BOOKS An enchantment of lore Andy Paciorek

Delights in two beguiling volumes of folklore destined, he suspects, to become classics

Treasury of Folklore: Seas & Rivers

Sirens, Selkies and Ghost Ships Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham

Batsford 2021

Hb, 192pp, £12.99, ISBN 9781849946599

Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands & Forests

Wild Gods, World Trees and Werewolves

Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham

Batsford 2021

Hb, 192pp, £12.99, ISBN 9781849946872

Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham, the luminaries behind the hugely successful Folklore Thursday hashtag phenomenon on Twitter, prove their own deserved place within the folklore world with these enchanting books.

The first presents a collection of strange aquatic tales gathered across the ages and across the globe, varying from Mami Wata to the Mary Celeste, from the lost city of Ys to the subterranean rivers of London. Within its rolling pages the reader encounters both familiar figures, such as Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid (one of the more disturbing tales to have ever have been given the Disney treatment), and lesser-known entities such as the Funay rei – the revenants of drowned Japanese mariners who unless placated will cause harm to living souls. Kelpies, selkies, nymphs, sirens, ghosts, gods and goddesses galore such as Poseidon, Sedna, Hit (the octopus goddess of the Caroline Islands) and Arnaquagsaq (the sea mother of Greenland) all appear within. Superstitions abound in the sailors’ world and this book casts a net to land numerous omens heeded when setting sail.

In our voyage through strange waters there are a wealth of subjects that have intrigued forteans for decades, such as that zone of mysterious maritime vanishings, the Bermuda Triangle, and Ignis Fatuus – the fool’s fire (also known as Will o’ the Wisps, Jack o’ Lanterns and more), the lights that flicker above swamplands which are said to have led many a nocturnal traveller to a sodden grave. Cryptids like Nessie, Ogopogo and the Bear Lake Monster also raise their heads above the surface.

It must be noted that this book is not an in-depth analysis of any particular cases and should be seen as more of a port from which readers may seek to explore further or dive in deeper via other tomes.

In the second volume Chainey and Winsham take us by the hand like babes in the wood and lead us… into the woods! And as with the waves, they prove adept guides to the wonders of forests the world over. We encounter heroes and heroines like Vasilisa the Beautiful and her adversary in the dark Russian birch forest, the iron-toothed crone Baba Yaga; and Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack of the North American timberlands and his loyal companion the blue-haired moose Babe. We meet strange creatures such as the timid Squonk, which upon capture would dissolve in a flood of tears, and the human-faced tree dogs of China, the Penghou. We meet gods and demi-gods and elemental spirits of the wildwoods: the Leshy, Hamadryads, Herne the Hunter, the Moss People and many more. There are meetings with those denizens of the dark woods, the bears and the wolves; yet they too may be more than we dreamed and, disturbingly, may be more like us than we’d dared imagine. And we hear the lore of the trees themselves from the Dragon’s Blood trees of Yemen to the ancient funereal yews of Britain; from the sacred banyan trees of India to the giant old cedars of Canada.

It is a great introduction to the topic, yet it is also diverse enough that even seasoned followers of folklore may find something unfamiliar or intriguing within this beguiling little book, such as the Tió de Nada, the bizarre Yule log of Catalan tradition.

Although there are a few adult themes which are subtly addressed, I would have no qualms about giving the books as gifts to adults and children alike. As a child I’d have indeed treasured them. Both can be dipped into here and there or read cover to cover; they are very charming in presentation, illustrated throughout in a block print style by the artist Joe McClaren.

I look forward hopefully to more titles in a series that could prove to be a contemporary equivalent of Andrew Lang’s coloured fairy book collection. Seas & Rivers ★★★★ Woodlands & Forests ★★★★