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| Thread: Etnographic corner |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
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posted June 21, 2009 09:42 PM |
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Etnographic corner
Vokial mentioned a creation of a thread like this. So, here we go.
Discussion about your country's customs, celebrations, music, food, mythology etc.
I like to start with some of Lithuania's mythological creatures. There aren't many of them actually, so I'm gonna mention three of them.
First one, definetely the most interesting is the Kite. It was depicted as a winged serpent or a rooster with reptilian features. To it's owner the kite brings various goods. If it brings money it was crimson red, but when it brings grain it's color is blue with red trim. When it's inactive it looks like a piece of cloth. When it brings goods it's fat and full like a bag.
The other creature is the King of Serpents. My ancestors believed that snakes(of Colubridae family) bring fortune and good luck. These serpents had their own king. The king was a huge winged serpent with a magnificient crown on it's head. Whoever posessed the crown was blessed with great wisdom, could understand the language of animals, knows the places where treasures lie and could see into a future. Some people would kill the king, but sometimes the king gives it's crown to a man who helps it out.
Pixies in lithuanian mythology were depicted as beautifull(sometimes ugly) long haired women. At evening they bathed, washed magnificent cloths and wandered around saunas and barns. Sometimes they even entered the house.
They were good weavers. One time they entered one woman's home and asked for work. The woman gave them some linen to weave. When she ran out of linen, the pixies weaved the moss from the walls, even the hair of the housekeeper.
A child left in hay field by accident was given beautifull clothes and bolts of flawless linen cloth. Sometimes they switched the baby with their own, which was ugly as hell. If a baby was left on purpose, then the pixies would eat him. As a prank they loved to cut out wool or tire out horses. People where very afraid of them and never walked outside in the evening without a good reason.
If I'm not too lazy, next time I'll post the pantheon of baltic gods and a little depiction of the devil.
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"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
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pandora
Honorable
Legendary Hero
The Chosen One
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posted June 24, 2009 02:20 AM |
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Moving to the Otherside of the Monitor to see if it will get more response
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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
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Rarensu
Known Hero
Formerly known as RTI
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posted June 28, 2009 11:02 AM |
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America (cynically) by Rarensu
We drive on the right side of the road, start the week with Sunday, drive big expensive cars, and our women get jobs instead of staying home with the kids. Also, we have phenomenally high rates of drug use, sex, and violence, and general dissatisfaction with our government.
We have three major holidays:
Christmas (Dec 25). It's not really about Jesus anymore, instead it's about spending money and acting like children.
Thanksgiving (Nov, 4th Thursday). Mass family reunions and lots of food, especially turkey, borrowed from the Native Americans.
Independence day (July 4). Parades and Fireworks to celebrate our patriotism. BBQ.
We also have few holidays which we enjoy but don't take seriously; Valentine's Day, Halloween, St. Patrick's day; and several bank holidays that we don't care about, but we take the day off anyhow.
America is the source of the largest part of the world's music. It comes in several flavors: pop, rock, rap, country, techno, R&B, and jazz, which is near extinction.
America also produces the highest number of the world's best movies. India produces more films, but does so on a lower budget and receives less revenue. Hollywood is the center of American Culture. All of our iconic trends flow to and from the film industry.
Americans eat a lot. I mean, seriously. We eat so much that our rate of death by obesity is enormously higher than our rate of death by starvation. The average American is considered morbidly obese in any other country. Americans are incapable of inventing new cuisines. Virtually all of our food was invented by a foreign immigrant, if it wasn't simply brought over from his homeland. We favor German, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese foods.
We Americans love our myths. We have UFOs, Bigfoot, Haunted houses, and a plethora of government conspiracy theories, many of which revolve around JFK, 9/11, and Area 51. Many of us also subscribe to the myth that "all people are the same under the skin."
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Sincerely,
A Proponent of Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, and Courtesy.
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Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
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posted June 28, 2009 12:01 PM |
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America - A different view. The 'Melting Pot'.
America has many cultures and people living in it's borders. There are way too many myths and legands to list here because of that..however there are legands that come from America itself.
The Native Americans have many different mythologies and it would be impossible to list them all. Everything could be a symbol, some for good some for bad.
