Tales From The Enchanted Forest

Fox and Sparrow explore the Ukrainian animal tale of the 'Mitten,' popularized by children's authors like Jan Brett! Stick around for our five fantastic finds afterwards which explore the role of folklore in children's stories, the reality of an endless mitten, the bag of holding trope, the brief history of Ukrainian folktales, and the tragedy of the commons!    You can find our detailed show note...

Lin Lan brings you the "Three Wishes," one of the earliest Cinderella retellings with no ordinary twists! Beauty and her stepsister Pockface can't seem to stay apart. From vicarious living to straight-up murder, this is a fairy tale for those who want a good true crime fairy tale without the true part. Stick around for a breakdown of the Lin Lan movement, Weekend at Bernie's, Forgetful soup, and w...

Sometimes you are fated to die and you stay away from your 'fate,' however, that becomes impossible when your fate includes a dog! Join us as we translate, read, and contextualize the "Tale of the Doomed Prince" from the Harris 500 Papyrus! Glass castles, shadow-fearing giants, and man's best friend are all prominent parts of our story today! Discover the secrets of collectors and donors, Selima H...

Top of the mornin' to ya! Joseph Jacobs' collected works include folklore right from the source and we scoured the Irish Folklore Commission for more context on Leprechauns, boliauns, and superstitions! Our Five Fantastic Finds delve deep into the differences between Irish myth and folklore, the beer brewing process, and the history of drinking stereotypes! You'll never be fooled again after heari...

Three helpful crones, golden apples, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Norse mythology are all discussed as we continue our story from last week! Unnamed Female Protagonist (dubbed Thordotter) goes on a quest to save her husband from the 3-yard long nosed troll! Tune in at the end for our first Five Fantastic Finds of the year!   You can find our detailed show notes, on our new website !   Chat wit...

Sometimes finding a groom can be unbearable, but other times, the beast comes knocking! Curses, magic castles, Beauty and the Beast, and Thor all feature in this episode starring "the beautiful younger sister" and "mysterious bear husband." Join us as we tackle part one of this Nordic story from Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe! Stay tuned for the end when we answer some of your questions!...

Fox & Sparrow are back in the Enchanted Forest! And they are bringing along with them more fantastic fairy tales, legends, myths and much much more! 

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the burrow Not a creature was stirring, not even a sparrow; The stories were told in the forest with care, In hopes that the fox soon would be there!'   Enjoy our holiday wrap-up and an exploration on the modern image of Santa Claus from Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem! Happy Holidays from the Enchanted Forest and we are excited to see you in t...

Charles Dickens' isn’t for everyone, but he does a fantastic job here with his modern fairy-tale, a Christmas Carol. Join us as we discuss the classic story revisited from the original source and talk about all things Victorian Christmas from Queen Victoria to Yuletide giving.  Happy Holidays from Fox and Sparrow! 

Disappear from the cold winter with us in the cozy Filipino forests! We have three bite sized stories to help warm you up! Enjoy the Hawk and the Hen, The Battle of the Crabs, and the Spider and the Fly.    Make sure to give your animal friends a cuddle throughout this episode where we discuss Netflix’s Trese, Indigenous Filipino folktale classifications, the ‘didn’t think this through’ trope, and...

And I’m free, free fallin’! We’d like to imagine Sky Woman from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tale was into Tom Petty, but just in case she wasn’t, we also have the musical styling of ABBA, Elvis, and Bob Dylan on standby. Our story today is one of many First Nation "Creation Stories" that describe the world before land and people.    If you enjoy animal self-sacrifice, good-and -bad twins, lots an...

Join Fox and Sparrow as we round up our favourite monsters and create a Monster Mash in the Enchanted Forest! We discuss the origins of our top ten creatures, including Jörmungandr, Simurgh, Godzilla, Banshees, Doppelgängers, Sphinx, Tah-tah kle’-ah, La Muelona, Koschei the Deathless and Jinn. Travel from Asgard to a gambling house in Colombia with these vibrant tales of terror!    Are you ready f...

