To fully understand the culture it is important to consider also the more folkloristic aspects.
Often it is the traditions and popular beliefs that tell the identity and history of a nation, so much so that on more than one occasion the legends of mythology have been a source of inspiration for the authors of the TV series.
Knowing the etymology of the names attributed to these creatures can help to discover their origin, as well as the symbolic role they play in different societies.
For this reason, on the occasion of the fourth season of Stranger Things to be released on May 27th, the Babbel experts take you on a cultural journey to discover the meaning of the names of the mythological creatures protagonists of some of the most popular TV series.
Demogorgon
: the first terrifying inhabitants of the Upside Down met by the protagonists of
Stranger Things
they are not born from the brilliant minds of the Duffer brothers, nor from the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, as the series seems to suggest.
If the birth of the name "demogorgon" is to be attributed to the oversight of a Byzantine scribe who erroneously transcribed the word "demiurge", the origin of the myth linked to these figures can be attributed to one of the cornerstones of Italian literature.
Perhaps influenced by an unlikely etymology that traces the term "demogorgon" to the union of the Greek word for people "δῆμος" with the name of the three Gorgon creatures "Γοργών", Boccaccio identified him in a treatise on mythology as the progenitor of all the deities of the Greek firmament, a real prince of darkness.
Although he is entirely absent from the Greek and Roman pantheons,
Batibat:
it is a native demon of the Philippines, whose name means "nightmare".
She appears in the first season of the horror remake
The Terrifying Adventures of Sabrina
, albeit with a sweetened form compared to tradition, where she typically takes the form of a woman-giant capable of inducing deadly nocturnal diseases called "bangungot".
According to legend, to cause the apparently inexplicable appearance of this creature, a sort of Filipino equivalent of the European "Incubus", is the felling of the trees in which they reside to use the wood for human purposes (for example to build houses). , a gesture that leads to the death sentence of the unsuspecting
Banshee
culprits : represented in
Teen Wolf
as girls with supernatural powers, the banshees belong to Celtic mythology, where they play the role of evil fairies with changing feminine features.
Their name derives from the union of the Gaelic words "bean" (which means "woman") and "sidhe" (which can be translated into "fairy") or "sid" (or "mound of fairies").
Traditionally thought to be a harbinger of death, these creatures, Irish countryside dwellers, scream and despair in the moments before the death of a family member they have chosen to bond with or, conversely, cry out for joy when death strikes their enemies.
Kikimora:
In the first episode of
The Witcher series
, the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia, kills a kikimora, a giant-sized spider that infests the Swamp.
The name of the monster derives from one of the main creatures of Slavic mythology, counted, more specifically, among the spirits of the house.
If the domovoj is the protector of the domestic hearth, the kikimora is in fact its evil female counterpart, as confirmed by the more widespread etymology (the suffix -mora would derive from the Protoslav "* morà" which means "nightmare, nocturnal spirit").
Playing the role of the antagonist in numerous fairy tales and anecdotes, kikimories are known to disturb the sleep of their victims in various ways, from the most harmless (throwing objects, games, whistles and chants) to the most terrible (screams, crying, killing ).
Shinigami:
as the name suggests, which in Japanese means "deity of death", in Japanese mythology the Shinigami represent the personification of death.
These are skeletal figures that also make their appearance in the manga and anime
Death Note
.
Although they do not come from a single origin, what distinguishes them is their obsession with death, which leads them to take possession of the body of human beings, pushing them to suicide.
Kelpie
: the term, which presumably derives from the Gaelic "calpa" or "cailpeach" (or "filly" or "foal"), refers to shape-shifting aquatic creatures capable of transforming themselves into horses with white or black coats.
They live mainly in the lochs and rivers of Scotland and Ireland and trick anyone who gets on their backs underwater.
The Outlander
series
evokes the legend of the world's best known kelpie, the Loch Ness monster.
Kraken:
according to the most accredited etymology, the word kraken derives from the Germanic “krabben”, which means “to walk” or “to crawl”.
It is one of the scariest creatures of the Norse cults, a colossal sea monster with giant tentacles, believed to be responsible for many shipwrecks.
The kraken has occupied a prominent place not only in popular culture and literature, but also in film and, more recently, in the TV series
Good Omens
, where the famous leviathan ascends from the depths of the ocean following the outbreak of the Apocalypse.
Trow
: Spirits with a particularly unpleasant appearance but with incredible strength, the trows are part of the world of mythological and fantastic creatures of
Carnival Row
.
In the Celtic tradition they are small nocturnal trolls (this is one of the possible etymologies for the word "trow"), whose shelters are recognizable on the surface by mounds of earth.
Music lovers, in many legends they kidnap or lure the unfortunate traveling minstrels.
Jörmungandr:
in Nordic myths he is the quintessential enemy of Thor, the god of thunder.
The meaning of the name is "cosmically powerful demon", it is a sea serpent with a length equal to the circumference of the whole world, destined to emerge with the arrival of Ragnarǫk, or rather with the approach of the end of the world.
Ragnarǫk
it is also the title of the Danish-Norwegian series which proposes a contemporary reinterpretation of Scandinavian mythology, also proposing the figure of Jörmungandr.