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The Apothecary and the Mermaid

This episode was released last February to celebrate African-American storytelling traditions. For those of our listeners not from Canada or the United States, every February, we celebrate Black History Month with an emphasis in schools on learning about the slave trade, the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement. Now, on this podcast, we aim to cover a wide variety of international stories, and while we’ve covered North American Native tales, this will be our first African American story. America is truly a mosaic of legends, fairy tales and folktales that are as rich and unique as the generations of…
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Nigerian Animal Tales

The Election of the King Bird There was once a King of Calabar named Essiya. Like many kings and those of royal blood, King Essiya was very wealthy and powerful. Despite that, he didn’t own any slaves. At least not any human slaves. Instead, he would call upon animals to aid his people with their work. But he wanted to make sure that the work was being communicated quickly and efficiently to all the animals. So, one day, he decided to appoint the chief head for all the different kinds of animals. These creatures will be referred to as kings.…
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The Mermaid of the Magdalenes

The Magdalen Islands in Quebec, Canada offer more than just a breathtaking landscape; they are also home to the Great Lobster stories. Settle in as we tell the tale of the self-indulgent Maiden, a box of Sardines and a Vengeful Lobster. Originally this mournful tale of the ‘The Mermaid of the Magdalenes’ comes from Professor Cyrus MacMillan’s Canadian Fairy Tales.
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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…


