The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, located in Boscastle, has the world’s largest collection of objects associated with the occult. Dark witchcraft emphasizes the balance between light and dark, good and evil, creation and destruction. Dark witches are often depicted as beings who can be seen as a combination of both. Logan stones, found in Cornwall, are a notable example of this.
In addition to the Logan stones, other objects associated with the occult include graffiti carvings of protective symbols into buildings to ward off evil. The museum also houses a collection of objects associated with the occult, such as a “sorcerer’s trunk” and a frog dangling from a hook, likely for black magic curses.
The history, customs, and superstitions surrounding witchcraft in Cornwall over the centuries are explored, including examples of individuals who have been cursed by a witch to take the merman form of the bucca. The European witch-hunt has a uniquely destructive character, as witches could easily be multiplied.
Some people may call any supernaturally gifted individual a witch, while others reserve it for magic-using people or just females. The notion of the Witches Sabbath, where they gathered to honor Satan, was likely a fantasy invented by priests and prosecutors. Practitioners of contemporary magico-religious traditions may consider a special relationship with the Museum of Witchcraft.
📹 The History of Fairies | The Dark & Tragic Stories You Were Never Told
Today we take a look at the history of fairies, what exactly they are and where they came from. This includes multiple regions …
What are the different kinds of witchcraft?
Eclectic Witchcraft encompasses a range of time-honored, globally referenced magickal, spiritual, and occult practices that resonate with the individual Witch. These practices can include elements of Shamanism, Reiki, Yoga, Eastern philosophy, Buddhism, and various occult practices.
Elemental Witchery is an ancient form of the Craft, rooted in the understanding of the power of the Elements—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Early folk healers and magicians observed how these forces influenced their daily lives, including fire for warmth and cooking, water for drinking and farming, the earth they lived on, and the air they breathed.
Green or Hedge Witches are deeply connected to the Earth and its energy, drawn to plants, trees, and flowers. They often grow their own herbs and flowers for use in their homes, kitchens, and magick.
Kitchen Witches, Tea Witches, and Hearth or Cottage Witches are home-centric individuals who love to make their home a sacred space and welcome any kind heart and intent into it.
What is the most powerful creature in folklore?
Nov 16, 2023, 07:11 PM IST. 6 Most Powerful Creatures From Mythology. … Chimera. The Chimera originates from Greek mythology and was thought to be a female monster from Asia Minor. … Basilisk. … Dragons. … Kraken. … Sirens. … Minotaur.
The Chimera originates from Greek mythology and was thought to be a female monster from Asia Minor. The two-headed creature is comprised of three animals: a lion’s head and body, upon which sat a second head – that of a goat – and had a snake for its tail.
Considered by many to be one of the deadliest mythological creatures, the basilisk or cockatrice was believed to be born from a serpent’s egg which had been incubated by a rooster. Often referred to as the king of serpents, the basilisk was believed to be extremely hostile towards all humans. It was said to have the power to kill a person simply with one glance.
Perhaps one of the more well-known mythical creatures, dragons are a common feature across many different cultures. In Western cultures, dragons were often depicted as four-legged reptiles that could fly and breathe out deadly fire. In Eastern cultures, however, they were more commonly described as highly intelligent, four-legged serpents.
What is the Cornish word for witch?
Tamsin, born in Gwennap, Cornwall, gained fame as a ‘pellar’, a term used to describe a witch or wise woman. She married James Thomas in 1835, who also claimed to be a pellar. The couple moved to Helston, where they received numerous visits for their help. Fishermen asked for charms to keep them safe at sea, farmers sought cures for sick animals, and young women asked Tamsin to predict their future husband. Tamsin’s reputation as a pellar spread far and wide, attracting people from across Cornwall and beyond.
What was witchcraft in the 1600s?
Witchcraft was once seen as a healing art, performed by cunning folk. However, it was later believed to be Satanic in origin, leading to the passing of laws and trials. Witchcraft was considered a capital offense in 1542, and the Witchcraft Act 1735 reversed this law, making it illegal to practice witchcraft but to claim magical powers or accuse someone of being a witch in Great Britain. Witch trials and accusations were high during the early modern period in Britain, spanning from the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. Witchcraft was no longer seen as a healer or helper, but as the cause of many natural and man-made disasters.
What are Cornish fairies called?
Pixies are a mythical creature in British folklore, believed to be concentrated in high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, possibly due to Celtic origin. The term also appears in Dorset, Somerset, and to a lesser extent in Sussex, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. Pixies are believed to inhabit ancient underground sites like stone circles, barrows, dolmens, ringforts, or menhirs. In traditional regional lore, pixies are benign, mischievous, short of stature, and childlike, fond of dancing and wrestling outdoors.
In modern era depictions, pixies are usually depicted with pointed ears, often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Traditional stories describe pixies as wearing dirty, ragged bundles of rags, which they discard for gifts containing new clothes. However, Victorian era conventions do not include pixies in older mythology.
What are 13 witches called?
A coven is a group of witches who gather at night to make potions and cast spells. In mythology, they meet under cover of night, often in mysterious groups of 13. The “weird sisters” in Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” could be considered a coven. In contemporary Wicca, a coven is a gathering similar to a congregation in Christianity. The word “coven” originated in the mid-1600s and means “assembly”.
What are the names of the witches in England?
The story of 15 individuals accused and found guilty of witchcraft in Newcastle, including Matthew Bulmer, Elizabeth Anderson, Jane Hunter, Mary Potts, Alice Hume, Elianor Rogerson, Margaret Muffit, Margaret Maddison, Elizabeth Brown, Jane Copeland, Ann Watson, Elianor Henderson, Elizabeth Dobson, and Katherine Coultor, is a testament to the horrors they endured. These individuals never confessed to any wrongdoing but pleaded innocence until the end of their lives.
The fear of witchcraft once permeated British society, but for those living during the 16th and 17th centuries, paranoia of sorcery was part of their lived reality. Despite no fixed understanding of witchcraft, acts of legislation legitimized its presence, and those accused of practicing witchcraft were considered enemies of God and the King.
What is a male witch called?
The term “witch” is primarily used in colloquial English, with women being the male equivalent. Modern dictionaries distinguish four meanings of the term: a person with supernatural powers, a practitioner of neo-pagan religion, a mean or ugly old woman, or a charming or alluring girl or woman. The term “witch” was first used to refer to a bewitching young girl in the 18th century, and “witch” as a contemptuous term for an old woman is attested since the 15th century.
What were the original witches?
