Animals in Folklore

The important collection of essays on one of the most perennially fascinating themes of folklore, marks the centenary of the Folklore Society, whose history is surveyed by Katherine Briggs in an introductory essay. The papers, contributed by distinguished specialist, fall into four groups: animal motifs, studies of animals in local folklore (including essays on the black dog in English folklore and animals in Yorkshire accounts of witchcraft; shape changing (including folklore about werewolves) and animal images. The essays cover both western and oriental folklore, and the time span is equally wide-ranging.