Folkrealm Studies
  • Folkrealm Studies
    • Eskimo Folktales: The Red Skeleton
    • Paiute Mythology: The Legend of the North Star
    • Scottish legends: The each-uisge
    • Scottish legends: The Cu Sith
    • The Last Song of Thomas the Rhymer
    • Legendary places: Dozmary Pool. Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
    • Chalice Well, Glastonbury, Somerset
    • Legendary places: Wishing Wells
    • Mystery, Murder and Magic at the Rollright Stones
    • Joseph of Arimathea
    • The Glastonbury Thorn
    • Victorian mysteries: Spring-heeled Jack
    • Brutus of Troy, first King of Britain
    • Beowulf - Hero of the age
    • The Mermaid of Blake Mere Pool, Staffordshire, England
    • A legend of the white hare
    • Sunken Bells: The Legend of the Kentsham Bell
    • Dartmoor folklore: Vixiana the Witch of Vixen Tor
    • Origins of the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival
    • Japanese folktales: The stonecutter
    • Japanese folktales: The Bamboo cutter and the Moon-child
    • Russian folktales: The Fool and the flying ship
    • European Folktales: The Hunter and the Swan Maiden
    • To love a Swan Maiden
    • The Swan Maiden's challenge
    • German Fairy Tales: The Six Swans
    • The Evolution of Christmas
    • Introduction to Chilote mytholgy
    • Chilote mythology: The Royal Family of the Sea
    • El Caleuche: The ghost ship of Chilote folklore
    • Supernatural beings in Chilote mythology
    • Corineus, first Duke of Cornwall
    • Cornish folklore
    • Cornish legends: The tasks of Jan Tregeagle
    • Jack the Giant-killer fights Cormoran the Giant
    • Cornish legends: The Mermaid of Zennor
    • Cornish Folklore: The Witch of Treva
    • Lost Worlds
    • Lost Worlds: The drowning of the city of Ys
    • Lost worlds: The town beneath Kenfig Pool
    • Lost worlds: The drowned Russian city of Kitezh
    • Lost worlds: Cantre’r Gwaelod of Wales
    • Lost worlds: El Dorado
    • Lost worlds: The sunken realm of Tyno Helig
    • Lost worlds: Semerwater
    • Lost worlds: The town beneath Lake Bala
    • Lost Worlds: The Hidden Cherokees of Pilot Mountain
    • Welsh mythology
    • Welsh legends: The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach
    • Welsh legends: King March's ears
    • Welsh legends: The Afanc of the River Conwy
    • Welsh legends: The birth of Taliesin
    • The Legend of the Church of the White Stag
    • Welsh legends: Mereid of Cantre’r Gwaelod
    • Publications by zteve t evans
    • Tales of the Lost, the Drowned and the All-Seeing Eye: Vengeance Will Come!
    • Folkrealm Tidings
    • Policies, Terms and Conditions, Disclaimers and Notices

The Legend of Lady Godiva

2/8/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureSketch of Lady Godiva - Public Domain
The popular legend of how Lady Godiva rode naked on horse back through the streets of Coventry to save the people from a crippling and unjust tax known as the Heregild, is one of the most renowned stories in British folklore. The Heregild was a tax imposed on the English by the Danish King Canute to pay for his body guard.

According to the legend the event happened on a market day and had profoundly beneficial consequences for the people of Coventry.  The problem with legends is that there are often more than one versions of the same story and events that happened in the distant past get changed and exaggerated until it is difficult to discern the accuracy of accounts.  This article presents a version of the popular legend of Lady Godiva as it exists today and has been put together from a number of other versions.  It is the first of a planned series on the subject each of which will present different view points on the legend, such as the historical and pagan contexts of the story.
  Read more

0 Comments

The story of the Centaurs in Greek mythology

2/8/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureDrawing of centaur - Pearson Scott Foresman - Public Domain
n Greek mythology the Centaurs are also known as the Kentauroi. They are beings that are semi horse and semi human. Their torso and head are in human form, and their body is the form of a horse. Being half human and half animal they were in continuous conflict with themselves and the world around them.

Some scholars think that the Centaur represents a conflict in human nature. Being half human and half animal, the Centaurs could not fully bring into being their humanity resulting in their nature becoming increasingly bestial and wild and, in effect, caught between two worlds. The fact that even a few such as Chiron manage to overcome this condition suggests that in the end they were capable of redemption from savagery.  Read more

0 Comments

The legendary Robin Hood

2/8/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureRobin and Sir Guy - Public Domain
The legendary adventures of Robin Hood and his Merry Men are among the best known and popular folk tales of the British Isles.  In different forms of adaption they have won worldwide fame and popularity.  As well as the swashbuckling action there is the popular appeal of a hero with the highest ideals and integrity who robs the rich to give to the poor.

A working class hero In earlier versions of the legend his status was that of a yeoman who had fallen foul of the law through injustice.  In this role as a working class hero he successfully cocks a snook at the law and authority, gaining much sympathy and support from the peasants and yeomanry who saw themselves as oppressed by an all powerful royal hierarchy.

Sherwood Forest

In Robin’s day Sherwood was one of the Royal Forests and was subject to the Forest Laws.  These were designed to protect the game such as deer, boar, wolves or hares and game birds for the benefit of the king.

The penalty for breaking them was notoriously harsh. People living in or around a Royal Forest were subject to these laws and they were believed to be the cause of much resentment.  The forest and everything in it belonged to the king and he alone could give permission for its use.  This would only be given to his barons and noblemen on license and at a price.  Ordinary people could not hunt, clear or cultivate land within in its bounds. 
Read more

0 Comments

Folklore around the Northern and Southern Lights

2/8/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureNorthern lights (Aurora Borealis)
The northern lights and the southern lights are natural phenomena that occur in the night skies over the polar regions of the planet. Today, we know they are caused by gas molecules in the atmosphere colliding with solar particles. This releases energy as light and creates colorful displays of light that display in fold-like shapes, streamers, rays, arches and many other amazing forms.

The northern lights are also known as ‘Aurora borealis’ and the southern lights as ‘Aurora australis.’ In Roman mythology Aurora was the goddess of the dawn, so Aurora borealis means ‘dawn of the north,’ and Aurora australis means dawn of the south.

They can be very beautiful and awe-inspiring and at the same time mysterious and even frightening. Many different cultural and ethnic groups who lived in places where they are seen have developed many myths and legends to try and explain and make meaning of them in their own terms.  Read more


0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Author

    zteve t evans

    Categories

    All
    British Folk Songs
    Celtic Mythology
    English Folklore
    European Folktales
    Festivals
    Greek Mythology
    Hungarian Mythology
    Isle Of Man Folklore
    News
    North American Legend
    Symbols And Words
    Urban Legends
    Welsh Folklore
    World Mythology

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from trenchdroid, ferjflores, jarnocan, johan wieland, Muffet, Gwydion M. Williams, blachswan, AlicePopkorn2, beggs, USFS Region 10