Philippine Folktales and Legends: Catalina of Dumaguete
Even the wild people who once roamed the remote mountains spoke of Catalina with love. As the wind howled they would tell the story of Catalina of Dumaguete.
A Pied Piper Mystery
hile the Pied Piper of Hamelin is undeniably a fairy tale, it’s uniquely grounded in real-world specifics – the date for one – June 26. That’s the date in 1284 when the town lost a significant portion of its population, a matter treated as fact in the first written allusion to the incidents, the initial […]
Bihar Folk Tales: The Sparrow and Her Crumbs
Nalin Verma tells one of the stories from his latest book, The Greatest Folk Tales of Bihar.
Fairies in a Flat Landscape: the Fairylore of Suffolk
Suffolk might seem the very last place to look for fairylore; after all, most of us have grown up with the idea that belief in the fairies flourishes in wild, untamed places, and specifically in the ‘Celtic’ areas of the British Isles – Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland.
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.