#FolktaleWeek2020 - Day 6 Picks: Harvest

Promotional pic by A. Lysiak -Sz. (@jelen.iara)

 The prompt for day six is HARVEST.

by Vanessa Soberanis (@vanessa.soberanis.illustration)
And as Rapunzel's mother plucked the radishes from the cold earth of The Witch's garden bed, so came The Witch to pluck Rapunzel from her mother's hardened clutch.

by A. Owl (@otuscops)
Once upon a time, Bear and Fox decided to sow turnips and to split the harvest evenly. What lovely turnips they turned out to be! Such big, fleshy roots, and such lush leaves! So, Bear pondered how to divide the harvest in two equal parts. He said: “Let’s split it this way—I will take these green tops, and you’ll take the roots”. Fox knew that it was unfair but gladly complied with his plan. She just took the turnips and left Bear with useless leaves. Bear hadn’t found what a mistake he had made until later, and Fox took advantage of him. Unfortunately, he was left without food. 

by Julia C. Illustration
This prompt is based on Cornish Piskies and how one day, a boy from Truro went missing one day. He went to pick some flowers and turned up days later. When asked he said he fell asleep and woke up to the dark with all these strange stars around him. It was actually Piskies, who fed him honey. He woke up back in the glen he disappeared from. So be careful what you pick and harvest

 

by Denise Burden Art

by Katrin Dreiling (@katrinaartworks)
Another Brothers Grimm folktale ~ A peasant found a devil in his fields, sitting on a little pile. He guessed he was sitting on treasure, and the devil offered it if for two years, half of the crop was his. The peasant agreed, and said that to prevent disputes, the half above the ground was the devil's, and the half below the peasant's. When the devil agreed, the peasant planted beets.
When harvest time came, the devil saw his leaves and the peasant's beets, and said they must do it the other way round the next year. The peasant agreed and planted wheat. At harvest, the devil found he got nothing but stubble. Having been outwitted twice, he retreated into the earth in a fury, and the peasant took the treasure.

by Imogen Joy (@imogenjoy_illustration)
FOLKTALE WEEK DAY 6: CORVELLO & THE BIRD QUEEN” (Written and Illustrated by Imogen Joy) -- DAY 6: PROMPT ~ HARVEST -- As soon as the Bird Queen fell, light and colour, so much colour, returned to the land. The bird folk happily returned to their human form, albeit for a few feathers which remained. Crops grew and the harvest was abundant. As if by magic, each time a crop was harvested it would replenish itself to the delight of the hungry villagers. -- Corvello and Luna travelled throughout the land in search of Corvello’s mother. So long had he been parted from her that he had no memory of the village where he came from. As they passed through each village, Corvello and Luna would stay a day or two to help reap the plentiful crops. They rejoiced in seeing the happiness in the faces of each of the peasant folk. Yet Corvello’s heart was heavy. Would he ever find his mother?

by Marta Dorado (@martadorado)
(6/7 of an ongoing story) HARVEST: That year, the harvest was so abundant that all the barns in the kingdom were not enough to store it. Nobody saw the princess again, and to be honest, few mourned her absence. Soon, she was just a blurry memory. Only the old soothsayer smiled to herself from time to time, remembering omens from the past.

by Kamila Stankiewicz (@st.kamila)
Probably Południca (Lady Midday) was an often choice for this theme. No wonder, she fits perfectly.
Another Slavic demon. A woman who died as a bride, or soon after the wedding had a great chance to get the job. Her responsibilities was: showing up in the summer, in the middle of the day, choking resting harvesters, kidnapping children and using a sickle from others (macabre) reasons than a harvest.
👻If you are right person for the job please contact the non-existing Slavic Mythology Restoration Institute ;).

by Joanna Strutynksa Illustrator (@joannaillustrations)

by Eleonora Asparuhova (@elleasparuhova)
 ‘Harvest’ was inspired by the village where my great grandparents were from - Gorotsvet, Bulgaria. A place I visit every time I return to Bulgaria.

