Local Legends #64: Dr Simon Young

Local Legends #64: Dr Simon Young

From The Three Ravens Podcast by Three Ravens

May 9, 2026 · 1h 9m · Season 10 · Episode 85

About this episode

Martin Vaux interviews Dr Simon Young about his research on fairies and their historical context.

This week on Local Legends Martin is chatting with author, historian and globally-renowned fairy expert Dr Simon Young. After training as a Medieval Historian, Simon gradually became a 'Supernaturalist' - someone who spends a lot of time collecting and comparing data, often from historical sources, detailing interactions between human beings and the supernatural. From boggarts to fairies, Simon's research and several wonderful books have identified a number of changes in beliefs over time - not least the point at which fairies suddenly grew wings. Fairy tales meanwhile are a whole other thing, and not something Simon has spent much time with since his own childhood. So, what does the fairy expert recognise and respond to in the stories of the Red Fairy Book of Nora and Andrew Lang? Which are his favourite stories from the set, and why? Moreover, what else might these 'tales' be doing, as distinct from 'legends' about similar subjects? We very much hope that you enjoy the conversation, and will speak to you again on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday this coming week - as per usual! Read Simon's British Mythology Substack: https://britishmythology.substack.com/ Complete the Fairy…

People in this episode

Hosts: Martin Vaux, Eleanor Conlon

Guest: Dr Simon Young

Topics covered

  • fairy folklore
  • supernatural studies
  • historical beliefs
  • fairy tales
  • local legends

Keywords

  • fairy expert
  • supernaturalist
  • boggarts
  • historical sources
  • fairy tales

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British Mythology Substack, Fairy Census

Books & works: Red Fairy Book

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