Devoted to the Study of Folklore and Tradition

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.

Next Folklore Society Event

Dark Folklore

15/12/2021
18:00-19:30
Online talk

Tina Lalje/The History Press

This online talk is an exploration of the darker side of folklore, including dark church lore and thanatourism Mark Norman, the creator and host of The Folklore Podcast, gives a talk on the new book written by himself and his wife Tracey on the darker aspects of folklore. Published by The History Press, the book...

More events coming up

Edward Lovett: A Forgotten Folklorist?Open Voices: Folklore for All, Folklore of All

Folklore Society News

Winner of our Non-Print Media Award 2021

We are very pleased to announce that our biennial Non-Print Media Award was won by Iorram (Boat Song), documentary directed by Alastair Cole (Tongue Tied Films, 2021). Congratulations We also congratulate the Runner-up: Henry Glassie: Fieldwork, documentary directed by Pat Collins (Harvest Films/South Wind Blows, 2019)

Jonathan Hui Wins the Katharine Briggs Award 2021

We are delighted to announce that the winner of The Katharine Briggs Award 2021 is Jonathan Y. H. Hui, Vilmundar saga viðutan. The Saga of Vilmundur the Outsider, published by The Viking Society for Northern Research. Congratulations Jonathan. We also congratulate the joint Runners-up: Julian Goodare and Martha McGill (eds.), The Supernatural in Early...

Katharine Briggs Lecture and Awards Shortlists

Tonight, 16 November 2021, at 6 pm, The Katharine Briggs Lecture, online: Prof. Ian Russell: “‘Peace o’er the World:’ Christmas Carolling in the Hope Valley.” More details: https://folklore-society.com/event/the-katharine-briggs-lecture-and-awards-2021/ Tickets are free; book via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peace-oer-the-world-christmas-carolling-in-the-hope-valley-tickets-180436750177 After the lecture, we will announce the winners of this year’s Katharine Briggs Award and our Non-Print Media...

Indexes to Folklore, 1878-1957 and 1958-1967

You can now download pdf files of scans of Wilfrid Bonser’s 2 indexes to Folklore, Folk-Lore Record and Folk-Lore Journal from our Resources page: A Bibliography of folklore contained in the first eighty years of the publications of the Folklore Society, by Wilfrid Bonser, 1961: https://folklore-society.com/resources/a-bibliography-of-folklore-index1878-1957/ A Bibliography of folklore for 1958-1967, by Wilfrid Bonser, 1969: https://folklore-society.com/resources/a-bibliography-of-folklore-1958-1967/

Estella Canziani Post-graduate Bursary for Research

Applications are now being accepted for our 2022 Estella Canziani Post-graduate Bursary for Research, worth up to £1,000. Deadline: Friday 3 December 2021 Click here for more information on how to apply. Here’s a report from Elena Sottilotta, recipient of our 2021 Canziani Bursary, on her field research in Italy on “Women Writing Folklore: Politics of...

FLS Library New Accessions Jan 2020-Sept 2021

Download a spreadsheet of the new books we have added to our Folklore Society Library at University College London Library between January 2020 and September 2021. Contact us at [email protected] for information on how to borrow books from our collection. FLS Library Accessions Jan 2020 to Sept 2021 We are very grateful to Andrew Watson...

The Katharine Briggs Award 2021 Shortlist

We are pleased to announce the shortlist for this year’s Katharine Briggs Award. In alphabetical order, the shortlisted entries are: Lesley Coote, Storyworlds of Robin Hood: The Origins of a Medieval Outlaw (Reaktion Books) Julian Goodare and Martha McGill (eds.), The Supernatural in Early Modern Scotland (Manchester University Press) Jonathan Y. H. Hui, Vilmundar saga...

