Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Part 1 Into the Trees 8
The World Tree 10
Yggdrasil 12
The Sky-High Tree 14
Trees and Tengriism 15
The Yaxche 16
Trees of Myth and Mystery from Around the World 17
Baobab Trees 17
Pine Trees 20
Yew Trees 22
Dragon's Blood Trees 24
Cedar Trees 26
Banyan Trees 32
The Marvellous Mushrooms of the Forest Floor 36
The Trees of Christmas 40
Charring the Old Wife and Other Customs: The Magic of the Yule Log 41
Tió de Nadal: The Defecating Christmas Log 44
Blessing the Trees and Ensuring the Harvest: The Tradition of Apple Wassailing 45
Part 2 Woodland Creatures 50
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? 52
The Last Wolf in Britain 56
Little Red Riding Hood 60
Creatures of the Night: The Curse of the Werewolf 66
Bears, Gods and Heroes 72
Snow-White and Rose-Red 75
Bear Worship 80
Virgins, Huntsmen and Jesus Christ: The Quest for the Unicorn 85
Jackalopes and Wolpertingers: Creating a Legend 90
What Lurks in the Lumberwoods: The Most Fearsome of Critters 95
The Squonk 95
The Hodag 96
The Hidebehind 97
The Silver Cat 98
The Rumptifusel 99
The Splinter Cat 100
Part 3 Folk of the Forests 102
A Giant Among Lumberjacks: Paul Bunyan and the North American Lumber Camps 104
Little Otik: Folk Horror from the Forests 110
Lords of the Wild 118
The Forest God Tapio, Finnish 118
The Leshy, Slavic 119
Herne the Hunter, English 122
Papa Bois, Caribbean 124
At One with the Trees: Tree Nymphs and Spirits 125
Penghou 125
Dryads and Hamadryads 126
Moss People 127
Kodama 128
Hulder and Skogsrå 130
Nang Tani 132
Forest Hags from Around the World 133
Cannibals, Demons and Witches: Top Five Forest Hags 134
Bloody Mary: The Legend of Mary Worth 148
Fearlessness in the Forests 153
The Women Who Turn into Trees 153
The Handless Maiden 157
Conclusion 166
Authors' Note 168
Acknowledgements 169
References 170
Index 184
