While they are a natural feature of mushroom growth, there is still uncertainty about exactly how they come about.
They bring with them a rich tapestry folk-lore. From Wiki:
A great deal of folklore surrounds fairy rings. Their names in European languages often allude to supernatural origins; they are known as ronds de sorciers ("sorcerers' rings") in France, and hexenringe ("witches' rings") in German. In German tradition, fairy rings were thought to mark the site of witches' dancing on Walpurgis Night, and Dutch superstition claimed that the circles show where the Devil set his milk churn.
In the Tyrol, folklore attributed fairy rings to the fiery tales of flying dragons; once a dragon had created such a circle, nothing but toadstools could grow there for seven years. European superstitions routinely warned against entering a fairy ring. French tradition reported that fairy rings were guarded by giant bug-eyed toads that cursed those who violated the circles. In other parts of Europe, entering a fairy ring would result in the loss of an eye.
Scandinavian and Celtic traditions claimed that fairy rings are the result of elves or fairies dancing. Such ideas dated to at least the mediæval period; The Middle English term elferingewort ("elf-ring"), meaning "a ring of daisies caused by elves' dancing" dates to the 12th century. In his History of the Goths (1628), Olaus Magnus makes this connection, saying that fairy rings are burned into the ground by the dancing of elves.]
British folklorist Thomas Keightley noted that in Scandinavia in the early 20th century, beliefs persisted that fairy cirlces (elfdans) arose from the dancing of elves. Keightley warned that while entering an elfdans might allow the interloper to see the elves—although this was not guaranteed—it would also put the intruder in thrall to their illusions.
Anyway, I have taken my life into my hands and entered the ring and harvested a goodly few mushrooms.
My family and friends regard me as slightly reckless because I do eat wild fungi, but actually I go for those that are easy to identify with a low probability of confusion. These are Field Blewits; very good to eat. They have a lilac-hued foot which is a pretty good clue.
I picked a small fraction of what is out there, but filled most of this bucket. These are for drying and storing so we can use them during the winter.
I often think about our ancestors at times like these. Things that are fun for us - roasting chestnuts, harvesting walnuts, drying mushrooms, even making wine - were probably a matter of considerable importance for them for survival.
After all, a whole winter to get through and no supermarket a few kilometers away.
17 comments:
I'll bring the garlic and the President Butter!
I love mushrooms but wouldn't dare pick any as I'd probably end up dead!
We have fairy rings in our garden too. :)
To tell the truth, I thought fairy rings were just figments of someone's vivid imatination. I didn't realise mushrooms actually grow in a circle like that! How pretty and I'm glad you didn't poke an eye out!
I'm a bit like Akelamalu . . I'd be nervous to eat them without really knowing what they are. Although I've just had mushroom and cracked pepper soup for lunch - delish!
Oh yum! I remember fairy circles of mushrooms being pointed out to me when I was a child and lived in North Wales.
I too broke the circle and look what happened to me. Exactly forty years later all my hair fell out. You've been warned.
I like the fact that there are still some things we don't understand.
And yes, garlicky, winey, mushroomy sauce - delicious!
I like the idea of putting intruders in thrall to my illusions, but not sure about the involvement of mushrooms.
Love eating them, and like the IDEA of picking them but I'd probably end up as a terrible poisoning statistic :o)
You do realise that absolutely no good will come of this. You'll have imps in the house for months, and it won't just be one sock that goes missing from it's twin, it will be lots and the milk will curdle and the butter will go rancid and your hair may well fall out. Don't say you weren't warned.
Is it true you can take fungi to any pharmacy if La Belle France for identification (and edibility confimration)?
jollygood - don't worry about the garlic, plenty in the garden, but do come along yourself.
akelamalu - end up dead? Well, fear is a good antidote. I have to say that some toxic mushrooms are absolutely lethal, so respect is no bad thing!
baino - actually the ring is super now; I should have held off a day or two before I took the photo. I like the sound of your soup. Cracked pepper? Is that what it sounds like, i.e. smashed up peppercorns?
dot - but you have a perfect circle around your head ... a halo I assume?
mud - delicious is right. We eat simply, but I often feel we eat like kings quad meme.
karen - "thrall" is such a lovely word isn't it? You are in my thrall etc. Promise me it will be in your novel (the published one I mean).
av - stop it already, you are starting to frighten me. Actually, I have had more than my share of nightmares this week. Bloody hell. Not literally of course. Oh dear.
the dotterel - yes it is true, but take the advice with a pinch of salt, is my advice. We did take a fungus into a pharmacy and the pharmacist asked (I kid you not) the advice of another customer in the shop!
that's a gurt big bucket o mushrooms Ernest! I'd flinch at eating them, (it goes back to Babar and the king of the elephants eating a fly agaric, "alas, it was a great misfortune") and am madly happier to spend a fortune in a shop instead. But I sling them in the compost, the fairy ones, that is, not the expensive ones.
milla - one can't argue. The nasties are very nasty. I believe I can identify the absolute killers, viz Destroying Angel and the Death Cap, both Amanitas. I do avoid anything the might be close. But the Field Blewit, for example, has a look to it, plus the lilac foot, that makes me quite confident to eat it. And indeed, here I am, still alive (so far).
Now the boy has grown old enough to have developed a broader palette, mushrooms are on our menu...but from Waitrose, as I've not plucked up the courage to forage for them in Epping Forest...jealous
nota bene - still, some quite adventurous fungi available from supermarkets these days ...
Do you just leave the blewits out on newspaper to dry or is it more complicated than that?
lulu - Blewits are quite moisture retentive; quite dense flesh. So I'm not sure that would work especially in this weather and at this time of year. We do have a drying type gadget, nothing very sophisticated. It just shoves warm air over a couple of drying trays. After that we generally freeze them in case there is enough moisture left to cause some deterioration.
Used later in stews, soups or omelettes, really nice. But I briefly forgot, you're a cook. You know that already!
Ernest - heaven forfend that you should imagine I already know it all in the kitchen dept. My mushroom knowledge is very slim
Here in the Pacific Northwest we have many types of mushrooms. And, at least a season the local news does a story on finding truffles in the nearby forests.
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