Pacos Bill - The guy who lassoed a tornado, ammoung other things.
Paul Bunion - A giant tree chopping man who had a Blue Ox for a pet.
John Henry - A giant of a man who went up against a machine that laid railroad tracks and won..only to die from exhustion after.
Johnny Appleseed - Pretty much single handed responsible for there being apple trees  .
Davey Crocket - While not a fictional person, his exploits are often 'embellished'.
Often also our stories take real events and embellish, leave out, or change the details. Some claim this of the historic ride of Paul Revere (spelling?) I'll leave that to the historians however.
That is enough for now, but there are many more myths and legends out there. Lots of conspiracy theories, and we even adapt other peoples 'myths' to fit us.
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Message received.
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kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
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posted June 28, 2009 07:05 PM |
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Ok, I'm just too lazy to post the pantheon of baltic gods, so... here's the depiction of the devil.
The devil in lithuanian folklore is mostly an antagonistical character, often 'helping out' the protagonists father in exchange for "that which you not left at home"(a newborn son). He appeared as a fancy dressed nobleman at first, he is shown his true form. He often has 12 beautifull daughters, the youngest being the most beautifull(whom in the end becomes protagonist's wife) the most famous creation using this description is the fairytale Old Man on the Iron Mountain.
In other fairytales the devil appears well devilish. And dumb. He challenges the protagonist to go on wrestle(which protagonist sends him to wrestle a bear, saying that it is his grandpa), runing(same as first, instead of a bear it's a rabbit which devil thinks is a newborn), to carry a horse around a lake, or to throw an iron staff to heaven. This type of devil lives in a mill or hell. He has vast fortune(protagonist usually lures the cash by threatening them and using a 'bottomless' cap), and loves to gamble.
Overall, the devil is seen as rich and stupid in most of the fairytales and legends, often gettimg outsmarted and his arse kicked by the protagnist.
Speaking of which...
There are quite a few types of protagonists in lithuanian folklore. Here's the most common of them:
the smith
peasant's/fisherman's son
youngest prince
the third brother
a girl hated by her stepmother.
The smith is a character mostly seen in legends(as main) and fairytales(as secondary). Seen as strong and good natured.
Peasant's son/youngest prince are always seen as smart, helpfull and tough. Often doing heroic deeds, like slaying a multi headed dragon.
Third brother, is seen as a dumbell. He often succeeds in where his brothers fail. His fools courage is the main key for success.
The stepmothers hated daughter is a good natured and pretty(while her step sisters are uglier than hell) is often charged with hard and almost impossible jobs. Which she succeeds and disposes of the tyrant stepmother.
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"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
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Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
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posted June 29, 2009 10:21 AM |
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I want to thank you for sharing what you have shared about your culture. I love learning about cultures of all kinds. How about children's games? Mostly any more its video games or such for our nation (sadly) but we still have things like :
Hopscotch
Stickball - much like baseball only a little harder actuall as your 'bat' is a broomstick or similar.
Cowboys and Indians - I was always the Indian..go figure  this is rare anymore tho.
Ring around the rosie.
Just to name very few.
(If I need to describe these I can )
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Message received.
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VokialBG
Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
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posted June 29, 2009 12:58 PM |
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Edited by VokialBG at 14:33, 29 Jun 2009.
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Of course the common children's game all around the world like hide and seek, blind man's buff (in bulgaria it's name is "Sliapa baba", means "Blind grannie"), also some more specific like chilik I'll try to explain how it can be played, but it's going to be hard.
Chilik is interesting traditionally bulgarian children's game (I'm not sure if it was played in the other balkan countries or not). Chilik looks a bit likr baseball. But more dangerous, thats way it was forbidden at the beginning of 20th century and why it isn't very common nowadays, still the rules are known for almost everyone, and almost everyone played it as kid without his parents to know
The chilik is actually a square wooden stick, 12-18 centimetres long and 2 centimetres in gauge, it's is sharpen with knife in it's both ends. Also on it's 4 sides there are the numbers 1, 3, 5 and 10. You also need small hole on the ground (4 centimetres deep and 10-15 wide).
