Stories From Lore - A Folklore, Nature And Heritage Podcast

In Episode 7, and the final episode of Stories From Lore, we’re staying at home with the familiar domestic beasts of the monk’s bestiary. My main reference for this episode is Richard Barber’s translation of the MS Bodley 764 Bestiary. So, grab yourself a cuppa as we walk down the lane to the farm.

I’d like to thank you all for listening to Stories from Lore for the last five years. It has been a wonderful journey to go on with you and I hope you have enjoyed the stories and lore I have shared along the way. I will be back with new ideas and a new podcast in the not-too-distant future, so make sure you are subscribed to my Substack newsletter to be the first to hear of new projects.

Just hop over to the Substack site and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes. You can upgrade to paid for just £5 a month to access extended episodes in the archives, extras and this season an exclusive monthly podcast for subscribers called The Story Forecast.

Note - There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

Rare Breeds of the UK:

Goats - English goats, golden Guernsey goats, Bagot goats, Angora goats, British primitive goats, old English goats, British Alpine. Anglo Nubian,

Cows - Ancient cattle of Wales, Albion cows, Dairy shorthorns, Northern dairy short horns, Native Aberdeen angus, Whitebred shorthorn, Gloucester, Shetland, Irish moiled, traditional Hereford, the Chillingham wild cattle, Vaynol, Lincoln red originals, white park, British white,

Sheep - Torwen badger face Welsh mountain sheep, Lonk, Welsh mountain pedigree, Whiteface Dartmoor, Boreray, Devon & Cornwall longwool, Leicester longwool, Lincoln longwool, North Ronaldsay, whitefaced woodland, border Leicester, castlemilk Moorit, Cotswold, Derbyshire gritstone, Dorset Horn, hill Radnor, Manx Loaghtan, Portland, Soay, Teeswater, Wensleydale, Balwen, Devon closewool, Dorset Down, greyface Dartmoor, Llanwenog, Norfolk Horn, Oxford Down,

Pigs – British landrace, British Lop, Large black, middle white, Berkshire, large white, Tamworth, British saddleback, Gloucestershire Old Spots, Oxford Sandy & Black, Welsh,

Horse – Dales Pony, Cleveland Bay Horse, Eriskay Pony, Hackney Horse & Pony, Suffolk Horse, Exmoor pony, Dartmoor pony, Clydesdale Horse, Fell pony, Highland pony, New Forest pony, Shire horse.

References:

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

Videen, Hana (2021) The Word Hord: Daily Life In Old English, Profile Books

Rare Breed Survival Trust

https://www.rbst.org.uk/

Music

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Incidental music - ancient-greece-326845 via Pixabay

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com & www.pixabay.com

In Episode 6 we’re are looking at the fearsome many headed beasts that have appeared in mythology and story through the centuries. My main references for this episode are Borges book of Imaginary Beings, Richard Barber’s translation of the MS Bodley 764 Bestiary and Hana Videen’s, The Deorhord. So, grab yourself a cuppa as we battle with the many headed.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

This is the penultimate episode for this season and the penultimate episode for the podcast as I have decided to stop at five seasons so that I can concentrate on the book deadlines I have and create some space to develop new ideas. Don’t worry, I have plenty of those. I will no doubt be back next year with a new podcast that explores heritage, landscape and stories in new ways.

For more folklore and stories and an archive of over 100 posts exclusively for paid subscribers, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

Cerridwen's Cauldron

Welcome to the Substack of author & performance storyteller Dawn Nelson. Here you will find a porthole into the life of a writer and storyteller, through the cauldron of myth, legend, folklore & story that speaks of the land and heritage of the UK.

By Dawn Nelson

References:

Aaronovich, Ben, (2011) Moon Over Soho, Gollanzc

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

Borges, Jorge Luis, (2002) The Book Of Imaginary Beings, Vintage

Nelson, Dawn (2021) Adventures In Nature, The History Press.

Videen, Hana (2021) The Deor Hord: An Old English Bestiary, Profile Books

On The Anglo-Saxon Wonders Of The East - https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/338f66302d074034b64843865bb6e959

Season 3 Episode 2 Stories From Lore - Written in the Stars - https://cerridwenscauldron.substack.com/p/season-3-episode-2-written-in-the-273

Music

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Incidental music - ancient-greece-326845 via Pixabay

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com & www.pixabay.com

In Episode 5, of Season 5 we’re stepping out of the bestiaries and into the wonders of Anglo-Saxon Leechcraft, the folk medicine of our ancestors and what it told us about the magical beings they dwelt beside during this time. My main reference for this episode is Stephen Pollington’s Leechcraft. So, grab yourself a cuppa as we dive into the Lacnunga healing text, and go where elves, wyrms and dwarves are abound.

This episode also features the fabulous Jen Atkinson aka Cunning Woman Rynswith and you can find more information about here work here.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories and an archive of up to 100 posts exclusively for paid subscribers, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

Cerridwen's Cauldron

Welcome to the Substack of author & performance storyteller Dawn Nelson. Here you will find a porthole into the life of a writer and storyteller, through the cauldron of myth, legend, folklore & story that speaks of the land and heritage of the UK.

