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Aicha: The Demon Slayer
This incredible, globe-trotting heroine’s story is full of Ghouls, Sea-Lions, and Cowardly Princes! Presenting, Aicha the Demon Slayer from Algerian and Moroccan Folklore!
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Billy Duffy and the Devil
Using Emerson and Carleton’s “Billy Duffy” stories, we retell the hilarious tale and examine different elements like the Faustian Pact, Blacksmith and the Devil archetype, Will-o’-the-Wisp and so much more!
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Betrothed and Beheaded: Siya and Maadi
Siya and Maadi tells the tale of the ill-fated lovers in legends popularized from the Wagadou Empire. Virgin sacrifices, Decapitating Serpents, a Man in a (bad) disguise make up this tale that poses the “Greater Good” question we ask ourselves at every major movie showing.
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Daughter of the Sword
This coming-of-age story from South Africa has all the basics of a good story: enraged cattle lord, arrogant warriors, a bratty Princess being put in her place and best of all- lots and lots of cows! What more could we ask for? Based on the retelling by Ethel L. McPherson of Cape Town.
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The Story Bag: Korean Folklore
The Story Bag. In the spirit of the Lunar New Year, our story will be from Korea! Lunar New Year has many different names and countries like China, Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia all celebrated January 22nd, 2023! We do cover the story of the Moon Goddess from the Mid-Autumn festival so if you want more festive stories then do check out that story here. This tale comes from So-un Kim’s “The Story Bag; a collection of Korean folk tales.” He was a prominent storyteller and essayist who wrote many books detailing Korean folktales and fairy tales! His politics, however, were…
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Sparrow Shorts: The Cottager and His Cat
The Cottager and His Cat Happy New Year, Travellers! Welcome back to the Enchanted Forest. I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and are as eager as we are for another exciting year full of new and old stories! This week, Fox is out in the winter wonderland, searching high and low for new tales to share. But do not worry! Fox will be back in a fortnight with her shorts to share! But solo or not, it is still my job to bring old and new tales for you, and that is just what I have done.…
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The Oak King and the Holly King
Greetings Travellers! Welcome back to Tales from the Enchanted Forest with your animal companions Fox and Sparrow! This blog post is dedicated to our last episode of 2022, the Legend of the Holly King and the Oak King. We have taken all the various retellings of this story and created a yuletide patchwork story to share with you this winter season! When I started researching for this episode, I instantly found references to this epic, eternal battle between the two kings but no actual story to tell aside from one King defeating the other on the solstice and giving rise…
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Why the Sea is Salt
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe have an odd Christmas story featuring ham, an outhouse and a magic quern that churns out whatever your heart desires. Come join us for a pointlessly fun winter tale to find a Norse explanation for why the Sea is Salt! Show notes, sources and Five Fantastic Finds included!
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The Mermaid Wife and Other Selkie Stories
The Mermaid Wife and other Selkie stories covers the Scottish story as well as sources, fun facts about mermaids and migratory folktales!
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Aesop’s Fables
Fantasy encompasses a wide, wide spectrum of writing. We have beast fables, we have Gothic, we have tales of vampires and werewolves, and we have sword and sorcery; we have epics from Homer, and there is just so much out there that we put under the umbrella of ‘fantasy.’ – Robin Hobb Aesop’s Fables by V.S Vernon-Jones illustrated by Arthur Rackham (1912) from Wikimedia Commons Greetings Travellers! Welcome back to Tales from the Enchanted Forest! This week, Fox is on her own heroic quest to recover ancient tales and secrets from beyond the enchanted forest. This means that today’s episode…
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Tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab
The tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab is one of the greatest in the epic literature world. Listen to the story here or below! Kay Kavus’ reign was eventful, but sadly, not all that happened was productive or good. Kavus was captured again, started many more conflicts, and got deceived into building a chariot to fly to the sun. Eventually, after all his failures, he became humiliated and humbled. Well, at least for a while. To see the previous stories, be sure to check out the two previous posts/episodes from Shahnameh. Rakhsh’s Lost Days We return to our hero, Rostam, who…
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Rostam: Horsin’ Around
It’s finally time for Rostam! Our previous episode kicked off our trilogy on the Shahnameh or “Book of Kings,” an epic by Ferdowsi on the history of Persia’s Greatest Kings and Heroes. We last spoke of the Hero Sam and his son Zal so if you are interested in knowing more about them, then make sure to check out our previous episode! Today, we will continue our series on the heroes of the Shahnameh. Rostam is the archetypical Iranian hero and predates the Shahnameh as a long-standing folk hero. He is among the Greatest literary heroes, including others like Gilgamesh,…
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