A Brief History of Trolls
Trolls come in many shapes and sizes. No one description can fit them all. Is there a core of Trollness which we can uncover?
Swan Folklore: Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
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.
Engendering Folklore: Scheherazade & Empowered Folktale Curating
If contemporary versions of popular fairy tales are anything to go by, you could be left thinking that women are submissive and dependent on men.
Folk-Ore: The Magical Power of Blacksmiths and Their Enduring Stories
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.
The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales
Like many people, I thought the Grimm brothers had lived long ago & travelled around Germany collecting stories from old women hunched over spinning wheels.