Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1989
Description
This is a fascinating dictionary covering the wide range of folk beliefs that have survived into our own age. Each superstition is illustrated by quotations tracing its development through the centuries. Entries tell of the traditional significance of animals, colours, days, and the elements; rituals to be observed at certain seasons or when faced with natural and unnatural occurrences; cures, taboos, and the uses to which people have put everyday objects in pursuit of good fortune or knowledge of the future.
User reviews
LibraryThing member bookweasel
Alphabetical listing of common and not-so-common superstitions from around Europe, illustrated by quotations that trace their development. Literary work, more for stricter reference than something to loan a teenaged girl interested in magic.
LibraryThing member wrichard
Wholly entertaining treatise on superstitions from (mostly) the UK presumably designed to show how ridiculous superstitions are.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1989
Physical description
xii, 494 p.; 19 cm
ISBN
0192829165 / 9780192829160
Local notes
NT
Similar in this library
An encyclopedia of fairies hobgoblins, brownies, bogies, and other supernatural creatures by Katharine Mary Briggs