Where did the myth of lemming mass suicides come from? Detailed answer

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Where did the myth of lemming mass suicides come from? Detailed answer

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Where did the myth of lemming mass suicides come from?

Biologists in the 19th century could not explain the sudden decline in the population of Norwegian lemmings. Together with observations of their mass migrations, when some animals do not calculate their strength and drown when overcoming water barriers, this fact led to the emergence of a false hypothesis about mass suicides of lemmings. The myth was widely popularized by the 1958 Disney documentary The White Waste, in which lemmings were shown one by one jumping into the water from a high cliff. Later it turned out that the film crew specially purchased several dozen of these animals and forced them to move in the right direction with the help of snow-covered vehicles.

Authors: Jimmy Wales, Larry Sanger

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When did English folklore and customs originate?

Faced with the fact that many pagan rites and customs played an important role in the life of the ancient inhabitants of England, the Christian church decided that it was better to give them a form acceptable to Christianity than to completely destroy them. Some of our traditions and rituals are over 2000 years old.

For example, ancient rituals intended to increase wealth and protect against evil forces are present in the life of modern people, although in a slightly modified form. Other traditions relate to holidays in honor of heroes of the distant past or major historical events. Still others originate from actions that once had a practical meaning, which have now become symbolic. Some folk dances have come down to our days from pre-Christian times, almost unchanged, but having lost their ritual significance.

The legends that tell about folk heroes originally existed only in oral form, and therefore it is difficult to judge how much they differ in their current form from the "original sources". Most of the British heroes, including King Arthur, are characters in the legends of the ancient Celts, and perhaps the only English representative among them is Robin Hood!

Many of the customs and traditions are related to folk holidays: Christmas, Maslenitsa, Easter, the holiday of the arrival of spring. Although they are celebrated everywhere, in different regions this occurs in different ways. Many customs that have been observed for many centuries have gradually disappeared over the past decades as a result of the massive migration of people at home and abroad, as well as the social upheavals experienced during the two world wars. Those that are still preserved are one of the few threads connecting the living today with their distant ancestors.

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