The Grimm brothers' publications such as German Legends and Grimms' Fairy Tales were translated from their original German and distributed across Europe in 1816. Their stories inspired publishers such as William Thoms to compile legends from within English folklore and without to compose an English identity. The stories that the Grimm brothers collected were integrated into the English school curriculum throughout the 19th century as educators of morality. [2] Characteristics [ edit ] Warner, M. (1998). "Why do Ogres Eat Babies? Monstrous Paternity in Myth and Fairytales". Paternity and Fatherhood. pp.195–203. doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-13816-6_18. ISBN 978-1-349-13818-0– via Springer Link.

Atherton, Mark (2017). The Making of England: A New History of the Anglo-Saxon World. I.B. Tauris. pp.59–75. ISBN 978-1-00-300753-1. If this introductory look at Britain’s wealth of fascinating legends has inspired you, you can learn more about British folklore over at Mysterious Britain. If you come on an Oxford Royale Summer Schools course, you can also look forward to visiting some of Britain’s famous landmarks, such as mysterious Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain – said, in one tale, to have been constructed by none other than the magician Merlin of Arthurian legend…

Finally, we end by moving on to a more modern British legend. The character of James Bond has proved to have enduring appeal sufficient to give him legendary status. Originating from a set of novels by Ian Fleming, James Bond – also known by his code name 007 – is a secret agent whose work sees him travelling the world on the trail of various interesting and unique villains, some of whom appear in more than one story. Meeting a host of beautiful women along the way, Bond’s adventures generally involve thrilling fight scenes, fast cars and clever gadgets. Bond has been taking on international intrigue of one sort or another on the big screen since 1962, when Sean Connery was the first to play the character in what many have seen as the definitive James Bond performance. Since then, several other actors have had the privilege of filling Bond’s shoes, and with movies continuing to be made, the legend of James Bond looks set to continue. Chambers, Raymond Wilson (2010). Beowulf: An introduction to the study of the poem with a discussion of the stories of Offa and Finn. Project Gutenberg. ISBN 978-1-4655-1214-7. After a person died, a poor person was hired to take on their sins by eating before or after the funeral over their body- a sin-eater. The sin-eater would hence ensure that the recently deceased would be taken to heaven. [52] Items [ edit ] As for English folktales, some such as Weber argue that they were passed down for the purpose of reflecting the grim realities of a child's life and hence instilled valued English morals and aesthetics. [17] Others such as Tatar would counter that these folktales' fantasies were so removed from reality that they were a form of escapism, imaginative expression, and linguistic appreciation. [18] Most folklorists would agree that the purpose of English folklore is to protect, entertain, and instruct on how to participate in a just and fair society. [19] Folktales [ edit ]

The scholarly, monocle wearing second son of a Duke, who solves bizarre murders ably assisted by his manservant Bunter might seem an anomaly among the Wallenders and Rebus's of today's detective fiction but against unlikely odds Lord Peter Wimsey, created by Dorothy L Sayers, continues to delight readers. Despite her death in 1957 her character lives on not least thanks to Jill Paton Walsh who has taken on the task of continuing Wimsey's adventures, beginning with Sayer's unfinished manuscript Thrones, Dominations. She's just published her fourth Peter Wimsey book The Late Scholar and joins Mariella Frostrup and lifelong Sayers' fan, Sarah Crown, to discuss his, and the books', enduring appeal. As I walked on and the eerie crunch, crunch, sounded behind me, I was seized with terror and took to my heels, staggering blindly among the boulders for four or five miles,” Collie told a meeting of the Cairngorm Club in 1925. Cornish piskies Monroe, Alexei (15 January 2019). "The Wild Hunt: Nationalistic Anarchism and Neofeudalism Unleashed". Third Text. 32: 620–628. doi: 10.1080/09528822.2018.1555302. S2CID 150174959– via Taylor & Francis Online. What Collie had experienced was a classic case of a brush with the Big Grey Man (Am Fear Liath Mòr) of Ben Macdui, an enduring myth of an extremely large, Sasquatch-like grey figure covered in short hair. Wherever the Grey Man ventures, he is accompanied by a sense of irrational panic and dread. Standing stones are man-made stone structures made to stand up. Some small standing stones can also be arranged in groups to form miniliths. [42] Similar to these geological artefacts are hill figures. These are figures drawn into the countryside by digging into the ground and sometimes filling it in with a mineral of a contrasting colour. Examples are the Cerne Abbas Giant, the Uffington White Horse, and the Long Man of Wilmington and are the focus for folktales and beliefs. [43]

King Arthur is the legendary king of the Britons, the Once and Future King and True Born King of England. The origins of King Arthur and his exploits are vague due to the many reproductions of his character. The Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae reference many battles of an Arthur, Annales Cambriae also referencing Mordred, a rival, and Merlin, a wise mentor. Although these sources have been used as proof for Arthur's origins, their credibility has been disputed as mythology rather than history. [32] As English folklore has progressed, King Arthur's retellings have been classified into romances such as Malory's Morte Darthur, chronicles such as Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae, and fantasies such as Culhwch ac Olwen (whose author is unknown). [33] Before England was founded in the year 927, Wessex and its surrounding areas' cultures were transformed by the invasion of the Danish King Guthrum between 865 and 878. [5] The king of Wessex, King Alfred, prevailed against King Guthrum's troops in 878 and King Guthrum was baptised and became the ruler of East Anglia. This continued the process of the assimilation of Norse words into the English language. Eventually English folklore melded with Norse traditions such as in their iconography, which became more Greek, and in their clothing and folktales which adopted more Nordic elements. [6] The folklore of the people of England continued to be passed down through oral tradition. [1] Sax, Boria (2015). "The Magic of Animals: English Witch Trials in the Perspective of Folklore". Anthrozoös. 22: 317–332 – via Taylor & Francis Online. There are likely many characters and stories that have never been recorded and hence were forgotten, but these folktales and their evolutions were often a product of contemporary figures, places, or events local to specific regions. [4] The below are only a small fraction of examples from the folktale types of English folklore.