Early witches were individuals who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells and seeking help from spirits. They were often believed to be pagans or natural healers. The earliest recorded mention of a witch is in the Bible, specifically in the book of 1 Samuel, written between 931 B. C. and 721 B. C. The story involves King Saul seeking the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel to help defeat the Philistine army. The witch roused Samuel, who then prophesied the death of Saul and his sons. The next day, Saul’s sons died in battle, and Saul committed suicide.
Were there witches in Cornwall?
In the seventeenth century, Cornwall experienced numerous witch trials, with over two dozen accused witches sent to Launceston Gaol in the 1650s. The tower at Launceston Castle, known as ‘The Witch’s Tower’, was believed to be burned within its base. Witchcraft was made a crime under Tudor monarchs’ legislation, and trials were held at the assize courts of Launceston. The practice of witchcraft was made a crime under Tudor monarchs’ legislation, and trials were typically held at the assize courts. The tower’s haunting connections to mystical happenings continue to haunt the coast of Cornwall today.
What are the creatures in Cornish folklore?
Cornish folklore features legendary creatures such as buccas, knockers, Giants, and Pixies, which are believed to have been supernatural explanations for the deadly cave-ins during 18th-century Cornish tin mining. These creatures, about two feet tall and grizzled, live underground and wear small versions of miner’s garb. They commit random mischief, such as stealing tools and food, and are often cast with a small offering of food to appease their malevolence.
Many landscape features, such as the granite rock features on Bodmin Moor and the dramatic cliff seascape, are explained as the work of Giants. English tales like Jack the Giant Killer may also be related to older British folk traditions, such as those in medieval Welsh language manuscripts and Dartmoor in Devon.
📹 Why Britain’s Dark Ages Remain Shrouded In Mystery | King Arthur’s Britain | Timeline
Francis Pryor examines the relics of the Dark Ages to build a fuller picture of this much-maligned era. Popular belief has always …
The chapter about the changelings reminded me of this wonderful short story I read on tumblr about a woman who so desperately wanted to be a mother and had felt like she had exhausted all her options, so she summoned a fairy who gave her a magic fruit to eat that would get her pregnant if she planted the seeds in her front yard. The magic worked but there was a catch: in the winter of her daughter’s first year she was replaced with changeling and her mother wanted her back she had to confront the fairy and correctly identify which of the the two infants was her “real” child. Having grown attached to her changeling daughter and having found a loophole in the fairy’s instructions, the woman decides to take them both home with her and raise them as twins because to her both of them were her “real” children and she loved them both
I also find it interesting that in the original tellings of the fairies, like the elves, they didn’t have wings. The wings only appeared on them in the Victorian era, when an artist was painting a human interacting with a fairy. He wanted to paint wings on to depict an otherworldly being, but didn’t want to put on angel’s wings, so he went with an insect’s wings. The image has since remained.
My husbands ancestral home in Ireland is considered a fairy home. His great great grandmother was found deceased in her home after suffering a natural death. But she was found lying in the floor with a jacket covering her as if someone had lovingly comforted her in her last moments. Since she was a believer and helper of fairies it is believed they covered and comforted her in her last moments. No one is allowed to enter the home now. I would love to one day visit the home and get exact details. Unfortunately my husband maternal side have all passed on and the stories are being lost to time.
I’m irish (from Ireland) and i remember my great granny showing me how to leave offerings for them when I was little- she said they were the ‘good people’ and we should respect them as they were on the land before any of us. love this article, it’s interesting to learn the other stories after growing up with them
Africans also have spirits similar to Changelings, especially amongst the Igbo and Yoruba tribes of Nigeria called Ogbanje for the Igbos and Abiku for the Yorubas. You should look into it, if you are interested. I find it fascinating that cultures with little or no interactions with one another, come up with similar myths to explain certain phenomenons, the human mind is a creative and wonderful place…..
I did a work stint for a few months up in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Part of my companies obligations were to employ a number of First Nations people. So I spent the following months with my trusty side kick who was born and raised in that area and I got to learn alot about his culture. Part of our work was to walk into deep wooded areas (typically in snow) and my companion began to tell me stories of ‘the little people’, who were alleged to be about 1ft high. He was somewhat concerned about them – I asked him if he had ever seen one and he said no, but his grandparents had. They respected the little people and didn’t interfere with them. I’ve never forgotten this Cree folklore – it was truly fascinating
I always remember that in Sleeping Beauty all the fairies were invited to witness the christening of infant beauty so that they could bestow gifts on her, but one fairy was not invited because she was wicked. She found out about the party, and was angry and offended, so then she crashed the party and doomed the baby to die on its 16th birthday, but one of the other fairies hadn’t bestowed a wish yet, and so she countered the curse by saying that Sleeping Beauty would only fall asleep and not die.
Nasu Kinoko, the writer and founder of Fate franchise, along with Takeuchi. He wrote his version of the Fairies or Fae as akin to their original form from European aged-old lore about these mystical and supernatural creatures. The way he described them as having orange personalities. They don’t understand human culture and society. But they can mimic them to an extent, but can’t comprehend what goes in and out of how humans operate. They are far too distant within evaluating good and evil. For that matter, an instant resolution will always end up in a bloody end. Their behavior and the way they act are so utterly alien that the consequences they bring can harm not only to the humans but to themselves as well. Their personality is often described as that of a child, on the basis of having an ‘innocence’ approached around them. With this description, you can see how detrimental they are to us if they can’t even judge what the heck they’re doing is severely wrong. How they end up as trickster and mischievous beings is mostly from this. For that reason alone, Nasu reflected the image of a race incapable of establishing itself of a civilization that cannot last for a long time as such inner turmoil and conflict rapidly set ablaze within in a matter of a short time. The Faes are nonetheless terrifying for they moved to what they wanted without asking questions or hesitating at all. I applaud Nasu for doing a marvelous job in his version of Fairies. He followed the old perceived tradition and culture of these beings, instead allowing himself to be brainwashed by Disney that practically ruined the identity of Fairies true colors.
In So Weird, a Disney series from 1999-2001 said changelings can laugh when served beef stew made in an egg shell, and banshees were once women who died in childbirth. In high school 🏫 I had a private teacher 👩🏼🏫 who was Irish. And she told me that the banshee will stand outside ur house at night when someone is about to die, but instead of screaming, she combs her hair and cries tears 😭. Really, my teacher told me that, it may go against pop-culture, but it’s the og tale. Speaking of hobgoblins, house-elves in Harry Potter r based on the original tales of hobgoblins, until the spread of Christianity has changed them to b mischievous, or even torturously demonic in Hell.
