Church Curiosities: Finding Folklore in Carvings and Statues

Visiting churches might not sound like everyone's idea of a great time. Yet the buildings are stuffed with strange carvings, peculiar graffiti, interesting artwork, and even sassy memorials. These church curiosities tell us a lot about what mattered to people in centuries past. They also preserve folklore, legends, and the beliefs of the congregation. From apotropaic marks scratched onto fonts, to stone guardians on the outer walls, churches are a fascinating repository of folk practices...if you know where to look. That's precisely what we're going to do here, looking at gargoyles, grotesques, graffiti, carvings, and even door knockers.  Let's figure out what they have to do with folklore, and what they tell us about our forebears in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/church-curiosities/ The Folklore and Legends of Rosslyn Chapel bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-episode-of-63008388 The Folklore & Legends of Notre Dame bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-episode-of-82235383 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/