Ebony Forsyth/Spencer Wirkkala/Dupe
These five ideas will not only connect you with the natural world, but also put you in touch with British heritage and lore.
A 3D rendering of Ga-Mohana Hill in South Africa, a sacred and important heritage site.
Stephen Wessels
One criticism of current 3D models of archaeological sites is that they are presented devoid of human traces and history.
Massospondylus skeleton.
Courtesy Dr K Chapelle.
Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.
Hugh Gray took the first picture claimed to be of the Loch Ness monster in 1933.
Chronicle/Alamy
Is the beastie lurking in the watery depths of Loch Ness?
Akan folklore places emphasis on symbols and their meanings.
Wikimedia Commons
Incorporating Akan folklore in the curriculum will promote quality and lifelong education in Ghana.
Rhododendrons look pretty but there is so much more to them.
Richard Milne
Some rhododendron fossils are 60 million years old, showing they were around before the Himalayas were formed.
An incantation bowl with an Aramaic inscription around a demon from Nippur, Mesopotamia.
Wikimedia Commons
From snake-like creatures with claws to jealous virgin ghosts, female monsters have long been a part of women’s lore. Such figures were Intimately tied to childbirth, sexuality and child mortality.
Battle in the margins from the Gorleston Psalter (1310-1324).
British Library
Snails were recognised in medieval times for their unusual strength, given that they were able to carry their home on their back.
BFA / Alamy
It may have got off to a shaky start, but The Wicker Man is now one of British film’s best-loved horror stories, thanks to its deeply disturbing plot.
This is the famous – and fake – photograph of the Loch Ness monster, taken near Inverness, Scotland, on April 19, 1934. The photograph was later revealed to be a hoax.
Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
The idea of a creature like the Loch Ness monster fascinates people. But does the scientific evidence say it’s a prehistoric beast or total fake?
Is Santa’s laughter good-natured or manic? You be the judge.
Shutterstock
Could Santa’s grin be closer to the evil clown’s than you think?
By John Dickson Batten/Wikimedia
Like all members of the category of ‘fey’, or the beings of the preternatural world, including fairies, elves, and pixies, goblins are renowned for being tricksy. In other words, best avoided.
How did Halloween get associated with the spooky?
SolStock/Collection E+ via Getty Images
A folklorist explains how Halloween continues an ancient Celtic tradition of the celebration of the dead.
The Essex Serpent follows Cora as her science comes in conflict with the religious and superstitious beliefs of the locals in the Essex village of Aldwinter.
Apple+
With the longest coastline in England, serpent myths abound in Essex.
Arthur Rackham’s illustration of the Victorian poem Goblin Market.
British Library
Everyone is going ‘goblin mode’, but does the trend unfairly malign goblins of folklore?
A Ukrainian soldier wanders down a railway past the bodies of dead Russian soldiers on the outskirts of Irpin, Ukraine, March 1, 2022.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The Russian army has fared poorly and the Ukrainian military has fared well, defying experts’ predictions about the war in Ukraine. Can children’s fairy tales help explain the difference?
CPA Media Pte Ltd / Alamy
A mermaid with face of a monkey and body of fish has reignited interest in the Japanese ningyo
A painting by John Anster Fitzgerald who was well known for his work featuring fairies.
Wikimedia
The ‘Disneyfication’ of fairies has helped us forget their darker origins.
Modern vampires like Dracula may be dashing, but they certainly weren’t in the original vampire myths.
Archive Photos/ Moviepix via Getty Images
The past century’s vampires have often been a bit dashing, even romantic. That’s not how the myth started out.
Superstition or wishful thinking could trick you into thinking you saw one of these mythical creatures.
AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Mermaids are not real, but are meaningful to people around the world.