It's time to uncork the bottle of mythology and folklore to talk about a true English original - Imps!

Beginning their lives as horticultural metaphors, the Anglo Saxon 'ympe' appears in all sorts of moralizing, overtly Christian texts, including those written by Alfred the Great - only by the 17th century if you had an imp of your own you could be hanged for the crime.

How did this all come about?

Well, it's a combination of several factors, including Bronze Age beliefs about Middle Eastern supernatural entities that haunted toilets, bed chambers, and windowsills, the stinking bogs and fens of Ireland and the British Isles, and Medieval explanations for the hierarchies of demons following Lucifer's rebellion against God.

We track the imp's evolution from House Spirits made of dough, fed with milk and flour, through to the Witch Hunts of the English Republic, and the 19th century 'Imp Revival' as prompted by Romantic and Gothic literature, fairy stories, and Victorian satire.

With a disgraceful number of puns (even more than last month!) and some really weird beliefs, as well as Eleanor reading some Old English, they may be tiny but we've gone in on Imps in a big way.

Just don't tell the Witch Hunter General, who for some reason thinks we're keeping our mischievous familiars stashed in our armpits...

We also hope you increasingly pleased by our new Bestiary episode art, as drawn by our good friend Tom Peteuil of Creature Castle - check out brand new Imp, Mermaid and Leprechaun merch here and visit the Creature Castle shop for prints and other wonderful things here.

Speak to you again on Thursday for this week's Lang Fairy Tale, Graciosa and Percinet, and some no doubt spirited chat about it, before Saturday's Three Ravens Live episode, packed with Sussex folklore, as recorded at Ditchling Bookshop on 16th May!

Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, we take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

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For today's episode we have something very special for you - a collaboration between Three Ravens and The History of England Podcast about 15 English Objects.

Since St George's Day 2026 A Very English Chat has been encouraging respectful conversations to overcome growing hatred and division around our national identity.

The brief is simple: what five objects - anecdotes, artefacts, emotional connections, films, food, landmarks, language, literature, music, nature, places, or people would you include within your own ‘Story of England’?

Guests including Billy Bragg and Caroline Lucas have offered their selections of five English objects, and, from a Three Ravens perspective, when our friend and own of our major inspirations David Crowther of the History of England suggested we collaborate to offer our own two pence, we leapt at the opportunity!

A Very English Chat is working to tackle England’s fraying social fabric and growing polarisation by offering simple responses to potentially difficult and divisive questions about ‘What it means to be English in 2026.’

The campaign asks people to identify five objects that signify what Englishness means to them today, using this idea as a starting point to make it easier to have respectful conversations around the subject.

As such, we - Eleanor, David and Martin - each came ready to discuss, in less than 45 minutes, our own five favourite examples of 'English Things' - all without comparing notes.

Before long, as you will hear, common themes start to emerge about sweetness, curiosity, enterprise, rebellion, and endurance.

But of the 15 objects we've chosen, which is the best?

And, are we as a trio all destined to get diabetes?!?

We really hope you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Monday with a new episode of the Three Ravens Bestiary all about the history and folklore of Imps!

Learn more about and listen to The History of England.

Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two more tales from the Langs' Red Fairy Book in this episode: The Little Good Mouse and The Three Princesses of Whiteland.

The Little Good Mouse is a Madame d'Aulnoy literary fairy tale with questionable morals, dreadful kings and...turkeys? The Three Princesses of Whiteland, on the other hand, is a Norwegian story collected by Asbjornsen and Moe. Its themes are quite familiar from previous tales like Soria Moria Castle and of course East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but it has some pretty original elements too.

Afterwards, we discuss and rate the stories, question curious plot twists and inexplicable happenings, and generally appreciate two lesser known entries in the fairy tale canon.

We really hope that you enjoy them, and we will speak to you again on Saturday for A Very British Chat with the wonderful David Crowther!

If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.

Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.

They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.

Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).

Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.

Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.

The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.

Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.