The Three Ravens Podcast

For the final episode in our 26 part A-Z of mythical creatures we're slipping into some liminal spaces to talk about Fairies!
Starting with the question of what even is "a fairy" and how did that word come to be?
Should we think of them as handsome and seductive, like in the Romantasy genre, or as nature spirits that need feeding with human blood, via your sourdough starter?
Do we still identify with the pagan idea of fairies shaping human destiny as they fancy, or the post-Reformation concept of the fairy as a form of beautiful ghost seeking to lead us to damnation?
For most people today they're icons of cuteness and childish whimsy, but why did the Victorians shrink them down and give them wings?
Also, why does nobody explain the rules of Fairyland in any Fairy Tales, and what makes marriage so important in so many tales about these poor, fallen, yet somehow powerful creatures?
With examples from Ancient Rome to Medieval chronicles, Witch Trial transcripts to the case of the Cottingley Fairies, join us to explore how 'The Fairy' ultimately reflects the shape of human consciousness era-to-era.
So feed your green child her broad beans, don't get off your horse until your fairy dog does, and toss your wishes into the river, as it's a topic befitting the end of this series - massive, but also tiny, and constantly transforming to mirror the strange shape of life in the real world...

We also hope you increasingly pleased by our new Bestiary episode art, as drawn by our good friend Tom Peteuil of Creature Castle - check out brand new Fairy merch here and visit the Creature Castle shop for prints and other wonderful things here.

Speak to you again on Thursday for this week's Lang Fairy Tale triple bill all before Saturday's Local Legends interview with author and Fairy Whisperer Karen Kay!

Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, we take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Local Legends Martin is chatting with recovering Medievalist, occult bookshop owner, and esoteric researcher Christina Oakley Harrington!
Growing up for a large part overseas, then crash-landing into the north American education system, Christina was perhaps always destined to be an outsider. Yet through her dedication to academic rigour, her life in Wicca, and her passion for bringing well-read, curious people together, she has built a remarkable community at her bookshop, Treadwell's.
If you want to know more about Wicca in particular, you are in the right place - but as this conversation shows, Christina's life experiences have been diverse and inspiring, and speak to both the challenges and the privileges of living life as an outsider.
So. gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire and listen in to a chat which explores topics as wide-ranging as ecstatic trance states, how the early Irish church gave women statuses not enjoyed elsewhere, the distinctions between English and North American Wicca, and so much more, with a true Local Legend, Christina Oakley Harrington!

Visit the Treadwell's website here.

Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Norwegian tale from the Red Fairy Book features a plucky, diminutive hero so unscrupulous, he might just be worse than Dapplegrim!
With trolls with increasing numbers of heads (returning favourites), princesses with suspicious motives, mysteriously intelligent babies and flying ships, Minnikin really does have it all.
Also known as Lillekort in Norwegian, and Shortshanks in translation, it's certainly a fairy tale which takes us on a journey - but will Minnikin get the full three out of three ravens in our discussion?
We really hope that you enjoy the episode, and we will speak to you again on Saturday, when Martin is interviewing founder and director of Treadwell's Books, Dr Christina Oakley-Harrington!
If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.
Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.
They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.
Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).
Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.
Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.
The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the last episode in the second series of Magic and Medicines, we're talking about Palmistry and Phrenology!
We start by looking at uses of palmistry across the world, from Vedic astrology with Hindu Jyotish over to the divination practices of the Chinese Ming dynasty.
We discuss whether or not it's true that Aristotle discovered an ancient palmistry text and got Alexander the Great into the art, and explore the stereotypes associated with fortune telling in general, and some nasty xenophobic history.
Then, we have a look at our own hands, and try and work out whether we've got 'fire hands' or 'air hands', and what the lines in our palms say about us.
In the third part of the episode, we look at the concept of phrenology, from its roots as possible brain science through to its manipulation and abuse by proponents of eugenics, and its alarming similarity to the work done by some algorithms today...
We really hope you enjoy the episode, and we will speak to you again on Thursday with a new tale from the Red Fairy Book, Minnikin!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this very special episode of Local Legends Martin is chatting with the brilliant British folk singer-songwriter Frankie Archer!
To mark the release of her debut album, The Dance of Death, Frankie made time to come on the podcast to discuss how she has ended up making the music she has, which fuses centuries-old traditional melodies with modern electronic production, synthesizers, and manipulated samples.
Hailing from the North East of England, Frankie loves folk songs and folk tales, making her a perfect guest. We are both massive fans, and, best of all, we have permission to include some of Frankie’s brilliant songs in this episode, which are:

Death and the Maiden
The Dance of Death
In Oxford City
The Lover’s Ghost
The Demon Lover
In Brunton Town

We won’t labour the point – she’s ace – so gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire and listen in to a chat which explores topics as wide-ranging as the icon of Death, the Lambton worm, Cushie Butterfield and the business of being a folk musician in this strange year of 2026, with a true Local Legend, Frankie Archer!

Learn more about Frankie, buy her music, and find links to tickets for her upcoming tour at frankiearchermusic.com.
Photo credit Rob Irish.

Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.