Folktales

Celtic Year

Whatever names we give to them now many of our modern day festivals owe their existence to...

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Imbolc

February 1"Imbolc" is from Old Irish, and may mean "in the belly", and Oimelc, "ewe's milk", as...

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Lugnasad

August 1 (July 31 August Eve)(loo-na-sa)  Lugnasad was the beginning of the harvest and was a...

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Samhain

November 1Samhain is pronounced as 'sow-in' (in Ireland), or 'sow-een' (in Wales), or 'sav-en' (in...

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Alban Arthuan

December 21("The Light of Arthur") The winter solstice was the shortest day of the year and...

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Alban Eiler

Around March 21Ostara or Vernal (spring) Equinox is the point of equilibrium - the balance is...

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Alban Elfed

September 21Autumn Equinox / Mabon / Alban Elfed. The autumnal equinox occurs when the sun crosses...

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Pam the Fiddler

Pam the Fiddler

The tale takes place around Our Ladies Well in Threshfield, near Linton in Craven. The well was...

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Harewood Grove

ECHO MEMORIES: TAKE A STROLL WHERE THE GHOST HOUNDS ROAMED From the Northern Echo, first published...

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The Lambton Worm

The Lambton Worm

The story of the Lambton worm is perhaps the most famous of the dragon/worm/wyvern stories that...

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Elf Bull

Jamieson's Northern Antiquities gives the story of the most famous of the Crodh Mara, the cow bred...

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Ainsel the Fairy

A widow and her little boy lived in a cottage near Rothley, Northumberland. One Winters night the...

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Cherry of Zennor

A version of the story of the Fairy Widower, which appears in Robert Hunt's, Popular Romances of...

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Corpse Roads

Corpse roads provided a practical means of allowing the transport of corpses to cemeteries that...

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The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern, Western and Central...

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Fairy Clothes

The fairies of Britain vary as much in dress as they do in appearance and size. Most people, asked...

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Elemental Fairy

The belief that fairies were elementals - creatures made only of earth, fire, air or water - seems...

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Fairy Lore

There is an ancient and universal belief inherent in all the native religions of the existence of...

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Fairy Funerals

Allan Cunningham in his LIVES OF EMINENT BRITISH PAINTERS records that William Blake claimed to...

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Fairy Glamor

Glamor is the word for the magical abilities that are always attributed to faeries. Much of it...

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Fairy Locations

Faeries can be found in a wide variety of places, indeed almost anywhere in the world, and several...

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Fairy Origins

There are many myths that describe the origins of the faeries, and almost all of them are...

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Fairy Rade

The Fairy Rade, or procession, was a matter of great importance. It took place on the coming in of...

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Fairy Animals

The very numerous fairy animals, of which there are many traditions in the British Isles, may be...

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Fairy Defect

Among the many beliefs held about the fairies, there is one strand which describes them as...

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Nature Fairies

Most nature fairies are the descendents of pre-Christian Gods and Goddesses, or of the spirits of...

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Fairy Visits

Clean Hearth - The first recipe in old days for encouraging fairy visits and gaining fairy favours...

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Urisk

The Urisk is an extremely hideous creature with deeply wrinkled skin, patches of hair, feathers...

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Verry Volk

The name of the fairies in Gower of Wales. In some parts of Wales Tylwyth Teg is never used to...

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Corpse candles

Corpse candles and other related phenomena A Corpse candle or light is a flame or ball of light...

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Raven

They slept until the black raven, the blithe hearted proclaimed the joy of heaven- Beowulf...

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Owl

Owls are one of the oldest species of vertebrate animal in existence, fossils have been found...

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Adder

As the only poisonous snake in the British Isles the adder has a reputation for wisdom,...

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Goose

(or Gessa, plur. for Geis) Singular: Geas(gaysh), plural: Gease(gaysha).Caesar said the goose was...

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Fish

In Celtic tradition spirits have been associated with springs and wells from the earliest times....

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Badger

Famed for its tenacity and courage, the badger has entered folklore as the most unyelding animal;...

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Bat

A creature of frequent association with the Moon and darkness. In China, bats were symbols of good...

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Bear

Animal lore explains the saying that children can be ‘licked into shape’. It was once believed...

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Bee

In early traditions bees were believed to have originated in paradise and were known as "little...

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Crow

'Crow' really means a family of closely related carrion-eating birds including the rook, raven,...

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Cuckoo

Cuckoos were thought to bring fine weather, although in Yorkshire it was said to be a sign of rain...

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Curlew

Sailors dreaded the melancholy cry of a curlew, for they believed that it was a warning from a...

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Dog

The dog or hound has ever been a faithful servant of humanity and this is reflected in British...

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Birds

Birds serve throughout the entire Celtic tradition as symbols of divinity and as messengers and...

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Blackbird

The blackbird has ever been one of Britain's most melodious songsters and this is doubtless why...

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Boar

Brahan Seer. The wild boar, once commonly hunted throughout the British Isles is now only to be...

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Bull

Originally the lunar symbol of the Great Mother with the horns representing the Crescent Moon, the...

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Cat

Unlike dogs and horses they were said to be fond of ghosts and purr whenever they encounter them....

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Cock

As recently as the 19th century, a Midland builder buried a cock in the church foundations to...

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Cow

So central to the economy of Britain and Ireland was the cow in early times that it was considered...

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Fionn

He was also a poet and seer, who received his training from an old bard named Finnegas on the...

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Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn is confronted by swans once again as a man, at the great feast of Samhain, which is...

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Tir Nan Og

Tir Nan Og is the land to which the Irish faeries known as Tuatha de Danann fled when their lands...

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Unseelie Court

(Unblessed Court) The Unsellie Court contains the most malicious, malevolent and evil of the...

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Celts in Battle

Some accounts speak of how the Celts would roar and bang on their shield taunting their enemies...

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Celts and Birth

Up until 150 years ago a baby had only an even chance of living past its 5th birthday, because so...

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Bruidne

Translated as meaning 'hostels', the bruidne of ancient Ireland are depicted as centres of...

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Cauldron

The cauldron was the prime female symbol of the pre-Christian world. Among the Celts, the Three...

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Crom Cruach Idol

An idol set up on the plain of Magh Slécht, 'Plain of Adoration', near the present village of...

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Wicca

The pentagram, a symbol of faith used by many Wiccans.Wicca (pronounced /ˈwɪkə/) is a neopagan,...

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