Fancy a folkloric read? Check out #FolkloreThursday’s books!
Fancy a folkloric read? Check out FolkloreThursday’s books!
Snow Queens and Winter Witches from Around the World
Through myth, fairy tale and legend, powerful women are depicted as dark, cruel and calculating, and they are often naturally associated with winter – a season where all warmth withdraws, and the land is covered with snow and ice, and life is no more than a battle of survival against the elements.
May Folklore: May Day, Maypoles and May Queens in Britain
May Day is a traditional spring celebration in many cultures, linked with Gaelic Beltane, and is now also the date of Labour Day.
Japanese Folklore: Maruyama Ōkyo and the Ghost of Oyuki
In 1750, Edo-period Japan, Maruyama Ōkyo opened his eyes from a fitful sleep and beheld a dead woman.
Was it Really East of the Sun and West of the Moon?
The Norwegian folktale, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” in which a white bear comes to take a poor girl away, is loved by people the world over. It is also part of a huge cycle of folklore and myth that has spanned Eurasia in the last 2500 years.
The Bunyip: Australia’s Mysterious Man-eating Swamp Beast
Folklore is filled with tales of man-eating beasties and Australia is no exception, home to the dreaded Bunyip.