Everything about Petrifaction totally explained
In
geology,
petrifaction or
petrification is the process by which
organic material is converted into
stone or a similar substance without
decaying. It is approximately synonymous with
fossilization.
Petrified wood is the most well known result of this process.
For a list of sites of major collections of petrified materials, see
Petrified wood.
Folklore
Petrifaction is also a common theme in
folklore and
mythology, and is associated with the legends of
Medusa the
Gorgon, the
basilisk, and the
cockatrice, among others. In
fairy tales, characters who fail in a quest may be turned to stone until they're rescued by the successful hero, as in
The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body or
The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird.
In
Cornish folklore, petrifaction stories are used to explain the origin of prehistoric
megalithic monuments such as
stone circles and
monoliths. For example, the name of the
Merry Maidens stone circle, and the nearby Pipers monoliths, comes from an associated myth about a party of young women who danced on poles through Saturday evening and into Sunday morning. For their sins the nineteen maidens were turned to stone, as were the two pipers accompanying them. Several other Cornish stone circles have similar themes in their names (
The Nine Maidens of Boskednan,
the Tregeseal Dancing Stones), and there are variations such as
The Hurlers on
Bodmin Moor - turned to stone for playing the Cornish game of
hurling on a Sunday. Several isolated
standing stones have names associating them with
pipers or
fiddlers.
Figuratively, the word can also refer to a state of
paralysis resulting from
fear.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Petrifaction'.
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