commedia della’arte Archives - Bone and Sickle

The Hellish Harlequin: Phantom Hordes to Father Christmas

December 5, 2020 boneandsickle Carnival, charivari, Christmas, demons, Devil, dwarf, England, EPISODE, Father Christmas, folk customs, folk theater, folklore, France, Furious Army, ghost stories, ghosts, giants, Harlequin, Hellequin, Herla, history, holidays, Italy, legends, Middle Ages, mumming, pantomime, theater, Twelve Days of Christmas, Wild Hunt

Harlequin is an enigmatic figure with roots in dark folklore of France, specifically that of the Wild Hunt (Chasse Sauvage)[…]

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The Plague Doctor Unmasked

April 1, 2020 boneandsickle Black Death, Carnival, death, EPISODE, folklore, history, horror, Italy, medicine, opera, plague, Venice

The figure of the masked plague doctor is an object of intense fascination but also the subject of much misinformation.[…]

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