folk tales Archives - Page 7 of 10

Gallows Lore

September 5, 2020 boneandsickle ballads, black magic, Charles Dickens, crime, criminals, cunning folk, death, England, EPISODE, execution, folk customs, folk medicine, folk music, folk tales, folklore, gallows, hand of glory, hangmen, history, Ireland, Jack Ketch, legends, literature, magic, puppets, science fiction, Scotland, superstition, William Calcraft

We examine the lore of the gallows, focusing on the British Isles, encountering hangmen as figures straddling history and myth,[…]

Banshees

March 17, 2020 boneandsickle banshee, Celts, curses, EPISODE, fairies, folklore, ghosts, history, Ireland, mummies, pagan, paganism

Banshees are spirits of Irish folklore, who warn of impending deaths. Originally considered fairies, their Irish name, bean sídhe, means “woman of the[…]

Beasts of the Bestiaries

January 31, 2020 boneandsickle antiquity, bestiaries, birds, books, Catholicism, cryptozoology, dragons, EPISODE, folklore, history, hybrids, legends, manuscripts, Middle Ages, monsters, mythology, renaissance, superstition, urban legends

The bestiaries of the Middle Ages and Renaissance were books describing animals (some recognizable and others fantastic) in terms borrowed[…]