About this episode

This episode explores two tales of mythical creatures from Anglo-Saxon folklore and the significance of oral tradition in their storytelling.

What Are “Anglo-Saxon Tales”? “Anglo-Saxon” refers to the people who settled in what is now England from roughly the 5th to the 11th centuries (the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, etc.) Their tales are the stories, poems, myths, legends, riddles, and heroic narratives produced by or for those people mostly in Old English. Oral tradition was very important. Storytellers (often called scops ) would recite or sing tales to an audience, sometimes accompanied by music (like lyres). Only a minority of people could read and write. When tales were written, it was usually by monks in monasteries. That means many stories survive today only because someone decided to write them down much later.

People in this episode

Host: Frank Docherty

Topics covered

• Anglo-Saxon mythology
• mythical creatures
• oral tradition
• storytelling
• Old English literature

Keywords

• Anglo-Saxon
• mythical creatures
• oral tradition
• scops
• Old English
• tales
• folklore

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: monasteries

Books & works: Anglo-Saxon Tales

Places: England

More episodes of The Wanderer Anglo Saxon History, mythology, Folklore and religion

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• The Anglo Saxons and UFOs · January 31, 2026 · 12 min
• The Connection between Anglo Saxon Heathenism and Folk Horror · December 10, 2025 · 17 min
• Bonus Episode: The Little People · July 9, 2025 · 9 min
• Anglo Saxon Religion and Witchcraft · July 5, 2025 · 7 min
• Anglo Saxon Daily Life · May 16, 2025 · 35 min

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