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Where the Map Ends

The Last Lantern on the Street

A field note on the jack-o'-lantern, from Stingy Jack's doomed coal-lit turnip to the one carved light that always seems to burn longest on the street.

The Keeper of Unwalked Roads

A journal account of the Lantern Man, the Dartmoor light said to lead travellers off finished roads and onto ones that never were, at a cost few agree on.

Nian and the Red Door

A record of Nian, the beast of Chinese New Year folklore, and the customs of red paper, fire and noise still said to keep it from the door.

The Century Walk of the Green Man

An account of the Green Man, Britain's foliate-headed spirit of the greenwood, and the local legend of his once-a-century Greenwalk through orchard, field and oak.

The Woman Who Turns Away

A journal account of the Huldra, the hidden forest woman of Norwegian and Swedish tradition, and the herders and hunters who claimed to have loved her.

The Tree at the Centre of Everything

A journal entry on Yggdrasil, the vast tree of Norse cosmology, and the wells, wells-keepers and gnawing creatures said to hold the nine realms in place.

The Hare Who Answers the Moon

An account of the old Chinese belief that the wild hare conceives by gazing at the moon, and its uneasy kinship with the tame Jade Rabbit of legend.

The Boy Who Brings the Rain

A journal entry on Amefurikozō, the straw-cloaked yōkai said to walk the roads of Japan on rainy nights, and the uncertain business of blaming a child-sized spirit for the weather.

The Horn That Waits

A look at Gjallarhorn, the horn of Heimdallr, and the old uncertainty over whether it was ever separate from Mímir's well of wisdom.

The Taniwha's Long Watch

An account of the taniwha, the guardian and hazard spirits of Aotearoa's rivers, lakes and coasts, and what their old warnings still protect.

The Herds That Answer to No One

A look at Flidais, the Irish goddess who is said to herd and protect the wild deer of the forest, and at the old tale of the cattle raid that carries her name.

The Night the Black Horse Comes

A look at the púca, the shapeshifting night spirit of Irish and wider Celtic folklore, and the blackberry and harvest lore still tied to its name.
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