Myths and Legends

Mowgli is hiding among the humans to stay safe from Shere Khan after burning and shaming the tiger at the showdown at Council Rock. The problem? The tiger knows where Mowgli is, and he is coming for the man cub. The Myths and Legends store: https://shop.bardic.fm -- Sponsors: Check out the best podcasts of 2018 on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/genre/podcasts-page -- Music: “Where it all happe...

We catch up with Mowgli after he’s been tossed in a pit of cobras while his friends fight countless vicious monkeys outside. We’ll also see what Shere Khan has been up to for the past seven years…and what his plan is to finally get his claws into Mowgli. The creatures are sentient umbrellas, because who hasn’t looked at an umbrella and thought, “yeah, I’d like this to be a hairy man leg with a gre...

A boy is lost. A tiger hunts. The wolf pack takes on a new cub. The story of the Jungle Book begins -- Sponsors: Audible! Audible is my favorite way to listen to audiobooks. Go to http://www.audible.com/myths or text MYTHS to 500-500 to start your free 30-day trial and get a free audiobook. Omaha Steaks are a great gift for anyone on your list. For a limited time, you can get 74% off the Omaha Ste...

Rostam embarks on his quest to free his king, taken captive in the land of the demons, where he'll not only have to free his stupid, stupid ruler and end the war, but embark on seven labors which will include: letting his horse do a lot of the heavy lifting, a dragon fight, a new friend, and tossing a demon's head like a bride throws a bouquet. The creatures this week are the kakamora, from Polyne...

The story of Rostam from the Shahnameh, an important book in Iranian Mythology. It starts out in a weird place, with a strange little Benjamin Button-type baby being raised by a mythological peacock dog, and only gets stranger, but it explores themes of loyalty, fealty, and power, even if a leader is not deserving.  The creature this week is the Jackalope, from Wyoming, and you can only hunt them...

A fairy tale from Ireland with a genre savvy queen who has one request for her husband: don't let his surely evil next wife get anywhere near her three sons. Of course, things don't really go as planned.  The creature this week is hook girl! Don't bug hook girl, or hook girl will bug you...and by "bug you" I mean "tear you to tiny pieces."  --  Music: "Building the Sled" by Blue Dot Sessions "Flas...

A story from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, about revenge, letting go, and moving on. Also why you shouldn't mess with babies that can whisper threats at three months old and survive way more things than you could. --  Music: "Alphabet Soup" by Podington Bear "Thin Passage" by Blue Dot Sessions "Readers do you Read?" by Chris Zabriskie "Vik Fenceta Lan" by Blue Dot Sessions "Another Vers...

On our annual Halloween episode, it's stories of a monstrous creature who stalks the north woods...and how they might be sitting right next to you.  The creature is a vampire that's super scary...only it can't actually walk...and moreso bounces everywhere...and hates messy rooms.  --  Music: "Traffic" by Kai Engel "Somnolence" by Kai Engel "Delirium" by Kai Engel "Nothing (Bonus Track)" by Kai Eng...

We're back in Norse Mythology. It's set before Ragnarok (obviously), and it's a story we never got to of Freyja, Odin, Loki, and four dwarves. Freyja makes a lot of new friends, and Loki gets completely out of control at a party and tells all the Aesir exactly what he thinks of them.  The creature of the week is the invunche, a very sad, hairy, contorted baby --  Music: "Catching Feathers" by Kets...

Theseus has had a long and storied life, but now he faces his greatest challenge: after you've accomplished everything you set out to do and your name will live on for generations, what comes next?    The creature is the, impundulu environmentally-conscience bird who only uses alternative fuels for its tiny plane. Unfortunately, the alternative fuel is human blood.    ---    Theseus episodes: 17A:...

A game turns dark as a child disappears. Her brothers must follow her into a land that's like a mirror image of our own to get her back from the king who lives in the dark tower. Oh and also Merlin is barely any help at all. The creature this time is the ilomba, from Zambia, and it's a terrible reason to collect your fingernail clippings. -- The Stephen King Quote: https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/20...

A king fighting against fate. A young man surviving the impossible. A hermit reading the future from his toilet. This week, it's the long road to becoming who you were always meant to be.  --  Music: "Raven" by Chad Crouch "CGI Snake" by Chris Zabriskie "We Always Thought the Future would be Kind of Fun" by Chris Zabriskie "Nuthatch" by Blue Dot Sessions "Petaluma" by Blue Dot Sessions "Releasing...

