Pregnancy and Childbirth in Late Medieval England: Medicine, Magic, and Miracles Online talk by Claire Collins (University of Reading) Tuesday 24 May 2022, 18:00-19:30 Claire Collins discusses some of the treatments, practices, and attitudes surrounding pregnancy and childbirth in late medieval England In late medieval England, treatments for complications of childbirth, and protections against them,...
Folklorist and historian Ronald L. ‘Ron’ James looks at how industrialisation, emigration, and modernisation and media affected Cornish folklore in the mines, on land, and in the sea. Online talk, Tuesday 21 June 2022, 18:00-19:30 The folklore of Cornwall has a unique character, shaped by its remote environment and by talented droll tellers, artists who...
The 2022 Folklore Society Presidential Address by Prof. Owen Davies (University of Hertfordshire) will be both online and in person at 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT, from 17:30-18:30 Tickets for the virtual lecture are Free, and open to all, booking via Eventbrite opens 1 March 2022 Folklore Society members may attend the lecture in...
Dr Helen Frisby (University of the West of England) explores the historical custom of sin-eating, together with its afterlife in film, TV and literature. “The Sin-eater: lives and afterlives”: online talk, Tuesday 12 July 2022, 18:00-19:30 (rescheduled from 22 February 2022) A sin-eater was a ‘long, leane, ugly, lamentable poor raskal’ (Aubrey, 1687) who, by...
The Sixteenth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September 2022 at St John’s Church Hall, Vicarage Lane, Knaresborough CALL FOR PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS When the tree withers in my mother’s garden, know that the end is nigh and seven signs before Doomsday will darken the obsidian mirror. The third age of the...
“In the Beginning all Wisdom was with the Animals”– Exploring Native American Myths Online talk by Rosalind Kerven, author and independent researcher Tuesday 13 September 2022, 19:30-21:00 Native American and Canadian First Nations mythology includes some of the world’s most interesting and memorable narratives. They offer a totally refreshing–sometimes startling–perspective of the natural world and...
Dr Ceri Houlbrook (University of Hertfordshire) explores the tradition of children writing letters to Santa Claus. Online talk, Tuesday 13 December 2022, 18:00 This talk traces the history of the folkloric custom of writing letters to Santa Claus and other Western personifications of Christmas. When did it start? Where is it practiced? What folklore surrounds...
Rescheduled and new Folklore Society events coming soon!