Dr Francis Young
@drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
Historian of religion and belief | folklorist | Balticist | indexer | lay canon @stedscath.bsky.social | series editor for @universitypress.cambridge.org
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
November 25, 2025 at 6:41 PM
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
This has me picturing a miniature gallows for moths
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This has me picturing a miniature gallows for moths
On the ‘it’s pretentious to style yourself Dr’ debate – sure, it probably is, but on the other hand the titles and the robes are just about the only fun part left in academia, and I’m not willing to cede them to the grey, managerial fun police just yet. Embrace the pomposity.
November 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
On the ‘it’s pretentious to style yourself Dr’ debate – sure, it probably is, but on the other hand the titles and the robes are just about the only fun part left in academia, and I’m not willing to cede them to the grey, managerial fun police just yet. Embrace the pomposity.
This evening, some psychedelic megaliths (psychedeliths?)
November 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
This evening, some psychedelic megaliths (psychedeliths?)
Just got this from @blpublishing.bsky.social by @tanyakirk.bsky.social! 📚👻 shop.bl.uk/products/the...
November 21, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Just got this from @blpublishing.bsky.social by @tanyakirk.bsky.social! 📚👻 shop.bl.uk/products/the...
Just about to do some filming 🎥
November 21, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Just about to do some filming 🎥
If you're interested in learning more about St Edmund, don't forget my two books about him, both currently on special offer!
Edmund: In Search of England's Lost King bloomsbury.com/uk/edmund-97...
Athassel Priory and the Cult of St Edmund in Medieval Ireland fourcourtspress.ie/books/2020/a...
Edmund: In Search of England's Lost King bloomsbury.com/uk/edmund-97...
Athassel Priory and the Cult of St Edmund in Medieval Ireland fourcourtspress.ie/books/2020/a...
November 20, 2025 at 10:58 AM
If you're interested in learning more about St Edmund, don't forget my two books about him, both currently on special offer!
Edmund: In Search of England's Lost King bloomsbury.com/uk/edmund-97...
Athassel Priory and the Cult of St Edmund in Medieval Ireland fourcourtspress.ie/books/2020/a...
Edmund: In Search of England's Lost King bloomsbury.com/uk/edmund-97...
Athassel Priory and the Cult of St Edmund in Medieval Ireland fourcourtspress.ie/books/2020/a...
Just got this book to review 📚
November 20, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Just got this book to review 📚
O invincible martyr
O unconquerable witness
O Edmund, like a rose or lily 👑🏹🐺
O unconquerable witness
O Edmund, like a rose or lily 👑🏹🐺
November 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
O invincible martyr
O unconquerable witness
O Edmund, like a rose or lily 👑🏹🐺
O unconquerable witness
O Edmund, like a rose or lily 👑🏹🐺
Congratulations to Cato Pedder on winning this evening’s Historical Writers’ Association Non-Fiction Crown! A great evening in the crypt of St James’ Clerkenwell with writers, wine and - most importantly - cheese ✍️🍷🧀
November 19, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Congratulations to Cato Pedder on winning this evening’s Historical Writers’ Association Non-Fiction Crown! A great evening in the crypt of St James’ Clerkenwell with writers, wine and - most importantly - cheese ✍️🍷🧀
This has to be the funniest @churchtimes.bsky.social headline of the year, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 19, 2025 at 9:43 AM
This has to be the funniest @churchtimes.bsky.social headline of the year, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fungi at Deeping St Nicholas this morning 🍄🟫
November 18, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Fungi at Deeping St Nicholas this morning 🍄🟫
A glimpse today of Northborough Castle, a fortified manor house in the Fens near Peterborough that was built by Roger Northburgh, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in 1336
November 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
A glimpse today of Northborough Castle, a fortified manor house in the Fens near Peterborough that was built by Roger Northburgh, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in 1336
Another day, another article on medieval Lithuanian religion completed - this time for a special edition on the theme of conversion
November 17, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Another day, another article on medieval Lithuanian religion completed - this time for a special edition on the theme of conversion
Full jacket design for ‘Fairies: A History’ – coming early in 2026 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
November 17, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Full jacket design for ‘Fairies: A History’ – coming early in 2026 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
Thank you to @selwyn1882.bsky.social for inviting me to preach at choral evensong this evening!
