I’m reading The Terror by Dan Simmons, a horror novel about two British Naval ships trapped in arctic ice. The crews are comprised entirely of white Englishmen; officers enforce an alcohol ban and there are long religious services every Sunday. However after three years out in the cold with dwindling supplies, morale is low and paranoia is setting in. When an Inuit woman is allowed to board the ship many of the sailors call her a “Jonah” and demand that she is sent back out onto the ice. At one point they almost form a mob and slit her throat. I understand that a “Jonah” is a person who brings a ship with bad luck, based on the story of Jonah in the Bible (who went to sea to try and escape the wrath of God, got tossed overboard and was swallowed by a giant fish that only spat him up once he’d found God again) Then there’s the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, where a sailor curses a ship by killing an albatross. I want to know what kind of superstitions were rife amongst sailors from other nations and religions. Did other countries heap scorn on the British for indulging in their silly superstitions, or were different superstitions and traditions widely respected by anyone who lived and died at sea? The Terror is set in 1847 but I would be interested to hear about any time period. Many thanks!