The Fairy Tellers

#39 The Snow Queen | Hans Christian Andersen

Katrina and Geoff get frozen! In this Queen-sized Yuletide Special, Katrina and Geoff tag-team retell a much requested audience favorite, The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. Though this literary fairy tale served as the inspiration for the 2013 mega-hit film Frozen, the two could not be more different. But fans of Frozen and The Snow Queen alike are bound to learn something new. 

#38 A Folklore Guide to Parenting Chronically Naughty Children

Katrina and Geoff talk parenting! We decide to get into the holiday spirit by recounting the various ways cultures across the world scare their children into behaving. Forget Elf on the Shelf. We've got a whole slew of new ways to terrify your children into acting right this holiday season, from Europe to South America to the African Diaspora.

#37 Dhon Cholecha: Another Nepali Cinderella Tale?

Katrina and Geoff return to Nepal! In a follow up to our partnership with the Nepal Youth Foundation in the spring, we find out what projects they've been working on to assist during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the suggestion of a Nepali listener, Katrina retells the story of Don Cholecha (meaning Nanny Goat), another Cinderella adjacent tale from Nepal.

Visit https://www.nepalyouthfoundation.org/donate/ to make a donation to The Nepal Youth Foundation.

Bonus Episode: Abu Hassan and his EPIC Fart!

We are launching a Patreon! Learn more here: https://www.patreon.com/thefairytellers

Enjoy this free preview of our exclusive bonus content for Patreon supporters including a retelling of Abu Hassan and his Epic Fart (AKA "Abu Hassan Breaks Wind" from A Thousand and One Nights) and a blooper reel.

#36 The Skeleton Hand

Katrina and Geoff talk Tall Tales! In this week's episode, Katrina regales us with the story of The Skeleton Hand. In this tall tale, legendary (and probably fictional) frontiersman Jacob Schutz goes on a quest to hunt down four of the "New" World's most fearsome cryptids: The Great Fanged Death, the Loup-Éclair, the Gormagunt, and the big boss daddy of them all, The Great White Hart.

We discuss Thomas Jefferson's surprising connection to this story, geomythology, racism, Christianity, and a bunch of exciting new vocab words to discuss sexual anatomy.

CW: Racism

#35 Urban Legends

Katrina and Geoff discuss urban legends! In this episode we relied on feedback from our audience to discuss some of your favorite urban legends. Katrina's "I Dove You Mug" was overflowing with great suggestions leading to a discussion about The Ring, Korean fan death, Wrinkles the Clown, 'Orang Minyak, Tsunami Ghosts, UFOs and other amazing tales.

#34 La Llorona and other Wailing Women

CW: Infanticide  
Katrina and Geoff keep getting spookier! Katrina uses her confusion at a scene in the heartwarming 2017 Disney/Pixar hit film Coco as an entry into the hauntingly sad and creepy story of La Llorona. From there we take a detour through Ireland to learn about banshees and for whom they keen before jetting to Brazil for Geoff to retell the story of the Yara, a dangerous creature of the forest who tries to lure young men to their deaths on the eve of their wedding. But most importantly we learn why you never, I repeat NEVER, bring a gun to a supernatural ghost fight.

#33 The Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was

CW: Desecration of corpses, supernatural feline abuse, implied necrophilia. 

Katrina and Geoff get spooky! Katrina rings in October with this spooky tale from the Brother's Grimm about a youth who is seemingly incapable of feeling fear. In his quest to learn to shudder, our hero encounters numerous horrors from demonic cats from hell to dismembered and reanimated corpses, none of which are creepy enough to make him bat an eye. Is there anything scary enough to make him squirm? Tune in and find out.

#32 Chang'e: The Chinese Goddess of the Moon

Katrina and Geoff discuss the moon! In this episode Geoff retells the story Chang'e and her expert archer husband Ho Yi. Afterwards Katrina expands this tale into what we've lovingly dubbed the Mythological Chinese Universe (or MCU for short). Hear stories of a heroic monster slayer shooting extraneous suns out of the sky, elixirs of immortality, why there is a rabbit on the moon, and why earthworms are the world's biggest tattletales.

#31 Cinderella: Asia Edition

Katrina and Geoff celebrate a year of podcasting! On this one year anniversary special we go back and revisit even more Cinderella tales. Most importantly we discuss what it really takes to be considered part of this tale type. Spoiler alert: It's not the shoe!

Geoff retells the story of Ye Xian, a Chinese tale that dates back a couple thousand years, in which our heroine is granted wishes by the bones of her beloved pet fish.

Katrina retells a Cinderella tale from the Philippines that starts off with it's own unique perspective then takes a sudden European turn reflective of the history of colonization in the country.

#30 Hassan of Basra: The Complete Epic Tale

Katrina and Geoff right a wrong! Waaaaay back in Episode 19, Katrina told the first half of "Hassan of Basra" from One Thousand and One Nights. But in that episode she only told the first half, simplifying the EPIC conclusion to a few sentences. It's time to make things right! In this episode, Katrina retells "Hassan of Basra" in its entirety. Strap in and enjoy a tale of jinn, magi, fierce Amazon warriors, and magic wands.

