The tall man legend
This is a translation of the original Romanian myth:
“ Once upon a time there were twin girls, Stela and Sorina. They were brave little girls, and had no fear of the dark, nor of spiders and other crawling things. Where other young ladies and even young boys would cower, Stela and Sorina would walk with their heads held high. They were good girls, obedient to their mother and father and to the word of God. They were the best children a mother could ask for, and this was their undoing.
One day, Stela and Sorina were out with their mother gathering berries from the forest. Their mother bid them stay close to her, and they listened, as they were good children. The day was bright and clear, and even as they walked closer to the center of the forest the light barely dimmed. It was nearly bright as noon when they found the tall man.
The tall man stood in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions known.
Their mother tried not to listen, but she could no more disobey the tall man than she could forget how to breathe. She walked into the clearing, her daughters shortly behind her. "Stela," she said, "take my knife, and cut a circle on the ground big enough to lie in." Stela, who was not afraid of the tall man, nor afraid of the quiver in her mother's voice, obeyed what her mother said. "Sorina," the mother said, "take the berries and spread them in the circle, and crush them underfoot until the juice stains the earth." Though Sorina wondered why her mother asked her to do such a thing, she obeyed, because she was a good girl.
"Stela," the mother said, "lie in the circle."
Stela, though she worried she might stain her clothes, did as her mother asked.
"Sorina," the mother said, and bid Sorina cut her sister open with the knife.
Sorina could not; would not.
"Please," her mother said. "If you don't, it will be worse. So much worse."
But Sorina could not, and she threw the knife away and ran home, crying. She hid under her bed, afraid for the first time in her life. She waited until her father came home from the fields, and told him of the terrible thing she had found in the woods. Her father comforted her, and told her she would be safe. He went to the woods, his axe in hand, and as he commanded, she stayed by the hearth, waiting for his return.
After some time she fell asleep. When she woke, it was to the sound of knocking on her door at the darkest hour of the night. "Who is there?" she said.
"It is your father," the knocker said.
"I don't believe you!" said Sorina.
"It is your sister," the knocker said.
"It cannot be!" said Sorina.
"I am your mother," said the knocker, "and I told you it would be worse." And the door, locked tight before her father left, fell open as if it had been left ajar. And her mother stepped in, her sister's head clutched in one bloody hand, her father's in the other.
"Why?" wept Sorina.
"Because," said her mother, "there is no reward for goodness; there is no respite for faith; there is nothing but cold steel teeth and scourging fire for all of us. And it's coming for you now."
And the tall man slid from the fire, and clenched Sorina in his burning embrace. And that was the end of her. “
This is the only full translation of the myth I could find. Most of the sources summarize the story and focus on one paragraph in particular:
“The tall man stood in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions known. ”
Now to begin analysis, it is safe to start by stating this is a VERY cryptic tale. Pointing out some basics of the myth, this originated from Romania, but the time of its origins are unknown. No sources depict an exact range or time, but when placed amongst timelines it appears to have originated anywhere from the 16th-18th century. Much like the German myth of Der GroBmann.
Firstly, one should point out the paragraph that describes the Tall man. This paragraph is really the only paragraph found on most sources outside of the full translation. There are many analytical parts to this will break them all down.
As the story goes, the tall man is ‘dressed as a nobleman, all in black’. This gives him a rather powerful stage and sets him up on a level of prestige. This short description actually correlates a great sum of information between sources. The first notable correlation is that he is described to be dressed as a ‘nobleman’. Even in modern day stories, Slenderman is generally always depicted as wearing a suit. When judging time differences, someone in a suit in modern day may be comparable to a nobleman in the 16th-18th centuries. Secondly regarding correlations, the story goes a step further to say he is dressed ‘all in black’. Recalling information back to Germany, from the journal entry in 1702 it mentions a ‘scrap of black clothing’. Dressed in all black, this correlates the information between these two possibly suggesting reference to the same creature.
Further into the tall man’s description, he is described to have many arms, aka upper limbs. Correlation? Very much so. In German and modern myth, between Der GroBmann, Slenderman, and the Tall man, they all are described to have these extra limbs, described as snakes and tentacle-like limbs. The description of these limbs certainly describe them to be menacing in this instance. Comparing them to swords and worms, it definitely puts an image in one’s mind.
