Irish And Thai Folklore

Front 1

bulls

Back 1

reflected the power of the Celts

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horse

Back 2

prestigious; represents beauty, speed, bravery, sexual vigor

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Good People

Back 3

fairies; fairies also called "they" or "them" so as not to anger them; people leave food out at night

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druids

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interpreters of natural phenomenon; were mediators between the normal world and Otherworld

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leprechauns

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tiny men with treasure that they keep and defend

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banshees

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a Celtic term for fairy, they warn of impending death by wailing in the night, and they can only be heard by their respective family; they are partilineally passed on in families

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changeling child

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offspring of a troll, fairy, elf, that is left in place of a human infant; the infant is taken as a servant or for the desire of having a baby; the changeling child has special abilities, or a big appetite; may explain infants with mental or physical abnormalities

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bath of White Cows

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The milk of white cows and the water of the Slaney mixed together; it can heal wounded soldiers and cure disease and poison; three men came to a great chief in need and the druid among them told of the remedy.

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Lady of the Lake

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A ferry woman who leaves the lake where she lives and marries a man. The deal is that he can't hit her three times in vain or she'll leave. He hits her three times and she returns to the lake.

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The Speckled Bull

Back 10

a bull that was magically born from a speckled cow that ate the fruit of a tree that grew from the second killed baby's grave. The bull flew away and landed in an eastern kingdom and became the king's son. The bull was a handsome man under a speall and married the king's daughter. The speckled bull transforms back to a man and gets revenge on his evil stepmother.

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Cu Chulainn

Back 11

He is famous for the Cattle Raid of Cooley; he has human and supernatural powers; when he is 17 and too young to fight he puts on a false beard and defeats the enemy champions one-by-one.

Front 12

Holy Grail

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sought by the Knights of the Round Table; promised immortality if they were pure and deserved it

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Camelot

Back 13

the kingdom of King Arthur that represented a strong and orderly government

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Artorius

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Roman name refering to Arthur; story first heard A.D. 600 maybe 50 years after died; may have been a successful warlord or a monarch that brought order after the Romans - short but effective reign; many myths about him by many societies

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Excalibur

Back 15

a gift from the gods, Arthur pulled it from the stone and became king, it had to be returned after King Arthur died

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Sir Mordred

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King Arthur's illegitimate son who kills him in battle and takes Arthur's Queen.

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Avalon

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an island from the time of King Arthur, the place where Excalibur is made; it represents the Celtic Otherworld.

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Tir nan og

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The Land of the Ever Young; an Otherworld with joyous fighting that never resolved, still considered a peaceful place.

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selkies

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creature, like a seal, that can shed its skin and turn into a human

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kelpies

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a feared creature, hunts people, it lives at the bottom of a loch, and can emerge and transform into a person.

Front 21

washers of the ford

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fairy woman who washed the clothes of those destined to die.

Front 22

trees in Celtic folklore

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trees represented the seasonal cycles. Trees represented the themes of death, rebirth, growth, and longevity of life. Their branches reached up toward the mysteries of the heavens, and their roots pushed down toward the mysteries of the earth. The legend of Aillin presents this image of eternal life through the supernatural power of trees.

Front 23

Great Famine

Back 23

The English had the Celts pushed to the poorest lands. They made up for it by planting monocultures of the potato on the little arable lands left. The English took everything else. A disease spread through the monoculture and all the crops died. In 1845-51 nearly one million people died. English continued to export crops from the Irish land. Population growth reversed; people were emigrating and marrying late.

Front 24

highland clearances

Back 24

in the late 1700s and early 1800s Scottish landlords systematically removed farmers and their cattle from their land and added more sheep. Thousands were left starving and homeless.

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Normans

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Viking descendants that invaded areas of Europe including the U.K. region.

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Gauls

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La Tène Celtic people that used to occupy what is now France and Belgium

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Vikings

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tried invading coasts of U.K. regions, were successful in A.D. 700; Called Norsemen; had an influence in Ireland for a while, made ports important and expanded economy, introduced coinage.

Front 28

Samsara

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The Wheel of Life

Front 29

Nakorn Pathon

Back 29

provincial capital of Thailand, where Buddhism began in 300 B.C.; has the biggest and first pagoda of Thailand

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Wat Po

Back 30

an important Buddhist temple in Bangkok, contains the "Reclining Buddha" and hundreds of Buddha images

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Garuda

Back 31

steed of the Hindu god Vishnu; Thai royal and national figure

Front 32

divine rice balls

Back 32

in the beginning the gods had the rice grown on its own and roll to the barns during harvest as little rice balls. Then human failures ended the perfection. Everyone began to starve and suffer. Devi Sri, the rice goddess, taught humans how to make rice.

