Friday, January 31, 2014

Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Münchhausen

hehhehea, what a name

I will call him the Baron for short. He fought in some wars and such and probably had some cool adventures. He told tall tales to ridicule and not really to amuse (though likely the latter had greater impact). His tales were related in print in the late 1800s for the first time, though they appear to be renditions of earlier folktales. Which, I would guess the Baron used as fodder for his tales in the first place.

Anywho and interestingly, in 1901, John Bangs wrote a book about the adventures of the Baron in the afterlife. This genre of literature is known as Bangsian Fantasy. It encompasses the Divine Comedy (speaking of Steve's current obsession with paths) as well as Riverworld by Phillip Farmer and even the movie RIPD starring non other than Jeff Bridges.

Jeff Bridges starred in the Movie Tideland (weird movie, can't say whether I liked it  or not) by Terry Gilliam and Terry Gilliam, we know as a teller of wonderful tales also retold the tales of the Baron in the movie Baron Muchhausen - which I just watched and quite enjoyed.

It has given me fodder for my own stories I tell to my children about an elf named Jingle Schmingle. An elf employed by Santa who has many adventures delivering presents and wandering the world.

Jingle has a bag of hats. Each hat giving him special powers. A green hat for invisibility, a red hat to travel back to Santas workshop, a yellow has to move fast with and a purple hat to travel through the ground with.

So now, some of the elements of Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Münchhausen shall enter the imaginative world of Jingle Schmingle and inferm my children of the world around them.

Thank You Baron.

Davis

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