English mythology

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English mythology (see also English folklore) incorporates the folk traditions, stories and beliefs which have developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, even predating the Roman invasion of Britain, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as the traditional Arthurian legends (which were originally strictly Britonic) and Robin Hood tales, to contemporary urban legends and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

There are a number of distinctive mythical folk heroes and legends, many of which have their roots steeped in the vestiges of historical fact, such as King Arthur, Hereward the Wake, Robin Hood, Edric the Wild, St Edmund, Spring-Heeled Jack and the lost land of Lyonesse.

There is a great deal of regional variation, and this reflects the historical sense of geographical separation which pre-existed today's transport systems. In Devon and Cornwall, for example, there are a number of faerie species including the pixies, sometimes known as piskeys, and the spirits of the mine-shafts, the Knockers, and these are known nowhere else in England. On Dartmoor, a traveller thought to have gone astray on the moor was said to have been 'pixie-led'.

Fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien believed that traditional English mythology, that of the Anglo-Saxons, had been largely wiped out by the Norman Conquest of England, and much of his writing stems from his belief that this mythology could be reconstructed through linguistics - for example, the Barrow-wights stem from an Old English word meaning "man", which survives today in the name of the Isle of Wight.

[edit] See also

• English folklore

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