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Author Topic: Something I learned recently  (Read 1243 times)

Interus

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Something I learned recently
« on: November 16, 2010, 04:26:40 am »

This is mostly about the bogeymen in adventure mode.
I spent a lot of time yesterday looking up mythical creatures, something which would have obvious ties to Dwarf Fortress, but I found something completely unexpected.  Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_creatures_of_the_Argentine_Northwest_region was this:

"If a woman had improper relations with one of the relatives of Almamula, he would punish that woman by transforming her into a series of different forms. First, the woman was transformed in a bogey that would stroll about in the night, seducing, murdering, and devouring any men that she encountered who were alone. Later, Almamula would transform the woman into a mule. The woman, in mule form, would be forced to drag chains during nights on which there were thunderstorms. Finally, Almamula would turn the unfortunate woman into a gigantic black dog with teeth of fire."

So... obviously the bogeymen aren't entirely based on this, because they don't try to seduce you, but most of that first part seems to fit eerily well, especially when wikipedia's main article on the "bogeyman" says that all it is is a creature used to scare children to keep them from being naughty.  Pretty much all the examples fill that roll too.  I don't think Toady's bogeymen actually care if you're naughty or not(anybody wanna try not fighting anything and see if that makes them safe at night?).

Also, I'm not sure if the creature was actually called a bogey or if that's just a translation thing.  Mostly, I just thought this was interesting and obscure enough that I should share.
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Urist Imiknorris

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Re: Something I learned recently
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2010, 08:20:27 am »

I want to mod in that last transformation.
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Desdichado

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Re: Something I learned recently
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2010, 08:42:24 am »

Also, I'm not sure if the creature was actually called a bogey or if that's just a translation thing.  Mostly, I just thought this was interesting and obscure enough that I should share.

Lol. It's a translation, obviously. Spanish doesn't look like that, and anyway, we all know where bogey comes from. It's a diminuitive of bog-dweller. In rural England, the bogs were viewed as wild places outside civilization where the unknown dwelt. Add in the occasional grotesque body dug up out of the peat like Lindow Man and other well-preserved Celtic mummies. The bogs were places of dread and scary things. Thus, bogeyman.

Toady's inspiration is the scary stories of medieval England and Germany (Brothers Grimm).

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PsyberianHusky

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Re: Something I learned recently
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2010, 12:32:23 pm »

Also, I'm not sure if the creature was actually called a bogey or if that's just a translation thing.  Mostly, I just thought this was interesting and obscure enough that I should share.

Lol. It's a translation, obviously. Spanish doesn't look like that, and anyway, we all know where bogey comes from. It's a diminuitive of bog-dweller. In rural England, the bogs were viewed as wild places outside civilization where the unknown dwelt. Add in the occasional grotesque body dug up out of the peat like Lindow Man and other well-preserved Celtic mummies. The bogs were places of dread and scary things. Thus, bogeyman.

Toady's inspiration is the scary stories of medieval England and Germany (Brothers Grimm).

Has he actually said what his inspiration is?
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Interus

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Re: Something I learned recently
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2010, 01:56:02 pm »

Also, I'm not sure if the creature was actually called a bogey or if that's just a translation thing.  Mostly, I just thought this was interesting and obscure enough that I should share.

Lol. It's a translation, obviously. Spanish doesn't look like that, and anyway, we all know where bogey comes from. It's a diminuitive of bog-dweller. In rural England, the bogs were viewed as wild places outside civilization where the unknown dwelt. Add in the occasional grotesque body dug up out of the peat like Lindow Man and other well-preserved Celtic mummies. The bogs were places of dread and scary things. Thus, bogeyman.

Toady's inspiration is the scary stories of medieval England and Germany (Brothers Grimm).

I was pretty sure it wasn't Spanish, but the site says it's from aboriginal culture, and I wasn't sure if maybe they had a word that sounded similar.  It happens fairly often, but Bogey doesn't really look like any of the other creature names that were used.

I haven't really read any of Brothers Grimm, so I don't know how they describe bogeymen.  I feel the need to state again that I'm getting my info from wikipedia, so while I find it interesting, I understand that it could be inaccurate.  Everything they list talks about different monsters that steal children, and the current bogeymen don't seem to do that.  In fact, some of that stuff seems more like night creatures(the taking people away from their homes and killing them part).  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Europeans have legends of creatures that attacked lone travelers and might have led to bogeyman legends too, but I was mostly looking at stuff I didn't recognize at all, and just happened to stumble upon something super familiar.


Also, I must admit that part of why I did this was because, if I used mods, I'd really like to see a flame-toothed giant dog too :P
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