The Queen of the Fairies is sometimes named Queen Mab, depending on the source material. She’s also known as the Queen of Elfland, the Queen of Elphame, and Titania. So who is Mab? Does she come from English folklore, or is Mab the name given by playwrights and poets to the Queen in folklore? Let’s […] The post Who is Queen Mab? Queen of the Fairies in Folklore or in Literature? appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Few figures loom as large in British legend as King Arthur. Noble king, fair-minded monarch, mighty warrior – Arthur ends up taking on all of these roles at various points, and often a few more besides. His first appearance that can be dated is in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum by Nennius. He also pops up […] The post King Arthur in Folklore: A Sleeping King Or A Giant? appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

The hill figures of southern England are enigmatic artworks, standing out with their stark white lines against the green grass of their home slopes. They’re mostly found on chalk hills, where the chalk provides the white outlines. People hotly debate their ages, with many keen to see them as pre-Christian landmarks that somehow survived over […] The post The Folklore of Hill Figures: White Horses and Naked Giants appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Whether we’re looking at barrows, cromlechs, or dolmens, ancient burial sites hold a certain fascination. Folklore about these monuments is often linked to graves, which is right, but the graves are set in the wrong era, such as Vikings, medieval period, or Civil War (Simpson and Roud 2003: 18). Sometimes people believed giants rested in […] The post Folklore of Barrows: Tales of Fairies, Gods, Ghosts, & the Devil appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Mention stone circles to many people, and they’ll think of people gathering at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise. Or hulking megaliths looming out of the mist on a lonely moor, the sheep being careful to only graze outside the circle. They’re certainly evocative, if nothing else. As with the standing stones that we covered last […] The post Folklore of Stone Circles: Petrified Dancers and Countless Stones appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

There’s something awesome yet eerie about encountering standing stones in the landscape. Why are they there? Who put them there? And how did they put them there? The fact we can’t often answer these questions helps add to their mystery. Standing stones go by a range of names, such as lith (i.e. megalith) or menhir. […] The post The Folklore of Standing Stones, Megaliths, and Menhirs appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Archaeological evidence reveals a close relationship between people and the spiritual world back to the Bronze Age. Springs often reveal ritual deposits, such as those found at the head of the Seine. It’s unsurprising that humans would continue this water-based relationship via wells. For some scholars, wells had either a patron deity or a guardian […] The post The Folklore of Wells: Healing, Wishing, Divining, and Cursing appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Forests are ambivalent places, both beautiful and tranquil, yet also dangerous to the unwary. They’ve always been a source of resources for people, which is either embraced or exploited. As a result, there is a whole class of folklore involving forest protectors, spirits who guard the woods and all the animals within. These protectors ensure […] The post The Folklore of Forest Protectors and Guardians appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Mushrooms have captured humanity’s attention for thousands of years. They appear in rock art, illuminated manuscripts, and more recently in plenty of 19th and early 20th century fairy illustrations. And who can forget the mushrooms in Alice in Wonderland? Fungi may have arrived on land some 700 million years ago. Scientists estimate there are anywhere […] The post Fungi Folklore, Or the Mysterious Forest Fruit appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more

Walk through any woodland in Britain and you’ll no doubt be able to pick out the forest celebrities. Think ash, oak, and pine. But a healthy forest is full of a diverse range of woodland trees, each with their own legends and folklore. They also have party tricks that see them give back to the […] The post The Folklore of Woodland Trees: Alder, Birch & Blackthorn appeared first on Icy Sedgwick ..read more