Csenge Virág Zalka's Blog, page 44

StorySpotting: A whisper at a funeral (Game of Thrones)

After some consideration, I decided to revive an old, old blog series of mine, called StorySpotting. In this weekly or kinda-weekly series of posts, I will write about folktales, tropes, references, and story motifs that pop up (heh) in popular media, from TV shows to video games. Topics will be random, depending on what I have watched/played/read recently. Also, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Be warned

A to Z Challenge Reflections, 2019.

This year was my 8th in the challenge!

All in all: I had fun, as usual. I'm very proud of my Fruit Folktales theme - I scheduled all the posts in advance, and I had a great time tracking down and researching stories.

Participation seemed to have dropped a little, but I still got about ten thousand views in one month, which is definitely nice. I did notice the phenomenon other participants

Good examples, bad examples (Following folktales around the world 105. - Mali)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!



A madáron vett menyasszony
Bambara mesék Maliból és Szenegálból
Görög-Karády Veronika & Gérard Meyer
Európa Könyvkiadó, 1984.

This book contains 43

Z is for Zarzamora and the Fire Bug (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

This story comes from the Pemon people of Venezuela. Zarzamora is often translated to English as blackberry, but in Venezuelan Spanish it can mean a variety of similar fruits, such as the Rubus floribundus (zarzamora andina), Rubus glaucus (zarzamora azul, Andean raspberry), Rubus ulmifolius (thornless/wild blackberry), Rubus bogotensis (black mulberry), or the Rubus caesius (zarzamora pajarera

Y is for Yellow Mombin and Cannibals (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

The yellow mombin (Spondias mombin), also known as the jobo fruit, is native to the tropical areas of the Americas. Our story for today comes from the Cariña people of Venezuela.

Be warned, this one gets dark.

The story begins with a woman pregnant with twins from the Moon. Heavily pregnant, she sets out to the Moon's house to give birth. On the way, however, her unborn babies keep demanding

X is for Xigua Lady (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

Xigua is Chinese for watermelon (in case you were wondering why I didn't use watermelon for W). The story I have for today is fairy well known, considered one of the Four Great Folktales of China. It is generally known as Meng Jiang Nü, or, in English, Lady Meng Jiang.



The story begins with two neighbors, Meng and Jiang, who live very comfortable next to each other. One day, Meng plants a

W is for the Wood Apple Princess (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

The fruit known in India as bilva, bel, or bél (Aegle marmelos) was unceremoniously renamed by English colonizers as "wood apple." It is a fruit of great importance in Hindu mythology and folklore, sacred to Shiva and Parvati among other deities (more information here). In a book titled Indian Fairy Tales, collected by Maive Stokes in the late 19th century, I found a story called The

V is for Vanilla Love (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

Vanilla is indigenous to Central America, more specifically, to the areas of Mexico originally inhabited by the Totonac people. Until modern times, they were the main producers of vanilla (more information in Spanish here).




I found two distinct Totonac legends about the origins of vanilla.



Xanath and Tzarahuin

Legend says there was once a princess named Xanath (Hidden Flower), who fell in

U is for Ugni Berries and Ulmo Trees (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

This one was not easy at all, but I managed to pull a few fun things out of Google Books! Get ready, I am going to hit you with some little known flora.



The fruit for today is the Ugni molinae, known in South American Spanish as uñi, murta, or murtilla, and in English as strawberry myrtle or Chilean guava. It belongs to the myrtle family. Ugni fruit was introduced to Europe in 1844, but has

T is for Tamarind Tree (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

Sampaloc Lake is the largest of seven lakes near San Pablo City in the Philippines. There is a legend about how the lake was born, and that legend just happens to be tied to a tamarind tree.



The legend tells of a greedy couple who lived nearby once upon a time, and owned a huge tamarind tree. On a hot day, an old woman stopped at their house, begging for some tamarind fruit from the tree; she