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On-demand recording
The Hidden World of Fairies & Women
with Prof Diane Purkiss
£15
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What you’ll explore
- The Queen of the Fairies — Britain's most powerful forgotten figure
- How fairy belief evolved from pagan roots (and the goddess Diana) to saints and angels
- Scottish witches who drew power from her — and those who feared her
- Why the Presbyterian Kirk tried to suppress these stories
- What fairy lore reveals about women, power and belief
About this talk
Step into Britain's hidden fairy realm and meet the powerful Queen behind its myths, magic and forgotten stories.
Once, there was a realm ruled by a powerful Queen — a figure who could shape her appearance, take lovers, and command a kingdom beneath the earth that included the dead. Known by many names, she was most often called the Queen of the Fairies.
In this talk, Professor Diane Purkiss explores Britain's lost fairy traditions through this enigmatic figure — from early medieval pagan beliefs (including links to the goddess Diana) to later connections with saints and angels. We'll uncover accounts of Scottish witches said to draw power from her, those who feared her influence, and why the Presbyterian Kirk sought to suppress these stories — and ask what they reveal about women, power and belief in Britain's past.
A peek inside
Your speaker: Prof Diane Purkiss
Diane Purkiss is Professor of English at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College. She has published extensively on witchcraft, fairies, and the English Civil War — the occasion of England's biggest witch hunt. She has appeared in more than a dozen television documentaries and speaks regularly at literary festivals and local history societies.
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