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Denise Gallagher: Insights on Seasonal Tales
Denise Gallagher on “How to Calm a Rain Bull” Author and Illustrator Denise Gallagher joins us to talk all about folklore, magic in the everyday, kidlit and her upcoming book, “How to Calm a Rain Bull.” The collection features 24 different seasonal and nature tales from all around the world. Welcome back, dear Travellers! Today we have the absolute pleasure of sharing our interview with author and illustrator, Denise Gallagher. We received an advanced reader copy of her upcoming book, “How to Calm a Rain Bull” and we loved it so much that we just had to reach out and…
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The Lad, the Magic Hat and the Trolls: A Sámi Folktale
A poor boy discovers a magic hat that transports him anywhere. He embarks on a quest for golden birds guarded by trolls to win a princess’s hand. After several misadventures and following dubious advice, he successfully retrieves a singing bird and a glowing horse, ultimately marrying the princess and becoming king.
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May Reads with Fox
May 2026 was a month full of fairy-tales, fantasy, and folklore all with a heaping side dish of feminine rage. While some hit the mark, others fell short in our round-up. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for giving us advanced copies of each of the following for review: Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari (Bindery Books) Psyche by Forrest Gladstone (Bosque Publishing) We Dance upon Demons by Vaishnavi Patel (S&S/Saga Press) Vile Lady Villains by Danai Christopoulou (Penguin) Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari (4/5) Mona Tewari’s “Burn the Sea” came out a few weeks ago and its a…
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Advanced Reader Copy Reviews with Fox
Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui Folklore and History behind the Fiction The setting of the story is based on the Siege of Mazagan (later El-Jadida) in 1769. It was the last port held by the Portuguese under the banner of King Joseph I of Portugal before the Siege of the Sultan which serves as the buildup in the book. Aicha can refer to the folklore character “Aicha Kandicha” a Djinn who looks like a beautiful woman (or woman possessed by a Djinn) with hooved feet that tempts men to their death. The folklore of her being a “temptress” could come from…
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Seasonal Myths of Spring: Inanna and the Cycle of Rebirth
Spring Myths and Seasonal Tales Seasonal myths are explanatory tales that explain how the seasons came to be. We’ve covered many different tales like the ever popular Oak King and Holly King Tale. We also covered the Homeric “Hymn of Demeter” which lays out the story of Persephone’s descent (re: abduction) into the underworld. A classic spring myth explaining the death and rebirth of the natural world. However, Persephone wasn’t the first goddess to descend into the Underworld. The first that we know of was a Sumerian Goddess. Inanna. This post will detail some of the background to her…
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The Snow Maiden: A Faerie Tale
Russia, 15 minute read The Snow Maiden, born to Father Frost and Spring has to protect herself from the indignant Sun God, but can she protect her icy heart? Happy New Years, Travellers! There are very few New Year’s stories or folktales that I could find, but I became fixated on King Frost, also known as Father Frost. I wanted to uncover the origins of the character- his stories, his symbolism, and anything else I could find. This research led me to Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden. I did recently release our first episode of 2026 which was the “King Frost…
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The Cobbler’s Son and the Serpent
The Cobbler’s Son and the Serpent Welcome travelers to another spooky tale to tell around the Campfire! If you missed our last post, you can read all about the Murder Maggot of Minnesota here! Now, I originally found this tale in Ask the Bones: Scary Stories from Around the World by David Holt and Bill Mooney, which includes “The Tale of the Haunted Forest” as a folktale from Uzbekistan. However, after looking into the references and trying to trace its origins, I was surprised to discover that the story actually comes from a collection of Central Asian folktales compiled by…
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Campfire Tales: The Murder Maggot of Minnesota
The Murder Maggot of Minnesota Listen to our Campfire Tales now! Imagine you’re a teenager sitting around a campfire, it is a dark and stormy night. Your teenage counselor begins a story that makes the hair on your arms stand up and sends shivers down your spine. They hold a flashlight under their face, casting eerie shadows as they reach the scariest part- and then suddenly, you hear something rustling in the trees. Everyone lets out a collective scream! That is precisely the feeling we want to embody in our campfire tale today! Of course, fairytales and folklore may be…
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Rebecca Ross and Mythmaking: The mythology and folklore of Wild Reverence
Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the…
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Katabasis: The Myth of Orpheus
R.F Kuang’s highly anticipated novel, Katabasis, was published recently and it has brought on a wave of discourse around journeying into the underworld as a physical and metaphorical storytelling device! ‘Katabasis’ itself is a Greek term for the hero’s descent into the underworld usually referring to Hades. We have covered many stories where our hero or protagonist journeys into the underworld as a symbol of death and resurrection (seasons) like Persephone in the Greek Hymn to Demeter, and the Sumerian stories of Inanna. We’ve also covered stories which feature voluntary travel to the underworld to fetch something, such as in…
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Graceless Heart, Florence and Sculpture Myths
In 15th-century Volterra, sculptress Ravenna Maffei enters a competition hosted by a secretive, immortal family who offer an invaluable boon to the victor. Desperate to win so she can save her brother, Ravenna reveals a rare magical talent—a dangerous act in a city where magic is forbidden. Her revelation makes her a target, and she is kidnapped by the Luni family and taken to Florence, a city of breathtaking beauty and cutthroat ambition. There, Ravenna is forced into an impossible task where failure means certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the family’s enigmatic and merciless heir. Some…
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Long Meg and the Summer Solstice
As summer comes to an end, we have a story from the summer solstice that we recounted last year. Our story delves into the history of one of Britain’s oldest and largest prehistoric stone circles, known as Long Meg and Her Daughters. Located near the village of Little Salkeld, there are 66 stones that form a circle, with the largest being slightly away from the others- this is Long Meg. The folktale associated with the stones is tied to witches being turned to stone! This connection was first mentioned by the topographer William Camden in the 17th century and later expanded…
Tales from the Enchanted Forest 