Toadstools, Fairy Rings and Folklore

Sep 2

3 min read

From late summer to early autumn something magical appears in forests and grasslands all over the country: perfect circles of toadstools and dried grass with lush, fertile centres.

If you're whimsical like me, you will know these as fairy rings.

You may have spotted one on a walk? If not, this is the time to go searching. Take a flask and a sketchbook and head out early when the light is soft for the best effect.

This photo of parasol mushrooms was taken in September last year in South Wales. We stumbled across it on the side of the hill, a perfect circle of tall, wide mushrooms with umbrella-like caps. You can just imagine fairies sheltering under these can't you?

Fairy rings - the legend

Before anyone understood the nature of these strange fungal circles, people conjured all sorts of weird and wonderful explanations for their existence. In Germany, they were called 'Witches' Rings'. In Austria, they were 'Dragon Circles'. In France, they were known as 'Sorcerers' Rings'. And in Switzerland, they were thought to conceal buried treasure. It seems that across the whole of Europe people associated this unusual phenomena with magical folk. Or, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of the James Bond books) put it, "the gambols of the little people."

One legend tells that if a passer-by were to wander into a fairy circle that they would find themselves dancing among the magic folk and, what would seem like a few minutes inside the ring, would last many hours or even days to those left outside. This etching by T.H.Thomas Sikes illustrates the belief that you could be dragged out by a friend if you became stuck but it was considered much safer to just pass by with a respectful nod of the head.

The truth, while not magical, is perhaps even more inspiring.

In fact, fairy rings occur thanks to a process called radial expansion, which starts from a single point and moves outward in a near-perfect circle. This growth is driven by an underground organism called mycelium, a vast network of tiny, thread-like roots that feeds on decaying organic matter in the soil. Then, when the weather turns damp, the network sends up mushrooms to release new spores.

Every year, the underground mycelium circle expands a little wider, which is why fairy rings can grow from a few feet across to massive circles over decades.

Here's a little cluster of Angels Bonnet mushrooms that I spotted on a late evening walk in the woods.

You have to keep your eyes peeled for these they are so tiny!

The folklore behind the word 'toadstools'

During the Middle Ages, both toads and wild mushrooms were viewed with deep suspicion, fear, and disgust

A popular folk belief was that toads, which were associated with witchcraft, were often seen sitting on wild mushrooms to rest, using them literally as stools.

And, because many wild mushrooms are toxic, people grouped them together with the poisonous toad. So the term toadstool became a warning label to distinguish uncultivated, dangerous mushrooms from the safe, edible "field mushrooms."

In fact, there is no scientific difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. Today, botanists and mycologists use the word "mushroom" for everything. However, in everyday language, we still use the medieval distinction:

Mushroom is usually reserved for edible, friendly, or commercially grown species.

Toadstool is used for wild, colorful, mysterious, or poisonous varieties—especially the ones that look like they belong in a fairy tale.

If you would like to fill your home with whimsical, magical little toadstools, why not make some out of wool? Or needle felting kit comes with lots of brilliant, autumnal wool fibres plus full step-by-step instructions to learn how to felt your mushrooms in all sorts of shapes and sizes. See it in store here.