The Fairy Tellers
The Fairy Tellers podcast explores myths, legends, folklore, fables, and fairy tales from various cultures, examining what they reveal about societies past and present. Each episode retells a story in an engaging, cozy style, with new episodes released twice a month.
Episodes
#136 Goblin Silver Balls and Stone
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina have a slappy happy fun time talking about goblins from stories found in The Book of Ghosts and Goblins by Ruth Manning-Sanders. A book that Katrina was able to win by chance in a giveaway by the amazing hosts of Fairy Tale Fix, Abbie and Kelsey. Geoff retells the story of The Three Silver Balls (ATU 311 and ATU 302) where we encounter a mischievous goblin and li
#135 The Louse, the Flea, and the Unmoralizable Tales
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina go back to the previous episode's topic of moralizing fairy tales. If anyone can get a moral out of these tales…seek help. Our brains naturally want to make sense of, and gain life lessons from, the stories that we hear, especially when they are told to us in fairy tale forms. Thanks to people like Charles Perrault and centuries of children’s publishing, fairy ta
#134 The Fisherman and The Stonecutter
Episode Description: #134
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina tackle a sticky question that comes up time and again when talking about and defining the genre of fairy tales. Are fairy tales supposed to teach a moral? Or are the morals something that readers bring into the tales for themselves? Geoff and Katrina test the theory while looking at a tale type that really lends itself to moralizing, ATU
#133 Tall Talk and Stormalong
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States declaring independence from Great Britain. Katrina wanted to acknowledge the occasion by indulging in the story tradition of "tall talk" or more commonly "tall tales". Geoff retells the story of Stormalong, which is a great story to represent America because while these tales became common in the northern east
#132 The Three Journeymen
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk about the social historical interpretations for fairy tales. Using the essay Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales by Eugen Weber, we move from talking about fairy tales using the psychoanalytic approach to using historical perspectives to find out when forest might simply be a forest and when famine makes monsters of mothers. Katrina starts off b
#131 Grand Aunt Tiger
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive back into Little Red Riding Hood variants in other parts of the world. ATU 123 and ATU 333 can be found in China, Korea, Japan, and the African Diaspora. But while Bruno Bettelheim and others want to talk a big game about the wolf being a representation of the dangers of sexuality, what can we glean from a shapeshifting tiger/old woman, a yokai, and ...a rab
#130 Little Red Riding Hood
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff use what we've covered in episodes #126 and #128 to examine one of the most famous fairy tales of all time, Little Red Riding Hood. First, Katrina retells the tale from Charles Perrault and then goes into the Brothers Grimm. But she tells their ATU 123 tale, The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids before Geoff retells the classic Brothers Grimm ATU 333 tale, Little Red
#129 The Devil, Death, and Sexton
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk about Northern European folk and the tales they tell. Last year, Geoff reached out to Free League Publishing to ask them about their role playing game, Vaesen and was gifted some books to explore. While he and Katrina try to figure out the best use of RPGs for them and the podcast, Katrina has dived into the folklore that inspired the game. She starts with a
#128 Snow White and Rose Red
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff continue on with this year's curriculum project by talking about the psychoanalytic approach to fairy tales. We're talking Freud. We're talking Jung. We're talking Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment. But mostly we are talking about the story Snow White and Rose Red, found in the Brothers Grimm collection. In this story, a bear comes to stay with these two
#127 Banish the Ghosts and Welcome the Fairies
February is the time of year where we are all sitting in liminal space. We're waiting for the seasons to shift and change. In this episode, Katrina and Geoff are embracing this space and retelling tales of ghosts and fairies. Do the dead walk among us? Are they partying way too hard? Which would you prefer? Ghosts or fairies? Katrina begins the episode by talking about Daniel Crowley, the anthropo
#126 Vladimir Propp
New Year, New Project! In this episode, Katrina and Geoff kick off their new project and take a break from talking about ATU tale types and motif indexes, to discuss a different way of examining tales, structuralism! Now, don't run off all at once! We're going to break down Vladimir Propp's approach to tales and discuss how being able to recognize Baba Yaga as a villain or a donor character actual
#125 The Mead of Poetry
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff journey into Norse mythology. The tale of The Mead of Poetry has many twists and turns with a wide cast of characters from dwarves, giants, and gods. How does a vat of godly spittle turn into a much sought after beverage? Its a winding road that Katrina is happy to travel in search of the gift of storytelling.
