
Fabulous Folklore with Icy
SamfunnHistorieFabulous Folklore will give you your weekly fix of fabulous folklore in fifteen minutes (or less)! Hosted by fantasy and Gothic horror writer, Icy Sedgwick, the podcast explores folklore, legends, superstitions, mythology, and all things weird, occult and unusual.
Siste episoder av Fabulous Folklore with Icy podcast
- Foxes in Folk Tales: From Aesop to Reynard (00:18:14)
Foxes appear in literature and legend across the world. Look at Brer Fox in the American South. In Rebel Folklore, I discussed the Jiuwei Hu of China, or nine-tailed fox, who drains men of their life force. Korea's kumiho is a similar spirit, while Japan has the supernatural fox spirit, the kitsune. Scholar Al-Biruni, magician Cornelius Agrippa and astrologer William Lilly put the fox under Mercury's rulership. Mercury is the trickster of the Roman gods, and represents communication, cleverness, speed, and resourcefulness - all qualities traditionally associated with the fox. It probably explains why dreaming of foxes meant you should beware of treachery and thieves. I have an exclusive article about foxes for Patrons on the lowest tier, but I've also made it available for sale if you'd like to read some additional fox folklore. As it is, it seems foxes also appear in folk tales and literature so I managed to write a whole new episode that didn't involve the lore from the article! So let's explore the way foxes appear in folk tales and literature! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/foxes-folk-tales/ Foxes and Folklore article: https://www.patreon.com/posts/exclusive-foxes-106946093 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Monsters and Strange Creatures with Natalie Lawrence (00:49:43)
Natalie Lawrence is an author and illustrator who explores our relationship with the natural world, looking through multiple lenses - from the biological to the mythic and psychoanalytic. She completed a MSc and Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge, exploring the making and meanings of monstrous creatures in seventeenth century Europe. She published her first book as a teenager, Feathers and Eggshells, inspired by Hampstead Heath and the birds she was entranced by as a child, and published Planta Sapiens with Paco Calvo in 2022. She has also given a TedX talk, appeared on BBC Radio, and worked with installation artists. In this chat, we talk about humans' fascination for monsters, how the walrus was originally conceived of as being a monster, the Hydra of Hamburg, cryptids as contemporary monsters and the ways in which our understanding of what is real and what exists has changed over the centuries. Buy Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meanings: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781474619035 Find Natalie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalie.j.lawrence/ And her website: https://nataliejlawrence.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Hedgehogs in Folklore: Witches, Familiars, and Milk Thieves (00:20:37)
Hedgehogs are one of the stranger mammals you might encounter. They're nocturnal, they hibernate, they're prone to rolling into a ball when frightened, and they're extremely vulnerable to habitat loss. While some of you will undoubtedly have first thought of Sonic, others might have thought of Mrs Tiggywinkle from the Beatrix Potter books. Either way, those are quite positive associations. I've been feeding hedgehog visitors to my garden since June 2023, and I find them charming, adorable, and slightly idiosyncratic. Yet in the past, hedgehogs have had a much more sinister reputation that they certainly didn't deserve. People linked them with witches, the devil, and even fruit theft. So let's explore the folklore surrounding hedgehogs! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/hedgehogs-folklore/ Sign up for the Bonfire Night talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gunpowder-treason-and-plot-the-legends-and-customs-of-bonfire-night-tickets-1687030616989 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Moles in Folklore: Folk Remedies and Weather Omens (00:20:20)
Moles are fascinating creatures. They're phenomenal diggers and while they weigh around 120g, they can shift 540 times their body weight of earth. Given they live entirely underground, they're a rarely seen mammal, and we only know they're there when we see their molehills. Surprisingly, there is more folklore about them than more commonly encountered animals, like badgers. Used in folk medicine, they're also creatures connected with omens for both death and the weather. Their appearance as folk remedies is somewhat cruel, and reflects earlier times when humans had less regard for animal welfare. So how do moles appear in folklore? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/moles-folklore/ Tickets for the Northern Spiritualism talk: https://bit.ly/spiritualism2025 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Otters in Folklore: Brave Helpers or Fearsome Monsters (00:15:27)
Otters are some of the most charming mammals you might encounter. Sometimes nicknamed the "water sausage" by the internet, otters are playful, intelligent, and capable of using tools. They also appear in popular culture, most notably in Tarka the Otter and The Wind in the Willows. Yet in reality, they're incredibly elusive. They might live in wetlands, along rivers, and at the coast, but seeing one isn't easy! They also enjoy woodland habitats, and even in towns, so they're a very interesting species. In this post, I'll be talking about the European otter. They're listed as near threatened on the global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They also raise their cubs in holts, or underground burrows, and they mostly eat fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and aquatic birds. I've seen one of the otters that lives at the Gosforth Park Nature Reserve, which was very exciting given how elusive they are! It's a woodland setting surrounding a lake, so I thought otters would make a good first stop on our Woodland Mammals tour. But given how good they are at hiding from humans, is there much folklore about them? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/otters-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Creepy Listener Stories of Space and Place (00:21:21)
