Comments on: Rolling Thunder

By: Evelyn Herwitz

Evelyn Herwitz — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 00:00:11 +0000

In reply to Belinda.

That’s great, Belinda! So interesting. I just did a little more searching, and it turns out that Irving’s tale was based on an old German folktale about “Peter Klaus”: https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/German_folktale_6.html#gsc.tab=0
He, too, meets mysterious men in the mountains playing “skittles,” gets drunk and wakes up 20 years later. So maybe that’s how your aunt heard some version of the story. For me, growing up south of the Catskills, near the Hudson River Valley, the sound of rolling thunder was quite distinct. As I write now, thunder is rumbling nearby. Be well.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 18:56:10 +0000

When I was a child and afraid of thunder, my aunt told me the EXACT same thing! I was googling and trying to find an origin, and found the Rip Van Winkle story, as well as your blogpost. I am curious how men bowling in the mountains (Van Winkle) came to be “giants in the sky”, and wondering if there was another source? I am not from that region of NY, I live in Virginia. My grandmother’s grandparents were German, and I wonder if she may have told my mother and her siblings that tale. I still think of it every time I hear thunder – we just had a big welcome storm here today too.

By: Evelyn Herwitz

Evelyn Herwitz — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 15:39:15 +0000

In reply to Jayne Fisher. :)

By: Jayne Fisher

Jayne Fisher — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 16:33:53 +0000

Thank you for this uplifting entry Evie!

Jayne