by Gretchen
Beilfuss Witt Rowan Public Library
It’s that time again; the time of year when the young and
young at heart choose what to be for Halloween. Will they be the latest Disney princess or
the darkest Sith Lord, a brain-eating zombie or little Red Riding Hood? When ghouls, ghosts and Marvel heroes
populate our streets later this month what mysterious tales will be shared.
In her book “Zombies” of the Creatures of Fantasy young
adult series, Amy Hayes, describes the increasingly popular phenomenon of
zombies. Hayes delves into beginning of
the zombie legend with origins in Caribbean voodoo traditions, continuing with
creatures from other traditions that resemble zombies, the Draugar from Norse
mythology and the Ojibwe tribe’s baykok.
In examining, the current status of the zombie in popular culture, she
touches on scientific research, movie cult classics and the increasingly trendy
“walk of the zombie.” The first Zombie
Walk was held in Sacramento California to promote a midnight horror film
festival in 2001. A few years later
“Zombie Walks” were all the rage drawing crowds of 4-800 in cities across the
US celebrating the 2006 remake of the movie “Dawn of the Dead.” Zombie walks are popular in other countries
as well; in 2012 twelve thousand people showed up in Santiago while twice that
number gathered in Buenos Aires. She
rounds out her entertaining narrative by describing types of zombies and how to
stop them.
Another book in the Creatures of Fantasy series turns to
lighter fare and explains the variations of the “little folk.” They include all the creatures that dwell in
the borders of places – the edge of the woods, in the overlap of adjacent
worlds. Many among us might describe
fairies as petite, female winged creatures like Tinker Bell in Disney’s Peter
Pan. However, fairies can be gnomes,
brownies, elves, banshees, leprechauns and other similar characters. The term fairy might come from the French
‘fees’ which translated to English is “enchanted” making fairy tales stories of
enchanted peoples. Greg Clinton relays
in his book the characteristics and special powers of the fairy, for instance
the control of wealth or time. One such
story tells of two fiddlers invited to play for an evening party find one
night’s revel is over a hundred years in their own time. Clinton examines the appearance of
fairylike creatures in other literature from Tolkien to the elusive
Persian/Iranian Peris. Beautifully
illustrated, Clinton shares the history of the fairy from changelings to the
appearance of fairies in the modern Renaissance Faire.
If your costume selection leans more toward Thor and the
Lady Sif, check out “Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology and
Magic” by Claude Lecouteux. It begins
with a short explanation of its use and the history of the pantheons of the
Germanic world, both Aesir and Vanir.
While the entries define specific terms, many legends and tales are
recounted from this lesser known tradition.
For instance, the hammer of Thor,
Mjollnir or “The Crusher” fulfills multiple roles; it is a religious instrument
as well as one of battle and in old
Germanic law taking possession of a
piece of land involved the throwing of a hammer. Lecouteux describes the variations of the
“Wild Hunt, “often believed to be about a cult of the dead when the dead can
return and the gateway to the otherworld is open. A fun and unusual look at information and
illustrations not readily available for the curious reader.
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