I originally studied physics. And like many of those who graduated in the #STEM fields, I developed a certain prejudice against the #Humanities.
Today I can say that I was wrong.
And the most important lesson of the Humanities is that the life experiences of others are valid even if they are different than your own - something too many people forget. It's too easy to become a judgmental asshole if you ignore that lesson.
...since this post seems to be making the rounds, let me plug my own Humanities-related project:
I am translating old German folk tales into English! Check out the German Folklore Map at the following link, which showcases the locations of all the folk tales I have translated:
@luigirenna@germany@folklore Well, there's a small myth complex on Mutter Gauerken/Frau Gauden/Frau Gaur etc. in Mecklenburg. She is effectively the local leader of the Wild Hunt, possibly intermixed with some Hulda/Holle elements.
@KonchogTenzenSangpo@luigirenna@germany@folklore I haven't researched Slavic folklore much yet, which is definitely something I want to rectify. But it would not surprise me - I've already noticed some overlap between German and Slavic folklore regarding "fern flowers". And, of course, "vampire"-type stories are most common in Eastern Germany.
A few years ago, I spent some time trying to find folk tale collections in the public domain. If you know of any additional ones about Italy, please add them!
(Also, if you know of any Italian-language folk tale collections in the public domain, then I am interested in those as well. They might make for good reading material a few years down the road...)
I am a bit curious about the fact that there seem to be a number of English-language collections of Italian folk tales that precede Cavilo. Were they translations of existing collections, or did the authors collect the tales themselves and then immediately translate them? I need to investigate this further...
Ironically, in northeastern German folklore, children born with a caul have a less happy fate - they are doomed to return as revenants after death who kill everyone in the area unless precautions are taken.
#ttrpg#worldbuiding tip: If you want to get some inspiration, get "The Dictionary of Imaginary Places" - a guidebook to fantastic locations from world literature. You'll be sure to find something interesting to put into your own settings!
