Hellebore

The nights are growing longer and the dark is creeping in. This time of year, between Halloween (once celebrated as Samhain) and Christmas (which draws on many old Yuletide traditions), is the perfect time to explore the folklore of the British Isles. 

Folklore is a popular topic in our zine collection and we have several series and one-off zines that examine the stories, legends, and mythos of our past and present. 

We have 8 issues of the zine series. Hellebore. Named after a poisonous plant used to alter and open one’s mind, Hellebore delves into folk stories, folk horror, magic and the occult in Britain. In this zine you can find articles, poems, stories, and artwork. 

Praised by Ronald Hutton, the leading historian on Rituals and Paganism in British history and a regular on British TV, stating that “It effortlessly straddles the spheres of academic and independent scholarship to unite the two in an ever-exciting and always accessible cocktail of new research”. 

As we are approaching the winter solstice, we thought we would share a few highlights of the Yuletide Special (available in the Zine room in Harrison library)

• The Lord of Misrule – a Tudor tradition of role reversal between master and servant and how over time it gained a darker undertone 
• Midwinter Megaliths – Pagans old and new have celebrated the solstice at Stone Henge for years, but if you cannot get to Wiltshire this midwinter, Hellebore has some alternative megalithic sites to mark the longest night of the year 
• Cold Christmas – This article reflects on this supposedly haunted church and the destructive power of folklore tourism in the digital age 
• Children of the Snow – An analysis of winter imagery in children’s literature (the perfect read before heading up to L2 in Harrison library to check out our wintery display)

Many modern holidays, ideas, and symbolism have their roots in traditional folklore. Other folklore zines, we have in the collection include: 

• Hwaet 
• Tell the bees 
• Weird Walk 
• Folklore activist 

Head to our zine room to check them out. You can browse our zine collection online here: Zines - University of Wolverhampton