Tag Archives: folklore

John Matthews’ The Summer Solstice: Celebrating the Journey of the Sun from May Day to Harvest

Celebrating seasonal rituals today is often like picking from a smorgasbord of hearty, simple dishes from diverse locales: deliberately rustic and mismatched, taken slightly out of context, but satisfying in a self conscious way. Solar rituals seem to be central … Continue reading

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Book Review: Four titles by folklorist Dr. Jeana Jorgensen

Dr. Jeana Jorgensen has been writing about folklore, fairy tales, and sex for ten years. Often these topics intersect in her work. Recently she has assembled that decade’s worth of academic papers and blog posts about this material and released … Continue reading

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Daithi Ó hÓgáin’s The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopedia of Myth, Legend and Romance

“The Lore of Ireland” is a magical phrase, calling up images of heroic deeds and fey enchantments, bloody treachery and shining honor, great warriors, cold queens of the Sidhe, leprechauns, cattle raids, enchanted groves, bards, prophecies — it’s sobering to … Continue reading

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Stephen Knight’s Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography

Robin Hood’s a myth, a fiction invented by countless storytellers down the centuries. Sure. Now go ahead explain why, according to the press release that came with this book, he is the only person of a fictitious nature in the … Continue reading

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J.C. Holt’s Robin Hood, and Stephen Knight’s Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw

Take no scorn to wear the horn It was the crest when you were born Your father’s father wore it And your father wore it to Robin Hood and Little John Have both gone to the fair o and we … Continue reading

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John Matthews’ (with Caitlin Matthews) The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas

Ye of weak or uncertain faith, enter not herein. For herein lies the dispelling of many myths and legends, or at least the ancient origins of the traditions we now associate with the winter holiday season. John Matthews has set … Continue reading

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Shatoiya de la Tour’s Earth Mother Herbal

Nellie Levine wrote this review. I’m not really an “earth mother” and my thumb is hardly green, but I do love using herbs both medicinally and in cooking, and I do love watching things grow. I see a sweet, special … Continue reading

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Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s The Age of Homespun

Subtitled “Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth,” The Age of Homespun is a collection of meticulously detailed historical yarns spun around a number of household artifacts created and initially used in New England during the late … Continue reading

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Josepha Sherman’s Rachel The Clever and Other Jewish Folktales

Chuck Lipsig wrote this review. Rachel the Clever is a collection of Jewish folktales from a variety of geographic and religious sources. The stories are generally well told, with the right touches of wit and clarity, though sometimes suffering for … Continue reading

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Josepha Sherman’s Jewish American Folklore, Trickster Tales, and Once Upon A Galaxy

I’ve known Josepha Sherman for over a decade now, ever since my high school days. I was originally attracted to her writing through the fantasy collaborations she did with Mercedes Lackey, and the welcoming, jovial nature of her newsgroup on … Continue reading

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