Fables and Folktales: The Sun Maiden and the Crescent Moon

A Siberian folktale that I scripted LONG BEFORE Russia joined the War-Crimes Club.
(The actual myth is mercifully detached from current events, but the intro context inadvertently dips into The Spice Zone. Life comes at you fast in the 2020s).
To support relief efforts in Ukraine, the ad-revenue from this video will be donated to Direct Relief, funding Ukrainian medical aid: www.directrelief.org/place/uk...
To learn more about Ukraine's history and the Russo-Ukrainian war, see Blue's recent video on the subject: • History Summarized: Uk...
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[@ratlab5680]

Sun Maiden: "My first boyfriend became the Moon." Sokka: "That's rough buddy."

[@Undomaranel]

Zuko: _this is more common than we first realized_ "Hey! You stole my line iceberg boy!"

[@nInOwarrior0312]

It really is...rough

[@jenneacubero1036]

*Kaguya's Emperor Not-Boyfriend Has Entered The Chat.*

[@GranWarlorckEnmaryu]

Chang'e : "Oh I too know the feeling"

[@1033515]

Zuko: If I had a nickel for every time I heard about someone's partner becoming the moon I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice...

[@R4yj4ck]

Kudos to that guy for immediately seeing through a disguise that would take anime protagonists several SEASONS to notice

[@lolaseiss]

He’s not a suburban middle class white dad so of course he’s got a functioning sense of self preservation and radar for spooky shit

[@moonwatcher4047]

I don’t quite think “immediately” is the right word here. Considering he doesn’t notice the disguise as soon as he lays eyes on her, which is what “immediately” would imply. Perhaps “rapidly” would better suit your purpose here. Sorry, I’ll shut up now. 😅

[@blainewheaton9679]

@@moonwatcher4047 we can’t all be moonwatchers, my friend! 😂 I’m quite impressed it only took one sketchy detail for him to check and not somebody else pointing out that things are weird once it’s too late to help anyone.

[@DoveJS]

@@blainewheaton9679 Technically, it was too late to help anyone, since his sister was already dead and the witch still grabbed him and managed to keep the side with his heart. So, while you're right that he noticed quickly, he would've had to recognize her deceit literally the second he saw her, never gotten off the flying horse, and gone straight back to the sun to have saved himself. And to his credit, most people wouldn't have realized that fast.

[@isadoracostahamsi163]

Yeaaah being cleaver than an anime protagonist isn't much to beat about

[@VillackDeSage]

Now, I was familiar with Baba Yaga and I already considered her as one of mythology's scariest witches, but you're telling me Siberian witches have metal teeth?! To chew through mountains!?

[@leeshajoi]

Baba Yaga also has iron teeth in some tellings.

[@alwaysm.e.e6880]

Specifically to chew through mountains ya.

[@luigiboi4244]

Don’t forget wood.

[@timothymclean]

@@luigiboi4244 Find me a maw that can chew through entire _mountains_ but not some wood, and I'll give you this bottle with peculiar magical properties which will somehow come in handy later in your legend.

[@faristasairuv5143]

I know, right! Absolutely terrifying!

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

Other cultures: "The moon is a beautiful maiden, pristine and untouched!" Russian Natives, for some reason: "A GUY WAS ORPHANED THEN RIPPED IN HALF BY A WITCH WHO'D EATEN HIS SISTER"

[@carlosalbuquerque22]

If by "other cultures" you mostly mean Rome and Greece. Male moon gods are actually more common worldwide.

[@izzyash775]

@@carlosalbuquerque22 actually the moon goddess in China is a beautiful maiden, not just Greece.

[@faristasairuv5143]

I mean, that’s honestly a better story.

[@Buorgenhaeren]

Russians as ethnicity only refer to european slavic "russians" They're not as much russian natives but natives of the country russia

[@misery_shun]

@@Buorgenhaeren Couldn't have better said it myself It's almost frustrating to tell everyone that the fact that I'm Russian doesn't mean I'm Slavic, I'm north-asian native

[@gimligimlass5509]

If he was left-handed he would have reached out for Sun Bae's hand with his left hand instead of his right. He still would have died, but she would have been able to revive him properly. The moral of the story is that it's better to be left-handed.

[@salvadortoscano2534]

As a left-handed person this gave me a chuckle xD Take my like, good sir!

[@DaRealKakarroto]

1 in 110,000 - 12,000 people have their heart on the right side though, so you better check before you let yourself been ripped in half.

[@anamazing2297]

Moral of the story? Always reach for sun goddesses with the side that has your heart.

[@Bacopa68]

Every time the Republicans or Democrats have nominated a left-handed candidate for President, a left-handed candidate has won. 1980: Reagan defeats Carter 1984: Reagan defeats Mondale 1988: GHW Bush defeats Dukakis 1992: Lefty Bill Clinton ousts Bush 41 1996: Lefty Clinton holds off Dole. 2000: No left handers. Dub Bush "wins" 2004: Right-handed Kerry cannot oust Bush 43 2008: Left-handed Obama wins 2012: Obama wins again. 2016 till now, no left hander has gotten the nomination.

[@moonwatcher4047]

*worriedly laughs in being right-handed*

[@Bubbles-od2zm]

Brother: “He’s just not the hugest fan of being kidnapped about it” Every woman in Greek Mythology: “first time?”

[@samueldimmock694]

Closer to half of them.

[@faristasairuv5143]

Hey at least she let her go back.

[@faristasairuv5143]

I mean him.

[@vintheguy]

@@faristasairuv5143 My brother in Christ: you can just edit your comments

[@faristasairuv5143]

That’s exactly what I was thinking!

[@purplehaze2358]

"This demographic covers at least 9 language families" Note how she didn't say 9 languages. She said language _families._ By my estimates, that is a metric fuck-load of languages.

[@zetijeti]

Many language families are small there - ugric has three: Mansy, Khanty, and Hungarian I imagine the others are similar

[@matthiasbaaij8667]

@@zetijeti that would still be about 27 languages (assuming all language families contain 3 languages).

[@ItsAweeb]

@@zetijeti Alarmed Finno-Ugric sounds

[@hgu]

yeah and those language families span from one or a few surviving members to dozens upon dozens (also fun fact the culture that this folk tale came from, the Kett, belong to the only language family to conclusively prove a connection between indigenous American and Siberian languages outside of the parts of the regions that are extremely close)

[@LoverofLiszt]

”A metric fuck-load”? That's, like, 5 shit-tons. Which themselves are equivalent to 24 metric assloads. EACH! It may only be half of a fuck-ton, but it's still A LOT of languages.

[@demi_demon]

Love when in myths/fairytales the way you escape from the Bad Guy is just "toss magic shit at them and hope it helps"

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

Him and izanagi

[@jocosesonata]

If I can toss nondescript magic stuff at my problems, I would.

[@ajh3461]

Between this and Hippomenes, is there any problem that can't be solved by tossing magic shit?

[@fantasyshadows3207]

RANDOMBSGO

[@mythmakroxymore1670]

It really is the best

[@kammieceleek5113]

Sun and moon dynamics: nothing is more classic. Side note: SOMEONE HEARD 'UNIQUE CULTURE' AND SAID 'SAVE IT'

[@A1phaWolf150]

FINALLY.

[@richeybaumann1755]

It's especially noble considering he was British and they... don't have the best reputation for "cultural preservation".

[@jargoneo1092]

@@richeybaumann1755 the british musuem looking sus right about now

[@richeybaumann1755]

@@jargoneo1092 Elgin Marbles in Britain? What a total coincidence that there just happen to be missing statues in Athens. No relation I'm sure...

