Spinning in Folklore: Impossible Bets and Crafting With the Fates

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 Mars 202519min

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 Mars 202519min

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 Mars 202521min

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 Feb 202521min

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 Feb 202551min

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 Feb 202518min

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 Feb 202523min

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 Feb 202519min