It’s interesting to see how the depictions of Changelings has persisted in a negative light throughout pop culture. MLP:FiM depicted them initially as being somewhat vampiric in nature, using the love of ponies they imitate to feed themselves. They are depicted as being very insect like, with compound eyes and fly-like wings. This changed during later seasons to reflect a more distinct take, straying further away from their mythological counterparts. I also love the depiction of the Nisse in Hilda. While the show does, as with most of its inspirations, add a bit to the basis in Scandinavian mythology (with the movie merging Trolls and Changelings), particularly with nowhere space, their prevalence in existing in every household as solitary beings sticks fairly close to their folklore counterparts.
I got the chills when you said that they “like to steal children.” The following is a story I don’t tell often, because it’s so crazy. But I swear it’s true. When I was a child, maybe six or seven years old, a little green man visited me. He looked like Peter Pan, right out of the story books. He said…”Come with me little boy, come with me.” He flew around the room, bouncing around. Behind him was a type of swirling vortex. I wasn’t afraid, but I told the little green man that I could NOT go with him. And he just disappeared. Now, here’s the weird part… When I told my parents about my experience, my mother chalked it up to a vivid imagination, but my father turned very pale. Dad then revealed, for the first time to anyone, that when he was a child, a little green man appeared to him as well and tried to get my Dad to come with him. He never told anyone that story before and all of us were freaked out naturally.
My all-time favourite series depicting the Fey is written by Holly Black – the three books are called “Tithe”, “Valiant” and “Ironside”. They’re YA novels, so expect some classic 90’s teenage angst – but there’s also a ton of very cool real-world mythology built in. The main character is a changeling, so the series really explores those themes of loyalty and debt and identity (and neglect/abuse/abandonment – not a “light read”, per se, but a very rich and fascinating one).
My personal theory is this. Originally, faeries represented forests, and throughout most of human history, forests (along with the rest of the wild) were considered “bad”. They were where wild animals lived, where you could get hurt and lost, etc., etc. Mankind could “improve” on nature by cutting down all forests (as well as draining swamps, but that’s another story). So, naturally, you wanted to convince kids that forests were bad things they would do well to avoid, so they were full of evil things like fae and the like that would do all sorts of horrible things to you. Then came the Romantic Era, where the population of Europe, sick of the dirty, dark, and stifling effects of Industrialization, started pushing the idea that, actually, mankind needed to get “back to nature”. Rather than something horrible and alien, the wilderness is our natural state and was refreshing and pristine and good. Forests are “good” things now. And so…faeries aren’t things to fear; they’re things that represent purity and the natural (“good”) world and fill you with childlike wonder. Children should be eager to go and search for them and protect where they live.
I remember the first fairy I ever heard about was the grim reaper. My dad said it was really a fairy called a dullahan and he learned about it when he was in the military. He said people used to be too afraid so the governing powers begin creating stories about them being called “headless horsemen” or “angels” to convince people they could be faught. Then he would whisper to me “but never believe it, keep your eyes open because there are worse ans scarrier things than fairys in the world.” Dad had the best stories.
Wow … no one else in here reads Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books which frequently deal with the Seelie and Unseelie courts … more with the Unseelie as the wizard’s fairy godmother is a member of the latter and quite close to the Queen … Yes, there are tiny fairies in the mix, but most of the Court are really scary and based in the old myths and tales. Glad to continue to see that he did a lot of research before he formed the Never Never … Great article. Oh, and they don’t like being called fairies to a great extent.
Quite intriguing to learn that fairies were associated, by the church, with deities & fallen angels! I’d never heard that before! Also, it’s very cool to see that leprechauns are considered fairies, as well! Hmm, I’m wondering what the relationship is, if any, between fairies & sprites! Pray do tell! Excellent article, my friend!💜🌍
Two of my favorite depictions of fairies is in the movie “Labyrinth” (1986 Jim Henson) & “Legend” (1985 Ridley Scott). Original Germanic (Norse) tribes also divided entities into (Elven) possibly helpful to humans or (Trolls) mostly hostile. The Elven races were not necessarily “Elves” but the term is used there as Fae is used on the Celtic isles. “Troll” denoted the darker more aggressive races, including actual trolls along with other races that were most often not friendly to humans as a whole. Really interesting article! I was really happy when you brought up the “Fairy Tales” original meaning that the stories were about these elder ethereal races and honestly not so many of the original fairy tales were light-hearted or happy tales (not many “happily ever after” endings there… but were more legends told to children to teach and warn them. The Elves were most often benevolent, unless someone didn’t heed the stories and didn’t behave proper around them, they could become hostile. Similarly, there are stories of a member of the troll race choosing to help someone.
The spiderwick chronicles has good depictions of the brownie/bogart and other faeries and the series True Blood shows faeries in both a beautiful human form and their “true” form which is more like a goblin of sorts. The spiderwick chronicles is a great family movie because it has child themes with some adult humor. True Blood has vampires, skinwalkers, shape shifters, faeries, and werewolves in it but is for mature audiences. I recommend both.
Oh man, in regards to the Fairy Media I grew up with and still consume, FAR too much to name. I always fondly remember growing up with them, from Tinkerbell and The Flower Fairy Books, Animation, even Barbie at some point, right down to the old folk stories in this big yellow book I had featuring stories from all over the world to where even my old childhood bedroom wall was themed after a Seelie Court style Fairy Garden. I always fondly remember playing out in my yard and in the playground, waiting to see one and believing the big hole in the Apricot tree we had in my childhood home was a fairy home so I always used to leave little gifts and trinkets made of various things I found in the yard there for them. Same with this absolutely gigantic tree in the front yard, the fairy tree I always used to call it, and when I was little my mom and I always used to decorate that tree in wind chimes and crystals strung up on fishing line to make their supposed home just all the more prettier for them. I always used to call vanilla milk “fairy milk”, especially since 5 year old me saw the classic yellow flower with the two brown sticks of vanilla on the carton and thought it was actually made of flowers and since it was made of flowers, surely that was the type of milk fairies drunk. I never knew much about how they really were beyond that until my taste for folklore and mythology grew, but they’ve always had this distinctive place in my heart. I’d even go as far as to say they were my very first special interest.
Crazy how in mexican culture the fairies are adas and the elves being duendes chanekes.but crazy how since I was little my dad used to tell us about duendes and being mexican we have the supernatural in us from birth but from ghost stories to actual happenings. But from what they also say is that duendes aka the elves leprechauns of the sort were basically little kids that died without being baptized and crazy how in the beginning you mentioned the fairies being some sort of dead young soul . Now I get the Pete pan early story
My favorite depiction of fairies is probably from The Desden Files, a series of novels written by Jim Butcher. I’d go into describing them myself but I can be pretty long winded and honestly it’s probably better that you check them out for yourself. While not explicitly About the Fae they are integral to the setting and much of the plot involves them directly so it doesn’t take long to get a solid grasp of the things that make them unique, although there’s plenty of core details that feel familiar and will remind you of others.
One of my favorite portrayals of creepy fairies is from Torchwood. The fairies chose a little girl who would eventually join them and become one of them. While the girl was still human the faries protected her. There was a pedophile in the neighborhood that tried to kidnap the girl and he was found dead the next day with flower pettals stuck in his throat. The fairies were not evil per se, but anyone that tried to harm the girl or prevent her from leaving to go to the fairy world they would kill. The fairies even attacked the girl’s parents because they didn’t want to lose their child. The creepiest part to me actually was the little girl herself! She knew that the fairies were protecting her and she wanted to go with them.
I loved the leprechauns in “Darby O’gill and the Little People,” now practically forgotten. It was played several times a year on tv, and that’s how I pictured them as a child. It also had a Banshee coming to announce or warn about a death, and it TERRIFIED me. I always cried when Darby got into the death carriage, but it had a happy ending after that part.
My favorite movie dealing with this subject is Darby O’ Gill and the Little People. Me and my older sister grew up listening to Irish folklore about the Banshee and Leprechauns. My grandmother gave my sister a little book about Irish scary stories with the Banshee on the front so my sister would read them to me, the Banshee terrified me!! 😨
My grandfather used to tell my brother and I stories about fairies and other things about Ireland when we were younger. One of the movies he loved to watch with us was Darby O Gill and the Little People. I think it was because Sean Connery’s characters last name is MacBride and ours is McBride and it’s just and all around a fun movie, idk. He passed away when I was 10 so it’s hard to remember much. But I used to love those stories he told, he gave me an Irish flute for my birthday one year. I wish I still had it, it got lost over the years unfortunately.
My favorite has to be Supernatural because its my favorite thing in existence I’m obsessed with that show and love how it explained that UFO abductions are actually Fairies abducting people. Also a couple honorable mentions firstly True Blood had the cool dynamic of Vampires and Fairies being enemies because Fairy blood is the best tasting to Vampires. And 2nd as a kid I was obsessed with Spiderwick Chronicles me and my Little Brother watched that movie on repeat several times everyday.
Oscar Wilde’s father was a surgeon in Ireland and would ask his poorer patients to tell him of any folklore/experiences etc they had. He collected them avidly for decades and they were printed as follows : Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland and Ancient Cures, Charms and Usages of Ireland Great article, thank you! J’revien…
As somebody who is Irish and grew up with the stories of banshees I feel I have something to add here For starters, one thing left out of this article is how banshees screams/cries are said to sound like cats Yeno that weird noise cats make at eachother when fighting? Well that’s what they’re described as sounding like Which makes sense seeing as it explains a lot of the stories Secondly, my mother has a story from when she was a teenager, it’s about how one night, I think when she was 14 years old, she was still awake in bed and swears she could hear banshees, of course the next morning she woke to find out her father had died in his sleep Again, very likely it was just cats and a sad coincidence
In Romania we have similar creatures called “Ielele”. They are described as beautiful young women, very seductive, who appear only during the night in the forests or near the rivers. They usually dance and sing in circles, and if you see one, you might die. Boo 👻😂 Romania has many other supernatural creatures like vampiri, strigoi, capcauni, sanziene or ursitoare. I recommend you to look it up. Great website! 👏🏻
In Finland we have stories of Tonttu (“Gnomes”) that live around us. They are most commonly know for having House Gnomes and Sauna Gnomes, Domesticated ones. They help taking care of house or sauna, protecting them from fire and from misfortune. You kept them happy by allowing them to live there and keeping place clean. While they do help with cleaning, if you leave it all to Gnome it could get mad and…. well your homes were made mostly by flammable wood and other furniture. To keep Sauna Gnome happy, when your family was done there and were leaving, last one would throw one last water to Kiuas or hot stones so Sauna Tonttu could come to enjoy the steam. It would not surprise me to think that there were Evil Gnomes who would kidnap mean children away who did not listen to their parents. While i don’t know what other Gnome tales there were, i think Germanic Folktales of Forest Gnomes would had also existed here and how Gnome would look like. Mostly these days Finnish Gnomes are known to be helping Santa Claus, although i don’t know for sure if old Gnomes had elfish ears or if its combining with American version of Claus helpers, elfs.
I love Brian Froud’s depictions of the fairy realm and the different fae that have been described in mythology and the imagination. Any of his books on fairies are beautifully illustrated and detailed I highly recommend! However a little correction on the seelie and unseelie fairies, both groups of fairy neither necessarily want to help or hurt humans. I think they are more just coexisting between this realm and another. The seelie fae just happen to be a little more tolerable to humans than the unseelie. True, there are unseelie fae that do wish to harm humans but it is more opportunistic. Also the seelie fae still can do harm to humans if they so please…especially to humans who seem selfish, vain, cruel, unfair or disrespectful to nature. Just thought I would add that in. As always a wonderful article!
I remember the movie cat’s eye when I was younger the movie is mostly about the life of a cat but has a funny twist in it about gremlins are trolls. Cat’s eye is based on an actual true story and the movie is said to be extremely accurate with depictions in scenes in the movie based on true events. Some say the creature in the movie is actually a Pixie or fairy and not a troll I would like to know what some other people think.
Lived in a weird house for 15 years. A blue fairy about 12 inches tall would sometimes dance on my chest when I went to bed. One time I tried to catch it by throwing my blanket fold over her. She bit me then rendered me unconscious. I never tried that again. Many supernatural events occurred in this place. Interdimentional doorway was in evidence.
I have an idea about the disney fairies because there aren’t any fae stories about them and they were before Mal Bertha from descendants,so the pixie hollow faires are of the seelie court all things good,holly and whatnot while the fairies of the winterwoods are the unseelie court. Pretty simple,I just wish there was fanart and fanfiction that would be soo cool
Interesting vid. However, you forgot to mention that the Bean Sí (Banshee) is attached only to certain families and those families are of high status. It is an honour for a member of the faery folk to mourn the deaths in such families… albeit a creepy honour. The wailing of the Bean Sí can be heard up to three days before the death in the family. Also, the Bean Sí is normally heard rather than seen. Some say that her voice is like the screeching of the wind on a really wild night. Others claim it is screeching of the wind on a really wild night … but we can discount this latter claim …because it’s boring. 🤣😂🤣
My favorite fairy stories are Tamlane and Labyrinth. Also Brian Fround’s works. I also grew up with Shirley Barber’s books when I was a kid, I literally mastered my coloring in skills from the coloring books created of her illustrations. A certain Euphoria actress is one of the few people I’ve seen in real life that naturally has the ethereal almost Galadriel like physical appearance which is something I both admire and find a little unnerving sometimes.
I”m surprised that Changelings are children of Fae & Elves and that Elf-kind aren’t counted as a Fairy or Sprite. And that Changeling log story sounds similar to Halo, with Dr. Halsey (and the UNSC, unofficially) swapping out healthy human children from hundreds of families to test in the Spartan III program. She would find the kids, have the soldiers drug and snatch them from their homes, then replace them with a seemingly healthy clone. Which would then grow old sick and die over a relatively short time from any number of ailments because they were designed to eventually expire, they’d even have the original kids’ memories. While the real kids would be trained, tested and eventually implanted with the components that would make the next stage of chemically, cybernetically and surgically augmentating them to become super soldiers.
Well I know a very local story about a kind of fairy from my birth town Neerharen in Belgium. They are called the Aubele. It are small dark goblin like figures not bigger then 50cm. If you have broken pottery or something from iron like a kettle or so and you put them at your door in the evening with something to eat they will fix it by the next morning but if you try to see them then they will break everything that’s dear to you. The live in the riverbanks of the Maes where they sleep during the day. The story go that the maid of a priest couldn’t do anything about her curiosity and wanted to see them so she did everything to do so. After that her live went wild and everything she tacht broke. The priest asked what was going on so she told him the story but blamed it all on the Aubele and that it not was her fault. The priest then thought it was a good idea to ring the church bell everytime it happened because Aubele don’t like the sound. In first it look better but then the Aubele had enough of the bell and made tunnel under the village called Vijveren. Then the whole town sonck underground. The legend goes that as you near the river at 12 o’clock at night and you really listen you can still hear the church bells of Vijveren ring.
Changelings also were an analogy for autistic children, who behaved not quite human like, had above/below average intelligence and speech development/delays there of, making ‘weird noises’ with Echolalia, potentially Alexithymia(not mirroring facial expressions, appearing to not having emotions at all, not understanding emotions), ADHD(poor impulse control, fidgeting, stimming), DSPS with ‘weird’ sleeping patterns and severe comorbidities like EDS and MCAS, who can suddenly kill people with inner bleeding or anaphylaxis. Some of the tropes of fairies talking in riddles, otherworldly behavior, counting things, particularly ways of doing things all can be attributed to behavior linked to the conditions above. For example people who have ADHD love salty foods and some also love sugar, we don’t usually fit in with society and are cast out. I am an autistic person and regularly get compliments in my role as a fairy for actually acting like one, by just being myself openly.
Changelings remind me of the artificial beings created by dark wizards or the so called dragons. They implant an ovoid (a spirit that has suffered the second death) on a vacant human body, and thus control it. The merge between the empty human body and the ovoid is called “shell”. This, by the way, is my own translation from the original word in Portuguese. The literal translation is “big shell”.
I’m Greek, and in our lore/tradition, fairies always range from super mischievous to downright evil. They are the ones who kidnap children, steal valuables, make people crazy and cause severe physical harm, or even death, to anyone who stumbles upon them. To see a fairy almost always means your doom. The name we call them is “xotica” (where the word “exotic” derives from, and in Greek it means something alien, something not of our realm. And something not to be trifled with. There are no benign fairies in Greek culture, and the very idea of the goody two shoes, disney-esque fairies, with whom you can communicate and be best friends with, is absurd.
There is a place in the Greater Manchester area (UK), known as ‘Boggart Hole Clough. Years ago when I actually believed in this sort of thing, I was planning on going there and camping overnight. The area has a small area of ancient woodland with steep sided valleys that is now a nature reserve and park. IF I had stayed overnight alone as planned, there is a fair chance that I would have ended up being used and abused by a child molester or killed by a psycho rather than encountering a Boggart!
A pregnant woman should never approach a cairn, lest the Fey decide to follow her and upon giving birth switch her child with a changeling. This can be avoided by placing offerings of trinkets or gifts of food or drink to honor the ancient truce between the world of the Fey and that of humanity. Showing proper respect to the Fey, as you never know when they may be among us, is beneficial to the home family and land as they will protect what they see as theirs. Fairies see us as pets. Elves see us as their charges. The rest are indifferent and will trick or assist at their whim.
I’ve seen a Leprechaun before during sleep. It look like the one in the Leprechaun movie. In the dream I was awake at my bed, and the Leprechaun was approaching me, yet I laughed at him and he disappeared. When I woke up, I salted my room. I also dream of a Leprechaun like the one in Lucky Charms cereal and it led to my old backyard.
Details for the Bridgett story: she had a well paying part time job & made more money than her husband, she was outspoken & talked back to men, and she also may have had a boyfriend in town who treated her better. So it’s just assumed the husband killed her & used the Changeling folk tale as an excuse.
My house that I grew up in had a solitary, domesticated Brownie that lived in it. The worst thing he ever did was scare the sh¡t out of me when I occasionally came across him. If you don’t believe me, that is totally fine and understandable. I honestly wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes.
Read the book “Monsters” (now out in its 3rd edition) by John Michael Greer. He has a chapter devoted to fairies, and has some pretty unique takes! For all his being based in Western magickal tradition, he has a very rational approach this fringy subject matter. I’m reading the 3rd edition now; I own all 3, and have read the first multiple times. I enjoy the alterations and the new subject matter of the 2 anniversary editions. Highly recommend! (The stories contained give a good second-hand idea of what it’s like to have an encounter like those discussed.)
I always enjoy the folklore surrounding banshee because when I was 8-9 one evening a wailing scream tore through the building I was in no one else heard it or woke up just me and I was crying and screaming certain my dad was dead. Two weeks later they confirmed he had died. I know a banshee was letting me know.
Something interesting for Missing 411 fans, In old German history / Mythology Fairies where said to be the little people of the forest, They where said to Live in Granite boulders by the water and would charm people and children off into the forest to take them. Often leaving behind articles of their clothing or shoes to show they had been takin. This is where the old saying; Spirited away comes from.
Apparently from family journals found over the years one of my ancestors in Scotland was captured by changelings (Scottish fey) and they had to go through this big ordeal to get them back. In the end though the fairies apologized by teaching my family blacksmithing skills to make swords. Though honestly, I look at my family a lot and view are mannerisms and wonder “did we get the right person back?”
Loved this. Thanks so. If you should do another please consider the Selkies and also why you should cover your bedroom mirror at night. Also the Fairie folk who steal your baby and swap for a changeling. My dear Scottish Ma always covered our mirrors at night and never let us sleep in our own room until we were 5.
If we’re talking modern stories that really captured the vibe of old-school Fairy/Faerie depictions, then you can’t really do better than Pan’s Labyrinth. Though Del Toro played around with several of the designs and legends, the theming, perspectives, and cultural stances of the magical beings in that film are alarmingly accurate. Take for example, Fauno, otherwise known simply as The Faun. As a guiding spirit for people like Ofelia who blunder into the world of magical beings, he’s neither good nor evil. He accepts that Ofelia is brave and tries to help her, but when she openly breaks the rules of the Pale Man’s domain after he warned her not to, he punishes her. Yet he doesn’t punish her by making her dance to death, or by straight up killing her… no. He just abandons her. The escape that she was promised if she successfully passed all the trials disappears out from under her, with the only chance to re-achieve it arriving later in the form of giving away her newborn baby brother (the only real family she has left) to the magical beings. Even then, this turns out to be a test, and she would have failed if she did give her brother over, as it showed that she was selfish and desperate to achieve power at any cost. It’s honestly a fantastic iteration of fairy-like beings that are just as fickle and spiteful as the legends without being portrayed as 100% evil. Even the Pale Man doesn’t hurt those who refuse to eat from his table, and the frog she faces down is… well, it’s a giant frog.
I had the pleasure of witnessing a small group of fairies in the woods, or at least that is what we all believed. My friend was a shaman, and we gathered up a few of our friends and headed up a mountainside in Valle Crucis, NC. She was going to perform a ritual. She started a fire, lit some sage, and started chanting. It wasn’t long into the process we all saw three bluish/purple orbs floating towards us. Now this was July so it very well could have been fireflies….except they weren’t. Fireflies emit a yellow/green hue. They blink to communicate. They flit around and change directions. They don’t give off purplish light. They don’t float. They got closer and closer, never once did their light go out. I decided to try and capture a picture and my phone accidentally flashed in the dark. In that split second they had vanished.
I forget where I heard this from, but I’ve heard that the nature spirits/fae/elementals were the fallen angels that chose not to follow Lucifer in his rebellion anymore, and ended up falling in the mountains, oceans, forrests and caught in the wind. As a redemption tactic to God, they take care of the elements, but still some are good and helpful and some are bad and seek to destroy. It was pretty interesting though.
While studying acting, I did a play called the changeling. It was a Jacobean play about a deformed servent that had fallen in love with the daughter of a governess who would in most instances treat him like scum. He would take this and cherish it because even if she scolded him she still talked to him and that was enough for him. Anyway she ends up having to marry this dude but falls in love with another dude. She then asks the servent (De Flores) to kill her husband to be so she could marry this other dude. After the deed is done she expects to pay de Flores for his services, he refuses but instead asks forces himself onto her. It was interesting seeeing the connection from the folk tales about changelings and the character De Flores.
Well it was only a matter of time I suppose. At the risk of being ridiculed, these creatures are by far some of the most unsettling and scariest for me. I still remember being kept up at night after I would make the mistake of listening to stories of fairy encounters. Seriously, give me Tinkerbell any day.
So I am of Slavic decent. In Slavic culture, our brownies are referred to as Domovoys. I had a peculiar run in with my families domovoy almost 6 months back. I was visiting some Ukrainian friends whom now live in Chicago, and the topic of lore came up. My friend’s mother is very superstitious, and told me that the domovoy of my ancestral household has chosen to follow me, and that it very much enjoys tobacco and honey. I told her to tell my domovoy, I would provide more offerings of said tobacco and honey from now on in exchange for the protection of our home. Well I was home alone, a week later after this chat, and I had a strange feeling enter the room. I have felt like anytime I rounded a corner in my house I was bound to see something standing in front of me, I had multiple lights burn out that night, doors open, pictures fall off the wall and even a lamp spin rather strangely. I have no idea why I immediately thought of this, but I remembered how I made a promise if tobacco and honey, and how this might be my domovoy getting angry and making mischief in retaliation, so I immediately went about the house and put the offerings in corners and under the basement stairs. After I did that, the house went calm and I haven’t felt this strange feeling since. Remember to treat your brownie and domovoy right, they get hungry for snacks too.
Related Trivia; In Heretic / Heretic II, the main character Corvus known as “The Heretic” is a Sidhe Elf. In Shadowrun (pnp), Elves who get infected by the HMHVV virus become Banshee’s. In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Raziel will encounter many Sluagh in the spirit realm — They are hunters of lost souls. The PS3 game “Folklore” is very Irish mythology centric to the point that you enter the Faerealm by a mushroom portal, if I recall correctly.. Some of the ones that roll of the top of my head. Irish Mythology is pretty awesome.
My favorite depictions have been both Hellboy 2 and an anime called Ancient Magus Bride. In AMB, the story revolves VERY heavily on Celtic and European mythologies with a young girl who has been touched by the super natural from birth. But more importantly, I adore the two supporting characters of Ruth and Silky. Ruth is a church from who serves as the main character’s friend, while Silky is a banshee who also keeps after the house. And Silky is absolutely precious. I adore her.
M. Night shyamalan just came out with a movie called “the watchers” about humans and faeries. It’s a pretty good watch. It talks about how humans and faeries used to get along but then for some reason, the humans began to fear the faeries and imprisoned them to live underground and can only come out at night.
There’s a book I’m currently working through, and I’m about halfway done, called “From Witch to Wicca,” and it talks about the history of how witches were perceived. It touches on how the Fae relate to witches throughout history and how the church’s views about them twisted the narrative to preserve the original folklore in some way, while still fitting within their own Christian worldview. I can’t for the life of me find the book right now, possibly spirited away by the fae folk, or I would tell you the name of the author, lol.
In my ttrpg, the Fei’rei are the living embodiment of the machine code that created the universe (i.e. “magic”). They are tasked with clearing the world of bad code (corrupted files and legacy code that no longer works), as well as protecting ‘good’ code from being lost or destroyed. In a storytelling sense, they are my deus ex machina, or maybe feius ex machina.
Well if I was the farmer who caught the leprechaun and I showed up to that many hats, I would have stated out loud that I was told the hat marks the spot and if I didn’t find any underneath any of those hats it would be tantamount to him going back on his word. And just reeeeally hope that they DO take things like that very seriously, lol. Worth a try I’d say 🤷
Im currently wrighting a character that I decided is a Fae type creature who was once a naive kind sole, but then was taken advantage of by a human so then he turned into a huge blood thirsty mischievous almost demon like monster. It is lanky, has long black hair and buglike wings and he also has a strong connection to plants/flowers. I don’t know if I should just call him a Fariy, or whatever else- but I love it so much, he’s my creepy baby!!!💚💙🖤💚💙🖤
Here in Costa Rica lots of country folk still belive in dwarfs and fairies when my father was little he was often followed by a dwarf once when he was leaving the outhouse he was supprised as he opened the door and found himself face to face with a little man about his size he gave a small jump and ran away as fast as he could and one morning grandfather sent him to the baker it was still dark as he was walking he met a man that was leaving his house the man was saying good morning when he looked behind my father with a start father looked around thire was the little man again and seeing that he had been found out ran away. 😊🇨🇷
I only have one thing to say about this: Echtra Condla, son of Conn Ceadcathach. Connla fell in love with a fairy woman from Mag Mell, and went with her to her otherworld home in her crystal boat, leaving his brother Art Mac Cuinn (father of Cormac Mac Art) alone. After that Art was known as Óenfer – the “lone” or “solitary”. Connla’s tale is told in the Echtra Condla. Also, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was a good friend of Art and helped him protect a young boy from being sacrificed by druids to end a drought. 👍
This is very interesting, this reminds me of a book that I read about fairies and angels that led me to read a lot of passages in the Bible and other religious books. I also had some very good discussions and some not very good conversations with different individuals. I do believe in angels but I still can’t find a proof or documents that would make me believe in fairies. They are not how they are being projected in the fairytales and stories. There is some dark elements to it. Also Angels don’t have wings as we think they do, there’s no mention of wings on the description of angels anywhere. Angels with wings are mostly people’s imagination that has been projected in the movies and stories. In some religious books there’s angels mentioned and there are different kinds of angels, some beings and creatures are described to have had wings but again angels and beings/creatures are not the same. There are still a lot of mysteries surrounding this account and it would be really interesting to discover more.
I have a story to share that I think is quite amazing but at the same time is a bit frightening because it only confirms this folklore to be 100% real. I then think to myself if this is real, what else is real…. I’ll make it short. I love taking pictures of the trees / woods around my house. I’ll then view the images and enlarge them looking within each tree to see if I see any oddities. Well not that long ago I took some pictures and seen something way up at towards the top that sparked my interest. It looked like a structure of some kind formed from the very branches of this tree. I went in for a closer look and really enlarged the area. What I saw was so incredible. It was a tiny man carrying what looked like a little mermaid girl. Like how a groom would carry his new wife. I still have the picture. My husband is very skeptical, he’ll say things like oh that’s just the reflection of the light shining on the tree or something like that. But he didn’t say that after I showed him this image oh no. Instead he asked me doesn’t this scare you….To my reply I said yes and no. Although It has definitely changed the way I look at this world. This is just one of many experiences I’ve had. Some being scarier than others. I’ve captured other images of them in different shapes and forms. They will become one with whatever they are next to…like part of the bark of a tree, or will match perfectly with a branch or a leaf. And sometimes it’s to hard to tell. I’ve also seen one at night that did frighten me a tad.
A movie I love, mostly due to childhood memories, is “Dunderklumpen!”. Not exactly what I’d call fairies, but it is partly based on mythological creatures. It’s for kids, so not anything dark, more charming. It’s a Swedish from, so doubt it exists with English subs, unfortunately. The tv series “Jordskott” (2015-2017) has some changeling-like elements (a kid is taken, but presumed dead and the mum later finds out that she might be able to get her kid back by sacrificing another kid). It’s a crime show though, but with mythological/supernatural causes in it. I like it anyway xD
I firmly believe different veils, dimensions, and realms exist, but when I entertain most folklore-type tales, minus demonic entities, I see the greater percentage of them as created through hundreds of eras, and years as fictitious warning tools. Such as staying out in the dark, being careful of the water, dangerous areas, and doings. I must add that as the explanations entail light and dark, also defines good and evil metaphorically…
A Tlinget, and Timishan legend called Kushdaka or Land Otter Man is a creature spoken of in Alaska and South of there. Think ten foot tall hairy man with an otter head and face. They are spoken of as dangerous and can shape shift. They can also appear as humans. I compare the stories with those of the Irish Pucca. An experience I had when 2 1/5, makes me think this is the only thing it could have been.
About leprechauns, While your description of them as looking old and wizened is common, I’ve also, in several instances, see them described as so youthful they were actually apt to be mistaken for children. would that be a whim of whatever author wrote the books I read? (some of which were indeed children’s books so I guess the author might have diverged from tradition to make the being closer to the intended audience).
Im 40yo so i cant remember everything, but ive been following mythology off and on for 20 years, and the cute purile conception of both fairies and elves we have now or even as recent as tolkein, somehow i know not to be accurate. I want to credit this to the elder eida, but i cant really place it in my memory that faries were never the cute and frivilous stewards that behaved as the emissaries between the ethereal forces and mankind. Instead they were more like tests of human desire and perception that for those that failed, willingly led themselves to catastrophe while chasing a dream. If you were strong, then have gained the favour of the faires by overcoming their trials, but if you failed it was because you could not overcome the power of your own ambitions. Im currently reading a collection of norse mythology and im rather disappointed in its depth, as it seems to have far to have been contaminated with romantic influences to such a degree that they might as well be the same history of different names.
My favorite which in your definition would fit the label fairy is one here in Sweden called Näcken. Näcken appears entirely as a naked beautiful man who will sit in a pond or stream of water playing a violin. That’s why and bcs it rimes he’s also called “Näcken i Bäcken” (bäcken means a stream of water) what happens if you’re lured in by his beautiful melody will often differ but goes without saying it’s Never good
There’s little people and other weird beings all over the world. In Alaska, there’s many terms for them, but they’re known as little people. The masked little people will give grave curses, most of which I’m not sure how to undo. The ones without masks are usually good little people, that give great and wondrous abilities or gifts of some sort. Or they’ll tell you what they’ll do, like bring you to their village and eat you lol Many of the little people might have faces of loved ones that passed just to scare you.
Think I met a Leprechaun before. I remember taking pictures with the family and wanting to explore the nearby forest. I met a little man, brown pants, black shoes and white button shirt with velvet red jacket. I thought he was a midget at first. Asked me ‘what I was doing here’, I told him ‘Exploring.’ He seemed to like that. He dragged me too the very edge of the forest and told me to keep walking straight and to stay out of the bush from now on, linked up with the family about 20 minutes later. Of course, no one really believed me that I told them I got lost and that a small irish man ushered me out of the forest. Though the coin in my pocket seemed to surprise them. We never really when back, out of fear that a homeless man lived there. Kept the coin tho.
I used to see tiny people come out of my walls through doors that would magically appear. They didn’t have wings and clothes were simple. I would talk to them and remember them telling me I couldn’t tell my parents about them or they wouldn’t come back. My parents would overhear me talking to them and I would tell my parents I was just playing and talking to myself. I stopped seeing them after I moved away. Here is where it gets weird. I have aphantasia and cannot visualize. Never could, so how do I remember seeing them? I also used to tell my parents things I couldn’t possibly know things they would tell me. To this day my family thought I was psychic. I also stopped “knowing things” after we moved. I’m a hardcore skeptic but I still wonder if what I saw wasn’t real.
In Ireland the Tuatha De’ Danaan (pronounced too-ha jay DON-awn) the People of the goddess Dana or Danu were forced to live underground by their conquerors the Milesians (not sure how to pronounce that) Celts who came from Spain. As history rolled on they, the De’ Danaan, became known as the fairy folk. Though many De’ Danaan were said to live on an mystical island called Ti’r na nO’g (pronounced cheer na nohg {the h is silent while it serves to soften the o}). Ti’r na nO’g was the Irish Land of Eternal Youth.
Its almost like people believed that when Rome left people forgot they were house trained… “You people are completely uncivilized and rude…. We out!…” Everybody gathers at the center of town, “now what?” “Let’s take off all our clothes, sharpen sticks, and run around pooping and poking each other.” “Sounds legit…”
Professor Ward Perkins, in his book ‘The fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation’ states that in 380 AD Britain was at a height of civilisation never seen before – Towns prospered, one could send a letter from York to Alexandria, villas prospered in the countryside, which was safe and free of banditry. Peasents and animals lived under tiled roofs, and ordinary people had access to quality, mass produced consumer items. By 430 AD all this had changed. All over the Western world buildings became smaller, made from perishable materials or reused stone and brick from demolished Roman buildings. Standing armies disbanded, and currencies went out of use. Huge tracts of farmland returned to forest, and roads fell into disuse. The term ‘Dark Age’ may be out of vogue at present, but there is no denying that after the Fall of the West there was a massive economic and population drop (concurrent to the political collapse of the central government) which did not level out until 800 AD. The economy and material culture of Western Europe did not return to 2nd century levels until the 14th century, and trans Mediterranean trade did not reach 2nd century levels until the early 18th century. This is a good documentary, but Francis Pryor is discussing Romano British culture persisting a few generations after the central collapse, and gradually changing into something new, merging with other trends, which is usually what happens when any central power suddenly collapses. And despite Gibbon, western Roman power collapse was sudden, i.
The BRITONS & GAELS (so people don’t nitpick) travelled to Britain by sea, traded by sea during the bronze age, through the iron age and certainly during the Roman occupation… Why would they stop when the Romans left? During the Bronze Age Britain would have been one of the richest countries around due to tins rarity and the vast deposits in Cornwall.
What a good watch! Thanks for this. I kept waiting for someone to suggest that perhaps Geoffery of Monmouth had access to something we don’t, that the Arthurian legend possibly generated from TINtagel, where the tin came from that put Britain on the world map all the way back to 1100 BC and before. You need tin to make bronze. It was the oil of the ancient world. This shows several aspects of Hagia Sophia: the worn threshold into the transept, several shots of the dome from the first floor, the bare marble floor scarred with artifacts, and the mosaic of Justinian who built it. None of them are visible now, thanks to the recent regression of the main basilica into a mosque. I find it ironic that women are not allowed near the area that was the altar, since Justinian built the temple with his beloved Empress Theodora. Thank the gods for the Internet, which preserves these images.
In school we were taught that Britain was some far flung part of the empire that they found cold and inhospitable and didn’t stay very long. Later in life I learned that Britain was a major part of the empire rich in tin and other raw materials, an Emperor was born here & goods were traded all over from here.
Fantastic. Just what I needed to watch tonight. Although I feel there are some unanswered questions. Some of the questions are more obvious realities that are not really answered here, but there’s only so much time a quality production can dedicate to create a story worth following. Thanks a lot to everyone who made this. This is fabulous and worthy of more time spent throughout the whole of the isles on the same topic.
I would like to learn more of the structure of government, military, life in general during the Roman occupation, and who would be considered “free” to stay in England when the Romans left. Would love to know if anyone that was supposed to return to Rome stayed, and if they were under threat for doing so! This is indeed a fascinating period of history!
I find the similarities between Britain and Romania. Both conquered by Romans. Both romanised. Both abandoned but later picked up by the other half of the Roman Empire. But what I find most common about our 2 countries, is the impossibility to actually discern what was before the romans. Since one roman said: history is written by the victor. And that shows.
as Professor Charles Thomas, archeologist at Tintagel and Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies said in 2004 … “My own belief, for what it is worth, is that there was an Arthur, that he was a local war leader, and it all took place in the north of Briton” … to find Arthur you must look to the lands of the Gododdin … “Leader, warrior, brother kinsman – Red stained spearpoint attacking – Death sung by blue blade – Swift before the charge – Most worthy to lead – Foe-men in terror flee – Graves for foe-men that stand – No Quarter given – No retreat made – Bear in the turmoil of combat – Slayer of enemy hosts – Celebrated, loved, renown champion – Dragon of the Army – Arthur, Gododdin king of battle” … If you are in the land of the Gododdin even today and the wind blows, is that hiss from the wind moving through the branches or from Arthur’s draconarious as he and his men ride and watch over their countrymen?
A different and interesting perspective on post-Roman Britain. My knowledge of the period is too limited to judge the merits of the view presented in this article, but I can’t help being fascinated by the idea that maybe the British sustained a high level of civilization after the Romans left. It’ll be interesting to see what future scholarship reveals….
“Dark Ages” does not imply failing culture, death and misery… its “dark” because the evolution of western civilization was slowed or ceased completely depending on where you were. There are parts of Romes old empire that fell deeply into darkness and did not recover for decades while other parts seemingly bounced back and continued on without missing a step.
The Creator of “Prince Valiant” seems to have real insight into the actual world of the time. The hero is married to a princess of a mediterranean kingdom of sorts and his exports carry him into many distant places. Justinian is a villain of the story, by the way, meaning things are happening smack int the 6th century. More recently modern anachronism has crept in with few mentions of the dynamic role the monks played in event.
40:05 – Ugh, I hate when people do that !! … the nodding >.< They seem to do it so they appear like they are listening close and in sync with what I’m saying… but if I stop talking and ask them “So what did I just say?”, they will nod a few more times, then realized I stopped talking, then wonder what just happened. >.> It seems to be more compulsory in Asian cultures, I think? With all the “Hai”s and “Mmmh”s. But personally, I can’t keep my train of thought going when people do that kind of stuff Dx