Online Talk: The Mystery of Changelings: Origins, Geography and Nature

Date 13 January 2026 19:00 - 20:30

Location Online talk

Speaker Simon Young

The Mystery of Changelings: Origins, Geography and Nature

A Folklore Society Online Talk by

Simon Young (UCEAP, Florence, Italy)

What was a changeling, and why did people believe in them? This talk revisits origins, pushing evidence back into antiquity, and maps the belief from West Eurasia’s changeling heartlands to comparative cases in Mexico and Papua New Guinea. We parse the classic model and explore variants: including womb changelings, parent stocks, and fairy bait-and-switch. Finally, we ask who was at risk—children or adults too?—and what these stories reveal about family, fear, and care.

Simon Young is a British historian based in Italy. Simon teaches at the University of California program in Florence. His recent books include The Boggart (2022) and Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends (2022).

Tickets £6.00 (£4.00 for Folklore Society members with the Promo Code): login to https://folklore-society.com/members-only to get the Promo Code from The Mystery of Changelings: Origins, Geography and Nature Tickets, Tue, Jan 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons