Whenever you go looking for artworks to illustrate articles about folklore and mythology, one name keeps popping up. That’s Victorian artist, John William Waterhouse. He used many myths and legends to inspire his work, including the literary varieties available via the Romantic poets. In this article, let’s explore the link between folklore and art within […]
folklore
Telling Magpie Rhymes: Predicting the Future with Magpies
Magpies are an incredibly common sight around Britain. They’re also well-represented in British bird lore. They appear as both omens of death and a fixture in a popular form of divination, the magpie rhymes. According to Lynx at Druidry.org, there are 20 species of magpie and treepie. The common magpie is exactly that in the […]
British Big Cats: Ice Age Survivors or Escaped Illicit Pets?
After the wolf became extinct in Britain, the badger became “Britain’s largest native carnivore” (Goss 1992: 184). Yet that hasn’t stopped people from claiming the existence of mysterious British big cats in the countryside. They’re also referred to as alien big cats. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud note the existence of 304 press items from […]
The Folklore of Time: Clocks, Calendars, and Church Bells
Time is one of those things that we never seem to have enough of. When we’re enjoying ourselves, it zips by too quickly. Yet when you’re stuck in a boring situation, it seems to slow down to a crawl. But how does time relate to folklore? A Patreon supporter requested a blog post on humanity’s […]
Find the lost Temple of Mithras under London!
Do you want to see a Roman temple in London? Well, start off on Queen Victoria Street, with the Bank of England behind you. Head south down Walbrook towards Cannon Street. You’ll pass Starbucks on your left, and the Bloomberg building on your right. But look closer at the shining office block as you pass. […]
Roman gods in Newcastle upon Tyne: Neptune and Oceanus
Newcastle upon Tyne sits on an ancient site of human occupation. So it’s hardly surprising that offerings to Roman gods can be found among its archaeology. In 2018, I spotted these altars in the Great North Museum at Hancock. I’m fascinated by the way Roman gods show up in Britain, so I decided to delve […]
