History & Folklore

Ottomans, Venetians, and the Riches of Cultural Exchange

Sometimes friends, sometimes foes, always open for business.

Jun 25 •

Marie Antoinette's Pink Diamond at Auction, the Restoration of an Early Portrait, and a Very Scandalous Dress

France's ill-fated queen in the headlines this week.

Jun 12 •

This Hat Killed 200 Million Birds Every Year

During the Victorian period, the lust for rare plumage reached staggering heights.

May 22 •

The Dress that Started a Revolution

Before there was the 1920s flapper, there was the Delphos gown.

Apr 10 •

The Fight Against Zombie Culture: the New Feudalism, Revisited

Why the humanities matter now more than ever

Mar 24 •

So, Where Do the Fairies Actually Come From?

At the end of our series, we address the question that has pestered folklorists for generations.

Mar 10 •

Annwn, Otherworlds, and Kingdoms Under the Earth

In the late Middle Ages, the fairy emerges as a distinct, folkloric figure.

Mar 9 •

A Midsummer Nightmare?

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" includes one of the most famous literary depictions of fairies. How do Oberon and Titania compare to…

Feb 19 •

Who Was the Real St. Valentine?

And how did medieval ideas regarding courtly love inform the way we celebrate Valentine's Day?

Feb 12 •

Robert Kirk and the Fairy Romantics

Today, we're diving into Reverend Robert Kirk's seminal work, "The Secret Commonwealth" (1691), and how over a hundred years later, Sir Walter Scott…

Feb 11 •

The Battle of the Victorian Fairies

In the well-to-do households of Victorian cities, fairies were being scrubbed and starched to suit a new, child-friendly image. But in the countryside…

Jan 29 •

Flower Fairies, Photographic Hoaxes, and the Post-War Imagination

In 1920, photographs of the Cottingley fairies took the world by storm as "evidence" of an eternal, elfin realm. But the image of the flower fairy was a…

Jan 20 •

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