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nirvana

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nirvana is enlightenment that comes when one is beyond worldly things and purifies their mind.

Front 34

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

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located in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Contains an ancient Buddha effigy made of green jasper.

Front 35

white elephants

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Buddha was a white elephant in a past life; a white elephant is a good omen; found in the north; are a sign of rain, said to be rain clouds that walk around.

Front 36

Angkor Wat

Back 36

large, stone temples built by the Khmer over a thousand years ago in Cambodia.

Front 37

Lady Monto

Back 37

married to Lord Totsagan

Front 38

Lady Seeda

Back 38

born to Lord Totsagan and Lady Monto, set out on the ocean grows up with King of Milta.

Front 39

Hanuman

Back 39

the white monkey-god, helps Lord Rama defeat Longka.

Front 40

Lord Ram

Back 40

Lord Narai incarnate, Nontok/Totsagan's enemy, ruled Ayutthaya

Front 41

Loy Krathong

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a festival where small rafts are let sail to honor and ask forgiveness from the goddess of water.

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boddhisatva

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"potential Buddha"; who despite enlightenment remains in this world to help others to salvation, thus emphasizing the virtue of charity (he is considered a new deity)

Front 43

Buddhism's four noble truths

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1. There exists sorrow and unavoidable suffering
2. Sorrow and suffering is because of desire and ignorance
3. Sorrow and suffering cease when desire and ignorance ceases
4. To stop desire and ignorance one must follow the Eightfold Path

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making merit

Back 44

doing good works, helping others, honor Buddha, spend time in the monastery; overall doing good things according to religious doctrine

Front 45

How did the lawyer beat the devil in "The Lawyer and the Devil"?

Back 45

He asked the devil if his father can stay on earth for the length of a butt of a candle. The Devil agrees. Then the lawyer blows out the candle and puts the butt in his pocket. The Devil leaves his father.

Front 46

What is the relationship between Irish folklore and British colonization of New South Wales, Australia?

Back 46

During The Potato Famine in Ireland men were sent to either America, England, or New South Wales when they stole food to feed their families. When the men were sent to New South Wales they brought along some of their culture and folklore.

Front 47

synopsis of "Tom Moore and the Seal Women"

Back 47

Tom Moore, a good dancer and singer, lived in a small village called Kilshanig. One day he saw a beautiful woman asleep on a rock by the shore. The tide came and took her away. The next day Tom went by and saw her again on the rock. He goes up and he takes her hood which lies beside her. He took her to his home and asked for marriage. She did so for seven years and produced three sons and two daughters. One day her hood falls out of storage and she takes it and hides it. Then three seals are killed by men in the village. Tom's wife cries "murder!" and the seals are buried. In the night the men changed their mind's and dug up the seals so not to waste them, but they were gone. The next day Tom's wife tiddys up and says goodbye to the children while he is at work. She puts on her hood and jumps into the sea to live forever again in the ocean.

Front 48

Give a brief synopsis of 'The Tain (The Raid)' and say what it reveals about the culture of the Irish people.

Back 48

+The Queen Medb and Ailill intend to steal the brown bull of Cooley. Medb raises an army agains Ulster. Cu Chulainn is the ony one able to defend Ulster but he is 17 years old and no one will fight him. He has human and supernatural powers and is considered close to the gods. He puts on a false beard so they will battle him and he defeats one champion after another. The battle of the white and brown bull rages. The brown bull is eventually taken.

+It tells us that the Irish find cattle, especially bulls important and significant.

Front 49

Identify five cultural themes of the Thai and provide two examples from different folktales that illustrate each of the themes.

Back 49

+Animal creations:
="How the Snub-Nosed Elephant Got His Trunk" - bees in the trunk, shook to get them out and it extended, used it to blow water through to clear of any othe bees and found it was useful.
="Why the Python Has No Poison" - crow said it would honor python if it killed a peasant man, python tried and missed then got him the second time, the fish tied to the man were writhing so crow said the man was still alive and moving, python agrees and distributes all his poison to other animals.

+Incantations:
="The Rice Birds" - incarnation then Saphsit is able to use a spell to move his soul around.
="The Tigerman" - the old Ma the hunter uses a spell to turn into a tiger for revenge.

+Love:
="The Elephant Prince" - the wife of the prince is take by a water demon. Her love for her husband and children is so great she comes back as a monkey and warns them of the demon. The demon is killed and she is returned to normal.
="The Celestial Couple" - a heavenly niece goes down to find a man on earth. She does and they always embrace each other, so her uncle thinks they should separate. The message is confused by the crow's error but in the end they are star's that join together that one time a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

+Fate - can't escape death:
="When the Gatekeeper of the Underworld Drinks Liqour" - the man is granted another year in life to see his son to the monastery. The Gatekeeper messes up and gives him 401 instead of 41 years at death. The man is trapped old and useless for centuries.
="No one can outwit death" - a man that wants to die is told to go and live and it will be good, and he is told he will die under a tree. He tries hard to never go under the tree but ends up getting himself executed tied to the tree anyway.

+Making Merit:
="Life is What You Make It" - boy keeps the maidens head. She made lots of merit before she killed the beetle and was killed the same. The boy is kicked out of home. Later he brings harvest to his old, weak parents. The merit brings the maidens head back and they live happily.
="The Story of Nakorn Pathom" - Phya Pan makes up for killing his father and foster mother by making the biggest pagoda ever.

Front 50

Identify five cultural themes of the Irish and provide two examples of different folktales that illustrate each of the themes.

Back 50

+Man-Fairy Marriages:
="Lady of the Lake" - fairy transforms, leaves lake, marries man, he hits her 3 times, she leaves him
="Tom Moore and the Seal Woman" - selkie transforms from seal to woman

+The Famine:
="The Famine" - many die in the famine, some sent away for stealing food
="Victory in the Famine" - man fishes for his 5 kids one wife, seven fishes caught, one child dies, six fishes caught

+Recalcitrant Spirits and Black Magic:
="The Black Art" - cows are mysteriously being milked, may be witches, man shoots a "hare" and then a women is seen next day with a gunshot wound
="How the Shoemaker Saves His Wife" - an evil creature mimics being the man's prego wife and he accidently knocks her to the ground on the way home, he chases the imposter away

+Healing:
="The Bath of the White Cows" - the white cows' milk and the water of the Slaney can heal and cure
="Saint Brigit" - the fish of Brigit could cure someone of all diseases

+Cattle
="The Tain" - bulls so important worth war, brown and white bull battle
="The Mule" - even cattle like a mule can be magical and amazing, turns out to be the thought dead king

Front 51

According to Caxton's introduction to Le Morte de Arthur, what are the basic values that the stories illustrate. How are these values relevant today?

Back 51

+Chivalry, courtesy, friendliness, virtue, loyalty, love
=These values are today, especially in Western societies. Yet, they are still revered and desired and reflect an ancient time a morals and good values.

Front 52

In the introduction to this course, we discussed Allan Johnson and Douglas Price-Williams theory that the Oedipal myth, or at least family conflict, is found throughout the world's cultures. What evidence, if any, exists for their theory in Thai folklore and Irish folklore?

Back 52

+Thai:
=In the Ramakian Lord Totsagan desires Lady Seeda, who is unbeknownst to him his daughter. A loose reverse Oedipal theme
="The Story of Nakorn Pathom" - a seer says king son will kill him, he sends the boy down the river (like Oedipus abandoned in the woods), the boy is raised in another kingdom and raises and army against his unknown to him father and kills him, then he is to take the queen as his wife but spirits stop it.

+Irish:
="A Boy Who Killed His Father and Was Intimate With His Mother"
=King Arthur - Sir Mordred wants to kill his father, Arthur, and take his wife, Queen Guienevere.

Front 53

Contrast a Irish proverb and a Thai proverb, use two tales from each.

Back 53

+Irish:"The Man Who Had No Story" - always have a story

+Thai: "The Giant That Deemed Himself Big" - there's always a bigger fish.

Contrast: In "Story the man has too little, in "Giant" the giant has too much, or more than he thinks really. The Irish are showing to be prepared with a good story where in contrast the Thai are showing that having something "great" and boasting gets you nowhere.

Front 54

Compare and contrast a Thai proverb with an Irish proverb. How do these reflect local wisdom in each culture?

Back 54

+Irish: "The Speckled Bull"

+Thai: "Evil Desires"

+Compare: Both show that doing evil will not work out in the end. The boy gets his revenge on the evil of the stepmother in "Speck Bull" and both the old man and lady both die for trying to be greedy and kill each other.

