#jacqueline simpson

[aquitainequeen]

I remember, I was talking about the way the witches defend Lancre against various enemies, and how nobody realises what they are doing, and I do a sort of parody of Winston Churchill: 'Never in the history of interspecies conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few, but are they grateful? No!' To which Terry added, 'Which is as it should be.' Because one of Terry's great moral points is: you do what is right, regardless of whether anybody knows you're doing it, and you certainly don't expect to be thanked.

Jacqueline Simpson on writing Folklore of the Discworld with Terry Pratchett, on Episode 53 of A Podcast To The Curious

[godzilla-reads]

I finally got my hands on a copy of “British Dragons” by Jacqueline Simpson ‼️

In this book Jacqueline Simpson collects and examines folktales, folklore, and folk songs about dragons in Britain, Scotland, and Wales. There are so many European countries with tales of dragons dating back hundreds of years, so it’s interesting to do a dive into the stories and lore and times they were prevalent.

[mask131]

I have a Discworld Folklore question...

Literally. As in, I speak of the “Folklore of the Discworld” book.

I heard Jacqueline Simpson wrote an addendum to her folkloric analysis of the Discworld book for the last of them - The Sheperd’s Crown. “The Witches of Discworld bonus content”? I desperatly want to get my hands on it. I heard it was sold with the e-book version of the book, but where can I get it? And is it a special version?

Because outside of this mysterious “e-book” mention, I only heard of her four commentaries in the limited Gold Deluxe Edition of Sheperd’s Crown, which I obviously can’t get. So… What e-book version should I buy to get this bonus content? I already have a physical copy, but I loved so much the folkloric analysis of the Discworld books, and I crave to know more of the secrets of the Discworld’s last book. Could you guide me in my search?

[quasi-normalcy]

PS: An odd thing happened to Terry [Pratchett] once. He bought a ring in a small shop in Pike Place Market, Seattle. It was slightly oversized, and he soon lost it, and couldn't find it anywhere. A year later he was back in the city, went to the same shop to buy a replacement, and in reaching into his jacket pocket (a jacket which, of course, he'd worn many times during the year) for some loose change, he put a finger through the very same ring. How could it have been otherwise? Rings try to find their way back to their owner. Someone ought to write a book about it.

The Folklore of Discworld, Terry Pratchett & Jacqueline Simpson

[magica-pseudoacademica]

From the earliest times, Icelandic sagas take for granted the existence of "natural" psychic gifts in certain individuals, in particular second sight (both precognition and the power to "see" invisible beings and distant events), and the ability to read omens and to "dream true". Such powers are very often credited to seers and white magicians in later folktales, together with the authority and techniques required to lay ghosts, counteract spells, rescue persons carried off by fairies, kill vermin by the power of a verse, and so forth. Belief in the magic force of a well-turned rhyme goes back to the Middle Ages, and tales about a kraptaskáld, "Poet of Might", are common from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Priests in particular were very frequently thought to have magical or other supernatural powers, and there are many traditional tales told about such men who came to be considered as "Master Magicians", whether of white, grey or black magic.

Jacqueline Simpson, “Introduction” in Icelandic Folktales & Legends (2004)

[aquitainequeen]

The podcast dedicated to the Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of M.R. James.

This episode Mike and Will interview folklorist Jacqueline Simpson about the influence of Scandinavian and English folklore on M.R. James’s ghost stories, as well as Jacqueline’s collaboration with Terry Pratchett on ‘Folklore of the Discworld’.

I love love love this interview. Jacqueline Simpson is a joy to listen to, and she's a glorious teller of so many wonderful and scary bits of folklore, including one or two that I knew about such as the Witch of Berkeley. There's a delightful anecdote about Terry Pratchett and his quest for lore about magpies, and she does a brilliant narration of the story within a story found in Count Magnus.

[mask131]

Well, I got the Sheperd’s Crown e-book, and I am disappointed by the “commentary”. I thought it would be similar to what Jacqueline Simpson had done in the Folklore of the Discwold, aka an analysis of the concepts introduced in the book (among which the calm-weaver, leading to obvious references to male practicioners of magic and the tradition of warlocks). But, no, it is actually a really quick summary of how witches act during their “missions”. I mean, there is no deep analysis, it is just a quick summary of things that are just very obvious when you read the books of the Witches of Lancre.

So yeah... What I’m really looking for are probably the “four commentaries” Jacqueline Simpson did for the Golden Deluxe Edition of the book (the Terrypratchettbooks website explicitely says some of these commentaries are about bees and sheperd’s crowns, hence why I guess this is an actual analysis of the folkloric and historical basis of the book). 

Well, it wasn’t a total waste - it is still a Terry Pratchett book, so buying one is never a waste, and anyway I wanted to read the book in its original English.

But a warning to anyone who will want to buy the e-book, on top of a physical copy, it is honestly not worth it. This “commentary” would barely fill the page of a physical copy. Seriously, it is more a cheap marketing technique by the e-book sellers than anything else. I even wonder if this “commentary” wasn’t taken directly from the book “The Folklore of the Discworld”. I’ll have to check... 

[sophia-sol]

Scandinavian Folktales, translated and edited by Jacqueline Simpson

A very satisfying collection. I just really enjoyed reading through it! Tales of varying lengths and narrative-ness (some come across more like summaries), indicating teller, location, and dates told. An interesting variety of types of story, and I found the stories themselves to be mostly compelling. Interesting how integrated Christianity is with a lot of these folk stories. There were nonfiction introduction essays to each section of the book but honestly I didn't find them to give me much in the way of use, so I started just skipping them. All in all a worthwhile book though!