We’re hearing a story today from Kirsten Millikin, a Scottish storyteller specialising in myths, legends and folktales from Norse and Celtic nations.

Recently Kirsten worked alongside another storyteller to create Traces of HER: A Goddess Story Project, an evening of stories that explore the traces of the divine feminine in myths, legends and folk and fairy tales, and asking what female archetypes have to teach us about solutions to the environmental and social crises that afflict us today.  Through folklore, mythology and heritage, Kirstin explores Stories of hope, stories for healing and stories that speak to the human heart.

We’ll explores all of these topics and more with Kirsten soon, but first, Kirsten is going to tell us the Norse story of ‘Why The Sea Is Salt’.

If you want to follow Kirsten’s work, you can follow her and Catriona as performance duo The Hedge Sisters through their page on Facebook. The link is there for you to follow in the episode show notes: https://www.facebook.com/Thehedgesisters

The Lore & Legend theme music in this episode was performed by Robert Bentall, with additional music from Seikilo Museum of Ancient Instruments.

To find out more about episodes of Lore & Legend, you can visit www.loreandlegend.co.uk and check out our episode blog posts.

Today on the podcast I’m joined by Suzanne & Jake Tumnus, a bardic storytelling duo who blend stories and music to take you to a place where dragons fly, giants comb their beards and other worldly folk dance with mortals. Singing songs and telling stories from a repertoire of traditional pieces and their own compositions, Suzanne and Jake find their inspiration in the folktales, legends and songs of Britain and the wild hills of South Shropshire.  Their show ‘Saints & Witches’, which you are about to hear, tells the stories of five magical women woven together beautifully with music and song, forming a journey through the seasons, a sequence of stories that collapse a year into a day; into a moment, and into the form of a hare. 

You can find out more about Suzanne & Jake’s storytelling, events, gigs and projects on their website, Cranesfield Bardic Arts, at http://www.cranesfieldbardicarts.co.uk/ and also through their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneandJakeTumnus.

The music and song accompanying the story today was performed by Suzanne & Jake Tumnus. The Lore & Legend theme music in this episode was performed by Robert Bentall, with additional music from Seikilo Museum of Ancient Instruments.

To find out more about episodes of Lore & Legend, you can visit www.loreandlegend.co.uk and check out our episode blog posts.

Our guest today on the podcast is Maria Credali, a storyteller based in the Midlands here in the United Kingdom. Maria has a love for love stories and romantic heroes and heroines, which made her a great choice for our February podcast. I first heard Maria performing this story around the bonfire at an after-hours storytelling session at Festival at the Edge in August last year, and I’m delighted that she agreed to come on the show and share it with all of you.  Here is Maria Credali telling her version of the story of ‘The Devil In A Nut’.

You can find out more about Maria’s storytelling, events, gigs and projects through her Facebook page. The link is right here in our episode notes, so do check it out: https://www.facebook.com/Maria-Credali-Storyteller-100656932478086/

The Lore & Legend theme music in this episode was performed by Robert Bentall, with additional music from Seikilo Museum of Ancient Instruments.

To find out more about episodes of Lore & Legend, you can visit www.loreandlegend.co.uk and check out our episode blog posts.

We're talking to Nicholas Jubber, a travel writer with a passion for the history of storytelling, and the evolution of myths and fairytales all over the world, from the deep past to our present day! 

Nick tells the story of 'The Flea' from the Italian fairytale collection The Tale of Tales before telling us about his new book The Fairytellers: A Journey Into the Secret History of Fairytales. We explore Nick’s love for fairytales in childhood, the identity of seven forgotten tellers and the stories they brought to us, and the unique characteristics of fairy tales and their ongoing power and appeal in our contemporary culture.

The Fairytellers: A Journey Into the Secret History of Fairytales has just been published and is available now from all good retailers. Reading is recommended! You can find out more about Nick and his work at http://www.nickjubber.com and follow him @jubberstravels on Twitter. 

|| The Lore & Legend theme music in this episode was performed by Robert Bentall, with additional music from Seikilo museum of ancient instruments. To find out more about episodes of Lore & Legend, you can visit www.loreandlegend.co.uk and check out our episode blog posts.

If you like what you hear and you want to hear more, please consider joining our family of patrons in supporting the podcast.  For more details, visit our website and click ‘Support Us’ to find everything you need!

King Arthur's festive merriment is disturbed by the revelation that someone has been stealing from his Treasury, and have left behind an unfortunate gift...