When we think about folklore, we often think about the characters involved: King Arthur, Queen Mab, Lady Godiva, and more. Yet folklore has an intrinsic link with place, too. Even the most throwaway comment about a place can reveal stories linked with them. Such stories can reveal how we feel about places, especially when human activity moves away. They’re also stories that get easily lost when people move on, so I asked the wonderful listeners of Fabulous Folklore if they wanted to share any stories they’d been told about places - and they did! I wanted ghosts at a person's school, houses they ran past because someone in the neighbourhood said they were haunted, local legends of grey ladies, creepy back roads people avoided at night because of a local cryptid - that kind of thing! I didn't want personal experiences this time around, which I've collected before, because I wanted the focus to be on the place, not someone's experience of it. Let's see what people came up with in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with the images and the references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/tales-of-space-and-place/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick
- The Screaming Skulls: Guardian Spirits or Poltergeists-in-Waiting? (00:26:59)
English folklore is full of peculiarities. The legends of the so-called screaming skulls are definitely among them. These are skulls kept in mansions and farmhouses, sometimes considered to be guardians of the property. Legends abound of the violent deeds done to the owners of the skulls. But many of these stories come with hauntings attached if the skulls are disturbed. Sometimes the skulls even repeatedly return, no matter how often they're removed or even destroyed. Given our focus this month on ghosts and poltergeists, let's explore some legends of screaming skulls in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/screaming-skulls/ Tell me the supernatural stories of places that you've heard: https://forms.gle/WzXyGZLoe8iLZh656 Order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Storytelling and Making Folklore Accessible with Three Ravens (01:32:35)
I'm talking to Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux from the Three Ravens podcast about the difficulties in defining 'folklore', the importance of storytelling, which of England's 39 historic counties has the best folk tales, why people love ghost stories, and making folklore accessible to wider audiences! Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux are the brains behind the Three Ravens podcast, and they are a real life couple, based in Sussex. Eleanor was born in Suffolk and grew up in Sussex, and after developing a passion for storytelling and stage performance as a child, become involved in amateur dramatics and completed her BA in English Literature and earned her MA in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama. She also founded the theatre company Rust & Stardust, which tours original work and education projects rooted in English folklore. Martin was born in Somerset and grew up in the developing world, including in Uganda and Papua New Guinea. After leaving school, he completed his BA in English and won National Student Television Awards for comedy and directing. Having been a freelance journalist, radio presenter, and English teacher, he also won the BBC Moo! New Writers Prize in 2009. He gave up teaching after the pandemic to undertake his MA in Romantic and Victorian Literature and Culture at Goldsmiths, and to launch Three Ravens. Buy their book, The Three Ravens Folk Tales: New tellings of half-forgotten stories from England's 39 Historic Counties: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781803999685 Visit the Three Ravens Podcast website: https://www.threeravenspodcast.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- How does 'Poltergeist' draw on actual poltergeist accounts? (00:27:33)
Poltergeist marked Hollywood's big-budget engagement with the ghost film in 1982. Produced by Stephen Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, it took the haunted house film and mashed it together with the family adventure film. Throw in some special effects courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic, and you end up with the film that relocated haunted houses to the suburbs. The film obliquely references the settlement of land in California and a failure to acknowledge earlier inhabitants of that land. It also explicitly engages with the growing consumer boom of the 1980s, using technology - here in the form of the TV set - as a means to communicate with the other side. It's a film worthy of study for various reasons. But one of the talking heads in the special feature on the 25th anniversary edition of the film exclaims that everything in the film 'really happened'. Does the depicted activity bear any relation to historically recorded cases of poltergeist activity? Where does the film draw on this record? What are these earlier cases? Let's find out! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/poltergeist-1982-film/ Tell me your supernatural stories: https://forms.gle/WzXyGZLoe8iLZh656 Order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- The Power and Allure of Poisonous Plants with S.A. Lawless (01:27:38)
