Poem by Lady Nairne (1766-1845), born Carolina Oliphant: THE ROWAN TREE Oh rowan tree, oh rowan tree, Thou’lt aye be dear to me, Entwined thou art wi mony ties, O’ hame and infancy. Thy leaves were aye the first o’ spring, Thy flow’rs the simmer’s pride; There was nae sic a bonny tree In a’…
Category: folklore
#FolkloreThursday Review: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021) Reppion & Penman No, I haven’t got around to the film. The blu-ray sits on a pile back in NY whilst I am idling in Michigan. So I was gratified to get an advance copy of the new comics version of this terrific medieval story AKA the only…
Hellebore 2: Get Yours!
Issue #2 of Hellebore is out in the wilds. Get your copy here (and order the first issue, too). Jam-packed full of magic and lore. My piece is on fairies as ‘the wild gods of the land’ — of course I namecheck Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Graham Joyce’s Some Kind of…
It’s a Bear
In the midst of a delightful discussion about Midsommar on pal Carol’s FB wall, a few memories have bubbled up. One of them is the gas station we always stopped at on the drive up to our cabin in Kaleva. It was a long drive and we knew every turn of it. I always knew my…
#FolkloreThursday: #storytime by Joanne Harris and the Storytime Band
If like me you have not been able to catch the live version of Joanne Harris’ #storytime, you’ll be glad to know that this CD captures the experience rather well (I suspect). Music, song and story blend together to create a magical experience with the freshness of a live performance. Folktale aficionados will find Harris’…
#FolkloreThursday & Freebie
Hey, I’m a guest host over at the #FolkloreThursday twitter account today from 5pm-6:30pm UK/noon-1:30pm US eastern time. I’ll be seeking out stories to share with everyone and asking questions about the lore out there. Join us! Also, today only you can get the third Hecate Sidlaw adventure for FREE! Hard-Boiled Witch: Charms O’erthrown spins…
Revisiting Anglo-Saxon Magic: #FolkloreThursday
The days are just packed! So forgive me if I offer a little repeat: my first two posts for Witches & Pagans as ‘History Witch’ dealt with Anglo-Saxon traditions of magic and healing. Just the thing for the #FolkloreThursday madness. Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Magic, Part 1 Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Magic, Part 2 Check out all…
Sounding Out! Podcast #54: The Sound of Magic
Hey, that’s me over at Sound Studies: this is a briefer version of the paper I gave at the Digital Britain conference at Harvard.
Louhi at @FolkloreThursday
My introduction to Louhi, witch of the north in The Kalevala, appears at @FolkloreThursday today. Folk familiar with my work know that she appears in my stories in Dream Book which were inspired by Finnish mythology in both The Kalevala and The Kanteletar. Some helpful links: The best translation of The Kalevala; the only English…
#FolkloreThursday Freebie: Hard Boiled Witch 3
I’m running with the idea! Get the third Hard Boiled Witch story for free today as part of the Folklore Thursday fun. They’re getting a lot of good buzz. Drop over on Twitter to catch the madness and bring your giants, witches and fae. Hard-Boiled Witch: Charms O’erthrown Hecate Sidlaw finds herself in a wild…