So, this weekend I plan to clean under the stove.
-
@futurebird I clean under a fridge only when I'm moving elsewhere.
In German we have a word for these cuddly cute well-rounded textile/hairy stuff you often find behind furniture, especially sofas: Wollmäuse = dust bunnies (in German wooly mice).
They are social creatures, need not much food. An artist has a dust archive: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Staubarchiv He has political dust as well as culinary dusts.
So, why design if you can have art? 🤭
@NatureMC
In French we call them "sheep" (moutons)
@futurebird -
@NatureMC
In French we call them "sheep" (moutons)
@futurebird@elduvelle I would never kill them! @futurebird
-
@elduvelle I would never kill them! @futurebird
We don't 'kill' the wollmäuse! How could you suggest such a horrible thing. I am going to "re-home" each and every wollmäus. We have a nice farm, it's in upstate New York, and there is a big barn there filled with beds and stoves and many wonderful places for the little wollmäuse to frolic and play.
edit: apologies for managing to butcher the German language in an English language post somehow.
-
We don't 'kill' the wollmäuse! How could you suggest such a horrible thing. I am going to "re-home" each and every wollmäus. We have a nice farm, it's in upstate New York, and there is a big barn there filled with beds and stoves and many wonderful places for the little wollmäuse to frolic and play.
edit: apologies for managing to butcher the German language in an English language post somehow.
@futurebird @NatureMC @elduvelle (singular of "wollmäuse" is "wollmaus"
).In Danish they're called "nullermand" ("lint-man") ... and in Norwegian they're called "hybelkanin" ("hovel bunny").
-
@futurebird @NatureMC @elduvelle (singular of "wollmäuse" is "wollmaus"
).In Danish they're called "nullermand" ("lint-man") ... and in Norwegian they're called "hybelkanin" ("hovel bunny").
@datarama I'm fascinated to learn their name in different languages. It seems as though all cultures have a loving connection to them. Great for animism research: They don't multiply because I don't clean. They live and reproduce – like ants. They don't need us humans, but they are very friendly and fluffy.
-
@datarama I'm fascinated to learn their name in different languages. It seems as though all cultures have a loving connection to them. Great for animism research: They don't multiply because I don't clean. They live and reproduce – like ants. They don't need us humans, but they are very friendly and fluffy.
@NatureMC @futurebird @elduvelle Come to think of it, it's sort of odd that the popular names for them in Nordic countries (in Swedish it's "dammråtta" / dust rat) aren't based on the nisse/tomte (the former is the Danish and Norwegian word, the latter the Swedish). There's a *very* rich folklore about little creatures that live in the usually-unseen places of human homes and who are responsible for things like socks and small change "disappearing" ... which sort of sounds like what you'd expect an animist dust bunny to do.
The classic nisse/tomte can usually work minor feats of magic (like turning invisible whenever someone is looking at them!). In modern Scandinavia they're often associated with Christmas, and they sometimes have part of the role that Santa Claus does in the Anglosphere (eg. parents will tell small children that smaller presents are from the nisse who lives in the attic - and who you can get on friendly terms with by leaving him a small bowl of rice porridge).
(Stories about them can actually be traced back to Pre-Christian Norse mythology!).
-
@NatureMC @futurebird @elduvelle Come to think of it, it's sort of odd that the popular names for them in Nordic countries (in Swedish it's "dammråtta" / dust rat) aren't based on the nisse/tomte (the former is the Danish and Norwegian word, the latter the Swedish). There's a *very* rich folklore about little creatures that live in the usually-unseen places of human homes and who are responsible for things like socks and small change "disappearing" ... which sort of sounds like what you'd expect an animist dust bunny to do.
The classic nisse/tomte can usually work minor feats of magic (like turning invisible whenever someone is looking at them!). In modern Scandinavia they're often associated with Christmas, and they sometimes have part of the role that Santa Claus does in the Anglosphere (eg. parents will tell small children that smaller presents are from the nisse who lives in the attic - and who you can get on friendly terms with by leaving him a small bowl of rice porridge).
(Stories about them can actually be traced back to Pre-Christian Norse mythology!).
@datarama Fascinating. I could listen hours to such stories.
We also have these tiny creatures on the continent, with different names. If you leave them gifts, they are helpful, but if you forget them or try to clean them out, they can become very vengeful. We had rituals for the spring cleaning that they don't become angry.
I'm sure @juergen_hubert knows a lot of names for our dust bunnies aka nisse/tomte or Heinzelmännchen/petits lutins!? -
@datarama Fascinating. I could listen hours to such stories.
We also have these tiny creatures on the continent, with different names. If you leave them gifts, they are helpful, but if you forget them or try to clean them out, they can become very vengeful. We had rituals for the spring cleaning that they don't become angry.
I'm sure @juergen_hubert knows a lot of names for our dust bunnies aka nisse/tomte or Heinzelmännchen/petits lutins!?@NatureMC @datarama @futurebird @elduvelle
Not dust bunnies as such, but there are quite a few tales of household spirits in German folklore. Here are a few samples:
-
@datarama Fascinating. I could listen hours to such stories.
We also have these tiny creatures on the continent, with different names. If you leave them gifts, they are helpful, but if you forget them or try to clean them out, they can become very vengeful. We had rituals for the spring cleaning that they don't become angry.
I'm sure @juergen_hubert knows a lot of names for our dust bunnies aka nisse/tomte or Heinzelmännchen/petits lutins!?@NatureMC @datarama @juergen_hubert @futurebird @elduvelle
As I understand it, in Scotland the brownie is the shy, proud house spirit, often shown wearing rags, but they can get offended if you give them clothes.
-
@NatureMC @datarama @juergen_hubert @futurebird @elduvelle
As I understand it, in Scotland the brownie is the shy, proud house spirit, often shown wearing rags, but they can get offended if you give them clothes.
@yetiinabox @NatureMC @datarama @futurebird @elduvelle
In German folklore, the implication seems to be that a new set of clothes is seen as the "final payment" for their labor, similar to what other servants such as farmhands would receive.
