Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 23

Frankenstein Will Always Live Again

Frankenstein was released on 21 November 1931 in the USA. It wasn’t the first adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel since a silent version was released in 1910. Yet James Whale’s black-and-white version reversed the ailing fortunes of Universal and kickstart a wave of horror production. It also turned its Monster, played by Boris Karloff, into […]

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Moving House Superstitions: Brooms, Bread, Salt and Smoke

Moving house is often cited as being one of the most stressful things you can do. After all, it’s a huge process, from actually viewing houses through to packing your stuff and moving it to a new home. It’s unsurprising that such a noteworthy life stage would have a host of moving house superstitions and […]

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Something Old, Something New: British Wedding Folklore & Traditions

Weddings are often a ‘stand out’ event in many people’s lives, whether as guests or members of the wedding party. It’s hardly surprising that such an important day has accrued so much wedding folklore to ensure the marriage goes well. From the cake to the bouquet, the dress to the date itself, most elements of […]

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Why do people love folklore? The people have spoken!

So what actually brought you to folklore? What got you interested in myth, legends and all things superstition based? Why do you love folklore? That was actually a question that I posed on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. The massive response amazed me, especially when you added Instagram and Facebook replies. So I’m curious! […]

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Children’s Folklore: Games, Rhymes and Telling Fortunes

When it comes to ‘life stages’, childhood is the first we actually remember. It’s the time when we learn to communicate, gain our bearings, and try out hundreds of interests to see which ones ‘fit’. But how does it relate to ‘folklore’? Trying to decide what to include for this ‘folklore of childhood’ post ended […]

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Pregnancy & Birth Folklore: All About Predictions and Protection

I’m sure we’ve probably all heard the famous rhyme, in which the day of your birth dictates your character. It’s a common form of birth folklore that many of us will find whimsical, at most. Monday’s child is fair of face,Tuesday’s child is full of grace,Wednesday’s child is full of woe,Thursday’s child has far to […]

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Lammas Lore: Harvests, Fairs, and Home Protection

1 August marks the festival of Lammas, or Lughnasadh, depending on your tradition. It’s a time of harvests, feasting, and giving thanks. The names are often used interchangeably. Though, as we shall see, there is some debate as to whether the two festivals are the same thing. Either way, you’ll find plenty of Lammas lore […]

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Marianne Stokes: Folk Life and Fairy Tales in Victorian Art

We’ve been examining the links between folklore, mythology and art in the Victorian period over the last few posts. Yes, the Victorians have a lot to answer for more widely. Yet this was also a period in which mythology and folklore appeared a lot in art. Some artists used these myths to explore dangerous female […]

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King Arthur and Folklore in the Art of Edward Burne-Jones

Victorian artists often drew on myths, legends, and fairy tales to fuel their work. They made great subject matter for commissions, a fact exploited to great effect by John William Waterhouse. Yet these stories also allowed artists to comment on their age in pictorial terms. The rewriting of a myth, or the choice of a […]

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Evelyn De Morgan: Myths from a Female Perspective

When you think of mythology in Victorian art, you probably think of the nude water nymphs of John William Waterhouse. As we saw last week, his work draws heavily from myth and legend for its subject matter. Yet he was nowhere near being the only artist inspired by classical stories. Evelyn De Morgan was another […]

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