Front 55

What association does the Ramakien have with the Thai ruling dynasty?

Back 55

+The ruling king uses Rama's name (ex: Rama III); the king is associated with the divine, he identifies with the gods.

+Rama I wrote the "Thai Ramayana" in 1775.

Front 56

Ramakien Part 1

Back 56

+Lord Narai becomes Nontok's enemy after a quarrel in the court of King Lord Isuan.
+They go to battle on Earth. Lord Narai is incarnated as Lord Ram, son of king of Ayutaya (Capital of Thailand). Lord Nontok was incarnated as Lord Totsagan, demon prince of Longka.
+Lord Totsagan inherits the thrown and raises an army of demons and giants.
+King Isuan made Keetin, a monkey city. Palee and Sukreep were born to a hermit's wife. The hermit's daughter reveals how the green and gold sons were born. The father turns his wife to stone and the sons into monkeys. The mother curses the daughter to Mt. Jakrawan until she gives birth the white monkey-god Hanuman.
+After a while, Hanuman joins his two uncles in Keetin.
+Palee is King. Sukreep has been exiled after a fight over a woman with Palee.

Front 57

Ramakien Part 2

Back 57

+Lord Ram is on the mainland and has three brothers; they all lived with their father, the king.
+Lady Seeda is incarnated from Lord Narai's lover Lakshmi. She chose her parents to be Lord Totsagan and Lady Monto.
+They forsaw she would take down Longka so they set her to sail at sea in a glass bowl as a neonate. The gods guided her to the king of Milta.
+Lady Seeda and Lord Ram are married. Lord Ram's brother Phrot becomes king because his mother turns in a debt to the King and Lord Ram and his other brother Lak and Lady Seeda are banished.

Front 58

Ramakien Part 3

Back 58

+Lord Totsagan kidnaps Lady Seeda and he wants to marry her. He doesn't realize she is his daughter.
+Lady Seeda tries to hang herself but Hanuman saves her. Then Hanuman destroys Longka.
+Lord Totsagan rebuilds it but 14 years later Hanuman and Lord Ram defeat him for good. Lady Seeda is freed but Lord Ram says she has been unfaithful.
+A demon and relative of Totsagan, Adoon, tricks Lady Seeda into drawing a picture of Totsagan. Lady Seeda cannot erase the image so she hids it and it starts a fire.
+Lord Ram finds out and believes Lady Seeda has been unfaithful again and tries to kill her. But the gods intervene and she is exiled.
+Lady Seeda has a son while she is gone.
+Lord Ram has them captured, but Lady Seeda retreats to the Underworld.
+Eventually, Lord Isuan sees she is unhappy reunites the two as lovers.

Front 59

What does it say about Thai culture?

Back 59

=Deities in the heavens can incarnate into mortals on earth
=Monkeys important
=Faithfulness is important.
=Belief in an Underworld and Heavenly world, unlike original Buddhism; a sign of newer ideas and acculturations, like from India
=Demons are not necessarily evil, horrible characters
=Green and gold are colors of divinity

Front 60

Compare Irish and Thai cultural values and tales.

Back 60

+Compare:
=Desiring treasure: "Dreams of Gold" and "The Sentry Spirit"
-Both of these tales involve the desire to search and dig up buried treasure. Each tale also uses dreams to convey the location of where treasure can be found. The difference in these is that in the Irish one the man's treasure turned out to be right in his garden the whole time; with the Thai one the treasure hunter ends up dead from a guardian demon.
=Using cleverness to help someone you care about: "The Lawyer and the Devil" and "The Rabbit and the Naga Snake"
-Both of these stories involve a character that uses great cleverness to save the life of someone they care about. The lawyer does the candle butt trick with the Devil and the rabbit makes a great distraction to save the snake.

Front 61

Contrast Irish and Thai cultural values and tales.

Back 61

+Contrast:
=Doing good deeds vs. making merit: "Saint Brigit" with "Life is What You Make It"
-St. Brigit goes about performing miracles, helping those in need, feeding the hungry, and being overall virtuous. In contrast, in the Thai tale one can do good things and help others, then kill a beetle and be killed. But later on, when good things are done again and a life is lived well, good blessings will come to you.
=Leprechauns vs. Demons: "We Had One of Them In the House for a While" with "The Elephant Prince"
-Wee people, or the leprechauns are depicted as mischievous but also friendly and gay. On the other had demons, as in this tale, are depicted as evil and murderous. Of course there are some cases where leprechauns cause harm and cases where demons are decent characters.