What are some folktales about stars?

Answer 1

There is the Saora folktale about the eldest son who attended a wedding. At the wedding, his sister-in-law tricked him and filled his pipe with salt. When the eldest son lit the pipe, it started to spark. He was not afraid and blew really hard into the pipe, sending the sparks into the sky. Kind of lame, I know.

The Greeks believed that when you died, if you were famous, then you were turned into a constellation.

Maori myths believe the constellations are the descendants of Rangi(the sky) and Papa(the Earth). The Milky Way was thought as Te Ikaroa, the great fish of Rangi.

The African Bantu tribe believed the great god Bumba threw up the sun which dried some of the ocean which left land. Then he threw up the moon and stars, then animals, and finally humans.

Another African myth tells of a girl who became so angry when her mother refused to give her any more delicious roasted root that she grabbed the roots that were roasting on a nearby fire and threw their ashes into the sky. The red and white ashes became the red and white stars that make up the Milky Way.

Answer 2

One popular folktale about stars is the story of the seven sisters of the Pleiades in Greek mythology, who were pursued by the hunter Orion and transformed into stars to escape his advances. In Native American folklore, the Navajo tell the story of the First Morning Star, who guided their ancestors during the beginning of creation. Similarly, the Yoruba people of Nigeria have a folktale about the god Obatala creating the stars and scattering them across the sky to bring light to the world.