No one does horror better than Japanese folktales, and this one is no exception! The Tongue-Cut Sparrow tells the tale of an old man and his beloved pet, with a horrible twist caused by a jealous wife. You reap what you sow with this tale so choose carefully.

A demi-god Bachelor agrees to marry a partner chosen for him by his relationship expert (which happens to be a ‘sentient’ magic arrow). Looking forward to the perfect match, he meets his mate, abandons her, and then swings down to the underworld to get her back. Let’s head to the original Love Island with this Hawaiian tale. 

Have you ever been distracted by a sweet treat and a silver tongue? The masters of trickery and deception include Loki, the Fox, and our current favourite, the Jackal!  Join our animals as they attempt to outwit the Trickster Jackal! In this episode, we discuss African folklore, Anthropomorphism, Jackals, and lots more! This story was collected by E. Jacottet for his book on South African folktale...

Sometimes the universe keeps you apart and sometimes it would be better for you to listen. Shirin and Khosrow are the result of ignoring all the red flags and having a train wreck relationship that is a tragedy for all involved. Join us on this adventure through ​​Nizami Ganjavi’s epic poem that has inspired generations of writers including William Shakespeare. This version also features the legen...

We loved having a guest so much we are releasing another episode with her! Our five fantastic finds this week feature Aphrodite’s motives, the myth in YA literature and video games, the Sumerian origins, and the triple goddess! Come join us for a quick show on all the best tidbits!

Hades and Persephone have one of the most well-known myths, but did you know the whole debacle might be Aphrodite and Eros’ fault? In this episode, we delve deep into the origins of the myth with the Homeric Hymns’ and Ovid’s poetry to examine the way they treat Demeter’s smothering, Hades’ villainization and Persephone’s agency. Joining us for this episode is Queen’s University doctoral candidate...

What do you do when your incestuous father tries to marry you following your mother's death? Wear the skin of his favourite gold pooping donkey and run away to find Prince Charming! In this bizarre Cinderella tale, we explore a classic French story and get to the bottom of why Disney hates alive mother figures. This tale will make you want to crawl right out of your skin. 

You know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but do you know the story of “Jack Spriggins"? A less likeable, more fantastical story of Jack!  Instead of stealing from the giant three times to aid his financial woes (and mismanagement), Jack abandons his toad ‘grandmother,’ marries an Empress who can turn into a Basilisk, and gets a pretty cool castle in the sky.

Trespassing, property rights, destruction of property and assault are just some of the things the Billy Goats Gruff can be charged with! Norwegians love their Trolls and we love talking about them so come talk about Hilda, trolls in the dungeons and three very fat Billy goats. 

Welcome to our first episode of “Tales from the Box Office” where we will explore all the different elements in a movie relating to fairy tales, literature, myths and legends! For our premiere episode, we decided on exploring the differences between Disney's “Raya and the Last Dragon” and Netflix’s “Wish Dragon!” Raya is a fast paced, fantasy epic about the world of Kumandra featuring heavy emphas...

Vasilisa is known by many adjectives, the beautiful, the fair and the just. On a parallel note, Baba Yaga is also known by many names but her house with chicken feet remains a fun constant. Join us as we take on the classic Russian fairy tale about a magic doll, disembodied hand, and a murder skull lamp that puts your lava lamp to shame! If those aren't enough tropes for you then we also have abse...

From tiny bamboo babies to Moon People straight out of a science fiction novel, 10th century Japan was a rough time for our fictional bamboo cutter. His bamboo baby, Princess Kaguya has a hard time too, what with all the available suitors being jerks and her pen pal being the emperor, and don’t forget the casual extraterrestrial exile. Is it comforting knowing that simply living on earth is punish...

Casual murder and true crime’s kiss lead to a happy marriage! Who knew? Don’t learn any lessons in this classic tale about breaking promises, pets at the dinner table, and again- murder. We cannot stress that murder, intentional murder, takes place in this story. Oh and there was never a kiss. Whoops. Thanks, Disney. This story about a Princess hoppin' away with murder is from the Brother's Grimm....