Welcome to the 2021 Christmas Special, Part 4 of 4. Featuring 'The Hunting of the Wren' performed by Finnegan Tui.

EPISODE NOTES: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/

AUDIO CREDITS:

Lore & Legend Themes by Robert Bentall. 

Finnegan Tui

https://www.tiktok.com/@finnegantui

https://twitter.com/FinneganTui

https://www.youtube.com/c/FinneganTui

https://www.facebook.com/FinneganTui

http://lankumdublin.com/

https://lankum.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/LankumDublin

https://www.beggars.com/

'Winter Festival' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Land

'The Black Knight' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Medieval Times

'Kitchen Hearth' by Brandon Fiechter on Album: Medieval Times

'The Dark Wanderer' by Brandon Fiechter on Album: Winter Whisperers

'King of the Pixies' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

Brandon & Derek Feichter Music on:

Bandcamp: https://calebhennessy.bandcamp.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calebhennessyscompositions

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/slavetofreedom216/videos

'The Tree of Gold (Broceliande Forest)' by Caleb Henessey on Album: Pendragon

'The Empty Seat at the Round Table' by Caleb Henessey on Album: Pendragon

Caleb Hennessy Compositions  on:

Bandcamp: https://calebhennessy.bandcamp.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/slavetofreedom216/videos

Additional incidental music, background ambience and sound effects by multiple authors sourced from Freesound.org.

----------------------------------- || Keep up to date with the  podcast by visiting www.loreandlegend.co.uk and following us on Facebook  and Twitter. || Website: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk  || Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ofloreandlegend/ || Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/ofloreandlegend

A repentant brigand, St. Maughold lands on the Isle of Man, and finds the Island is ruled by one of the Old Gods, the Fey Queen known as Tehi Tegi...

Welcome to the 2021 Christmas Special, Part 3 of 4.

Lore & Legend Themes by Robert Bentall. Additional music and  sound  effects sourced from the community at Freesound.org.  Visit the  website  for full audio credits.

EPISODE NOTES: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/

AUDIO CREDITS

'Winter Festival' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Land

'Santa's Elves' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Mists of Ice

'Unseelie Fae Lullaby' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Medieval Halloween

'Shadow Woods' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

'King of the Pixies' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

Brandon & Derek Feichter Music on:

Bandcamp: https://dbfiechter.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/01Er12nK5rrnHx8usFPJAs?si=nPVsmjcvRvWoymTBQXZPLw

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjMZjGhrFq_4llVS_x2XJ_w

'Exploring at Dusk (RPG Music)' by Caleb Henessey on Album: V. Muse

'Lady Of The Lake' by Caleb Henessey on Album: Pendragon

Caleb Hennessy Compositions  on:

Bandcamp: https://calebhennessy.bandcamp.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calebhennessyscompositions

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/slavetofreedom216/videos

Additional incidental music, background ambience and sound effects by multiple authors sourced from Freesound.org.

----------------------------------- || Keep up to date with the  podcast by visiting www.loreandlegend.co.uk and following us on Facebook  and Twitter. || Website: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk  || Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ofloreandlegend/ || Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/ofloreandlegend

When God created the world, he decided that the Kingdom of Birds requires a Monarch. The mighty Eagle finds he has an unlikely contender for the crown... 

Welcome to the 2021 Christmas Special, Part 2 of 4. 

Lore & Legend Themes by Robert Bentall. 

Additional music and sound  effects sourced from the community at Freesound.org.  Visit the website  for full audio credits. 

EPISODE NOTES: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/ 

AUDIO CREDITS 

'Christmas Day' by Derek Fiechter on Album: Winter Wonderland 

'Winter Festival' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Land 

'Santa's Elves' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Mists of Ice 

'Legend of the Night Blossoms' by Derek Fiechter on Album: Eyes of the Forest

 'King of the Pixies' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk 

Brandon & Derek Fiechter Music on: 

Bandcamp: https://dbfiechter.bandcamp.com/ 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/01Er12nK5rrnHx8usFPJAs?si=nPVsmjcvRvWoymTBQXZPLw 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjMZjGhrFq_4llVS_x2XJ_w 

'The Castle Feast (A Bard's Song)' by Caleb Henessey on Album: Celtic & Medieval 

Caleb Hennessy Compositions on: 

Bandcamp: https://calebhennessy.bandcamp.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calebhennessyscompositions 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/slavetofreedom216/videos 

Additional incidental music, background ambience and sound effects by multiple authors sourced from Freesound.org. 

