30 Years in Avalon: Fieldwork and Vernacular Religion in Glastonbury A Folklore Society online talk by Marion Bowman Tuesday 29 November 2024, 18:00 GMT To some people, Glastonbury is simply a small, if odd, market town; to others it is the Isle of Avalon, the place where King Arthur was taken for healing after his...
Fairy Encounters in Medieval England A Folklore Society Online Talk by Jeremy Harte Tuesday 8 October, 18:00 BST A thousand years ago, the barriers that kept life safe from the other world were thin–too thin. Those who fell asleep in the fields at noon or walked aboard at Midsummer lay open to supernatural caprice. Voices...
Operation Cone of Power: the Making of a Modern Legend A Folklore Society online talk by Dr Julia Phillips (University of Bristol) Tuesday 24 September 2024, 18:00 BST An illustrated examination of the legend about witches fighting a secret battle to defend Britain against Nazi invasion at Lammas 1940. Witchcraft during World War II: there is...
The Katharine Briggs Lecture 2024 is jointly hosted this year by The Folklore Society and The English Folk Dance and Song Society Tuesday 12 November, 17:30-22:00 at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, London NW1 7AY Our lecturer this year is Dr Doc Rowe ‘Transmission, Transformation and Trends: Historic and Contemporary Approaches to our...
The Sailor’s Tale The Folklore Society Presidential Address 2024 By Prof. David Hopkin (University of Oxford) Tuesday 17 September 2024, 17:00 BST at 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT and online David Hopkin is a social and cultural historian of modern Western Europe (c.1760-c.1914). He works with oral and popular cultural sources – the kind...
Keeping Myths, Legends and Folktales Alive A Folklore Society online talk by Rosalind Kerven Tuesday 10 September, 19:00 BST [NB: later start time than usual] The Folklore Society describes the study of folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends as vital aspects of folklore and tradition. This talk will consider whether they are simply historical curiosities...
Through the Looking Glass: What is a Doppelgänger? A Folklore Society online talk by Sophia Kingshill Tues 16 July 2024, 18:00 BST Identity is always fluid: in the digitally mediated spectrum, it can flow and alter in ways we are only beginning to examine. Online, any of us can create an avatar to perform on...
Re-inventing national history through conspiracy theories: the case of the Greek neomythological narratives A Folklore Society online talk, by Dr Afrodite-Lidia Nounanaki (University of the Aegean) Tuesday 4 June 2024, 18:00 BST In popular culture, history seems to be perceived as a fluid concept that can be recast to prove expectations or redress ‘injustices’. The...
Sheela-na-gigs on Medieval and Early Modern Buildings A Folklore Society online talk, by Dr Rosemary Power (Affiliate, CAMPS, University of Galway) Tuesday 21 May 2024, 18:00 BST These figures are found in northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are some 7-8 in county Clare alone. They are often found on churches from in the middle...
Martyrdom and Demonic Possession: The Virginal followers of Saint Ursula A Folklore Society Online Talk, by Eric Huang Tuesday 7 May 2024, 18:00 BST Saint Ursula is a princess and martyr from Roman Britannia. Her legend is based around a pilgrimage to Rome that included an entourage of 11,000 virgins. They met their end in...