Running Weasel: Folklore or Fakelore?

[cmikhailovic]

No: HPFGUIDX 43590

I have searched in every folklore text in my possession, and have yet 
to come across a reference to this so-called "Legend of Running 
Weasel" that keeps being mentioned.  You know, that claim that "Ron 
Weasley" is based upon Running Weasel, a legendary hero who played 
chess and whose greatest opponent was a yellow rat?  Yeah.  Well, it 
doesn't appear in any of the major collections of folk legends that I 
am aware of.  Now, just because I haven't come across it doesn't mean 
it doesn't exist, certainly; just that it would have to be pretty 
obscure for it not to make it into Briggs' monumental _Dictionary of 
British Folk Tales_, at least.  In fact, the only place I have ever 
seen this "legend" has been in HP sources and discussions, but never 
with any footnotes or references.

If anyone can find a legitimate, scholarly, NON-HP text that mentions 
this legend, I'd love to see it.  If not, maybe it's time to put this 
bit of fakelore to rest.

Catja 
--um.  M.A. in Folklore from Ohio State University.