The Fairy Tellers

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive into The Corpse Bride, or rather, the folklore behind the Tim Burton film, The Corpse Bride. Tim Burton credited the Jewish folktale “The Finger” as his inspiration for the famous supernatural stop motion film and so in honor of the spooky season, we thought that it was time to highlight this tale and a couple others featuring cast off brides. The Jewish realm of the supernatural is filled with a demonology that leads back to Lilith, Adam’s apocryphal first wife. Find out how her children still haunt the narrative, and the woods. If you leave this episode with nothing else, always remember DEMONS LOVE JAM.

ATU 365B*

Stories Told:

The Finger found in Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz

The Demon in the Tree found in Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz

Books and Essays Cited:

Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz

The Corpse Bride directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

Fairy Encounters in Medieval England: Landscapes, Folklore and the Supernatural by Jeremy Harte

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

# 45 I’m a Jinni in a Bottle Baby (for more about The Testament of Solomon)

#88 Polygamous Snow White: Gold-tree and Silver-tree (for more on Polygamy in Folklore)

Content Warning: Discussions of a Sexual Nature and Innuendo

Episode Description: #138 Handmade Husbands

In this episode, we discuss the folkloresque nature of The Wicker Husband by Ursala Wills and the soon to be released movie, Wicker, based on the story. The Wicker Husband is a literary fairy tale that reminded Katrina of the style of Oscar Wilde, who used fairy talesque stories to dig into deeper social issues. But for this episode, Geoff and Katrina focus on a subcategory for the ATU type 425, Animal Bridegrooms, Search for Lost Husbands. Some of the tales in this category include the motif of a woman making a husband for herself out of various materials. Once he’s stolen away, it becomes clear why these tales are included in the “Search for Lost Husbands”. Geoff tells us a tale from West Virginia, called “The Dough Prince” and then Katrina drags us back into The Tale of Tale by Giambattista Basile with “Pretty as a Picture” or “Pintosmalto”.

Stories Told:

The Dough Prince found in Green Hills of Magic: West Virginia Folktales from Europe by Ruth Ann Musick

“Pretty as a Picture” or “Pintosmalto” found in The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile

Books and Essays Cited:

The Wicker Husband by Ursala Wills

Morning Glory Milking Farm by C. M. Nascosta

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#77 The Nightingales(s)| Oscar Wilde and Hans Christian Andersen

#14 Cupid and Psyche/ East of the Sun, West of the Moon

#27 Beauty and the Beast

#93 The Story of Hedgy

#10 Russian Winter Fairy Tales

#4 Momotaro or the Story of the Son of a Peach

#94 and #95 Tale of Tales Part 1 & Part 2

Happy 7th Pod-Anniversary! It has been 7 wonderful years of podcasting about myths, legends, folklore and fables! For this episode we are back to talking about Cinderella tales but this time we're inviting the guys to have some fun being the persecuted ones! Even though the tales in this episode aren't in ATU 510A, they DO have fancy outfit changes, challenging family members, and even some fancy footwear that helps them go from rags to riches. Geoff retells the tale of The Princess on the Glass Hill from Norway and Katrina retells the tale of The Irish Cinderlad, or the Bracket Bull.

Stories Told:

The Princess on the Glass Hill found in The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

The Bracket Bull by Douglas Hyde in The Irish Fairy Book compiled by Alfred Perceval Graves

Books and Essays Cited:

The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo

Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore Collected and illustrated by Johan Egerkrans

The Celtic Myths that Shape the Way We Think by Mark Williams

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#2 Cinderella

#31 Cinderella: Asia Edition

#4 Momotaro or the Story of the Son of a Peach

#37 Dhon Cholecha: Another Nepali Cinderella Tale?

#20 A Nepali Cinderella Tale: Soonimaya

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina have a slappy happy fun time talking about goblins from stories found in The Book of Ghosts and Goblins by Ruth Manning-Sanders. A book that Katrina was able to win by chance in a giveaway by the amazing hosts of Fairy Tale Fix, Abbie and Kelsey. Geoff retells the story of The Three Silver Balls (ATU 311 and ATU 302) where we encounter a mischievous goblin and little girls who can’t follow directions. Count along with us as we find all of the titular silver balls. And then Katrina retells the story of Pappa Greatnose where we meet a group of goblin children who just like to listen to odd advice from the well endowed (nose-wise) goblin elder.

Stories Told:

The Three Silver Balls in The Book of Ghosts and Goblins by Ruth Manning-Sanders

Pappa Greatnose in The Book of Ghosts and Goblins by Ruth Manning-Sanders

Book Cited:

The Book of Ghosts and Goblins by Ruth Manning-Sanders

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#121 Eat the Rich (Or Turn Them Into Worms) 

# 117 Mermaid Tails (Or Not)

#24 Bluebeard and The Fitcher’s Bird 

#14 Cupid and Psyche/ East of the Sun West of the Moon

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina go back to the previous episode's topic of moralizing fairy tales. If anyone can get a moral out of these tales…seek help. Our brains naturally want to make sense of, and gain life lessons from, the stories that we hear, especially when they are told to us in fairy tale forms. Thanks to people like Charles Perrault and centuries of children’s publishing, fairy tales have gained a reputation for being a teaching tool. But that was not the original intent. Some stories were meant to amuse with their raucous and ridiculous situational comedy. And some teach the beautiful moral (that Katrina made up), “You can’t outsmart a helpful idiot.”

