Fascinating Folklore from John Reppion and PJ Holden!

by John Reppion
Fascinating Folklore by John Reppion and PJ Holden
Crafted by the masterful minds of two comic world luminaries, John Reppion and PJ Holden, this endeavour began as a creative pact between the pair, ignited by the ever-popular #FolkloreThursday hashtag, that swiftly blossomed into an extraordinary compendium, showcasing the magic of folklore like never before!

Rich and informative essays dance hand in hand with breathtaking comics, offering a sensory feast and an unparalleled pathway into the enchanting realm of folklore that might just leave you spellbound!

Learn about the legends of Boudicca and Beowulf, the enthralling world of plantlore, where Mandrake, Willow, and Yedua whisper secrets of ancient wisdom and tales of haunting ghosts like Okiku, the Wandjing spirits of Western Australia, and the resolute deity Anteros, guardian of slighted love! 

Enjoy a closer look with the excerpts below… and order your copy!

Island

There is a monster in the sea which in Greek is called aspidochelone, in Latin “asp- turtle”; it is a great whale that has what appears to be beaches on its hide, like those from the sea-shore. This creature raises its back above the waves of the sea, so that sailors believe that it is just an island […] they beach their ship alongside it and, disembarking, they plant stakes and tie up the ships. Then, in order to cook a meal after this work, they make fires on the sand as if on land. But when the monster feels the heat of these fires, it immediately submerges into the water, and pulls the ship into the depths of the sea.

The sleeping monster – so huge it appears at first to be part of the landscape, or to be the landscape itself – has become a familiar trope, especially in fantasy and science fiction. Tales of such camouflaged behemoths have been around for thousands of years, however. There is a monster in the sea which in Greek is called aspidochelone, in Latin “aspturtle”; it is a great whale that has what appears to be beaches on its hide, like those from the sea-shore. This creature raises its back above the waves of the sea, so that sailors believe that it is just an island [...] they beach their ship alongside it and, disembarking, they plant stakes and tie up the ships. Then, in order to cook a meal after this work, they make fires on the sand as if on land. But when the monster feels the heat of these fires, it immediately submerges into the water, and pulls the ship into the depths of the sea. This description of a monstrous sea-turtle disguised as an island is contained in the Physiologus – a didactic Christian text written (or compiled) in Greek by an unknown author around the 2nd century CE. J. R. R. Tolkien’s poem ‘Fastitocalon’ – originally published in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) – was inspired by the same ancient tale. The poem tells of the last of Middle Earth’s mighty turtle-fish. The beast’s colossal size fools sailors into believing that its shell-back is an island. Landing there, the mariners set a fire. Upon feeling the heat, the monster dives beneath the waves, drowning every last one. Though the aspidochelone appears to be more of a gigantic fish or whale than a turtle in some tales, the name “zaratan” has become more closely linked with the concept of a giant, island-backed turtle in more recent years. This may be something of a mistake, however; perhaps a conflation of two monsters with similar hunting strategies. The Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (“Book of Animals”) is a medieval text in which another vast creature – its hard shell-back covered with fauna, so as to resemble an island out at sea – fools sailors into landing upon it. The Book of Animals identifies this creature not as the aspidochelone, but as saratan, the Arabic word for “crab.” Perhaps then, this method of camouflage and trickery was once employed not by just one species of monster, but by several.
© John Reppion & PJ Holden
Island: graphic novel spread
© John Reppion & PJ Holden

Anteros

Most of us have heard of Eros – winged god of desire who evolved into the infantilized Cupid adorning Valentine’s cards – but his brother, Anteros, is significantly less well known … Anteros’ name means “love returned,” and he was charged with the task of punishing those who did not return the affections of another.

