Children that don't keep themselves tidy are warned with the story of the ragged Stringeater, a voracious demonic spirit that is drawn to all things unkempt and disheveled. He is described as a flying, corpulent, skull-faced figure, stitched together and bursting at seams with loose bits of brilliantly colored string. The Stringeater finds stray protruding threads on clothing to be irresistible, and a sure way to summon him is to ignore these threads if you find them on you - or worse, to pluck at them and make them more noticable.

In the myths (with two known exceptions), common victims are children that don't honor their parents, wives that fail to tend to their housekeeping, and the generally indolent.

The first exception features an otherwise noble and sympathetic character, a merchant's wife, who is preoccupied with arranging the happy marriage of her daughter. She takes on more responsibility than she can handle and is unable to complete anything, driven to distraction by all the unforseen details involved in the ceremony. When she proclaims to feel "as a cord, frayed at both ends," the Stringeater appears and promptly devours her. The other exceptional tale is of a tailor, skilled but lazy, who fails to trim and clip the loose threads on the clothing he makes. Each time the Stringeater appears to eat those who wear this shoddy clothing, they uselessly plead for mercy and explain that the fault lies with the tailor. Eventually the other townsfolk realize that the tailor is indirectly responsible for their suffering and they lop off his fingers.

As a result, the figure of the Stringeater seems to enforce responsible living, taking care of yourself and your surroundings, and doing your best, but realizing your limitations.

Few cults were formed around the Stringeater, and none of any serious political significance. Stylized likenesses have also been found as marks of quality on bolts of cloth as the figure evolved from myth, finding a lasting cultural impression as an icon of advertising.