All FLS News back issues now available in the Members’ area

All issues of our newsletter FLS News, from No.1, 1985 to the most recent issue, are now available as pdfs in the Members area of our website, as well as earlier newsletters 1980-83, and Derek Froome’s index of FLS News Nos.1-50, 1985-2006. Just log in to the Members only area: https://folklore-society.com/wp-login.php If you’ve forgotten your log...

‘Henry Glassie: Field Work’

Henry Glassie: Field Work: at The Folklore Society Click here to buy a ticket to watch the film for £4.99 (UK only) Directed by Pat Collins Documentary | English/Portuguese | 105 min Distributed in the UK by New Wave Films From the director of Song of Granite and Silence comes this new documentary study of the...

The Katharine Briggs Award 2020

We are delighted to announce that the winner of The Katharine Briggs Award 2020 is William G. Pooley, Body and Tradition in Nineteenth-Century France: Félix Arnaudin and the Moorlands of Gascony, 1870-1914, published by Oxford University Press. And the runner-up is Jonathan L. READY, Orality, Textuality, and the Homeric Epics: An Interdisciplinary Study of Oral...

Past Presidents of The Folklore Society

Dr Ross Macfarlane has very kindly compiled a list of all of our past Presidents on the Wikipedia entry for The Folklore Society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Folklore_Society#Presidents Thanks Ross

The Katharine Briggs Award 2020

We are pleased to announce the shortlist for the Katharine Briggs Award 2020, which was postponed from last November to 23 February 2021. The shortlist is in alphabetical order: Karl BELL (ed), Supernatural Cities: Enchantment, Anxiety and Spectrality (Boydell Press) Deirdre MASK, The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power...

Announcements

Courses in Folklore Studies

Here’s a selection of courses and classes on folklore studies at various different levels ranging from learning for fun to Masters and PhD. MA in Folklore Studies at University of Hertfordshire Exciting news for anyone in England wanting to turn their interest in folklore into an academic qualification: the University of Hertfordshire offer a...

Fund-Raising for The Folklore Society

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

Folklore query? Ask the Folklorists

If you have a folklore enquiry, email us at thefolkloresociety @gmail.com and we will try our best to answer it or to refer you to someone else who can. Follow us on Twitter @FolkloreSociety and on our Folklore Society Facebook page

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library

The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is England’s designated library and archive dedicated to English folk song and dance. Located at Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance & Song Society, it contains an inspiring collection of books, sound, film, photographs, and special archival collections. A number of the VWML’s archival collections and other important...

Other Folklore Events and Calls for Papers

Please submit this online form if you would like us to publicise your event on our website.

My Head Leaks – An Exhibition by Alexia Marmara

Start date: 19th Nov 2021
End date: 15th Jan 2022
The Horse Hospital

The Horse Hospital is delighted to announce a new exhibition of drawings and paintings by archivist and researcher Alexia Marmara. Having spent her formative years hoovering up the dusty and neglected past, she recently started illustrating the sentimental imprint her explorations have left on her through automatic drawings and intuitive painting. Strange figures and sober-eyed i...

The 2022 Celtic Studies Association of North America Conference

Start date: 31st Mar 2022
End date: 3rd Apr 2022
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham Campus, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, New Jersey, USA

Fairleigh Dickinson University is thrilled to host the 2022 Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA) Conference on our historic Florham Campus at 285 Madison Ave., Madison, New Jersey, USA. The conference will be free and open to the public, running Thursday, March 31 through Sunday, April 3, 2022. Speakers are normally expected to be CSANA members by the time of the c...

Folk Narrative and the Visual Arts: Fashion, Design, Materials and Media

Start date: 20th Jul 2022
End date: 23rd Jul 2022
London College of Fashion, 20 John Prince's St, London W1G 0BJ. And Online

Call for Papers: Interim Conference of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) 2022 London, UK 20 – 23 July 2022 at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. Folk Narrative and the Visual Arts: Fashion, Design, Materials and Media The University of the Arts London (UAL) and London College of Fashion is proud to host the 2022 Inter...