“In whatever proportions, mumming clearly depended on a mixture of playfulness and a sense of danger: both are necessary, but either might be dominant. Mumming brings the unknown (whether real or pretended) to interact with the familiar. This may be felt as a threat, welcomed as a liberating release for host as well as mummer, affectionately accepted as customary, or any combination of the three.”
(Meg Twycross and Sarah Carpenter, Masks and Masking in Medieval and Early Tudor England)
There are many different types of mummers or guisers, especially when you look at all of Europe throughout the history of the practices. However, some rough categories can be discerned, although there is of course a lot of overlap.
Wild Men
Animals/Animal-Headed
Monsters & Devils
Green Men
Straw Men/Bears
Cross-Dressers
Fools
Tatters & Grim Faces
Giants
Hobby Horses
Mast Animals
There are also very specific traditions which involve particular costumes, activities, etc.; I have included several below. Each one is complicated enough to be the subject of its own book, but I have provided links to some information to begin with.
- Schnabelperchten (Austria)
- Krampuslauf (Germany)
- Kalogeroi (Thrace/Greece)
- Burry Man (Scotland)
- Kukeri (Bulgaria)
- Abbots Bromley Horn Dance (England)
- Mari Lwyd (Wales)
- Jack in the Green (England)
- Pelzmartle/Belznickel (Germany)
- Bärbeletreiben and Klausentreiben (Bavaria)
And a few related customs:
- Calusari (Romania)
- Morris Dancing (England)
- Sword Dancing (Scotland)
- Trick-or-treating (North America)
- Wassailing (England)
- Mummers Play (Great Britain)
Masks & Monsters 