Only hinted at in some of these tales, and clearly stated in others, it is apparent that there was a long and continuing conflict between paganism and Christianity in the early centuries A.D. This may...

Allegorical stories of saints battling with giants, monsters and demons may be interpreted as symbolizing the Christian’s fight against paganism. At Bwlch Rhiwfelen (Denbigh) St Collen fought and killed a cannibal giantess, afterwards washing away...

We designate the spirit of the well as ‘she’ because in most of her personifications she takes a female form, though not invariably. She appears in many guises – ghost, witch, saint, mermaid, fairy, and...

In the Scotland of the early seventeenth century, an old woman living alone in Kirkcudbrightshire was accused of witchcraft and on conviction was rolled downhill in a blazing tar barrel. One of the charges against...