r/ExplainTheJoke • u/RocketPoweredSad • 2d ago

Something about mushrooms?

2.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

568

u/horshack_test 2d ago edited 2d ago

Fairy circle. People often feared fairies would snatch their children away. Iron repels fairies.

-1

u/EuphoriantCrottle 1d ago

Wow. That’s a lot of things you have to know to get the joke.

5

u/Festivefire 1d ago

It is fairly common mythological knowledge, basically only one tier down from "Werewolves transform at the full moon" level stuff.

1

u/EuphoriantCrottle 1d ago

That iron repels fairies? That was completely new to me. I kinda think you have to come from a culture with a lot of fairy lore to know that.

2

u/IcarusSunburn 1d ago

Nothing recent in pop culture has really highlighted it, but this was a plot point in a lot of movies and shows in the 80s and 90s. Even cartoons like Gargoyles, the Real Ghostbusters, and Swat Kats covered this little tidbit. Probably just a matter of the wheel of popular attention being on the far side of that subject right now.

1

u/Fluffy_Ace 12h ago

I didn't about the iron repels fairies thing before seeing this, but I DID know about the mushroom circle = fairies thing.