By Dawn Nelson

References:

Pollington, Stephen (2000) Leechcraft: Early English Charms Plantlore And Healing, Anglo-Saxon Books

Jen Atkinson, Cunning Woman Rynswith via Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cunningwoman_rynswith/

Herigeas Hundas - http://www.hampshirereenactment.com

An Introduction to Belemnites - https://ukfossils.co.uk/2012/08/28/an-introduction-to-belemnites/

Nine Herb’s Charm - https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor

Nine Herbs To Rule Them All - https://cerridwenscauldron.substack.com/p/nine-herbs-to-rule-them-all

Hines, John (2019). "Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts - Practical Runic Literacy in the Late Anglo-Saxon Period: Inscriptions on Lead Sheet". Anglia Book Series. 63 (1): 29–59.

Music:

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com & www.pixabay.com

Episode 4 is ‘Water Dwellers’. For this season we are diving into the medieval bestiaries to discover the strange and familiar creatures that lie within its pages. For this episode, I’m focusing on the whale and taking a brief look at its cousin the dolphin and an even briefer look at fish. As always I am using the MS Bodley 764 Bestiary, a 13th century manuscript, translated by Richard Barber as my main reference.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored across the seasons in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories and an extra offerings for paid subscribers, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

References:

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

The Old English Physiologus - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14529/14529-h/14529-h.htm

The Old English Poetry Project - https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-panther/

Videen, Hana (2021) The Deor Hord: An Old English Bestiary, Profile Books

Music

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Medieval Knieval, by Nutmeg, via Free Music Archive, online.

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com

Endangered Animals Listed In This Episode:

Blue Whale, Gray Whale, North Atlantic Right Whale, North Pacific Right Whale, Fin Whale, Sei Whale, Beluga Whale, Vaquita, Dugong, Hector’s Dolphin, Yangtze Finless Porpoise, Ganges River Dolphin, Indus River Dolphin, Irawaddy Dolphin, Atlantic Humpback Dolphin, Franciscana, Chilean Dolphin, South Asian River Dolphin, Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin, Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin.

You Are Remembered

Season 5 begins with Born of Fire. For this season we are diving into the medieval Bestiaries to discover the strange and familiar creatures that lie within its pages. In this episode we’re exploring the creatures that are associated with fire, with the main focus being that well-loved and feared mythical creature, the dragon.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories, you can subscribe to my Substack newsletter. Just hop over to the Substack site and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes. You can upgrade to paid for just £5 a month to access extended episodes in the archives, extras and for this season, an exclusive monthly podcast for subscribers called The Story Forecast.

Signing up as a paid or free subscriber is much appreciated and helps to support the podcast and my work with folklore and story.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

References:

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

Beowulf in Old English - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43521/beowulf-old-english-version

Bilingual Beowulf, translator unknown - https://www.mit.edu/~jrising/webres/beowulf.pdf

Borges, Jorge Luis, (2002) The Book Of Imaginary Beings, Vintage

Of Dragons and Diminutive Elephants by Riley Black (Accessed 2024) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/of-dragon-diets-and-diminutive-elephants

Remedies Derived From The Dragon – (accessed 2024) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D29%3Achapter%3D20

The Medieval Bestiary: Dragon – (accessed 2024) https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastsource262.htm

Videen, Hana (2021) The word Hord: Daily Life in Old English, Profile Books

Music & Sound Effects

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com

Season 5 begins with Born of Fire. For this season we are diving into the medieval Bestiaries to discover the strange and familiar creatures that lie within its pages. In this episode we’re exploring the creatures that are associated with fire, with the main focus being that well-loved and feared mythical creature, the dragon.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories, you can subscribe to my Substack newsletter. Just hop over to the Substack site and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes. You can upgrade to paid for just £5 a month to access extended episodes in the archives, extras and for this season, an exclusive monthly podcast for subscribers called The Story Forecast.

Signing up as a paid or free subscriber is much appreciated and helps to support the podcast and my work with folklore and story.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

References:

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

Beowulf in Old English - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43521/beowulf-old-english-version

Bilingual Beowulf, translator unknown - https://www.mit.edu/~jrising/webres/beowulf.pdf

Borges, Jorge Luis, (2002) The Book Of Imaginary Beings, Vintage

Of Dragons and Diminutive Elephants by Riley Black (Accessed 2024) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/of-dragon-diets-and-diminutive-elephants

Remedies Derived From The Dragon – (accessed 2024) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D29%3Achapter%3D20

The Medieval Bestiary: Dragon – (accessed 2024) https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastsource262.htm

Videen, Hana (2021) The word Hord: Daily Life in Old English, Profile Books

Music & Sound Effects

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com

Season 5 begins with Born of Fire. For this season we are diving into the medieval Bestiaries to discover the strange and familiar creatures that lie within its pages. In this episode we’re exploring the creatures that are associated with fire, with the main focus being that well-loved and feared mythical creature, the dragon.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories, you can subscribe to my Substack newsletter. Just hop over to the Substack site and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes. You can upgrade to paid for just £5 a month to access extended episodes in the archives, extras and for this season, an exclusive monthly podcast for subscribers called The Story Forecast.

