Shippeitaro is the heroic, monster-crushing dog that became a legend and a nanafushigi/七不思議 and his story is still talked about today here in Shizuoka.

He's also the mascot of Iwata City, picks green tea in his free time, and plays rugby on the weekends!

More about the valiant pup on the latest #UncannyJapan here:

https://tinyurl.com/3j95wkbr

#folktale #folkstory #legend #Japan #mascot #nanafushigi

The Holly King and Oak King in the midst of their endless battle.
#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

First one of the year.
#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration #freakyfolk

There’s an old inn along the Forest Road. It’s called the Stag and Hounds.
They say it’s more than six hundred years old, and that Henry VIII and Elizabeth I used it as a hunting lodge.
If you believe what they say, the Stag and Hounds marks the exact centre of the old forest.
#windsorforest #binfield #bracknell #berkshire #folklore #history @folklore #pubs #tudors #storytelling #folktale #folkstory

I'm happy to embrace the childishness. Also, look at the little fella. #folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

I thought I'd share my video folk storybook, The Wolf Prince and The Toymaker's Boy. I released it March of 2021. Almost two years ago! I still really like how this turned out. I should do a physical book of it some day. https://youtu.be/7znjK-XJrYU

#FolkTale #Storybook #NarratedStory #FolkStory #Wolves #Bookstodon

So this is where we are.
I spent a few days worrying about a piece of work I was making. I spent a long time trying to make it look beautiful, as if Walter Crane had designed it. And it didn't work, and it wasn't funny. I think I had saddled myself with this Ramshackle Knight idea but I realised that I had moved on from it. Admittedly, I've moved to a much more silly and childish place but honestly, it feels much more like me now.
#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

Storytime:

One stormy winter's night, a knight named Sir Guy rode down the #Northumberland coast. The knight searched for shelter, but the coast was wild and empty.

In a flash of lightning, he saw the towers of a castle perched above the raging sea: Dunstanburgh Castle. On riding up, he thought the place deserted, until with a crash of thunder, the door was thrown open.

There stood a giant of a man, surrounded by flickering flames. The man bade Sir Guy follow him into a great, echoing stone hall, lit by an eerie light.

All around the hall were sleeping knights, and at the centre lay the figure of a sleeping queen with a crown upon her brow.

The giant presented Sir Guy with a choice: blow the horn that lay by the queen, or draw the sword from the scabbard beside it. Only the right choice would wake the queen. Sir Guy hesitated in indecision, but finally thought that drawing the sword could be seen as a threat, and instead wound the horn.

With another thunderclap and a rush of wind, Guy fell senseless to the floor. He awoke to a cold, clear dawn. He was outside, the castle was a ruin, and although he searched, he found no trace of the hall or the sleeping queen.

Sir Guy returned many times to Dunstanburgh, haunted by the wrong choice he made, but he never saw the queen or the flaming man again.

It's said that his ghost still haunts the ruins, ever fruitlessly searching.

#Storytelling #FolkStory #Folklore #Stories #Winter #GhostStory #FolkloreThursday @folklore

I decided I am going to make a Ramshackle Knight zine and am now very excited about it. Obviously, I want to share the creation of it, but also not spoil it completely. Anyway, here's the first drawing from it, out of context. It's Lord Onions.
#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

I've made a brand new Ramshackle Knight drawing. I think my favourite bit is the cow in the background.
I was also thinking about making some sort of Ramshackle Knight zine, but not entirely sure what I'd need to put into it.

#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

Enough reverie. Cultural consumption today. Morning amble soundtrack was #Peasant by #RichardDawson, followed by #TheGlassTrunk. Bit of a fan. Work rest of today.
Podcast: #TheGatheringStorm on #BabySeaClowns - would be fascinating if it wasn’t so terrifying
Book: #GrimmTales by Philip Pullman. Now want more #FolkStory collections.
Telly: #NightSky on th’Amazons. Really enjoying it, three episodes in.

I think this might have been the first Ramshackle Knight drawing I made. I was trying to catch the, sometimes surreal, elements of a folk story. It would be interesting to use Macklemus again.

#folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

I like these little fragments of ideas or poems. I've never been very good at sustaining ideas, but these seem to suit me. Anyway, here's another one from the #folklore #FolkTale #folkstory #illustration

This built-out instant ramen reminds me of that #folkstory “stone soup” — which, now that I think about it, is kind of an illustration of the benefit of the commons (instead of the tragedy of the commons).

A few years ago I did a bunch of drawings based on fragments of folk tales and stories I made up. I believe I called the series Tales From The Ramshackle Knight. It's nice to finds them again and have had some ideas to do a few more.
#FolkTale #folkstory #illustration