By popular demand, another chance to hear Sophia Kingshill’s talk Mermaids: Fish, Flesh or Fowl, online on Tuesday 30 November 2021, 18:00-19:30 GMT What is a mermaid? Nothing so simple as a woman with a fish’s tail. Mythology, symbolism, literature, art, folktale and ballad have all influenced her development, and male attitudes to women are...
This year’s Katharine Briggs Lecture will be given online on Tuesday 16 November, 18:00-19:00 by Prof. Ian Russell (The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen) ‘Peace o’er the World’: Christmas Carolling in the Hope Valley For well over two and a half centuries the performance of distinctive carols has been a feature of the seasonal holiday...
CHANGE OF LOCATION: NOW ONLINE ONLY Owing to the rising numbers of Covid infections, we have decided to cancel the live event and host the lecture Online Only. The lecture is free: book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brother-workmen-solidarity-in-trade-folklore-the-roy-palmer-lecture-2021-tickets-162987998491 In association with Martin Graebe for the roypalmerlecture.org, The Folklore Society is hosting the 2021 Roy Palmer...
Jeremy Harte (Curator, Bourne Hall Museum, Ewell, and author of the forthcoming Cloven Country: Legends of the Devil in England) talks about the Devil in local legends. ‘I was Satan’s roadie:’ Tracking the Devil in English local lore Part ogre, part buffoon, the Devil of local legend is very different from the theological one. Where...
Prof. Owen Davies’ Presidential Address 2021: ‘Finding the Folklore in the Annals of Psychiatry’ Before psychoanalysts delved into the realm of fairy-tales during the twentieth century, early psychiatrists had been busy analysing and diagnosing a range of folklore beliefs. They considered the belief in fairies, witches, ghosts, and devils to be archaic and intellectually redundant....
Anthropology and Folklore in Conversation: The Sixth Joint Seminar of The Folklore Society and The Royal Anthropological Institute ‘Creativity during the Covid lockdown: Life and Renewal During the Pandemic’ A Virtual, Two-Day Conference Date: Thursday 7 and Friday 8 October, 2021. Time: 10 AM to 5:30 PM. The Royal Anthropological Institute, and The Folklore Society...
Shara Atashi, freelance writer and translator, will tell of the Persian poet Fayez-e Dashti, known as the “fairy-stricken vagabond.” The legend of Fayez was put together by the people of Bushehr from the poet’s double-couplets, in which he sang of the visitation of a fairy, his falling in love with her, their bond, his breaking...
The Sky in Legend and Tradition The Fifteenth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September 2021 The Medieval Hall in Cathedral Close, Salisbury SP1 2EY The flying pigs are knocking on Heaven’s door while thunderbirds circle the Merry Dancers and a woman standing on the moon bends over Endymion. Dragons...