Robbie Johnson's Mythology and Folklore Blog

 One day, a man was walking down the street and saw a great big neon sign for a coffee shop. He decided to give it a look and walked in. Once he entered the coffee shop, he browsed around for a seat so he could sit down and enjoy the good smell of coffee. Little did he know, this was no ordinary coffee shop and once you enter, you cannot leave until you resolve your issues with someone that has a differing opinion. This man was a very easy going person and did not have very many conflicts with others so instantly, he thought he was going to be stuck there forever.  He finally found a spot and sat by himself, but there were two people nearby that were going at each other's throats. Based on the conversation he overheard, he was able to determine that one man was a die hard conservative republican and the other was a raging liberal. Unfortunately for the man, he was a registered independent and was unable to pick a side. However, the man had an idea; he was going to use his impa...

 The Squirrel and the Spider was a very interesting read. I'll be honest, it was not the best story I have read this semester. I could not get past the fact that a spider was able to steal corn. Is the spider something that is not an insect like I am imagining, or are they massive spiders? I will never know. Other than that aspect of the story, I liked the moral at the end of the story. Basically, this story teaches people not to steal and if you do, you will be left empty handed. Overall, this story was alright but I have read better. There were still some things I can take away from it and apply into my own writing.  ( squirre l )   West African Folktales  by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

The Wicked Husband was a very interesting story to read. It was a little disturbing, but there were some things I could take away from this story and incorporate into my own writing style. I thought it was unfortunate that the husband had his wife mutilated in the woods. Because his wife disrespected him, she was murdered. Unfortunately, this does happen in some parts of the world and it is very sad. If I were to write this myself, I would have the wife escape and murder the husband. I think that would be an interesting and fun twist to the story.  ( Congo )  The Wicked Husband   Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort  by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).