Five Reasons Fig Trees Are Folklore Royalty
No plants feature so often in folklore, in so many places, as fig trees. There’s a biological basis to many of these stories.
British Legends: Beowulf and the Great Flame Dragon
Beowulf is an anonymously written long poem originally written in Old English, the language commonly spoken in England in Anglo-Saxon times. It is named after its protagonist, Beowulf, a warrior from Geatland, and tells of his heroic adventures, great strength, courage, and prowess in battle.
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.
The Boggart: A Study in Shadows
I became fascinated by boggarts about a decade ago. If I turned to the fairy and folklore dictionaries, I learnt that a boggart was a type of house goblin or perhaps, at a stretch, a poltergeist.
Folk Tales and Fairy Tales: Seven Miles of Steel Thistles
One of the things I wanted to do was to confront popular misconceptions about fairy tales, such as ‘fairy tales are all about princes rescuing princesses.’