Grýla: The Icelandic Giantess Who Has Been Eating Naughty Children at Christmas for Over Eight Hundred Years
Grýla is the oldest and most terrifying figure in Icelandic Christmas tradition, a giantess of monstrous physical description who descends
Seasonal Folklore
The Yule Lads: Iceland’s Thirteen Christmas Trolls, Their Ancient Origins, and the Law That Tried to Ban Them
Iceland has thirteen Father Christmases. They do not live at the North Pole. They do not have workshops staffed by
The Yule Cat: The Icelandic Giant Who Eats Anyone Who Does Not Receive New Clothes Before Christmas
The Yule Cat, Jólakötturinn in Icelandic, is one of the most unusual figures in Christmas folklore and one of the
Perchta: The Alpine Christmas Witch Who Inspects Your Spinning, Rewards the Diligent, and Disembowels Everyone Else
Perchta is a supernatural figure from the Alpine tradition of Austria, Bavaria, and Switzerland whose activities are concentrated in the
Halloween Around the World: How Different Cultures Mark the Same Seasonal Moment
Halloween as most people know it is a specifically American cultural product: the carved pumpkin, the trick or treat, the
The Headless Horseman: Washington Irving’s Creation and the Folklore Roots He Drew On
The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow is one of the most enduring Halloween figures in American culture, a galloping supernatural
Soul Cakes: The Medieval Practice That Directly Became Trick or Treat
Soul cakes are small spiced biscuits or breads that were baked on All Souls’ Day, the 2nd of November, and
The Wild Hunt at Halloween: The Army of the Dead and the Night When the Boundary Fails
The Wild Hunt is one of the most widely distributed supernatural traditions in European folklore, a nocturnal procession of the
Black Cats in Folklore: The Real History of Why the World’s Most Unlucky Animal Is Also the Most Loved
The black cat is one of the most contradictory figures in world folklore. In Britain it is lucky. In America
Witches and Halloween: The Real History of Witch Belief and How the Broomstick Got Into the Picture
The witch is the defining visual symbol of Halloween. She appears on every seasonal decoration, every costume rack, every piece