Recently the trial of the World Junior Hockey League men was concluded. It got me to thinking… Consensual Hair Cutting In a far or not so far way land, a woman’s hair was not just her “crowning glory”… it was a measure of her worth. In this land, hair
Continuing recent essays about quirky northern Italian stories, here are some intertwined creatures that roam through their folklore. These particular stories, not very well known in English sources, touch upon memory loss, losing one’s way, and environmental concerns. Sanguanél and Salvanèl The first little creature has two slightly different
Lately, I find myself recalling places and stories from Italy. Here is a recollection from the Province of Treviso, in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. The village is called Camalò. It’s not particularly remarkable to look at or to pass through. Back in the 1970s, when driving to
Folktales from the Euganean Hills Years ago I lived near the area of the Colli Euganei (the Euganean Hills). They only rise to between 300-600 metres in height, but with everything else around them being completely flat, they do stand out. The area is named after an ancient pre-Roman
"There is no beauty without some strangeness of proportion." — Edgar Allan Poe A Visitor From the Past Several years ago a woman came into my bookshop. I recognized her immediately. Let’s call her Daisy (obviously not her real name). Everyone knows a Daisy. You, Dear Reader, know
"Folk tales from around the world tell us that the animals communicate with each other in a language unknown to men and women — or else in a language that used to be known to us but is now lost. The stories also tell of human beings who understand the