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English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, even predating the Roman invasion of Britain, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as the traditional Arthurian legends (which was original strictly Britonic) and Robin Hood tales, to contemporary urban legends and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified - by Athelstan 927 AD Area - Total 130...
Roman invasion of Britain: Britain was the target of invasion by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire several times during its history. ...
A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ...
Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. ...
Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ...
An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ...
Cryptozoology is the search for animals that are rumored to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing. ...
The Beast of Bodmin is a phantom wild cat (or possibly a number of them) which ranges in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. ...
English folklore could be considered a brief look at the not well known mythology of the Anglo-Saxons, though it also has Welsh influences, perhaps evidence of a predominately non-hostile Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain or it could be because of the Norman's replacement of a great deal of English legends with Britonic ones. The Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain from southern Scandinavia, the Netherlands and northern Germany, thus the Anglo-Saxon gods were originally the same gods as those in Germanic mythology and in the better-known version Norse mythology. ...
Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. ...
Morris dance and related practices such as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance preserve old English folk traditions, as do Mummers Plays. Pub names may preserve folk traditions. Cotswold morris with handkerchiefs A morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied with music. ...
The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is a remarkable folk survival, taking place each year in Abbots Bromley, a small village in Staffordshire, England. ...
Mummers Plays (also known as mumming) are seasonal folk plays performed by troupes of actors known as mummers or guisers (or by local names such as rhymers, pace-eggers, soulers, tipteerers, galoshins and so on), originally in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (see wrenboys), but later in other parts of...
The sign of the Saracens Head in Broad Street, Bath, England The names of public houses have a story behind them. ...
Most folklore traditions are no longer widely believed. Whereas some traditions were once believed across the whole of England, most belong to specific regions:
Folklore of England
A black dog may refer to any dark-hued canine. ...
A signature Cox Brownie A brownie, brounie/Urisk (Lowland Scots) or ùruisg/brùnaidh (Scottish Gaelic) is a legendary kind of elf popular in folklore around Scotland and England (especially the north). ...
According to English folklore, those born at certain hours had halfway decent-looking teeth. ...
Corn dollies are a form of straw work associated with harvest customs. ...
In English history, the cunning man or cunning woman is a professional or semi-professional folk magic user up until the twentieth century. ...
Drakes Drum was with Sir Francis Drake when he circumnavigated my nuts and when he died of dysentery off Panama in 1596. ...
This page is about a mythological race. ...
For alternate meanings, see Lightning (disambiguation). ...
English Country Dance, sometimes abbreviated ECD, is a form of folk dance. ...
Flibbertigibbet may refer to: A character in Anglo-Saxon mythology, apprentice to Wayland Smith. ...
A modern interpretation of the Green Man as a garden ornament carved in stone A Green Man as a name for a sculpture, drawing or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves was coined by Lady Raglan in 1939 [1]. Branches or vines may sprout from...
Adder stone is a type of stone, usually glassy, with a naturally-occurring hole through it. ...
The lubber fiend, Lob, lubberkin, lurdane or Lob Lie-By-The-Fire was a legendary creature of England that was was similar in attributes to the urisk or brownie of Scotland and northern England. ...
May Queen is a term which has two distinct but related meanings. ...
Dancing around the maypole, in Åmmeberg, Sweden Maypole dancing is a traditional form of folk dance from western Europe, especially England, Sweden and Germany. ...
Dancing around the maypole, in Ã…mmeberg, Sweden The maypole is a tall wooden pole (traditionally of hawthorn or birch), sometimes erected with several long coloured ribbons suspended from the top, festooned with flowers, draped in greenery and strapped with large circular wreaths, depending on local and regional variances. ...
Oak Apple Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom on 29th May. ...
This article is about the mythical creature. ...
The Parish ale was a festival in an English parish at which ale made and donated for the event was the chief drink. ...
A petrifying well is a well with the ability to turn everyday objects into stone. ...
Robin Goodfellow in English folklore is a euphemistic personification of a half-tamed, troublesome elf or hob-goblin, a prankster who is the domesticated aspect of Puck. ...
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to a friendly or amusing goblin. ...
St. ...
Cumulus humilis indicates a good day ahead. ...
The following is a list and assessment of sites and places associated with King Arthur and the Arthurian legend in general. ...
Standing stones, orthostats, liths or more commonly, megaliths because of their large and cumbersome size, are solitary stones set vertically in the ground. ...
