The Folklore Podcast

John Billingsley: ​Soft Power: the emergence of modern apotropaics in Albania   In the traumatic political upheavals that followed the overthrow of Albania’s Communist state, Albanians found that traditional apotropaics may have had metaphysical efficacy, but couldn’t protect them from capitalist evils. The result was the creation of a new apotropaic device that cynically reflects capitalist disposable culture as well as universal sentiment, and has an echo in contemporary western culture.

​Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman presents a study of the serpent-like creature of UK folklore, The Lambton Worm, and its place in the wider lore of dragons and similar creatures. Featuring guest contributions and a look at a new audio drama featuring the beast. Folk singer Roly Veitch performs the traditional song associated with the worm (click here to visit his website), Director Steven Sloss discusses the audio drama (available here).Musical guest: L.M. Cooke​Artwork donated by Laura Page. Visit her website here​Click here to support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon.

Author Edward Parnell joins The Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman to discuss his book 'Ghostland', which examines the intersections between folklore, folk horror, the landscape and literature. Musical guests: The Last Inklings Support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast for exclusive extra content

In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, we hear from author of dark historical fiction Anna Mazzola about her book 'The Story Keeper'... A dark tale of folklore and disappearances on the Isle of Skye. Audrey Hart travels to Skye and to the mansion of a reclusive folklorist to collect the folk and fairy tales of the local people. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up in the bay beneath Lanerly, and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds Anna discusses her research and the ways that she negotiates history and folklore to produce fiction based on historical fact and narrative. This episode is closed with music from singer/songwriter Sharron Kraus. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon, plea

Released during National Storytelling Week 2020, this episode of The Folklore Podcast features guest interviewer Joana Varanda in discussion with British storytelling legend, and the first Storyteller Laureate Taffy Thomas MBE about his life and work. Taffy is the patron of the Society for Storytelling, has received the English Folk Dance and Song Society Gold Badge Award and his repertoire of around 300 stories, collected mostly by the traditional oral methods, makes him the most well known and respected of all English storytellers.

We present a recording of a performance by Bulgarian/English storytelling group 'A Spell in Time', recorded live in 2013 at the Folklore Society's Beasts in Legend and Tradition conference at Paignton Zoo. Storyteller Moni Sheehan and musician Ivor Davies discuss the Bulgarian dragon known as the Zmey. The episode is closed by special musical guest Polly Preacher. Folklore Podcast Patreon: www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast A Spell in Time: https://www.spellintime.co.uk/ Polly Preacher: https://pollypreacher.bandcamp.com/

Season 5 of The Folklore Podcast kicks off with a special extended episode. Host Mark Norman is joined by author Morgan Daimler to discuss their book 'A New Dictionary of Fairies' which builds on the research done by eminent folklorist Katharine Briggs, focusing on fairies in the Celtic and Western European traditions. Support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast Visit Morgan's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MorganDaimler Featured music guest, Chalk Horse Music: www.chalkhorsemusic.com

This special bonus episode of the Folklore Podcast, presented while the show is dark during December, gives listeners the chance to hear a talk on the folklore-rich Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by two very well-respected presenters. Recorded at the Gothic Horror festival Hell Tor in November 2019, screenwriter Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch, Gothic) and actor and film historian Jonathan Rigby (English Gothic, American Gothic) discuss the development of the story of The Hound by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, look at some of the local stories which informed it, and talk through some of the film and TV adaptations of the story over the years. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Compared to the amount of folklore surrounding death customs and beliefs, there is little discussion about the beginning of our timelines - the traditions relating to pregnancy and birth. Redressing the balance, on this episode of The Folklore Podcast host Mark Norman is joined by Jemma Nicholls, a doula who has recently begun developing workshops looking specifically at these traditions and customs. Jemma has been researching these areas for some time, leading to the putting together of her new workshop entitled Charms and Childbirth. Website: www.thefolklorepodcast.com Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast Twitter: www.twitter.com/folklorepod

The rugged coastlines of the county of Cornwall, on the south-western tip of the UK, are etched with stories. Here you’ll find tales of powerful mermaids, spiteful witches, crafty smugglers and woeful ghosts. Up on the moors are mischievous creatures, huge giants and elusive beasts. Joining the creator of The Folklore Podcast Mark Norman on this episode of the podcast is Cornish folklore writer Anna Chorlton. Through her new book, Cornish Folk Tales of Place, Anna retells collected tales of North and East Cornwall. These stories were recorded through a community project called Mazed Tales, which can be found on the internet at www.mazedtales.org. Anna discusses the project, her writing and folklore collecting in Cornwall historically, and more.  