by Alanna Did That Illustration (@alanna_did_that)
Folktale week day 6 progress piece: #harvest ... “The Ant and the Grasshopper”

by Kath Waxman (@kathwaxman)
Prompt : Harvest -- Illustration: Guising
.A soul cake: a soul-cake! Please good Missis, a soul cake!
An apple, a pear or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
One for Peter,
Two for Paul
Three for Him, who made us all.
Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the “dark half” of the year. Akin to our All-Hallow’s Eve or Halloween tradition, the celebration of Samhain and other similar holidays that honor the dead were popular pagan rituals during Shakespeare’s time. It was a time when the normal order of the universe was upended or suspended. The world of the gods was made visible to mortals on earth, and supernatural forces prevailed. Sounds spooky, huh? Many of Shakespeare’s plays dealt with ghosts and feature other mischievous spirits and fairies including Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

by Katia Hinic (@katia.hinic)
Day 6 Harvest 🌿 STORY - POEM? - TIME! He sings, he dances, he's clad in twigs, grasses and birch tree branches! He goes house to house, every year, bringing good harvest, fortune and cheer! Ah, he brings them spring and people sing 'Došel je, došel Zeleni Jurij!' 'Here he comes, here comes Green George!' (or Jorge and Georges! Or Jürgen, Girgis and Jiří!)   -He also happens to look suspiciously like my dog Viggo, who brings me just as much joy as the Zeleni Jurij does to us all! 🌿

by Bella Park (@crown_bellflower)
The legend of rabbits living on the moon is a common legend that exists in Korea, China and Japan.
Korea’s moon rabbit story is more focused on Korean harvest festival. That the bunnies are making rice cakes on the moon.

by Ruth Burrows (@ruthburrowsillustration)
I am looking to Lincolnshire Folklore to inspire my work this week and today’s illustration is brought you by the Farmer and the Bogart! -- Fighting over piece of land, the farmer and the Bogart agree to share the harvest. The farmer taking what grows beneath the land, the Bogart taking what grows above. -- "Very well," says the farmer, "wilt thou tek what grows above ground, or what grows beneath ground? Only, moind, thou mun stick to what thou sattles; oi doant want no back-reckunnings after.” -- The farmer is cunning and plants potatoes (‘tates’) the first year, leaving the Bogart with useless potato tops. Next year they decide to swap, the Bogart taking what grows beneath the earth. Again the farmer is clever and grows wheat, leaving the bogart with just the stubble! -- "Ye may tek t' mucky owd land an' all 'ats on it; I wean't hev no more to do wi' it." -- Source: Lincolnshire Folk Tales by Maureen James

by Sam Rudd Design (@samrudddesign)
It was tradition after harvest to make a corn dolly and keep it until next spring to ensure a good crop the next year. Sometimes a corn hare was made.

Late entries for Day 5: DEATH

by Ana Salvador (@anasalvadorbaron)
A young man was heading to the church on All Saints’ day. He was keen to look at the girls rather than the church itself. In the middle of the way he found a skull. He kicked it challenging: I invite you skull, to join for dinner. And as a heaven miracle, the skull replied: I give you my word.  -- The young man was worried until night came. As soon as it got dark someone knocked on the door, so strong that the whole house shaked.
The young man said to his servant: Go quickly and see who is knocking because I feel each knock hitting in my heart. -- When the servant opened the door, the Skull was there.  Go and ask your master if he remembers what was said. Many dishes were served, but the Skull didn’t eat any. Wine was poured, the Skull didn’t try it either. I didn’t come to eat either drink, it said. I just came to keep my promise. -- And so the Skull took the young man with it and both vanished in the mist. -- After that day nobody saw the young man again. -- And the legend ends saying that this is a warning for all young people. They must have respect for death.

by Anna Tenenbaum Illustrator (@pearpiecrumbs)
Have you seen where in the world Are you a young princess? I am her fiancé. " - "Wait, the stormy wind answers, There, beyond the quiet river There is a high mountain There is a deep hole in it; In that hole, in the sad darkness, The coffin is swinging crystal On chains between the pillars. See no trace of anyone Around that empty space; In that coffin is your bride. "

by Shelley Aldrich (@shelleyaldrichminimuseum)
THE MIRROR OF MATSUYAMA - Matsuyama lived happily with her mother and father in the countryside. One day after a trip to the city, the father brought back a beautiful mirror for his wife. The wife, having never seen a mirror believed it was another person looking back at her, until her husband explained that it was her reflection. - Many years later, Matsuyama’s mother become ill. Before she passed she explained to Matsuyama that whenever she felt alone, she could look into the mirror to see her. Matsuyama faithfully looked into the mirror each day for comfort, never knowing that she was speaking to her own reflection. - There is more to the story, but the beauty of the tale is that our parents stay with us even after they have left this world. Their influence, memories, and love become a part of who we are and we are a reflection of them.