17C-Theseus: I Volunteer as Tribute
The final chapter in the story of Theseus, the Minotaur, and all the other people that have gotten swept up in this drama spanning decades. We'll learn exactly what the Delphic Oracle meant by her prophecy, and how you can use a spool of thread to kill a giant monster. On the creature of the week, it's a very literal tiny dancer. Become a Member? Say "Hi" on Facebook! Find the show on iTunes Mu...
36m Dec 16, 2015
36m
17B-Icarus and Daedalus: A Portrait of the Artificer as a Young Man
The story of Daedalus and Icarus is much more than just Icarus flying too close to the sun. Daedalus, the inventor, is directly responsible for the labyrinth and the Minotaur. He's a man whose will to survive and desire for significance drives him to make magnificent things, which only bring death, destruction, and tragedy for him and everyone around him. On the creature of the week, you'll lea...
35m Dec 09, 2015
35m
17A-Theseus: It’s Dangerous to go Alone!
We have all heard the story of Theseus fighting that monstrous half-bull, half-man beast known as the Minotaur, but the original story starts years earlier. It involves tensions between two kingdoms, a deadly poetry slam, and dumb bandits. The creature of the week is a small chicken that will give you lots of gold...if you can keep it from sitting on you in the middle of the night and giving yo...
28m Dec 02, 2015
28m
16-Russian Fairy Tales: She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
The story of a young woman, her magic doll, and a witch who may be the most terrifying - or the most ridiculous - person you've ever seen. You'll also see that you should definitely not trust a gift from a witch. Especially if that gift is a human skull...that's on fire. On the creature of the week, if your date has goat hooves it probably will not go well. Become a Member! Say Hi on Facebook F...
38m Nov 18, 2015
38m
15-Slavic Folklore: Bad Wolf
In this Russian Fairy Tale from the same collections as the stories of Koschei the Deathless, we find a prince who goes on a quest for the firebird. This leads us into a Russian nesting quest situation, where he ends up on a quest-within-a-quest-within-a-quest. We'll also follow his doofus brothers, who decide that taking an extended camping trip getting drunk in their silk party tents is much ...
41m Nov 11, 2015
41m
13B-Ragnar Lodbrok: Why’d it have to be Snakes?
The end of the saga of this legendary king has Viking battles, magic cows, and a long con to take over England. Ragnar's poor planning when it comes to cementing his legacy blows up in his face, and we catch up with Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild, and the atrociously ugly couple that murdered her grandfather. The creature of the week is a little one-legged boy who grants wishes and...
37m Nov 04, 2015
37m
14-Doppelgangers: Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night
People throughout history, before they died, have seen something...strange. They have seen ghostly doubles haunting their steps, foretelling their doom. These things are called doppelgängers, and while they mean something different now - basically someone that looks like you - their folklore origins are something far more ominous and sinister. This episode is about the shadowy creatures of ill ...
37m Oct 28, 2015
37m
13A-Ragnar Lodbrok: The Beggar King
The tale of Ragnar Lodbrok, legendary Viking king and main character of the History Channel series "Vikings" and the many women in his life you absolutely do not want to mess with. It contains Viking battles, murder, betrayal, and heartbreak, uncommonly-ugly peasants, and, of course, a dragon fight. For the creature of the week, if anyone in the woods calls to you from a bush asking you to stop...
35m Oct 21, 2015
35m
12-Pig-faced Women: Citation Needed
For over 200 years in western Europe, there was a pervasive belief among large portions of the population that the upper classes in society were hiding something - women horribly cursed with the heads of pigs . Not an insult or a metaphor, no, these were women who were thought literally to be pigs from the neck up. Crowds gathered to harass potential pig-faced women and chase their carriages, a...
26m Oct 14, 2015
26m
11-Japanese Fairy Tales: Key Details (Urashima Taro, The Boy Who Drew Cats)
These are two stories from Japanese fairy tales. I don't want to ruin them, so I can't say too much, but they are amazing. One is about a boy who draws pictures of cats, much to the detriment of his job and a ridiculous amount of ancient books. The other story is about a kind fisherman who saves a turtle and has his whole world turned upside down. On the creature of the week, it's a naked guy w...
34m Oct 07, 2015
34m
10B-Hercules: Labor Intensive
Finishing up the twelve labors, Hercules fights way, way too many things: a giant boar, a giant bull, vicious birds, man-eating horses, the three-headed hell hound Cerberus, and more, all as penance for his crime. The creature of the week are invisible weasel brothers that might give you a small cut or two...or might cut off your legs...all without you feeling it. Say hi on twitter (@mythpodcas...
