Fabulous Folklore with Icy

The hill figures of southern England are enigmatic artworks, standing out with their stark white lines against the green grass of their home slopes. They're mostly found on chalk hills, where the chalk provides the white outlines.  Countless figures have been lost. Yet four in particular remain famous even now, while a fifth is famous precisely since it no longer exists. Folklore naturally accrues...

Whether we're looking at barrows, cromlechs, or dolmens, ancient burial sites hold a certain fascination. They're linked with all manner of supernatural beings, from giants to fairies, gods and ghosts, and naturally, the Devil. Let's find out what kind of folklore is attached to these prehistoric grave sites in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog po...

For this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Sian Ingham! Sian Ingham is a writer and editor, best known for writing We Don't Go Back: A Watcher's Guide to Folk Horror. Find their work at https://www.patreon.com/Room207Press , https://bsky.app/profile/parthenoid.bsky.social and https://www.room207press.com/ . In this interview, we're going to talk a...

Mention stone circles to many people, and they'll think of people gathering at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise. Or hulking megaliths looming out of the mist on a lonely moor, the sheep being careful to only graze outside the circle. They're certainly evocative, if nothing else. As with the standing stones that we covered last week, we know very little about them. We don't know why our ancestors bu...

There's something awesome yet eerie about encountering a standing stone in the landscape. Why is it there? Who put it there? And how did they put it there? The fact we can't often answer these questions helps add to their mystery. That absence of knowledge creates a vacuum that folklore is only too happy to fill. Speculation runs rife with these stones. Let's take a look at the folklore of some of...

Archaeological evidence reveals a close relationship between people and the spiritual world back to the Bronze Age, often enacted through water. Springs often reveal ritual deposits, such as those found at the head of the Seine. It’s unsurprising that humans would continue this water-based relationship via wells. For some scholars, wells had either a patron deity or a guardian spirit, which was la...

Forests are ambivalent places, both beautiful and tranquil, yet also dangerous to the unwary. They've always been a source of resources for people, which is either embraced or exploited. As a result, there is a whole class of folklore involving forest protectors, spirits who guard the woods and all the animals within. These protectors ensure that humans never take more than they should, and keep t...

Mushrooms have captured humanity's attention for thousands of years. But they still confuse us. Mushrooms spring up overnight, many of them are dangerous if you confuse them for their safer cousins, and they have an array of fantastical names. Witness the Destroying Angel, Spit Devil, Satan's Bolete, Witches' Butter, and Death Cap. Let's learn more about the folklore of fungi in this week's episod...

In this month's Valentine's Day-themed episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Komal Salman! Komal Salman is a creative professional and Founder at Folkloristan, where technology meets storytelling to preserve oral Pakistani heritage. With a background in media studies, Komal is also the Content Strategist at Atom Camp, a tech ed platform. A writer and an illus...

Trees are some of humanity's best friends, providing oxygen, storing carbon, and even improving the soil where they grow. Some are flashy and famous in folklore, like the oak or the hawthorn. Others are perhaps less well-known, but that doesn't mean they're any less important to folklore!  Let's learn more about alder, birch, and blackthorn in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the ima...

Certain plants evoke particular areas, like grasslands, meadows, hedgerows, or gardens. Others are full of the mystery of the forest, splashing colour across the woodland floor. Bluebells are famous for turning ordinary woods into a stunning scene in late March until early May. So in this post, we're going to look at the folklore of woodland plants. Yes, some of them grow in other places, but they...

In this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Morgan Daimler! Morgan is an independent folklorist who studies and writes about fairies in historic and modern folk belief. She has written a variety of books on the topic, as well as on Irish mythology, and is an amateur translator of old/middle Irish. Morgan has presented papers on fairies in folklore &...

Culloden Moor is perhaps one of the saddest sites in the British Isles, the battlefield that played host to a massacre. It was also the last battle to take place on mainland Britain. The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746. It marked the end of the Jacobite Rebellion. It's also apparently given rise to ghosts of its own, and contributes to local legends inspired by the battle. Let's go...

