The Weardale Fairies
‘The Weardale Fairies’. Extracted from English Fairy Tales and Legends by Rosalind Kerven, published by Batsford. Illustration by Arthur Rackham, Mary Evans Picture Library.
Sardinian Folklore: Gino Bottiglioni’s Tales of Giants and Fairies, Elves and Plagues
have a confession to make: I’m a bibliophile. I have a small collection of very, very old books and still count the moment I touched a middle ages herbal worth more than my apartment as a highlight of my life. I mean, this surely doesn’t come as a shock here on #FolkloreThursday, albeit it does […]
Haunted by Monsters: Top 5 Wicked Creatures in Polish Folklore
ith its rich folklore, deep woods filled with wild boars, wolves and massive bison, and dark 20th century history, Poland often feels haunted by monsters. I first went to Poland when I was eighteen and among the places I visited was the fairy-tale city of Kraków. Although I traveled extensively afterwards, I found myself returning […]
50 Shades of Red: Sexuality and Loss of Innocence in Little Red Riding Hood
Of all the folk and fairy tales known to us, the tale of Little Red Riding Hood is perhaps one of the most enduring and provocative.
The Green Children of Woolpit: A Medieval Encounter with Aliens, the Fae – or Orphans of War?
In the middle years of the 12th century, two green-skinned children mysteriously appeared in a field in Suffolk. But who or what were they and where did they come from? Theories range from aliens and the Fae to orphans of war and naughty children.