S.A. Lawless is an herbalist, gardener, forager, mycophile, outdoor educator, and published author and illustrator, with a long-held fascination with folklore and witchcraft, currently living in rural Ontario, Canada. She has been studying and practicing herbalism for 20 years and has worked as a professional nature field guide for 15 years. As a herbalist her focus is on low dose botanicals specialising in researching, growing, processing, working with and writing about poisonous plants with a special interest in medicinal nightshades. In this chat, we talk about poisonous plants, including how to grow them, why poisonous plants are actually important to ecosystems, the "natural = safe" false assumption, and which plants you might be surprised to learn are poisonous! Visit The Poison Garden website: https://thepoisongarden.com/ Find The Poison Garden on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.poisongarden/ Find S.A.'s class on Low Dose Botanicals here: https://rowanandsage.com/upcoming-events/sarahannelawless Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- The Wesley Poltergeist and the Bishopwearmouth Poltergeist Go Head-to-Head (00:27:59)
Last week, we looked at some poltergeist definitions and whether such definitions are even helpful. Can something as truly bizarre as a 'knocking spirit' be boiled down to a series of checkboxes on a form? Yet they're also not the invention of the 20th century. Nor are they the preserve of ghost hunters or psychics. Poltergeist accounts stretch back through the centuries, even if the spirit responsible isn't always labelled as a poltergeist. Just look at the Tedworth Drummer from the 1660s and the haunting at Willington Mill in the 1840s. That's just as far as England goes - these accounts appear all over the world. So as we're interested in folklore here, let's unpick two vastly different cases, from 1716 and 1840, to see how they appear in written records that try to avoid using the P-word. Do the accounts even describe poltergeists? Let's explore them in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/pre-20th-century-poltergeist/ Tell me your supernatural stories: https://forms.gle/WzXyGZLoe8iLZh656 Ghostwatch talk: https://ko-fi.com/s/c81b496605 Order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Poltergeists: Noisy Ghosts or Household Spirits? (00:19:16)
This episode of Fabulous Folklore begins with a reading of the Poltergeist entry from my new book, Ghostlore, before we explore the problem with poltergeists - how do you define one?! From deciding what phenomena to include to picking a name, the poltergeist proves to be a flexible yet elusive figure in historical accounts. Is that spontaneous fire a religious portent, or a poltergeist? And did a household spirit turn the kitchen upside down...or was it a poltergeist? You get the idea. Let's look at the poltergeist in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/poltergeists-definitions/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- White Ladies, Ghost Nuns & Spectral Children in Haunted Madrid (00:20:50)
People have lived in the Madrid area since prehistoric times. Occupied by Romans, Moors, and then the Spanish, it has quite the history. Over 6.8 million people live in Madrid. That's less than Paris and London but more than Berlin. Of course, a capital city will boast a few ghost stories. The ghosts of those executed for heresy and witchcraft in the Plaza Mayor are said to still haunt the square. A fire tore through the square in 1631, devastating the buildings and leaving people dead, and some wondered if the square had attracted some kind of evil energy. So which other ghosts lurk in this beautiful city? Let's explore three of the most famous legends - and their variations in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/haunted-madrid/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Star Lore and Legends: Myths of the Constellations talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/star-lore-and-legends-myths-of-the-constellations-tickets-1389351410469?aff=oddtdtcreator Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Murder Ballads and Dark Folk Music with Katy Horan (00:50:12)
In this chat, I'm talking to illustrator Katy Horan about murder ballads, discussing what they are, how they work within folk music, how contemporary musicians have tried to reclaim the tradition, and the issues with examining ballads when all you might have is the lyrics! Katy Horan is an illustrator and interdisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Canada, published in several books, and four times selected for New American Paintings. Together with the writer Taisia Kitaiskaia, she co-created Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers and The Literary Witches Oracle Deck. She is also the illustrator of Ask Baba Yaga: Poetic Remedies for Troubled Times. Originally from Houston, Texas, Katy now lives and works in Austin. Buy Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics & Lore: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781524889265 Find Katy on Instagram: https://instagram.com/goodyhoran Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- The Venetian Legend of the Carvings of Castello (00:16:25)
If you head away from the hustle and bustle of the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square), you’ll head into the stranger, more magical part of Venice. It’s in the tangle of narrow streets and courts that you enter the realm of Venetian legend. It's difficult to know how many of them have any basis in fact. One legend sees the Devil face off with legendary composer, Vivaldi. Another sees the Devil try to snatch the soul of the first person to cross the Rialto Bridge - a bridge he created. Yet another involves a fisherman and his mermaid bride, which I covered in Rebel Folklore. I've also covered some Venetian creepy ghost stories before. Yet this next legend even has physical evidence to testify to its occurrence. Or does it? Let's explore the legend behind the carvings found on a fabulous building in Castello in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/venetian-legend/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Dublin Ghost Stories of Phantom Dogs and Mysterious Figures (00:17:40)