[@astoroidea6502]

Huh, I wonder where all these artefacts and sacred symbols came from? Oh well, they must’ve been presents! /s

[@keziawowor5165]

This story is really sad, not only the guy is an orphan. He also lost his sister to a witch and got ripped into two, to make it worst he now lives as a half-moon for the rest of his life. I mean, woah. That’s already a lot anyone can handle Edit: Woah! So many likes? Thank you guys so much😍

[@GraveRobbinJake]

"That's rough, buddy"

[@JoshtheOverlander]

Also, you know, the horrible, crippling depression that comes from missing the half of yourself that contains your human heart is also kind of a horrifying existence when you presumably now live for eternity

[@stinkpilot]

"It just goes to show you something" - Red

[@erikeselius8276]

why is she sowing simpify for russia

[@ColdGamingLp]

@@stinkpilot I guess it shows you loving and caring are two different things sometimes?

[@maradupras7278]

i love it when stories like this just randomly jump from 10 to 100 mph in 5 seconds. the transition from "cute story about love and boundaries" to "trying to escape from a witch wearing the skin of your dead sister" is so sudden and makes me wonder if it switched authors halfway through

[@faristasairuv5143]

Knowing it’s a folktale, it honestly might have.

[@andres_david25]

@@faristasairuv5143 And more times than we can imagine

[@shadowclaw7210]

This just has vibe of older sister telling tale to explain stuff to their younger sibling. Only for her get called and leave younger sibling with brother. Who then turn story into horror story. Only for sister comeback and try fix the damage.

[@guywhoistooparanoidtousere3758]

In many stories the sun maiden would have given the boy important magical advice for him to ignore, thus making his eventual fate at least partially justified. In this story, something shitty just happens to him through no fault of his own, and although he makes all the right choices, he still ends up torn in half. Maybe it's not coincidental that this story comes from a culture that was used to being eaten away at by a force outside their control.

[@Jessica_Szoke]

Interesting!

[@tami7992]

Interesting analysis

[@niserresin2006]

You mean winter or civilization?

[@SolstaceWinters]

"He makes all the right choices." .... he went home?

[@niserresin2006]

@@SolstaceWinters What about that is a wrong choice

[@ceast5273]

"It just goes to show you... something." That seems to be a lot of folktales. "Here's how this thing came into being. Moral of the story? Shit sucks, that's your moral, Haffnier, now go clean the village spoon."

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

In my country most of the morals of the myths as far as I'm aware are 1 pink dolphins will steal your girlfriend 2 don't go in the woods for the love of God 3 black people are mischievous tricksters 4 werewolves 5 don't date priests I'm Brazilian

[@meremoo]

@@airplanes_aren.t_real I'll be sure to look out for pink dolphins

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

@@meremoo relax they are reaching extinction

[@intergalactic92]

This isn’t a story with a moral, it’s a "this is why the world is like this" story. It’s not a lesson, it’s an explanation.

[@Whosaskin]

@@airplanes_aren.t_real Werewolves?

[@masterxl97]

“It just goes to show you: Something.” It’s the strong morals and complex analyses we come to this channel for.

[@mullac1992]

Most folktales *do* have a deeper culturally-specific meaning, but if you don't happen to know it, then yeah it's just whacky hijinks lmao

[@Zomburai45]

@@mullac1992 Aye, but some folktales were essentially just silly stories made to pass the time around the old campfire

[@Paur]

I weirdly had a similar same thought at the end, same time Red said it.

[@dylanlevesque235]

She said that and I no joke choked lmao

[@mullac1992]

@@Zomburai45 Yes but even the silliest of silly stories still have cultural context that holds meaning that outsiders may not understand!

[@Jivetalkin13]

This quickly went from sounding like a hero's journey sort of story to psychological horror lovecraftian stuff to tragedy really fast. Almost gave me whiplash.

[@lenobleprince6792]

Lesson of the day: If your super magical radiant maiden friend is trying to save you from an all devouring witch, REACH HER WITH YOUR LEFT HAND

[@Hunter_VanderMatthews]

That chase scene was actually legitimately scary, woman ate a tunnel through a Goddamn mountain. Sun Goddess banishing the brother for dying is ... interesting.

[@lewisirwin5363]

Heartbreak do be like that sometimes

[@ADAJ342]

Tbf seing a person you cherish wither and die on a daily basis has to be rough to watch.

[@AsdfAsdf-mi6ks]

@@ADAJ342 yeah but that’s not his fault???? She shouldn’t have tried to revive him like that. Kinda makes me think of Frankenstein and his monster XD

[@elizak4628]

Right? It's not his fault he's half-dead.

[@God-qi1fr]

Very sad ending for them but tbf its arguably worst to know you could help your partner and just not try when you know its life or death and there's no reason to punish her for attempting to help by making her watch her loved one wither away for eternity knowing that he will never love her back

[@mysticdragoon5789]

Jesus christ the whole shit that happened with sister being brutally eaten was not something I didn't see coming.. Or the brother being torn in half turned into the crescent moon. These stories are METAL!

[@starmaker75]

well when you live in a METAL environment, I get the stories reflect that

[@Envy_May]

just like the witch's teeth

[@sennaka]

yeah, didn't see that coming either. Usually before that you expect the leaving family member saying to them "Okay, don't let anyone in while I'm gone" and then the whole 'pleeeeeese let me in' exchange where the girl gives in, opens the door a crack and gets killed. And then the family member getting vengeance. Or something. But nope, went straight for WITCH GOES NOM

[@avataraarow]

Poor sister, I mean the dude gets a pretty raw deal due to the fact he dies once a month, but at least he has a hot gf he gets to see once in a while and gets to hang in heaven most of the time, but the sister just got eaten and now has a witch wearing her skin for eternity. Not a fun ending to the moon’s only surviving relative

[@UndeadGhostGirl]

Like the witch's teeth.

[@JetZV]

I feel like there's part of this story that is missing, like was the other half just eaten by the witch? Her having the heart seems like an important detail, especially with the shapeshifting and rock eating.

[@fancyfree535]

My theory is that eating hearts of the innocent (or virgin) expands the witch’s lifespan by how many years they had and would of had if fate been kinder

[@doragonzx]

@@fancyfree535 That with got tricking metal Teeth, Sure she don't simply eat everything?

[@TheBeastr]

So when the Sun Maiden grabs him, she made him into a divine being although lacking, my question is how do does this story expand on the other phases of the moon?? Is the guy regaining heart or even having it wither to nothing. More so about this hag/witch, she had taken half of him including his heart so what happens next did she eat his heart in a stew, maybe she still is pursuing the other half as it is no longer the simple mortal brother... this leaves more questions than answers

[@sable7687]

@@TheBeastr while they absolutely wouldn't have known this, in hindsight the half of him thats alive would be the light side of the moon and the other half the dark side of the moon.

[@nicholasjohnston1970]

The only reason the witch having the heart is important is because that means the guy doesn’t have one anymore

[@d73w80]

I always find it slightly interesting when the moon is characterized as masculine, since most mythologys (or at least, popular mythologys) characterize the moon as feminine (more than enough to be considered a trend). It makes you wonder about the thought process about these ancient people who came up with these stories. What was the common factor that inspired these cultures from all over the world to come up with the same idea. Hm, kinda tempted now to go through as many mythologies as possible and run a statistical analysis to see if there's actually a statistically significant trend about male VS female moons. I'll update this comment with my chi square analysis results soon

[@gokbay3057]

Hmmm, I really do wonder what the ratios of masculine/feminine portrayals (or just the grammatical genders for languages that have them) for the sun and moon are.