The last detail to be noted in the Tall man’s description is certainly the most subtle.The last sentence says ‘He did not speak, but made his intentions known’. Now, it does at first seem to be an insignificant detail, but there is a story behind it. Analysing the story itself, and comparing between other sources, the mother is depicted to be... under the control of the Tall man. Not only does it show in just the actions of the mother, but also in this sentence following, ‘Their mother tried not to listen, but she could no more disobey the tall man than she could forget how to breathe’. Many sources on modern day Slenderman depict him to have super telepathic powers, able to teleport, generate paranoia in his victims, and control them. If the mother was in fact being controlled, then this correlates information to the modern Slenderman. But staying on the topic of telepathy in Slenderman myth, the detail that had been first mentioned also hints to telepathy. ‘He did not speak, but made his intentions known’, could be the Tall man using telepathy. Furthermore, going back to Der GroBmann, he also used telepathy in one story to lure in a victim.
The only commonly referenced detail that wasn’t confirmed in this story was his face or his girth. The story makes no mention of whether or not he had a face, or whether or not he was skinny at all. Not necessarily a proving or disproving detail for authenticity, just a possible difference among the myths and legends.
Aside from the Tall man’s description, and pulling back to observe the overall story... The moral isn’t one you might expect from the highly religious 16th-18th century. At the end of the story the mother makes this eerie statement, ‘there is no reward for goodness; there is no respite for faith; there is nothing but cold steel teeth and scourging fire for all of us. And it's coming for you now’. The cryptic meaning of this is clear. If all goodness and faith is in vain, than it is pointless. The reference to ‘cold steel teeth and scourging fire’ is a clear reference to some sort of hellish place. So get this, the moral could quite possibly be, no matter what, we will all go to hell and/or die. Not a very nice moral eh? This would explain the myth’s unpopularity back in it’s origin time. This is purely a connection between the story and the real world, but an interesting one for thought.
Finally, the last and most obvious detail: The Tall man is most likely tall. Just going out on a limb here, but even in the story he is referenced as just the ‘tall man’. So clearly, if this is the term used to describe and name him, he must by definition be tall. Otherwise, he could have the word ‘tall’ brandished on his forehead or something, but somehow one would find that unlikely.
“ Once upon a time there were twin girls, Stela and Sorina. They were brave little girls, and had no fear of the dark, nor of spiders and other crawling things. Where other young ladies and even young boys would cower, Stela and Sorina would walk with their heads held high. They were good girls, obedient to their mother and father and to the word of God. They were the best children a mother could ask for, and this was their undoing.
One day, Stela and Sorina were out with their mother gathering berries from the forest. Their mother bid them stay close to her, and they listened, as they were good children. The day was bright and clear, and even as they walked closer to the center of the forest the light barely dimmed. It was nearly bright as noon when they found the tall man.
The tall man stood in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions known.
Their mother tried not to listen, but she could no more disobey the tall man than she could forget how to breathe. She walked into the clearing, her daughters shortly behind her. "Stela," she said, "take my knife, and cut a circle on the ground big enough to lie in." Stela, who was not afraid of the tall man, nor afraid of the quiver in her mother's voice, obeyed what her mother said. "Sorina," the mother said, "take the berries and spread them in the circle, and crush them underfoot until the juice stains the earth." Though Sorina wondered why her mother asked her to do such a thing, she obeyed, because she was a good girl.
"Stela," the mother said, "lie in the circle."
Stela, though she worried she might stain her clothes, did as her mother asked.
"Sorina," the mother said, and bid Sorina cut her sister open with the knife.
Sorina could not; would not.
"Please," her mother said. "If you don't, it will be worse. So much worse."
But Sorina could not, and she threw the knife away and ran home, crying. She hid under her bed, afraid for the first time in her life. She waited until her father came home from the fields, and told him of the terrible thing she had found in the woods. Her father comforted her, and told her she would be safe. He went to the woods, his axe in hand, and as he commanded, she stayed by the hearth, waiting for his return.
After some time she fell asleep. When she woke, it was to the sound of knocking on her door at the darkest hour of the night. "Who is there?" she said.
"It is your father," the knocker said.
"I don't believe you!" said Sorina.
"It is your sister," the knocker said.
"It cannot be!" said Sorina.
