History and Folklore Podcast

Learn about the mysterious subterranean world of the mines. Why are birds bad luck? What should you do when you forget your lunch?

And what is that mysterious knocking noise? 

Sources:

Anastasia Bogdonova, 'The Strange Rituals and Superstitions of Russian Miners' https://www.minexforum.com/en/the-strangest-rituals-and-superstitions-of-russian-miners/

Christopher Dyer, 'Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850-1520'  (2005).

Claude Lecouteux, 'Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology and Magic' (2016).

Georgius Agricola, De Re Metallica (Translated from the first Latin edition of 1556 by Herbert Clark Hoover) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38015/38015-h/38015-h.htm

Ian Blanchard, 'The Miner and the Agricultural Community in Late Medieval England' https://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/20n2a1.pdf 

Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson, 'The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends' (2005).

Johan Egerkrans, 'Vaesen'.

Ken Albaba ,'Beans': A History' (2007).

Lynn Davies, 'Aspects of Mining Folklore in Wales: Reprinted from Folk Life 9' (2009).

Discover the folklore that surrounds yew trees on the British Isles.

Why are so many yew trees found in churchyards, why do the yews at Nevern bleed and why should you not visit Llangernyw churchyard on Haloween?

Sources

Ali Isaac, 'Tree Lore in Irish Mythology' https://www.aliisaacstoryteller.com/post/tree-lore-in-irish-mythology-guardians-of-the-5-provinces

Deidre Larkin, 'The Hallowed Yew' https://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgardens/2009/12/11/the-hallowed-yew/

Frances Carey, 'The Tree Meaning and Myth.'

Kylie Harrison Mellor, 'Ancient Yew Trees: The UK's Oldest Yew Trees' woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/01/ancient-yew-trees

Margaret Baker, 'Discovering the Folklore of Plants.'

Peter Hears, 'The Bleeding Yews of Nevern' https://www.nevern-church.org.uk/the-bleeding-yews/

Robert Blair, 'The Grave.'

Rosemary Power, 'A Story of Iona: An Illustrated History and Guide.'

Tim Partridge, 'Trees in Mythology, Symbolism and Religion' www.ancient-yew.org/mi.php/trees-in-mythology/79

'Mythology and Folklore of Yew' https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/trees-plants-animals/trees/yew/

'Yew' woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/yew/

'Yews in Fiction and Fact' arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1970-30-4-yews-in-fiction-and-fact.pdf

We all know trolls from Frozen, the Lord of the Rings and those strange troll dolls we had as kids, but what were the original trolls like? What do they look like? What do they do? And would you ever want to meet one?
Find out by discovering the history and folklore of trolls. 

Sources

'Beast and Man: Realism and the Occult in Egils Saga' by Armann Jakobson.

'The Elder Edda' by Snorri Sturluson (translated by Andy Orchard).

'Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology' by Theresa Bane.

'The Prose Edda' by Snorri Sturluson (translated by Anthony Faulkes). 

The Sagas of the Icelanders: A Selection by Various Authors (Penguin Classics 2001).

'Trolls: An Unnatural History' by John Lindow.

'The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North' by Armann Jakobsson.

'Vaesen' by Johan Egerkrans.

A look at European changeling myths including what changelings are, the folklore surrounding them and the historic cases behind the tales. 
This episode includes a story by the brilliant DD Storyteller. Go to ww.ddstoryteller.co.uk for more of her work.

For more history and folklore facts and stories, please follow me on: 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/historyandfolklore

Facebook: www.facebook.com/historyandfolklorepodcast

Sources:

A Pocket Guide to Superstitions of the British Isles by Steve Roud.

A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe by Dee Dee Chainey. 

Changelings: Or Beware the Baby Snatchers of the Fairy Kingdom by W.B. Yeats and Varla Ventura

Fairy Folklore: The Unchanging Appeal of Changelings by Alison Littlewood (https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/unchanging-appeal-changelings/)

Fairy Scapegoats: A History of the Persecution of Changeling Children by Richard Sugg (https://longreads.com/2018/06/08/fairy-scapegoats-a-history-of-the-persecution-of-changeling-children/)

Orkneyjar: The Heritage of the Orkney Islands by S. Towrie (ww.orkneyjar.com).

Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore by Johan Egerkrans. 

Part 2 of Folk-a-pa-lore-za! You've heard the stories now discover the winning tale!

Apologies for my audio in this episode. It was recorded via zoom and I haven't yet purchased a microphone. It doesn't affect it too much as everyone else's is great. 

