Sarah Clegg | Local Legends #72

On this week's episode of Local Legends Eleanor chats with Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah Clegg.

We first met Sarah last year, when she was one of the guests at our Three Ravens Christmas Feast. Sarah had just published her book The Dead of Winter, all about the origins and changing lore of the dark side of Christmas.

Sarah has a PhD in ancient history from the University of Cambridge, and you'd struggle to find another person with such an encyclopaedic knowledge and clear passion for Medieval Romances.

In addition to The Dead of Winter, she’s the author of Women’s Lore: 400 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi. We’re speaking just ahead of the publication of her latest book Perilous Enchantment: The True History of Faeries. Perilous Enchantment is a meticulously researched history and travelogue which takes us from elf fires in Iceland to a stream in Cottingley and even a fairy ball in Los Angeles.

We talk about the book and her research and the shift in fairy narratives, from dangerous and seductive to childish and whimsical, to explore why stories of the fae continue to fascinate us today. It's a conversation which spans medieval chivalric romances, spicy romantasy, nostalgia and some of the world’s most magical places.

Learn more about Sarah at https://www.sarahclegg.com, and you can keep up with all her adventures on Instagram @readingartefacts.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…