Fancy a folkloric read? Check out #FolkloreThursday’s books!
Fancy a folkloric read? Check out FolkloreThursday’s books!
Top Five Mythical Birds in Legend and Folklore
The alkonost, the sirin, the roc, the phoenix and the caladrius are all five mythical birds from legend and folklore. Each were attributed their own magical qualities and roles by various human societies in history and presented here is a brief description of these five fabled creatures.
British Legends: The Madness of Merlin (Part 1)
The Vita Merlini, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century, tells the story of Merlin after the Battle of Camlann, where he ruled over South Wales, had a wife named Guendoloena and a sister named Ganieda.
May Day, Weddings and Births – Folklore Trees and Traditions in Bavaria
Maypoles are often seen as a quintessentially English tradition, yet in Bavaria the raising of the Maibaum (or May Tree) is also an important event, and it is not the only time a tree is hefted aloft in celebration.
Centre for Myth Studies 10th Anniversary Symposium: The Old & the New
2018 marks the tenth anniversary of the Centre for Myth Studies at the University of Essex.
A Spot of Easter Violence, Anyone?
Easter customs of old were many and varied but who would have expected so many of them to be nothing short of violent? Some believe Easter is named after the pagan spring festival celebrating Ēostre or Ostara; historically known as the spring equinox, this might explain why the date of Easter is calculated by the cycles of the moon. It falls on the Sunday following the full moon after the first day of spring — nothing Christian about that calculation! One would have thought the dates of Christ’s death and resurrection would have been more definitely commemorated but, no, we stick to celebrating the coming of spring. Compared to this oddity, some of the bizarre customs associated with Easter stop seeming so bizarre. The violence involved in some of them, though, is a little harder to explain…