Exploring Folklore
Want to learn more about folklore?
These posts come from the “Exploring Folklore” section of my newsletter, Notes on Writing Folklore-Inspired Fiction. (Posts are published to my website after the newsletter is sent out, but are dated to match the newsletter date.) If you enjoy my blog posts, you might like my newsletter. It delivers folklore and writing updates straight to your inbox.
For a list of general folklore topics included in the blog, please use the category drop-down list below:
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Cŵn Annwn: Welsh Supernatural Hounds
Cŵn Annwn are Welsh supernatural hounds whose howls served as a death omen to those who heard it. Death portents are quite common in Welsh folklore. According to Delyth Badder and Mark Norman, authors of The Folklore of Wales: Ghosts, Cŵn Annwn “represent perhaps one of the oldest omens within Welsh tradition.” The Welsh name for these hounds, Cŵn Annwn,
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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
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The Tradition of Welsh Lovespoons
A Welsh lovespoon is a decorative spoon carved from a single piece of wood (a common choice of wood being sycamore). In the past, a male suitor would carve a lovespoon with his romantic interest in mind. He used simple tools, like a small knife, to craft not only the spoon, but also intricate designs
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What is Folklore?
As I perform research for my various writing projects, I realize that I tend to think of folklore as legends and myths pertaining to the past. I also gravitate toward folklore presented within stories and tales because that is how it was first introduced to me. Yet there is a timeless quality to folklore. Folklorists
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A Tale of Petrified Lovers
Petrification (when organic matter is turned to stone) is a common theme in folklore. Stories concerning petrification date back to ancient times and can be found in many different cultures. In some tales, petrification is caused by otherworldly or mythological beings, or can be a result of a consequence or punishment. Other times, the stories