As we career towards the holidays at breakneck speed, we at WhatCulture have been nursing a potent festive spirit this year, thanks to our
Movie Images Advent Calendar and some excellently timed Yule-themed
Top Tens. But, as everybody knows, Christmas isnt really for receiving, or giving, or even wishing - its a time for breaking out fun facts around the dinner table/down the pub! The aim of this Top Ten Things You Didnt Know ... is to supply you, Dear Reader, with at least one trope with which to inspire a pensive hmm from whatever group/person you choose to lay it on! A compendium of the festively weird, wonderful and downright quite interesting! If there are any you think weve missed that definitely deserve a mention in the festive spirit of group discussion, then why not pop it down in the comments box! Everybody loves a fun fact really!!
10. Mistletoe: The Guilt-Ridden, Fratricidal Parasite Made Of Dung
With an epithet like that, its unsurprising shes one of the most famous plants in the world but tracing the Mistletoes entry into our mongrel culture is a quagmire of hearsay and legend, so lets just look at some of her incarnations over the years. First, and most recorded, we have the word itself: Mistletoe which Grinches of the season maintain is a compound noun of the old German for Dung and Branch in the hope it may sicken any would-be romantics from kissing beneath it. Next, and continuing the gross-out theres the ubiquitous fertility theme which presents itself in berries filled with white gooeyness ... Moving on, we have the more interesting role she takes up in Norse mythology. Tricked by Loki, Höðr brutally killed his own brother Baldr with either an arrow or sword which was either made of or named after our mischievous little twiglet! Quite the position in society shes racking up so far. Finally - and where would we be without a good sense of Catholic guilt - theres the tradition recorded in Cornwall. Well known for centuries for its sturdiness in cross-building, it was volunteered by the Romans as the material of choice from which to build the very cross theyd crucify Jesus on. After that, it was condemned to give up a life in residential contracting to live as a parasite for the rest of eternity. A bit harsh, some might say. So there we have it, the first of ten facts and weve already incorporated poo, sex, and religion. We aim to keep the tone right where it is.