Japanese Folklore: Maruyama Ōkyo and the Ghost of Oyuki
In 1750, Edo-period Japan, Maruyama Ōkyo opened his eyes from a fitful sleep and beheld a dead woman.
British Legends: Elen of the Hosts – Saint, Warrior Queen, Goddess of Sovereignty
Historically, Elen of the Hosts was a real woman who lived in the 4th century, but in British legend and Welsh and Celtic mythology may go back even further.
Ghostland: Arthur Machen, King Arthur and ‘Goblin City’
Caerleon: The location is steeped in history and archaeology with its impressive Roman ruins, and its later associations – it’s the site where Geoffrey of Monmouth’s twelfth-century chronicle of British monarchs, Historia regum Britanniae, places the court of King Arthur, and where, some 350 years on, Thomas Malory staged the legendary figure’s coronation in Le Morte D’Arthur.
Lancashire Fairies
In Bashall Eaves there’s a bridge which is said to have been built in a single night, in order to help a local man escape from witches. At Rowley Hall, by the stream which runs close to the Hall, people have sometimes found pieces of fairy clothes. And in Goosnargh, one night, long ago, a […]
Welsh Lake Legends and Folklore: Llyn Cwm Llwch and the Door of the Tylwyth Teg
Welsh lake legends from the Brecon Beacons: A strange and dangerous old woman, an invisible island and an otherworldly guardian.