Check out: Not My Fantasy Podcast and our latest ep
#124 Hero and Leander
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina issue two rare corrections. After falsely claiming in episode #123 that there isn't an ATU type 666, they set the record straight by apologizing for the terrible lie and righting their wrongs. With the tale of Hero and Leander, they show that everyone makes mistakes. Some mistakes (like tempting Fate) are worse than others but even Renaissance historians got thin
#123 ATU 67 The Fox and Brainrot
In this episode, Katrina is back from another year of the American Folklore Conference. She talks about the fun of academic conferences and being around the same nerds that understand a good ATU type joke. In the course of some of that joking, Katrina ended up with a ribbon on her name tag that said ATU SIX SEVEN, which then prompted academics to ask her "What's ATU 67" which allowed her to take p
#122 Prince Marcassin
Content Warning: Suicide and Murder
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive back into the world of the French salons to talk about Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy and further their discussion on Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale by Kimberly J. Lau. While France was spreading their imperial reach, the imagination of the French salons were abuzz with travelogues
#121 Eat the Rich (Or Turn Them Into Worms)
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina discuss stories that look at the corrupting power of wealth. While doing an Instagram challenge in July, by Tish Black (author of Ebony, Blood, and Snow: New Stories from Old Tales), Katrina kept finding stories from around the world talking about how growing wealth can cause a degrading of the soul. They take three of those tales and retell them while discussing
#120 Dear Mili and Maurice Sendak
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk about the upcoming "posthumous partnering" of Stephen King and Maurice Sendak in a children's book of Hansel and Gretel in September. The news of this collaboration reminded Katrina of another book Maurice Sendak did with a dead partner, Wilhelm Grimm. In the 1800's before the Grimm Brothers were a household name, Wilhelm penned a letter to Mili, which conta
#119 Tales of the French Salon
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina delve into the world of King Louis XIV's French Salons. During this time period, many women of the nobility were meeting together in the salons and stretching their creative skills in storytelling and writing. While Charles Perrault was trying to prove that the French folktales carried as much weight as the myths of ancient Greece, his niece, Marie-Jeanne L'Herit
#118 Clever Gretel
In this episode, Geoff shares that his son is currently having him read through ALL of the Grimm Brother's collection of tales. And while on this journey, his son has really gotten a kick out of some tales more than others. And Geoff shares one of those tales with us; the tale of Clever Gretel. Armed with a quick wit and a desire for good food and drink (and a pair of red shoes), Gretel is ready t
#117 Mermaid Tails (Or Not)
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina fight to break their Mer-MAY curse by attempting to get an episode all about the most famous seductresses (or kidnappers) of the sea (or lakes). These little (or big) mermaids might come from different lands but they have one thing in common, they are man hungry. With three different tales, Katrina and Geoff take turns telling tales of female heroines, magic (or
#116 Ethiopian Sons: An Evaluation of Values
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina turn to a pair of tales from Ethiopia that illustrate how stories can talk about what we value without being overly didactic.
