English folklore: everything you wanted to know

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. What happens when you step inside a fairy ring? Where did the figure of the green man come from? And why have so many East Anglians been terrorized by a menacing, dog-like creature called Black Shook?

In today's Everything You Wanted to Know podcast, Emily Briffitt speaks to folklorist and historian of religion and belief Frances Young to uncover more about the myths and historical traditions of England. From iconic characters such as Robin Hood and King Arthur to fantastical tales of shapeshifters and mermaids. So we are talking all about English folklore today. Now, in the broadest terms, what do we mean when we use the term folklore? Well, folklore is a rather fiendishly difficult discipline to define.

I suppose my go-to definition would be vernacular culture. that's transmitted via traditional oral means rather than written means. So in other words, it's kind of the culture of ordinary people that hasn't been written down by the people themselves. And it's a term which only goes back as far as 1846. It was coined by a guy called William Toms.

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