Now how to play it. One of the player put the chilik on the hole (not in but on it, the chilik has to be longer than the hole's wide), one of the other player is placing one of the ends of much longer stick (...hm... let's say as a golf stick), so one of the ends is in the hole and unter the chilik, after that he is using the long stick to throw off the chilik from the ground, as far as possoble. The player who placed the chilik on the hole is standing like 15-20 steps from the hole, holding another long stick. He aims to hit the flying chilik and turn it back or stop it (thats why the game is pretty dangerous, the chilik may hit your eye or face, it's sharpen in it's ends, remember?). After this is done, the player who throw the chilik go where it fell and place there his long stick. The player who place it on the hole and then hitted it now is tring to hit the placed long stick with chilik (that's why he was tring to turn the chilik back, if it's closer to the hole it's easier to hit the placed long stick later), if he manage to do this he is out and happy, and other player is going to place his chilik on the hole so it start from the beginning. If he fail to hit the stick, he is looking the number of the chilik (1, 3, 5 or 10), after that he place the chilik on the hole's edge, so part of it is over the hole, and the other isn't. Now he have to hit it with his long stick on the end that's over the hole, and the chilik is going to jump in the air, in this time the player has to hit it again in forward direction, he has to do this 1, 3, 5 or 10 times, depending on the chilik's number, after everytime one of the players measure the distance between the hole and the chilik with his long stick (one stick is one point), the one who get most sticks (points) lose the game.
Was kinda hard to explain it with my English, hope you'll get it and lol never play it or give your children the idea to do it
Another old bulgarian game but not only, since it was played all across Europe and maybe on other continents is the game on "ashiks" or knucklebones or "bone game". The ashik is very small sheep bone with the form of die. So the player is holding few ashiks in his hand, he is throwing them upward and then he's trying to hold as much as he can with the opposite side of your hand. Isn't that easy The ashik (as we call it in Bulgaria) was very common... toy for the europen kids. But why I call it bulgarian game? In Bulgaria, the town of Varna, the archaeologists found the only one on this world golden ashik! It looks the same way as real one and it's even with the same weight, it's made very precise. Noone can say who was it's owner, some are saying that it was of high priest, emperors kids, just someone rich enough, or the theory that I like most - Ashik competition (why not World cup? )
Quote:
Davey Crocket - While not a fictional person, his exploits are often 'embellished'.
We have Krali (Prince) Marko (common for Serbia as well), I'm definitely going to post about him one day! He is legendary balkan hero within thousands stories and tales.
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 29, 2009 02:01 PM |
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Edited by JoonasTo at 14:02, 29 Jun 2009.
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I just got a huge urge to go play some chilik. A game where a stick is sharpened just for fun and violence must be cool. 
And to contribute something to the thread some finnish kids games. (not sure if they play these in other countries)
"Nyrkkipokka", which in english would be something like "Fistchutzpah", is a game mostly played by kids from 10-15 years. You need two players(and the optional cheering ring). The players stand and put their right(or left, just the same hand for both) hands in a fist and so that the knuckles touch. They then take turns. The player in turn tries to hit the other player's hand while the other player tries to evade. If the player in turn pulls his/her hand so that the knuckles don't touch and doesn't manage to hit the other player the turns switch. Now here's the catch. If the other player evades for nothing, in other words, the player in turn manages to trick him/her to pull his/her hand so that the knuckles don't touch anymore the player in turn gets a free hit. In free hit the player the other player isn't allowed to move his/her hand. If the other player evades the player in turn gains another free shot(so after first s/he has two, then tree...). The LOSER is the player giving up first.
"Läpsy", "Slappy" is the same game just with open hands and fingers touching.
Then there's the "Verikolikko", "Bloodcoin" but more of that later.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
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posted June 29, 2009 02:17 PM |
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We have something similar, not sure what it is called anymore. I guess the 'slappy' version would be the closest. A person puts their hand palm down over the others hand palm up. Then the person who's hand is on the bottom tries to slap the hand on top. If they jerk away and don't hit (at all) they lose and they switch spots. If they manage to hit, they keep going until they miss. If the other person moves their hand before the first person's hand stops touching theirs the first person gets to slap the second person's hand hard for 'free'
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Message received.
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VokialBG
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posted June 29, 2009 02:23 PM |
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Edited by VokialBG at 14:41, 29 Jun 2009.
