Episode
Local Legends #64: Dr Simon Young
- Podcast
- The Three Ravens Podcast
- Published
- May 9, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4132
- Processing state
processed- Canonical source
- https://www.threeravenspodcast.com/
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563/episodes/local-legends-64-dr-simon-young/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-three-ravens-podcast-6092563/local-legends-64-dr-simon-young.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
This week on Local Legends Martin is chatting with author, historian and globally-renowned fairy expert Dr Simon Young. After training as a Medieval Historian, Simon gradually became a 'Supernaturalist' - someone who spends a lot of time collecting and comparing data, often from historical sources, detailing interactions between human beings and the supernatural. From boggarts to fairies, Simon's research and several wonderful books have identified a number of changes in beliefs over time - not least the point at which fairies suddenly grew wings. Fairy tales meanwhile are a whole other thing, and not something Simon has spent much time with since his own childhood. So, what does the fairy expert recognise and respond to in the stories of the Red Fairy Book of Nora and Andrew Lang? Which are his favourite stories from the set, and why? Moreover, what else might these 'tales' be doing, as distinct from 'legends' about similar subjects? We very much hope that you enjoy the conversation, and will speak to you again on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday this coming week - as per usual! Read Simon's British Mythology Substack: https://britishmythology.substack.com/ Complete the Fairy Census: https://www.fairyist.com/survey/ The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon. Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveal…