Billy Goats Gruff

[greencreeper]

Well, talk about shocked and appalled. I remembered this lovely tale told to me as a kid about these three goats. The first two weren't allowed to cross a bridge over a river due to a nasty troll. A third goat head butts the troll into the river. Awwww. A strong head can beat a troll any day I looked the story up on the Internet and found this: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0122e.html
It all sounded familiar until I got to the bit:

Well, come along! I've got two spears,
And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
I've got besides two curling-stones,
And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones.

It's the X-rated version, surely I'd have had nightmares hearing that as a kid. Funny lot are the Norwegians

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by greencreeper

Well, talk about shocked and appalled. I remembered this lovely tale told to me as a kid about these three goats. The first two weren't allowed to cross a bridge over a river due to a nasty troll. A third goat head butts the troll into the river. Awwww. A strong head can beat a troll any day I looked the story up on the Internet and found this: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0122e.html
It all sounded familiar until I got to the bit:



It's the X-rated version, surely I'd have had nightmares hearing that as a kid. Funny lot are the Norwegians

Don't they have the highest rate of suicide in the world?

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Don't they have the highest rate of suicide in the world?

Well it wouldn't surprise me having read that "folk tale"

Originally Posted by greencreeper

It's the X-rated version, surely I'd have had nightmares hearing that as a kid. Funny lot are the Norwegians

Actually it's probably the original version.

A lot of children's stories have been "sanitised" over the years to "protect" the children.

"For much of the 19th century teachers, parents, and religious figures, particularly in the United States, deplored the Grimms’ collection for its raw, uncivilized content. An American educator in 1885 railed: “The folktales mirror all too loyally the entire medieval worldview and culture with all its stark prejudice, its crudeness and barbarities.� Offended adults objected to the gruesome punishments inflicted on the stories’ villains. In the original “Snow White� the evil stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she falls down dead. In “The Goose Maid� a treacherous servant is stripped, thrown into a barrel studded with sharp nails, and dragged through the streets. Even today some protective parents shy from the Grimms’ tales because of their reputation for violence."

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/article.html


Try reading the original Brothers Grimm stories and see!

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~wbarker/fairies/grimm/

[Nugget]

Grahams probably right - I seem to remember that ' Ring a ring of roses' was actually about the plague.

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by Nugget

Grahams probably right - I seem to remember that ' Ring a ring of roses' was actually about the plague.

Yes he is - I wasn't been entirely serious when I said it was the x-rate version Yes - "Ring a ring of roses" is about the plague. "Pocket full of posies" refers to the belief that it was bad smells that carried the disease - they were on the right lines. The "ring of roses" is the rash that's symptomatic of the plague, and the "a-tishoo a-tishoo we all fall down [dead]" speaks for itself. Strange how children cope with things.

Sorry, guys, but...

Claim: The nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosie' is a coded reference to the Black Plague.

Status: False.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Graham

Sorry, guys, but...

Claim: The nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosie' is a coded reference to the Black Plague.

Status: False.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm

DANG IT!!!!!!!!! Proved wrong again!!!!

I'm really going off you, Graham

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Graham

Sorry, guys, but...

Claim: The nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosie' is a coded reference to the Black Plague.

Status: False.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm

ooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww and Snopes strikes again

I'm getting fed up having my favourite urban myths debunked, life in Snopesville must be very sterile and uninteresting.

EDIT actually, I used the site myself last week - I emailed a link to an Independent feature writer who repeated the myth about the World Series and the New York World newspaper.

[Maggy J]

I hope that my belief that Mary,Mary,Quite Contrary pertains to Mary Queen of Scots is true?

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

I hope that my belief that Mary,Mary,Quite Contrary pertains to Mary Queen of Scots is true?

I agree with you Incog (mind you, Mary wouldn't have, contrary little so and so )

[greencreeper]

Nah - there's always a boring, rational "explanation" for an urban myth. Some people just need to stop being afraid of living I'm an expert on the subject I prefer to stick with idea that Ring a Ring Rosies is about the plague - at least it's interesting.

[Nikko]

Back on topic.

Billy goats gruff. Nanny goats gruff.

Given a diet of grass, clover & nettles, most ruminant bovines experience a degree of flatulence.

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by Nikko

Back on topic.

Billy goats gruff. Nanny goats gruff.

Given a diet of grass, clover & nettles, most ruminant bovines experience a degree of flatulence.

It doesn't mention farting at the troll I suppose anything's possible though.