The Wulf and the Hammerwoman

Join us for this one hour performance combining stories about transformation and trickery with fire and forging. Storyteller Kirsten Milliken will share tales that reference both the wolves and smiths of folklore while blacksmith Jo Edwards will create a piece from fire and steel as the story develops, using traditional smithing techniques over a charcoal-powered forge.

Kirsten Milliken is a bold and enchanting storyteller who tells tales that inspire, entertain, and challenge. Specialising in stories from Celtic and Norse traditions, she often focuses on themes of environmental and social justice; creatively exploring what our folklore and traditional tales tell us about the world we live in and how we should treat others. She also weaves knowledge from her background in Environmental Management into her stories, helping listeners learn and engage with nature in creative and imaginative ways. Kirsten works in all sorts of settings from schools, museums and libraries to community events, private functions and festivals. She has delivered school projects, performances, workshops and story walks throughout Scotland and overseas, sharing traditional Scottish stories, culture and folklore with communities far and wide.

Dr Jo Edwards has a DPhil in Renaissance Culture from the University of Sussex, is an experienced project manager and strategic leader, and retrained as a blacksmith in 2024, completing the City & Guilds in Forge Work at the top of her class. Since then, she has taught and demonstrated traditional smithing across Scotland, sharing skills and stories about the Smiddy with people of all ages. Jo has been Director of Green Aspirations since 2017 and now runs business operations. She also makes the charcoal used on the forge.

Traditional stories and folklore are part of our intangible cultural heritage. As well as being entertaining, they contain traditional knowledge and wisdom about how to treat the land we live on and the people we share it with. In pre-literate societies, stories and storytelling were ways for people to share knowledge, values and ideas. Blacksmiths were once a central part of rural communities, serving the families who lived and worked in that area. They were the heart of the village, working with people of all backgrounds, often sharing stories themselves about the people who came through their Smiddy. Since industrialisation, many of these skills have been lost. This event will provide a unique opportunity for our audience to experience live traditional oral storytelling alongside a traditional rural skill in a creative and innovative way.