folklore Archives - Page 21 of 50 - Bone and Sickle

The Dead Lover’s Heart

February 13, 2022 boneandsickle ballads, cannibalism, death, Decameron, EPISODE, folklore, gore, history, holidays, homicide, horror, legends, literature, love, Mary Shelley, murder, murder ballads, Romanticism, seduction, Valentine's Day

Whether freshly removed or strangely preserved after death, the dead lover’s heart occasionally has continued to be embraced as a[…]

Read more

Myth and Magic of the Smith

January 24, 2022 boneandsickle antiquity, black magic, blacksmith, Devil, EPISODE, fairy tales, folk customs, folk magic, folklore, Greek gods, Greek myth, history, legends, mythology, Norse religion, occultism, pagan, paganism, saints, Satan, The Blacksmith and the Devil, Wicca, witchcraft, witches

Folklore of the blacksmith portrays him as a semi-magical figure, a wily opponent of the Devil, a mythic creator in classical and[…]

Read more

America and the Old, Dark Christmas

December 4, 2021 boneandsickle America, American lore, Belsnickel, Christmas, EPISODE, folklore, Germany, history, holidays, New Year, Santa Claus, Twelve Days of Christmas

In earlier centuries, Americans partook in many of the same dark Christmas traditions that gave birth to Europe’s Krampus. This[…]

Read more