Arcadian Folklore

Arcadian Folklore The lost realm of Arcadia was noted for its vast array of folklore and customs. Many unusual tales are at the centre of a rich and diverse research field which has painstakingly assembled a wealth of material from a huge variety of sources. This essay can only give a brief overview of some of the more unusual and seasonal based customs, superstitions and … Continue reading Arcadian Folklore

Fragments: Herr Lehmann’s Pond In Baden-Baden

Herr Lehmann resembled Kafka. He looked less like Kafka at first but more like Kafka as I came to know him. He was Kafka-esque though not in that sense, the sense of being horrifyingly bureaucratic – which he was, though this is not the reason – but in the sense that his face seemed, for always, like Kafka yet imagined with slight errors. Herr Lehmann … Continue reading Fragments: Herr Lehmann’s Pond In Baden-Baden

Fragments: On A Hillside Near Château Haut-Barr

And then we had lost each other within the trees. The moment slipped away as quickly as her shadow, passing onwards through the breeze. I craved the warmth of the Château Haut-Barr once more, leaves falling through the cracks in its walls, our souls simply kindling for the hungry fire to burn. But I was alone in the murk of trees, all of whom leaned … Continue reading Fragments: On A Hillside Near Château Haut-Barr

Fictions: The Charter’d River

I wander thro’ each charter’d street,  Near where the charter’d Thames does flow.  And mark in every face I meet  Marks of weakness, marks of woe. – William Blake Properties on the banks of the river were first earmarked for government-approved privatisation some years ago.  Though private property had been a constant on the banks of the Thames for several hundred years, this millennium saw … Continue reading Fictions: The Charter’d River