38m Sep 30, 2015
38m
10A-Hercules: Going into Labor
The story of Hercules is one part gritty, serious tragedy and two parts over-the-top monster fights. This week, in the origin story of one of the greatest mythological heroes of the western world, we get to see the human side of the demigod before the story goes completely off-the-rails and it's just one big monster fight topping the next. But don't worry, there are also monster fights this epi...
36m Sep 23, 2015
36m
9-Dogs and Wolves: Generations (Fenrir, The Black Dog, Dog King of Denmark, Gelert)
Instead of one long story, this week I'm telling four stories about canines from folklore from all around the world. We'll go back to the Norse gods and goddesses where Loki will make more poor choices. Then I'll talk about the legend of the black dog of the UK and Ireland. There's the weird and hilarious story of a little dog that was made king of Denmark, and how the people took it surprising...
33m Sep 16, 2015
33m
8-Merlin: Call of the Wyllt
A short supplemental on one of the inspirations for Merlin, a man named Myrddin the Wyllt,  a Welsh warrior bard who went insane after seeing his friends die on the battlefield and ran off to a life in the forest. It would have been fine if people didn't keep dragging him back to civilization...or if he had thought at all about what he would do during the winter. You'll see that "insane" in thi...
14m Sep 09, 2015
14m
7-Little Mermaid: Cry with the Saints
The real story of the Little Mermaid is way more violent and grim than the Disney version, and does not have a happy ending. It's the story of a teenage mermaid who falls in love with a human and makes a deal to get legs, but that's where the similarities end. The original includes bald mermaids, daggers, and a great way to blackmail your kids into being good. If you've ever wanted to know way,...
31m Sep 02, 2015
31m
6C-King Arthur: How I Met Your Mother
Wrapping up this current run of King Arthur episodes, we find a kingdom in shambles. We'll see the final(ish..for now at least) battle between the Saxons and the Britons, and then the rule of King Arthur's uncle and father. Uther then decides to risk this extremely tenuous peace to woo a woman who isn't into him at all. And by woo, I mean declare war against her and her husband and use your fan...
35m Aug 26, 2015
35m
6B-Merlin: What’s Red, White, and Fighting All Over
This is where we meet Merlin, a son of a demon who uses his evil powers for good. But he's not yet the bearded sorcerer we all kind of know and love. No, he first enters our story as a serious seven year-old with power over magic, the ability to prophesy, and knowledge of the past, present, and future. The only problem? He's about to be executed by Vortigern's magicians. Luckily, his life will ...
31m Aug 19, 2015
31m
6A-King Arthur Prologue: The Once and Really Only that One Time King
The King Arthur legends don't actually start with Arthur, but with several years of war, intrigue, and betrayal among the Britons, and a slippery earl by the name of Vortigern not-so-subtly engineering the deaths of two kings to become king himself. We'll start at the very beginning, with Arthur's grandfather being murdered and his father fleeing across the channel to protect himself from assas...
31m Aug 12, 2015
31m
5B-Slavic Folklore: The First Horcrux
As it turns out, Koschei the Deathless is very, very hard to kill, a fact one could probably guess from his name. This episode explores his tragic origins, as well as the ludicrously complex way he's hidden his soul (a Russian nesting doll situation that's unpleasant for everyone involved). He'll prove his name incorrect as he finally meets his demise in what amounts to the most heart-wrenching...
32m Aug 05, 2015
32m
5A-Slavic Folklore: Tried and Died
In this story of a dangerous magician from Russian folklore, you'll learn that you should maybe believe your spouse if she says you definitely don't want to know what's behind that door in the dungeon. It's the bizarre, sad, and kind of hilarious story of Koschei the Deathless, a man who seems like a much more serious and dangerous version of the Ice King from Adventure Time. Really, if you're ...
37m Jul 29, 2015
37m
4-Mulan: A Likely Hero
The story of Mulan, the woman who took her aging father's place in the army, does not mean what you think it means. The original character is almost completely awesome and very different from many retellings. Unfortunately, the inspiring central message of the story is a modern interpretation of something that was actually very insulting. Also, villain is less of a looming, hulking Hun, and mor...
27m Jul 22, 2015
27m
3E-Vikings: The Debt is Paid
The final chapter of the Saga of the Volsungs follows Sigurd as he finds that navigating relationships with the in-laws is way, way more hazardous than fighting a dragon. He finds the famliy he never had, but generations of betrayal and murder finally catch up with what has been perhaps the most honorable of the Volsungs...you know, minus that one tiny murder he committed. Also, if someone with...
