Folklore About Legs Or Feet

rynner2

rynner2

Gone But Not Forgotten
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There has been a bit discussion in the last two weeks on the World Wide Words newsletter about the phrase "The Queen of Spain's legs".

Apparently a noblewoman was once travelling to Spain to marry the king, and passed through a French town famous for making stockings, and the good burghers decided to present her with a pair. But in those full skirted days, legs were decidedly erotic and therefore unmentionable, so a Courtier refused the offer by haughtily stating "The Queen of Spain has no legs" !

Hence, for many years after, the phrase "The Queen of Spain's legs" was used to refer to something that wasn't supposed to be talked about.

By an interesting synchronicity, there was an archaeological documentary on BBC2 tonight about the Queen of Sheba. This included a story that King Solomon had heard that she had goat's feet, so when she went to visit him he arranged a little test that would require her to raise her skirts to cross some crystals (?) he had scattered.

Presumably he was not horrified at what he saw, because legend relates that the Queen later went on to bear his child. (Who, incidentally, is reputed to have visited his father, and then taken the Ark of the Covenant into Abyssinia - but that is another story!)

Any more tales of legs and feet?
 
Having reversed (backward) feet is a common feature attributed to folkoric / mythological creatures. Here are two examples from South American folklore:
 
Bump:

OK my big toenail on my left foot is slowly dropping off. I mused on the fact that my second toe is longer than my big toe. This is apparently unusual but not uncommon (if that makes sense). So I Googled it before and got different 'explanations'.

It is a sign of Greek Royalty.
I have distinctly Celtic DNA. My big toe is short and large, my second toe is longer than the big toe and the rest of the toes decrease in length.

I can't recall now but I'm sure that I read in the past that a huge big toe was a Neanderthal trait.

Any thoughts on the DNA of toes and feet?
 
Spudrick68 said:
I mused on the fact that my second toe is longer than my big toe.
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Me too! If you are looking for pointe shoes make sure that the fitter has registered it - if they haven't then find another fitter. You need a different shaped block and the weight distribution is different. AND the second toe is distinctly less robust than the big toe...
 
Spudrick68 said:
I mused on the fact that my second toe is longer than my big toe. This is apparently unusual but not uncommon (if that makes sense). So I Googled it before and got different 'explanations'.
Click to expand...

A not uncommon feature (or should that be feeture?)

About Morton's toe
If your second toe projects out farther than your big toe, you've got it. It's also very common. A study of American college students found that 42.2 percent had longer second toes (45.7 percent of men and 40.3 percent of women). Morton's toe is hereditary, like most features of your bone structure.

https://www.healthline.com/health/mortons-toe#:~:text=About%20Morton's%20toe&text=If%20your%20second%20toe%20projects,features%20of%20your%20bone%20structure.
 
There's ghost folklore in the town I live in about a single ghost foot that was said to be seen on the stairs in a pub I once worked in. It's even included on our tourist ghost tour. When I worked there, the landlady said she'd never seen anything odd. A single foot.
 
Swifty said:
There's ghost folklore in the town I live in about a single ghost foot that was said to be seen on the stairs in a pub I once worked in. It's even included on our tourist ghost tour. When I worked there, the landlady said she'd never seen anything odd. A single foot.
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I guess one foot remained in the grave.
 
St Mary's Church (ruins of), East Somerton, Norfolk. The oak tree growing in the Nave has sprung from the wooden leg of a witch buried alive in the foundations some years ago. That leg would have gone up a treat if she'd been burned at the stake, but apparently it was decided that witches should to be buried in the middle of a church.

Somerton0513a.jpg
 
Bad Bungle said:
St Mary's Church (ruins of), East Somerton, Norfolk. The oak tree growing in the Nave has sprung from the wooden leg of a witch buried alive in the foundations some years ago. That leg would have gone up a treat if she'd been burned at the stake, but apparently it was decided that witches should to be buried in the middle of a church.

View attachment 69006
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Our crew did a video there one night. I can't remember exactly the order of things but you're supposed to walk around that tree a few times anti clockwise to summon the spirits. We all had a go and it must have been their night off. It's a cool location though, it looks like a Peter Jackson film set but we didn't get anything spooky. 'The Witch's Leg'.
 
St Mary's is very scenic, but how did a story of a witch with a wooden leg escape from a Primary School playground into Folklore ?
 
Swifty said:
There's ghost folklore in the town I live in about a single ghost foot that was said to be seen on the stairs in a pub I once worked in. It's even included on our tourist ghost tour. When I worked there, the landlady said she'd never seen anything odd. A single foot.
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is it standing there? ascending? descending? haning in mid air as if susoended from above? And is there an artist's version????? :twothumbs:
 
Frideswide said:
is it standing there? ascending? descending? haning in mid air as if susoended from above? And is there an artist's version????? :twothumbs:
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It was just seen half way down the outside steps of The White Horse in Cromer apparently. Sorry for dropping the C bomb but that's where it was .. Anne's about to stop owning the place so now's not the time to contact her, I wouldn't because she's not happy about that and won't be friendly on the phone.

https://www.cromerwhitehorse.co.uk/
 
It's common for ghosts in northern Indian & Nepalese stories old and new, FOAF tales etc., to be reputed to have their feet backwards, to have long white hair and to be missing the back of their torso!
 
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