Hedgehogs in Folklore: Witches, Familiars, and Milk Thieves

Hedgehogs in Folklore: Witches, Familiars, and Milk Thieves

Hedgehogs are one of the stranger mammals you might encounter. They're nocturnal, they hibernate, they're prone to rolling into a ball when frightened, and they're extremely vulnerable to habitat loss. While some of you will undoubtedly have first thought of Sonic, others might have thought of Mrs Tiggywinkle from the Beatrix Potter books.

Either way, those are quite positive associations. I've been feeding hedgehog visitors to my garden since June 2023, and I find them charming, adorable, and slightly idiosyncratic. Yet in the past, hedgehogs have had a much more sinister reputation that they certainly didn't deserve. People linked them with witches, the devil, and even fruit theft.

So let's explore the folklore surrounding hedgehogs!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/hedgehogs-folklore/

Sign up for the Bonfire Night talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gunpowder-treason-and-plot-the-legends-and-customs-of-bonfire-night-tickets-1687030616989

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

Jaksot(426)

The Folklore of Lychgates and Popular Burial Monuments

The Folklore of Lychgates and Popular Burial Monuments

You would absolutely know a lychgate if you saw one. They make popular backdrops for wedding photos, and provide a quaint air of rustic charm to country churchyards. They're the wooden or stone gatewa...

5 Huhti 202523min

Folklore and Church Names: Preserving Local History

Folklore and Church Names: Preserving Local History

I started out with the intention of looking at unusual church names. The problem was, this offered the potential to accidentally poke fun at their congregations. It also didn't help that most churches...

29 Maalis 202520min

Origins of Sports Team Names: Preserving Folklore and History

Origins of Sports Team Names: Preserving Folklore and History

Looking at the origins of sports team names might seem antithetical to folklore. Yet sport forms part of the ritual calendar for many people, whether on a personal or a mass scale. Look at the good lu...

22 Maalis 202523min

Cader Idris Lore and Writing Folklore with Victoria Male

Cader Idris Lore and Writing Folklore with Victoria Male

Victoria Male is an internationally recognized screenwriter, earning accolades from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, film festivals, and major industry lists. Her prose has been publishe...

18 Maalis 20251h

The Folklore of British Pub Names Linked to Local History

The Folklore of British Pub Names Linked to Local History

There is no shortage of bizarre pub names in the UK. Some of them appear to be a combination of random objects, like the Frog and Nightgown. Others have a local story behind their odd name. I've cover...

15 Maalis 202519min

Strange Street Names: From The Philog to Dog Leap Stairs

Strange Street Names: From The Philog to Dog Leap Stairs

Unlike place names, which often give us information who once lived somewhere, street names can be a different case entirely. Sometimes they bear the names of notable (and often now infamous) people.  ...

8 Maalis 202519min

From Coven to Hot Coffee: The Folklore of Place Names Part 2

From Coven to Hot Coffee: The Folklore of Place Names Part 2

Place names are important and pass on a lot of valuable information, even if we no longer understand how to interpret it. Within them, they tell us who used to live in an area, or what natural feature...

1 Maalis 202521min

Goats in Folklore: From the Farmyard Doctor to the Devil

Goats in Folklore: From the Farmyard Doctor to the Devil

When I decided to write about goats in folklore, I thought I would find plenty of content. After all, they appear in mythology. Look at Amalthea, the goat reputed to have raised Zeus in Greek myth. Or...

22 Helmi 202521min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
kaksi-aitia
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
i-dont-like-mondays
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
sita
aikalisa
mamma-mia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-murhan-anatomia
lahko
loukussa
rss-nikotellen
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
meidan-pitais-puhua
terapeuttiville-qa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2