"I am your mother," said the knocker, "and I told you it would be worse." And the door, locked tight before her father left, fell open as if it had been left ajar. And her mother stepped in, her sister's head clutched in one bloody hand, her father's in the other.
"Why?" wept Sorina.
"Because," said her mother, "there is no reward for goodness; there is no respite for faith; there is nothing but cold steel teeth and scourging fire for all of us. And it's coming for you now."
And the tall man slid from the fire, and clenched Sorina in his burning embrace. And that was the end of her. “
This is the only full translation of the myth I could find. Most of the sources summarize the story and focus on one paragraph in particular:
“The tall man stood in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions known. ”
Now to begin analysis, it is safe to start by stating this is a VERY cryptic tale. Pointing out some basics of the myth, this originated from Romania, but the time of its origins are unknown. No sources depict an exact range or time, but when placed amongst timelines it appears to have originated anywhere from the 16th-18th century. Much like the German myth of Der GroBmann.
Firstly, one should point out the paragraph that describes the Tall man. This paragraph is really the only paragraph found on most sources outside of the full translation. There are many analytical parts to this will break them all down.
As the story goes, the tall man is ‘dressed as a nobleman, all in black’. This gives him a rather powerful stage and sets him up on a level of prestige. This short description actually correlates a great sum of information between sources. The first notable correlation is that he is described to be dressed as a ‘nobleman’. Even in modern day stories, Slenderman is generally always depicted as wearing a suit. When judging time differences, someone in a suit in modern day may be comparable to a nobleman in the 16th-18th centuries. Secondly regarding correlations, the story goes a step further to say he is dressed ‘all in black’. Recalling information back to Germany, from the journal entry in 1702 it mentions a ‘scrap of black clothing’. Dressed in all black, this correlates the information between these two possibly suggesting reference to the same creature.
Further into the tall man’s description, he is described to have many arms, aka upper limbs. Correlation? Very much so. In German and modern myth, between Der GroBmann, Slenderman, and the Tall man, they all are described to have these extra limbs, described as snakes and tentacle-like limbs. The description of these limbs certainly describe them to be menacing in this instance. Comparing them to swords and worms, it definitely puts an image in one’s mind.
The last detail to be noted in the Tall man’s description is certainly the most subtle.The last sentence says ‘He did not speak, but made his intentions known’. Now, it does at first seem to be an insignificant detail, but there is a story behind it. Analysing the story itself, and comparing between other sources, the mother is depicted to be... under the control of the Tall man. Not only does it show in just the actions of the mother, but also in this sentence following, ‘Their mother tried not to listen, but she could no more disobey the tall man than she could forget how to breathe’. Many sources on modern day Slenderman depict him to have super telepathic powers, able to teleport, generate paranoia in his victims, and control them. If the mother was in fact being controlled, then this correlates information to the modern Slenderman. But staying on the topic of telepathy in Slenderman myth, the detail that had been first mentioned also hints to telepathy. ‘He did not speak, but made his intentions known’, could be the Tall man using telepathy. Furthermore, going back to Der GroBmann, he also used telepathy in one story to lure in a victim.
The only commonly referenced detail that wasn’t confirmed in this story was his face or his girth. The story makes no mention of whether or not he had a face, or whether or not he was skinny at all. Not necessarily a proving or disproving detail for authenticity, just a possible difference among the myths and legends.
Aside from the Tall man’s description, and pulling back to observe the overall story... The moral isn’t one you might expect from the highly religious 16th-18th century. At the end of the story the mother makes this eerie statement, ‘there is no reward for goodness; there is no respite for faith; there is nothing but cold steel teeth and scourging fire for all of us. And it's coming for you now’. The cryptic meaning of this is clear. If all goodness and faith is in vain, than it is pointless. The reference to ‘cold steel teeth and scourging fire’ is a clear reference to some sort of hellish place. So get this, the moral could quite possibly be, no matter what, we will all go to hell and/or die. Not a very nice moral eh? This would explain the myth’s unpopularity back in it’s origin time. This is purely a connection between the story and the real world, but an interesting one for thought.
Finally, the last and most obvious detail: The Tall man is most likely tall. Just going out on a limb here, but even in the story he is referenced as just the ‘tall man’. So clearly, if this is the term used to describe and name him, he must by definition be tall. Otherwise, he could have the word ‘tall’ brandished on his forehead or something, but somehow one would find that unlikely.