The Folklore Podcast

As beautifully performed and presented as it was, there is far more to the concept of the 'genie' than Disney's manic blue singing version in Aladdin. The genie is the Westernised version of the Jinn, the supernatural being from Islamic and Arabian mythology and lore. On this episode of the Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman and researcher Tracey Norman are joined by Dedra Stevenson, an author fro...

The lullaby as a song type is found in cultures all over the world. Whilst the familiar interpretation is as a gentle song to lull a child to a restful sleep, in this episode podcast creator and host Mark Norman offers some alternative readings where the lyrics and back-story are somewhat darker and more likely to induce nightmares. The episode also features a guest talk from Armenian folklore res...

The mythology of the Norse peoples is a rich and varied one, but little is found in the archaeological record to tell us much for certain. Some things we speculate about, others we get from primary sources. But what are these sources? In this episode of the podcast, Noah Tetzner from the "History of Vikings" podcast gives a basic introduction to the area of Norse mythology, discussing the mythic l...

A guest lecture from the great British folklorist Jeremy Harte who examines the character of the miller in folklore. Recorded live at the Folklore Society Conference at the Museum of English Rural Life in 2018. Access all episodes of the podcast for free at www.thefolklorepodcast.com

This episode features two guest speakers, recorded live at the flagship conference of The Folklore Society in 2018, held at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading and examining aspects of rural life and folklore from around the world. Rosalind Kerven presents "Spinners, Servants and Midwives: Women at Work in British and Irish Folk Narratives" and Jo HIckey-Hall speaks on fairy lore in her pa...

This guest talk was recorded at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic's Ritual Magic conference in May 2018. William Dawson Bellhouse (1814-1870) was many things - magician, surgeon and galvanist to name but three. His personal magical workbook, the survival of which is uncommon among 19th century cunning folk, is now in the collection of the New York Public Library. The book provides a window into B...

This episode of the Folklore Podcast is the first featuring expert presentations from the Hidden Charms 2 conference in Salisbury - a conference organised by Brian Hoggard of the Apotropaios website with John Billingsley and Jeremy Harte. The conference featured a day of talks on protection magic, charms, concealed apotropaic objects and similar themes. In this talk, "Witch Bottles - Findings from...

In the winter of 1855, after a heavy fall of snow, residents across a large area of the county of Devon, in the South West of the UK, awoke to find a mysterious trail of prints in the snow. Looking like an hoof, the single-file line of prints allegedly covered a distance of some 100 miles, ignoring obstructions in their path and continuing over high walls hayricks and even the roofs of houses. No...

In this episode of the Folklore Podcast, creator and host Mark Norman is joined by guest Dr Claudia Schwabe, assistant professor of German at Utah State University. Amongst other things, Claudia teaches classes on fairy tales and in this interview she discusses the content of her forthcoming book "Craving Supernatural Creatures" which examines German fairy tale creatures through the lens of Americ...

Of all the objects in your house, the mirror probably has more superstitions attached to it than any other. It may be used for divination. It may be a portal to another dimension. And woe betide you if it should fall off the wall and break. In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, folklorist Mark Norman - the creator and host of the podcast - looks at the mirror through history and in various cult...

This episode presents a recorded folklore talk from the archives of the podcast creator and host, Mark Norman. Alien Big Cats was recorded in September 2013 at the Folklore Society conference 'Beasts in Legend and Tradition'. The talk, presented by writer and folklorist Steve Patterson, examines the zoological phenomenon of out of place cats in the landscape. Whilst there is plenty of evidence to...

There is no doubt that modern day ghost hunting is a big deal. From television programming to participatory events, the search for evidence of ghosts is more prevalent than ever. But how does folklore have a role to play in paranormal investigation? Benjamin Radford is editor of Sceptical Inquirer science magazine, a critical investigator and author or co-author of over 20 books and many hundreds...

