Ren Fuchsfein

A fox sniffles at a flower. Happy Fox Friday!

I forgot that today is fox friday.

Happy Fox Friday! 🦊
I had a great day and I'm off to sleep now. Tomorrow I'll share some pictures from my forest walk.

If you read this have a nice day or night!

A small glimpse into the world of folk ballad singing. An art that has now died out.

I felt like sharing them because I love old songs with their stories about kings and queens, knights, fairies, elves and witches and dragons and all that.

It's one of my hobbies. I know it's not for everyone. 🦊💚🎵

YouTube video by Reynard the Fox Allison Gross (Child 35) (1986) - Lizzie Higgins

Allison Gross (Child 35) - A Scottish Folk Ballad sung by Lizzie Higgins, daughter of traditional singer Jeannie Robertson:
youtu.be/2Q-isPOM6ro

The witch Allison Gross turns a young man who rejects her advances into a dragon. The Queen of the Fairies takes pity on him.

#folk #traditional #music

YouTube video by Reynard the Fox Sir Patrick Spens (Child 58) (1986) - Duncan Williamson (Scottish Traveller Traditional Singer)

Sir Patrick Spens (Child 58) - A Scottish Ballad sung by Duncan Williamson, traditional storyteller & ballad singer from Argyll:
youtu.be/xgf3u0CHAQk

The King in Dunfermline sends Sir Patrick Spens on a fatal journey to Norway to bring back the young Queen of Scotland.

#folk #traditional #music

YouTube video by Reynard the Fox Thomas the Rhymer (Child 37) (1986) - Duncan Williamson (Scottish Traveller Traditional Singer)

Thomas the Rhymer (Child 37) - A Scottish Fairy Ballad sung by Duncan Williamson, traditional storyteller & ballad singer from Argyll:
youtu.be/niKG2Q4SsFE

The Queen of the Fairies takes Thomas on a journey to Elfland. He returns after 7 years and becomes a great prophet.

#folk #traditional #music

YouTube video by Reynard the Fox Tam Lin (Child 39) (1986) - Duncan Williamson (Scottish Traveller Traditional Singer)

Tam Lin (Child 39) - A Scottish Fairy Ballad sung by Duncan Williamson, traditional storyteller & ballad singer from Argyll:
youtu.be/a-8BwAx8b9M

A young man was captured by the Queen of the Fairies. Lady Margaret breaks the spell on Halloween and sets Tam Lin free.

#folk #traditional #music

YouTube video by Reynard the Fox Young Emily (Roud 182) (1974) - Betty Smith

Young Emily / Edwin in the Lowlands (Roud 182) - A beautiful North Carolina mountain ballad sung by Betty Smith in 1974:
youtu.be/dTS08B5QjfI

She learned it from Obray Ramsay in Madison County, NC.

#folk #traditional #music

It also appears in the ballad of Sir Cawline (Child 61). The earliest known text of which is "Ane taill of sir colling ye knyt" dated to 1582.

And to meete noe man of middle-earth
And that liues on Christs his lay.'

Tolkien drew heavily from traditional mythology and folklore for his own stories.

The term middle earth appears in the medieval romance of Thomas the Rhymer.

The Romance of Tomas off Ersseldoune. Thornton MS. Written between 1430 and 1440.

This twelmoneth sall þou with me gone,
And medill-erthe salt þou none see.'

It wasn't invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for Lord of the Rings.

Silksong will finally be real. It took so long that I stopped thinking about the game. But if it turns out well I'll be happy to play it of course.

Better late than never.

First thing I did when I created my Youtube channels was disable video history.

It means losing the homepage. But I don't care. I only watch videos from a few channels I like and anything else I can search for.

I refuse to use video recommendations. No algorithm tells me what I should be watching.

Heretic + Hexen get a definitive re-release with new content from id Software and Nightdive Studios Just like what happened with DOOM + DOOM II, Nightdive Studios have remastered the classics Heretic + Hexen as one bundle with new content.

Heretic + Hexen get a definitive re-release with new content from id Software and Nightdive Studios
#Heretic #Hexen #FPS #RetroGaming #PCGaming #Gaming #SteamDeck

wind up link, green headwear, red shield with a cross, sword, walks off the edge of a desk.

illustration, excerpt, family computer magazine (1986) archive.org/details/fami...

As a kid I found these scary. But I guess they only do what they need to survive. We can't reay blame them. :p

It's a great picture! Look at that sting, wow!

Artificial Intelligence? More like Artificial Stupidity.

A hot air balloon landing nearby.

A hot air balloon landed in the field nearby. 🎈

It's always fun watching them. But flying with one myself? Not for me, I'm afraid of heights.

YouTube video by Digital Foundry DF Direct Special: Digital Foundry Leaves IGN, Now Fully Independent - So What Happens Next?

Richard Leadbetter's Digital Foundry going independent from IGN is the best thing that could've happened:
youtu.be/tl7bIJ2yu4I

I love Digital Foundry's retro gaming content and IGN was pushing them away from that.

Now they can report on whatever games they enjoy, without being told by IGN.

I wrote a folklore article, talking about Scottish fairy ballads Tam Lin (Child 39) and Thomas the Rhymer (Child 37) recorded from traditional singer Duncan Williamson of Argyll and the widespread and ancient folk tune they use:
mudcat.org/thread.cfm?t...

I love the fairy songs 🦊🎵
#folk #scotland

I don't need maps in videogames because I have a good visual memory.

Of course it doesn't work in, say, a maze where all the walls look the same. But in a forest, a city or other places with distinct features I never get lost.

I never found Shadow Man confusing either. I remember every single map.

Judero

I watched gameplay of "Judero". An action game that incorporates Scottish folklore in a humorous fashion and uses a memorable stop motion art style.

The first song that played in the game was a psychedelic arrangement of Lord Gregory and I'm in love with this.

I have to buy and play this game. 🦊💚🎵

I'm afraid of heights, I don't want to imagine falling down there.

Often I think people who think about suicide just need someone to talk to.

There are always alternatives. People can learn to be happy again. And then they'll regret ever thinking about suicide.

Because life has so much to offer.

I had a nice forest walk today, first one after 3 weeks of being glued to the screen. Walking is so good for me.

The summer weather's coming back and I'll try to do daily walks again. It helps my back, it helps my mood, it helps me sleep.

I just came home and now I'll relax and watch a let's play.

Oh dear me I love Arcade Donkey Kong and I feel I'm part of that small crowd who were sad when they found out that a DK themed music game was worked on but never released. :/

It wasn't fun to write and there's a lot more I'd want to add, but I've laid out some of my thoughts on the Online Safety Act here.

www.hogsy.me/2025-08-06.htm

#osa #OnlineSafetyAct

Her face in some of the variants reminds me uncomfortably of a blow up doll.

It's surprising how much the quality of early official merch varied. Nowadays the design of all the Nintendo characters has become carefully standardised and flaws like above would never be allowed to be sold.

We've acquired the historic game magazine Computer Entertainer.

As in, we got the rights. We own the magazine. And we're putting it into the Creative Commons for anyone to use for free.

Learn more: gamehistory.org/computerente...

I saw a lone deer walking in the middle of the village 🦌

I saw a lone deer walking in the middle of the village 🦌

Some sort of bright green dragonfly with black markings rests on a branch in my garden

!!

Because I seemingly have nothing else to do, I've decided to open four commission slots!

These are still using 2019 prices, just converted from $ to €, do not expect the same prices next time!

Hey, after this the day can only get better!