History Main / SuperstitiousSailors

* One WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck comic has Donald recite two different lines from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" that accidentally make it seem like he killed an albatross. Some sailors overhear him and think he's bragging about it, leading to problems later on.

** Except there is a difference between being observant and superstitious. "Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is mistakenly thought of as superstition, and was even listed as one on this page. However, there is reason to take it as genuine. [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-scientific-valid/ Scientific American]] and [[https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/meteorology-climatology/item/is-the-old-adage-red-sky-at-night-sailors-delight-red-sky-in-morning-sailors-warning-true-or-is-it-just-an-old-wives-tale/ The Library of Congress]] weigh in.[[/folder]]

** Except there is a difference between being observant and superstitious. "Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is mistakenly thought of as superstition, and was even listed as one on this page. However, there is reason to take it as genuine. [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-scientific-valid/ Scientific American]] and [[https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/meteorology-climatology/item/is-the-old-adage-red-sky-at-night-sailors-delight-red-sky-in-morning-sailors-warning-true-or-is-it-just-an-old-wives-tale/#:~:text=Red%20sky%20in%20morning%2C%20sailor's%20warning.,water%20content%20in%20the%20atmosphere. The Library of Congress]] weigh in.[[/folder]]

* RealLife is full of sailors' superstitions. "Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is perhaps the most famous. Other superstitions include not whistling while on board a ship, and [[ValuesDissonance not allowing women on board]]. And when sailors from different seafaring cultures started coming into contact with each other, they tended to pick up on each other's superstitions.
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* RealLife is full of sailors' superstitions. "Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is perhaps the most famous. Other superstitions include not whistling while on board a ship, and [[ValuesDissonance not allowing women on board]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Hare We Go", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny accompanies Christopher Columbus on his first voyage, which angers his crew because they consider rabbits on board to be bad luck.

* In ''Discworld/SmallGods'', the sailors have a number of superstitions and ritual practices, most notably a taboo against killing dolphins. Almost all of these turn out to be justified as they are part of a system of obeisance to the vindictive Sea Queen, who is enraged by killing dolphins.

-->-- '''[[Literature/AubreyMaturin Desolation Island]]'''

* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': In the cartoon ''Mutiny Ain't Nice'', Popeye's crew believes that having a female aboard is bad luck, and he tries to hide Olive from them when she accidentally stows away.

-->''"Do you not know, ma'am, that your mariner is the most superstitious soul that ever breathed?"''

* RealLife is full of sailors' superstitions. "Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" is perhaps the most famous. Other superstitions include not whistling while on board a ship, and not allowing women on board.

* The ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' AU fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13843215/chapters/31838052 All the Oceans]]'' is mostly told from the perspective of William Laurence's suspicious and increasingly superstitious crew. The titular dragon is of the aquatic flightless Sui-Riu breed instead of a flighted breed used by the Aerial Corps in canon, so the Corps and the Navy's Admiralty work out an arrangement where Laurence remains with the Navy and keeps Temeraire to help in combat and with prize-capturing, but Laurence's crew is not permitted to know of Temeraire's existence. As an aquatic breed, Temeraire is able to pull off increasingly implausible feats from the perspective of the crew, and Laurence starts doing odd things like cheating death and showing up at his own funeral, reading in Latin under the moonlight, and apparently calling the sea "my dear". This spawns numerous rumors that Laurence is a sea witch, has a pact with the devil, or, according to the ship chaplain, is even the Second Coming.
* In the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' and ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/TradeWinds'', Desmond Miles finds himself in the ''Temeraire''-verse's Age of Sail and winds up becoming a sailor, who puts his OneManArmy Assassin fighting skills to good use against Frenchmen trying to board the ship he's on, and as a one-man boarding crew himself. His crewmates shortly become afraid of him and start rumors that he made a pact with the devil, or is himself a demon or the devil in human form. When he gets jumped on the ''Allegiance'' and defends himself against his crewmates, he threatens to kill them and throw them overboard if they jump him again, which doesn't exactly dissuade the gossips.

* The ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' AU fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13843215/chapters/31838052 All the Oceans]]'' is mostly told from the perspective of William Laurence's suspicious and increasingly superstitious crew. The titular dragon is of the aquatic flightless Sui-Riu breed instead of a flighted breed used by the Aerial Corps in canon, so the Corps and the Navy's Admiralty work out an arrangement where Laurence remains with the Navy and keeps Temeraire to help in combat and with prize-capturing, but Laurence's crew is not permitted to know Temeraire is there. As an aquatic breed, Temeraire is able to pull off increasingly implausible feats from the perspective of the crew, and Laurence starts doing odd things like cheating death and showing up at his own funeral, reading in Latin under the moonlight, and apparently calling the sea "my dear". This spawns numerous rumors that Laurence is a sea witch, has a pact with the devil, or, according to the ship chaplain, is even the Second Coming.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'': Dr. Honeydew puts together a plan to scare the pirates on account of his scientific fact about pirates being superstitious.
-->'''Sam''': Boogie, boogie, boogie. I am the ghost of Samuel Arrow.
-->''[{{beat}}]''
-->'''Sam''': BOOGIE!
-->''[[[AbandonShip cue all the pirates jumping ship]]]''
* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Gibbs notes at the beginning of the first film that a woman, "even a miniature one," is bad luck when young Elizabeth is on the ship. Throughout the series, he frequently tells stories about sailor superstitions and lore, though the world of ''Pirates'' being what it is, these usually serve to make him MrExposition.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure [=OA5=] ''Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw''. The sailors of the merchant ship Victorious Morning are very superstitious. If anything that could be considered a foul omen occurs (the sun is hidden behind rainclouds, a seabird drops dead on the deck, an abandoned settlement on an island), they will be frightened and more likely to mutiny.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

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* ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'': The title mariner is cursed for shooting an albatross, which sailors consider bad luck as they are considered good omens and can lead one to land. As a result, he loses his entire crew and is forced to WalkTheEarth forever, with the albatross' corpse hanging from his neck.
* In ''Discworld/SmallGods'', the sailors have a number of superstitions and ritual practices, most notably a taboo against killing dolphins. Almost all of these turn out to be justified as they are part of a system of obeisance to the vindictive Sea Queen, who is enraged by killing dolphins.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Gibbs notes at the beginning of the first film that "even a miniature one" is bad luck when young Elizabeth is on the ship. Throughout the series, he frequently tells stories about sailor superstitions and lore, though the world of ''Pirates'' being what it is, these usually serve to make him MrExposition.

** Hornblower restrains himself from contradicting Bush's conviction that gales always occur on the equinox [[RightForTheWrongReason because the day and night are the same length]]. Hornblower happens to think it's because gale-causing conditions simply occur at that time of year, but knows that he would be met with the polite, false agreement "accorded to children and madmen and ship's captains."

* Mentioned a couple of times in the ''Literature/{{Hornblower}}'' series.
** In ''The Happy Return'', a sailor tries to call a speedier wind down on the ship by sticking his clasp-knife into the mast, which is supposed to be a sure-fire method.
** Hornblower restrains himself from contradicting Bush's conviction that gales always occur on the equinox [[RightForTheWrongReason because the day and night are the same length]]. Hornblower happens to think it's because gale-causing conditions simply occur at that time of year, but knows that he would be met with the polite, false agreement "accorded to children and madmen and ship's captains."