Topic
Europe
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Ankou
In Brittany, the Ankou is Death’s servant: a dead man who spends a year driving a creaking cart through the night, collecting the souls…
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Strigoi
The strigoi is the vampire figure of Romanian folk tradition. It exists both as a living person with dangerous powers and as a dead…
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Troll
In Norwegian tradition, trolls are huge, ancient beings of mountain and forest. They turn to stone in sunlight, flee from church bells and lose…
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Leprechaun
The leprechaun is a solitary shoemaker and treasure keeper of Irish tradition. His oldest trace is a medieval legal tale; his green suit is…
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Lady Midday (Noon Witch)
Lady Midday is a field spirit of Sorbian and Slavic tradition. She appears in the glaring heat of noon, often carrying a sickle, and…
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Striga
The striga (Polish strzyga) comes from Polish folk belief: a person born with two souls, one of which lives on after death and haunts…
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Bruxa
The bruxa is the night witch of Portugal and Galicia. She turns into a bird, slips through any crack, and is a threat above…
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Nøkken
The nøkken (Swedish: näcken) is the water spirit of Scandinavia. He lures people into the water as a horse, an old man or a…
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White Lady
White Ladies are ghostly figures of German tradition, often omens of death. The newest is said to haunt the Ebersberg Forest near Munich, a…
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Werewolf
Werewolves are people who turn into wolves. In the early modern period this became a criminal charge, and the 1589 case of Peter Stubbe…