Hi everyone, and welcome back to Britain under the Microscope. 欢迎回来【闲话英伦】 Hi, 安澜.
Hi Lulu, hi, everyone.
You know 安澜it’s getting colder and darker.
Oh, yes.
Can we talk about something truly exciting?
Sounds good.
Yeah, before I don't know what you're thinking about, but I mean let's talk about lore, mythology, (yes), things like that. I know we shared that interest.
Exactly. So yeah. It's that time of the year now where you wanna...it’s a bit dark it’s very very cold, so you wanna get bit cozy and listen to some stories or some myths.
Gather around children, gather around the bonfire. Let us tell you a story.
Yes,
That sort of thing.
So first of all, before we get into these stories, let's very quickly take a look at these words like mythology, legends, lore, like urban myth. Urban myth is an American thing, isn't it?
Not necessarily. Urban myths are just stories that get passed around by the community or by societies. They are normally modern though, for example, aliens would be considered urban legends.
Oh I see, urban legends就是那种叫都市传说, 很多它是城市化之后after urbanization, and then you hear these stories. Right? But then you also have the more ancient mythology, 神话, 传说, but folklore that's actually what I'm quite interested in.
In English when you hear the word lore is it just more like word of mouth, like people tell each other.
These are just traditional stories. So there are stories that are told by people through generations or through communities. To be honest, I'm sure that there's a technical definition for folklore, but that's my understanding of it. So for example, myths are generally grander and generally based completely in fiction. I see, whereas legends normally have at least a little bit of truth to them.
For example, the legend of 安澜.
Yes, absolutely.
All right, so that's a little bit of the background. I mean when you think about some folklores, especially the ones that has more of a supernatural leanings, one of the things that you notice is there are so many mythical creatures.
Yes.
就是很多神兽, 很多那种传说中的怪兽 some of them are good, some of them are truly evil and hideous.
Well yeah, Britain is filled with mythical creatures.
Same as us, we have like 《山海经》, that's like filled with all sorts of creatures.
Yeah, so let's talk a little bit more about some British.
Exactly. It's Britain Under the Microscope. Let's focus on some mythical creatures in the UK.
Yep. So the first one is a Cockatrice. (鸡身蛇尾怪, 传说人被它看一眼即可致死)
A Cockatrice, I've heard about that. It's some sort of... we translated as in鸡蛇兽, 蛇鸡兽, 就是 half snake half chicken I wanna say.
It has the head and legs of a rooster, the tail of a serpent and sometimes it has wings.
Well, like I said roosters, chicken, right? Well yeah. 一半是公鸡, 一半是就有蛇尾. That's actually a pretty typical mythical creature in the UK, I remember seeing the drawing somewhere.
Well yeah, so according to legend, the Cockatrice actually is born from an egg, laid by a rooster which is impossible.
公鸡蛋.
Yes. And then it's looked after by a toad or a serpent.
安澜, I have a question. A serpent means snake, right?
Yes.
Why is it that all of these mythical creatures were like these tales they use the word serpent rather than snake. Is it just because it's evil?
Partly is, it's kind of just another way of saying anything that slithers.
It's also got that sinister vibes or that dramatic vibes.
Yes,
现在有很多人养蛇的, for example, if I keep a little snake as a pet, I wouldn't say I have a serpent at all.
Yeah, it kind of makes it sound very, very evil. But you have to think that snakes have always been considered quite evil in western thought. Think about the garden of Eden. It was the devil as a serpent tempted Eve.
Exactly.
Okay, so this one is looked after by a toad or a serpent. That's why it's, I guess half snake. Maybe the snake is the father.
I've absolutely no idea.
Okay, this is an evil creature though.
Yes. So this creature is said to have the power to kill with just one glance.
It looks at you, you're dead.
Yes.
It's a bit like Gorgon isn't it, like Medusa.
Pretty much, pretty much. And the cockatrice appears in a few medieval stories and it's often associated with alchemy.
炼金术. What, is it like an alchemist or something?
I think some of the stories say that it's linked with gold or it is venom. It's poison even though it's deadly does have magical properties.
I see, interesting. Okay. But I guess like many of those stories, although they're deadly, but they have weakness.
Yes. Now this cockatrice, its weakness is really weird.
Okay.
It can be defeated by a weasel.
黄鼠狼?
Yeah.
Okay well, I will have you know that weasels are pretty prominent in Chinese folklore especially in northeast China.
Oh yeah, a few days ago I saw a weasel on the street.
That's supposed to be good luck you know, supposed to bring you money.
Hopefully. Well, you tell me, you're my boss.
All right, or ?
Or hearing a rooster crow.
听到公鸡叫, yeah, why?
I have no idea.
You would think it's born from an egg laid by a rooster. So rooster would be the father or the mother, and you would think that hearing a rooster crow, it will cry mummy, daddy, and running towards it.
I guess so, but according to the legend, these are immune to its deadly powers. Now cockatrices are really known very much nowadays, but in the medieval times you could see them a lot in artwork.
Yes, I've actually noticed that.
Okay alright, that is cockatrices.
What about some other things like do you not have any legends or mythical creatures linked with like cats or dogs?
We do, so the idea of the black dog.
What's wrong with black Dogs
In British folklore, black dogs are seen as omens of death or misfortune.
Omens like signs.
Signs. So these hounds are huge black dogs with glowing red or green eyes. They're linked with specific locations like a churchyard or burial site and also crossroads.
Actually crossroads are crossroads demons. That's pretty well-known that sort of folklore and it's not just in the UK, in America as well. And also this British black dogs sound like hell hound .
Kind of.
地狱恶犬. That hell hound is a thing, right? It's a folkloric thing.
But the idea of the crossroads is always been rather sinister where the two roads meet because that's where executions used to take place and people were buried at crossroads if they couldn't be buried in a churchyard.
The evil people like...
Well, not evil people, you have criminals, but also people who committed suicide.
Oh I see, so they are not accepted by the church, so they had to be buried at crossroads .
Yeah, so that whole area has always traditionally been seen as a area of misfortune. Now there was one famous legend, the legend of Black Shuck.
I've heard of this. That's the dog's name.
Yes, and this is well known in an area called East Anglia, which is in the east of England. And East Anglia is basically very, very flat. It's a water area, there's lots of marshes, there's very misty as well. And according to the story, a ghostly dog roams the countryside. And if you see it, it is said to be an omen of death.
You know what this reminds me of, I'm sure you're thinking about that as well, Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskerville.
Exactly.
Is that what it is based on, it's at least in some way related or drawing inspiration from the legend.
It draws inspiration from the legend. So in one famous tale, Black Shuck is said to have burst into a church during a thunderstorm in 1577, killing a man, killing a boy and leaving scorch marks on the church door.
Burnning marks?
Yeah, burn marks. Apparently they can still be seen today.
That is linked with hellfire, hell hound for sure.
Yes, and in the UK at the moment there's a really famous podcast called Uncanny.
Oh, you recommended that to me.
I did. And one or two of the stories are about people who see Black Shuck, so even though this legend has been around for centuries, just a few months ago, they were actually reporting or some people reporting actually seeing the dog.
To be honest, the black dog with the glowing red or green eyes and paired with the misty English weather and also paired with your... I don't know more heath, I think that is very atmospheric.
It is, it is, but black dogs are considered to be omens of doom. But there are some stories that show them as protectors. So they guide travelers safely through the night.
I see. So that's about dogs.
