Folklore: To Define or Not To Define? Why is This a Question?
Dr. Lynne S. McNeill explains what folklore is, and what folklorists do.
Nazis, Trolls and the Grateful Dead: Turmoil among Sweden’s Folklorists
A story of love, betrayal and impending war became entwined with upheavals that affect the discipline of folklore to this day.
Ruth Tongue and ‘The Chime Child’
The Chime Child is one of the most enchanting books I know. It begins with the rustle of autumn deep in the Somerset countryside where villagers, mindful of the old ways, have set up a corn dolly for Harvest Festival.
Fairies and the Folklore Society: 1878-1945
The great Victorian fairy fascination held its grip over culture into the early 20th century. In the wake of the Cottingley photographs, the dark folkloric sprites had seemingly transformed into benign nursery beings.
Margaret Helen James: a forgotten feminist folklorist in Victorian East Anglia
British regional folklorists of the 19th century remain, in many cases, rather obscure figures. Margaret Helen James (1859–1938) deserves particular attention for using her writing about folklore to give a voice to ordinary women and critique a patriarchal society, but until 2017 James was completely forgotten.