They retell two stories stories come from Elizabeth Laird’s When the World Began: Stories Collected in Ethiopia. Katrina starts us off with "The Shield of Kindness," where three sons are tested not on strength or bravery, but on kindness
#115 All's Well That Ends Well For Catherine the Wise
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina celebrate Shakespeare Day on April 23rd! Shakespeare employed folklore in his tales to connect his audience with the familiar while also reworking it enough to pull a new message into the forefront. Our patrons on Patreon picked out "All's Well That Ends Well" and Katrina enjoyed learning about a tale that was unfamiliar to her. And Geoff retold the tale of Cathe
#114 The Golden Trunk
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive back into The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile. Is it violent? And misogynistic? And unnecessarily sexual? Yes. But it's also racist. Katrina was sent a copy of Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale by Kimberly J. Lau, a professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This book was chocked ful
#113 Speranza Wilde and the Evil Eye
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk about some of the work of Lady Jane "Speranza" Wilde. An Irish nationalist who was gathering the lore of the folk, Lady Jane Wilde believed that the heart of the Irish culture could be found in its myths, legends, and superstitions. Katrina discusses some of what can be found in Lady Wilde's folklore collection, including how to become invisible, cure a toot
#112 Wise Men of Gotham and the City of Chelm
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina take a trip to several different cities of fools (and feel right at home). First Katrina explains how the folkloric village of Gotham ended up turning into a city of Batman. Then the pair travel backwards in time to take a peek into one of the oldest joke books, from the 4th century AD. They discuss how common it is for people to come together to bad mouth the pe
Dog and Sparrow [Surprise Instagram LIVE]
For National Tell a Fairy Tale day, Katrina and Geoff decided to hop on and do an Instagram Live and Katrina tells the story of The Dog and the Sparrow straight from the Brothers Grimm. This was one of the first fairy tales that Katrina encountered way back almost a decade ago that made her go, "What the freak did I just read?!" A classic tale with some classic Grimm Brothers violence. 95% of the
#111 Stone Soup and Long Spoons
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff talk about stone soup and the travels this story has gone on. This ATU 1548 tale might have started off as a story where a clever man does what he can to trick unsuspecting people out of their food and resources, but over time it has come to be a symbol of communities learning to come together in love to make sure that everybody has enough. Katrina and Geoff rete
#110 Riff Raff and Ragamuffins
Content Warning: Animal on Animal Violence
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina welcome the new year by retelling tales of slapstick violence and murder. In ATU 210, a bunch of random objects team up to create an ending with a domino effect of violence. But it's FUN! Katrina starts off by telling a Brother's Grimm version of this story called Riff Raff or A Pack of Ragamuffins. Reading this short st
#109 Albuquerque Ghosts
In this short episode, Geoff and Katrina talk ghost stories in Albuquerque. This year, the American Folklore Society conference was being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Katrina is still recovering her brain from working over time all week. So, to recuperate, she retells some ghosts stories from locations that she was able to go to while in town. Besides revisiting the classic La Llorona story
#108 Jack and the Northwind and Muncimeg
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff dive back into the tales of Jack in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. First Katrina does a quick review of how Jack tales crossed over the ocean and wound up in the Americas before Geoff tells us the tale of Jack and the North Wind. After a quick conversation about similar tales types and the differences to be found back in Europe, Katrina introduce
#107 Just So Stories and Rudyard Kipling
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina bring us back to the topic of Pourquoi tales, by way of literary folk tales. In 1902, Rudyard Kipling published his own tales that he wrote for his daughter in the style of pourquoi tales. The title "Just So Stories" have stuck in the mind of the public and became synonymous with Pourquoi tales because they answered such questions as "Where Did the Camel Get His
#106 Flying Witches: Tatterhood
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina fly into the world of witches, thanks to an article by folklorist Kay Turner. In her article titled, "The Witch in Flight" published in the Winter 2023 addition of the Journal of American Folklore, Turner discusses some of the reasons why we encounter so many winged females in myths, folklore, and fairy tales. Katrina describes some of the mythical magical flying
#105 Donkeyskin: The Fifth Anniversary Episode
TW: Incestuous desires
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina are celebrating 5 years of podcasting myths, legends, folklore, and fables with another take on Cinderella. While we normally talk about ATU 510A, or Cinderella tales, for our 5th Anniversary, we're shaking things up with ATU 510B! In this tale type, we explore a tale of riches to rags and back to riches again. Filled with magical dresses,
# 104 - [FIXED] The Grateful Dead
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina fight burn out by talking about one of their favorite things...the dead. While attending the Western State Folklore Conference in 2022, Katrina was inspired by an essay written by Christopher James Blythe "The Legend of the Naked Dead: Apparitions and Proper Burial in Latter-day Saint Folklore", which led to a stunning bonus episode for our patrons. Recently publ
#103 Pourquoi Tales: Ancestorial Wisdom
In this episode that Geoff and Katrina recorded back in March, they delve into one of the "why"s of Pourquoi tales, the passing on of Ancestorial Wisdom. Whether it is the knowledge of where their people came from or how best to behave in the environment, these tales are found throughout the world. Katrina and Geoff tell tales from Australia, southern Africa, and North America.
