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Mullah Nasruddin
As many of our listeners know, the month of Ramadan is when Muslims worldwide fast and give thanks for all they have. Last year for Ramadan and Eid, we told the moral tales of the Wise Fool, a folk figure known as Mullah Nasruddin and now, following Eid al-Adha, we have our post! Of course, this is just one of his names since his tales come from many different regions. In Turkey, for example, he is known as Nasreddin Hodja of Anatolia and is believed to have been a real historical figure from the Seljuk empire. These stories are not…
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The Glass Mountain: A Polish Tale
The Polish Tale of the Glass Mountain is a variant of the Princess on the Glass Hill archetype! Come join us as we meet Cinderlad/Ashlad, catch some golden apples and watch the Golden Knight fail!
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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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Chang’e and Hou Yi: The Lady of the Moon
Chang’e and Hou Yi are two popular characters from Chinese legends, with him as the famed archer and her as the Lady of the Moon. Read about their love story and all the variations of the tale.
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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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Shahnameh: Sam, Zal and Rudabeh
The Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) by Hakim Abu al-Qasim Mansur is one of the world’s greatest Epic poems, detailing the history of Iran’s Kings and Heroes. He is known as “Ferdowsi Tusi,” which is actually a title meaning “The Tusi Poet from Paradise”. The work has morphed with every retelling, and the stories have existed prior to Ferdowsi penning them down. In the poem, Ferdowsi says that his book is a collection of stories that he painstakingly collected. To see a list of the author’s sources and a brief history, click here. The Epic itself starts from the beginning of…
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The Doomed Prince and the Three Fates
What began with Egyptian funerary texts, hymns, poems and records soon evolved into one of the earliest records of narrative literature. There were few surviving narrative stories from the Middle Kingdom, including the “Story of Sinuhe,” and “Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.” Narrative tales like our Doomed Prince didn’t flourish as a genre till down the line in the New Kingdom! “The Tale of the Doomed Prince” comes from an Egyptian Papyrus, which contains a series of love poems and two tales. The Papyrus, known as the Harris 500, is currently on exhibit at the British Museum after being donated…
Tales from the Enchanted Forest 