Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, lies some 11.5 miles to the south east of Berwick-upon-Tweed, just off the coast of Northumberland. Only accessible at low tide, the island still possesses a mystical air, no doubt from its time as a Christian pilgrimage site. Probably most famous as the production centre of the Lindisfarne Gospels, or the island that g…

It's easy for mythical birds to capture the imagination, whether it's the phoenix rising from the ashes, or Aethon eternally pecking Prometheus' liver. And let's not forget Odin with his ravens, Huginn and Muninn, or Memory and Thought. In Norse myth, they travelled out into the world and flew back to Odin to report on what was happening. Not all m…

Humans have found a whole range of uses for birds over the centuries. Hunting with them, keeping them for their song, using them for food or divination - and because some of them are uncommonly pretty. Look at the magnificent peacock with its elaborate tail, or the sweet little goldfinch with its black and red mask. Even the humble dove is both pro…

James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. James is…

It's often easy to overlook what we see every day, or at least regularly. Perhaps that's why we overlook our humble garden birds in favour of majestic eagles or mischievous ravens as our favourite birds. Yet the commonality of these small, yet often noisy, birds explains why there is a comparative dearth of folklore about them. Compared to other bi…

Birds of prey have an interesting relationship to humans, having been both competing predators and avian companions for leisure pursuits. They've provided omens through the practice of augury, or divination by flight pattern. They appear in heraldic badges or become associated with deities in mythology. But they also have links with ordinary people…

Thersa Matsuura, an American author living in Japan, explores lesser-known aspects of Japanese culture, folklore, superstitions, and myths. Fluent in Japanese, she uses her research to write stories and for her podcast Uncanny Japan. She's also the author of The Book of Japanese Folklore, which explores a range of spirits, monsters, and yokai for J…

Few watery scenes are quite complete without birds in the picture. Ducks drifting across a country pond. Gulls wheeling in the sky above the beach, before they divebomb an unsuspecting tourist for their chips. Kingfishers flashing along a river, a bright dazzle of colour against the water. They're so much a part of the scenery that aquatic birds ha…

Sunderland began life as three separate settlements on the River Wear. A fishing village called 'Soender-land', or land that is cut asunder' existed by 1100. By the 18th century, Sunderland had replaced Wearmouth, and that's why we still call it Sunderland now. In the past, Sunderland has exported coal, lime, alum, ropes, glass, and pottery. Sunder…

Marion Gibson writes accurate, engaging books about witches and magic in history. She’s been interested in witches for over thirty years, since she read the words of women accused of witchcraft in Elizabethan England. Why were they accused of crimes they didn’t commit? And why did they confess? Marion’s books tell the stories of these women and the…

Carlisle began life as Luguvalium, a Roman settlement that grew out of the fort on the site. It was the capital of an ancient British kingdom. Both Vikings and Saxons captured the city. Over time, it took on strategic importance for its location near the Scottish border. But with so many clashes between the Scots and the English, not to mention the…

While York is often considered one of England's most haunted cities, other strange and unusual tales lurk in its narrow snickleways. There are stories of premature burial, printer's devils, cats that are either lucky or cursed, depending on your perspective, highwaymen, and an inevitable tale of witchcraft. Let's find out more in this week's episod…

There is much of the strange and haunting in Sheffield's folklore. Does that make it a haunted place? There are stories of water gods in the River Don, demanding annual sacrifices, boggards in boggard lane, spectral visions of highwaymen, ghosts, and even Spring-Heeled Jack! Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the …

Rue was cultivated in England for its medicinal use, having been introduced by the Romans! It appears in folk remedies to ward off evil spirits, poison, and plague, It also works in prophecy and hexes. Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/rue-fo…

St John's Wort often flowers around Midsummer's Day, or the Feast of St John, hence its strong links with St John. It's one of the most important plants in European folk magic! It's used for protection, warding off nightmare, and even love divination. Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on…

Daniela Simina is native of Romania, granddaughter of a Fairy Seer and medicine woman. She became acquainted with fairies through the local lore and folklore and through direct personal experience. Daniela teaches courses, classes, and workshops on various modalities of energetic rebalancing and of course, fairies. She is the author of Where Fairie…

