King Herla and the Wild Hunt in Twelfth-Century England and Wales
The ghostly “Wild Hunt” rampaged across European folklore as a company of supernatural huntsmen that often counted fairies and the dead among their number.
Japanese Legends: The Three Most Evil Yokai of Japan
Japan has a love of official top three lists. You may have heard of the Three Views of Japan (Matsushima, Amanohashidate, and Itsukushima), the Three Great Gardens of Japan (Kenroku-en, Koraku-en, and Kairaku-en), or the Three Sacred Mountains of Japan (Mount Fuji, Mount Haku, and Mount Tate). But did you know that there are official […]
A Thousand Years Before Tolkien: The Original Evil Magic Ring
An evil magic ring, associated with dwarf and dragon – what a great idea Tolkien had for his books! But he actually borrowed it from ancient Viking legends…
Folklore of the Welsh Lakes: The Legend of the Bride from the Red Lake
A Welsh legend from the Red Lake tells the story of a doomed marriage between a mortal farmer and a beautiful Otherworld maiden who emerged from the lake.
Sex, Murder, and the Myth of the Wild West: How a Soiled Dove Earned a Heart of Gold
In the summer of 1960 at the age of five, I joined an honored folk tradition by telling my first Comstock lie. It was about a sex worker who had transformed into a legend of the Wild West.