34m Jul 15, 2015
34m
3D-Vikings: Blood of the Dragon
Part four and the penultimate episode in the Saga of the Volsungs, the story of a legendary Norse family finds Sigurd riding with his Vikings in an attempt to reclaim his father's kingdom. Then, there's a fight with the dragon, Fafnir, who is in the possession of the cursed ring. Sigurd, our (so far) valiant hero, folds to the temptations of a magical ring way faster than Frodo, Bilbo, or even ...
28m Jul 01, 2015
28m
3C-Vikings: Renewed shall be Blade that was Broken
You can clearly see J.R.R. Tolkien's inspiration in this episode, what with that cursed ring finally making an appearance, a legendary sword reforged, and a selfish psychopath of a dragon sitting atop a pile of gold. Loki casually says something when he walks out the door which tears a family apart, and Odin is not fooling anyone when he (seemingly constantly) pretends to be an old man wanderin...
28m Jun 24, 2015
28m
3B-Vikings: All that Hate’s Gonna Burn You Up
The Saga of the Volsungs continues, with a princess held captive by the man who killed her father, and her brother roaming the forest waging a covert guerrilla war...or just robbing people for the fun of it? There are berserker werewolves, magic swords, and a battle of really stupid insults between kings. Also, you'll see if a legendary Norse mustache is an effective filter for poisons. The cre...
26m Jun 18, 2015
26m
3A-Vikings: The Norse and the Furious, Bredi’s Drift
Swords, dragons, werewolves, Vikings, betrayal, and revenge are all hallmarks of the thrilling, yet little known, Saga of the Volsungs, the story of an ill-fated medieval Nordic family. One of J.R.R. Tolkien's first Nordic reads, it's a tale of honor, love, loss, and vengeance, as well as the numerous benefits of just letting it go. Also, I talk about the barbegazi, a helpful little frozen bear...
30m Jun 03, 2015
30m
2B-Aladdin: A Whole New World of Problems
In the conclusion of the original Aladdin story, there's the meteoric rise of Aladdin, who is definitely not using magic to do any of this. Really. Will people just stop asking him that, already? I mean, so what if he made the most magnificent palace in the world overnight, and that it randomly disappeared. Nothing at all suspicious about that. In the creature of the week, there's shapeshifting...
31m May 27, 2015
31m
2A-Aladdin: The Magician’s Nephew
The story of a poor man who finds a being of unlimited power, and not only uses it to put food on the table, but goes a little farther to take over the kingdom and become the richest man alive. It's the original story of Aladdin, but it's very different from the story you know. The jinni (actual spelling of genie, by the way), don't really grant wishes. Listen to this episode to hear the bizarr...
24m May 20, 2015
24m
1C-Knights of the Round Table: The Lion Knight Rises
In this episode, you'll see that you should definitely interfere if you see two apex predators fighting to the death in the wilderness. We'll finish the story of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur's court, as he (mostly) sees the error in his ways and (mostly) seeks atonement for his extreme selfishness. After you hear the creature of the week, you won't want to get up to go to the bathroom in the ...
32m May 13, 2015
32m
1B-Knights of the Round Table: You’re So Yvain
This week, we're continuing the story of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur's court who we left in a very bad spot. He'll find an ally within the castle walls, get a magic ring, and try to find a way to hold out, since it's only a matter of days until Arthur will be there with his knights. The picture linked above is the Mythological Creature of the Week: the sad, sad story of the changeling - a tr...
18m May 06, 2015
18m
1A-Knights of the Round Table: Yvainglory
This week on the Myths and Legends podcast, I’ll introduce the show and discuss what it’ll be about. Then, we’ll start right in on the story of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur's court who'll show that by being a huge jerk to nearly everyone you'll get everything you can ever want, throw it all away, and get it all again! Then, for the mythological creature of the week, the hidden folk of Iceland...
17m Apr 30, 2015
17m
Myths and Legends Trailer
A little bit about what to expect when you listen to Myths and Legends.   Subscribe using your favorite podcast app: http://apple.mythpodcast.com http://spotify.mythpodcast.com http://stitcher.mythpodcast.com   or just search for "Myths and Legends" Support the show: https://www.mythpodcast.com/membership (https://www.mythpodcast.com/membership) See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
1m Apr 27, 2015
1m