A few months back, I penned a blog about some interesting Appalachian folklore that I recently came across. And y’all, I do believe it’s time that we revisited Appalachian legends, because there are plenty of stories that we did not cover. These woods are teeming with entities that our earthly perception can’t seem to comprehend, so it seems.
With the spirit of curiosity on our sides, let’s take a look at some of these eerie bits of folklore, shall we? It’s time to uncover a few more of these myths and mysteries that live in the hills and hollers of our beloved Appalachia.
Moon-Eyed People
We’re starting off today’s list with the Cherokee legend of the moon-eyed people. However, some folks believe that there’s more truth to this legend than myth, but we’ll get to that.
As the story goes, the moon-eyed people were small, pale-skinned, blue-eyed humans who lived in the mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina. They were especially sensitive to light, so they hid during the day and emerged in the moonlight during the night. Benjamin Smith Barton, an American botanist, naturalist, and physician, references the moon-eyed people in a book published in 1797. Barton said, “[T]he Cheerake tell us, that when they first arrived in the country which they inhabit, they found it possessed by certain ‘moon-eyed-people,’ who could not see in the day-time.” Barton also writes that the Cherokee “expelled” the moon-eyed people from the land. That might explain why we in the modern day don’t come across these guys in the woods all that often.
Great story, right? Or is it just a story?
Well, y’all, there’s a little more to it than that. You may be wondering, where did the moon-eyed people even come from? This is where some believe that the legend holds a little bit of truth. In 1782, the Cherokee Chief Oconostota told Tennessee Governor John Sevier (who you can read more about here) about the moon-eyed people — white men who crossed the Atlantic, made their way to the Americas, and landed near modern day Mobile, Alabama. This was a story that the chief had heard from his ancestors. John Sevier recounted this conversation with Oconostota in a letter to Major Amos Stoddard.
So, why is that significant? The mystery of the moon-eyed people also seems to fit with another legend — this one of Welshmen who traveled to the Americas in the 1100’s. According to this legend, Welsh Prince Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd and his brother Rhirid fled from Wales during a civil war to the Americas. Madoc wished to establish a settlement here, and even went back to Wales for more people. Some believe that these Welsh princes and the people they brought with them are ancestors of the moon-eyed people.
Today, there are supposed remnants of the moon-eyed people in North Georgia at Fort Mountain State Park. An interpretive sign there reads “While some legends equate the moon-eyed people withe the descendants of Prince Madoc, Cherokee legends tell of the moon-eyed people that inhabited the Southern Highlands before they arrived. These people are said to have been unable to see during certain phases of the moon. During one of these phases, the Creek people annihilated the race. Some believe these moon-eyed people built the fortifications on this mountain.”
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Flatwoods Monster
The next mystery on our Appalachian tour of the unknown takes us to the tiny town of Flatwoods, located in central West Virginia. One day back in the late summer of 1952, a few Flatwoods residents had an encounter with a creature that can only be described as extraterrestrial.
Near dusk on September 12th, three young friends, Ed May, Freddie May, and Tommy Hyer were out playing on the lawn of Flatwoods Elementary School. Suddenly, a bright, red light streaked across the sky and crashed into a nearby farm. The three boys ran to go see this strange thing, and stopped to tell Kathleen May, the May boys mother, along the way. She went with them. Kathleen brought the family dog, Richie, and called National Guard Member Gene Lemon to join them at the crash site.
When they appeared, they saw bright eyes glowing in a tree.
The creature was huge. Standing at a reported 10 feet tall, it had a spade-shaped head and what looked like a metal dress. It appeared to levitate. As the witnesses watched, the creature hissed and began to approach the terrified onlookers, who immediately turned and ran.
According to the Braxton County CVB, “Some of the members of the group suffered from throat irritation, vomiting, and nausea, which persisted for days. These symptoms were passed off as side effects of hysteria, but it is worth noting that these are also tell-tale signs of exposure to mustard gas.”
But, as fun as it is to believe that a hissing, dress-wearing alien terrified a few folks in West Virginia, there may be another explanation.
On the night of September 12th, a meteor was observed across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The bright light and red tint may have just been a meteor sighting. Some also believe that the witnesses may have seen a startled barn owl in a tree, and that their symptoms were ineed the effects of hysteria and over-exertion.
Photo courtesy of Braxton County CVB.
Spearfinger
The Cherokee (Tsalagi) Nation has a long and fascinating tradition of oral storytelling. Another of their legends that have been passed down through stories over the generations is the tale of Spearfinger, a monster and witch that roams Southern Appalachia.
Spearfinger, or U'tlun'ta', is said to live in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. The word U'tlun'ta' is Cherokee for “the one with the pointed spear”. According to legend, Spearfinger has a long, sharp finger on her right hand that resembles a spear, hence the name. She uses this sharp finger to carve out the livers of her victims and eat them, bloody and raw. In an interview with WATE news, Cherokee storyteller Kathi Littlejohn describes Spearfinger as being covered in a “rock-like skin” — something that no spears or arrows could penetrate. Her only weak point was on the very tip of her spear finger, where her heart was.
Given that description, Spearfinger doesn’t sound like a being that has your best interest in mind. But, she gets even more eerie, because Spearfinger is also a shapeshifter. She could take on the shape of someone you trust, someone who looks completely harmless, then lure you in and slice slice, you’re out of a liver, my friend.
Since Spearfinger is made of stone, she sounds like thunder as she walks through the mountains, crushing rocks along the way. She is said to spend a lot of time lurking around Whiteside Mountian in southern Jackson County, NC.
References:
For more photos and explorations, be sure to follow The Wandering Appalachian on Instagram and Pinterest! Be sure when you're discovering new places to practice Leave No Trace principles. Take only pictures, and leave only footprints. Happy wandering, y'all
SHOP MOUNTAIN INSPIRED GOODS HERE:
Comments