[@tinagoli5375]

In the proto-indo-European religion, the sun was a goddess and the moon a god, so the characterization of the sun being feminine and moon masculine is actually quite old

[@angelicafandino9877]

Idk if this helps but the Philippine moon god Libulan is often depicted as a man but I’ve seen the tiniest internet discourse refer to Libulan as he/they. They are often drawn as male but they’re always referred to by gender neutral pronouns. Now that is because our language (tagalog) uses alot of gender neutral pronouns it doesn’t automatically mean they’re enby. It is still a nice headcanon though. (There is also another fun depiction that Libulan is the spouse of the god of death, Sidapa) Edit: I can argue that mythology is just a bunch of headcanons that branch of into their own versions of some original telling. Hence why gay/ non binary Libulan is very canon to me based of the modern interpretations of them ❤️

[@aster3380]

I wonder how the gender of the respective sun god affects the moon god as well. Cos I can think of half a dozen with male and female either way, but none with the same gender. Though my memory is very bad :) Edit: it's two godesses for Japanese mythology, but I still can't think of any other example

[@gokbay3057]

@@aster3380 I think for Japan the moon is kinda ambigious while sun is definitly female.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

"It just goes to show you . . . something." Yup, that was definitely something. I'm gonna look up that book. On a side note, this is the fourth culture I've encountered that has a "take these gifts, they'll turn into something to slow down your enemies when you throw them" element in a story. And each culture comes from a competely different part of the world. That bit gets around.

[@sennaka]

Yeah, I noticed that too! Immediately thought of Japanese mythology when I heard that. Feel bad about the horse in this one tho

[@michaelyoung7261]

Reminds me a bit of Moses and his staff that turned into snake. But he got that one back…

[@cassandratastrophe9000]

Who else watched/read Teeny Tiny and the Witch Woman as a child and was permanently scarred by it?

[@BlaineTog]

You've never thrown a random household item and had it turn into a geographical feature? Weird.

[@MrRichiarditya]

Indonesia have such gift folktale, kinda forgot which one tho lol basically a baby girl was to be eaten by giant, but the giant think he want to wait the girl become older, so he went to village to give the girl to be raised. after grow up, the caretaker gave the girl things to runaway from giant, salt that become sea, needle that become thorny forest, and shrimp paste (terasi) that become mudlake that eventually kill and drown the giant

[@laraschroeder5195]

I went from “ahhh classic fairy tale” to “ohh that relationship is problematic(??)” to “HOLY FRICKEN S H I T” This was the most BRUTAL fairy tale you’ve animated to date

[@AhmedAli-hi4si]

Oh boy your not ready for the fairy tale of the shadow or reading the original King in yellow the pre lovecraft one

[@noxsiacnumberxv5718]

Cu Chulain. Not even close lol. Dude has a spear that turns you into a fleshy thorn bush if he kicks it at you. Which Red happily animated lol.

[@lilykep]

look sometimes in fairy tales you get ripped apart by a witch that ate your sister and your girlfriend the sun, what ya gonna do... 🤷‍♀️

[@rugilek.6899]

Welcome to North, where no one bothered to make fairytales Pg 13 and now we have quite a collection. Baltic countries have a fair share of these tales as well. Viking ones might have some too, but I don't really know since I haven't looked into them yet and the fact they have been christian for much longer, lead to possibility that more folktales might have been lost.

[@sasa_somethin7004]

For real! I thought the witch would only take an arm off not half of his whole ass body 💀

[@ivypatty]

Dang, this is one of the phew retellings from Red that actually choked me up a bit? The sun desperately trying to save a mortal over and over, only to become so distraught over failure she sends her love away (who is no doubt also broken from losing his sister and livelyhood)? Phew

[@faristasairuv5143]

I know right? This has got to be the darkest story yet, except perhaps the Greek stuff.

[@discmanthecdlord]

yeah this one made me feel sad and i've seen the greek myth vids

[@elijahsoria-burgueno261]

3:15 seeing those arms made me think "oh wow the sun having arms like that feels like it should be in an eldritch horror story or something, weird" but after watching the whole thing, I guess it kind of was. Neat.

[@carlosalbuquerque22]

Northern Australian Aboriginal cultures also portray the sun as a woman with multiple sun ray arms amusingly. Though in some cases its supposed to be the sun's pubic hair as well...

[@sniccups8390]

Have you seen Blue's video about Akhenaten? This is how the ancient Egyptians portrayed it sometimes as well.

[@calico_queen8976]

I love how the story went from typical Mythology shenanigans to straight up horror movie/game after the sister was eaten and replaced. Like damn, that escalated quickly...

[@faristasairuv5143]

I know! It really did escalate quickly!

[@samtheflutegirl1373]

I don't know, I got to that part and just thought, "Oh, like Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother"

[@henrywong2725]

Yoooo, the Yeniseians (the only surviving languages is Ket) are getting attention on this channel. The Yeniseians are some of the most fascinating ethnolinguistics groups I know. Other than possible linguistic and cultural links to the Na-Dene of North America (which also includes the Navajo, Tlingit and many more). The family itself is believed by some to be the origin for some of our most familiar words relating to the Eurasian Steppe like “khagan”, and “Tengri”.

[@medb1996]

as a native american itd definitely explain why the witch was Familiar to me, albeit im a comanche rather than a na-dene

[@chimera9818]

@@medb1996 well it does make sense that how close Siberia is to America there was some interaction and moving between the continents

[@olivercetus6956]

Could you explain more about the connections they have to the words of Kağan and Tengri? From what i know those are words from Altaic and Mongolic languages while Yeniseians are not from those peoples

[@medb1996]

@@chimera9818 yup, had to come from somewhere

[@alvedonaren]

@@medb1996 Could you elaborate on in what way she's familiar to you?

[@emmaclinning2270]

I feel like "throw items behind you while escaping from a witch to halt her pursuit" is a pretty wide spread concept. I remember reading a German fairytale about two children escaping from a witch where they threw first a mirror and then a comb behind them. The mirror became a lake and the comb became a forest. The witch drank the lake but when she tried to eat through the forest her iron teeth rusted shut and the children got away.

[@RainbowGod666]

...(the voice of Max0r saying "Das Kindershredder" echoes in the air)... iron... teeth?

[@tortis6342]

I have this vague feeling like I've heard that before.

[@marcosalmeida3947]

Izanagi's escape from the underworld as well.

[@viiiivivii306]

In the version I was told as a kid it was a towel and a comb, but yeah, the towel turned into a lake that the witch drank and the comb a forest that slowed the witch down. I think it was a brother's Grimm tale? Not sure, but it could be

[@PeeperSnail]

Given how the water tribe in Avatar is inspired in the Inuit, I wonder if the whole deal with Sokka’s girlfriend turning into the moon was inspired by this folktale, or a similar version of it. Since you know, the Inuit and Siberian cultures aren’t that far removed.

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

So... That's rough buddy???

[@fancyfree535]

Oh my goddess you may have something there!

[@defensivekobra3873]

Unlikely i'd wager, given the very loose connection between the two stories, the lack of a land bridge between siberia & antarctica as well as the sheer size and diversity of siberia

[@PeeperSnail]

@@defensivekobra3873 A- Antarctica??? The Inuit live in Northern Canada and Alaska, close to the ARTIC, but mostly on the mainland.

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@PeeperSnail that's..... even further away from russia

[@omnijack]

There’s something about myths that emerge from harsh environments. A lot more gritty with fewer “happy endings” than other parts of the world. This only increases my fascination with the cultural origins of myths in general.

[@jsc1jake512]

My high school mythology teacher told me that the reason for this phenomenon is most likely that weather has an effect on mood. Tell me how you feel when it's winter time, you might like winter, sure, but do you like being OUTSIDE in winter? When it's winter the weather is mostly cloudy and gloomy and the cold doesn't help which usually brings out a lethargic mood in some people. Now tell me how you feel in summer, you might not like summer because it's always hot, but even with the heat the weather is beautiful. On the better days in summer when it's not scorching you can have a gentle breeze and a sunny sky with few to no clouds, this usually brings out a happier mood in some people. So, in short, weather affects mood and mood affects how we see the world. Mythology is a method our ancestors used to understand the world before we came to know science.