Links to the podcasts taking part:

House of Legends: https://www.houseoflegends.me/podcast

Tales of the British Isles: https://podcasts.apple.com/th/podcast/tales-of-the-british-isles/id1396910345

Lore and Legend: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/

Bone and Sickle: https://www.boneandsickle.com/

Tales of Whitlore: https://anchor.fm/thescaredisle

Celtic Myths and Legends: https://celticmythspodcast.libsyn.com/

Tales from Rat City: https://talesfromratcity.com/

The Folklore Podcast: http://www.thefolklorepodcast.com/

Fabulous Folklore with Icy: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/fabulous-folklore-with-icy/id1450546036

The Faerie Folk: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-faerie-folk/id1493430057

Loremen: http://www.loremenpodcast.com/

A slightly different episode this week as I joined eleven other folklore podcasters to the battle of our favourite piece of folklore. We have parrots and vampires, ghosts and devils and so much more.

In this episode we listen to the stories and next week we discuss and the participating podcasters vote for their favourite.

Who do you think will win?

Links to the podcasts taking part:

House of Legends: https://www.houseoflegends.me/podcast

Tales of the British Isles: https://podcasts.apple.com/th/podcast/tales-of-the-british-isles/id1396910345

Lore and Legend: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/

Bone and Sickle: https://www.boneandsickle.com/

Tales of Whitlore: https://anchor.fm/thescaredisle

Celtic Myths and Legends: https://celticmythspodcast.libsyn.com/

Tales from Rat City: https://talesfromratcity.com/

The Folklore Podcast: http://www.thefolklorepodcast.com/

Fabulous Folklore with Icy: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/fabulous-folklore-with-icy/id1450546036

The Faerie Folk: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-faerie-folk/id1493430057

Loremen: http://www.loremenpodcast.com/

The history, stories and folklore of seaweed in the British Isles. 

Apologies for the sound quality at the end. I recorded the last few points on a separate day and had a cold. 

Sources

Asala, J., Celtic Folklore Cooking (1998).

Bane, T., Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology (2010).

Daniels, C.L. and Stevens, C.M., Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore and the Occult Sciences of the World: Volume II.

Mac Coitir, N., Ireland's Wild Plants (2015).

www.maraseaweed.com/blogs/news/a-short-history-of-dulse-seaweed

In this episode we will be looking at the changing perceptions of colour in medieval England.

What significance did colour have in the middle ages? Did they see colour in the same way as we do today and what evidence can we use to find out? 

Sources used in this episode:

Barley, N. F., 'Old English Colour Classifications: Where Do Matters Stand?' Anglo-Saxon England 3 (1974).

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the British People (London, 1990).

Barney, S.A., Lewis, W.J., Beach, J.A. and Berghoff, O. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (New York, 2006).

Crouch, D., The Image of Aristocracy in Britain, 1000-1300 (London and New York, 1992).

Hall, L., Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem (2005) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-h/16328-h.htm

Hutchings, J., Folklore and Symbolism of Green, Folklore, 108:1-2, 55-63 (1997)

Kress, G., and van Leehuwen, T., Visual Communication Colour as a Semiotic Mode: Notes for a Grammar of Colour (London and New Delhi, 1990).

Langland, W., 'The Vision of Piers Ploughman' (1993) https://web.archive.org/web/20080920140652/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/LanPier.html

Pistoreau, M., Yellow: The History of a Colour (2019).

Roud, S., A Pocket Guide to Superstitions of the British Isles (2005).

Sandred, K. I., 'The Place Names of Norfolk', The Survey of English Place Names, vol. LXXIX, part III (Nottingham,2002).

Trevisa, J., Bartholomeus Anglicus De Proboetatibus Rerum: A Critical Text (Oxford, 1975).

What are house spirits? How do you get one, how do you look after it and why does nobody seem to have one anymore? Find out in this episode of the History and Folklore Podcast.

Sources:

Aveela, Ronesa, 'A Study of Household Spirits of Eastern Europe' (2018).

The Fearie Folk Podcast: The Helpful Hob and the Mysterious Merman of the North Yorkshire Moors (2020).

Lecouteux, Claude, 'The Tradition of Household Spirits' (2013).

Sumpter, Caroline, 'The Victorian Press and the Fairy Tale' (2008).

In this episode we are joined by Mark Norman, folklore researcher and writer, host and creator of the Folklore Podcast and author of 'Telling the Bees and Other Customs: The Folklore of Rural Crafts.'

In this interview we will be discussing his new book, rock painting, syrup and mills that mysteriously turn round. 

If you would like to buy your own copy of 'Telling the Bees' you can find it here: https://thefolklorepodcast.weebly.com/store/c4/Books.html