Category: Faeries
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Owl Folklore, Blodeuwedd, and the Concept of Transformation
When I began researching this topic, I initially planned to explore owl folklore as a way to discuss a folktale referenced by the character Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But once I started taking notes, I discovered that I what I wished to share with you would be too much for a single post. So I’ve decided…
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Four-Leaf Clover Uses in Faerie Folklore and Love Divination
Central to the plot of a short story that I’ve been revising is a four-leaf clover found by the main character after searching through a clover patch. I can remember sitting in the grass as a child, sifting through clover leaves and blossoms, hunting for a magical four-leaf clover with which I could make a…
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Spinning With the Faeries: Folktales Connected to the Craft
When choosing a folklore topic each month, I find that inspiration comes from many sources. Sometimes it stems from something I read in a folklore book or journal article. Or perhaps I might encounter something of note while performing research for my creative writing. But this time, the internet browser suggested an article to me…
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British Folklore and Customs Related to the Sycamore Tree
Are you a lover of trees, by chance? I am! Here in Southern California, where we are now fully into autumn, many trees are changing colors with the season. My favorite is the California sycamore tree (Platanus racemosa). The wilderness area near our home where I like to walk is heavily wooded with sycamore trees,…
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An Overview of How Faeries Were Portrayed During Different Literary Periods
There are many different ways to experience faerie folklore: through shared oral tradition, by reading tales collected by folklorists, and via its inclusion in literature, art, and even science. I find the interchange between folklore and creative endeavors fascinating, so I thought we’d explore how faerie folklore was incorporated into literature during different literary periods.…
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Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Inspired by Faerie Folklore
For the novel I’m working on, I’ve been incorporating faerie folklore into the plot, characters, and worldbuilding. There are many different ways a writer might draw from folklore—by adapting tales to create a new story, by using folklore motifs to deepen the plot, by incorporating folkloric creatures as characters—the possibilities are endless. Shakespeare and Faerie…
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The Noson Weu: Bringing Together Knitting and Folk Tales
Are you a knitter? Or perhaps you like to crochet? My maternal grandmother taught me how to crochet a chain when I was young, but that was about as advanced as I got. I do remember that she and my great-grandmother crocheted blankets—some they kept, some they gave to family, and some they sold. I…
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Apple Trees and British Folklore
When I make my grocery shopping list for holiday dinners and ask my family if they’d like a pie, their eyes grow as large as pie tins, and they answer with a resounding, “Yes!” When I ask what flavor of pie they’d like, the one flavor almost everyone agrees on in our family is apple.…
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Faerie Morality and Its Influence on Humans
In researching faerie folklore for my creative writing, I have discovered that faerie morality was quite complex. Not only did faeries follow their own belief system, they also expected the humans they interacted with to follow it as well. Faerie-approved behavior was often rewarded, but mortals needed to take care not to upset the faeries,…
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Changelings in European Folklore
One of the oldest aspects of European faerie folklore is the belief that faeries desire human children and often steal them away from their mortal parents, replacing them with changelings. Early changeling stories appear in medieval texts and continue through the 20th century. Unlike fairy tales, stories involving changelings are considered to be legends: the…