[@Painocus]

@@jsc1jake512 I live in Norway, and I still absolutly hate summer. Even when it's not hot it's painfully bright. The sun being up all night make me feel disoriented and a bit sad. The heat and the light make it impossible to sleep well for months. Spring and fall are the only good seasons. Winter is fine.

[@leithaziz2716]

A lot of old fairy tales and myths usually revolved around setting a message with that message often being "don't do X otherwise this'll happen to you." Don't know if the enviroment itself has to do with why those stories might be written that way.

[@mykodibear17]

@@jsc1jake512 As opposed to how the weather affects mood, I've seen much more support that myths are a reflection of the cultures relationship with their environment. I mean, if you come from a hostile environment that's constantly trying to kill you then it's no surprise that instead of seeing the earth as a loving mother you'd see it as, say, the half-dead body of a monster that's still trying to eat the people that walks on it or as an arrogant goddess with a short temper and little regard for how the results of her outbursts may affect people. Mood plays a part in this, but it has much more to do how much a culture's environment threatens their survival and the stress those threats cause then it does anything like seasonal depression as you're describing.

[@RocketSlug]

I'll have to dig it up again, but I remember a podcast discussing that most traditional folk tales either don't have a happy ending, the antagonist ultimately ends up unpunished, or the protagonist just fails or has something tragic happen due to no fault of their own. It ended up serving a cultural lesson where bad things can happen to you and you just have to deal with it, rather than feeling like there's some cosmic sense of right and wrong where evil is punished and the good are rewarded

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

The nice thing is that you’re using this video on a Siberian folk tale to educate the world about marginalized groups within Russia and raising money for the Ukraine. Big Robin Hood energy.

[@georgeuferov1497]

Robin Hood?

[@coyraig8332]

I feel like you're talking about her Robin Hood video, since there's no stealing, but I don't remember what part you're talking about

[@profezzordarke4362]

@@georgeuferov1497 Yeah, I don't get what this has to do with a mystical Robber who probably was just some robber like any other but people make anything a folk hero, even Stalin.

[@dragonfied321]

Red's raising money for Ukraine by using Russia as the Catalyst. It's not Robin Hood, but I't still a clever joke.

[@adlirez]

@@profezzordarke4362 it's called being chaotic good

[@reflectingPastChoices]

Come to think of it, I also know a Canadian tale about ophans siblings turning into heavenly stuff So there is this Netsiliks Inuit tribe, who is preparing to go down the river to find a nice place to settle, safe from the cold wind. However, there is this pair of orphan children, a brother and a sister, that nobody cares about. Eventually, the tribe leaves and nobody offered them a spot on their kayak. They're left behind to die, as they never had parents to teach them how to survive. The brother still wants to try, if only to confort his sister, and they look around the abandoned camp for any forgotten tool. The sister finds a flint stone, and the brother a dried deer hide. There is nothing they can do with that so instead they start talking about what they want to reincarnate as after they die. A deer? A moose? No, one of them could die and they could be separated, they don't want that. They ponder as the night falls. The brother starts tapping his died hide, mumbling a melody. His sister accompanies him by making sparkles with her flint stone whenever he taps the hide. Together they sing, over and over and they start to rise in the clouds, driven by their desire to stay together and not die. They become the Thunder and the Lighting. Every time the sister makes sparkles with her stone, lighting strikes. AT the same time, her brother tps on his hide and thunder rumbles. But the siblings didn't forget about the tribe that left them behind and unleashed their newfound powers on the camp as punishment. A traveler found them all dead a while later, no wounds on their bodies but they all had red, terrified eyes. When he touched the bodies, they faded into dust. Yey?

[@Hollieanaaa]

:(

[@ckl9390]

This is the most "Russian" (or maybe Eastern European, but with the whole Soviet thing Eastern Europe is somewhat synonymous with "Russia") story I've ever heard. It begins in tragedy, continues with a potential joy that is dulled by homesickness. An attempt to remedy that homesickness leads to encountering a magical apex predator juggernaut, which is only resolved by the main character being bifurcated, doomed to a half-living state constantly fending off death gnawing at what's left of him. Even the Sun Maiden becomes too depressed to handle seeing her love in such a sorry state and effectively banishes him from her sight for the majority of the time, only recalling him for brief moments before becoming too melancholy again.

[@kylewilliams3031]

Correction. It’s Siberian.

[@Alexandraadftxr7052]

This is not a Russian story. They maybe lining in that garbigpaile called Russia, but they speaked a defrent launvige, and had defrent culture.

[@ckl9390]

@@Alexandraadftxr7052 Perhaps I should specify Eastern European, but the stereotypical cultural view of "Russia" in the West and especially North America, even going back to the Czarist era, is one of abject misery. Barely scraping by with joy being a luxury that will cost one dearly in the form of more misery later with compounded interest.

[@sudak9150]

@@ckl9390 it's not even Eastern European bro, Siberia is North Asia. I know how Americans lack geographical knowledge about most of the world, but you just watched the video where it specifically states the obvious location

[@ckl9390]

​@@sudak9150 Being part of a contiguous national landmass sort of does make it difficult to separate Siberia out of Russia in casual conversation. It doesn't help that even going back quite some time much of Siberia was de-facto "Russia's back yard" based on there being practically no meaningful competition until China's northern border. Sort of how the US was able to claim most of their continent going west after buying the exploration rights from France and Spain. And I'm Canadian, so yes I get the whole being bundled in with more powerful neighbours who we are practically a client state of. Something that would be interesting is if in the aftermath of Russia (hopefully) losing the current war in Ukraine, that Siberia could break away from Muscovite Russia and be a functional nation on it's own. It has potential. Though, unfortunately, it is more likely for China to just roll north and annex it and what is currently Mongolia.

[@whatthefyt9061]

It’s a shame about current events. Siberian and Slavic mythology are really quite interesting. They have a war god with four heads, like, where else do you see that?

[@alexvalentine5091]

Closest I can think of is Greek mythology with the 50 heads and 100 arms giant people (though they aren’t gods so…)

[@Sunflower-lk2xo]

Hinduism, Ravana was a demon lord with 7 heads that kidnapped Sita,avatar of the goddess Lakshmi, and he was later killed by her husband Ram, 7th Dashavatara of Vishnu Edit: He actually has 10 head sorry I miss rembered

[@taviebrown2271]

My immideate thought was that sounds very Mayan, but I don't think mayans had any gods on that level of crazy.

[@dylantennant6594]

Koschei The Deathless will always be favorite Slavic story. Just for how complicated this guys hides his heart. In an egg In a goose In a needle A thumb prick In a well In a man In mist On an island that rises and falls. We need red to cover this, because it’s insane.

[@samovarsa2640]

Cupids are supposed to have four heads...

[@kekero540]

Fun fact. The Eastern Siberians and Inuit people’s are actually very closely related as they had contact with each other for generations upon generations. Like they never discovered America because it was never undiscovered for them. Because shocking fact. They had boats. So there could have been a trade route in the Aleutian Islands.

[@bluesbest1]

Boats + being able to see the opposite shore = frequent travel.

[@joshuahunt3032]

@@bluesbest1 And the temporary presence of a land bridge thousands of years ago (and the presence of the ice caps until maybe a century in the future) may have helped with that

[@riverstein7251]

@@joshuahunt3032 if I remember correctly the land bridge was how humans originally came to North America without boats. So it’s possible that the two tribes were once the same tribe but got separated when the land bridge disappeared or they just distinguished themselves into two different tribes over time prior to that happening due to the distance between them or some other political reason

[@typacsk]

Also fun fact: the Ket culture featured in this video is currently believed to be the last "Old World" relative of the Tlingit and Athabascan peoples of North America (including the Navajo and Apaches), based on their languages.

[@sabinadarbisheva1284]

It's amazing! I am from Russia and somehow my family had a book with a collection of Siberian fairy tales, among which was this story. It was read to me at bedtime when I was little. It really messed with my psyche, but that's not the point... I'm glad you told about it because the legend is really cool and noteworthy and I was able to unlock some memories of my childhood

[@elizak4628]

Ah, the nostalgic-for-things-that-may-have-screwed-up-your-worldview feeling. I can relate.

