Sheep in Folklore: From Medical Remedies to Good Luck Charms

Fabulous Folklore with Icy

Following on from 2024's theme of the Folklore of Animals, this month we'll examine the Folklore of Agricultural Animals. This week, we'll explore the folklore, legends, and even folk medicine associated with sheep.

Sheep are not native to the UK. Neolithic settlers brought them to Britain from southwest Asia in around 3000 BCE. Sheepskin and other wool textiles appear in the archaeological record from the Bronze Age in northern Europe.

Following the Norman Conquest, sheep became the dominant form of livestock. They primarily provided milk, with meat, wool, and manure secondary products. By the medieval era, the focus switched to wool. Unsurprisingly, they appear in folklore through tales of sheep-stealing, but also fables, like the wolf in sheep's clothing.

Sheep appear in mythology too. The golden ram, Aries, who saved Phrixus and Helle from their evil stepmother, went on to both provide the famous Golden Fleece of Greek myth, and the Aries constellation.

But let's take a look at some of the legends and lore associated with sheep. in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/sheep-folkore/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/