Beasts of the Olde World

Just a quick heads up: this last week has been a total write off due to flu and/or some sort of chest demon. So if there's no video this week, that's why. I am going to try to get it finished in time but I still feel pretty dreadful so we'll see.

I hope you enjoyed the spooky season uploads throughout October, and I'm looking forward to diving into some more beasts in November, including the start of a mini-series on a much-requested topic!

Anyway, I hope you had a happy Halloween and a peaceful Samhain. Catch you in the next one

1 day ago | [YT] | 252

Beasts of the Olde World

Join us on Friday to find out about the Sluagh - the Host of the Unforgiven Dead... and why they might just be Halloween's darkest horror!

We'll look at some real-world accounts of the myth in detail, and find out why - at one time at least - people were terrified of the Sluagh, especially around Halloween.

This myth has quite alot in commmon with some more modern myths too - so we'll also be looking at what this means for us today.

I really enjoyed researching this one - it kept making me think of the Night on Bald Mountain scene from Fantasia - which I couldn't show for obvious reasons - but that's how I sort of picture the Sluagh in my mind (nothing to do with Czernobog though, so far as I can tell!)

Happy Halloween and hope to see you Friday!
Nick

6 days ago | [YT] | 264

Beasts of the Olde World

It's time to find out what's in the box!

Join us on Friday for a deep dive into the real-world origins of the Horcrux and the idea that you can seperate your soul from your body to escape the end...

We'll discuss how widespread this concept once was - both across time and across the globe - we'll examine some famous examples of the myth in detail, and find out why hiding your soul and escaping your doom might not be all it's cracked up to be.

And as always, we'll be asking what this myth once meant, and what lessons it may hold for us today.

Hope to see you Friday!
Nick

1 week ago | [YT] | 135

Beasts of the Olde World

Join us on Friday for a brand new deep-dive into the terrifying myth of the Erlking!

We'll be asking how the Erlking became one of the most frightening entities in all of the folklore bestiary, looking at his emergence through Danish folklore and into German legend, and examining in detail Goethe's famous poem: Erlkönig - which is generally taken to be the primary source for the character.

It all forms a powerfully creepy myth that forces us to ask the question: what happens if you encounter something so evil that no one believes it's really there?

In the usual Olde World style, we'll also be asking what relevance this myth has to us today... unfortunately modern parallels to this sinister character are not difficult to draw, so I'm bracing myself for what may prove to be rather a divisive episode!

Hope to see you Friday!
Nick

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 244

Beasts of the Olde World

Join us on Friday as we brave an updated look at an Olde Beast we covered in the channel's early days - the monstrous REDCAP!

For this one we've made some adjustments to the olde tale of Lord Soulis and the Redcap Sly, and now have some excellent photographs of the site where it all took place - Hermitage Castle in the lonely valley of Liddesdale!

Next week we'll be looking at a brand new myth, which - given all that is going on around the world at the moment - may have some very important warnings for us today... so keep your eyes peeled for that one!

Until then, I hope to see you friday!
Nick 🎃

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 304

Beasts of the Olde World

Join us on Friday for a brand new deep-dive into the history of Night Mares and sleep paralysis demons!

In this episode we trace the history of the Night Mare way back from its ancient demonic origins, watching as it changes shape through medieval times and into the modern era.

No matter where we are, for thousands of years, there is almost always somebody watching from the shadows when we experience sleep paralysis - and these figures are almost always the same... so why is it always them?

Hope to see you Friday!

Nick

1 month ago | [YT] | 193

Beasts of the Olde World

So... all of them then? 🎃

1 month ago | [YT] | 237

Beasts of the Olde World

😱 We kicked off 'spooky season' with a fresh look at the BANSHEE...
👀 PLUS an updated video on the REDCAP is also on the way!

🎃 BUT which other mythical creature do you most want to see featured this October? 🎃

1 month ago | [YT] | 109

Beasts of the Olde World

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hi everyone - I wanted to let you know that there's going to be a slight alteration to the posting schedule: from now on, new videos will publish on FRIDAYS instead of Saturdays.

There's a couple of reasons for this:

a) Analytics show that quite a lot of you are online on Fridays, so this gives videos a better chance to be seen before they get buried in the algorithm
b) Hopefully it means I can stop spending Saturdays glued to stats and actually enjoy my weekends...
c) also Folklore Fridays has a nice ring to it!

Lots of new content for 'spooky season' on the way! Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming poll on what the channel should cover this October!

See you next FRIDAY!
Nick 🎃

1 month ago | [YT] | 392

Beasts of the Olde World

Join us on Saturday for another new look at an olde beast - a re-examination of Ireland's most famous mythcal creature - the infamous BANSHEE!

As part of the process of bringing the older videos up to date, with better audio and more authentic visuals, the scripts have all had a rewrite too!
For this one I was lucky enough to have come across a resource I did not have the first time round: Patricia Lysaght's The Banshee: The Irish Supernatural Death Messenger - which is pretty much the definitive work on the subject.
It revealed some very interesting sides to this myth I was not aware of - information that I think brings us much closer to an understanding of this infamous, and very curious spirit...

Hope to see you Saturday!

Nick

1 month ago | [YT] | 270