[@sabinadarbisheva1284]

@@elizak4628 I'm glad I'm not the only one)

[@erinpekar7316]

@4:14- "So, he pops the leg back on the horse and takes off. But he really should have had a horse-mecaniac look at that. So, the horse doesn't make it very far before it collapses." Protagonist: "If only you could flyyy!"

[@AegixDrakan]

For a while I was thinking "This is too wholesome, what's the catch?" And then 10 seconds later I went *"OH"* ...Followed my many more "Oh"s ._. Also, it's interesting how this is the second time I've heard the "throw something behind you and it turns into a forest/mountain/ocean that stops the witch for a while, but she has metal teeth and EATS her way through it" gambit in a folk tale. XD Guess it's not exclusive to Baba Yaga.

[@williamking6787]

If memory serves the folktale behind Devil's Tower out in Wyoming is similarish with less metal toothed witches and more magic bears Edit: even though I think the name "Devils Tower" sounds cooler the native name is Mato Tipila and means something along the lines of bear lodge or bear house, the reason we call it devils tower is because of a mistranslation between the American surveyors/explorers and their native guides, they thought they called it "bad god mountain" which is a pretty easy jump to "devil's tower"

[@definitelynotobama6851]

two nickels?

[@mikemed1978]

What about the izanami and izanagi from Japanese mythology had a chase where izanagi threw a comb at her, so chases with combs are common in mythology for some reason.

[@zephyrus339]

I've also heard this in a few fairytales by the brothers Grimm. Can't remember the title though. In one case there was a third object: a mirror. When thrown this mirror becomes a mountain with slopes so smooth the witch can't climb over it. So she goes back to get a hammer, but by then the sister and brother have already escaped.

[@najelambutthemstandsformessy]

There's another one from indonesia called timun mas!! Basically an old lady who doesn't have children was given by an ogre magical seeds to have a magic baby from a cucumber plant (kinda like momotaro). the catch is she has to give the baby to eat when it is older. Too bad she loved the daughter so much she doesn't want her to be eaten after shes like a teen, so she gave her a random ass assortment of items which she then throws and becomes magical barriers which helps her get away.

[@Danikoshii]

We may have a sun goddess who basically kidnapped her soon to be boyfriend and said boyfriend getting torn in half and turning into the moon, but on the bright side, we got another myth with a female sun personification and a male moon one!!

[@liamhunt1373]

Aren't they both dudes in Egyptian mythology

[@whatevs53665]

Not an expert, but a female sun seems to be more common in northern and cold cultures where the sun is seen as a ultimately gentle and positive presence. For example in Inuit, Finnish, Siberian, Celtic and Germanic mythology. In cultures of the mediterranean, middle east etc, we just seem to believe: "The sun is cruel and hot and may kill you, of course it's male."

[@kennethhwang3425]

You may want to check out Australian Aboriginal myth which tells the tales of goddess Yhi - goddess of the Sun and the creator of the universe beyond Dreamtime.

[@mariepierrenarr7784]

In Shinto, there are also the sun-godess Amaterasu and the moon-god Tsukuyomi.

[@kylepessell1350]

I think it's rarer overall to have both deities share the same gender rather than either combination.

[@user-fy5ki1bg8f]

Wow Native siberian yakut person here, and honestly I'm astounded that OSP made a vid about something from our old lovely Siberia. It's so cool. And also while this story is from a different culture, the overall theme is quite familiar. Most of our folktales have this certain feel in them that makes one get nostalgic.

[@faristasairuv5143]

Aww! That’s so sweet!

[@sumguy0110]

4:09 Damn, you actually added the evil glint in the sister's eyes when the brother realizes something's wrong!

[@bradleyogilvie8869]

“His sister was eaten by the evil witch Hossiadam.” Well that escalated quickly

[@floricel_112]

If that was baba iaga instead, I honestly wouldn't have been surprised

[@coyraig8332]

Why isn't this a movie? It has everything: romance, magic, a plot twist, a tragic ending, and nightmare fuel

[@faristasairuv5143]

I would love this as a movie.

[@JarieSuicune]

@@faristasairuv5143 You did, here. And in a better version than Hollywood would ever make.

[@faristasairuv5143]

@@JarieSuicune You’re so right.

[@georgeuferov1497]

Because my country treats its own folklore like the source for stupid children cartoons. Although I've heard that Siberian cinema is on the rise recently

[@ethanotoroculus1060]

Dude I've said it once and I'll say it again: Your game on drawing historical boys way too damn cute is so on point- Also _"Just goes to show you... Something."_ I am stealing that. That is too iconic.

[@faristasairuv5143]

Her art really is beautiful.

[@kelseyedwards6614]

This story is the most Lovecraftain thing Red has done since she actually did Lovecraft.

[@anikayap6777]

And then there’s the new Halloween episode. . .

[@dangerousflyer4485]

Oml the comment section on holloween lol

[@fernbedek6302]

“Just goes to show you… *something*.” is a very good summary of many myths. XD

[@sh_joy]

Ikr XD that line made me laugh out loud

[@zekromknight1268]

I gotta sing praise to Red's art here. There is so much tragedy felt through the facial expressions and body language. Plus the witch's design is downright horrifying through simplicity. 5:15 has gotta be my favorite shot. It's beautiful yet so sad.

[@jackalope2302]

I think the way she makes such minimalist art expressive is fascinating.

[@VictoriaStarratt]

Go read her comic

[@GabrielSyler33]

All I could think after hearing the sun’s love became the moon is Zuko going “That’s rough buddy.”

[@faristasairuv5143]

I’m glad I’m not the only one.

[@FictionRaider007]

Okay... so that witch was some epic-level horror movie stuff right there! Killing and impersonating it's victims? Relentless unstoppable pursuit? A hope spot where the protagonist might escape before it is (literally) ripped away? Then the monster just slips away to go about continuing to kill and terrorize humanity? Yikes. The guy's "fate worse than death" and the Sun Goddess' constant distress and heartbreak over his condition is just the icing of tragedy on the nightmare cake.

[@faristasairuv5143]

Nightmare cake. You are so right.

[@Nasser851000]

Sun Maiden and Crescent Moon sounds like an unfinished fantasy novel waiting to be published :)

[@syabilaazri7834]

Cant wait for that become popular

[@So_Indecisive]

@@syabilaazri7834 same

[@Rosabella.Thorne7]

I'm writing one with that trope, Sun and Moon

[@gothnerd887]

And the witch sounds like a boss in either a Dark Souls or a survival horror game

[@treyatkinson7564]

Just like the brother! Sorry, I'll leave

[@whatevs53665]

The motif of "throwing a series of magical items over your shoulder to delay a pursuer" is common in fables and fairy tales. For example in the Russian fairytale The Witch and the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Water Nixie. Also an early version is Atalanta's myth, with the throwing of shiny objects to distract her from the race.

[@katherinelynch4193]

One of my favorites is The Fox Sister from Korea, which coincidentally is also about a man trying to escape from a flesh-eating monster impersonating his sister.

[@lewisirwin5363]

"The Witch"? Do I know that one as "Bony Legs", where she lives in a house that stands on clawed chicken feet?

[@DoveJS]

@@lewisirwin5363 I don't recall if Baba Yaga has a story like that but I wouldn't be surprised.

[@lissaquon607]

Yea I seem to recall the "throwing the comb causes a forest " from a Russian tale. Not sure which one though alas. The rest of the tale is new to me however.

[@RvEijndhoven]

If I had to make a guess for why this is so common, I'd say that it's probably due to people finding random elaborately crafted items lost (or buried) in the distant past in unexpected places and then coming up with stories for them far more elaborate than just 'some prehistoric dude passed by and lost this/was buried with this'. Which just goes to show the power of the human imagination.

