Sabrina: Goddess of the River Severn

The topic of this week's post is Sabrina, the fabled goddess of the River Severn. Now the River Severn is a very important to us Telfordians, if only to confuse generations of children with how to spell the number seven.

When I tell people where I am from I ordinarily get met with one of two responses:

1. "Where's Telford?" which elicits the reply, "It's near Shrewsbury...no?...Wolverhampton?....Okay Birminghamish!"

or

2. "Oh really, I've been to your bridge!"... Yes I am from a town that is known for a bridge, it's a very nice bridge mind (see below!) and I would highly recommend visiting it. And that infamous Iron Bridge crosses the beautiful River Severn.

(I have recently been informed the Ironbridge isn't exactly in Telford, but it is in our borough so we are keeping it!)

I digress. Now from a bit of research I have have found that Sabrina gets her name from a girl called Hafren (Sabrina in Latin). Hafren's mother had a love affair with an early King of England. When eventually cast aside for his mistress the King's wife raised an army in Cornwall to exact her revenge which I believe went something like:

"Darling I'm afraid I'm divorcing you"

"Oh really? Well say that to my ARMY!"

The estranged wife won, and Hafren and her mother were drowned in the river. For a more in depth look at their story try this article.

Sabrina was born by naming the river after Hafren, which then over time sparked stories about a goddess! On Terry Pratchett's Discworld gods exist when we believe in them, which is a nice way of looking at it and comparable to Sabrina's beginning. By giving a female name to the Severn, the consequential anthropomorphic manifestation of the river seems like a natural step.

A lot of sources list Geoffrey of Monmouth as recording the earliest Sabrina origin story, a welsh cleric who also wrote about King Arthur! Another story I found here is that Sabrina is one of three 'sister' rivers trying to get to the sea. How are the river sisters represented? One is very direct and quick in her quest to the sea, one likes a bit of sightseeing but still wants to get to the sea reasonably quickly, and the third, Sabrina, wants to explore the land thoroughly as she travels without short cuts. It's very satisfying when you see three sisters with clear segmented characteristics don't you think? The classic witch trio of the crone, the mother and the maid. The three grecian Fates. I like it! I find this very useful to consider and shall explore further with research as I am currently writing a story about three sisters.

I first encountered Sabrina in The Dingle, in Shrewsbury park (another recommended pit-stop next time you sight-see near my home town). It's a beautiful garden, and hidden away is this statue:

Plaque reads:

Sabrina Fair,

Listen where thou art sitting,

Under the glassie, cool, translucent wave,

In twisted waves of lilies knitting,

The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;

Listen for dear honors sake,

Goddess of the silver lake,

Listen and save.

It was delightful walking around The Dingle and finding this hidden bit of mythology. Through time Sabrina has transformed from a drowned girl into a beautiful deity that can be beseeched for help. The way I read the poem, in light of Sabrina's origin, is that the writer is calling upon Sabrina to stir from her new-found comfort underwater and to direct attention once more to the surface, perhaps to save others from the very fate that befell her.

It's been great to find out more about Sabrina, do you have any stories about this goddess to add? Have you found her hidden away somewhere like The Dingle? Let's discuss below, or with me on twitter @EMinipop!

Photography Credits: Mark Thomas. See more of his excellent photos here.

Thank you for reading. Next week's post will be about fantasy and folklore character names!

Review: Norwich Ghost Walks

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For my first proper content post I am doing a light review of Norwich Ghost Walks. I attended last December, on one of their Christmas Specials.

The walks, which according to my informants are a regular staple for Norwich, are 90 minutes with pit stops by interesting landmarks. On a regular tour we would hear historical ghost stories from Norwich itself, but on this night, as it had a festive spin, we heard some from around the UK.

The Man in Black, our orator for the evening, delivers the stories in a clear, unaffected manner with help from some surprising assistants along the way (some of whom were quite surprised to be an assistant!)

The first thing to strike me was how refreshing it was to hear some good old fashioned storytelling. There's something satisfying about simply listening to a person tell you a tale (albeit ghost stories in this case!) I am going to be on the look out for some more storytelling based events in Norwich. Like with poetry there is a magic when stories are heard, not just read.

When deciding to move here I found a city with its own castle, cobbled streets and the occasional country flair to be very appealing. The atmosphere of this place lends itself to the tours very nicely. Now if I had known that I would be starting this Blog back in December I would have taken more pictures (note to self to get snapping on future outings!) So here we are with my lone piece of photographic evidence, one of the stops called Cow Tower.

I love a well lit building, uplighting genuinely does wonders. Here we were told about drunken monks, not at all as moral as their calling would have you believe, and the death of a poor young victim who stepped out in front of the wrong men fuelled by the wrong drink. It was a horrible story, resulting in an un-quiet spirit who haunts a river bank with her cries.

There were a number of stories (I want to say 6), but the most spine-chilling for me was told under the boughs of a long limbed tree. The wind had picked up as we heard, in detail, about a public hanging that did not go as smoothly as planned. We stood under a roof of gnarled wood as The Man in Black painted a picture; the silhouette of a hung man swinging from a tree on a lightening lit night. It completely sold me on this live experience. My friend helped the ambience along by a well timed tap on my shoulder; I was officially spooked!

So in conclusion I would recommend Norwich Ghost Walks! This live promenade performance made for a unique night, capped off with some delicious mulled wine. It kicked off a lovely evening of further stories and reminiscing between friends.This style of storytelling would be an interesting avenue to explore with even more story based sources of inspiration, perhaps even some light hearted options for a pleasant twist.

If you are interested in Norwich Ghost Walks check them out here!

Next week I will be sharing some research on Sabrina and the River Severn, a story from my home-county of Shropshire!

Introducing Fantastical Folk

Good day to you, and welcome to Fantastical Folk!

On this blog I will be sharing an exploration into the world of folklore and fantasy. Writing, performance, and music are the primary media that I will be looking at.

"Why?" I hear you cry!

Firstly I love fantasy and folklore, ruddy love the stuff. And after spending many a delightful eve pouring over books of the fantasy persuasion, and more recently folklore, I have finally caved and decided to indulge in some thorough research. Dragons, magic, battles, fantastical worlds...I love them. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (wow), Anne McCaffrey and her dragons (I want one please and thank you), Pratchett's Discworld (no comment even needed).I could write masses on my favourites, and with this new blog I most probably will, but let's keep it short and sweet for now!

Secondly, I am hoping to start some positive and interesting discussions about folklore and fantasy work! How does this storytelling work in the modern age? Is it just pure magical escapism or do these genres hold genuine social resonance in their roots?

And thirdly, shockingly, and completely originally….I am a writer. Primarily of plays, secretly of fiction, and also of songs. My research of late has taken me down a particularly folklorish path and I have stumbled upon the pitfall that faces everyone who says "I'm going to take a year out of projects to write"... a lack of focus. As many of you creative types out there can empathise with I am finding myself twiddling my thumbs a lot more than tapping my fingers on the keyboard. Therefore I will commit to sharing a post once a week creating a much needed kick to get a shuffle on with my independent work.

Well, there's a brief summary! My first official post will be out this weekend and is a review of a Ghost Walk I went on in my new home town of Norwich.

Over and out

Emma

Disclaimer: I have spent the majority of today figuring out how to blog in the first place, bear with me as I learn the ways of the craft!