Foxfire Fungi

I don’t know if anyone recalls this post: Aarnivalkea. In it I wondered if ‘will o’ the wisps’ were actually references to bioluminescent fungi since the Finnish word for ‘will o’ the wisp’ is aarnivalkea — the ‘aarni’ being an archaic word for a giant tree. This brought to mind these two quotes:

The mole took a piece of decayed wood in his mouth, for that glimmers like a light in the dark, and then went on in front, and lighted them through the long dark passage.

— Hans Christian Andersen: Thumbelina

. . . in a rotten tree stump found some bits of glowing wood like fire . . .

— William Elliot Griffis: Japanese Fairy World

And as it turns out, there is a bioluminescent fungus! Or well, there’re quite many of them but foxfire fungi at least grow in decaying wood. I’m not going to go through the whole list of bioluminescent fungi, I’m just content that my thoughts were proven correct.

As a fun aside, the word for foxfire in Finnish is ‘peikonkulta’ which means ‘troll’s gold’. It could also be translated as ‘goblin’s gold’ which is a bioluminescent moss.

Aarnivalkea

Aarnivalkea is basically the Finnish word for ‘will o’ the wisp’. In folklore, will o’ the wisps are strange lights that lure travellers off safe paths. In some folklore, will o’ the wisps also lead to treasure which becomes relevant in a bit.

So, here comes the fun part. The Finnish word ‘aarni’ can mean either:

treasure (archaic, mythology)
or
giant; giant tree (archaic, mythology)

When I saw that definition of giant tree (which, to be fair, I probably should’ve figured out from the word ‘aarniometsä’), I immediately thought of these two tidbits:

The mole took a piece of decayed wood in his mouth, for that glimmers like a light in the dark, and then went on in front, and lighted them through the long dark passage.

— Hans Christian Andersen: Thumbelina

. . . in a rotten tree stump found some bits of glowing wood like fire . . .

— William Elliot Griffis: Japanese Fairy World

One of the theories for will o’ the wisps is that they’re some kind of marsh gas or whatever. But what if they aren’t gas? Maybe they’re rotting wood that glows? For whatever reason that I can’t discern yet but, to be fair, I haven’t really been in close contact with rotting wood. The only thing I can still think of is some kind of bioluminescent fungus or something.

Raiko and the Shi-ten Doji

There were no bridges over the streams, and frightful precipices abounded. Once they had to stop and build a bridge by felling a tree, and walking across it over a dangerous chasm. Once they came to steep rock, to descend which they must make a ladder of creeping vines. At last they reached a dense grove at the top of a cliff, far up to the clouds, which seemed as if it might contain the demon’s castle.

⋅ Nota Bene ⋅

(This explains so many things about Japanese video games, ha ha.)

How the Jelly-fish Lost its Shell

This is a Japanese fairy tale in the Japanese Fairy World, collected and translated by William Elliot Griffis.

This tale depicts that jellyfish used to have shells:

In those days he had a shell, and as his head was hard, no one dared to insult him, or stick him with their horns, or pinch him with their claws, or scratch him with their nails, or brush rudely by him with their fins.

Fairy tales can be surprisingly old — for example, the Australian aboriginals allegedly have preserved their oral tales from sixty thousand years ago, East Europeans have preserved their tales from Ancient India, and the origins of the tale of Yeti might be the vestiges of early humans meeting anthropoid apes.

So being the curious, enterprising young lady that I am, I asked myself if this tale had some trace of truth in it.

It took some digging — because internet search engines are freaking useless — but apparently ancient comb jellies used to have external skeletons that could’ve been support or defence.

But here’s the problem: these things used to live five hundred million years ago. So probably not, ha ha.

Little Silver’s Dream of the Shoji

Old grannies and country folks believe that if you have a picture of a tapir under the bed or on the paper pillow-case, you will not have unpleasant dreams, as the tapir is said to eat them.

⋅ Nota Bene ⋅

(It actually used to be a Japanese creature called baku. But this changed at some point to a tapir.)

The Seven Patrons of Happiness

He keeps his bag tightly shut, for money easily runs away when the purse is once opened.

Glow Wood

The mole took a piece of decayed wood in his mouth, for that glimmers like a light in the dark, and then went on in front, and lighted them through the long dark passage.

— Hans Christian Andersen: Thumbelina

. . . in a rotten tree stump found some bits of glowing wood like fire . . .

— William Elliot Griffis: Japanese Fairy World

Is this a real thing? I’m trying to think of glowing wood but all I can really think of is bioluminescent fungus or something.

