The Soldier’s Tale: Folklore Society Presidential Address 2025 and AGM
by Professor David Hopkin Tuesday 16 September, 17:30-18:30 BST ‘Down a hot and dusty road Tramps a soldier with his load.’ Igor Stravinsky and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, The Soldier’s Tale (1917) Following my 2024 lecture on ‘The Sailor’s Tale’, in this address I look at another occupational group–soldiers–who were also associated with a specific genre of oral literature. Perhaps...
30 September 2025 is the deadline for entries for The Folklore Society President’s Prize 2025, for a folklore studies essay by a student registered on a relevant undergraduate, or equivalent level 4, 5 or 6, course of study at a university or other institution of higher or further education in the UK or Republic of...
A History of Folklore: Online Course
Following our sold out course in January this year, A History of Folklore, run by The Folklore Society in partnership with Oxford Continuing Education, is running again in September 2025, January 2026 and April 2026. The 10-week course traces the development of folklore studies in the British Isles, from 17th-century antiquarians and the coining of...
EFDSS Online Course: Folk Song in England
Following Steve Roud’s Folk Song in England course earlier this year, he will teach a follow-on level 2 version this coming autumn, with guest speaker Dr Julia Bishop. Continuing their new library series, Folk Uncovered: Online Courses, the level 2 Folk Song in England with Steve Roud course is designed for those who attended the...
Book launch for Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies
Please join The Folklore Society to celebrate the launch of Katharine Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies, beautifully illustrated by the artist Fee Greening Friday 19 September 2025 6:30-8:00pm Daunt Books, 247 Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford, OX2 7HN
Lying in Legend and Tradition: The Nineteenth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society
I saw a peacock with a fiery tail, and may this bread choke me if the moon landings were not filmed on Mars. When the crows flew off, they lifted the tree over nine red-hot ploughshares. Helen was never at Troy at all, she was hidden in an old manuscript drawer disguised as Duke Gorlois....
Invitation to apply for membership of The Folklore Society Council 2025
Council is the decision-making body of The FLS. Council has a maximum of 20 members, and holds hybrid meetings at least 3 times a year. Members can be invited to take part in working groups, and will be expected to take part in running FLS events, conferences and initiatives from time to time. Council works...
We are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies: Banshees, Boggarts & Other Folklore Creatures, illustrated by Fee Greening. This new edition of Katharine Briggs’ Dictionary of Fairies will be published by Octopus on 11 September 2025. It includes a foreword by Sophia Kingshill, Honorary Secretary of The Folklore Society, to whom Katharine Briggs...