Mythos Podcast

A quick introduction to the Baltic States and why a journey into the folkloric realms of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is well worth your time.

Welcome to episode 1 of 'Folklorica Baltica' - the fourth season of Mythos focusing on The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In this episode, follow the journey of a young girl who dares enter the dread Wood of Tontla...and who discovers strange magic and hidden blessings.

Music credit goes to some fine Estonian folk musicians who very kindly allowed me to use their music in this episode. Do explore their music for something beautiful and different.

Kirtana Rasa (artist): Monet Aiad (song) and Leia mind taas (song)

Maarja Nuut (artist): Kargus (song)

Midrid (artist): Meeste Kutse (song)

Rüüt (artist): Orjalaul (song)

Handi Paadimehe lugu (traditional song)

Welcome to Story Therapy, a Mythos mini-series exploring the relationship between narrative and mental health, particularly traditional tales as a therapeutic space where difficult emotions and circumstances can be acknowledged and explored. In this series, experts, mental health practitioners and storytellers will share stories from folklore, myth and legend and we will explore to what extent such tales provide space for delving into what it means to be human, delving into what drives us and what challenges us.

In this episode, Lily Asch, Director of Real Talk, tells a story about the sun hiding its face and the desperate measures taken to deal with this impossible situation. However, what finally works could never have been anticipated!

This short episode is a part of the Lockdown Lore series - a short story published bi-weekly for a bit of escape and respite.

Listen to Dan Tovey tell an unusual story about a very strange woman turning up to a candy store after closing hours.

This short episode is a part of the Lockdown Lore series - a short story published bi-weekly for a bit of escape and respite.

The story was inspired by the idea of avenging forest spirits - creatures made of the forest itself (much like the recently released 'Birch' from indie folk horror online station Crypt TV), as well as more traditional monsters like the Slavic Leshy.

For more information on the guest storyteller, Jason Buck, visit www.jasonbuckstoryteller.co.uk and follow his page on Facebook. His storytelling shows are highly recommended and he is currently telling to great effect on Zoom!

Welcome to Story Therapy, a Mythos mini-series exploring the relationship between narrative and mental health, particularly traditional tales as a therapeutic space where difficult emotions and circumstances can be acknowledged and explored. In this series, experts, mental health practitioners and storytellers will share stories from folklore, myth and legend and we will explore to what extent such tales provide space for delving into what it means to be human, delving into what drives us and what challenges us.

In this first episode, Lily Asch, Director of Real Talk, tells a tale about a grieving sibling. We then discuss what this story tells us about grief, an emotion that many are feeling these days as they face the losses created by the pandemic.

Find out more about Real Talk CIC here: https://www.realtalkproject.org/

This short episode is a part of the Lockdown Lore series - a short story published bi-weekly for a bit of escape and respite.

In this Polish folktale, a dragon is outwitted when a soldier decides to heed the wisdom of Mother Forest.

The Sami are the Nordic region's indigenous people: though they share a similar ethnic identity, they inhabit a vast geographical area - from the Atlantic coast of Norway, the lakes, rivers, mountains and forests of Norway, Sweden and Finland to the Kola peninsula of Russia. These stories were collected by a Danish ethnographer, who lived among Swedish Sami. Here is what she has to say about their storytelling tradition:

‘In the protective light, everything may be named, all the horror and sorcery conjured by the darkness. Outside [the tent] in the deepest night wander the dead, the spirits, the evil thoughts one person sends to another...out there are storms and clouds, the moon stars and northern lights. Here inside the tent is the campfire; here is home, the great safe place...During the day the Sami, like other people, are busy with tasks. But when the darkness draws them to the campfire, when the stew kettle hangs on its sooty chain and the steam and smoke rise through the tent opening to the clouds and the night sky, then rest comes, memories slip in, like dreams to a sleeper. The tales and customs of olden times are still a well-spring among the Sami.’

Music: Co-Ag Music, Berit Margrethe Oskal and Sofia Jannak

From Norway’s verdant mountain pastures where lonely dairymaids tend the seter, or summer farm, to the shadowed forests of Sweden and Denmark, we will encounter the strange beings of the summer wilds. This episode will focus on folktales whose backdrop is the summer season, when the lush reproductive potency of the world is obvious and abundant. Across the Nordic world, Midsummer is celebrated with huge bonfires, and traditionally, was believed to be rich with magical properties. Agrarian Finns, for example, celebrated Midsummer by adorning rooms with flowers, green branches and twigs. According to Finnish folk belief, Midsummer was abundant with väki, a term referring to the inherent power of all things. Midsummer was believed to be charged with curative väki, arising from the fecundity of nature at the height of summer.

In Scandinavia’s most ancient literature, there exists primordial giants whose actions - and very being - are identified with the origin and creation of the world. Engendered in the great chasm called Ginnungagap, where the frozen waters of the cold-realm Niflheim and the hot breath of the fire-realm Muspel met, the frost giant Ymir and a cow named Audumla were the first created beings. In this creation story, the combination of fire and ice made life possible: some mysterious life grew and thrived in the drops of melting water, which took the form of the giant Ymir. Called jätte (yett-uh) in Swedish, troll or jutul (yoo-tool) in Norwegian, trolls and giants are prominent in fables and in etiological legends explaining the origin of many huge rock formations, lakes and the so-called giants potholes. The Norwegian word ‘jutul’ stems from the Old Norse Jotunn, which denotes a race of giants in opposition to man and gods.

From the pine-laden mountains and prosperous farms of the Vågå region in Norway to imperial Copenhagen, from the jagged-peaks and moss-laden cliffs of Iceland’s West-fjords to the immense vertical sea cliffs of the Faroe Islands, we will hear tales of earth-sculpting colossal beings.