Sarah Clegg, Perilous Enchantment: The True History of Faeries

SARAH CLEGG Perilous Enchantment: The True History of Faeries

We often picture fairies as harmless, pastel-clad creatures, but the true history of the fae is far darker and more complex.

In Perilous Enchantment, historian Sarah Clegg strips away the Victorian glitter to uncover the capricious nature of these otherworldly beings. Following the runaway success of her Sunday Times bestseller The Dead of Winter, Clegg traces how local nature spirits evolved into tricksters, demonic accomplices in witch trials and modern “romantasyˮ figures.

Travelling from ancient Greek nymph caves to Icelandic elf fires, Clegg reveals how shifting fairy myths mirror humanity’s deepest wishes and anxieties.

Chaired by historian Eleanor Barraclough.

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