The Niðstöng. A Pole of Scorn. In the Saxon and Viking Age, one of the harshest acts of hostility was the raising of a niðstöng, a “pole of scorn.” In Egil’s Saga, Egil Skalla-Grímsson sets a pole in the earth, fixes a horse’s head upon it, carves runes, and turns it toward his enemies’ land. He calls on the landvættir, land-wights, to drive them out and deny them peace. This was not something done slyly or on the quiet, it was very much an open magick. It was a public declar

As It Was Told on the Downs... I was told this years ago, as it happened, not as a story meant to frighten, but as something that simply took place. It was told plainly, without embellishment, as a reminder to be careful of what you follow when you’re out on the open land alone. There was a man out hiking on the downs on a summer afternoon. As he crested a hill, he stopped beside an old, wind-blown hawthorn and looked out across the view. As he stood there, he became aware of

Mud Month, in old English, Solmonað. Solmonað , the Old English name for February. Pronounced SOHL-mo-nath (soft “th” as in that). Think of it as the Sun’s month, the time when winter still lingers but the days start slowly lengthening. The Anglo Saxons had a knack for calling things exactly what they were. February in Saxon England was the month when winter's grip began to loosen just enough to make a mess of things. If you find yourself in the old heartlands of Wessex this

There was a time, several years ago now, when I was walking the dogs along the northernmost edge of the woods. These Wessex woodland paths are old, the land here has carried people for thousands of years, as a way through, a place to live, and a place to lay the dead. Pathways for getting from one place to another, but also ground that holds burials, settlements, and the long eroded traces of lives spent close to the trees. You couldn’t be much further from other people, at l

Today, in the stillness between bare branches, I found the brown hare, still, quiet, taken by the season. A shape once swift, now resting...

The lonely stretch of land known as Black Dog Hill, between Ditchling and Westmeston, carries an unsettling legend. It is said that a...

In the rich tapestry of English folklore, Jack Frost emerges as a fascinating character. This mischievous sprite is credited with...

A true story of a modern day sighting of an otherworldly creature or boundary dog, similar to a grim, hellhound or black shuck.

Dive into the superstitions behind magpies - from the omen of seeing a single one, to the rhymes telling the meanings of seeing several.

Discover our recent encounter with a glowing will-o'-the-wisp in the forest and explore the folklore behind this eerie phenomenon.

The Deer Mother was a venerated spiritual figure since early Neolithic times. She was worshipped by early peoples from the British Isles,...

Wait for a quiet gap in your day or evening, pull up a chair, and light a few candles. If you like folklore, unusual tales, or learning...

Ripe damsons waiting to be foraged There’s something very soul-satisfying about ambling along ancient tracks, and even more so when...

We had a trip to Salisbury today. For anyone reading this from afar, Salisbury (pronounced Solls-bury ) is a small city here in southern...