November 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Thank you to @selwyn1882.bsky.social for inviting me to preach at choral evensong this evening!
Looking forward to preaching at @selwyn1882.bsky.social this evening about fauns and centaurs
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Looking forward to preaching at @selwyn1882.bsky.social this evening about fauns and centaurs
I feel like I want to start a podcast called Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana (after the society founded by Conrad Celtes in the c15th) where each episode I and a guest read and discuss a Latin literary work from Poland-Lithuania 🇵🇱🇱🇹📜🎤
November 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I feel like I want to start a podcast called Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana (after the society founded by Conrad Celtes in the c15th) where each episode I and a guest read and discuss a Latin literary work from Poland-Lithuania 🇵🇱🇱🇹📜🎤
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is one of those song titles that sounds quite comforting until you imagine it as the title of a story in an M. R. James anthology
November 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is one of those song titles that sounds quite comforting until you imagine it as the title of a story in an M. R. James anthology
Roxolania (1584) by Sebastian Klonowicz is a very long Latin poem in elegiac distichs in which a troop of nymphs and satyrs tour Red Ruthenia (basically Lublin voivodeship and western Ukraine) learning about cheesemaking and other local specialities (I'm not making this up)
November 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Roxolania (1584) by Sebastian Klonowicz is a very long Latin poem in elegiac distichs in which a troop of nymphs and satyrs tour Red Ruthenia (basically Lublin voivodeship and western Ukraine) learning about cheesemaking and other local specialities (I'm not making this up)
Conflictus ad Nevelam Polonorum cum Moschis (1568) is a Latin epic poem by Jan Siemuszowski, mainly about the deeds of Marcin Leśnowolski (d. 1593), Castellan of Podlasie, at the Battle of Nevel (1562) against Muscovy
November 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Conflictus ad Nevelam Polonorum cum Moschis (1568) is a Latin epic poem by Jan Siemuszowski, mainly about the deeds of Marcin Leśnowolski (d. 1593), Castellan of Podlasie, at the Battle of Nevel (1562) against Muscovy
Conflictus ad Nevelam Polonorum cum Moschis (1568) is a Latin epic poem by Jan Siemuszowski, mainly about the deeds of Marcin Leśnowolski (d. 1593), Castellan of Podlasie, at the Battle of Nevel (1562) against Muscovy dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publi...
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Conflictus ad Nevelam Polonorum cum Moschis (1568) is a Latin epic poem by Jan Siemuszowski, mainly about the deeds of Marcin Leśnowolski (d. 1593), Castellan of Podlasie, at the Battle of Nevel (1562) against Muscovy dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publi...
A newly discovered painting of the founder of the Radziwiłł dynasty Mikołaj Radziwiłł (c. 1440/1450–1510) is on display at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania until March 2026 www.valdovurumai.lt/en/exhibitio...
November 14, 2025 at 12:40 PM
A newly discovered painting of the founder of the Radziwiłł dynasty Mikołaj Radziwiłł (c. 1440/1450–1510) is on display at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania until March 2026 www.valdovurumai.lt/en/exhibitio...
The flag of the Izhorians (indigenous Finnic inhabitants of the St Petersburg region) is such a banger
November 14, 2025 at 10:53 AM
The flag of the Izhorians (indigenous Finnic inhabitants of the St Petersburg region) is such a banger
Slightly unnerving (but nevertheless welcome) that silver birches that weren’t even there at the start of the week have materialised behind my garden…
November 14, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Slightly unnerving (but nevertheless welcome) that silver birches that weren’t even there at the start of the week have materialised behind my garden…