Also, a much overd
Surprise Live: Nepal Youth Foundation in honor of Olga Murray
Olga Murray, who founded the Nepal Youth Foundation, passed away at the age of 98 in February of this year. Founder's Day, an annual celebration of the creation of this nonprofit, will be held on May 30th. While this event will include a celebration of life for Olga Murray and all she was able to do in her life, it will also be a time to look forward and walk a path that was started by this hardw
#102 The Brave Little Tailor/Dyjhycon the Coward Hero
In this episode, Katrina and Geoff retell a tale from Armenia that was recommended to them by one of our wonderful Patreon patrons! The tale of "Dyjhycon the Coward Hero" has many similarities to the tale of "The Brave Little Tailor" found in western Europe except for some vast personality differences between the two protagonists. The cultural differences between what makes a person worth rooting
#101 The Why of Pourquoi Tales
Katrina and Geoff are back at it again with a new series to kick off the next 100 episodes of the podcast! Even though Geoffrey joked that the last episode we would ever do would be an episode on "Pourquoi Tales", we've decided to use it as a jumping off point for more fun. In this episode, Katrina starts off the series by telling us what Pourquoi Tales are NOT, and that is stories that have to be
#100 CinderSnow White
Happy 100th Episode from Geoff and Katrina to you! This year had a ton of milestones and we're excited to send off 2023 with our 100th episode. We've had a blast the last 4 years podcasting about myths, legends, folklore, and fables. To celebrate we had another installment of Cinderella tales but this one comes with a Snow White twist. This tale from India recorded in the 1800's starts off with a
#99 Holiday Plants
It's winter time once again in the Northern Hemisphere and we're getting ready for winter celebrations. Plant life plays a lot into the season and while there are plenty of traditions associated with these plants, there are also stories. Geoff and Katrina talk about a few of holiday plants and stories surrounding the mysterious properties of plants that appear to be evergreen. They also talk abou
#98 2 Baba 2 Yaga
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina get into more tales featuring the iconic Baba Yaga. During the December Divinations episode, the Fates decided that we needed more Baba on the podcast and who are we to deny fate? We discuss two tales which show how differently Baba Yaga can appear in stories. When men are bumbling through the woods looking for help saving their lives, they can count on Baba Yaga
#97 Snow White
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina complete their shining tiara of a series, with this crown jewel. After a year devoted to exploring the motifs, themes, and elements that have traveled through the ocean of stories for centuries, we cover the story of Snow White. Crafted and created by the Brothers Grimm, Little Snow White is a tale that most people feel familiar with, but there are still surprise
#96 Bestiary of Bakemono: The Yokai Party
CW: Violence and Death of Children
Fate dictates that we provide our audience with a “B” inspired episode and Geoff does not disappoint with his Bestiary of Bakemono. In this Geoff-isode, we dive into tales of Japanese spirits that explain why things so often go bump in the night. While some might be downright silly sounding, with eyeballs for buttholes, others are waiting to bounce at the least p
Tree Stories | Fifth Friday Folklore Fest LIVE
The 5th Friday in September was a special selection of tree tales from various locations around the world. With the prompt for "plant tales" picked out by our Patreon subscribers, we decided to do an episode on trees. We retold tales of Baobab trees, which were flipped upside down for their ungratefulness and Hera's marriage present of citrons. Greeks weren't the only people to have a special rela
#95 Tale of Tales PART 2
Katrina and Geoff are back to finish up the frame story of The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile but first, one last story about a hunt for a woman started by the colors red, white, and black. But unlike the other tale, the color black is framed as a force for harm, giving us some cultural context on how to view the tricolors in the tale. With Diarrhea Linda out of the picture, we see if Zoza i
#94 The Tale of Tales PART ONE
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive into The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile for another installment of the Snow White series. The tri-colors of fairy tales (white, black, and red) appear over and over but in Snow White we think of these elements being embodied by one beautiful woman. Retelling these tales inside The Tale of Tales requires an understanding of the frame narrative that The
#93 The Story of Hedgy
In this episode Katrina and Geoff fight their burnout by turning to ATU 650 Strong John, an episode that the fates decided we would do during our December Divinations episode. While researching this tale type, Katrina came across a wild tale with twists and turns that happens to take place in The Un-United Kingdoms of America. Throw away your textbooks and get ready to hear the history of castles
#92: The Little Mermaid
Happy Mer-MAY...or rather...this episode was recorded in Mer-MAY in anticipation of the release of the new Little Mermaid movie coming out in theaters. In our most long awaited episode, after a very unplanned hiatus, we are back talking about mermaid lore and the Christian tone that this story was originally written with by Hans Christian Andersen. We first start the episode with two short mer-man
Travel Folklore | Fifth Friday Folklore Fest | Instagram Live
Katrina and Geoff have been traveling! And they came back with some fascinating folklore from their travels. Join us for the recording of our Instagram Live episode all about it.
