Official Mod's Contest - 'Fairy tales and Mythical Characters'

I am from the USA and my bimbo is the ghost legend "The Lady in Lace"

Excerpt from: http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/ca5.html
There is a ghost that walks along the Seventeen Mile Drive on foggy nights. She is called the Lady in Lace. People say she is the ghost of Dona Maria del Carmen Barreto, the woman who used to own much of the land on that stretch of the California coast, returned to keep watch over her land. Others disagree. They claim that the white, flowing gown of lace in which the ghost appears resembles a wedding gown. They think that she might be the ghost of a jilted bride who was left standing at the altar.

Travelers encountering the ghost of the Lady in Lace as they drive down the Seventeen Mile Drive on foggy nights say that she looks very sad and lonely, as if she were about to cry. They see her walking slowly along the road, her shoulders drooping a bit as if she were carrying a heavy burden of grief or pain. When they draw close to her, she disappears.

One night, a courting couple went out to sit on the rocks at Pescadero Point overlooking the sea. It was a bright night, and they were whispering together and watching the moonlight sparkle on the water when the Lady in Lace appeared right before there eyes. As they watched in astonishment and fear, she walked passed them, her form glowing in the moonlight. Slowly, her face set and sad, she wandered down to the beach. Then she vanished into thin air. Needless to say, that was the last time that couple went courting at Pescadero Point!

United States

"Santa Claus or Santa"




Santa Claus is the figure who is described in Western cultures as bringing gifts on Christmas Eve, December 24.

The modern depiction of Santa Claus as a fat, jolly man (or gnome) wearing a red coat and trousers with white cuffs and collar, and black leather belt and boots, became popular in the United States in the 19th century due to the significant influence of political cartoonist, Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films.

The American version of Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. Other details include: that he is married and lives with Mrs. Claus; that he makes a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior; that he delivers presents, including toys, candy, and other presents to all of the good boys and girls in the world, and sometimes coal or sticks to the naughty children, in one night by coming down the chimney; and that he accomplishes this feat with the aid of magical elves who make the toys and flying reindeer who pull his sleigh.

Last edited by srz001 (11-28-2008 05:47)

I'm from Australia, where most of our mythical creatures and legends are animals.

I've chosen to do the Nullarbor Nymph, which started out as a legend until it was revealed it was a hoax in 1972.

From Wikipedia:
The Nullarbor Nymph, referring to supposed sightings of a half naked woman living amongst kangaroos on the Nullarbor Plain, was a hoax perpetrated in Australia between 1971 and 1972.

The first report on 26 December 1971 was by kangaroo shooters from Eucla in Western Australia, near the border with South Australia. They claimed to have seen a blonde, caucasian woman amongst some kangaroos, and backed their story with grainy amateur film showing a woman wearing kangaroo skins and holding a kangaroo by the tail. After further sightings were claimed, the story was reported around the world, and journalists descended upon the town of Eucla which had a population of 8 people at the time.

The incident was eventually revealed as a hoax, initiated as a publicity stunt. The girl on film turned out to be a 17 year old model named Janice Beeby.

I chose Bloody Mary to represnt the USA.

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.

Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.

Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.

The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.

The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.

As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.

From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

You can read more scary Pennsylvania folklore in Spooky Pennsylvania by S.E. Schlosser.

.: CHINA :.



Chinese goddess of the moon (Chang'e, Ch'ang-O or Chang-Ngo)
     According to legend, Chang'e and her archer husband, Houyi, were immortals living in heaven until they were banished by the Jade Emperor to live as mortals on earth for displeasing him in an unfulfilled task.  Chang'e felt miserable over the loss of her immortality, which prompted Houyi to find the pill of immortality for both to share. Unaware of the power of pill, Chang'e accidentally swallowed the entire pill and started to float into the sky until she landed on the moon.  While she became lonely on the moon without Houyi, she befriended a jade rabbit, who manufactured elixirs, also living on the moon.  On Mid-Autumn day, the full-moon night of the 8th lunar month, an altar is set up on the open air facing the moon to worship her.  She endows her worshippers with beauty.

Photos of Chang'e:

Last edited by DrJooJoo (11-30-2008 07:46)

I'm from Australia and I chose the swagman from 'Waltzing Matilda' - the unofficial anthem.

The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker (swagman) making a drink of tea at a bush camp and stealing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small watering hole and goes on to haunt the site.
Written by Banjo Paterson in1895, the lyrics and other explanations are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_Matilda

Swagman:


My Swag(wo)man:


Note: If looking at the lyrics, a tucker bag is a food bag and a jumbuck is a sheep

Last edited by Bambi1414 (11-28-2008 09:38)

Okay. Mine Polish representant is Marzanna (btw: she supposed to be barefoot )



Marzanna, Mara, Murava, Morana, Moréna, Śmierć or Morena (from indoeuropean *mar-, *mor- - death) is a Slavic goddess. Her exact function is unclear. She is most often believed to be a Goddess of harvest and witchcraft. In some medieval Christian sources such as the Mater Verborum she is compared to Hecate. Her relationship to Mara, Goddess of death, is unclear; some sources equate the two. In late medieval Czech sources she becomes a Goddess of winter as well as death. Her name is based on the Slavic root mor, used in words such as "confusion", "peril", "nightmare", "death" and "plague".