A man loses everything except for his children and his field, but it's while he's in that field with his children that he receives a visit from a mythological creature...and makes a deal that will change all of their lives forever.  The creature of the week is a mythpodcat! She just loves to dance! And set you on fire!  --  Music: "Red-winged Blackbird" by Chad Crouch "Clear and Present" by Ketsa...

Seven people have been informed that they will be pivotal in the quest for the greatest holy object that has ever existed: the Holy Grail. First, they have to get it to England. That, of course, will involve angelic post-it notes, ships with ejector seats, attacking giants, and, the most unbelievable thing of all (to some of our characters): multi-colored wood. We'll see how the Grail comes to Bri...

The Holy Grail: The greatest legendary item of all time and the focal point of the Arthurian legends. This is its origin. Beginning as the humble cup of a crucified savior, the Grail will take on legendary status. We'll see how it moved from Jerusalem to a far-flung province on the edge of the world, and we'll meet the people tasked with protecting it, whose great, great, great, great grandchildre...

It's the first written version of Sleeping Beauty, put down to paper in the 1600s by the Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile. And it's horrifying.    The creature is elephant rat. It's an elephant whose also a rat sometimes. No big deal. Now move along and let him murder in peace.    --   Music: "Running on Empty" by Podington Bear "Sylvestor" by Blue Dot Sessions "Midday" by Blue Dot Sessions "...

The king is annoyed. All of these people want to make him work. It's just...not fair. Sure, they're starving and about to riot in the streets, but actually showing up to work is really going to cut into his sitting around time. Unfortunately, he might not have a choice. The people are getting angry, and that leads to a journey west, farther than anyone in his kingdom has ever gone, to unearth an a...

This week, it's the fairy tale "Youth without Age and Life without Death", from Romania, a tale of love, loss, impossible quests, and acheiving your dreams. Also, why you shouldn't make idle promises to a kid that's just an hour old. It might end with them playing dominos with your horses and taking half of your kingdom's worth of gold.    The creature this week is the hili, from Lesotho, Africa....

Joaquin is out of control. He is riding through town, doubling the rewards on his own wanted posters. He has cowed or killed anyone who has tried to stop him, and he thinks he is untouchable. He's not wrong, either. The only people who know his face are either very trusted or very dead. Still, the more he pushes, the more the state of California pushes back, until one man is finally commissioned w...

It's 1850. The gold rush in the wild west, and Joaquin Murrieta seeks a better life in the US state of California, only recently taken from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. He tries to play by the rules and live by the laws, but everything keeps getting taken from him over and over again. Tired of living underfoot in a land that used to be his homeland, Joaquin decides to stand up and take his...

The story of Meng Jiangnu and the Great Wall is one of the four great folktales of China. It's the story of love, tyranny, and standing up for what is right, no matter the cost. If you like your evil creatures without any way to defeat them whatsoever, then this week's creature might be for you. -- The book by Wilt Idema: https://bardic.link/Pieuc   --  Music: "Mindset" by Ketsa "Calming Storms" b...

The world has been quiet for centuries, but everyone knows that they will return. The demon kings. An ancient evil destined to be reborn a third and final time. Then, one day, a child is born. The parents rejoice, but only for a moment. There is something different about the child, and there are rumors that the monster has been reborn once again and, after his battle with the one destined to fight...

Three lifetimes, two guardians, one objective: get back home. In our long overdue first foray into stories from India, it's the story of Jaya and Vijaya, the gatekeepers to Vishnu's celestial abode and the fateful decision they made one day that would change everything. It's the story of a demon that, reborn across generations and millennia, battles heroes that are born for the fight.  The creatur...

The prince is having a bad day...because the prince is having a great day. His life is just too easy. Too awesome. He is suffering from too much luxury. It's definitely not because he's into a girl who doesn't like him back. Nope. Not at all. Ok, it totally is. But don't tell his mom.  The creature this week is a homicidal sea monster baby, because sure.   ---  Support the show: https://www.mythpo...

It's the end for Pinocchio. We left him last week the lead suspect in a murder investigation (no, I'm not joking), and we'll catch up to him on the beach, facing the authorities as he stands over the body with the murder weapon in hand. Also a lot of other stuff happens. Like, way too much stuff, like deep-fried puppets, snail butlers, and sleazy millionaires. And that's just in the first half of...