[@Blue_Avatar]

I can't help but giggle at the image of the *sun* wearing a huge fur coat lol

[@faristasairuv5143]

It’s cold as fuck in Siberia, she has to.

[@Blue_Avatar]

@@faristasairuv5143 *Siberia: "So cold even the sun can't stay warm"* lol 😆

[@faristasairuv5143]

@@Blue_Avatar lol indeed!

[@MildredCady]

And that “get a magic item to throw up a barrier against a pursuing foe” idea is a classic. Particularly the comb turning into a forest part. Still, this story is fairly unique overall and I am glad it’s been recorded and preserved.

[@hyacinth_raine]

The gift of prophecy comes to the most unfortunate few

[@AxxLAfriku]

I am the cool kid from Germany making videos for the USA and the rest of the world. I will make your day so don't say nay to me today, dear hya

[@mirjanbouma]

Honestly across the board it seems more like a curse

[@hyacinth_raine]

@@mirjanbouma haha… Yeeeeeeaaaaah

[@beccak9316]

This is fascinating to me because I'm pretty sure the "comb turns into a forest" has filtered into other myths around that region? I feel I remember reading a tale where a girl does that to get away from Baba Yaga. (And instead of a whetstone, she uses a mirror to maker an impossibly huge lake?) But also OW the ending of this one. People had a way of making the night sky into some really good sad love stories.

[@MrRedstoner]

Middle of Europe checking in to say we got that here as well, 3 items in total, one is a comb, I'd have to check the others

[@user-qn2og5lg7p]

Yup, close call, in Komi one there is a comb, a whetstone and a jar of tar.

[@NinjaGidget]

Thank you! I was trying to remember where else I had heard the comb-into-a-forest bit.

[@RedBlitzen]

FYI, I've heard a fair amount about Baba Yaga's iron teeth, which this witch also has. Make of this what you will. Maybe it's just a general witch thing?

[@03.ximipa3ahmadrinofarosmu3]

There is also the tale of Timun Mas where a maiden-who was being chased by a giant- consecutively throws random household objects that turn into natural landscapes until finally she throws shrimp paste at him which turns into a literal sea of mud and subsequently drowns the giant

[@godzillabutwithinternet.6945]

If you want to make this story a bit less depressing, you can imagine that Solar Eclipses are the few times they come back to eachother, hugging.

[@discmanthecdlord]

thank you godzilla i needed that mental image

[@jchristHeckYeah]

You are absolutely right, I love you

[@Hollieanaaa]

Well there's an eclipse coming up in April!

[@discmanthecdlord]

@@Hollieanaaa makes my heart warm knowing this happened a while ago

[@Hollieanaaa]

@@discmanthecdlord :)

[@bluejay43]

I was thinking two things during this video: 1) I'm glad I'm able to hear mythology from a much smaller culture. While the bigger mythologies are cool, everyone kind of knows them already, so it's nice to hear something different. 2) Man, this myth would make a really good resident evil style horror game.

[@whaitiritua-warbrick1398]

I see Red has taken a page out of the "Having extremely poignant timing after extensive planning/procrastinating ones self into a very pertinent video idea" that Blue is writing. Can't wait to hear about it on the Pod!

[@sparklee5044]

bro this comment had like 3 words I needed to look up💀

[@omarsalem1219]

@Spark lee well yeah he was quoting blue

[@eshbena]

@@sparklee5044 The US education system has got to step up it's game.

[@thesunwillneverset]

@@eshbena Especially with 'planning' & 'procrastinating', which I'd hope are both very relevant to a public education system.

[@DoveJS]

@@sparklee5044 How? Poignant, pertinent, and extensive?

[@martin19746]

Once again im baffled by the Amazing art, Honestly what I’m most impressed about is how you drew the guy after he was “fixed” giving the sense of translucency whilst still staying solid.

[@user-qn2og5lg7p]

Here's one actually curious thing. There is a fairytale called "Девочка с веретено"(don't know it's name in original language) of Komi people, which is other ethnicity living in Russia, in this tale there is exactly the same escape sequence, but with other actors: - witch following - girl tosses comb - forest appears - girl tosses whetstone - mountains appear But there is additional part with tar river and even with that it's surprisingly similar. So i'd like to ask if anyone knows similar tales of other nations? Is it some regional thing with common items and their magical use in stories or is it just plagiarism?

[@mermaidismyname]

Rather than plagiarism it is probably divergent evolution of the same story

[@misery_shun]

That element seems to be quite common in folklore, I vaguely remember a tale of two sisters adopting "Абааhы" (aka. demon/ogre) and then fleeing from it because nature and they also kept throwing things that made other things appear. There is also "Бабка Ёшка" that used this premise in the climax of the film

[@stephaniebeal9710]

In the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index for cataloging folklore types, this is a really frequent element in story type 313, the Magic Flight.The one I knew best was the Master-Maid.

[@timothymclean]

@@mermaidismyname Or contrarily, one culture incorporating elements of their neighbors' stories, which on this kind of scale I'd argue is less plagiaristic than Stan Lee deciding to write superheroes even though DC did it first.

[@derphunk5338]

Sun Maiden: Sucks that you have to keep dying over and over again. Dude: Well At least I have you! Sun Maiden: About that-

[@chariotsland8302]

Slavic mythology is actually super interesting, and the characters, even the gods, are often more fleshed out than we usually see in mythological text, like we see turmoil and development even from the gods.

[@ADTillion]

Intriguing point :) But, I hope it’s a secondary one to the story in the video, because that one is not Slavic. You may have meant Siberian, which have some overlap with Slavic, but are still distinct. The Ket are a Yeniseian people with more ties to the Asian Steppe than they do to any Slavic tribes.

[@AntediluvianRomance]

Come on, we have almost nothing on Slavic gods. Not even a tale like this

[@chariotsland8302]

@@AntediluvianRomance oh, my mistake.

[@chariotsland8302]

@@ADTillion Well I did not know that. Sorry about that.

[@ADTillion]

@@chariotsland8302 No worries, friend :) As a rule of thumb though, whenever one hears “indigenous” people it is best to separate their cultural practices from the majority cultures, in Russia’s case, Slavic. Russia is the largest country by land area, and thus had many many distinct groups since prehistory even when ignoring the different ethnicities they absorbed during the Soviet era. The Slavic tribes are mostly in the West, while a lot of the rest are in the East, hence Siberian. Genetically and culturally, the West intermarried with and borrowed a lot more from Europe over the centuries whereas the East was far further away and thus closer to people from the rest of Asia (with a lot of mixing with East & Central Asian indigenous groups) as well as the Americas. Like hinted in the video intro, they faced a lot of genocidal raids from the Slavs. One notorious period nearly wiped out a few ancient tribes and involved Ukrainians(prior to its formation) hired by Imperial Russia.

[@brennuswhite1845]

interestingly in Inuit culture, we also have a story about the sun and the moon where they're a couple that can't be together, with no real "moral of the story" at the end. however, our version involves a lot more self-mutilation, accidental brother/sister......... interaction, and general misfortune.

[@oneevidence5153]

I do believe a particularly scholarly fellow made a video about it for his academy. What was his name again... Samuel O. Nella, I think.

[@brennuswhite1845]

@@oneevidence5153 oh yeah, he did! the version he talked about wasn't the one I learned as a kid, but there are plenty of different versions across different groups of inuit (the arctic is big)

[@boo-mx1yg]

You're telling us your version is *worse?*

[@brennuswhite1845]

@@boo-mx1yg yeah the version I grew up with is a lot worse

[@boo-mx1yg]

@@brennuswhite1845 what is it?

