Please Note: This program has a rescheduled date (originally December 5, 2024).
These days, the December holidays usually center on joyous magic, warm evenings curled up by the fire, and celebrations of the good in the world. Traditionally, however, the winter season also ushers in the terrors of the dark and the cold, teaching us to bar doors, whisper warnings, and, above all, to be “good for goodness’ sake.”
Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman explore an array of chilling holiday folklore from around the world, beginning with the increasingly famous German Krampus who visits children who don’t make the “nice” list. Hear tales of the Icelandic Jólakötturinn, a gigantic cat that devours naughty children, and learn how to best the Welsh Mari Lwyd, a skeletal horse with a taste for song and poetry. Get to know the Eastern European Christmas witch Frau Perchta and trace the history of the sometimes mischievous, sometimes terrifying Yule Lads and their monstrous mother, Grýla.
Cleto and Warman share insights into the darker side of holiday lore, reintroducing you to a more complex vision of winter, one that’s easy to forget in an increasingly hectic and standardized season.
Cleto and Warman are former instructors of folklore and literature at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.
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