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)

Race and the European Fairy Tale with Prof Kimberly Lau

Race and the European Fairy Tale with Prof Kimberly Lau

Kimberly J. Lau is a professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Erotic Infidelities: Love and Enchantment in Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" (Wayne ...

20 Helmi 202551min

Pigs in Folklore: From Piggy Banks to Spectral Sows

Pigs in Folklore: From Piggy Banks to Spectral Sows

Pigs appear in folklore in somewhat unusual ways. Sometimes, they choose the location where a church should be built. Or they appear as phantoms, haunting misty moorland. Sailors or fishermen conside...

15 Helmi 202518min

Cows in Folklore: From Fairy Cattle to Spectral Calves

Cows in Folklore: From Fairy Cattle to Spectral Calves

Certain animals might spring to mind when it comes to folklore. Hares, horses, deer, cats - they all have an otherworldly quality to them. Would you consider the same of cows? There's a surprising am...

8 Helmi 202523min

Sheep in Folklore: From Medical Remedies to Good Luck Charms

Sheep in Folklore: From Medical Remedies to Good Luck Charms

Following on from 2024's theme of the Folklore of Animals, this month we'll examine the Folklore of Agricultural Animals. This week, we'll explore the folklore, legends, and even folk medicine associa...

1 Helmi 202519min

Sámi Myths and Legends with Niina Niskanen

Sámi Myths and Legends with Niina Niskanen

Niina Niskanen is a Finnish artist, writer and a folklorist who specialises in Finnish, Baltic and Sámi Mythology. She is an online educator and hosted “Heart of Mielikki,” one of the first online cou...

29 Tammi 202544min

Mourning Folklore: From Giving Rings to Wearing Black

Mourning Folklore: From Giving Rings to Wearing Black

If you think of the phrase "to be in mourning", you'll probably imagine a Victorian scene. Perhaps a black-clad widow ushers similarly black-clad children to a desolate graveyard in the depths of autu...

25 Tammi 202527min

The Green Children of Woolpit: Fairies, Aliens, or Something Else?

The Green Children of Woolpit: Fairies, Aliens, or Something Else?

According to legend, two green children wandered into a village in 12th-century Suffolk. No one knew who they were or where they came from. Their refusal to eat and unfamiliar language made locals war...

18 Tammi 202518min

The Folklore of Dowsing, aka Water Witching

The Folklore of Dowsing, aka Water Witching

Dowsing is a fascinating form of divination since it is often used to find water, minerals, or even lost items. While other forms of divination like tarot or botanomancy seek to provide information, h...

11 Tammi 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