A Dictionary of English Folklore - Hardcover

Simpson, Jacqueline; Roud, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019210019X ISBN 13: 9780192100191

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

With 1250 entries ranging from dragons to Mother Goose, May Day to Michaelmas, this enchanting dictionary unfurls the colorful history behind the holidays, customs, legends, and superstitious beliefs of England.
Ever wonder why we kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas or think a rabbit's foot brings good luck? Two folklore authorities provide reliable and often surprising answers to these and other curiosities that have shaped daily life in England for centuries. They explore the festivals and past celebrations of the English calendar, from St. Andrews Day and its tradition of drunkenness and cross-dressing to Twelfth Night and its king and queen cake. They also provide concise portraits of real and legendary characters that populate the public memory, including Robin Hood, The Brothers Grimm, Lady Godiva, Puck, and The Sandman. Fairies, mermaids, hobgoblins, and changelings are but a few of the supernatural forces surveyed here. However, as folklore encompasses the mundane as well as the fantastic, numerous other entries illuminate the significance of colors, numbers, flowers, animals, and household objects. Learn the curious history behind our distrust of the "black sheep," popular credence in "wishbone" wishes, folk cures for nosebleeds and warts, and persistent old wives' tales. In addition to ancient and medieval folklore, you will find many contemporary urban legends, e.g., the vanishing hitchhiker--a spooky figure seen ominously by travelers in Britain and the United States--and the Tooth Fairy.
An entertaining resource, The Dictionary of English Folklore will be a fascinating companion for readers of English literature, history, cultural studies, and fantasy.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Jacqueline Simpson was president of the Folklore Society from 1993 to 1996, editor of Folklore from 1979 to 1993, and is currently Honorary Secretary of the Folklore Society. Her publications include Folklore of Sussex, Folklore of the Welsh Borders, and Scandinavian Folktales. Steve Roud has been Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for the last 15 years. He is the author of Mumming Plays in Oxfordshire and has compiled the Index to the Journal Folklore 1968-1992.

Reviews

Containing more than 1200 alphabetically arranged entries, this folklore dictionary spans familiar beliefs, from the earliest cultural traditions to more familiar subjects, such as Mother Goose. The authors, esteemed British folklore experts with many publications to their credit, include a broad range of oral genres, calendar customs, festivals, life-cycle customs, and supernatural and superstitious beliefs. Everyday lore is fully explored, from the Tooth Fairy and Godiva to the modern tales of wonderment such as "The Vanishing Hitchhiker." Fairies, mermaids, hobgoblins, and changelings are examples of the supernatural forces surveyed. The historical foundations of folk cures and old wives' tales, as well as classic legendary characters (e.g., Robin Hood) are identified and traced. Other topics include festivals, past and present, that are celebrated throughout English literature, as well as children's games, "fakelore," cross-dressing, mumming, and more. All are provided with dependable information and references, and the many See and See Also citations add considerably to the book's richness as a reference source. The one drawback to this solidly researched work is its exclusively British approach, which will limit its appeal to American readers. Students and researchers, however, will find it valuable. Recommended for inclusive and extensive library collections.DRichard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This scholarly dictionary begins with a broadly inclusive definition of what constitutes folklore . Briefly, the editors have chosen to include oral and performance genres of common culture, calendar customs, life-cycle customs, and supernatural and superstitious beliefs, dating from antiquity through current day. Not included are traditional foods, sports, games, fairs, or obsolete customs. There is only limited coverage of children's lore, fairies, and plants. English has a much narrower definition: England and England only. The folklores of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Isles are not considered, nor are those of any of the ethnic groups that form part of English society. Researchers will find no references to banshees or Nessie but will find detailed entries concerning strictly British inventions such as boy bishops, Farthing Bundles, the Lambton worm, and Stir-Up Sunday.The 1,250 alphabetically arranged definitions range from a sentence or two to more than a page, with the focus on factual documentation as opposed to analytical interpretation. Footnotes appear at the end of each entry, referring to more than 350 academic resources detailed in the bibliography. These sources mostly date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (although some are as early as the fourteenth century) and include standards of folklore scholarship, unpublished doctoral treatises, reference works, and folklore periodicals.There are just eight illustrations, and the scholarly approach makes for rather dry prose. Text is arranged in a no-nonsense double-column format, with indexed terms appearing in boldface. There is no index, but see and see also references guide readers to appropriate entries. An asterisk next to a term indicates that the term is the subject of a separate entry.Although the concentration on English folklore might seem to limit this source's research value, the bibliography alone should warrant interest in academic and specialized collections. General public and school collections might be better served by one of the broader works currently available: for example, David Pickering's A Dictionary of Folklore [RBB My 15 00], originally published in England as the Cassell Dictionary of Folklore , or The Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore, by Alison Jones (1996). Still, this represents a unique contribution to the body of work about folklore and should be considered by academic and large public libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019210019X
• ISBN 13: 9780192100191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 411