For people of a certain age, Will O’ The Wisp refers to a TV cartoon character voiced by Kenneth Williams. Yet for everyone, the Will O’ The Wisp is a somewhat tricksy figure, an amorphous term from folklore all over the world. We’re going to stick with northern European folklore here, where one of the […]
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Black Dogs and Englishmen: Black Shuck in English Folklore
One of the most pervasive figures from English folklore is that of the spectral black dog. In some parts of the country, the dogs act as death omens. Elsewhere, they represent the Devil. And in other legends, they’re even protective of travellers. Plenty for us to dig our teeth into then! Traditionally, the black dog […]
The Folklore of Air Travel: Gremlins, Superstitions & Gate 13
Whether you love to travel or not, there’s something about the idea of flying that can still provoke a frisson of fear. Air travel is somewhat unnatural, as you race through the sky with a hundred (or more) strangers at 35,000 ft in a metal tube. Superman was right, it is statistically the safest way […]
Seagulls and Storms: Seafaring Superstitions and Legends
It’s hardly surprising that mariners would have a host of seafaring superstitions and folklore about sailing. In earlier centuries, bad weather, poor communications with land, and disease could bring havoc to any journey. Folklore both preserves ideas about what sailors feared and provides protections to keep dangers at bay. What sounds like superstition to us […]
Book Review of ‘Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome’
To someone in my part of the world, the Roman Emperor Hadrian is something of an ever-present figure. After all, he gave us the wall that snakes across northern England. Newcastle upon Tyne, my hometown, was once called Pons Aelius. That can be traced to Hadrian’s family name, Aelius. Yet I know very little about […]
London Underground: Corpses on the Tube & Other Lore
The London Underground is a much older system than we often give it credit for. As Peter Ackroyd points out, it’s old enough that it’s congruent with figures we consider ‘historical’ like Jack the Ripper (2012: 112). Given it’s such an old system, burrowing through the very clay on which London stands, it’s hardly surprising […]