Numerous chalk figures have been carved into hillsides in the United Kingdom, including :- Alton Barnes white horse, Wiltshire (1812) Broad Town white horse, Wiltshire (1864) Cerne Abbas giant, Dorset (popularly believed to be ancient, but recently dated to c. ...
Well dressing in Youlgreave Well dressing is a custom practised in the Peak District of England, in which wells are decorated with designs created from flower petals. ...
The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo The Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern Scandinavia, Germany and Britain. ...
Wyrms published in 1987 by TOR books is a novel by Orson Scott Card. ...
Folklore of East Ganglia Babes in the Wood is a traditional childrens tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. ...
Black Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline. ...
Edmund the Martyr (circa 840 – November 20, 869 or 870) was a King of East Anglia. ...
// Hereward the Wake, known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th century leader in England who led resistance to the Norman Conquest, and was consequently labelled an outlaw. ...
Molly dancing is a form of English Morris dance, traditionally done by out of work ploughboys in midwinter in the 19th century. ...
Old King Cole, according to William Wallace Denslow For other uses of King Cole, see King Cole (disambiguation). ...
The reconstructed gallows at Caxton Gibbet. ...
The Green children of Woolpit were two strange children who reportedly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, United Kingdom, in the 12th century. ...
Folklore of London and the South East Bevis of Hampton, is the name of an English metrical romance. ...
Bran the Blessed, also known as Bran Vendigaid, Bendigeidfran or Branovices, is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. ...
Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is a historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ...
Brutus of Troy or Brutus I of the Britons (Welsh: Bryttys), according to the accounts of the early Welsh historians Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth, was the first king of the Britons. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
The tradition of Gog and Magog begins in the Hebrew Bible with the reference to Magog, son of Japheth, in the Book of Genesis and continues in cryptic prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel, which are echoed in the Book of Revelation and in the Quran. ...
The City of London is a geographically-small city within Greater London, England. ...
In English mythology, Herne the Hunter is a ghost or monster associated with Windsor Great Park. ...
Hoodening, also called Hodening, is an East Kent tradition vaguely related to Mumming and the Morris dance, and dating back at least to the mid-18th century. ...
London Bridge is falling down is a well-known traditional nursery rhyme. ...
The Mallard Song is a notorious tradition of All Souls College, Oxford. ...
The Legend of the Mistletoe Bough is a ghost story associated with Bramshill House, Hampshire, in England. ...
Oranges and Lemons is an English nursery rhyme which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. ...
The Rollright Stones is the name of a complex of megalithic monuments in England, divided between the counties of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, near the village of Long Compton. ...
For other uses, see Spring Heeled Jack (disambiguation). ...
Swan Upping is an annual ceremonial and practical activity in England in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, marked, and then released. ...
St. ...
Cumulus humilis indicates a good day ahead. ...
As seen from an altitude of 2000 feet, from the cockpit of a glider The Uffington White Horse is a highly stylised hillfigure, 374 feet (110m) long, cut out of the turf on the upper slopes of Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort near The Ridgeway, in southern England. ...
Weyland (also spelled Wayland, Weland and Watlende) is the mythical smith-god of the Saxon immigrants into Britain. ...
Folklore of the Midlands Black Annis is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. ...
In the village of Alkborough, North Lincolnshire close to the cliff edge is Julians Bower, a small unicursal turf maze, 43 feet across, of indeterminate age. ...
The term Border Morris refers to a collection of individual local dances from villages along the English side of the Wales-England border. ...
Bottlekickers holding up the 3 bottles Bottle-kicking is an old Leicestershire custom that takes place in the village of Hallaton each Easter Monday. ...
In English folklore, the Dun Cow of Dunsmore Heath was a savage beast slain by Sir Guy, Earl of Warwick. ...
Saint Frideswide (c. ...
Fulk FitzWarin (also called Fulke or Fouke FitzWaryn or FitzWarren) was a medieval landed gentleman turned outlaw, from Whittington Castle in Shropshire. ...
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Guy of Warwick is a legendary English romantic hero popular in England and France from the 13th to the 17th century. ...
The Haxey Hood Game is a game of football traditionally played at Haxey in the English county of Lincolnshire on the afternoon of January 6th or Twelfth Day. ...
The Lincoln Imp is the symbol of the City of Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, England. ...