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Quote:
A game where a stick is sharpened just for fun and violence
Um, it's sharpened because it's easier to make it jump when it's on the hole's edge But I'm sure that in this modern world a save version can be made pretty eazy, by wearing something on the head of who knows...
In Bulgaria there are still old people (now over 80-90 years) with one eye, guess how the lost it There are even few small villages in Bulgaria with the name chilik!
Quote:
"Nyrkkipokka
We also have similar game called "Tigan", means pan , but the hands of the player who have to hit are not in fist just placed on the other once hands.
It help to warm your hands if it's cold
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 29, 2009 03:20 PM |
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Hehe a game where you can lose ann eye can only be cool. 
Those both are pretty similar. The style difference mostly means more free shots and pain.
So on to "Verikolikko", "Bloodcoin". Usually played by people from 9 to 20 years, especially popular around 12 year old boys. Two players, though some crazy people have been known to play with more. The idea is to put a coin spinning on a table and to keep it spinning by hitting it(using your fingers the same way as flipping a coin) in turns. The player who fails at this gets punished. The one being punished puts his/her hand in a fist and against the table knuckles down then the other player shoots the coin against his knuckles as hard as he can. Usually done by putting your thumb on the coin and sending it forward with a whip like motion. Played untill the LOSER gives up...
...or the table is too bloody.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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VokialBG
Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
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posted June 29, 2009 06:45 PM |
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Edited by VokialBG at 18:48, 29 Jun 2009.
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That hurts... not like a chilik in the eye, but still hurts
Any russian here can tell us more about the russian roulette   ?
Another children's game is the game of "Srelki" (Arrows)
A game of arrows may take time of few hours to 1 day... or more... Players are in two teams, thå first one start to count, when I was kid we were playing it with counting to 1000, till they are over the other team has the time to run away. They all have chalks, and by going away, they have to mark their path by drawing arrows on the ground, however you may have to think if the marking team leave something like <-> on its way (or like 6 or more arrows poiting in different directions), they may also start to draw them backside, or to split the team, so they all are going to head in different ways... the counting team have to catch them... and this may take a lot of time, sometimes the running team stop playing and go to do something else, while the other team is looking for them
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted June 29, 2009 07:46 PM |
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I'll tell you about two stories around the name of Antwerp.
Both use the same meaning of the words in medieval dialect.
Dutch for Antwerp is Antwerpen
and that almost sounds like the dutch "Hand werpen", which means "to throw hand".
Alright so in front of the town hall there is a statue:
It depicts the death of the giant, Antigoon, who was a mean man, lemme tell you. He was a very cruel monster that charged unreasonably high tolls for passing sailors and lived on a fortress called 't steen (translation: the rock). The people that didn't comply were the people who were either found dead or without hands next week. In an ironic twist, a brave youth showed up in name of Julius Caesar to settle the dispute in this district(Silvius Brabo) and killed him in a "David and Goliath"-esque scenario and ended up throwing the severed hand of the giant in de Schelde, which is a river that goes through Antwerp and what made Flanders a very rich region in late middle ages.
The other story goes on about the nobleman that owned Antwerp a while ago (sadly no statues about that). He had two sons and both desperately wanted to own Antwerp. In typical belgian fashion, the nobleman said that whoever first reaches the other side of de schelde shall own the city, that way there'd be no disputes and daddy won't have any problems with choosing one of his sons over the other. So the sons go swimming. One son clearly seemed to be getting the advantage, but tyhe other son would not become a beggar and chopped of his own hand and threw it to the other side of the shore, making him the new landlord of Antwerp.
The sad reality is, of course, that none of that is true. The real name supposedly comes from West-Franksih and it would mean something along the lines of "on the docks".
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
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posted July 01, 2009 09:19 PM |
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pretty interesting legend's there Dagoth.
hmmm... games, games, games... I'm afraid I got very poor knowlegde aout folk games of my country... so here's a little something about few celebrations.
the day of Halloween is taken very seriously here. in that day we visit the graves of our deceased family members and pay homage to them. in Evening, we put on a LINEN(linen only) tablecloth on a dining table, light up some candles(one for each deceased family member) and put some dark rye bread, some meat, some jam and honey, so that the souls of the dead could feast. in christmas eve we put an empty plate on the table, so that the deceased family members could hoin in.