#91 Magic Mirrors and Divination
Content Warning: Child Abuse, Infanticide, Suicide, Domestic Violence and Assault
In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk magic mirrors in another installment of the Snow White project. We dissect the importance of the mirror in the Snow White tale by telling a tale of vanity and another of tools for divination. The first tale is the story of Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Tales of reflectiv
#90 Entomology Etymology Mythology
Content Warning: Greek/Roman Gods, sexual assault, physical assault
After making a joke months and months ago on one of our LIVE events on Instagram, we make good on the episode devoted to bug names and how they got them. Geoff takes the lead in this episode while Katrina literally lies back and relaxes (while her back is healing). But first she retells the story of Arachne weaving truth to power
Fifth Friday Fable Fest: Friendship Tales | Instagram Live
Join us for this recording of our first Fifth Friday Fable Fest of 2023. In this Instagram Live event, we retell a variety of Friendship Tales and discuss what we can learn from them.
#89 Turkish Tales: Peris and Dews
Geoff and Katrina talk Turkish Tales! A collector of tales over a hundred years ago tried to determine if tales from Turkey are more European in flavor or Southwest Asian. This leads to conversation we had in our Zora Neale Hurston episode where she was quoted talking about universality of stories but the flavors that ever region adds. These tales are richly flavored and extremely entertaining.
J
#88 Polygamous Snow White: Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree
Does the title sound like click bait? It is because in this episode, Geoff and Katrina are talking about a tale that, in 1892, shocked Joseph Jacobs as he was looking for Celtic Fairy Tales for his book of the same title. After our episode on the Lai of Eliduc, we're uniquely situated to talk about why he was off the mark when he said that this Snow White variant couldn't have originated in Europe
#87 Zora Neale Hurston, Anthropologist
Katrina and Geoff talk Zora Neale Hurston, ethnography, and why women rule over men! In this episode, we discuss some of the amazing work to preserve African American folklore in the South done by the incredible Zora Neale Hurston. We compare two tales that are almost identical when Zora Neale Hurston collected them but differ slightly between the genders. Through these stories we also get to disc
#86 The Lai of Eliduc | Snow White Series
Katrina and Geoff talk little known medieval women, specifically Marie de France, for our 2nd installment of our Snow White project. But first, has anyone ever told you that the tale of Snow White was based on a true story? Katrina explains how that theory came to be before diving into this episode's tale, The Lai of Eliduc. A story of a knight who falls in love while serving a new king...the only
#85 Two Tails One Horse
Katrina and Geoff are letting fate lead with this episode as they explore ATU 47A (Fox Hangs Onto the Horse's Tail). That's right. Fate led us right back to fox, a character that's impossible to get away from. Interestingly, this also leads us into a Grimm's story that would probably have readers today scratching their heads if they didn't know about the history of Reynard the Fox.
#84 The Apple of Discord and the Trojan War | Snow White Series
Trigger Warning: Greek Mythology...so literally everything. Sexual Assault, Infanticide, Suicide, Desecration of a Corpse, War, and Zeus.