Stories Told:

The Louse and the Flea from the Brothers Grimm collection

Freddy and Katy from the Brothers Grimm collection

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#134 The Fisherman and The Stonecutter

Episode Description: #134

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina tackle a sticky question that comes up time and again when talking about and defining the genre of fairy tales. Are fairy tales supposed to teach a moral? Or are the morals something that readers bring into the tales for themselves? Geoff and Katrina test the theory while looking at a tale type that really lends itself to moralizing, ATU 555 The Fishman and His Wife. While Geoff and Katrina agree that these tales might be easier than others to bookend with some moralizing, what does our time, place, and culture bring to the discussion? Regardless of whether the storytellers of the past meant for us to get any meaningful life lessons out of these stories, we're gonna do it anyway. It's our right as listeners and consumers of tales.

Stories Told:

The Fisherman and His Wife by Grimm Brothers

The Stonecutter as found in The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew and Leonora Lang

Books and Essays Cited:

Teaching Fairy Tales edited by Nancy L. Canepa

Morals and Miracles: The Case of ATU 555, “The Fishman and His Wife” by Victoria Somoff

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Translated by Jack Zipes

The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew and Leonora Lang

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#82 Disability in Fairy Tales: Riquet of the Tuft

#119 Tales of the French Salon

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States declaring independence from Great Britain. Katrina wanted to acknowledge the occasion by indulging in the story tradition of "tall talk" or more commonly "tall tales". Geoff retells the story of Stormalong, which is a great story to represent America because while these tales became common in the northern east coast, they have old sea shanty roots from African song traditions that traveled through Mobile Bay. Then Katrina retells the tale of The Iron Moonhunter, which is a west coast legend of new Chinese immigrants who built the railroads while holding onto the spirits of those they loved and lost.

Stories Told:

“Stormalong” found in American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

“The Iron Moonhunter” retold by Kathleen Chang

Books and Essays Cited:

American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

Shanties from the Seven Seas collected by Stan Hugill

From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs compiled by Amy L. Cohn

Other Episodes Mentioned: 

#80 Mothman and Other American Cryptids 

#5 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

#42 Sea Shanties and Folk Songs 

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina talk about the social historical interpretations for fairy tales. Using the essay Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales by Eugen Weber, we move from talking about fairy tales using the psychoanalytic approach to using historical perspectives to find out when forest might simply be a forest and when famine makes monsters of mothers. Katrina starts off by retelling The Children of Famine before Geoff retells the tale of The Three Journeymen. Finally Katrina retells Eve’s Unequal Children to discuss how while these tales might not sit well with modern audiences, they might have rang true to the tellers when they were circulating around the hearth.

Stories Told:

The Children of Famine by Brothers Grimm 

The Three Journeymen by Brothers Grimm 

Eve’s Unequal Children by Brothers Grimm

Books and Essays Cited:

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Translated by Jack Zipes

Teaching Fairy Tales Edited by Nancy L. Canepa

Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales essay by Eugen Weber 

Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston

The Great Cat Massacre: And Other Episodes in French Cultural History by Robert Darnton

In this episode, Geoff and Katrina dive back into Little Red Riding Hood variants in other parts of the world. ATU 123 and ATU 333 can be found in China, Korea, Japan, and the African Diaspora. But while Bruno Bettelheim and others want to talk a big game about the wolf being a representation of the dangers of sexuality, what can we glean from a shapeshifting tiger/old woman, a yokai, and ...a rabbit? Find out as we have a fun time retelling these tales to explain how some "universals" might not be so universal.

Stories Told:

Grandaunt Tiger found in Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook pg 23 Essay by Wolfram Eberhard

The Golden Chain from Heaven found in Folktales of Japan by Keigo Seki

Cutta Cord-la found in Afro-American Folktales: Stories from Black Tradition in the New World by Roger D Abrahams

Books and Essays Cited:

Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook Edited by Alan Dundes

The Story of Grandaunt Tiger essay by Wolfram Eberhard 

The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim 

In this episode, Katrina and Geoff use what we've covered in episodes #126 and #128 to examine one of the most famous fairy tales of all time, Little Red Riding Hood. First, Katrina retells the tale from Charles Perrault and then goes into the Brothers Grimm. But she tells their ATU 123 tale, The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids before Geoff retells the classic Brothers Grimm ATU 333 tale, Little Red Cap. As we look at all of these fairly short stories, we're ready to dive into research from Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook by Alan Dundes, where he examines the history of the psychoanalysis done on this tale starting with Freud, himself. But most importantly, Dundes discusses the flaws in only looking at the Brothers Grimm or Perrault's versions when forming an analysis.