Yes this could have to do with the fact that Freya the Norse Goddess of love, beauty and fertility drove a chariot pulled by cats.
So, if I ever get married, I fully expect a catmobile.
One of the other reasons why they gave cats to each other was for their valuable skills as mousers. Cats were able to control rodent populations around their properties.
Also, Norse myths are thought to have the earliest literary descriptions of the Norwegian Forest Cat. They were described as large, strong cats that drew Freya’s chariot and were so heavy that not even Thor, God of Thunder, could lift them from the floor. (Source)
They kinda live up to the legend, too. Your average Norwegian Forest Cat is twenty pounds of solid muscle, with claws large and strong enough to climb solid rock. They’ve been known to attack bears when defending their territory. And yet they’re one of the cuddliest breeds out there, particularly noted for being patient with small children.
I have a Norwegian mix, and can attest that she is the cuddliest cat but also insane enough to try and fight a bear.
i love mythology in any place of the world. It’s all just great!
Also vikings had an affinity for the ginger cat mutation and created the breed, spreading them throughout the countries they raided as they often brought cats on their voyages And that is why there are so many ginger cats! Ginger cats are vikings!!!
Wulver: a werewolf in Shetland, that is said to have had the body of a man with a wolf’s head. It was reported to have left fish on the windowsills of poor families.
That is the nicest Werewolf legend I’ve ever heard of.
Now I wish I could draw because I’d love to draw this.
I’m gonna need some detailed information on this product’s production company to convince me that the Sidhe didn’t make this themselves.
Do not do.
I am a professional faerieologist at this point, and I say DO NOT DO.
This strikes me as a SPECTACULARLY bad idea.
NO NO NO NO.
Okay so Irish faeries are such an interesting collection of creatures and beings that range from nice and friendly to “HOLY SHIT! DO NOT OFFEND! BACK AWAY SLOWLY AND PRAY TO WHATEVER DEITY YOU BELIEVE IN!”
Banshee are considered faeries in Celtic myth and lemme tell ya, you don’t ever want to piss off a Banshee. Especially if you’re in Ireland. Nope. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200. Just. Run. Away.
Little story my mam told me about a friend of her’s back when she was younger. This would have been in the 70s, so not that long ago tbh. Her friend was out on the lash with some lads, and he walked home alone.
Now the town they lived in was a little and coastal back then. A lighthouse, a pier, about 10 feet of beach before a huge motherfucking drop into the depths of the Irish Sea. Pebble beach. Lovely tbh.
Anyway. So her friend is walking home, obviously pissed but not to the point where he can’t see straight (he was Irish, drinking is our thing) and he comes across this woman sat on a wall, wailing quietly, brushing her hair with a comb.
Now, he shouts at her “awe, shut up ya’ whinnin’ cow!” and calls her a few choice names.
He gets a comb thrown at him for his efforts. A comb that he took with him home, wandering off into the night while this woman screeches at him and wails.
His wife finds the comb in the morning and is confused because “why on God’s green earth have ya’ got a comb made of bone?”
He doesn’t know why he picked it up but tells her about the woman who threw it at him and how she was screeching the night away. His wife is fucking pale by this point because “oh no, sweet Jesus no.”
To cut the story short, not long after, my mam’s friend died. Sudden. Unexplainable. Heart attack it was put down as.
The ‘woman’ he shouted at that night, was pale skinned, white haired, and brushing her hair with a bone comb.
Motto of the story is thus: DO. NOT. INVITE, QUESTION, SUMMON, OR, ANYTHING ELSE TO DO WITH IRISH FAERIES UNLESS. YOU. WANT. TO. DIE.
wow. just wow. That is one hell of a story. But listen, I find the best part is that this Banshee was just sitting there, minding her own damn business, combing out her hair, like ya do, out in the middle of the Irish country side, singing to herself. Like. I always just thought Banshee’s popped up and stuff when people were about to die. Nope. They actually do shit.
I’m not exactly inclined to go ask a Banshee what she does with her time tbh.
Banshee are mostly associated with death but sometimes they just show up because of dates, grief, death etc. I imagine there are some battlefields where Banshee would frequent because of the memory of large loss of life but don’t quote me on that.
What I found most surprising when my mam told me this story was the Banshee caused his death. Had he never bothered her, the sight of her probably would have shortened his life or sth, but he would have lived. But he decided to be a dick to her and got smacked with a comb for it.
Basically he got cursed by a Banshee.
WE SELL THESE AT THE GIFT SHOP I WORK IN AND ON THE BOX IT SAYS THEY ARE AN IRISH OWNED COMPANY AND MADE IN IRELAND BUT I’M LIKE “ARE YOU SURE??? IS THIS REALLY A GOOD IDEA??? WERE YOU TAUGHT NOTHING AS AN IRISH CHILD???”
There is even a really huge ass version of the faerie door in the shop and this little girl kept coming back in to check it and she was like “I can’t wait for it to open. I want to see the fairies come through!” and I was there like “No. No you don’t you sweet Canadian child. Because the fae take children like you away to dances and when you go back home the next day 20 years will have passed”
Listen…I don’t even really believe in the supernatural but I wouldn’t do something that would attract the attention of the fay folk. It’s just not worth it on the off chance any of the legends are remotely true.
Who the fuck thinks anything dealing with the good neighbors is a splendid idea? And seriously an Irish company made this? I’m betting the good neighbors are behind it.
The fae get into human capitalism
So the thing is that the guy who saw the bansidhe was probably doomed right from the start because she was probably his bansidhe and this was just the only way to make sure she got the message to him alone and not someone else. Remember that family bansidhe’s are matrilineal ancestors, so he basically called his great to the power of n grandmother a rude name and got a comb chucked at him for being so bloody rude.
I love this because most people seem to say no if asked directly if they believe. But how many of those same people are going to deliberately mouth off to a pale woman with a bone comb alone in the dark in Ireland???
They’re all here! I took it upon myself to create an illustration of a Mythological creature or character for every letter of the alphabet, trying to span across a multitude of cultures and creature-types. Another thing I wanted to accomplish with this project was to find some the more unusual and/or obscure creatures that don’t get as much representation in artwork. Individual Tumblr Posts with said creatures’ descriptions are below.
Again, I’ll be making this into a small run of books as a way to test the waters. If there’s more demand for a larger run, I’ll definitely be looking into it!
Louis Le Breton was a French painter who specialised in marine paintings. He executed illustrations of occult demons, working from engravings by M. Jarrault, for the 1863 edition of “Dictionnaire Infernal” by Collin de Plancy.
The migas is said to be a huge, freshwater-dwelling octopus that comes from African folklore.
The migas dwells in swamps and deep lakes, and is said to have more tentacles than a regular octopus, ranging from twenty, to almost a hundred. Even if they dwell in such conditions, they have the ability to squeeze through the tightest of spaces, like normal octopuses, and hide in very shallow lakes.
They say that anything it will come in contact with will instantly become its target, and the migas will tear its victim to shreds.
