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

Newer Researchers’ Day 2019

Wednesday 29 May 2019
10:00 to 16:00
University of Hertfordshire,

Lucy Wright

Newer Researchers’ Day. Folklore Research: The Page and Beyond. A one-day workshop for Early Career Researchers, Post-Graduates, and Independent Researchers Weds 29 May 2019, 10:00–16:00 Organised by Dr Ceri Houlbrook and Dr Lucy Wright, and kindly hosted by the University of Hertfordshire, School of Humanities, De Havilland Campus, Mosquito Way, Hatfield, AL10 9EU Sponsored by...

More events coming up

Anthropology and Folklore in Conversation:

Other Folklore Events and Calls for Papers

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Mermaids: Fish, Flesh, or Fowl?

Date: 24th May 2019
The Miller, 96 Snowsfields, London SE1 3SS

Sophia Kingshill examines the complex family tree of the mermaid, from ancient images to modern media. Mythology, symbolism, romance and lechery, with a touch of fraud and a taste of salt. Tuesday 24 May 2019, 8 pm at The Miller, 96 Snowsfields, London SE1 3SS Tickets £5.00 (£2.00 concessions) at http://forteanlondon.blogspot.com...

Newer Researchers in Folklore: Folklore Research: The Page and Beyond

Date: 29th May 2019
University of Hertfordshire, School of Humanities, De Havilland Campus, Hatfield AL10 9EU

"Folklore Research: The Page and Beyond" is the theme of the 2019 Newer Researchers in Folklore one-day workshop, which is organised by Dr Ceri Houlbrook and Dr Lucy Wright and will be kindly hosted by the School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, in celebration of the school's new MA in Folklore Studies. For more information, contact newer.researchers.fls@gmail.com...

Swedish herding call – weekend course for beginners

Start date: 24th Aug 2019
End date: 25th Aug 2019
Björnunda, Sweden

Kulning is an old voice technique used in Swedish and Norwegian summer farms long ago. It was a way for calling the cattle and communicating with other people over long distances. You use a very high, strong and powerful voice when you Kular, and in a quiet forest it can be heard for kilometers. Everyone can find their own powerful voice, so no special singing voice is needed in lea...

6th International Conference on Medicinal Practices: Herbal, Holistic and Traditional

Start date: 26th Aug 2019
End date: 27th Aug 2019
Dubai, UAE

We extend a warm welcome to our 6th International Conference on Medicinal Practices: Herbal, Holistic and Traditional to be held from August 26-27, 2019 Dubai, UAE. Medicinal Practices 2019 aims to host leading educational scientists, researchers, and research college students to exchange their reports and research results about all components of Medicinal Practices. We invite...

Costume in Legend and Tradition

Start date: 31st Aug 2019
End date: 1st Sep 2019
Jeremy Harte, Bourne Hall, Spring Street, Ewell, Surrey KT17 1UF

Costume in Legend and Tradition: CALL FOR PAPERS 31st August– 1st September 2019 at Blackburn Museum, BB1 7AJ, UK "What have we here, hempen hampen? St. Martin has cut the feather cloak of the swanwife into an ale-conner’s breeches. Tell her to buy me a cambric shirt and tie a knot in the handkerchief. We will stitch together green gowns and drowned men’s jerseys, wooden...

9th International Conference on Traditional Medicine

Start date: 16th Sep 2019
End date: 17th Sep 2019
Sydney, Australia

EuroSciCon welcomes all to attend the 9th International Conference on Traditional Medicine 2019 which will be held from 16th-17th September 2019 Sydney, Australia. Traditional Medicine 2019 conference aims to gather leading educational scientists, researchers, people working in the field of Traditional, Chinese and Alternative Medicine and research students to exchange & share t...

Stepping On: A conference on stepping in dance across the British Isles and beyond

Start date: 16th Nov 2019
End date: 17th Nov 2019
Cecil Sharp House

"The British Isles have a rich history of step dancing of many forms and in many contexts some of which are relatively well known and others largely lost. It is a history which goes back many centuries and links with traditions in other parts of the world. The aim of the conference is to further our knowledge and understanding, and to stimulate debate. The conference will be of inte...

An Introduction to Folk Song in England

Date: 2nd Dec 2019
Cecil Sharp House

"Internationally published folklorist Steve Roud presents with Laura Smyth, EFDSS’ Library and Archive Director, this popular introductory level day exploring the history of English folk song. Topics will include: the many possible definitions of ‘folk’, the songs themselves, the singers, the places and times for singing, the music, cheap printed broadsides and other source...

Folklore Society News

Prof. William Gray

We are very sad to hear of the death on 8 April of Professor Bill Gray, founder of the Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction (formerly Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy), University of Chichester, and send our condolences to his family and former colleagues.

MA in Folklore Studies at the University of Hertfordshire

Exciting news for anyone wanting to turn their interest in folklore into an academic qualification: the University of Hertfordshire are now offering a Folklore Studies MA, which will run both part-time and full-time. For further details on the programme of study and how to apply, please see: https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/ma-folklore-studies

Book Sale 27 February

We’re having another sale of second hand books, at very cheap prices, plus back issues of our journal Folklore from 1976 to 2013 (with some gaps) and remaining back stocks of FLS Books @£1.00 each. Wednesday 27 February, 17:00–19:45 at The Warburg Institute, in the Common Room. Email us at thefolkloresociety @gmail.com to let us know you’re...

The Katharine Briggs Award 2018

We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Katharine Briggs Award is: Martin Graebe, for his book As I Walked Out: Sabine Baring-Gould and the Search for the Folk Songs of Devon and Cornwall (Signal Books). The Runner-up is: David Atkinson, The Ballad and its Pasts: Literary Histories and the Play of...

Announcements

MA in Folklore Studies at University of Hertfordshire

Concealed revealed

The Concealed Revealed, a strand of the Inner Lives: Emotion, Identity and the Supernatural, 1300-1900 Project, is hoping to produce an extensive catalogue of concealed objects and domestic apotropaic devices, from shoes and cats to timber marks, across Britain. Dr Ceri Houlbrook, of the University of Hertfordshire, is not only seeking information about these objects but is also aiming to...

Consultation re new and additional forms of funding for The Folklore Society

Message from Robert McDowall, Vice-President: “At its meeting on 1 July 2015, the Folklore Society (“FLS”) Committee created a sub-group to examine opportunities for the generation of additional forms of revenue for the Society (other than revenue generated in partnership with Taylor & Francis). The sub-group invites FLS members and supporters to submit their suggestions and proposals, using this template. The consultation period ends on...