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Paper short abstract

This paper will examine a number of folk narratives giving rise to a series of questions and answers that explain why a woman was banished from society into the natural realm. Also, the role of the supernatural in creating alternative realities and perceptions of the world will be explored.

Paper long abstract

This paper will examine a number of folk narratives giving rise to a series of questions and answers that explain why a woman was banished from society into the natural realm. An (eco)feminist lens may allow us to reclaim the role such tales may have had on their impact and on related perceptions. The binary position of the female maintaining either a pious or promiscuous image within the community lacks a more nuanced understanding of relationships of power. This is particularly relevant in relation to the tension with organised religion. The sea and the darkness of night loom large as the natural settings of many of these tales and the female engagement with the sea complicates the motherly image of the woman with water. Irish narratives encountering women whose existence was now fully in the natural world may have functioned in order to give women a sense of strength and survival if they too were fearful of being banished due to their own behaviours. This might well have occurred in direct opposition to the message the church would have taken from such tellings. Such tales may have had a strong effect on the communities that engaged and shared them. A close examination of the figure of Petticoat Loose along with legends referred to as ‘The knife against the wave’, reveals ways in which the role of the supernatural in creating alternative realities and perceptions of the world that were manifested in vernacular traditions.