[HN Gopher] Elder Mother
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Elder Mother
        
       Author : benbreen
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2023-01-19 20:09 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
        
       | paganel wrote:
       | > The Elder Mother is thought to be the guardian of the elder
       | trees, a
       | 
       | Must be something with old Indo-European roots (or even older
       | than that), because we have something very similar in Romanian
       | folklore, it's called _Muma Padurii_ (literally translated as
       | _Forrest Mother_ ). From wikipedia [1] (very rough translation by
       | me):
       | 
       | > _Muma Padurii_ is a Romanian mythology character which is often
       | present in Romanian fairy-tales. According to Romanian folk
       | tradition she is an ugly witch, who lives alone, deep in the
       | forrest and she scares people. It looks like she is also present
       | in the Slav folk-tales under the name of _Baba Yaga_
       | 
       | As that wiki quote says, the Slavic people have something similar
       | under the name of _Baba Yaga_ [2]
       | 
       | [1] https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muma_P%C4%83durii
       | 
       | [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga
        
         | sprak wrote:
         | Interesting, that one does sound more similar to
         | "Skogsraet"[1]. With the possible exception that Skogsraet was
         | very beautiful, as long as you didn't see her from behind.
         | Apparently there were many different creatures watching over
         | the forest in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe.
         | 
         | [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skogsr%C3%A5
        
           | phillc73 wrote:
           | The creatures are still there, it is only that we have closed
           | our eyes, ears, hearts and minds to them. And so we destroy
           | their homes because we no longer hear, see, love or
           | understand them.
        
       | emmelaich wrote:
       | Reminds me of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man
        
       | JasonFruit wrote:
       | I'm sad that the article doesn't even begin to suggest a period
       | of time where this belief was current. Nonetheless, it gives me a
       | great idea for an inscription on musical instruments I make from
       | elder wood.
        
       | aimor wrote:
       | The wiki page originally cited some sources that were since
       | removed. I think they're more interesting than the wiki.
       | 
       | https://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/articles/category/folklore...
       | 
       | https://hedgerowmobile.com/elder.html
       | 
       | http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/respect.htm
        
       | legerdemain wrote:
       | Is elder wood unusually sappy, knotty, or hard to cut? I can
       | easily imagine people blaming the supernatural when a
       | woodcutter's axe sometimes gets stuck or a whittler's knife slips
       | in his hands.
        
         | _a_a_a_ wrote:
         | AFAIK it's very low grade weak stuff. Barely wood at all.
         | 
         | (edit: But elderflower cordial diluted with fizzy water is
         | stunningly good IMO)
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-01-20 23:01 UTC)