Lemon balm, or Melissa officinalis, is a member of the Lamiaceae family, along with mint, rosemary, marjoram, sage, basil, and lavender. Its popular name comes from the fact the leaves smell of lemon when crushed. In contemporary witchcraft, balm makes a popular ingredient in incense used for healing, reducing grief, or boosting the memory. It's al…

Poppy folklore isn't just full of Remembrance Sunday or sleep charms. It even has links to love and honouring the dead! Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/poppy-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://ww…

The iris is one of those instantly recognisable flowers, showy and bright with its voluminous petals, able to add a splash of colour to any garden. They've been beloved by humans for millennia, apparently favoured as far back as ancient Egypt as a decorative device. So how does the iris show up in folklore? Let's find out more in this week's episod…

As we've seen with these European cities, ancient settlements often produce a range of ghosts and legends. It's unsurprising, with so many people living out their lives in close proximity across such a span of time. Milan's folkloric side includes traditional cuisine, dragons, ghostly women in black veils, and even a column defaced by the Devil - a…

Althaea Sebastiani is a spiritworker and religious educator whose work focuses on helping people navigate the realities of deep spiritual practice. Their work is punctuated by strong emphasis on doing the work and encourages learning through direct experience. A spirit-led witch with nearly 30 years’ experience, their personal practice is land-base…

When it comes to plague outbreaks in Europe, your mind probably doesn't immediately jump to a so-called dancing plague. Yet that's precisely what seemed to grip Strasbourg, France in the summer of 1518. Townspeople started dancing, seemingly against their will, and couldn't stop for almost a month. Hundreds died of exhaustion, with contemporary com…

As May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I'm pleased to introduce you to Kamuela Kaneshiro, who was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and is host of the Legends from the Pacific podcast. Legends from the Pacific utilises Kamu’s cultural knowledge, and television/film background to craft stories of people, beliefs, and traditi…

Austrian capital Vienna has a long history, dating back to the 1st century CE Roman military camp of Vindobona. It's been home to some pretty big names over the centuries. Mozart, Beethoven, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Hedy Lamarr, Marie Antoinette and Erwin Schrödinger, among many others, have all lived in the city. Yet it's also got a darker sid…

Helsinki has a lengthy history, dating back to at least the Bronze Age. Parts of the city even stand on old cemeteries. It's bound to have a few ghost stories and folklore, surely? Indeed it does! We're talking haunted theatres, headless ghosts, ghosts with habits, and Finnish epics. Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! …

Robin Hood is perhaps the most recognisable figure in English folklore, darting through legend in Sherwood Forest. Yet discussions in the past tried to claim Robin as an ancient god, recast as a literary outlaw, or as one of the Good Folk, whether a local sprite or Robin Goodfellow himself. How did these writers draw the conclusion that Robin Hood …

The Queen of the Fairies is sometimes named Queen Mab, depending on the source material. She's also known as the Queen of Elfland, the Queen of Elphame, and Titania. So who is Mab? Does she come from English folklore, or is Mab the name given by playwrights and poets to the Queen in folklore? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklo…

For this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Rose Aurora! Rose is a fairy seer & sorceress, specializing in Faery, Elf, and Troll-related issues & spiritual needs. She is honoured to be part of a spiritual lineage of Celtic origin, but she is also trained in other spiritual traditions including Troll…

To some, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Great Park. He haunts the tree where he died, rattling his chains and raging against...well...something. Elsewhere, Herne is portrayed as a demonic force tearing through the forest at speed, scooping up souls in the Wild Hunt. Some tales see him riding a coal-black horse with burning eyes…

Few figures loom as large in British legend as King Arthur. Noble king, fair-minded monarch, mighty warrior - Arthur ends up taking on all of these roles at various points, and often a few more besides. How did ordinary people relate to him? How does he appear in folklore and the popular imagination outside of the world of the Arthurian stories? Le…

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 sinc…

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 Folkl…

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.room207pres…

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 lit…

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 st…

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…

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 h…

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…

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 At…

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 …

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…

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. Mo…

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 …

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 …

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, gh…

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 …

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 in…

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 p…

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. …

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, Lad…