Message #17521

[Bianca]

Storytelling Traditions




In this light it is worth noting that oral traditions can be very valuable. Troy was found, against the advice of all experts, by an amateur historian who believed that Homer's Iliad described a real series of events while received opinion saw it as a fiction! In Scotland the tale of a warrior buried in a tumulus called Norrie's Law in Fife was seen as simply "folklore" till the objects known as the Norrie's Law hoard turned up in the mid-19th century. These included silver pins with Pictish symbols and what has been suggested as parts of a suit of chain mail - of silver!

In Australia until recently the tales of giant kangaroos and other marsupials were dismissed as fantasy. Until skeletons of such creatures were dug up dating from 30,000 years ago - leading to the creation of a new genus of animals, the Diprotodons. Stories passed by word of mouth can clearly hold on to interesting information.