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Devoted to the Study of Folklore and Tradition

The Folklore Society (FLS) is a learned society, based in London, devoted to the study of all aspects of folklore and tradition, including: ballads, folktales, fairy tales, myths, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, childlore and children's folklore, folk arts and crafts, popular belief, folk religion, material culture, vernacular language, sayings, proverbs and nursery rhymes, folk medicine, plantlore and weather lore.

Next Folklore Society Event

Beastly Beasts: Hybrids in Folklore and Fantasy

  • 23/04/2024
  • 18:00-19:30
  • online talk

Image: Catoblepas, from Jan Jonston, Historia naturalis de quadrupedibus (Amsterdam, 1657), via Wikimedia Commons

Beastly Beasts: Hybrids in Folklore and Fantasy A Folklore Society Online Talk, by Dr Juliette Wood (Cardiff University) Tuesday 23 April 2024, 18:00 BST If you are familiar with modern fantasy writing, you will undoubtedly have encountered dragons and hippogriffs, but have you ever read about the Bonnacon from the medieval bestiary or seen a...

More Folklore Society events coming up

Martyrdom and Demonic Possession: The Virginal followers of Saint UrsulaSheela-na-gigs on Medieval and Early Modern BuildingsRESCHEDULED: Reproductive BodyloreDigital Folklore: hybrid conferenceMore events 

Announcements

Folklore without Borders

Folklore Society council members Dr Matthew Cheeseman and Dr Paul Cowdell have been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to run a research network through 2024. The network aims to understand how to embed greater equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within UK folklore. It hosts an international knowledge exchange on folklore theory, method,...

Fionn Folklore Database

Announcing the recently launched Fionn Folklore Database. The hero Fionn mac Cumhaill is said to have defended Ireland and Scotland from foreign and supernatural threat during a legendary third-century Golden Age. The stories and songs about him and his warrior band, the Fianna, form the most prolific body of narrative in the Gaelic tradition, spanning...

‘Healthy Folk’: Fully-funded PhD: Applications Open for 2024

Healthy Folk – The role of vernacular knowledge in health-related decision-making. Applications are invited for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award at The Open University, in partnership with The Folklore Society. This fully-funded studentship is available from October 2024. Further details about the value of an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP award are available on the...

Ethics Guidelines for Collecting Folklore

Ethical guidelines for good practice in collecting, archiving and sharing folklore material. Folklore collection originally developed and flourished at a time when research ethics, and questions about intellectual property, were given little thought. Contemporary expectations demand that folklorists (and other researchers) pay attention to such matters. With this in mind, the Folklore Society suggests the...

Courses in Folklore Studies

Here’s a selection of courses and classes on folklore studies at various different levels ranging from learning for fun to Masters and PhD. PhD in Folklore, Contemporary Legend, Film & Media, at Sheffield Hallam University PhD opportunities in folklore, contemporary legend, film & media at the Centre for Culture Media and Society (CCMS), Sheffield Hallam...

Fund-Raising for The Folklore Society

Following our move to 50 Fitzroy Street, the Society’s annual costs for office accommodation have significantly increased, so we are inviting all members and friends of The Folklore Society to support us by making donations via our Charities Aid Foundation page at CAF Donate: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/11322

Our Latest Blog Posts

February 24, 2024

Soundscapes and Folklore in East Asia

Soundscapes and Folklore in East Asia ‘Folklore and Anthropology in Conversation’ The Eighth Folklore Society – Royal Anthropological Institute Joint Seminar Date:  Thursday 24 October, 2024 Time:  10.00am to 5.00pm Location: 50 Fitzroy Street,  London W1T 5BT Call for Papers The seminar series ‘Folklore and Anthropology in Conversation’ encourages empirical and conceptual dialogue between the two related disciplines of folklore...


February 24, 2024

Digital Folklore hybrid conference

Digital Folklore The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference, a hybrid conference in collaboration with the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June 2024 Online and at King’s College London, Strand, London WC2B 4BG, UK Digital and networked technologies offer a wealth of new modes of folklore genre, performance and transmission....


February 24, 2024

Water in Legend and Tradition

Water in Legend and Tradition: the 18th Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society Saturday 31 August and Sunday 1 September 2024 St Peter’s by the Waterfront, College Street, Ipswich IP4 1BF, UK CALL for PAPERS, Presentations or Performances: Deadline 1 July Cry me a river! The tears of the Virgin would fill a bottomless pool, down...

More blog posts

 

Other Folklore Events and Calls for Papers

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Keeping Myths, Legends and Folk Tales Alive

  • Start date: 23rd Apr 2024
  • End date: 23rd Apr 2024
  • Online (Teams)

Keeping Myths, Legends and Folk Tales Alive An online talk by Rosalind Kerven Tuesday 23 April 2024, 7-8 p.m. online Folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends are vital aspects of folklore studies. Are they simply historical curiosities, or living, organic entities which are still being developed today? What is the difference between folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends? H...


Reimagining Europe: De-colonizing Historical Imaginaries, Disciplinary Narratives in Folklore and Ethnology and Beyond.

  • Start date: 13th Jun 2024
  • End date: 14th Jun 2024
  • Online and at the Herder Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Marburg – Germany

CALL FOR PAPERS: 'Reimagining Europe' Extended Deadline: 22 March Online and at Herder Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung (Marburg, Germany) Event dates: 13-14 June 2024 Europe can be approached from various angles: as a geographical, political, and economic historical entity; as an embodiment of cultural diversity rooted in national, regional, and local identi...


Conspiracy Theory and Culture

  • Date: 22nd Jun 2024
  • Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

Conspiracy Theory states that nothing is how it is reported, that everything you know is wrong, and that sinister forces are controlling everything for their own, dark motivations. Opposing this dark pantomime are the lone hero truth-tellers, from David Icke to Donald Trump, Alex Jones to the gnomic, anonymous Q. Conspiracy culture has moved to the centre of society, bringing with ...

More events and call for papers