The Major Oak The Major Oak is a huge Oak tree near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest, England. ...
Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ...
The Royal Shrovetide Football Match occurs annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England. ...
Wise Men of Gotham, the early name given to the people of the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, in allusion to their reputed simplicity. ...
The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire , England. ...
Yallery-Brown is a mischievous nature spirit in an old Lincolnshire folk tale. ...
Tiddy Mun Tiddy Mun was a bog spirit worshiped in Lincolnshire England, which supposedly had the ability to control floods. ...
Folklore of Yorkshire and the North East Barghest, Bargtjest, Bo-guest or Bargest is the name given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a mythical monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws. ...
The ruins of Hylton Castle (near Sunderland, in Tyne & Wear, Northern England) are reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered stable boy, known locally as the Cauld Lad of Hylton. ...
One of the Devils Arrows. ...
Artist sketch of Jack-In-Irons. ...
Jenny Greenteeth is a figure in English folklore from Yorkshire or Lancashire. ...
Jingling Geordies Hole is cave that has inspired a legend in Tynemouth, England. ...
Britains largest and most northerly white horse figure is carved into the North York Moors hillside near the village of Kilburn. ...
Penshaw Monument, near Sunderland The Legend of the Lambton Worm is a story told about John Lambton, heir of the Lambton Estate, County Durham, and his battle with a giant worm which had been terrorising the local villages. ...
The Long Sword dance is a hilt-and-point sword dance recorded mainly in Yorkshire in England. ...
The Peg Powler is an ugly old woman from English folklore with a green skin, long hair and sharp teeth who is said to inhabit the River Tees. ...
Rapper sword is a kind of sword dance. ...
A Redcap is a type of malevolent murderous Goblin, Elf or Fairy found in English folklore. ...
Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ...
Ursula Southeil (c. ...
Folklore of the North West Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. ...
An Eachy is a name given to a species of lake monster from a variety of locations in northern England and Scotland. ...
Lancashire, like all other counties of England, has historically had its own peculiar superstitions, manners, and customs, which may or may not find parallels in those of other localities. ...
Long Meg and Her Daughters, also known as Maughanby Circle is the name of a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith in the English county of Cumbria. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
The Wild Boar of Westmorland is a legend concerning Richard de Gilpin and the villagers and pilgrims visiting the ruins of the Holy Cross at Plumgarths, and the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin on St. ...
Folklore of the South West Held on 13 May each year, the Abbotsbury Garland Day celebrations have taken place in the Dorset village of Abbotsbury since about the early 19th century. ...
The story of the barber surgeon of Avebury is one that most visitors to the prehistoric site of Avebury Henge in the English county of Wiltshire will have heard. ...
Bladud was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. ...
Bath is a city in Somerset, England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. ...
Bowermans Nose is a large stack of weathered granite on Dartmoor, in the United Kingdom. ...
The Cerne Abbas giant is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas to the north of Dorchester in Dorset, England. ...
Cheese rolling is an annual event held in May at Coopers Hill near Gloucester. ...
Childes Tomb is located on the south-east edge of Foxtor Mires, c. ...
Corineus, or Corin, eponymous founder of Cornwall, was descended from the heroes of the Trojan War, and was one of the companions of Brutus of Britain, and is spoken of in Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae. ...
Cornwall (pronounced ; Cornish: ) is a county in south-west England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar and Devon. ...
cows Dunstan (909 – May 19, 988) was an Archbishop of Canterbury (960 – 988) who was later canonized as a saint. ...
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry spot on the Somerset Levels, 50km (31 miles) south of Bristol. ...
View from the former location of the North transept in East direction to the choir. ...
Hunky Punk is Somerset (West Country) dialect for grotesque carvings on the side of buildings (especially churches). ...
Jays Grave is supposedly the last resting place of a suicide victim who is thought to have died in the late 18th century. ...
Lyonesse, Lyoness, or Lyonnesse is the sunken land believed in legend to lie off the Isles of Scilly, to the south-west of Cornwall. ...
For the Sydney suburb, see Padstow, New South Wales. ...
Pixies (or Piskies as they are sometimes known in Cornwall) are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name. ...
A pisky (or piskey) is a type of Cornish fairy similar to a pixie. ...
In the versions of this ballad that are most commonly sung and recorded today, Reynardine is a werefox who attracts beautiful women to him so that he can take them away to his castle. ...
