strange question: myths needed

[WeWillBeReborn]

okay, i need some info on some myths, and this seems like te place to ask it. basically, im trying to write a book, and i need two myths to help me with it. what i need is:

- someone/something that kidnaps people (irish in origin if possible)

- a standard person/thing that alot of people will have heard of (but not vampires, witches, ghosts, werewolves, zombies - i can't really describe it; something that people will have heard of, but not something you see around every corner at halloween)

any help will be appreciated (who knows, if i manage to get it printed i might even dedicate it to ya )

[janedoe007]

are you talking about old stories from years back?
like it was bad luck to do certain things on - like a sunday - and you could be "taken away"?
have heard such stories from my father when trying to do a family tree.

[Thaedydal]

Pooka is what you should look up.

[WeWillBeReborn]

Originally Posted by janedoe007

are you talking about old stories from years back?
like it was bad luck to do certain things on - like a sunday - and you could be "taken away"?
have heard such stories from my father when trying to do a family tree.

possibly. im hoping for an actual being rather than a force though

Originally Posted by Thaedydal

Pooka is what you should look up.

looked up pooka just now, not really what im looking for. am looking for something malevolent, and doesnt kill its victims, but rather makes them disappear, if you know what i mean

[Thaedydal]

Pooka's could lead people astray, would take the shape of a white mare or goat and lead people into the realms of the fairey not to be seen again or to go missing for several years.

[WeWillBeReborn]

Originally Posted by Thaedydal

Pooka's could lead people astray, would take the shape of a white mare or goat and lead people into the realms of the fairey not to be seen again or to go missing for several years.

lol, that's what i get for trying to use wikipedia as my only source of information

that should be able to cover my first requirement, i'd say my second one will be a bit harder though...

[TirNaNog.]

The black eagle of the Lower world!!
It's book material alright....
Very few people know it and it's Irish too.....

[janedoe007]

is it a job for the fairies?
not sure how many years ago this story came from:
woman sitting in kitchen on a sunday night - washed her feet in a bowl of water, (before showers era) throws the bowl of water out the door - she is taken by the fairies. a little animal , like a pig is left in her place.
moral of the story was that she shouldnt have done this work on a sunday.
i often wondered what actually happened to her?
had she run off, been murdered?
the faires were got the blame.

[discostick12]

Originally Posted by janedoe007

is it a job for the fairies?
not sure how many years ago this story came from:
woman sitting in kitchen on a sunday night - washed her feet in a bowl of water, (before showers era) throws the bowl of water out the door - she is taken by the fairies. a little animal , like a pig is left in her place.
moral of the story was that she shouldnt have done this work on a sunday.
i often wondered what actually happened to her?
had she run off, been murdered?
the faires were got the blame.

I heard this story before but the version I heard ( I think I read it out of a book actually) that the woman had thrown the dirty water over a fairy. The next morning the woman was going down to the local priest and she was never heard from until seven years later she reappeared after apparently losing her mind ( hence the saying, away with the fairies).

Another one is when the fairies would go to a market and look for someone for work. The markets back then were great for woman who wanted a bit of work as a maid or what every, and one woman was standing at a corner and a mysterious man came up and asked was she available for work and when she said she was she was never heard from again. The fairy was supposing after bringing her to his fairy world to work for him!!

Don't know if any of that helps lol!
And I wish you look on the book

[neutra]

Imagination is probably the best place from which to bring forth your book: having said that, I've heard it said that there are no new plots; that there were only 36 variations to begin with (no idea how true this is exactly) but there are legends that share elements with others all over the world. Close to Ireland, Wales has "The Mabinogion" and there are some brilliant and also, if it matters, Celtic myths there, tool; full of the strange yet somehow familiar... is that the bottom line which you want to base this character upon?

Or the old legends with a more modern twist of sizzling super-hero, anti-hero on the side, perhaps? ... a deadened voice declares, "I could eat a whole baby-girl were her blood the deepest blue of the darkened sky... perhaps not with a whole plate of chips but nothing lost by placing a side-order of shamrock on the side! Why, the Daily Planet gives this place five stars.. and that's to weave myself a pentacle..."

oooh, what was that? sorry! but anyway, also loads of urban myths that can be re-written to suit the needs of whatever myth you really need for the story... even the nasty, sad, familiar, shocking stuff in newspapers: extraordinary things do happen and to unexpected people as often as not...

...I advise getting names or at least working-names that describe your cast prepared first because ultimately, it is going to be their story; you need to get to know them and you have the task of telling the world their tale: I wish you much fun and good luck!

[WeWillBeReborn]

lol, i think a few of ye have the wrong idea about the kind of story im trying to put together

you know those detective episodes where they push the boundary of what science can explain and what it cant (the csi miami episode where they think the lab is haunted is probably the best example). thats the kind of story im writing, about a detective who specializes in solving crimes that seem supernatural, but that science can explain in the end.

so im looking for real legends/myths so that there can be some background behind how he investigates it. for example, the 'myths' he tries to solve in the book are divided into 6 stories: vampires, ghosts, religion (if im lucky enough to get it published i guarantee that one will be controversial ), a modern-day van helsing, and two more from here.

either the pooka or fairies would be great to fill one of them, but i want more of a 'global' myth for the last one, since im basing most of the book in the usa

so any help on the final one will be appreciated

(btw, i know there's a 'creative writing' forum, but i thought this thread would be better here since this is the specific subject im writing about )

edit: almost forgot, do you have a link to any info on the black eagle of the Lower world? i couldn't find one

[ttm]

Global "myth" check the bible it should give you a few, the flood is a good example of a global "myth", afaik most cultures have a story about the flood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_myth

Maybe not something your Dirk Gently can solve a mystery about but its about as Global as you can get.

[WeWillBeReborn]

Originally Posted by ttm

Global "myth" check the bible it should give you a few, the flood is a good example of a global "myth", afaik most cultures have a story about the flood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_myth

Maybe not something your Dirk Gently can solve a mystery about but its about as Global as you can get.

nice timing, a documentary on floods is just starting now on the discovery channel

but like you said, not quite what im looking for. but that idea does actually help with some dialogue for the climax of the book, so it might come in handy

[WeWillBeReborn]

actually, instead of the pooka or fairies, a banshee would be a good one as well. legend has it that if you see a comb lying around, you must never pick it up, because its a trap to spirit humans away

edit: and for my final story, what about the boogeyman? everyone's heard of him

[TirNaNog.]

Legend has it also that if a banshee is screaming outside yo're house wrecking you're head,and you look at her if she fcuks her comb at you and get's you you're a goner!