Tinker Bell’s Lover: The Hidden Desires of Celtic Fairies
“The ocean is not so strong as the waves of thy longing,” the fairy whispered to the man she desired as a human lover. Was she casting a spell on him?
The Winged Demoness of Death: Vanth and the Etruscan Underworld
On the walls of a 300 BCE Etruscan tomb, Vanth, a winged demoness of dark and stern gaze, flanks a door to the Great Unknown.
The Duality of Modern Haitian Vodou
When the traditional Vodun religion of West African slaves collided in the Caribbean with the incoming Christianity of colonists, Haitian Vodou was born.
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.
Wolf Myths and Folklore From Around the World
The most famous wolf myth is the one of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The story has evolved through the ages, but the best-known version claims their mother was a virgin and that their father was the war god Mars. In typical Greek-Roman fashion, their great uncle – the king – abandoned them on the River Tiber in an attempt to avoid a prophecy of his death. Tiberinus, the god of the river, spared the twins. A wolf suckled the boys until a shepherd adopted them. Eventually, Romulus and Remus helped their grandfather retake his thrown and kill their great uncle.