Russian hereditary witch,occultist and witchcraft scholar Natasha Helvin joins podcast host Mark Norman to discuss the beliefs, traditions and practices associated with witchcraft in the Slavic tradition. In what ways is this similar to other traditional witchcraft practices and how does it differ? To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

The Girl Who Speaks Bear is Sophie Anderson's second book based around traditional Russian folk tales. Despite having only been published for a short time, she has already been shortlisted for a whole raft of awards - the Carnegie Medal, Children's Fiction Book of the Year, the Waterstones prize and many more. On this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman talks to Sophie about Russian folklore, why it is important to her and how she uses it in her writing as a storytelling mechanism. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon to keep the show ad-free, and enjoy extra content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

In 1977, a set of three childrens books were published which would go on to become a cult classic. Among the most borrowed (and probably most stolen) from school libraries across the country, these three titles made up the Usborne Mysteries of the Unknown series. Individually, they were the Worlds of the Unknown that looked at Ghosts, Monsters and UFOs. Recently, an internet petition and campaign ran to bring back the most loved of these three titles, Ghosts. In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman discusses the importance of this book with Usborne staff member Anna Howorth (who launched the campaign to bring the book back) and director of the animated film 'Borley Rectory', Ashley Thorpe.   To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon and help keep all episodes ad-free, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Belief in magic and particularly the power of witchcraft was once a deep and enduring presence in popular culture; people created and concealed many objects to protect themselves from harmful magic. Brian Hoggard's book, Magical House Protection examines the principal forms of protection in Britain and beyond from the fourteenth century to the present day. Witch-bottles, dried cats, horse skulls, written charms, protection marks and concealed shoes were all used widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative energies. Many of these practices and symbols can be found around the globe, demonstrating the universal nature of efforts by people to protect themselves from witchcraft.In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, Brian discusses at length both the contents of the book and his extensive research project which has accumulated over 2,000 examples since it started in 1999.

1686, Iceland. A wild, isolated landscape that can swallow a man without so much as a volcanic gasp, where superstitious Icelanders are haunted by all-too-recent memories of witch trials. Such is the setting for the novel "The Glass Woman", written by the special guest on this episode of The Folklore Podcast, Caroline Lea. The book is variously described as 'rich in superstition and mystery' and 'both chilling and beguiling'. Caroline joins podcast creator and host Mark Norman to discuss her research into the folklore and superstition of historic Iceland, how she came to weave it into her novel, and more general thoughts on landscape and tradition. Help to keep The Folklore Podcast freely available by supporting us on Patreon with a small monthly donation at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

The country of Iceland is both bleak and beautiful in equal measure, and is also home to some of the darker aspects of folklore and belief. In this first of two episodes of the podcast looking at Icelandic Lore through the lens of popular authors, host Mark Norman is joined by bestselling Icelandic crime novelist Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Yrsa has lived in Iceland her whole life and has woven many aspects of its folklore into her award-winning crime novels. She discusses her memories of folklore as a child and those stories which resonate today. To support The Folklore Podcast and access extra content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman is joined by comedian and author Jem Roberts to discuss his new book, 'Tales of Britain'. A number of years in the compiling and producing, Tales of Britain takes 77 well known and more obscure folk tales from around the country and retells them for the 21st century, along with a unique travel guide which allows the reader to visit the locations in which they were set. To support the Folklore Podcast and access extra content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

The second of two interviews examining themes of witchcraft. Following on from the last episode of Cunning Folk, in this episode of the podcast Mark Norman is joined by Marion Gibson, Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at the University of Exeter. Marion discusses her latest book, 'Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft' and the unique degree course on magic and witchcraft that she teaches at the University. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

PhD researcher Tabitha Stanmore joins the Folklore Podcast creator and host Mark Norman, and historian Tracey Norman, to discuss her research into the role of the service magician in history. Spanning the years from c. 1350 to c. 1650, Tabitha researches how magic was practiced and by whom, whether this changed over the period, and how magical practice was affected by perspectives on gender. She also explores the extent to which magic was tolerated at different social strata, from the employment of village cunning folk to magic's use at the English royal court. To support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

The landscape that surrounds us is rich in folklore connected with the plants and flowers that dwell within it. Some of these are old and connect with the world of fairy. Some are more modern and relate to invasive species. All are fascinating. In this episode of the Folklore Podcast, storyteller and environmentalist Lisa Schneidau discusses the research which went into her book "Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland" and tells some of the stories related to our plant-based beliefs. To support the Folklore Podcast please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast