Yesterday I put out a tweet asking for some recommendations on information about British mythology and folklore. I've long felt the magic of this wonderful land of ours in my bones (you CAN feel it, if you're paying attention), but hadn't really explored beyond that. As I'm now writing a story which skirts at the edges of such weird and wonderful and dangerous things, I felt it was time to step up my research.
Anyway, I was expecting maybe three or four mentions of books or possibly a podcast to listen to. And what I got back has been an unstoppable deluge of passionate recommendations for everything, by some truly wonderful people, that has far surpassed anything I could have hoped for.
Such was the level of response, I felt it might be nice to gather as much of that information as possible into a single place - making it easier for other explorers looking for the magic lingering on these shores. Hope you find what you're looking for. Enjoy!
Recommended books (in no particular order)
A Treasury of British Folklore - Dee Dee Chainey (see image above)
Anything and everything by Katharine (K.M.) Briggs
The Mabinogion (translation by Sioned Davies)
The Book of English Magic - Philip Carr-Gomm and Richard Heygate
Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain (out of print, but you can get second hand - and apparently you should, as it was described as "basically the folklore fan's bible"!)
History of Britain - Geoffrey of Monmouth's("critiqued as a not-credible account, but much to learn and appreciate")
Lost and Found - Elizabeth Garner
Myth and Moor - Terri Windling
Collected Folk Tales / The Owl Service / Basically anything written by Alan Garner (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is a personal favourite of mine! Can't ever go near Alderley Edge without thinking about it.)
Myths and Legends of the British Isles - Richard Barber
The Land of the Green Man - Carolyne Larrington
Albion by Peter Ackroyd
Ghostland - Edward Parnell (and you can read a brilliant excerpt of this here: https://folklorethursday.com/regional-folklore/ghostland-goblin-city/)
The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys - Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood
The Lost Gods of England - Brian Branston
The Way of Wyrd - Brian Bates
Mythago Wood - Robert Holdstock
The Dark is Rising (series) - Susan Cooper
Strange Lands: A Field-Guide to the Celtic and British Otherworld - Andrew L. Paciorek
The Jack Tales - Richard Chase
Mythology of the British Isles - Geoffrey Ashe
Timpson's England: a look beyond the obvious - John Timpson
The Stations of the Sun / Pagan Britain / Triumph of the Moon - Prof. Ronald Hutton
Penguin Book of English and Scottish Folktales - Neil Philip
The Minor Traditions of British Mythology - Lewis Spence
The Old Ways and Underland: A Deep Time Journey - Robert Macfarlane
The Wake - Paul Kingsnorth
Myths and Customs of Britain - Marc Alexander
The Modern Antiquarian - Julian Cope
Hollow Places: An Unusual History of Land and Legend - Christopher Hadley
Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in an Age of Amnesia - Martin Shaw and David Abram
Oak, Ash and Thorn - Peter Fiennes
Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
British Folk Customs - Christina Hole
Anything by Rosemary Sutcliff
Latest books by Catherine Fisher
The White Goddess - Robert Graves
Tree Wisdom - Jacqueline Memory Paterson
Gossip from the Forest - Sara Maitland
The Re-enchanted Landscape - Rupert White
A Celtic Miscellany (Penguin)
Folklore, Myths, Legends of Britain - Reader's Digest
Magical Folk - Simon Young
Natural Magic - Paddy Slade
Druids : A Very Short Introduction - Barry Cunliffe
Secret Lore of London - John Matthews, Caroline Wise, Nigel Pennick
Red Sky at Night - Jane Struthers
Podcasts
Modern Fairies - Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield (University of Oxford)
The Folklore Podcast
Shows
Websites and articles
Folklore Thursday (website - also follow @FolkloreThurs and #FolkloreThurs, plus they have their own recommended reading list! https://folklorethursday.com/recommended-books-list/)
Gog and Magog (article)
Ghostland: Arthur Machen, King Arthur and 'Goblin City' (article)
Hallowquest (website)
Sharon Blackie (website)
Dennis Price (website)
Twitter accounts
@LoremenPod
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