Dublin is a beautiful city that straddles the River Liffey, famous as the home of Guinness and the National Leprechaun Museum. What you might not expect from the Irish capital is a series of Dublin ghost stories. Though why not? The city enjoys a millennium of history, including Viking settlement, economic hardship caused by the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the fight for independence from Britain. Of course there would be ghost stories! For much of this article, I followed the legends related by Dave Walsh in Haunted Dublin, though where I could, I did a little digging of my own. But enough of the preamble. Let’s explore some Dublin ghost stories in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/dublin-ghost-stories/ Penny Dreadfuls talk: https://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/talks/how-the-penny-dreadfuls-created-their-own-legends-icy-sedgwick-308110501 Northern Spiritualism talk: https://www.folkloremythmagic.com/event-details/icy-sedgwick-northern-spiritualism-talking-to-the-dead-in-manchester-and-newscastle Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Folk Traditions and Strange Sights in Florence (00:23:54)
Florence was founded in the 1st century BCE as a Roman military outpost, although it came to prominence as a centre of commerce and the arts in the 14th to 16th centuries CE. The Florentine method of speech even became the Italian language. Some of the city's most famous exports are Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo, and Niccolo Machiavelli, along with the Medici family. You can see the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli in the Basilica of Santa Croce. But that's not all you can find in this Tuscan city. From the mythological scenes to statues of Roman gods present in the Uffizi, Florence has a range of odd curiosities and folk traditions that are worth seeing. Let's explore some of the stranger side of Florence in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/florence-folklore/ Pre-order Ghostlore: https://geni.us/ghostlore The Many Faces of Medusa talk: https://ko-fi.com/s/a60a047ebb Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Witches in Devon and Witchcraft Trials in Theatre with Tracey Norman (01:05:53)
Tracey has written fiction for as long as she can remember, covering a variety of genres and subjects. Her first stage play WITCH, a historical drama based on original English witch trial transcripts, premiered in 2016 and has been performed more than 80 times to date. Tracey’s most recent publications were Dark Folklore (2021), co-written with her husband Mark, and Who Is Anna Stenberg? (2023), her first full-length novel. Her next book, also co-written with Mark, is Devon’s Forgotten Witches 1860-1910, which is published by The History Press and comes out in August 2025. She gives talks to a variety of groups on historical subjects such as witchcraft and early modern medicine. She, Mark and their daughter live near the edge of a forest in mid Devon, with a trio of insane chickens, and a feline trip hazard. In this chat, we talk about witchcraft cases in Devon, some of which are surprisingly late into the 20th century, the beauty of using records of witch trials, and how theatre can help us to better understand the lived experience of those accused. Preorder Devon’s Forgotten Witches 1860-1910: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781803994215 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- The Newcastle Witch Trials and Northern Cunning Men with Dave Silk (00:52:36)
Dave Silk is a storyteller and historian from Newcastle upon Tyne and co-author of Tyne and Wear Folktales for Children. He collects and retells traditional tales and ancient stories from around these isles and further afield and enjoys rearing pet leeches and practicing the Dark Arts. In the daytime, he is usually found doing his ‘normal job’ of lurking in the dark towers of Newcastle Castle, where he is the Learning Manager. In this chat, we talk about the Newcastle Witch Trials, other witch cases from the region, and two of Newcastle's most famous cunning men. Follow Dave on the socials at @davetaleteller or check out Newcastle Castle @newcastlecastle or www.newcastlecastle.co.uk Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Margery Jourdemayne and the Coggeshall Witch with Deborah Hyde (00:43:37)
In this third episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I'm talking to Deborah Hyde, an author, presenter and producer who has written for periodicals such as The Guardian and The Fortean Times, and who specialises in the subject of weird belief. For ten years, Deborah was Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic and is a fellow of The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. She makes frequent TV appearances, being a regular contributor to 'Strange Evidence' and 'Mysteries at the Museum', and has presented insights in some of BBC iPlayer’s most successful recent podcasts such as 'Uncanny', 'The Battersea Poltergeist' and 'Lady Swindlers'. In this chat, we talk about Margery Jourdemayne as an example of a cunning woman caught up in royal politics, Widow Coman, one of the Coggeshall Witches who was targeted relatively late in 1699, and how witchcraft accusations changed to suit the times. Find Deborah online: DeborahHyde.com Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Witches in History and Superstition with Willow Winsham (00:48:30)
In this second episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I'm talking to Willow Winsham, an author and historian specialising in folklore, and the history of the English witch trials. Her books include the highly popular Treasury of Folklore series from Batsford Books, and Accused: British Witches Throughout History from Pen and Sword Books. Her passion for uncovering fascinating topics and dedication to impeccable research guarantees an accessible and engaging read, whatever the subject. Willow is also co-founder of #FolkloreThursday, the popular website and social media phenomenon dedicated to sharing folklore, fairytales and traditions from across the globe. When not writing, Willow spends her time crocheting, delving into family history research, and indulging an ever-growing board game habit. She lives in Derbyshire with her three children and two British Shorthair cats. In this chat, we talk about how witches appear in history, why there is such an ongoing fascination with the witch, and Helen Duncan, the last woman tried under the 1735 Witchcraft Act! Order The Story of Witches: Folklore, History and Superstition: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781849949064 Find Willow on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/willowwinsham.bsky.social Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Cunning Folk and Practical Magic with Dr Tabitha Stanmore (00:52:30)
In this first episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I'm talking to Dr Tabitha Stanmore! She's a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Exeter on the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch Hunt Project, investigating the people affected by the 1640s witch trials in eastern England. Her doctoral research was funded by the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (part of the AHRC), and published as Love Spells and Lost Treasure: Service magic in England from the later Middle Ages to the early modern era by Cambridge University Press. She has appeared on Radio 3’s Free Thinking and BBC Radio London discussing magic in the early modern period, written for The Conversation, and TIME Magazine and BBC History Magazine, among others. Her debut non-fiction book CUNNING FOLK was published by The Bodley Head (UK) and Bloomsbury (US) in 2024, and the paperback came out on 28 May! In this chat, we talk about what cunning folk are and how they differ from witches, how members of different classes approached magic and what they used it for, and why Magic Studies is such a valuable approach to history! Get your copy of Cunning Folk: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781529931563 Find Tabitha online: https://www.tabithastanmore.co.uk/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Finding the Lort Burn, One of Newcastle's Buried Rivers (00:28:08)
Much is often made of London's lost rivers, like the Tyburn, Fleet, and Walbrook. Yet Newcastle upon Tyne also has rivers we cannot see. Ours are not lost, rather they're simply buried. The Skinnerburn, Erick Burn, Pandon Burn, Lam Burn, and Lort Burn all continue to flow beneath the city, down to the mighty Tyne. The Lort Burn is perhaps the most well-known of the buried rivers. Originally called the Dene Burn, it gained its new name of Lort Burn in the later 14th century. Some sources say 'Lort' comes from an Old Norse word meaning 'filth' or 'excrement'. The Story of the Tyne: And the Hidden Rivers of Newcastle gives the rough route of the Lort Burn. I've followed it as best I can given the current street layout, picking up the ghost stories and legends that lie along its route. Let's go and explore them in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/lort-burn-route/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Ghosts, Lantern Men, and Treasure in the Norfolk Broads (00:17:41)
The Broads National Park, often known as the Norfolk Broads, is one of the UK's 15 National Parks. Seven rivers and over sixty waterways called Broads comprise the park. In the medieval era, locals dug peat from the land for fuel. By the 14th century, these channels flooded and created the Broads. They'd become a popular boating destination by the 19th century. Here in the 21st century, the park is Britain's largest protected wetland. Unsurprisingly, the Park is also home to spectres, Otherworldly beings, and bogey beasts. Perhaps Norfolk's most famous resident is Black Shuck. Yet there are also ghostly monks, phantom drummers, and the malicious Lantern Men. Let's go and meet them in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/norfolk-broads/ Seances and the Female Medium in British Cinema talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seances-and-the-female-medium-in-british-cinema-with-icy-sedgwick-zoom-tickets-1249421837349 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
- Geomany & Practical Divination with Dr Alex Cummins (01:06:31)
Dr Alexander Cummins is a contemporary cunning-man and historian of magic. His magical specialities are the dead (folk necromancy), divination (geomancy), the cunning-crafts of traditional British service magic, and the grimoires. His published works include The Black Raven with Brian Johnson, Nazarth: Pillars of Gladness, The Art of Cyprian’s Mirror of Four Kings, An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke with Phil Legard, A Book of the Magi, The Starry Rubric, and a host of essays in collections by both occult and academic publishers. Al is a frequent speaker on the international circuit, and co-hosts the podcast Radio Free Golgotha. Dr Cummins’ work, classes, and services can be found at www.alexandercummins.com." In this chat, we talk about geomancy, how it works as a form of divination, how it can be used for more magical operations, and just why more people need to use titles like 'service magician'. Enjoy! Find Al online at: https://www.alexandercummins.com His other links are here: https://linktr.ee/grimoiresontape Order The Black Raven: https://hadean.press/products/the-black-raven Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/