Folklore and sayings about shadows from the Frank C. Brown Collection of N.C. Folklore.
- So thin she can’t make a shadow.
- As close as your shadow.
- As friendly as your shadow.
- Don’t be afraid of your own shadow.
- He could walk 50 mile and not stand nary time in his own shadder.
- He has to stand up twice to make a shadow.
- So thin she can’t make a shadow.
- Too thin to cast a shadow.
- Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance.
- Do not abandon the substance for the shadow.
- He called the attention of the others and they stopped to observe the animal more closely; their observation convinced them that it was the headless dog, and that it cast no shadow on the ground where it walked in the bright moonlight.
I love the sayings about people being too thin to make a shadow. That was an apt description of me when I was a girl.
My favorite from the list is the wisdom that can be found in the two about favoring shadows over substance.
I took the photo of my shadow on a day when we were planting in the big garden. I didn’t notice it till I started walking briskly down the length of the field and then I became mesmerized by it. My first thought was of the Tall Woman written by Wilma Dykeman. Not that I am anything like Lydia.
I was also reminded of a poem Chitter wrote when she was about 11 years old.
My Shadow
My shadow is small in size
Perfect in disguise
Stays close behind me
So no one will see
Day by day
And step by step
All the way
With me it walks
I love to hear
It’s footsteps
So near
Right behind me
My shadow stays
When I played with my shadow, moving this way and that way to see the changes, I had not read the folklore and sayings from Frank C. Brown. Yet I did follow the advice: catch not at the shadow and lose the substance.
I told myself to quit fooling around and soak up the glory of a spring day in the garden. A place full of the promise of fresh roastneers on the supper table, peanut beans in jars on my canning shelves, okra sitting in the freezer frozen and ready for frying, winter squash lined up around my kitchen walls for eating, and potatoes that will be ready for grabbling out before I know it.
Last night’s video: Matt’s Birthday – It Was A Good One!
Tipper
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I remember when I was younger people would say “if you turn sideways and stuck out your tongue your shadow would look like a zipper.” That was from a family of sewers.
I grew up hearing that someone was afraid their shadow. I’ve seen little toddlers trying to run from their shadows & being scared to death of them. When I was young I was so skinny, kids would tell me if I went outside a dog would bury me. I wish I was that skinny now.
I’m reminded of the old Irving Berlin song, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVbI8Vo1oAA]Me and My Shadow[/url]
That poem is just fantastic! So glad you kept it and it should be published.
When I saw the picture of the shadow, my first thought was the book jacket of Tall Woman also. Happy birthday Matt, well wishes to you all, and special prayers to Granny. Her cake looked so nice.
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” Only old people remember The Shadow on the radio. He was a good guy fighting evil.
Harry Adams – I remember my parents listening to that program on the radio! I don’t think they missed an episode. But back in the day, the radio was the only ‘entertainment – or for news – options available to us, other than a record player.
Morning everyone. I grew up hearing “don’t be afraid of your shadow”. As an adult I hear “our shadow selves”, meaning the bad parts of our personality that we hide. OOH, don’t be scared. Happy birthday Matt. I think your best present is you wife and daughters. Anna from Arkansas.
Loved the picture and have heard most of the expressions. Remarkable that Chitter could write such a deep thinking poem at a young age. Those of us that have been around for a l o n g time remember Only The Shadow Knows:)
Happy Birthday, Matt!!! I got a little teary eyed when Katie and Corie wished you their sweet tributes! I had a fantastic Father and I certainly understand their heartfelt words to you. I too can see the care and love that you show to Tipper and the rest of your family. May God bless you abundantly!!
Shadows are interesting for sure – and ever changing depending on direction of the light. I recall as a child some who could ‘make’ puppet like images on the wall with just their hands. And then there is this old poem about shadows. My papa used to recite it to me. By Robert Louis Stevenson -1850 –1894 – Quote: “My Shadow” ~ “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.”
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all. He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed. Unquote ~ ~~~ Great poem you wrote, Chitter!!
I loved Chitter’s sweet little poem and it brought back memories of a poem I memorized as a child titled “My Shadow.” I had forgotten all about it until I read your blog this morning. and the first verse popped into my mind. I googled it, of course, and found out it was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1885 in his book, “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” It’s such a sweet little poem and bears repeating. There are several verses, but here’s the first and last ones. Enjoy!!!
“I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from my heels up to my head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
One morning very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepyhead,
Had stayed at home behind me, and was fast asleep in bed.”
Shadows are fascinating, for sure. I remember one that was especially entertaining. One night, after dismissing my cousin and me and telling us not to peek, my uncle hung a sheet over the bedroom door opening and “walked the sheet.” He set a lighted candle on the floor in the middle of the bedroom. With his audience of two in place, he then stood close to the sheet and slowly began to move backward, giving the illusion of “walking the sheet” as his shadow got larger and larger as he neared the candle. Then he “walked” back down, and, to our delight, took encores. We then took our turns “walking the sheet,” of course.
We spend every night in Earth’s shadow.
I thoroughly enjoyed today’s vlog. Thank you.
it is heart warming to me knowing there is another adult out there in this beautiful world that can get caught up in and lost in the simplest of things like a shadow….I marvel and wonder at every tiny little thing God created (even our shadows) and it does my heart good when I hear others marvel at the same things–it actually makes me more in awe of everything because of the words you use to describe a scene a moment of time etc. Thank you—my oldest brother was like that too, it was just the simple things that gave him the most pleasure, and his ingenuity well Matt reminds me of my dad and my oldest brother (well all three of my older brothers really). One of my cousins told me once his dad taught him how to do things-how to work–how to go buy the correct materials and get a job done right but my dad taught him how to fix things, get a job done by using whatever you had on hand because you might not always have the money to buy the correct things so you need to know how to make do with what you have. Matt seems to be a combination of both which is wonderful—your tributes to him last night in the video were wonderful in that you are a family who’s gifts and talents and wisdom is not lost you recognize it all and appreciate it endlessly. Your appreciation of Matt is wonderful–and it is obvious he has deep love and gratefulness of all of you. Happy Birthday Matt
love the one about standing up twice to make a shadow
My first thought when I read this is of the first time your grandsons see their shadow. Some little ones are afraid of it. I’ve heard some of this sayings but I’ve never been that thin. Something else I noticed was that you took the opportunity to play a little with your shadow. Thanks for sharing a light moment in your life. And I love the poem.
I’ve not heard the one about shadow and substance but it’s good advice.
My shadow is called an “eclipse of the goon”.
I’ve only heard of the one “don’t be afraid of your own shadow”. Or they would call us scaredy cats. The others are interesting.
Wow! Chitter IS a poet! You, Tipper, are both writer and poet. The ability to appreciate the shadows shows you are always very near to the real. I loved this writing!
If it’s true about being too skinny to make a shadow, then I was big/fat enough to make two shadows and ugly enough to be afraid of both of them!
You could do stand-up comedy, Randy.
I heard the one about being too skinny for a shadow and about timid people being afraid of their shadow. I’ve never heard the one about missing the substance for the shadow but I’ll sure be tucking that in my back pocket!
Your picture would make a good book cover. I just don’t know what kind of story it would match. But to me it grabs attention and says, “Think about it.” There is also that idea of ‘walking in someone’s shadow’ but I don’t know if that would be considered folklore. Chiggers poem makes me think how our shadow is long and tall morning and evening but all lengths between times and skips all around us; front, back, sides and even right underneath and almost gone. You’ve got me curious. I think I’ll do a bible search for “shadow” and see what I see.
Sorry Chitter, hope the computer leaves this one alone. No way would I call you a chigger.