Claudia Short MA Games Design: February 2021

The term ‘Material Culture’ is what we would refer to these objects as, by definition ‘Material Culture’ refers to an aspect of culture that places importance on the materials, crafting, usage and creation of objects that have a significant importance within traditional customs, stories and rituals - while folk tales have always been an oral tradition in a way these are a companion to folk tales; much like the illustrations in a book they are deeply connected and visually rooted in a culture.

As a Scandinavian custom a poppet known as ‘The Kitchen Witch’ is placed in the kitchen and is said to bring good luck by warding off evil spirits and preventing your cooking from boiling over or burning.

Similar to the ivory carvings to retell these old stories the characters and creatures of fairy tales and folk tales, the characters from these tales have found their way into the real world. Inspired by stories they have been told, people have recreated and re-imagined the image of these characters and creatures by carving them into the land as if they were always meant to be there.

One of the most prominent examples of this is the depiction of Trolls; across several countries their images have been formed out of stone and many forests, paths, caves and rock formations are named after Trolls such as ‘Trollstigen’,‘Trolltunga’, ‘Trollfjorden’ and ‘Trollskogen’ just to name a few. While some folk tales suggest Trolls where born from stone and when they would rest they return to this form what most folk tales tell us It is believed that when Trolls came out in the sunlight they would turn to stone meaning they could only travel at night; the origins of Trolls are heavily connected to nature, being reclusive they’re always out roaming in the wilderness.

Different troll faces and forms found in the rocks of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark

Hvítserkur, also known as the Troll of Northwest Iceland

Researching this form of material culture I wanted to ask what sort of folklore do we have in England, more specifically in the North? Which is when I came across this stone carving.

Goblin Log, Avenham Park, Preston, Photographed by Claudia Short, 2021

At first glance the figure is rather difficult to see among the foliage, he is a fairly small figure covered in moss and rests by a small wooden bridge that will take you deeper into the Avenham Park woodland. So far I have not been able to collect any information about this stone figure and it leaves me with so many questions such as ‘Who made it?’, ‘Why is it here?’, ‘Why was it made out of stone?’,’What is the folklore behind it?.

The only sort of information I could find was its name and a brief description -

“Goblin Log, a tree stump shaped stone that has been carved into a goblin”

Goblin Log description, unknown writer

With the initial aim of this project I wanted to create concept art for a game based on an unknown folk tale so i want to make this goblin stone carving the focus of my research as i believe this could lead me to discovering a fairy tale or folk tale that i can concept into a game.

Research Reference:

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0085.xml

https://www.litcharts.com/how-to-guides/folklore-research-resources

https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/ethnology-and-folklore

https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/brief-history-trolls/

https://scandification.com/exploring-the-mystery-of-scandinavian-trolls/

https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/folklore-in-iceland

What are folk tales and fairy tales?

The core of folk tales was to be passed through the oral tradition of telling stories among members of a community; usually within rural areas and small villages in the countryside.

Unlike fairy tales which are solely fictional, folk tales have a real life belief behind them to the point where festivals are upheld to celebrate the folk tale and precautions are still practiced to keep creatures from folk tales away from homes; while on the other hand walks, paths and locations are dedicated to finding folk tale creatures.

Since the early 19th century folk tales have been collected and transcribed into literary form by historians and folklorists within their own country or have gone in search for the folk tales of far off places.The material of folk tales usually consist of warnings to heeded of creatures, spirits or superstitions that inhabit the local areas nearby; whether it’s a fae hound lurking on the moors or wisps luring a weary traveller to a bog to drown.

English rural village

The most famous and most versed line in a fairy tale is ‘Once Upon a Time…’

While folk tales and fairy tales may use similar settings and creatures e.g faeries - folk tales have no specific author, fairy tales have altered over time to appeal to younger children with whimsical peril and a happy ending.

The genre of fairy tales first became popular among French aristocrats and usually read in parlors known as ‘Contes’; this is due to Charles Perrault, known as ‘The Father of the Fairy Tales’ who published in 1697 his book titled ‘Histoires ou contes du temps passé’ which was a collection of tales such as ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Bluebeard’.

By laying the foundations of the genre we see 100 years later The Brothers Grimm who collected German fairy tales such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Snow White’ and ‘Rapunzel’ just to give a few examples. This in turn influences a variety of authors to collect fairy tales and even create original ones like ‘The Little Mermaid’ by Hans Christian Anderson.

What makes folk tales and fairy tales so unique and compelling is the visuals that go in hand with the narration of the tale along with a connection to culture and how they can be visually interpreted so differently - as usually so little written detail is given so it is upto the illustrator to create and distinguish this visual interpretation and how it comes to be.

Many illustrators, animators and artists in general have their own unique visual interpretation of a folk tale or fairy tale that they have brought to life with their work; it is a personal practice backed behind the artists own research, inspirations and art style. Children's book illustrator Arthur Rackham would attribute his succession with illustrating fairy tales from his intimate familiarity with the text. I have been recently reading ‘Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustration’ and I believe James Hamilton the biographer of the book described Rackham’s role within the Golden Age of Illustration best with this sentence as quoted below.

“He was – and remains – a soloist in front of an orchestra, a player with the responsibility to interpret and add a personal lustre to great works with variations of infinite subtlety and grace.”

James Hamilton, Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustration, 2010

To this day Arthur Rackham’s work inspires illustrators and concept artists like myself which is why my Master is focused on wanting to learn how to process the ideas and stories of others to then transcribe it into artwork that is charming to the point where it is a specialised methodology.

"She put her arms round the marble figure which was so like the prince"

The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Anderson, 1837

Illustration of ‘The Little Mermaid’ from ‘Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen,Illustrated by Arthur Rackham’,

Arthur Rackham, 1932

“They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea”

The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Anderson, 1837