Pancake day in Lithuania is similiar to halloween, but only with the dressing up part. And the costumes are hand made. We dress up as jews, gypsies, devils and other similiar beings. there is a lot of greasy food(pancakes mostly), dancing singing and games. the purpose of the dressing up is to scare the winter spirit (more or kotre) away. a fat man(fatty) fights a skinny guy(hempy[lol, the easiest translation i found for 'Kanapinis' )and the fat guy always wins. the kids go to door to door, receiving candy, pancakes and cash. in the end of the celebration we burn a rag doll(symbolising the winter spirit) and prepare for the fast of Lent. the bolded part was added by the Church, and it has nothing to do with the old customs.
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"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted July 01, 2009 09:37 PM |
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lol ... maybe not what you'll call scientific fact, but I once stumbled across this, and it's actually not too far from point:
Being Danish is spending an hour's wage on dental floss.
Being Danish is dreaming of the day XZibit shows up at your house to film "Pimp My Bike"
Being Danish is road-tripping to Germany to buy cheap booze.
Being Danish is spending 40 minutes doing your hair if you're a girl and spending an hour if you're a guy.
Being Danish is speaking English without R's and V's and slurring all the vowels but being able to sing along to "All By Myself" in an impeccable American accent.
Being Danish is being able to bike home after 21 beers.
Being Danish is waiting for the light to change before crossing the street, even if there are no cars anywhere on the horizon.
Being Danish is having 2 percent body fat, in spite of never exercising and being on the three-sausage-a-day diet. (I wish that was true!)
and ...
Being Danish is keeping a grocery bag with you at all times, just in case you see an offer at the local discount store on the way home. (I wish that was not true!)
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What will happen now?
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Lexxan
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Unimpressed by your logic
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posted July 01, 2009 11:27 PM |
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Btw did you know that Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch) is a derivate of the Latin "Ante Veritas", meaning "for the Truth"?
I don't the exact time when Antwerp was founded, but it was founded by Monks from the Monastary of Turmini (now called Deurne, which is the district where Dagoth lives... Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!)
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Coincidence? I think not!!!!
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xerdux
Bad-mannered
Famous Hero
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posted July 01, 2009 11:52 PM |
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Well, some info about Sweden then.
Most people, over 90%, live in the cities and in southern Sweden. In the Winter, we usually dont have more then a week of real snow. It can get really hot in the summer, even in northern Sweden.
Sweden is not a religious country. Only about 20% believes in God but many swedes (mostly girls...) believe in some kind of life force and yoga etc is very popular.
Sweden has a huge immigration rate. Mostly from the middle-east. A large number of Swedes opose the Immigration and the Swedish Democrats is a political party that has been formed to "deflect" the immigration.
Sweden is the worlds third largest exporter of music, despite that we only have 9.2 million people living here.
Famous groups includes Roxette and ABBA. ABBA is also a company that sells seafood
Sweden has been successful in other marketing stuff too. We have several large store-chains such as IKEA and H&M. We are renowned for fashion.
Swedes as people are actually really shy. You are raised along the line as "Mind your own business and dont care about others and everything shall go well".
The crime rates in Sweden are high. Mostly its about small crimes such as pickpocketing or simple vandalism. Drug use is not very common in Sweden, and its mostly young people that are into that kind of stuff.
However, the number of reported rapes are increasing and very high.
I would say that Sweden has four really major events, and most of them are just a commercial feast
Easter, called "Påsk" in swedish, orginates from our ancestors as a festival of the comming spring.
The Christains later adopted the event and "stole" some aspects from it. The Eggs during Easter means rebirth.
Following Easter, there is Midsummer (Midsommar) during the summer. Midsummer involves dancing around a large maypole and eating fish and potato. And the fish is really disgusting. I believe most people only eat it because its traditional
The Christains pretty much adopted all these holidays but not Midsummer for some reason. Anyway, I would say that its suppsosed to be some kind of summer festival.
And after Midsummer there is Halloween. Halloween must be the most commercial event ever. Its so commercial that I dont even believe the religious purpose of it.
