Folklore is a living thing. In many ways, the stories we tell and the lessons we pass on are like a tree. There are branches that reach out into generations and cultures, sometimes in obvious ways, and times reaching surprising new places. One good example of this would be the folklore surrounding small fairy people that we've discussed here before, puckwajis, trolls, goblins, puca and dozens of similar variations are scattered around the world with amazing consistency and reach. How or why is something we'll probably never know, but it shows us how folklore can spread, how it can migrate and how it can build upon the past. At the same time, though, folklore also has roots, and they run deeper than we might expect. Some stories that we still whisper about in the dark to day have crossed the lips of people for centuries, and, in some cases, millennia. When i hear a story for the first time, or discover a new collection of tales that have been widely distributed, i often stop and ask myself the same questions, where did it come from? What lies at the bottom of the narrative? What are its roots? Outside of halloween, there is no other time of the year, at least for european cultures, where folklore rushes to the forefront of every one's lives with such significance, such power and such ease as the christmas season. And rightly so. There is so much to unpack and explore, the tree, the gifts, the food and the nocturnal visit from a stranger, one who has seemingly stalked our lives all year long, and yet we blindingly welcome into our home. And if there's one lesson that folklore has taught us over the centuries, it's to beware of strangers, because they aren't always who they seem to be. I'm aaron mankey, and this is laura.