Baby Kodi is just about to lose some puppy teeth, and recently, it was “Tooth Fairy Day” so I learned some weird stuff about the tooth fairy that will delight your inner nerd and impress drunk folks at the bar.

Yeah, I didn’t know she looked like that, either!

Actually, that’s one funny thing Tooth Fairy research reveals: kids aren’t particularly invested in the gender or appearance of the Tooth Fairy, unlike Santa Claus.

The earliest roots (ha, ha) of the custom come from the old Norse Eddas, the epic poem sagas, in the 1200s, which mention the tand-fé or tooth fee. Vikings wore necklaces made from kid’s baby teeth into battle, for good luck. Other cultures consider such teeth lucky and they are thrown in proscribed ways, to ensure the new teeth grow in properly; in South Korea, they are tossed onto the roof because the national bird, the magpie, may bring a gift if it finds the tooth.

In South American, Spain, and France, it’s a mouse who acts as the tooth fairy. In Italy, said mouse is named Topolino, perhaps named for Saint Apollonia, whose martyrdom involved having her teeth broken; she is considered the patron saint of dentistry and those with toothache and dental problems.

Is it helpful for kids to have the tooth fairy myths, to console them after the loss of teeth, and the encouragement to brush well so the fairy will pay top dollar? Harmless, because kids usually believe until five or six, at which point Santa, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the rest topple like dominos? Or is it wrong to encourage such beliefs? One thing’s for sure: it’s not the handful of change it used to be (You can find the current going rate by doubling back here when you’re done)