Katrina and Geoff are starting out the year strong with our first episode on the road to Snow White. The first stop on the journey is a look into Greek Mythology, specifically the tales surrounding The Trojan War to pick out motifs that echo through the centuri
December Divination | Instagram Live
We tried to finish out 2022 with as much enthusiasm and silliness as possible. We announced our new project for 2023 AND we used some divination methods to help us pick out a few episodes for the year. But first, Katrina quickly retold the Norse myth of Idun and her apples of eternal youth. Apples were a major theme of this episode and Katrina had no idea how sticky apple seeds could be until they
#83 A Very Devil Christmas Special
Happy Holidays to One and All from The Fairy Tellers! All during 2022 we were taking audience requests and suggestions. We are happy to present the last one (for this year) which is both a Ukrainian literary folktale by Nikolai Gogol and a story featuring the devil. What more could you want from a story about Christmas Eve, on Christmas Eve? Katrina and Geoff have fun laughing as Old Sly ruins the
#82 Disability in Fairy Tales: Riquet of the Tuft
In one of the last listener requests for 2022, Geoff and Katrina turn to a discussion on disability in fairy tales. A lot has been said through the years about disability representation in fairy tales but not all of it is helpful. In this episode, Geoff and Katrina turn to a story recorded by Charles Perrault where he makes some *almost* insightful comments on the social model of looking at disabi
#81 Great Claus and Little Claus | Hans Christian Andersen
Katrina and Geoff dive back into the collection of Hans Christian Andersen to have a look at one of his tales that comes almost directly from the folk, Great Claus and Little Claus. Hold on to your horses, hug your grandma, and punch a sexton because this story is wild. And wilder still is how far afield this story has traveled. Katrina retells this story from the African diaspora and you'll never
#80 Mothman and Other American Cryptids
Katrina and Geoff are back from a hectic October and ready to jump into cryptids! Katrina retells the story of The White Screamer which oddly tied in with Geoff's retelling of the Mothman legend. And even though this episode was NOT about aliens and UFOs, it's pretty hard to escape their presence. Finally, Katrina and Geoff talk about The Lizard Man of South Carolina, tourism and ostension.
Also,
Tales Fit for the Campfire | October Surprise Instagram Live
After a month of life throwing curveballs, Katrina and Geoff decided to have a surprise LIVE in Instagram, both to explain their absence and to share two tales fit for the campfire. Geoff shares a tale of "Grandfather's Eyes: The Story of Three Wicked Yezinkas" where we see plenty of familiar motifs and Katrina does a quick search for the magical properties of brambles. Then Katrina retells the ta
Bird Tales | Instagram LIVE
Between Katrina being back in the hospital (finally getting rid of her kidney stone), computer crashes, and traveling, we're once again behind in posting an episode. But have no fear, we'll make sure to load you up on October content when Katrina gets her life back together. Until then, please enjoy September's 5th Friday Fable Fest Live!
#79 The Dodo: Swallower-of-Men
CW: Cannibalism, sort of.
In this episode, Katrina takes Geoff on a journey down a research rabbit hole into stories of the Dodo. The bird? No. The Swallower-of-Men. After researching African Cinderella tales, Katrina followed a trail of sources that led her back to a story she had read years before but found difficult to get more information about.
#78 African Cinderella Tales
Katrina and Geoff celebrate 3 years of podcasting! As is our tradition, the topic of the day is ATU 510A or Cinderella and this time we are in Africa, specifically Nigeria and South Africa. The "Cinderella" tale in Nigeria gives Geoff the most happy of ever afters and the "Unkind and Kind Girls" tale in South Africa makes us contemplate how we are treat people on our journeys through life.
Happy
#77 The Nightingale(s) | Oscar Wilde and Hans Christian Andersen
Katrina and Geoff tackle Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, and literary fairy tales in this listener requested episode. How are literary fairy tales different from other fairy tales? How do you define art and love? And can a boy live on metaphysics alone? We answer one of these questions...maybe. We retell two tales in conversation with each other from two fabulously famous European writers.
Frog Fables | Instagram Live
On the 5th Friday of July, we had a LIVE Event on our Instagram page @thefairy_tellers where we discussed frogs and politics. Katrina was grateful to be doing the Fable Fest at all since she had a rough medical month and barely made it home from a doctor's appointment. "Physician, heal thyself!" Join us as we discuss a character that we haven't explored in fable form before, Frog.