Marzanna's rites are believed to survive into Christian times as Maslenitsa, a six- or seven-day feast celebrated in early March. During the first five or six days of Maslenitsa, flat blini are served that are believed to symbolize the Sun. On the last day, straw effigies are made, symbolizing the winter, and burned and sometimes drowned.
The Burning of Morena is a traditional folk festivals still surviving in Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic. The Drowning of Marzanna is a traditional folk fest in Poland, besides in some parts of Poland is quite popular Burning of Marzanna, it depends on choice. The two festivals are to symbolically welcome the spring and bury the winter. The ritual involves burning of a straw mannequin representing Morena. Although nowadays it has no more religious meaning there are apparent Slavic roots of this fest, which makes the tradition attractive. Children in Polish Kindergartens and in incipient years of Primary school are always preparing Marzanna.

Skadi, winter goddess of the north, goddess of the mountains and hunters
She was a nothgermanic giantess and the daughter of Thiazi and Saga.
When her father Thiazi was slain by the gods, Skadi wanted to take revenge. The gods thought it wiser to reconciliate and offered her a marriage with one of them and promised to make her laugh. This task was given to Loki. In an effort to make her laugh, Loki tied one end of a rope to the beard of a goat, and the other end of the rope to his own testicles. As the goat tried to get away, both Loki and the goat shrieked in pain, and this did make Skadi laugh. She was free to marry any god, but while she made her choice she was only allowed to see the feet of the potential candidates. She noticed a very elegant pair and, convinced that their owner was the fair god Balder, she choose them. Unfortunately for her, those feet belonged to the older god Njord.

The marriage between Njord and Skadi was not a happy one. She wanted to live in Thrymheim in the mountains, and Njord wanted to live in Noatun, his palace by the sea. So they agreed to spend the first nine days in the mountains and the following nine days by the sea. This arrangement did not work out very well, and they separated. Eventually, Skadi left Njord for the god Ull.
After their separation, Skadi had several sons with the god Odin and later she married Ull. (germany)

Last edited by AliceStar (11-28-2008 13:47)

My bimbo  http://photo.missbimbo.com/bimbo/1/162/gd/129077.png   as cinderella  http://photo.missbimbo.com/1/84/gd/66656.jpg

There are a lot of legends on the creations of naples (italy).

Most of them are concerned on the image of Parthenope.
Parthenope is both seen as a marmeid, that loved Ulysses, but also as the creator of Naples.
I chose to tell you this last legend.

"Once upon a time, a wonderful girl named Parthenope (that in greek means virgin)  lived in Greece. She was so beautiful that was often compared to a goddness: she had big black eyes, a nice regular face, voluptuous lips and a white and sensual body. She loved to sit and stare at the sea, dreaming of  distant and unknown lands. She and a boy named Cimone where in love, but her father had already promised her to Eumeno, and so he hindered their love in all the way.
One day Cimone asked her to leave to be finally able to love each other.
They landed in an Italian beach. With their arrival wonderful flowers bloom. Parthenope&Cimone took their love in the land. they loved in every place of the land.
From Greece came to love her, her father, her sisters and her friends and relatives.
Firt, a village rises on one hill, and bit by bit, extended in the valley, then, another colony set on another hill, joining the first, thus gradually creating a city.
This was all created by Parthenope, that, for napolitans, has never died. She lives, young and beautiful, from five thousand years, walking on the beach and staring at the vulcano. She is what makes Naples full of light and colors: she is makes the stars shine in the quiet nights....
Parthenope will never die, as love.
Naples is the city of love."

So..here is my bimbo:

Hope You like my creations...and...sorry for my bad translation of the legend...!!!

Last edited by Chr1sti4nn3 (11-28-2008 16:37)

Polish 'Topielica'...
   

In Slowian beliefs Topielice were ghosts of drowned virgins. They lived in rivers and lakes. Topielice tempted young men theirs beautiful bodies and voices. After  this they killed them. Beliefs showed them as invariable young beautiful girls with long, waving hairs and  fairy complexion. They are appeared in the moon light very often, lived of his rays. Winters they spend in water, from the early spring they sitting on the river banks. They like sitting on the tree branches, especially on the willow. They liked singing and dancing. To protected of them people hanged ribbons on the trees growing near to source of water.

Last edited by Ayanami (12-01-2008 08:58)

The Netherlands



'Captain Willem van der Decken'

Willem van der Decken is a person which we are not sure from he existed. Captain Willem van der Decken was the Captain from the Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home, and is doomed to sail the oceans forever.. The captain swore that he would not retreat in the face of a storm, but would continue his attempt to round the Cape of Good Hope even if it took until Judgment Day. Some horrible crime took place on board, or the crew was infected with the plague and not allowed to sail into any port for this reason. Since then, the ship and its crew were doomed to sail forever, never putting in to shore. This happened in 1641. 
Terneuzen in the Netherlands is described as the home of Captain Van der Decken.

The Captain said the following quote:
I will sail, even if it is for eternity

Immediately, the storm decreased. The devil appeared and said:
Thee will sail for eternity

Last edited by sweetxbimbo (11-28-2008 15:50)