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

0:01 "The pandemic apocalypse is one that isn't all that touched on" -Red, 2019

[@Kurakura109]

Can I just say how bomb reds character designs are? Like the way she drew the the dude after being brought back is just so so cool 🙌

[@FreinareUnimentra]

3:23 Red "as abduction by celestial bodies is a rather unusual event in any young man's life" Me "Except in ancient Greece. Any young person's life really."

[@wilburn5881]

Who in ancient Greece got frequently abducted by a CELESTIAL body?

[@bara8928]

"She dances in the shadows like a shadow is her hair. Her eyes hold midnight captured, she is perilously fair A woodlark sings the measures that her flying feet retrace She dances in the shadows like a dream of darkling grace He sings in summer sunlight to the cloudless summer skies His head is crowned with sunlight and the heavens match his eyes The wild wood seems to listen to the singer's gladsome voice He sings in summer sunlight and all who hear rejoice She dances in the shadows for a doom upon her lies If the sunlight shines upon her, the Shadowdancer dies And on his line is this curse laid that once that day is sped In sleep like death he lies 'til once again the night has fled One evening in the twilight that is neither day nor night The time part bred of shadow and partly born of light A trembling Shadowdancer heard the voice of love and doom That sang a song of sunlight through the gathering evening gloom A spell it cast upon her and she followed in its wake To where Sunsinger sang it, all unheeding, by her lake She saw the one that she must love until the day she died And bitter tears for bitter love the Shadowdancer cried. He saw her and he loved her and he knew his love was vain For he was born of sunlight and must be the shadow's bane So ere the curse could claim him, then he shed one bitter tear To know his only love must also be his greatest fear So now they meet at twilight though they only meet to part Sad meetings, sadder partings, and the breaking of each heart Why blame them, if they pray for time or death to bring a cure For the sake of bitter loving, nonetheless they will endure" Meeting - Mercedes Lackey

[@q-boyo0523]

Actively read this to the tune of "Lord of the Dance" so thanks for that 👍🏾

[@carlinkag2525]

Oh yay! Another Mercedes Lackey fan! Hello friend!

[@bara8928]

@@carlinkag2525 Hey there! I found her through filk songs. Not a suuuper die hard fan, I do like her books though. I always try to find something for each OSP Vid they post.

[@TheEndKing]

I always feel like a weirdo because I discovered Mercedes Lackey as a name in filk, and I really love singers like Julia Ecklar and others. But I've never read any of the books that the songs come from.

[@carlinkag2525]

@@bara8928 I found her the same way, and shortly after I found a bunch of her books at a secondhand store. I might be a super die hard fan now. Maybe. I'm excited for the tv series at least! 😄

[@halo_orhorn5335]

I was like "Ah, pretty normal intro. I'm just gonna have this peacefully in the background." "Love for the finer things in life - footballing, sports history and- COMMUNISM'' *Chokes and starts laughing* Bro, that was so out of pocket but so on point, I fucking died. Great script writing 10/10

[@NicolasMHarrison]

Man…that was really freakin tragic 4:42 yeah, I think that if the witch could chew through a MOUNTAIN then a bunch of trees won’t slow it down

[@maxfieldjoyner5244]

I think “I turned my first boyfriend into the moon. That’s rough buddy” is my favorite line you’ve put at the end of one of these.

[@acecat2798]

I really like Red's increased focus on sources- it helps provide context for who is recording that folklore and how much (or how little) you should trust its authenticity, its shortcomings, etc.

[@angelicafandino9877]

This genuinely might be my favorite myth! It’s absolutely horrific especially how Red drew the witch and down right angsty with that ending. I have never felt more scared and sad for a folklore

[@cassyblack3346]

I'm a fan of celestial body creation myths so this was very interesting.

[@ringlhach]

The "throwing the gift behind you" thing is actually a trope in several stories around the world. I wonder if there was cross pollination, or if there was an ur-version?

[@blacksage2375]

Probably neither it’s just a motif that occurs independently because ya know… throwing shit is a thing humans do. Not that complicated.

[@laradorren8009]

I have two theories on this, 1) It's just a trope that naturally spread through trade and migration or 2) A lot of safety guides on carnivorous animals tell you to drop something the animal would like and make your get away. Maybe the trope came from hunters needing to leave behind their kill to the animal chasing them. But that's just my theory.

[@AntediluvianRomance]

I would rather suppose some degree of cross pollination. It is much less vague than what scholars uncover as probable ur-myths of humanity.

[@Fisinocean]

@@blacksage2375 kinda specific tho aint it? All the gifts seems to magically turned into a vast area to stop something from chasing you. Altho it would male sense if its somekind of an allegory for something useful like other commenters have pointed out, getting chased by a beast

[@John_Weiss]

@@AntediluvianRomance Nah, humans are just much more alike than different, and after millennia of passing the time telling stories around the fire, certain motifs and tropes that hit a nerve and are popular with humans in general start to take root. Sure, cross pollination definitely happened with ethnic groups that traded and/or lived next to each other. But more distant peoples? That's where "humans being humans" kicks in, and our commonality cause the same ideas to occur.

[@bluesbest1]

The Apollo edits were glorious. Red: Makes a joke about Russia being problematic. Apollo: Slams her with the gift of prophecy, making sure it hits with good enough timing that she can feel, understand, and acknowledge the pain of it

[@camchameleon4151]

sure sure the dude got ripped in half. But can we appreciate how AMAZING THE ART WAS IN THIS EPISODE LIKE DANG

[@corban3243]

I'm just gonna say I love this story. As a writer, endless opportunities!

[@faristasairuv5143]

Ooh I would love to read a story based on this story!

[@theArab__]

“It just goes to show you….something” My favorite kind of tale

[@user-hn2lf8jl3s]

Sadly enough, even many of russians don't know about diversity of cultures that we have here. Like me hearing this amazing story for the first time. (Living in european part of russia be like dat) Thanks for this portion of enlightenment!

[@fishlordusername891]

Honestly! I never learnt anything about the different cultures we have, vaguely knew of them but not really what they were like except "there's people living there". It's a bit frustrating.

[@user-hn2lf8jl3s]

Indeed. Kinda sad that aside from "oh yeah, these peeps living there, they exist, now moving on" we have almost nothing

[@bossfan25]

Always cool to see a story where the villain isn't punished. Some might despair at the monster still being at large but it also leaves hope and how the story could develop and end.

[@greyworld6242]

Sokka: “That’s rough buddy.” Brother: “Oh fuck off I don’t need YOUR pity you harem protagonist!” Do the epic of Gilgamesh!

[@floricel_112]

0:50 I think oversimplified put it best "Non russians? More interested in their own cultural heritage than loving me?" "Isn't it great? Such beautiful culture and diversity in our great nation-" *BOOM*

[@thememeartist4223]

This is such a nice story, too bad it ended so tragically

[@gargoyles9999]

Just like everything involving Russia

[@aLukepop]

Also halfway tragically when his sister was eaten! Also at the beginning when both their parents died. This thing has tragedy almost all the way through.

[@Regina-ys4ct]

Can we talk about how metal this story is? Not only does this witch straight up flesh Walker his sister, but chews through a mountain and forest and then bisects the guy. Like it’s so needlessly hardcore, I love it.

[@umlaut_loser]

The 'some magic household items get put down two or three times and grow into something hard to bypass in a chase that get bypassed because the being chasing is too powerful' trope is actually also seen in Estonian folk tales

[@faristasairuv5143]

That’s really interesting. :D

[@alanetchetto8908]

The escape from the witch remainds me to a myth that i read in a book of legends of my country (Argentina, a myth from the province of neuquen to be more especific) where a woman meets a handsome young man that wants to marry her, and her horse warns her about him not being trustworthy (dont ask) and ask her to carry with her a brush, a bag of ashes and a mirror. Long story short, the handsome man that convinces her parents to make her marry her ends up being a servant of satan (a demon called the green bearded one) in his cave she meets a servant of the demon, another boy that was kidnaped in a similar way. They make him drunk and escape In the escape she throws the mirror to the demon, it transformed in a giant cold lake...That the demon passed walking because ice. Then she throw the brush who transformed into a giant forest, but they could hear the demon destroying the trees as he aproached the two young people. Then she finally throws the bag of ash, which makes a mist so dense that the demon gets lost in it and returs to its lair, letting the couple to be free and marry and so on. I dont know, just curious about the whole thing of escaping an evil entity by throwing random stuff at them that was given by another magical entity.