#29 Death in a Nut: A Surprisingly Hilarious Tale of Death and Grief

Katrina and Geoff discuss grief! Hilarious. Katrina retells her favorite fairy tale of all time, Death in a Nut. Equal parts poignant and comical, this Scottish folktale really gets to the heart of the important fact of life that is death and how we need to come to terms with it. Along the way we'll learn the difference between flotsam and jetsam in maritime law, witness a young man literally conquer death, and see for ourselves the unintended consequences of a world where nothing dies.

Then Geoff retells the Buddhist Parable of the Mustard Seeds (not to be confused with a similarly titled Christian story) where we learn how to find peace by letting go of our grief.

#28 Third Fifth Friday Fable Fest: Marriage

Katrina and Geoff discuss fables! On this edition of our Fifth Friday Fable Fest we parse through a series of fables related to marriage. In the process, we talk about all the hit topics: male pattern baldness, insecurity, polygamy vs. polyamory, and why men look best with a little bit of gray in their hair. And that's only the first fable.

 

CW: Brief discussion of lynching, castration and racially motivated violence.

#27 Beauty and the Beast

The episode you've all been waiting for... BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! Strap in folks. Katrina and Geoff finally retell the tale that they've been building up to since Valentine's Day. First Katrina takes the tale back to the 1st-6th century with The Woman Who Married a Snake, a tale from the Indian Panchatantra, to complete the necessary background information. We discuss how a translation of this tale bumped into the story of Cupid and Psyche in the late 1400's to become the Beauty and the Beast story that we know today. Finally, Geoff retells Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's shortened version of the tale based on the novel by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in an episode that is almost as long as those two women's names put together!

Required listening

• Episode 14: https://thefairytellers.podbean.com/e/episode-14-cupid-and-psycheeast-of-the-sun-west-of-the-moon/
• Episode 19: https://thefairytellers.podbean.com/e/episode-16-animal-brides/
• Episode 24: https://thefairytellers.podbean.com/e/episode-24---bluebeard-and-the-fitchers-bird/

#26 Mermaids of the African Diaspora

Katrina and Geoff discuss mermaids! Geoff retells a Jamaican Anansi story where the mischievous trickster god ends up at the bottom of the ocean and encounters a mermaid-like being called Sea-Mahmmy. Then Katrina retells an Afro-Brazilian story of a poor farmer who marries a "mother-of-the-water" who brings him great prosperity. Katrina refutes the idea that this must have come from a European influence by tracing it back to a similar tale from the Yoruba people of West Africa.

#25 Splash Mountain, Anansi, and African American Folklore

Katrina and Geoff are surprised to find a folklore connection to current events! What does a petition to rebrand Splash Mountain have to do with folklore? Katrina takes us back through the history of this controversial theme park ride, Disney's Song of the South, Joel Chandler Harris's collection of Uncle Remus stories and the problems that arise when outsiders are the ones that record folklore and cultural traditions.

CW: Discussion of enslavement

#24 Bluebeard and The Fitcher's Bird

Katrina and Geoff discuss murderous grooms! In this episode we continue toward our eventual Beauty and the Beast episode with two more tales involving monstrous grooms (animal or otherwise). Geoff retells the story of serial wife killer, Bluebeard, and how Charles Perrault apparently thinks these murdered brides got what they deserved. Afterwards, Katrina tells us two versions of The Fitcher's Bird recorded by The Brothers Grimm. Both versions are very similar except one is completely nonsensical intended for children and the other deserves a content warning all its own.

CW: Graphic descriptions of violence and murder

#23 Second Fifth Friday Fable Fest: Greek Gods

Katrina and Geoff discuss fables! Again. On our second ever Fifth Friday Fable Fest we retell a number of Aesop's famous fables that feature gods of the Greek pantheon. In the process we discuss how the peacock got all those sick eyes on the end of its feathers, why Greek gods in a collection of stories by a Greek author go by their Roman names, and how Katrina's husband spending two months in the hospital can teach us to better cope with this world altering pandemic. Let the fest begin!

#22 The Textile Magic of Katla and Odd

Katrina and Geoff talk textiles! Following up on a listener suggestion, we delve a little deeper into seidr, a magic practice of shaping and influencing fate that is closely related to Norse mythology. First, Geoff retells the story of Nora-Gest whose amazing life and untimely death (in a good way, the dude lived over 300 years) was foretold from the time of his birth by three Norns (mythological beings who record the fates of all). Katrina then retells an action packed story from the Eyrbyggja saga that gives hints to scholars and Modern Pagans about how different aspects of seidr may have been used in Icelandic society to protect, to attack, only to be foiled by having your head stuffed in a sack. Grab your distaff and drop spindle while we retell you a thing. 

#21 The King Who Rides a Tiger

Support the Nepal Youth Foundation by visiting www.nepalyouthfoundation.org/donate/

Katrina and Geoff discover the REAL Tiger King! Katrina retells the story of The King Who Rides a Tiger, an epic Nepali fairy tale about a humble farmer who saves a talking cobra from a mongoose, finds himself living in a golden palace, and has to face a series of challenges from the king to keep his wife. If you thought Netflix's Tiger King was wild, you are not gonna believe what happens in this story!