Watching the progress of the Crossrail construction project was fascinating in terms of what was unearthed. The Charterhouse Plague Pit was one such buried secret, first uncovered in March 2013. Charterhouse lies between Clerkenwell and Smithfield, just north of the City of London. The area is allegedly rife with plague pits, although if you believe […]
Folklore
Meet Minerva, Goddess of Intellect, Inspiration & the Arts
Minerva is one of the most recognisable Roman goddesses, with her shield and helmet. She continues to gaze at us whenever we see depictions of Britannia. But she’s also one of my favourite goddesses because she completely defies the contemporary tendency to consider all goddesses as either mother figures or love deities. Instead, Minerva is […]
Meet Vulcan, Roman God of Fire, Volcanoes and Blacksmiths
For some among you, Vulcan conjures mental images of Star Trek, with the name being that of the planet Spock calls home. For others, you’ll know Vulcan as the Roman god of fire, volcanoes, and blacksmiths. That’s the incarnation of Vulcan we’ll be looking at in this article. He’s the equivalent of the Greek Hephaestus. […]
Meet Juno, Queen of the Gods and Protector of the Roman State
Depending on who you ask, Juno is either a NASA space probe studying Jupiter, or she’s the Roman queen of the gods, wife of Jupiter, god of thunder. As the Roman counterpart of Hera, the wife of Zeus in Greek mythology, she’s often characterised as a jealous, bitter, and vindictive wife, often punishing the nymphs […]
Meet Silvanus, Roman god of the wild and nature
Roman mythology offers plenty of gods associated with the natural world – just look at Neptune and his dominion over the sea, or Luna’s role as goddess of the moon. Yet it also offers a god of nature itself in the form of Silvanus. But he was also so much more than a nature god. […]
What Are Redcaps And Why Should You Avoid Their Lair?
For the unwary visitor to their lair, redcaps can be deeply dangerous creatures. These malevolent little folk are classified ‘goblins’ and that’s a word that’s rarely attached to anything positive. While they do appear in northern European folklore, they’re most often found in Border folklore. In many ways, it’s hardly surprising. The Border region is […]
