practices among Spanish speakers in Cuba are called Santería. However, a more precise description of what Voodoo is and how it relates to both Vodun and to Hoodoo is needed.

~Ally

     How awesome is it when one of your favorite tv shows is based on real life characters? The latest season of American Horror Story (Coven) was very cool - even though I didn't watch the two previous ones -, and the end was perfect, at least to me. But today's post is about one of the main characters of the series: the tough voodoo queen Marie Laveau.
     The real Marie was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo very renowned in New Orleans. She and her daughter had great influence over their multiracial following. Some say that, in 1874 as many as twelve thousand spectators, both black and white, swarmed to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to catch a glimpse of Marie Laveau II (the daughter) performing her legendary rites on St. John's Eve (June 23–24).
     Historical records surmise that Marie Laveau was born free in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, about 1794. She was the natural daughter of two free persons of color, both biracial, one of which was Creole. On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques (or Santiago, in other records) Paris, a free person of color who had emigrated from Haiti. Their marriage certificate is preserved in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. The wedding Mass was performed by Father Antonio de Sedella, the Capuchin priest known as Pere Antoine. Jacques Paris died in 1820 under unexplained circumstances.
     According to VoodooMuseum.com, "The only evidence that exist(s) of any sort of occupation she had was (as) a liquor importer (in 1832) on Dauphine Street in the Faubourg Marigny (in New Orleans). The warehouse still exits at the intersection of Dauphine and Kerlérec Streets". Folklore says at one time she also became a hairdresser, as it is also portrayed in the series. She took a lover, Christophe (Louis Christophe Dumesnil de Glapion), with whom she lived until his death in 1835. They were reported to have had 15 children including Marie Laveau II, born c. 1827, who sometimes used the surname "Paris" after her mother's first husband.
     Very little is known with any certainty about the life of Marie Laveau. Scholars believe that the mother was more powerful while the daughter arranged more elaborate public events. It is said that they received varying amounts of financial support. It is not known which (if not both) had done more to establish the voodoo queen reputation. Of Laveau's magical career there is little that can be substantiated. She was said to have had a snake she named Zombi after an African god. Oral traditions suggested that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs, including saints, with African spirits and religious concepts. Some scholars believe that her feared magical powers of divination were actually based on her network of informants which she developed while working as a hairdresser in households of the prominent. As she visited her clients (mostly white) she listened closely to their gossip. Some assert that she ran her own brothel and cultivated informants in that way as well. She appeared to excel at obtaining inside information on her wealthy patrons by instilling fear in their servants whom she either paid or "cured" of mysterious ailments.
     On June 16, 1881, the New Orleans newspapers, the Daily Picayune for one, according to "Voodoo in New Orleans" by Robert Tallant, announced that Marie Laveau had died peacefully in her home. This is noteworthy if only because people claimed to have seen her in town after her supposed demise. Again, some claimed that one of her daughters also named Marie (many of the daughters had Marie within their names due to Catholic naming practices) assumed her name and carried on her magical practice, taking over as the queen soon before or after the first Marie's death.
     Marie Laveau is generally believed to have been buried in plot 347, the Glapion family crypt, in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans, but this has been disputed by researchers. Tourists continue to visit and some draw "X" marks in accordance with a decades-old rumor that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their "X," and leave Laveau an offering.

~Ally

     Also referred to as Afrit, Afreet, Ifreet, Yfrit and Efreet, this is an enormous winged demonic creature of fire from the Middle Eastern and African culture.
     Either male or female, it lives underground and frequents ruins. They are said to prey on people, especially children from Islamic belief. When a child of wealthy future and evil character is born, an Afrit spirit comes and takes the place of the child's soul. The Ifrits have a human form with goat’s legs and horns on their heads, much like the Devil in Christianity.
     They live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes, and clans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them.
     As with the jinn - and it is important to say that Afrits are one of the classes of Djinns -, an Ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but he is most often depicted as a wicked and ruthless being.
     In early folklore it was believed that the Afrit spirit was created by the formation of the blood spilt by a murder victim. To prevent an Afrit from being created, then, it was advised to drive a special nail into the blood. In fact, when British soldiers arrived in Egypt during the Second World War, the locals warned them of the Afrits that lived nearby. They said that the Demons could appear in the form of an astray dog and that they had the power to turn humans into animals. Because, apparently, bombs and angry Nazi's aren't scary enough in a war!

~Ally

      Have you ever wondered why bears have little tails? Well, the ancient Finns did, and here's what they came up with.

How did the bear lose his tail?

~Ally