Alicia interviews C.S. Lewis (metaphorically) on how to retell a fairy tale in the light of Scripture. Lewis’s masterful novel Till We Have Faces (1956), a retelling of the fairy tale “Cupid and Psyche,” expresses the beauty of the gospel in the language of Greek/pagan mythology. Topics discussed include a little of Lewis’s journey in writing this story and his artistic process; his brilliant interpretation of the unseen husband, the sin of jealousy, and the veil images from the fairy tale; and the intersection of research and craft.

Resources

• Huttar, Charles (2009) "What C.S. Lewis Really Did to "Cupid and Psyche"," Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis. Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1, Article 4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/1940-5537.1027
• Ancrene Riwle — medieval text, includes an allegory of the Seven Deadly Sins
• Dorothy Sayers’s essay, “The Other Six Deadly Sins”
• Strong’s Hebrew on jealousy: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7067.htm

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Cody Martin’s “Gate of Alfheim”

Alicia returns to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” with a second guest, K.B. (Karin) Hoyle, to talk about Karin’s recently released retelling of the tale, Son of Bitter Glass. They discuss Karin’s interpretation/adaptation of flower symbolism; ravens; eternity and snow; romance and friendship; the fae; the rich imagery of fairy tales and folklore in general; and more.

To order a copy of Son of Bitter Glass, visit the Owl’s Nest Publishers bookstore online. 

Resources

• K.B. Hoyle’s Son of Bitter Glass and the companion book that comes before it, Son of the Deep
• Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” 
• Edith Hamilton’s Mythology

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Third Age’s “Tuatha Dé Danann”

Alicia explores the Scottish folktale, “Aspittle and the Stoorworm,” and how an artist might interpret the title character, the sea dragon, and the battle in the beast in a retelling. Topics discussed include ashes, fire, and dreams; etiological tales; the Leviathan passage in Job; and the paradox of the weak overcoming the strong.

Resources

• See “Aspittle and the Stoorworm” in Norah and William Montgomerie’s The Folktales of Scotland
• “At the Burial of the Dead” service from the Book of Common Prayer: https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/burial-dead
• Liver as the seat of the emotions - entry in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3516.htm
• William MacDonald’s Believer’s Bible Commentary on Job and Isaiah 27
• See John Piper’s sermons on Job on DesiringGod.org
• Charles Simeon Trust Society's online course on Wisdom Literature, especially Douglas Sean O'Donnell's exposition of Job 42

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales of the Past,” episode segments from Cody Martin’s “Taking the North”

Alicia Pollard and a returning guest, K.C. (Kimberlee) Ireton, discuss Kimberlee’s theological reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” They discuss the images of the mirror and the nature of evil; perfection in roses vs. snowflakes; isolation; resurrection; summer; and much more. 

Resources

• K. C. Ireton’s website: kcireton.com (Enter your email and get two free chapters of “A Yellow Wood”)
• K. C. Ireton’s Substack: kcireton.substack.com (Grab your free copy of “Rose at Dawn,” a fairy tale retelling)
• Tiina Nunnally’s translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales
• Albert Mohler’s talk on the noetic (knowledge-related) effects of sin: https://www.ligonier.org/posts/session-3-albert-mohler-2012-national-conference
• Vigen Guorian’s Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination
• C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters
• For more on the Deadly Sin of Sloth (acedia), see R.J. Snell’s Acedia and its Discontents or Kathleen Norris’s Acedia and Me

Music: intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Adam Saban’s “The Enchanted Castle”

Alicia and a guest, her dad, discuss “The Frog Prince” and work together to envision what a science fiction retelling of this fairy tale might look like. Topics discussed include favorite themes of science fiction, transcendence and human warmth in a vast universe, the absence of the famous kiss, worldbuilding, the sun, and the linden/lime tree.

Resources

• Project Gutenberg version of “The Frog Prince”: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20437/20437-h/20437-h.htm
• Andy Weir’s The Martian and Project Hail Mary
• Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001 and 2010
• Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time series
• Arrival (2016)
• Interstellar (2014)
• Brandon Sanderson's work (science fiction and fantasy)
• Robert K. Johnston’s Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture) - discussion of Transcendence A vs. Transcendence B in film
• Jonathan Rogers's webinar, "On Setting" - idea that setting creates plot: https://thehabit.co/september-2020-webinar-setting/

Music: Intro and outro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”

Alicia explores the beautiful sadness of the Celtic folktale “The Selkie Wife”. Topics discussed include a Christian perspective on literary tragedy; the themes of exile, the stranger, and a dual nature; and ocean imagery in Scripture.

Resources

• Daniel Sarlo, entry for “Sea” in the Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016
• More resources on the Biblical image of the sea:
  • John H. Walton’s Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible.
  • H.R. Balz and G. Schneider’s Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament, volume 2
  • Tsumura, David Toshio, The Earth and the Waters in Genesis 1 and 2: A Linguistic Investigation.
  • Gunkel, Hermann. Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton: A Religio-Historical Study of Genesis 1 and Revelation 12.
• The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
• Song of the Sea (2014)
• “The Music Man” musical
• Ladies in Lavender (2004)
• William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “Othello,” and “Macbeth”
• Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex” and “Antigone”
• Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragedy of Dr. Faustus”
• John Gardner: “There are only two plots in all of literature: 1) A person goes on a journey., 2) A stranger comes to town.”
• Christianity and Literature 2017 conference, “Beauty in Exile,” Grove City College

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from “West” by Shimmer

Alicia examines how a Christian artist could approach retelling “The Golden Bird” in the light of Scripture. Topics discussed include good Edens vs. false Edens, a Scriptural view of gold, and Biblical approaches to betrayal.

Resources

• Wilkie Collins’s A Woman in White (both the book and the 2018 miniseries)
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• Susan Gaskell’s North and South
• Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden
• A.A. Milne’s Winne the Pooh

Bonus: For a more thorough discussion of the imagery of the princess in this tale, see Nicholas Kotar’s episode, “Princess Ivan and the Gray Wolf,” from his podcast, In a Certain Kingdom.

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Adam Saban’s “Journey to a New World”

Alicia concludes the Fairy Tales and Poetry mini-series with a meditation on the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-36. She discusses what we can learn from the age of Wisdom, the craftsmanship of God in creation, the calling to sons, and the techniques of personification and anthropomorphism in general in the art of retelling fairy tales.

Resources

• P.P. Jenson, “Poetry in the Bible,” in New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed.)
• Jessica Day George’s Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
• Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• “The Singing, Soaring Lark” and “The Three Ravens” from Grimm’s Fairy Tales (first edition translated by Jack Zipes)

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Cody Martin’s “Treasure of the Heart”

Continuing the theme of fairy tales and poetry, Alicia examines the structure and meaning of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. She discusses what we can learn from its parallel structure and how we can imitate its careful use of words in retelling fairy tales.

Resources

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 from the English Standard Version (ESV)
• Christine Perrin’s “Root and Branch: Tolkien the Poet” in J.R.R Tolkien and the Arts: A Theology of Subcreation, published by Square Halo Press

Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from “Great is Thy Faithfulness” played by Marie

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• The Charles Simeon Trust Society’s “First Principles” online course