#folklore

[prokopetz]

I'm asking you because I've seen people ask you similar questions before. Why are kobolds, as a fantasy creature, so nebulous?

Generally when people say orc, goblin, elf, dwarf, werewolf, vampire etc. a person can have a pretty solid idea of what traits that animal will have. I guess because they're usually copying that species from the same similar source works?

What happened to kobolds? I used to know them as a kind of german folklore creature, but then also as a short lizard person, and most recently there's been Dungeon Meshi, which gives the name kobold to anthropomorphic dogs.

Well, the trick is that none of these terms have a standard definition. In folklore, the words "elf", "dwarf", "gnome", "troll", "goblin", "pixie", etc. are used more or less interchangeably – all of these words might refer to the exact same folkloric critter, and conversely, the same word might be used to refer to several completely different folkloric critters, even within the same body of regional folklore, to say nothing of how their usage varies across different regions and over time.

Literally the only reason any of these terms have "standard" definitions in modern popular culture is because one specific piece of media got mega-popular and everybody copied it. For example, Tolkien is responsible not only for the popular media stereotypes of elves and dwarves: he's responsible for popularising the idea that "elf" and "dwarf" are separate kinds of creatures to begin with. Similarly, while Bram Stoker's Dracula isn't solely responsible for cementing the idea of what a vampire is in popular culture, it did standardise what vampire magic can do, and it helped cement the idea that a "vampire" and a "werewolf" are different beasties, which hasn't always been the case.

So the short answer is that there's just never been a mega-popular work about "kobolds" to provide a standard template for the type. Most modern depictions in Anglophone popular culture ultimately point back to the interpretation set forth by Dungeons & Dragons, but D&D itself has gone back and forth on the whether they're tiny dog-people or tiny lizard-people, with the tiny dog-person version being the earlier of the two, so even folks who are directly cribbing from D&D will vary on this point depending on which particular edition they're name-checking.

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

So Long, London & lyric parallels

part 1 | part 2

[taylor-swift-bracket]

🎇Please reblog!🎇

Tag your favorite Taylor Swift song!

[fallbabylon]

Hex! Museum of Witchcraft-Ribe, Denmark

[stearleart]

Calamity 24/04/24

Digital illustration of Chalchiutlicue, calamity, from @Warlord-of-Noodles fun web series, No Evil.

You can watch it here on NG:

[xlownenbemy]

Nicklas!!!

Finally made a proper pose for him😁😁😁

[comparativetarot]

Nine of Swords. Art by Ivy K, from the Mythos Tarot.

SISYPHUS

[queenofbadlands]

I can see us lost in the memory.......

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023)

[magickiss]

Death By A Thousand Cuts // I Look In People's Windows

[a-studious-reej]

Anyway lobster Bodb Derg jumpscare

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

So Long, London & lyric parallels

part 1 | part 2

[fortn13ght]

🤍🖤🤍🖤

[lifeintofolklorexx]

My picture <3

Just some of mine favorite things in my room💋

[angeblancrose]

Taylor could've easily created fictional characters in The Tortured Poets Department and said that the album is a story about them, even if it was the tale of her life intertwined with it. But she didn't.

Why? 'Cause one, she wanted this story to be out in the world, as it was made, without twisting the narrative. She was ready to face the scrutiny she'd presumably receive with her art and her story. But the second reason resonates louder when you think about it— it's a failed construct.

Fans and the media circus would still try hard and die trying to read between the lines and find the “ultimate truth” through this album. folklore and evermore were about fictional worlds and fictional characters but people still took out words and lines they thought to be clues that linked to aspects of Taylor's personal life she wasn't willing to share. If TTPD was marketed as a fictional storytelling album rather than a diaristic one, people would still judge and burn her at the stake like they're doing now.

Both paths lead to the same road. The whole album might not be the complete truth, but both the artist and the muses would be judged either way, and maybe as fans or human beings, we have to deconstruct this notion of thinking of songs as the ultimate and complete truth- a keyhole to a person's life because it's not. One song can be about more than 1 muse or a completely made-up story from the feelings the artist felt, or read about, or had a friend talk about it. And we need to understand that.