Weald and Downland Living Museum Ticket Portal

Fairies - Traditional - and Modern

Medieval fairies are not the tiny, winged creatures of the Victorian imagination nor of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Rather they are irresistibly beautiful – and highly dangerous. They live alongside our world, within a strangely warped time and space, and their dealings with humans can be both tricksy and strangely rule-bound. In this talk, Carolyne Larrington reveals a host of traditional British tales: about the fairy Other World, the terrifying Fairy Queen and lovely fairy mistresses, the oddness of fairy children and the many ways in which fairies seek both to deceive – and to help us. Carolyne will also talk about her ‘Modern Fairies’ project, a new creative initiative that explores how newly composed tales and songs inspired by fairy themes speak to us today in urgent and compelling tones.

Ticket options

  • Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    £14.00
    0 30 max
  • Members - Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    Members - Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    £12.00
    0 30 max
  • Volunteers - Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    Volunteers - Fairies - Traditional - and Modern
    £5.00
    0 30 max
Fairies - Traditional - and Modern

Medieval fairies are not the tiny, winged creatures of the Victorian imagination nor of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Rather they are irresistibly beautiful – and highly dangerous. They live alongside our world, within a strangely warped time and space, and their dealings with humans can be both tricksy and strangely rule-bound. In this talk, Carolyne Larrington reveals a host of traditional British tales: about the fairy Other World, the terrifying Fairy Queen and lovely fairy mistresses, the oddness of fairy children and the many ways in which fairies seek both to deceive – and to help us. Carolyne will also talk about her ‘Modern Fairies’ project, a new creative initiative that explores how newly composed tales and songs inspired by fairy themes speak to us today in urgent and compelling tones.