The Folklore Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Family Matters Episode 1 Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 1 of “Family Matters” - a folk horror roleplaying adventure set in the fictional village of Solemn Vale. Located somewhere in the South West of England, an idyllic facade of rural bliss masks a dark and sinister side of a community riddled with malevolence and corruption.

Solemn Vale is a narrative driven storytelling game where the players tell abhorrent tales of horror and the supernatural, making it a perfect mechanism for us to explore, through storytelling and narrative, ways of incorporating folklore into the everyday. If you want an easy-to-understand hint into the style of the game, think about the classic folk horror stable of films such as The Wicker Man or Blood on Satan’s Claw.

Produced in collaboration with Red Moon Roleplaying

Music by ProtoU, courtesy of CryoChamber

Storyteller: Matthew Dawkins

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Please note that this content is not suitable for children.

Bonus Content 02: Easter Traditions in Europe Apr 12, 2020

Show notes

Folklore Podcast creator Mark Norman presents a series of short bonus articles looking at Easter traditions in various parts of Europe, researched and written by members of the podcast volunteer team.

Contributors: Selene Paxton-Brooks, Pola Sciavone, Joana Varanda and Lara C Cory.

Support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Episode 73 - THE BARD OF CUMBERLAND Apr 04, 2020

Show notes

In the last episode of The Folklore Podcast to be recorded out of the confines of a house, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Hedge Druid Stephen G. Rae (known as The Bard of Cumberland) discusses his path as a druid with podcast volunteer Joana Varanda. The conversation takes in such diverse elements as Cumberland and Tibetan folklore, yeti, boggarts, being a druid and more, along with some traditional folk tales.

Music: Celtic Impulse Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon for additional content. Visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Bonus Content 01 Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

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.

Episode 72 - THE LAMBTON WORM Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

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. CookeArtwork donated by Laura Page. Visit her website here Click here to support the Folklore Podcast on Patreon.

Episode 71- GHOSTLAND Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

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

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Episode 70 - THE STORY KEEPER Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

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, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Episode 69 - TAFFY THOMAS MBE Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

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.

Episode 68 - ZMEY Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

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/

Episode 67 - CELTIC AND WESTERN EUROPEAN FAIRIES Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

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

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