The Folklore Society (FLS) is a learned society, based in London, devoted to the study of all aspects of folklore and tradition, including: ballads, folktales, fairy tales, myths, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, childlore and children's folklore, folk arts and crafts, popular belief, folk religion, material culture, vernacular language, sayings, proverbs and nursery rhymes, folk medicine, plantlore and weather lore.
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Royal Funerals: A History A Folklore Society online talk by Helen Frisby Tuesday 4 March 2025, 19:00 GMT This talk with Dr Helen Frisby, author of the Shire book Traditions of Death and Burial, explores the funeral customs of English/British monarchs from Anglo-Saxon times to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. Some of...
In Charlie Cooper’s new series Myth Country (streaming on BBC I-player), the actor and writer reveals his passion for folklore and how the peculiar rituals and traditions of this country ‘bring people together’. Far from being outdated and trivial, folklore is, he says, ‘very much alive and thriving on social media’. The National Folklore Survey funded by UKRI...
Folklore Society council members Dr Matthew Cheeseman and Dr Paul Cowdell have been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to run a research network through 2024. The network aims to understand how to embed greater equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within UK folklore. It hosts an international knowledge exchange on folklore theory, method,...
Announcing the recently launched Fionn Folklore Database. The hero Fionn mac Cumhaill is said to have defended Ireland and Scotland from foreign and supernatural threat during a legendary third-century Golden Age. The stories and songs about him and his warrior band, the Fianna, form the most prolific body of narrative in the Gaelic tradition, spanning...
Ethical guidelines for good practice in collecting, archiving and sharing folklore material. Folklore collection originally developed and flourished at a time when research ethics, and questions about intellectual property, were given little thought. Contemporary expectations demand that folklorists (and other researchers) pay attention to such matters. With this in mind, the Folklore Society suggests the...
Here’s a selection of courses and classes on folklore studies at various different levels, ranging from learning for fun to Masters and PhD. A History of Folklore: an online course from The Folklore Society Ever wondered where ‘folklore’ comes from? Who were the founders of our subject and how does their influence still shape what...
Following our move to 50 Fitzroy Street, the Society’s annual costs for office accommodation have significantly increased, so we are inviting all members and friends of The Folklore Society to support us by making donations via our Charities Aid Foundation page at CAF Donate: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/11322
February 17, 2025
Call for Papers: ‘Revisiting Oral Narrative: Anthropology, Folklore and History’ Ninth ‘Folklore and Anthropology in Conversation’ Joint Seminar The Folklore Society and The Royal Anthropological Institute Date: Thursday 23 October, 2025. Time: 10 AM to 5 PM. Location: 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT and online via Zoom The annual seminar series ‘Folklore and...
February 17, 2025
Director for The Folklore Centre: Funding Lead The Folklore Centre, Todmorden, a Community Interest Company, is seeking a director with experience of fundraising and grant applications. This is a voluntary position, with reasonable expenses paid, dependant on funding success. Since 2019, The Folklore Centre has grown into a significant site for the exploration, celebration and...
December 23, 2024
25 December Peace and good will to all Of every faith and none It’s midnight, and the cat still hasn’t said anything intelligible. Here’s a robin on a Victorian Christmas card in The Folklore Society Archives–hear a robin singing on Christmas Eve 2024 near The Folklore Society’s office in London, complete with traffic noise and...
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Step into the enchanting world of Cicely Mary Barker (1895 - 1973), the creator of the much-loved Flower Fairies, in this playful exhibition. Experience the timeless appeal of Cicely Mary Barker's creation, the Flower Fairies. First published in 1923, these botanically accurate fairies were inspired by real children that Cicely knew. See a selection of the original Flower...
Celebrating the fairy tales of Mary De Morgan on stage A new play, produced in Mary De Morgan’s 175th anniversary year, will celebrate her life and storytelling. It is inspired by her extraordinary fairy tales, which subverted the conventions of Victorian society with its themes of proto-feminism and surreal imagery. 'The Vegan Tigress' imagines De Morgan accidentally summoning a...
Disability and Fairy Tales: Keeping the magic, confronting the stigma The aim of this symposium is to explore the nuances of disability representation in fairy tales, interrogating how writers, storytellers, publishers, teachers and academics use such tales to empower disabled people and preserve the disabled characters that have survived through generations. It shall also discus...