Signing up as a paid or free subscriber is much appreciated and helps to support the podcast and my work with folklore and story.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/thebarddawn

References:

Barber, Richard (1993) Bestiary MS Bodley 764, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge

Beowulf in Old English - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43521/beowulf-old-english-version

Bilingual Beowulf, translator unknown - https://www.mit.edu/~jrising/webres/beowulf.pdf

Borges, Jorge Luis, (2002) The Book Of Imaginary Beings, Vintage

Of Dragons and Diminutive Elephants by Riley Black (Accessed 2024) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/of-dragon-diets-and-diminutive-elephants

Remedies Derived From The Dragon – (accessed 2024) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D29%3Achapter%3D20

The Medieval Bestiary: Dragon – (accessed 2024) https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastsource262.htm

Videen, Hana (2021) The word Hord: Daily Life in Old English, Profile Books

Music & Sound Effects

Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound Effects via www.orangefreesounds.com

Season 4 concludes with Episode 7 – Fleeing Food. In this episode we’re exploring some of the folklore, nature and stories surrounding tales of runaway gingerbread men, pancakes and bannock breads.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories and an archive of up to 100 posts exclusively for paid subscribers, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/dd_storyeller

References

Books:

Beeton, Isobella, (1994) Mrs Beeton's Book of Cookery and Household Management, Orion, revised edition.

Zipes, Jack, (2014) The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition, Princeton University Press.

Asbjorsen & Moe, (2013) East of the Sun and West of the Moon - Old Tales from the North, Pook Press.

Websites:

The Gingerbread Man and Other Runaway Foods

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-gingerbread-man-and-other-runaway-foods-2255339/The Runaway Pancake – ATU 2025 list - https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type2025.html

Season 4 continues with Episode 6 – The Bells, The Bells. In this episode we’re exploring some of the folklore, nature and stories surrounding church bells.

There are sometimes dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories and podcast extras, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/dd_storyeller

References:

Books:

Ashe, Geoffrey et al (1973), Folklore Myths and Legends Of Britain, Readers Digest

Westwood & Simpson (2005) The Lore Of The Land, Penguin Books

Schneidau, Lisa (2022) River Folk Tales, The History Press

Online:

St Clements Bells ringing -

The Bells The Bells - https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/23549/origin-of-the-bells-the-bells-quote

For Whom The Bell Tolls by John Donne - https://allpoetry.com/For-whom-the-Bell-Tolls

Folklore Thursday – Folklore of Bells - Folklore Thursday - https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/the-folklore-of-bells/

Superstition – Fun With Bells - https://funwithbells.com/episode/superstition

Church Bell Ringing Explained - https://restless.co.uk/leisure-and-lifestyle/art-and-culture/church-bell-ringing-explained/

Method Names - https://www.treblesgoing.org.uk/methodringing.html#

Bosham bell - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosham#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20legend%20that,joined%20in%2C%20destroying%20the%20ship.

https://www.1066.co.nz/Mosaic%20DVD/text/buildings/boshamchurch.htm

Forrabury Bells - https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/prwe/prwe305.htm

Season 4 continues with Episode 5 – Castle Dwellers. In this episode we’re exploring some of the folklore, nature and stories surrounding castle ruins.

There are some dark folkloric characters explored in this podcast and so, as always, I would recommend that you should listen through first before listening with younger members of your household.

For more folklore and stories and podcast extras, you can subscribe to my ‘Substack, Cerridwen’s Cauldron’. Just hop over to Substack and search for Cerridwen’s Cauldron or use the link in the show notes and you upgrade to paid for just £5 a month for an extra dose of wild storytelling to your inbox.

As always you can find me via the following channels:

www.facebook.com/ddstoryteller

www.instagram.com/dd_storyeller

References:

Books:

Ashe, Geoffrey et al (1973), Folklore Myths and Legends Of Britain, Readers Digest

Henderson, William (1879). Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (2nd ed.) W. Satchell, Peyton & Co

Jeffs, Amy (2023) Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain, Quercus Publishing

Westwood & Simpson (2005) The Lore Of The Land, Penguin Books

Online:

The Princes In The Tower - https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-princes-in-the-tower/#gs.5115me

The Ravens - https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/the-ravens/#gs.511dzx

Caring For Our Raven – Includes Munin’s escape story -

Welsh Myth Takes Wing –

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2004/nov/20/guardianletters2

Sussex Giants - http://www.sussexarch.org.uk/saaf/giants.html

Mythical Creatures – Episode 4 - Redcaps - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tj0y

Last Tuesday Society Lecture – 25th January 2024 – John Clark – Gog & Magog -

https://www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org