But I think its supposed to scare away hags and evil spirits or something. On Halloween, children dress up into vampires etc and go a knock on people doors. Then they say "Trick or Treat". "Bus eller Godis". So the treat means candy and otherwise you trick them.
This tricking has often gone way overboard we people throwing eggs at the houses and even filling mailboxes with poo etc...
After Commerical-o-ween there is Yule of course. Yule or "Jul" in Swedish works in exactly the same way as Christmas, but with some twists. You dance around a decorated Christmas tree. A "Julgran". And open presents in the evening that are located under the Christmas trees.
Yule is the event where you eat the most delicious food. Traditional boring food such as Potatos again, Meatballs, Crispy "Knäckebröd" bread etc. You eat on a "Julbord". Its like a Smorgasbord or the real name, Smörgåsbord. That means Sandwich Table
Some Swedes eat Yule porridge too. I think its delicious with lots of sugar and a bit cold milk on it.
Oh and the most iconic swedish Yule food is of course the Yule Ham! Its so good with a delicious layer on it.
Its different among different people, but some gives a christmas present in the mornin and some have yule socks filled with small presents or candy.
Since religion isnt that big in Sweden, religion is not involved in our Yule. Few people go to Church at Yule, or even ever during the year. I think it was said that the average swede goes to Church around once per year. And then its sightseeing
Anyway, some crazy fanatics go to church in the middle of the night O.o My grandmother does not believe in God but she still goes to the church in the middle of the night somewhere. Because its traditional. Also the Christains stole many aspects of our Yule and adopted it into their silly Chrismås.
That was all for this time.
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Arcax
Promising
Famous Hero
Its quite hot inside...
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posted July 02, 2009 12:36 AM |
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One of the most popular Polish legends is about the Dragon from Wawel castle ( I'm certain some Polish members may disagree with my translation of this title but I have no other idea, sorry).
So once upon a time a bad,huge and hungry dragon had chosen a cave near Wawel castle in Cracovia, as his nest. Never-ending hunger caused inhabitants of Cracovia to feed him with their animals. Terrorized dwellers asked king for help. Then he sent squires all over his kingdom to seek for a brave one who could manage to kill the monster. After failures of brave knights, a smart cobbler offered his help. He asked king to give him a lamb so he could prepare a surprise for dragon. He used lambs skin and wool to prepare a fake one, full of sulfur.
Dragon lured by the sight of meal quickly swallowed the sulfur doll and after some time he felt a terrible drought in his stomach. Suffering from this he drunk whole river Wisla and full of water and sulfur he just exploded.
I know, fantastic story... though we have much more. About the basilisk, King Popiel who has been ate by mices...
Statue of the Dragon at the Wawels castle
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VokialBG
Honorable
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posted February 28, 2010 03:34 PM |
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Edited by VokialBG at 15:45, 28 Feb 2010.
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We need that one up Here are some female creatures from the slavic myths:
Rusalka (mermaid), originaly it's creature in the slavic myths. They are ever young and beautiful, their hair is green and they live in rivers and lakes. They die only if their skin become dry.
Where they come from? Once they were human girls, but they were killed and draged into the water by Vodnik, the water spirit, now their souls serve him, but they secretly hate him and sometimes they help the humans secretly to save them from his evil.
Every year there is day of the rusalkas here. The tradition says that during this day the rusalkas spray water dew ("rosa" in Bulgarian, its where their name come from) on the ground and make it generous. There is belief that this dew has healing power. There is also special flower called rosen, it grows only on special places and it's planted by the rusalkas, humans search for it. During the night after the rusalka's day, the rusalkas are collecting the blossoms of the rosen and adorn themselfs with it.
But also during this day the evil spirits steal people, mostly kids. Thats why you must collect plant called "lepka" with dew on them during the morning and place them under your bed, and that whey they will never tuch you. We still do it for the tradition.
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Hala - its female reptile, looks like a dragon with 6 wings and 12 tails, they can create storms and hurricanes destroying the gardens and other plans. The zmej's (another dragon creatures) protectors of the farmers hate and fight her.