The Denbigh Moors, or Mynydd Hiraethog, lie in north Wales. At its highest point, it's higher than Exmoor. The moors are a wild, desolate place, home to various types of wildlife. Yet if you believe the tales, they're also a place of ghosts and the Tylwyth Teg. A Roman Centurion apparently stalks the moors, and a ruin slowly disintegrates into the landscape. Let's go and look and some of the legen...

The name 'Exmoor' conjures mental images of ponies, undulating moorland, and Lorna Doone , R D Blackmore's 1869 novel. It crosses the Somerset and Devon border, hugging the north Devon coast, and takes its name from the River Exe. A wild and beautiful place, designated a national park in 1954, Exmoor is home to a whole range of folklore. Witches, ghosts, pixies, superstitions, and the famous Beast...

If you say 'moor' to most people, they might think of Wuthering Heights, Dartmoor, or Bodmin. You probably won't immediately think of the Town Moor that lies immediately north of Newcastle upon Tyne's city centre.  While it's not filled with ghost stories, fairy legends, or tales of the Devil creating local landmarks, the Town Moor does play a role in the folk history of the city. It has hosted re...

If I asked you to name "the most haunted house in London", you probably wouldn't pick Berkeley Square as your location. Yet for almost a century, No. 50. Berkeley Square had quite the supernatural reputation. It's part of the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, built in the mid-18th century by architect William Kent. Famous residents of the square have included Horace Walpole, Winston Churchill, William...

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! In honour of the festive season, it's my absolute pleasure to welcome Owen Staton of the Time Between Times podcast to Fabulous Folklore. He's a master storyteller par excellence, and he's got a Welsh Christmas tale to share. So get comfy, settle in, and enjoy...  Nadolig llawen! Find Owen on X: @Owensgriffiths or find his podcast for more storytelling on YouTube: https://...

I’m thrilled to be speaking to Sarah Corbett from Rowan + Sage is this special extra edition of Fabulous Folklore Presents!  Sarah (she/her) is a Clinical Herbalist, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and traditional astrologer who is passionate about helping others come into relationship with the natural world. She is the founder of Rowan + Sage, where she sha...

The Tower of London has been many things through its over 900 years of history. Royal palace, fortress, menagerie, armoury, treasury, Royal Mint, public record office, and now, a tourist attraction. Given the sheer amount of death, torture, and violence associated with the building, ghosts are somewhat inevitable. The Lost Princes, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, and Sir Walter Raleigh are among the...

This month, I've got the joy of introducing you to Dr Thomas Birkett, a lecturer in Old English and Old Norse at University College Cork, Ireland. He is the author of Reading the Runes and Legends of Norse Mythology . He teaches courses on Norse myth, medieval literature, and Old English language at UCC, and occasionally takes time out to sail with the crew of a reconstructed Viking ship. In this...

There's a particular branch of ghost stories that sees the dead appear to warn the living of their own impending death. They act as a form of death omen.  London has many such tales, but two of them caught my eye for different reasons. In one, a third party in a position to give aid sees the ghost. In the other, the dearly departed appears to their loved one to keep a promise. Let's investigate th...

Given the sheer age of London and the number of people that have passed through its gates over the centuries, it would be difficult to imagine it not being haunted. Though, as the tale of the Hammersmith Ghost will show, ghosts aren't always what they appear to be. This tale takes us to Hammersmith, a rural area to the west of London on the River Thames. It marks the point where London meets the c...

When it comes to hills and mountains in the British Isles, perhaps one hill feels more mystical than many others...and that's Glastonbury Tor. Standing some 158 m high, it's said to be a fairy hill, one of those curiously hollow hills in which fairies made them home. Not just any fairies lived inside Glastonbury Tor - Gwyn ap Nudd, lord of the Otherworld, was believed to live inside it. But what o...

This month, I've got the joy of introducing you to Dr Angela Puca, who holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in philosophy. In 2021, The University of Leeds awarded her a PhD in Religious Studies, which will soon be published with Brill. Her research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents.  Author of several peer-reviewed publications and co-editor...