[@ArakDBlade]

Apparently the "Random bullshit, go!" Meme is older than we realized.

[@taylor_green_9]

I didn't know we had one of those myths in Argentina! I read a similar story in a book of Celtic fairytales. There's a brooch that turns into a field of giant steel spikes, a ring that turns into a lake, and a sword that turns into a dense forest

[@alanetchetto8908]

@@taylor_green_9 Just saying that i told the story in a short form to not make the comment too long for a coment section. But i have a book filled with tales of the various indigenous groups here and their stories. There are myths about giants living in the south that formed the islands (from the Ona if i remember well) about how the willow trees are stairs to the star people, and even some that talk about the formation of the seasons and how the ñandus are to blame for it. We have here all kinds of stories and sometimes im curious that some of them have little elements that are repeated in myths of other parts of the world.

[@taylor_green_9]

@@alanetchetto8908 I knew one of the ñandú and the mara racing to tell their god how long the winter should be

[@joshuahunt3032]

I wonder how far back that myth goes. I mean, Siberia doesn’t seem TOO far from Alaska, so maybe the two myths are heavily related, but heavily mutated relative to each other due to the first trip across the Pacific Ocean by humans (and also Spaniard-related havoc thousands of years later)

[@evjamaranth]

There's a Javanese folk tale in Indonesia that also has similar premise of "gifts that turns to stuff when thrown", called Timun Mas (or Golden Cucumber). She was scheduled to be eaten by a green giant named "Buto Ijo", but was given a gift in the form of 4 cloth bags. First cloth bag was a cucumber seeds, that became cucumber vines to entangle the giant. Second was needles, which became a bamboo forest that pierces the giant. Third was salts, which literally conjure a whole dang sea to drown the giant. The fourth bag was terasi (or shrimp paste), which when thrown turn into boiling mud, that actually stops the giant for good when he got stuck in the boiling mud, drowned, and died. Timun Mas lived in the story though, along with her mother, though the giant destroyed their home.

[@ariellakirana]

man this comment makes me really want a southeast asian myth video from red, as an indonesian myself. i dont know if red can handle sangkuriang whole plotline though..

[@injieanis4581]

I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS STORY!!! I readcTimun Mas as a little girl. And hers was my favorite story. She got saved by the Crown Prince and became a queen

[@Fisinocean]

@@injieanis4581 kinda different from what i grew up in then, the legends end with buto ijo dying in the mud and timun mas living happily in the village but then again its myth and thus has lots of version so

[@injieanis4581]

@@Fisinocean yeah, the ending would be different from telling to telling.... But yeah, still a story I remember. I remember having this book that had so many stories like Timun Mas

[@Anonymos185]

"It just goes to show you... something" Ah yes, the greatest moral of any story ever told Damn fine and interesting folk tale tho

[@Zachc-le1sn]

I actually did do a project on Siberia and I chose to do the Sakha Republic and the indigenous people there (The Sakha), so I am very happy that the indigenous peoples of Siberia get represented on this channel. Keep it up with the good content guys!

[@samiai8905]

This video put me through an emotional roller coaster of going "Aww" and "Ohh" to "Dang." Goes to show that nothing good can come from fraternizing with the gods no matter how nice it may seem

[@damiansaturday6788]

I'm pretty sure that the sun maiden was at least trying to help. If she didn't kidnap him, he would still encounter the witch, except instead of magic items the only thing he would have by his side would be his sister. Yeah I don't fancy their chances. On a side note, THE ABSOLUTE HELL WAS THAT WITCH!! The Greeks were creatively crazy yes. The Irish were mostly reskinned gods/demigods, understandable. Others were creative but crazy but what kind of witch CHEWS THEIR WAY THROUGH A FUCKING MOUNTAIN FOR 1 GUY!? It is understandable that the sun maiden thought the power of chucking a mountain and a forest at at a threat would be far more than enough for anything an average Joe had to deal with. But if every witch in Siberia was a straight up Alucard(for those who watched helsing ultimate, you know what I am talking about) I would have asked the sun maiden if she could bring my family with me and have us all stay in the celestial realm, rather than potentially deal with that shit.

[@ashleylightheart126]

"I turned my partner into a moon" "That's rough buddy"

[@syabilaazri7834]

Only this time, it a husband

[@affirmingtoe15]

One of my favorite myths you've covered. I would also love to see you cover some stories from Cherokee mythology.

[@orioncrawford9618]

The moral of the story is that when you have a super-powered lover, and you start to feel homesick, it's always better to ask your family to visit than you leaving to visit them.

[@tenkenroo]

So that permafrost melting thing is kind of an existential nightmare for me. There is this metaphorical demon locked away and climate change is going to unleash it.

[@stephenflint3640]

The way shit seems to be rolling downhill these days, I don't think it's much of a metaphorical demon

[@the4tierbridge]

Not to mention the anthrax!

[@picgmr1575]

and also this literal demon named "corpses and diseases"

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

Ngl I'd read a story about that, imagine a lovecraftian monster trapped under layers of ice that had frozen thousands of years ago slowly inching it's way to freedom in order to regain their power

[@MariaVosa]

4:20 - thanks for the nightmares Red. Yikes!

[@nicholaspowell8262]

It would be awesome to be able to see more videos on the folktales from indigenous peoples around the world. Many of them are honestly beautiful stories which often get overshadowed by more typical western myths. It would also be cool to see Blue do a history video on the indigenous peoples of Russia since many people in the Western Hemisphere have no clue they even exist, let alone anything about their histories, cultures, or customs.

[@ricardoludwig4787]

That's such a cool and unique sun-moon story, this is why I love hearing about different cultures

[@avataraarow]

It’s really cool to see the moon represented as a man and the sun a woman in these stories. I feel like in European cultures we always see the Sun as a masculine entity and the moon as feminine, so it’s cool to see the script get flipped

[@floricel_112]

Isn't the sun also a woman in shintoism?

[@avataraarow]

@@floricel_112 yeah Amaterasu is the Sun goddess in Japanese Shintoism from what I understand. It’s not entirely unheard of, just interesting to see different cultures interpret mythologically significant heavenly bodies differently

[@GloomyEyesQQ]

Perhaps surprisingly, it's the same in Norse mythology, as you've got male Máni (moon) and female Sól/Sunna (sun). Growing up in Sweden, I recall the sun dialectally being referred to using a feminine form.

[@TheGapYoukai]

I do remember one old Korean fairytale where the Sky God made a brother and sister the sun and moon but the sister was scared of the dark, so she became the sun instead. People kept staring at her... uh... ample assets so much, she shined so brightly no one could look at her.

[@Object-Impermanence-Official]

Fun fact! In old pagan Slavic beliefs the Sun was sometime considered female while the sun Male (I'm specifying 'sometimes' because we also had half a dozen sun related male gods. Trying to piece together Slavic pagan beliefs is a bit messy)

[@burnerdaughter]

"It just goes to show you. ...something." Man you got really into the horror of this one, I love the art so much

[@Triskaan]

Makes you wonder if there is any way to find another telling of the story if the Ket tribe is still around. Kinda surprising that no one tried to compulse all these tales again. But hey, since according to Wikipedia there are no more than a thousand Ket people still alive, maybe a tough ask.

[@shizaa6702]

Oh my god this made me cry...I been told this story so many times when I was a kid...it was so sad I use to cry everytime my grandma told me the story before bed time...