Had enough of the Odyssey? Well, join Fox on a solo trip with the seafaring goddess, Mazu as we dive into Hong Kong folktales, Chinese legends and historical retellings of both! Born human, Lin Moniang has a gift for forecasting upcoming storms, but can she save her father and brothers from a hurricane that threatens to tear her family apart? How does a girl become a goddess? 

Also mentioned in this episode are Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim and Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan. Come find safe harbour in this episode on transmission, identity, and migration. Huge shoutout to  Klaas Ruitenbeek for the article "Mazu, the Patroness of Sailors, in Chinese Pictorial Art.”

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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We have a special interview today with author and illustrator Denise Gallagher on her upcoming folklore collection, "How to Calm a Rain Bull" releasing September 2026 through Moon+Bird! Join us as we pick her brain on folklore, everyday magic, Kidlit, rabbit holes and seasonal tales! Stay tuned for the end where she reads us "The Candle Dragon" from her collection.

A condensed/edited version of the interview can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com.

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There is no place we'd rather be than in Latin America to explore some more animal tales! Latin American folktales and animal tales are a truly remarkable fingerprint of history (as Nadine McFadden puts it) of their native cultures and the transmitted cultures from Europe. Join us for "Señor Coyote and Señor Fox" from Mexico and "The King of Leaves" from Nicaragua both adapted from The World of Folklore's "Tales from Hispanic Lands" collection. 

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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Today it's Canada versus Switzerland in the Fifa World Cup and we thought we would cheer on our team with a story from Canadian First Nations! Of course, being on the cusp of summer vacation, we also had to pull out a seasonal tale just for you, travellers. 

This story is called “How Summer Came to Canada” collected by Cyrus Macmillian in his “Canadian Wonder Tales.” This story is a Glooskap story and these stories were first collected by Silas Tertius Rand and then by Charles Godfrey Leland in the 19th century.

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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We all know that monkeys love bananas. But did you know that they also believe all bananas belong to them? Join Sparrow as she flies to Brazil to learn more about this in this week's story, "Why the Bananas Belong to the Monkey".

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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The story of “The Lad who stole a Troll’s Hat, a Bird and a Horse and Married the Princess” comes from “Sámi Folktales from the Near and Far Worlds” by Just Knud Qvigstad and Isak Saba as translated by Barbara Sjoholm published just yesterday through the University of Minnesota Press! We were lucky enough to receive an early edition of the book and it was a treat to look through all the different stories of the Sámi people. 

This story is truly one that makes you ask: WHY and HOW instead of what since it's all technically in the title! 

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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Happy 5th Anniversary, Travellers! What started as a pandemic project is still going strong and we wanted to share our top "Enchantees" with you! We scoured our entire catalogue to find the best myths, fairy tales and folklore that cover such prestigious categories as: 

The Failing Forward Award

Wait, that's why? Award

It’s Hot and it’s Cold Award

Somehow that works Award

Let us know what your nominations would have been! 

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Award music was by paulyudin. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a beautiful, accomplished young woman must be in want of a husband who can keep her happy. Unfortunately, she ends up being courted by a Canadian-Wolf-Bird and a trickster fox. How does that lead to a Sparrow searching for Whirlwinds and Rain? Well, you'll have to listen to find out! 

April showers bring May flowers and we'll be searching for rain in this Canadian story from the 1922 book of Canadian fairy tales by Cyrus Macmillan. 

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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With all the buzz around NASA's Artemis II lunar mission with the Orion spacecraft, we thought now was a great refresher on the Greek Olympian herself- Artemis! The Goddess of the Hunt is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, sister of Apollo, and the maybe lover of Orion! 

Learn about her origin story, the Homeric Hymns to Artemis, some of her wrath myths involving Niobe and her involvement in the Trojan War (where we also mention an epic roast by Hera). Of course, we also cover the three different storytelling traditions involving the Goddess and Orion.

Stick around for the end when we review some of our ARC's for the month including: “How to Calm a Rain Bull” by Denise Gallagher, “Nell O'Dell Hates Quests” by Emily B. Martin, "Aicha" by Soraya Bouazzaoui and "The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances" by Glenn Dixon. 

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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Travellers, we've covered most of the major players coming into the Trojan War and now it is time for the Iliad itself! That's right, the prologue and preamble was longer than the Iliad section, but don't worry as we will pull from the Odyssey along with other plays and writings to draw a picture of what happened to our sisters who started it all- Helen and Clytemnestra. Featuring one of my favourite confrontations with a Goddess probably ever and lots of feminine rage! 

Fox and Sparrow draw a close to the Trojan War series (for now) with part three: The Women of the Trojan War. 

Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com

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