Many of the stories in this book go back to pre-Christian and medieval times, and draw on the local knowledge and common experiences that bound together local communities in Scandinavia. All the stories have been passed down through generations of story-tellers working within a tradition. Dr. Jacqueline Simpson (born 1930) is a United Kingdom researcher and author on folklore and legend. She studied English Literature and Medieval Icelandic at Bedford College, University of London. Dr. Simpson has been, at various times, Editor, Secretary, and President of the Folklore Society. She was awarded the Society's Coote Lake Research Medal in 2008. In 2010 she was appointed Visiting Professor of Folklore at the Sussex Centre of Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy at the University of Chichester, West Sussex. She has a particular interest in local legends (as opposed to international fairytales), and has published collections of this genre from Iceland, Scandinavia in general, and England (the latter in collaboration with the late Jennifer Westwood). She has also written on the folklore of various English regions, and was co-author with Steve Roud of the Penguin Dictionary of English Folklore. She lives in West Sussex, England.