A German woodcut from 1722 A werewolf (also lycanthrope or wolfman) in folklore is a person who shapeshifts into a wolf or wolflike creature, either purposely, by using magic, or after being placed under a curse. ...
High Willhays, the highest point on Dartmoor and southern England at 621 m (2037 ft) above sea level, with Yes Tor beyond. ...
The historical Jan Tregeagle was a magistrate in the early seventeenth century, a steward under the Duchy of Cornwall, and was known for being particularly harsh; darker stories circulated as well, that he had murdered his wife or made a pact with the Devil. ...
The Great Thunderstorm of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Dartmoor, took place on 21 October 1638, when the church of St Pancras was apparently struck by ball lightning during a severe thunderstorm. ...
Widecombe Fair takes place annually on the second Tuesday in September, attracting thousands of visitors to the tiny Dartmoor village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. ...
The Witch of Wookey Hole is the central character in an old English legend. ...
Jack the Giant Killer is a fairy tale. ...
Jack the Giant Killer is a fairy tale. ...
“Rabbit rabbit†is a common superstition, held particularly among children. ...
Folklore in song // And did those feet in ancient time is a short poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton: a Poem (1804). ...
Green Grow the Rushes, O, is a folk song popular in England, Scotland, and Wales. ...
The Vicar of Bray is a satirical song recounting the career of the Vicar of Bray and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes in the Established Church through the course of several English monarchs. ...
The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying et cetera, often to express exasperation at the large number of items in the list. ...
English folklore in other media English folklore crops up in books, films and comic books and these appearances include: Jenny Greenteeth is a figure in English folklore from Yorkshire or Lancashire. ...
Black Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline. ...
Black Annis is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. ...
Cover of the first issue of 2000 AD, 26 February 1977. ...
Final panel of the first installment of London Falling in prog 1491, drawn by Lee Garbett. ...
Simon Spurrier is a British comics writer. ...
Lee Garbett is a British comic book artist born in the West Midlands. ...
In English mythology, Herne the Hunter is a ghost or monster associated with Windsor Great Park. ...
A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ...
Susan Mary Cooper (born May 23, 1935) in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England is a British author. ...
The Dark is Rising is a childrens novel by Susan Cooper. ...
See also The term Merry England, or in more jocular, half-timbered spelling Merrie England, refers to a semi-mythological, idyllic, and pastoral way of life that the inhabitants of England allegedly enjoyed at some poorly-defined point between the Middle Ages and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. ...
English mythology, like the conglomerate society which it represents, with a long and elaborate history of invasion and settlement by diverse cultures, is one which has nevertheless an entirely idiosyncratic nature of its own. ...
The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) was an English Victorian hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. ...
Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, and many of Englands traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them. ...
A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery. ...
Once upon a time is a stock phrase that has been used for many hundreds[citation needed] of years in storytelling in the English language. ...
The Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain from southern Scandinavia, the Netherlands and northern Germany, thus the Anglo-Saxon gods were originally the same gods as those in Germanic mythology and in the better-known version Norse mythology. ...
Scottish folklore is the myths and legends historically told by the people of Scotland. ...
The Matter of Britain or the Arthurian legend is a name given collectively to the legends that concern the Celtic and legendary history of the British Isles, especially those focused on King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. ...
Reference Books - Hutton, Ronald, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in England, 1999
- Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, 1959
- Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, (2nd edn) 1997
- Opie, Iona, and Moira Tatem, A Dictionary of Superstitions, 1989
- Roud, Steve, The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Great Britain and Ireland, 2004
- Simpson, Jacqueline, and Steve Roud, A Dictionary of English Folklore", 2000
- Vickery, Roy, A Dictionary of Plant Lore, 1995
- Westwood, Jennifer, and Jacqueline Simpson, The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's legends, 2005
Peter and Iona (Archibald) Opie were a husband-and-wife team of folklorists, who applied modern techniques to childrens literature, summarized in their studies, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1952) and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959) Their collection of some 1200 titles of childrens books...
External links - Weather and Folk Lore of Peterborough and District, by Charles Dack, 1911, from Project Gutenberg
- Project-IONA a repository of folk tales from England and the islands of the North Atlantic
- Website of the Folklore Society (UK)
- Pretanic World - Folklore and Folkbeliefs
- Dartmoor Legends
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