Many fairy tales have their roots in a much darker past, but these origins are watered down to make the tales more wholesome or moral. But did the story of Hansel and Gretel really stem from a case of entrepreneurial intrigue and murder in 17th century Germany? And did the Grimm Brothers know more than they were letting on it their version of the story? Why do the illustrations in their book look...

There is a piece of artwork which has been around for many years and has a long and involved narrative surrounding it. It may be found in thousands of homes in differing prints and is usually known as The Crying Boy. This image has a wonderful and fascinating urban legend attached to it - a legend which has been tracked and analysed for many years by Dr David Clarke, the guest on this episode of T...

The case of Gef, the alleged talking mongoose, which may or may not have been a poltergeist, or a ghost, or a hoax, or any one of a number of things, took place over a period of around 8 years on a remote farm in the Isle of Man in the 1930s. It was investigated by Harry Price, Nandor Fodor and other researchers, but there was never a definite conclusion as to what was going on. On this episode of...

The skills of weaving, spinning and knitting were vital to clothe and keep warm members of every class, race, religion or social group from the poorest to the richest. And so, we find wool, yarn and thread and the working of those materials rooted very deeply in the folklore of countries around the globe. In this episode, Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman discusses the folklore associa...

This episode of the Folklore Podcast examines the broad themes of witchcraft and the supernatural, but focuses down to look at how they were portrayed in the early modern period; specifically, how witches were represented on the 17th century musical stage. Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman is joined by special guest and musicologist Shauna Caffrey who discusses her unusual research int...

In the second part of this two-part examination of vampire from lore from around the world, Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman moves on to discuss ways of ensuring that the recently deceased do not rise again as vampires and, if these measures fail, what differing methods are available to destroy a creature. What are the differences between pinning and staking? Which wood should you use...

Many of the folk tales that inspire us, teach us or just intrigue us have been passed down through many generations. In some cases we can find a root for the story. In most, we cannot. But they draw on the knowledge, the beliefs and the imaginations of our ancestors. Many of the stories that we have today, both the well-loved tales and the more obscure lore, survive because of the practices and sk...

Most people are familiar with the story of 'Count Dracula' and have more than a good general knowledge of the typical vampire tropes of stage and screen; the fangs, the pale skin, the blood sucking. But to truly understand the motif of the vampire in culture, we need to look across the world at all of our cultures and this is where the folklorists approach is so valuable. In the first of this spec...

Through the early to mid part of the 20th century there were a number of characters, often women, who would travel their parts of the world collecting folk songs, stories and superstitions and recording them for the future. These people are often forgotten in modern times, but without them we would not have the archives and knowledge of our folkloric past that we do now. In this episode of the Fol...

Returning from its month off for the summer, the Folklore Podcast takes to the water with an episode on the folklore of the mermaid. From Cornish folk tales to Slavic undead, from TV mockumentaries to outright hoaxes and all points in between, podcast creator and host Mark Norman offers a look at the nice, and not so nice aspects of the mer-creature, both male and female. The Folklore Podcast will...

WITCH - Preserving Tradition and Folklore through Theatre. The special guest on this episode of The Folklore Podcast is Historian and Author Tracey Norman. Tracey is discussing her acclaimed play WITCH, which takes as its premise actual events from witch trial documents and depositions from the early modern period and maps them onto three fictitious characters. This serves to give a voice to those...

Animal totems as symbols in folk rituals are common and go back probably further than any of us can track. By far the most prolific of these is the hobby horse. Often associated with calendar customs as well as an accompanying figure for many Morris dance sides, there are a number of common varieties of hobby horse and they are found in customs around the world. In this episode of The Folklore Pod...

A deviation from the normal format of the podcast for this edition by way of a change. In this episode, host Mark Norman introduces a reading of a fiction story which he wrote using themes from his research into Black Dog apparitions, and local tradition and folklore from his area of the world. In this podcast, the story is read by Sam Burns. "The Padding Horror" is a Lovecraftian style short stor...