Belching up toads, paper dresses, beheadings and murder, this story has them all. I love this Grimm fairytale from the Philip Pullman collection, and I hope you do too? This is the last episode in Season Three, so please write me a review and remember, storytelling is thirsty work! https://ko-fi.com/voxchops

Dark and Twisty Tales: folk stories and fairy tales for the unafraid.

The Three Little Men in the Woods

An old man in velvet pantaloons is befriended by a little boy with a toy soldier, however the soldier is NOT happy about this, has a tantrum and finds himself lost in the cracks and buried in an open grave, only to be found years later.

The Old House

Reynard the Fox is a bit tricky and tricks his wife that he's dead to see if she'll marry again ... never a good plan.    

The Marriage of Mrs. Reynard

Childhood sweethearts Tamlane and Janet were all set until he 'disappeared' before their wedding day. He was off with the fairies (that's what you get for riding your horse 'widershins' around the hill), but it's OK, because she rescues him, by knocking him off his horse and holding on really tight while he changes into lots of things, then she chucks him in a pond. Perfect love story on so many levels.  The actual Scottish story is as deep and dark and twisty as you like with green kirtles being lifted and babies born of fairy fathers etc, but this version is the one from Joseph Jacobs 'English Fairy Tales', so apologies to all my Scottish friends.  As usual I improvised the melody over the verse, in this instance it was the Elfin Queen singing.  If you want to listen to a classic rendition of this story in song, have a listen to Fairport Convention's  Tam Lin. 

Tamlane

A very clever and vengeful sparrow gets his own back after his buddy the dog comes a cropper. Many things get chopped with an axe by accident and many other things get pecked out ... corks and eyes mostly. The moral? Please feed your dogs yummy things ... and don't underestimate a sparrow! 

The Dog and the Sparrow

A very short story about a boy called Jack, a bone bread eating giant and his favourite dog ... shame about the dog.

The Blinded Giant

A 'lucky' boy escapes death is helped by two old ladies (because he was so polite and good looking) is very courageous ... and also a bit of a know it all.

The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs

So there's a narcissistic cannibalistic witch Queen, a Prince who thinks it would be cool to have a pretty dead girl in a glass coffin for a trophy and 7 little people who, while kind at heart, should get an education on domestic labor stereotypes. Nothing to see here.

Snowdrop

Youngest son rides fox, gets girl and gold.

The Golden Bird

Independently wealthy senior citizen robbed by teen and locked in oven. Harsh.

The Old Witch

When the moon gets curious and snagged on a branch and then dragged into the bog by witches and bogles ... yeah that.

The Buried Moon

Chanticleer a canny rooster and his wife Partlet, have adventures, that usually involve nuts, carts, deceit, slavery, violence, cannibalism and death. I also have no idea what Mr. Korbes did to deserve that. Do you?

The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet

Welcome to the first episode of Season Three! Mom, needs a nap, hero can't stop snacking and a bewitched Princess can't stop spinning around and around her glass mountain... hmmm sound familiar?

The Raven

Less frog kissing and more frog splatting really and then at the end a weirdly obsessed servant has been to the blacksmiths...

The Frog King

Come on, who can resist a story about a half boy, half hedgehog, who rides a cockerel and plays the bagpipes?  Credit must be given to my husband, son and his friend for providing pig noises in this episode and to 'FreeSound' and 'digifishmusic', 'Inchadney' and 'luis-audp' for their various piping recordings. xox

Hans My Hedgehog

This is a bi-monthly podcast featuring songs and stories from some lesser known fairy tales and folk stories. Stories which lean toward the grisly and unnerving, stories which might help us deal with the ogres and wicked step mothers in our own lives.

hubhopper

Dark and Twisty Tales: folk stories and fairy tales for the ...

hubhopper