Human culture is full of vibrant threads of enduring stories and narratives. Narratives passed down through generations that hold a unique place of consciousness.
Folktales are more than simple stories; they are vessels of culture, truth, and moral lessons. These tales have been passed down through generations. Some tell a story of warning, while others tell a story of achievement. Folktales are fun to listen to and even believe. While some may seem unreal or made up, it is fun to see people’s different opinions and viewpoints on what they think of these tall tales.
“I like hearing tales that have been passed down throughout people’s families or just ones they heard walking down the street,” Lauren Peterson said.
Some of the most famous folktales are stories like Little Red Riding Hood, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and many other stories that you have maybe grown up with. While these stories are made to produce more of a warning or a life lesson, others take a dark turn.
Stories of mythical creatures and creepy things that make the hair on a person’s neck stand up have been passed down through many generations. Characters like Medusa, the Kraken, The Wendigo, night marchers, and many more that are introduced in folktale stories. Most of these stories come from old tribes or island cultures.
For example, the night marchers are an old hawaiian tale of ghost soldiers who were said to roam the islands at night. People truly believe in these stories and take respect for the soldiers.
Another famous one is The Wendigo/Skinwalkers. These creature originate from North American Tribes and to them it is real. These creatures are taken very seriously and strike fear into communities. They are known for their ability to shapeshift and mimic sound to catch its victims.
“I have heard a lot of people talk about skinwalkers and it all sounds creepy, I would not want to run into one just from the look or the stories I have heard,” Petersen said.
I personally have heard a lot of stories of the Wendigo/Skinwalker and it creeped me out for a long time. I have heard things like it takes the form of a deer or that it cries in the forest and calls to try and get you to come toward it. I personally am not a big believer of this folktale but it definitely still creeps me out.
Tales like this were often told to strike fear into certain people or even a community. Hearing tales like this can strike people into a rabbit hole of research and even interest them to make their own opinions or stories on the tales.
One common occurrence of these tales though, is if they are real. Trying to differentiate between what is a true story and what is made up can be a hard task. A lot of these stories are made to drive the audience into a certain mindset or a certain train of emotions.
Now to say that just because they are told or created to make you feel a certain way is not to be said that it is all made up. One of the interesting things about these tales is that most people really do not know what is true and what is not. It is completely left up to interpretation.
With most of these stories being passed down through generations it is hard to find the actual facts. Once one person has told the story it is taken and told in another persons words.
Similar to the game telephone, it is likely that almost no folktale was originally told the same way that we have heard it. I do not really believe in most of these tales, but I do think that it is a cool perspective to look at certain things. I also believe it depends on the person telling the tale to get the other to believe.
I have heard some stories that are definitely made up but the person was so convincing that it started to make m e actually believe in the tale and made me feel a sort of fear for just a split second. Which is what these tales are meant to do. Folktales are some of the most interesting stories that I have heard and I personally like hearing the things people have come up with.
