NOT YOUR AVERAGE TRAVEL BLOG

Welcome to The Fairytale Traveler!

Christa Thompson 2013

Hi! I’m Christa Thompson. I am no ordinary travel blogger, and you are no ordinary person if you’ve arrived here. So, welcome… to the only destination leading travel resource for all places related to legend, myth and lore.

I’m exploring everything from castles to headstones, from the forests to the seas, and places where legends of monsters and princesses hundreds of years past are still told.

I invite you to follow me on my journey as I travel to where folklore, legend and mythology come to life, in every beautiful, and every dark corner of this world. Are you with me?

This is not all glitter and unicorns, be prepared to be enchanted.

Fairytale Festival, the Sarasota Medieval Fair Florida, USA

Fairies welcome…

The Faire Fae by Christa Thompson

This past weekend I grabbed a turkey leg and joined King Edward III for the 10th anniversary of the Sarasota Medieval Fair. The event runs every weekend through November 24th and is showcasing a new line-up of nationally renowned acts for each weekend.

Click here to go to the Sarasota Medieval Fair site

Maybe it’s the hand-crafting artisans or the gathering of fairies and knights all in the same place, but I love Medieval Festivals! The Sarasota Medieval Fair has a great line up for this year:

A Monster a Day, the Death Warning Banshee of Ireland

If she comes to you at night, be warned…

By The Fairytale Traveler’s contributing author, Ed Mooney

Illustration from Ed Mooney

Woman of the fairy mounds. She is known as a fairy in Irish Mythology that is an omen, a messenger from the Otherworld. The message she shares is death.

Here in the United States we can relate her to the Grim Reaper however, unlike the Reaper who can actually cause death, the Banshee or Bean-Sidhe only warns of fateful death.

In Scottish Gaelic mythology, she has been described as a woman washing the blood from the clothes of those about to perish.

Similar legends are found in Welsh, Norse, and American folklore. Continue reading..

A Monster a Day, the Pooka of Ireland

A menacing shape shifting fairy…

By The Fairytale Traveler’s contributing author, Ed Mooney

Photo by Ed Mooney

Also known to be beneficial, the Pooka has grown quite a reputation in Ireland. Continue reading…

Fairy Village in the Woods of Middlebury, Connecticut

photo by: 826 Paranormal on flickr

Known by the locals of Middlebury as the “creepiest place in Connecticut”. This smurf-sized village was discovered in the woods of Middlebury near the ruins of an old stone home. It is said to be the remains of an abandoned fairy village built by the hands of the

The Life of a Banyan Tree from Asia to Sarasota, Florida

A mythical journey across the world…

Christa Thompson, exploring banyan trees photo by BKG

I remember the first time I saw a banyan tree. Its wide trunk held these endless branches that seemed to grow right into the ground. My eyes were confused. I couldn’t tell where the tree started and where it began. It was everywhere! I bolted over to inspect this curious find. I had to get to the bottom of this…or the top, I still am not sure.

How About Elf School, ÁLFASKÓLINN in Reykjavik, Iceland

Gnomes, Fairies, Trolls…

Watch out for elves crossing lolz

Somewhere between the volcanoes and the glaciers in Rykjavik, Iceland lives a culture laced with legends of gnomes, fairies, trolls and “hidden people”.

What better way than to take it all in than to attend Elf School. Too far? Not for the Fairytale Traveler. I am on this like it’s my job, well…it is my job (no complaints here).

Elfschool has been schooling mythology enthusiasts for 22 years with 2 major lectures by the school’s headmaster, Mr. Magnus Skarphedinsson. This may be the most bad ass lecture I have never studied, complete with class, textbooks and a curriculum.

Learn about everything there is to know about these mythical creatures, where they live, they’re culture, and what they think of us silly humans.

Fairy Homes on Fairy Row Gelt Wood, Cumbria, England

Love…

Photo by Alan Cleaver

Teenie fairy doors! EEEEEK! Love. I came across these gems while researching my upcoming trip to the UK and I just had to share this with you. Alan Cleaver, creator of Strange Britain, has taken some great photos of the mysteriously appearing (and disappearing) fairy doors of “Fairy Row” located in Gelt Wood, Cumbria.

click here for more fairy door photos

Fairy Steps, Visit the Beetham Steps in Cumbria, England

Fairy Steps in Beetham Cumbria, UK photo by beethampc.co.uk

It has been said that if you make it to the top of the steps without touching the sides, the fairies will grant you one wish.

The Fairy Steps are located in Beetham in the southern area of Cumbria, situated just 15 minutes from the Lake District.

Situated on one of the Lake Districts corpse trails, it is on these trails where the coffins of the dead would be carried to their burial at the nearby churchyard. You can still see some of