Trust not in Sprites nor the motivations of a Gnome.
~Jefferson Smith
art by E. Stuart Hardy (1900)
#folkloresunday #bookchatweekly
The mischievous household fairy is known by many names across the Welsh border, from Bwgan to Boogie, Bwbach to Hobgoblin. These supernatural creatures were known to help with chores in return for a bowl of cream. In some regions they took the shape of a cricket #folkloresunday
Bluebells are associated with both witches and fairies in Scotland. Bluebell woods are gathering places for fairies, while witches use the flowers in spells to transform into hares. #FolkloreSunday #Scotland #bluebells
Ogo's hole in Llanymynech, Shropshire is said to be the entrance to the Fairy world. An old, blind fiddler once wandered in by accident but never returned. Only the sound of his music was left behind to be heard by the folk in the cellars of the village inn #FolkloreSunday
Ethereal beauty🤍
Swans are an important motif in Robert Galbraith's #Strike & I wrote about swan maiden #folklore of Lethal White here!🦢
hogwartsprofessor.com/liminal-women-…
#FolkloreSunday 🦢 #SwanDay 🦢
Herefordshire folk had peculiar methods of detecting witches. It was said that their malicious presence could be discovered by hammering a tenpenny nail into their footprint. If guilty the witch would be in agony & would have to backtrack to draw it out #folkloresunday
According to Scandinavian folklore, fairies are shapeshifters that can take on various guises. Sometimes they take the form of insects or frogs, and other times they appear as a white mist hovering above the meadow. They can also be invisible.
#FolkloreSunday
The land whispers stories of treachery. During a famine, a fairy gave the people of Stapeley a magical cow who supplied endless milk. But one night an evil witch milked her through a sieve. The cow disappeared and the witch was turned to stone as punishment #folkloresunday
#Folklore Sunday Shropshire’s Eponymous hero, Wild Edric was enamoured with his fairy bride. Whilst lost in the forest of Clun, he saw her dancing with her sisters, and stole her away for his own. They are said to ride together during the wild hunt.
#Shropshire #Folklore
In Norse mythology, Dökkálfar ('Dark Elves') and Ljósálfar ('Light Elves')are two contrasting types of elves; the dark elves dwell within the earth and have a dark complexion, while the light elves live in Álfheimr, and are 'fairer than the sun to look at'. 🧵
#FolkloreSunday
In Icelandic legend, elves are said to inhabit the large volcanic rocks found all over the island. Locals will sometimes paint doors on the rocks or construct tiny houses on them, making little shrines to mark where the elves are so they won't get disturbed.
#FolkloreSunday
It was considered a perilous & ignorant act to offend the fairies across the Welsh Marches. According to folklore if a farmer should forget to leave out a saucer of milk for them it would lead to the birth of disfigured or two headed animals as revenge. #folkloresunday
