Folk-Ore: The Magical Power of Blacksmiths and Their Enduring Stories

Saint Dunstan using his blacksmith’s tongs to grasp the Devil’s nose. As depicted in two Mediaeval manuscripts. Left, from the Harley Manuscripts and right, from the Luttrell Psalter - both courtesy British Library Digitised Manuscripts Archive. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm

The folklore of iron and smithing has been common since prehistory, and one of the oldest folktales tells of a blacksmith forging a deal with the devil.

Swan Folklore: Hope Is the Thing with Feathers

The Swan maiden) by Helena Nyblom 1908. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Svanhamnen_i_Bland_tomtar_och_troll,_1908..jpg

What is it about swans? They feature heavily in Western European folklore, a graceful animal for a human to be transformed into as a curse, or shapeshifting into humans at will.

Folklore: As I Live and Breathe!

Castle with turrets in the fog

You cannot venture into the world of internet Folklore without stumbling on the constant squabbles over what folklore is “right” and which version of a story is “correct”, yet the funny thing is that the fact these arguments exist means that people are not grasping how complex Folklore is, nor understanding the forces that drive it.

Matlock Hare and the Three Hares Symbol

MatlockHare

Three – some say, is the lucky number. Others find it equally as unlucky, citing dark suspicions about Shakespeare’s ‘weird-systers’ in the equally infamous ‘Scottish Play’. Love it, loathe it, dismiss it, debunk it, or even worship it, there’s no doubting that somehow this single digit has provoked both mysterious interpretation and serious academic study and numerological […]

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