A N T E R O S Most of us have heard of Eros – winged god of desire who evolved into the infantilized Cupid adorning Valentine’s cards – but his brother, Anteros, is significantly less well known. Aphrodite was the ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. As might be expected, she had quite a few children. With Ares, god of war, she had (at least) eight children, and (at least) four of these were known as the Erotes. The Erotes were winged gods who helped their mother with her earthly duties, serving as love deities. Eros, the most famous of the Erotes, was the god of love and sex, which seems fairly straightforward. His brothers, however, had slightly more specific roles. Hedylogos was the god of sweet talk and flattery; Pothos, the god of longing and yearning; Hymenaeus, the god of weddings and marriage; Hermaphroditus, the androgynous, intersex deity of fertility. Anteros’ name means “love returned,” and he was charged with the task of punishing those who did not return the affections of another. A Manual of Classical Mythology, written by Thomas Swinburne Carr and published in 1846, gives us the following entry on Anteros: ANTEROS is the Deity who avenges slighted love (Deus ultor); hence, in the palaestra at Elis, he is represented as contending with Eros or Cupid. This conflict, however, was also considered as a rivalry existing between two lovers; and thus Anteros may in some respect be considered as forwarding the schemes of Cupid. And hence we may explain the fable that, on the birth of Anteros, Cupid felt his strength increase and his wings enlarge, and that, whenever his brother is at a distance, he finds himself reduced to his ancient shape. As the avenger of unrequited, or slighted, love, Anteros was armed with arrows made of lead, or sometimes with a club of solid gold. Similarities between Anteros and his brother are so striking that one is often mistaken for the other. The famous statue which stands at the top of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus, London, has been widely known as Eros for decades. The first sculpture in the world to be cast in aluminum, in 1892, the figure represented is actually that of Anteros. The god was chosen to represent love given blindly, or without expectation of return, as a metaphor for the philanthropy of Lord Shaftesbury, to whom it is dedicated.
© John Reppion & PJ Holden

 

Anteros: graphic novel spread
© John Reppion & PJ Holden

 

Okiku

The story goes that a beautiful young servant named Okiku once lived and worked in the castle for the samurai Aoyama Tessan. Aoyama found Okiku very attractive, but the servant spurned her master’s advances. In a deeply unpleasant plot to force Okiku to submit to his desires, Aoyama hid one of his family’s ten prized delft plates, and accused the servant of losing or breaking it. When Okiku could not find the tenth plate and was forced to admit this to her master, he gave her a choice: she could suffer death, or she could become his lover. Still, Okiku refused the advances of the samurai and so, in a fury, Aoyama threw her down the castle’s well, to her death. Soon after, the onryō of Okiku began to haunt the castle, rising from the well. Tearfully, her voice could be heard counting “One… two… three…” but when it came to the missing tenth plate the ghost would let out a terrible scream.

Onryō (怨霊) is a Japanese word meaning “vengeful spirit” or “wrathful spirit.” More than mere apparitions, these angry ghosts are capable of affecting the physical realm and causing harm, or even death, to the living. It is recorded (and widely believed) that Genbō, the Japanese scholarmonk and bureaucrat of the Imperial Court at Nara, was murdered by the vengeful ghost of his enemy, Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, in the year 746. The onryō has become a staple of J-horror, featuring in many internationally successful films. Their appearance therein – long black hair, often partly obscuring their face, flowing white burial robes, pale faces and dark rimmed eyes – comes directly from the Japanese Kabuki theater tradition. Himeji Castle is regarded as one of the finest surviving Japanese castles of its era. Constructed on the site of a fort in the 14th century, the castle was extensively expanded and remodeled in the 16th century. The story goes that a beautiful young servant named Okiku once lived and worked in the castle for the samurai Aoyama Tessan. Aoyama found Okiku very attractive, but the servant spurned her master’s advances. In a deeply unpleasant plot to force Okiku to submit to his desires, Aoyama hid one of his family’s ten prized delft plates, and accused the servant of losing or breaking it. When Okiku could not find the tenth plate and was forced to admit this to her master, he gave her a choice: she could suffer death, or she could become his lover. Still Okiku refused the advances of the samurai and so, in a fury, Aoyama threw her down the castle’s well, to her death. Soon after, the onryō of Okiku began to haunt the castle, rising from the well. Tearfully, her voice could be heard counting “One… two… three...” but when it came to the missing tenth plate the ghost would let out a terrible scream. In some versions of the folktale, the ghost of Okiku is laid to rest by being presented with the tenth plate, and her haunting of Aoyama Tessan is brought to an end. In others, the samurai is harrowed to death by the vengeful spirit. Okiku’s well still stands in the grounds of Himeji Castle, and stories persist of her spirit rising from its depths nightly. Still searching for the lost plate. Still counting. “One… two… three…"
© John Reppion & PJ Holden

 

Okiku: graphic novel spread
© John Reppion & PJ Holden
John Reppion

John Reppion has written articles for the likes of Fortean Times, the History UK website, the Crime + Investigation UK website, Dark lore, and The Big Issue. He is a frequent contributor to Hellebore zine, and is a contributing editor for The Daily Grail online. His and artist PJ Holden's book of comics and essays, Fascinating Folklore, is available now from liminal11.com. Find him on Bluesky at johnreppion.bsky.social.

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