Update

Okay, this post is for those whom it might interest. I’m getting increasingly sick of my inability to string two sentences together without wanting to hurl my keyboard out the window so I’ll be taking a break from the blog. There are some issues in real life that need my attention, too — mostly school related so nothing dramatic!

I don’t want to feel like I have to update this blog even though I don’t have many visitors or readers! But I probably won’t post anything for a week or two. I’m hoping that’s enough time to take care of business and get myself back into shape.

When I get back, I’ll probably post quotes from The Mabinogion if there is anything quotable. I definitely have some thoughts on The First Branch but I’ll post those later after I’ve read the whole story. Some of the fairytales in the Welsh Fairy Tales by William Elliot Griffis were actually based on the stories in The Mabinogion.

Mabinogi is Cymric for “a story of youth” or “tale”. Mabinogion is the plural version of this.

The Red Bandits of Montgomery

They declared they caught colds and sneezed oftener, than in the times gone by. The chimneys, they said, cost too much money, and were useless extravagances. They got along well enough, in the good old days, when the smoke had its own way of getting out. Then, it took plenty of time to pass through the doors and windholes, for no one person or thing was in a hurry, when they were young. Moreover, when the fireplace was in the middle of the floor, the whole family sat around it and had a sociable time.

⋅ Nota Bene ⋅

(The Red Bandits were an actual thing c. 16th century Wales, called the Red Bandits of Mawddwy. Also, the chimneys did allow for new ways of cooking but they had a low fuel efficiency; so low, in fact, that Europe suffered from deforestation in the 14th century. Also, Japan still has houses with similar open fireplaces called irori (囲炉裏, “sunken hearth”. The urban version of this is called hibachi (火鉢, “brazier”. They’re both really quite lovely.)

Why the Back Door was Front

“It’s no matter now, if you only do as I ask you. Shut up your front door, build a wall in its place, and then my family will not suffer from yours.”

The Welsh Fairies Hold a Meeting

All over the world, the Welsh folks, who do so passionately love music, poetry and their own grand language, hold the Eistedfodd at regular intervals. Thus they renew their love for the Fatherland and what they received long ago from their ancestors.

The Welshery and the Normans

Though their land has been many times invaded, the Welsh have never been conquered. Powerful tribes, like the Romans, Saxons and Normans, have tried to overwhelm them. Even when the English and German kings attempted to crush their spirit and blot out their language and literature, the Welsh resisted and won victory.

A Boy That Visited Fairyland

To the elves, human beings were never satisfied, or long happy, even when they got what they wanted.

Giant Tom and Giant Blubb

They were the British people, and nobody ever heard the German name, “Wales,” which means a foreign land; or the word “Welsh,” which refers to foreigners, until men who were themselves outsiders came into Britain.

The Touch of Iron

By this time, the man was so vexed that he lost his temper; and he who does that, usually loses the game, while he who controls the wrath within, wins.

The Great Red Dragon of Wales

When the tent flap was opened for all to see, nothing was visible except a red dragon; for the victorious serpent had turned into this great creature which combined in one new form the body and the powers of bird, beast, reptile and fish. It had wings to fly, the strongest animal strength, and could crawl, swim, and live in either water or air, or on earth. In its body was the sum total of all life.

∞

As for the boy, he became a great magician, or, as we in our age would call him, a man of science and wisdom, named Merlin. He lived long on the mountain, but when he went away with a friend, he placed all his treasures in a golden cauldron and hid them in a cave. He rolled a great stone over its mouth. Then with sod and earth he covered it all over so as to hide it from view. His purpose was to leave this his wealth for a leader, who, in some future generation, would use it for the benefit of his country, when most needed.

This special person will be a youth with yellow hair and blue eyes. When he comes to Denas, a bell will ring to invite him into the cave. The moment his foot is over the place, the stone of entrance will open of its own accord. Anyone else will be considered an intruder and it will not be possible for him to carry away the treasure.

How the Cymry Land Became Inhabited

Men might be born, live and die, come and go, like leaves on the trees, which expand in the springtime and fall in the autumn; but their songs, and poetry, and noble language never die. Even to-day, the Cymry love the speech of their fathers almost as well as they love their native land.

The Mighty Monster Afang

The Cymric men were not surprised at this, for they knew that girls were very sweet and they almost worshiped women. So they learned to guard their daughters and wives. They saw that to do such things as eating up people was in the nature of the beast, which could never be taught good manners.

The Child of Thunder

“A new field gives a scant crop,” the words of which mean also, “Human life is but fifty years.”