Shirley- Tricksters

Tricksters are seen in all types of religion.  The most common form in primal religions in america is the Coyote.  We talked about how he helped form the rivers, waterfall, and creeks by stealing the water from the frog people.  Even though he tricked someone, it helped out many.  An example of this in popular culture is Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  In these movies, he fits the role of an anti-hero by causing destruction in the first Thor and Avengers movies, but by helping Thor in the next films in his series.  In European folktales, the trickster takes the form of a Fox.  This man is called Reynard the fox.  In these stories, he uses his trickery to get out of trouble from other animals in the forest.  Reynard's stories were so popular, the word for fox was changed from its original form goupil to what is now renard.  This is just an example of how even though there was a sea between these two cultures, they still picked a similar animal to personify trickery.  I wonder what was used in other primal religions across the world as the personification of a trickster.

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