The Queen of the Fairies is sometimes named Queen Mab, depending on the source material. She’s also known as the Queen of Elfland, the Queen of Elphame, and Titania. So who is Mab? Does she come from English folklore, or is Mab the name given by playwrights and poets to the Queen in folklore? Let’s […]
Meet Herne the Hunter: Fact, Fiction, or Folklore?
To some, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Great Park. He haunts the tree where he did, rattling his chains and raging against…well…something. Elsewhere, Herne is portrayed as a demonic force tearing through the forest at speed, scooping up souls in the Wild Hunt. Some tales see him riding a coal-black horse […]
King Arthur in Folklore: A Sleeping King Or A Giant?
Few figures loom as large in British legend as King Arthur. Noble king, fair-minded monarch, mighty warrior – Arthur ends up taking on all of these roles at various points, and often a few more besides. His first appearance that can be dated is in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum by Nennius. He also pops up […]
The Folklore of Hill Figures: White Horses and Naked Giants
The hill figures of southern England are enigmatic artworks, standing out with their stark white lines against the green grass of their home slopes. They’re mostly found on chalk hills, where the chalk provides the white outlines. People hotly debate their ages, with many keen to see them as pre-Christian landmarks that somehow survived over […]
Folklore of Barrows: Tales of Fairies, Gods, Ghosts, & the Devil
Whether we’re looking at barrows, cromlechs, or dolmens, ancient burial sites hold a certain fascination. Folklore about these monuments is often linked to graves, which is right, but the graves are set in the wrong era, such as Vikings, medieval period, or Civil War (Simpson and Roud 2003: 18). Sometimes people believed giants rested in […]
Folklore of Stone Circles: Petrified Dancers and Countless Stones
Mention stone circles to many people, and they’ll think of people gathering at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise. Or hulking megaliths looming out of the mist on a lonely moor, the sheep being careful to only graze outside the circle. They’re certainly evocative, if nothing else. As with the standing stones that we covered last […]