----------------------------------- || Keep up to date with the podcast by visiting www.loreandlegend.co.uk and following us on Facebook and Twitter. || Website: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk  || Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ofloreandlegend/ || Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ofloreandlegend

A Knight famed for his generosity and for his Christmas feasts falls on hard times and is left with nothing.  Until a miracle occurs...

Welcome to the 2021 Christmas Special, Part 1 of 4. 

Lore & Legend Themes by Robert Bentall. Additional music and sound  effects sourced from the community at Freesound.org.  Visit the website  for full audio credits.   

EPISODE NOTES: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk/

AUDIO CREDITS:

'Christmas Day' by Derek Fiechter on Album: Winter Wonderland

'Winter Festival' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Land

'Land of Gifts' by Derek Fiechter on Album: Christmas Holiday

'December' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Mists of Ice

'Shadow Glade' by Brandon Fiechter on Album: Elves, Fairies, and Merfolk

'Sir Agravain' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Knights of the Round Table

'King of the Pixies' by Brandon & Derek Fiechter on Album: Treefolk

Brandon & Derek Feichter Music on:

Bandcamp: https://dbfiechter.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/01Er12nK5rrnHx8usFPJAs?si=nPVsmjcvRvWoymTBQXZPLw

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjMZjGhrFq_4llVS_x2XJ_w

 ----------------------------------- || Keep up to date with the podcast by visiting www.loreandlegend.co.uk and following us on Facebook and Twitter. || Website: https://www.loreandlegend.co.uk  || Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ofloreandlegend/ || Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ofloreandlegend

Today we talk to Chris Sissons, a Local Marketing Coach and regular at Sheffield's Story Forge club.  Chris is the creator of Telling Stories: Making Business, which teaches clients to tell distinctive, compelling and memorable stories about their products and services.  He also co-hosts his own monthly podcast about Business Storytelling, Find Tell Share, featuring guests from around the Business world. We’ll hear from Chris about the importance of story in his life, the influence of literature, folklore and fantasy on his own storytelling, and some of the storytelling principles which he teaches to his clients.

The Lore & Legend theme music in this episode was performed by Robert Bentall, with additional music from Seikilo museum of ancient instruments. To find out more about episodes of Lore & Legend, you can visit www.loreandlegend.co.uk and check out our episode blog posts.

If you like what you hear and you want to hear more, please consider joining our family of patrons in supporting the podcast.  For more details, visit our website and click ‘Support Us’ to find everything you need!

Find the Love & Loss: Tales from Imagined Lands crowdfunder HERE: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/love-and-loss

Some of you may recall our Valentine’s day episode this year, The Black Prince, with our guest storyteller Kat Qautermass.  The Black Prince was part of a collection of stories which made up Kat’s 2011 storytelling show, Love & Loss.

Kat is currently running a crowdfunder to turn Love & Loss into a cloth-bound hardback, complete with illustrations, as a memento of the show, and to raise donations for a story volunteering project, and several charitable organisations.

Kat writes:

I didn't write these stories to start with. I created, composed, choreographed and shaped them using performance storytelling techniques through over twenty performances starting back in 2011.

They're inspired by traditional myth, folk-tales and legend -  some are simple retellings and others spiral from a seed into a completely new story.

Each one tells of love and has moments of beauty but also great darkness

They're almost poetry now, using space on the page to try to represent the pauses of telling in performance.

And they have one gorgeous ink illustration each - commissioned 10 years ago - by the artist, Miranda La Mutanta.

The stories included in the book are:

The Star Lovers - a retelling, inspired by multiple variants of the classic folk tale particularly some from Japan and some from Taiwan

Cobalt and Silver - A fractured fairy tale - expanding from one of Grimm's shorter stories and twisting it into new shapes

Not Fade Away - a simple telling of the Echo and Narcissus story

And she made him out of Blubber - a new tale which owes its core to a very short Inuit story collected by Angela Carter, but takes on a different form exploring women's power and questioning reincarnation

A Thistledown Soul - which Kat told on the podcast as ‘The Black Prince’ - is a retelling of an Egyptian folk tale that is very well known in the USA, with some added elements

The Weaving Girl and The Cowherd - a retelling and mashup from this and other related tale types, again predominantly from Japanese and Taiwanese collections - also influenced by the Anime Ayashi no Ceres.

Find the Love & Loss: Tales from Imagined Lands crowdfunder HERE: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/love-and-loss