THUNDER FOLKLORES IN VARIOUS CULTURES

By
ALOFE FAITH 

 A belief popular in the middle ages was that a class of demons that inhabited the sky, “caused tempests, thunder, and lightning, rended asunder trees, burned down steeples and houses, struck men and beasts, showered stones, wool, and frogs from the skies; counterfeited in the clouds the battles of armies, raised whirlwinds, fires, and corrupted the air so as to spread disease.” A similar theory was put forth by Luther.

 Practitioners of the Darker Arts were wise to perform their ceremonies when thunder was raging, as it was thought that evil spirits were closer to the earth then than at any other time.
The Scandinavians had a superstition about thunderstorms involving Thor, the God of Thunder. The gathering dark clouds were supposedly Thor drawing his dark brows down. Lightning was Thor striking the earth and sky with his powerful hammer. And thunder was Thor riding his chariot over the mountain tops. Thor had dominion over the weather, and when he was angry or displeased, he caused thunder, lightning, and and severe storms of hail or rain.

 Romans believed that thunder heard to their left side was a good omen, though otherwise thunder was bad.
In India, “In the Telugu country, when a child is roused from sleep by a thunderclap, the mother, pressing it to her breast, murmurs, “Arjuna Sahadeva.” The invocation implies the idea that thunder is caused by the Mahabharata heroes, Arjuna and Sahadeva.”            

                                                         

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