When I recently blogged on the urban legend of the 'Slender Man' .....
I thought that would be the end of the matter. Particularly since the origin of the myth was well known and documented.
But then by chance I came across reference to 'The Spectre of the Brocken' from 'The Story of the World' published in 1934. The accompanying image in the reference was intriguingly similar to images of the slender man and made me look into this spectre.
Apparently, a Brocken Spectre is the magnified (and seemingly enormous) shadow of a person cast upon clouds or mist opposite of the Sun's direction i.e. the figure is backlit.
The phenomenon draws its name from The Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, where the phenomena first created a local legend.
So perhaps the slender man has a far more ancient antecedent than even its inventor realised.
I thought that would be the end of the matter. Particularly since the origin of the myth was well known and documented.
 |
| 'The Spectre of the Brocken' |
But then by chance I came across reference to 'The Spectre of the Brocken' from 'The Story of the World' published in 1934. The accompanying image in the reference was intriguingly similar to images of the slender man and made me look into this spectre.
Apparently, a Brocken Spectre is the magnified (and seemingly enormous) shadow of a person cast upon clouds or mist opposite of the Sun's direction i.e. the figure is backlit.
 |
| Brocken Spectre - "An image with a glory round its head" |
The phenomenon draws its name from The Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, where the phenomena first created a local legend.
So perhaps the slender man has a far more ancient antecedent than even its inventor realised.
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