The Aran Islands lie in Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. They're made up of Inis Mór, Inis Mearn, and Inis Oírr. People have likely lived on the islands since c. 3000 BCE. Late Bronze Age and Iron Age ruins scatter the islands, alongside old churches and holy wells.

After the era of saints and pilgrimages, Elizabeth I unlawfully seized ownership of the islands in 1565 and in 1588, she sold them to the Lynch family. Oliver Cromwell took them back and passed them to his supporters. Absentee English landlords owned the islands until 1922.

They boast such fascinating sights as the Wormhole, believed to be the home of a giant serpent, and the remains of the ancient forts. The Aran Islands are also the home of the world-famous Aran sweaters!

Let's find out more about saints, ancient forts, and knitting lore in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/aran-islands-folklore/

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Hello, friends!

Our October theme for the podcast is (unsurprisingly) the supernatural. So I wanted to dedicate at least one episode to people's supernatural encounters, rather than focusing on what's in books or newspapers!

You can remain anonymous if you want, but if you choose to submit a story, I will need to know a few things about the encounter, like when and where it happened.

It doesn't have to just be ghosts, either! It can be anything you deem to be supernatural. I'll be reading the most fascinating or strangest ones on the podcast!

I'm not going to debunk anything, either - we're simply sharing the supernatural or weird things that have happened to us!

Click here to tell me about your encounter: https://forms.gle/hpcscensrDzVcKLk7

Ynys Enlli in north Wales is also known as Bardsey Island, and it's been a pilgrimage destination since the 6th century.

The island lies at the north end of Cardigan Bay, just off the tip of the Llŷn peninsula. Archaeological evidence shows human habitation on the island for at least four millennia.

But where does it get its mysterious name of the Isle of 20,000 Saints? How is it linked with King Arthur and Merlin? And could it be the true location of Avalon? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/bardsey-island/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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Kris Spisak earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the College of William and Mary, her master of liberal arts from the University of Richmond, and did further graduate work in fiction through the University of Iowa. She taught college writing courses at schools including Virginia Commonwealth University before stepping away from the classroom to pursue her own writing work. Kris has been spotlighted in Writer’s Digest and HuffPost for her work as an editor and author dedicated to helping other writers. She is the author of the novel The Baba Yaga Mask and the forthcoming work Becoming Baba Yaga, which we'll be talking about. Kris fully believes that well-written words and well-told stories have always changed the world and that they will continue to.

In this chat, we'll talk about Baba Yaga's towering presence in folklore, some of the legends in which she appears, and why she's still so important here in the 21st Century.

Pre-order Becoming Baba Yaga: https://amzn.to/3XsNTya

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Islay is an island to the west of Scotland, at the entrance to the Firth of Lorn. It's 25 miles north of Northern Ireland. Archaeological evidence shows people lived here from 8000 BCE, with evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age tombs and burial sites.

Columba and his missionaries brought Christianity to the island, which Norse raiders also adopted once they settled. Islay lay on the route between Ireland and Scandinavia, making it an easy stop for Vikings. The Hebrides only joined Scotland in 1266.

It's famous for distilling and farming, although tourism provides extra income. But what folklore does Islay have? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/islay-folklore/

Cemetery Lore Talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cemetery-lore-grave-markers-folk-cures-and-graveyard-ghosts-tickets-1000779637837?aff=oddtdtcreator

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, lies some 11.5 miles to the south east of Berwick-upon-Tweed, just off the coast of Northumberland. Only accessible at low tide, the island still possesses a mystical air, no doubt from its time as a Christian pilgrimage site.

Probably most famous as the production centre of the Lindisfarne Gospels, or the island that gave the folk-rock band Lindisfarne their name, the island was also the centre of the Cult of St Cuthbert in the Middle Ages.

But what folklore or legends has the island accrued over the years? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/lindisfarne-legends/

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It's easy for mythical birds to capture the imagination, whether it's the phoenix rising from the ashes, or Aethon eternally pecking Prometheus' liver. And let's not forget Odin with his ravens, Huginn and Muninn, or Memory and Thought. In Norse myth, they travelled out into the world and flew back to Odin to report on what was happening.

Not all mythical birds are benevolent, or even particularly well-known, as we shall see. Let's explore the phoenix, the Firebird, the martlet, and the Nachtkrapp in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/mythical-birds/

'The Fire Bird - Russian Fairy Tales' by Irina Zheleznova: https://archive.org/details/the-fire-bird

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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Humans have found a whole range of uses for birds over the centuries. Hunting with them, keeping them for their song, using them for food or divination - and because some of them are uncommonly pretty.

Look at the magnificent peacock with its elaborate tail, or the sweet little goldfinch with its black and red mask. Even the humble dove is both provider of meat and gentle garden presence in its dovecote. In Devon, one tradition claimed the devil could take any form except a lamb or a dove.

In this article, we're going to focus on ornamental birds. So that's birds intended for purposes besides consumption. These include pet birds, and birds for breeding.

Let's find out more about the folklore of peafowl, partridges, doves, and finches in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/ornamental-birds/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

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