Footprints in Stone

Folklore, Dec, 2005 by Daithi O hOgain

Footprints in Stone. By Janet Bord. Loughborough. Heart of Albion Press 2004. x 263 pp. 14.95 [pounds sterling] (pbk). ISBN 1-872883-73-7

One of the most frequently occurring motifs in folklore is that of mysterious footprints, or apparent footprints. Marks in stone that have such a shape immediately arouse curiosity, and the questions that naturally spring to mind call for interpretation. This very process has to do with much that concerns the birth of folklore--the enquiring mind, the need to humanise the environment, the rationalising tendency fired by fancy, fear, and speculation. The resultant answers, provided by the intellect and preserved by speech, are illustrative of many aspects of a given culture, but at a more basic level are indicative of the nature of folklore itself. So numerous, however, are the actual phenomena of such marks in stone, and so simple are most of the explanations given, that professional folklorists tend to skim over this particular type of lore. We notice such things, and by the folk they are continually being brought to our notice, but we regard them as very little removed from the spontaneous and so somewhat peripheral to the study of folklore in the sense of tradition developed by oral preservation. And, again, where would research on such lore begin, and where would it end?

This attitude of ours is all the more reason why we should consult this book by Janet Bord, which is a painstaking attempt to bring together as many as possible of the occurrences of the distinctive motif and of related motifs. The writer shows great stamina in doing this, and also much common sense, for the approach is methodical and so far as possible logical. This factor helps very much in the presentation of the material, which without reasoned analysis and regard to context would be little more than a long list of variants and examples. On the question of beginning and ending, let it be admitted straight away that the examples are so plentiful that there is hardly any beginning or ending to the problem of recording them. Janet Bord knows her subject well, however, and has not only collected a huge amount of material, but has also pondered on it and has managed to distinguish the differing modes of thought and of context involved.

Prints are not just left on stone and other less enduring substances, but are made, or believed to be made, by the human or animal body, in particular by hands (or paws) and feet. The author is well aware that these actual body-parts themselves must be part of the analysis, and thus mysterious marks or imprints on them as well as by them are discussed. Hands and feet are the basic fashioners of culture, and Chapter One--which concerns "the meaning of hands and feet"--is a fine introduction to the subject. Well might it be said, as she herself says succinctly: "it is clear from this that a majority of the footprints and other impressions of body parts, both human and animal, were more than simply visual records of a supernatural presence, but played a more serious part in people's inner lives" (p. 17).

The following chapters deal with the wide range of epochs of human experience through which such impressions have featured. Ancient art is considered in detail, as are the religious traditions of mankind, the legends both literary and oral, the science, and the pseudo-science. The folklorist will especially welcome the detailing of many traditions concerning prints left on the landscape by gods and demons, by giants and villains, by saints and sinners, by heroes both epic and popular. These subjects are kept apart by way of typology, but overlap is inevitable, and the author deals with this judiciously. For the non-academic reader, moreover, there is a chapter on such evidence in terms of modern mysteries, and another chapter that charmingly lists "footprints to visit." All of this arrangement, as well as the examples themselves, give valuable insights into what is surely the basic issue to be studied in this regard: the human imagination and people's ways of thinking. This is indeed one of the main reasons why we study folklore at all, to get to know humanity, ourselves, better.

In this regard, the reader might wish for some further discussion of the poetic nature of the motifs, as well as of their social function. This would further help to elucidate the appeal of folklore in a personal and in a communal sense. By isolating such a simple and direct process of envisioning the cultural environment, we could hope to get somewhat inside the manner of producing folklore and read the processes by which it appeals to people and causes them to preserve it. The mystique is poetical, extending often far beyond the confines of the actual prints or the making of them--it has trails that can lead to new vistas and new realms of creative imagination. Veneration for the supposed creators of the prints is of course due to cultural factors, as is also the fear or fascination for other supposed imprinters. It should be said, however, that without the research, assembly, and categorisation that Ms Bord provides, such a task cannot be undertaken, and the fact that she has travelled some of the road already is an extra benefit of the book. Her own footprints and handprints will indeed be very much to be reckoned with in the continuation of this and kindred researches.