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Samodiva - are female spirits with supernatural beauty, everyoung, thin body, long blong hair, in the ancient slavic beliefs, they were so beautiful, that only a short look on her can cause your heart to stop and your death. They are dressed with white dresses or chemises. They dance and sing near the wells. Their voices are very beautiful, as well as their dances. During the winter they live in Zmejkovo, the town of the mythical creatures with unknown location.
During the night they go near rivers and wills, undress and wash their cloths in the waters after that they wait them to get dry on moon light. After that they go deep in the forest and dance magical horo (traditional dance) all night. Sometimes they kidnap shepherds and make them to play on their musical instruments all night long, so they can dance.
Most of them are evil, they hate beautiful human girls and kill or blind them. They can turn into animals. They ride deers and for bridle they use snakes. If a human kill the deer of samodiva during hunting, he will get ill and die soon.
If a glorious man help samodiva, she may become his protector or lover. If they have children, they become heroes with supernatural powers.
Samodivas have special white veils, they keep their power, if someone steal it, they become normal women.
According to some myths when a woman die virgin, she will become samodiva.
Samodivas fear garlic like vampires.
And most likely the creator of this myth was a man
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Poludnica (means... Lady midday), sister of Polunoshtnizta (Lady midnight). She is evil spirit that go out only during midday on the farmers field. She kills everyone in front of her eyes. She also dress with white only, it was the mourning colour for the ancient slavs.
Most likely Poludnica was the sun during midday, thts really killing workers...
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Peperuna - Slavic goddess of rain, and the wife of the supreme god Perun (who is the god of thunder). Slavs believed that when Peperuna milks her heavenly cows, the clouds, it rains on earth. Each spring Peperuna is said to fly over woods and fields, and spread vernal greenery, decorating the trees with blossoms. She has butterfly wings, "peperuda", where her name come from.
When there is no rain for long time, even now people are performing special rutial, beautiful girl dress like Peperuna and says some special words calling the rain, and all people there perform special dance and eate spcial meal The other rain ritual is called German, but it's another story.
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Baba Yaga (Grandma Yaga) - she is old, ugly and pure evil, she has the same characterizations as the western witches. She fly on broom and live deep in the forest in ņabin on ā chicken leg
The new part, original for Bulgaria - she is wife of Dyado Torbalan (Grandpa Torbalan), huge old man, who is kidnaping bad kids. And of course they eat them after they cook them.
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SpaceBunny
Adventuring Hero
Goddess (its true!)
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posted March 04, 2010 07:36 AM |
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Well despite being born and raised in England, I'm from an Irish family. Briefly, here are a few Irish ones.
The Morrigan.
The Morrigan is a queen of war; death; the battlefield and often takes the form of a crow. She flies high above the battlefields and haunts the warriors, telling them of their impending death. She can also take the form of a wolf. 'The Morrigan' sometimes is three sisters - Badb (Badhbh), Macha and Nemain. These sisters would cause havoc and confusion during battle, terrifying the warriors and their horses. And after the battle the Morrigan would wash the entrails of fallen warriors in a stream.
The Banshee.
The Banshee is a female fairy/sprite and an omen/harbinger of death. The Banshee can be either an ugly old hag or a beautiful woman. She will scream and wail pitifully during the night around the houses of someone who is about to die. Sometimes you can hear the Banshee wailing deep within the forests.
St. Patricks Day.
The Irish take this public holiday very seriously. Its time for drink (and lots of it), great food and good times, and lots and lots of singing - the wearing of shamrock and anything green. Also its often the time we get to taste our first Guinness! And its coming soon!!!!!!!
Finn McCool & Cu Chulainn - legendary Irish Giants/Warriors.
It was Finn McCool who it is said built the Giants Causeway and he was so big he was able to tear a chunk out of Ireland to use it as a missile.
Cu Chulainn - a great warrior. He was known for his great strength and power in battle and his numerous great deeds - he could single-handedly defeat whole armies. But liked the ladies a little too much.
Leprechaun.
A naughty fairy in the form of a little old man who enjoys playing tricks and causing mischief and mayhem. If you can trick a leprechaun or win a wager, you may be able to take his treasure (pot of gold) that he hides in tree hollows or under the ground.
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Just do as I say and you'll live - its that easy.
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