Comments | little_details: Legends, myths, fairy tales of the Virgin Islands

voleurdefeu in little_details

Legends, myths, fairy tales of the Virgin Islands

Feb 08, 2009 16:38

Hi!

I'm (desperately) looking for fairy-tales, myths or legends that were widely known on the Virgin Islands (Saint Croix, specifically) during the mid-1700s. Amazingly, I haven't found any...

Terms (unsuccessfully) googled so far:
Saint Croix, Virgin Islands, fairy-tale(s), legend(s), myths 18th century, 1700s, folklore (in various combinations).

( Read more... )

~religion: african diasporic, caribbean: history, caribbean: folklore, 1700s (no decades given)

Comments 9

amejisuto February 8 2009, 20:00:52 UTC

I think it might help you if you remember that a lot of the myths and legends around that area are based on African stories because of the slave trade. Anansi is one of the trickster gods and there's a lot of stories about him from Africa all the way to the United States. Here's some links that might help you get started.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/jas/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/A-Am/African-Mythology.html
http://www.americanfolklore.net/latin-american-folklore.html

Hope that helps you out some!

voleurdefeu February 8 2009, 20:11:10 UTC

Oi, of course Watch me being great at missing the obvious! ;)

Thank you so much, that's really helpful!

amejisuto February 8 2009, 20:16:57 UTC

You're welcome! I hope it helps. Sometimes you find info in the weirdest of places. I first got interested in the Anansi legends after watching it on the Gargoyles cartoon. ~blushes~ And you'd be surprised how many real myths pop up just a bit twisted in comic books. Hope you can find what you need!

reticent_lass February 9 2009, 04:07:48 UTC

Hey, don't knock the Gargoyles. That was a pretty cool episode, certain liberties with Anansi's character aside.

Thread 5

oneiriad February 8 2009, 20:07:05 UTC

I think you're being a bit too specific. Also, I think you might want to try history books about St. Croix specifically and about the Danish West-Indies (and the whole of the rest of the Caribbean) in general - they might have something.

voleurdefeu February 9 2009, 20:14:31 UTC

Yeah, I've already done quite a bit of reading about St.Croix. Guess I'll have to broaden my focus.

bethbethbeth February 8 2009, 21:02:28 UTC

something else to take a look at maybe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moko_jumbies

voleurdefeu February 9 2009, 20:13:06 UTC

Thank you, I'll check it out!