#76 The Old Woman in the Woods
Katrina and Geoff return with a listener request, "The Old Woman in the Woods". While the title might sound like it's describing every other Grimm's Fairy Tales, this one has a flavor all its own and was made into an 1980's Japanese cartoon series, Grimm's Fairy Tales Classics. Join us while we talk about other stories that share motifs.
#75 Sedna: Inuit Goddess
Katrina and Geoff talk about Inuit mythology! Katrina retells the epic (and gruesome) origin story of Sedna, the life and death-giving goddess of the artic. We use this as a launching point for discussing Inuit mythology and how it related to the lived experience of the various Inuit peoples.
#74 Tanabata: The Japanese Star Festival
Katrina and Geoff talk Japanese festivals and star stories! The Tanabata Festival is coming up on July 7th and that makes for an episode full of some of our classic tale elements. Celestial stories, holiday origins, and women being interrupted while they are trying to bathe. And as a bonus star story, the Ainu story of The Seven Lazy Sisters.
#73 Appropriation vs. Appreciation | Hawaiian Tales
Katrina and Geoff are BACK from their month-long break and ready to jump into audience questions. This episode focuses on a question about appropriation and appreciation in regards to storytelling. Katrina starts off the episode with a personal story about a Hawaiian boy in her son's class and then retells two tales of Hawaiian lore, the second of which features some Geomythology *Lite*.
Fox Fables | Instagram LIVE
The Fairy Tellers is on a break until June 10th. But while you wait for more episodes, please enjoy the audio from our Instagram LIVE Event that took place on April 29th. The video and audio are also available Instagram with our account @thefairy_tellers.
If you can't wait for more episodes, check out our Patreon and become a supporter for exclusive bonus content.
#72 The Moon is Made of Cheese (and other Astronomical Folklore)
Katrina and Geoff talk about the moon! This week we delve back into the world of astronomical folklore by telling stories about the moon. We finally get to the bottom of whether or not people actually believed that the moon was made of cheese, and what the moon is up to when we can't see it in the sky.
If you are enjoying the podcast and want to contribute while also getting more fairy tale conten
#71 Greek Geomythology
Katrina and Geoff talk Mr. G's Pizza and geomythology! While the term "geomythology" was coined fairly recently by a geologist, the ideas behind looking for the science within ancient stories is anything but recent. In this episode we discuss dragon teeth and Cadmus, primordial chaos monsters, and how the scientists have uncovered a mystery about the Oracle of Delphi.
If you are enjoying the podca
#70 Slavic Vampires
Katrina and Geoff talk Vampires of Eastern Europe! This episode combines two listener requests. One for tales created around pandemic and plagues and another request for a tale from Ukraine. Katrina tells a quick history lesson of the Carpathian mountains before retelling the story of "The Vampire and St. Michael", were a young man is helped by an archangel to exorcise a vampire.
If you are enjoyi
#69 - Phikul Thong, Golden Flower
Geoff and Katrina take a request, from a long time listener of the podcast who inspired the 2022 fan lead project, and retell the Thai story Phikul Thong. A familiar tale type (ATU 480) to our podcast but with a twist we haven't discussed before that is more famous in a Charles Perrault tale, The Fairies. Geoff and Katrina take it a step further and retell another ATU 480 tale that stretches the b
#68 Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Fair
Katrina and Geoff wander into the Russian woods to talk about the most famous Slavic witch, Baba Yaga. After a fan request to discuss this cannibalistic character after her appearance in Netflix's The Witcher, Katrina knew exactly the tale that would lead our discussion. We also look at the Russian collector of tales, Aleksandr Afanasyev who's efforts to preserve folklore might be one of the reaso
#67 African Dilemma Tales
Katrina and Geoff journey into African Dilemma Tales and note how important it is to record the context for tales when they are performed. The text of a song might stay the same, but the texture and context can change the experience completely. For instance, the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner may not change... But you wouldn't want it played on the kazoo by a circus clown at a presidential inau
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