This week, the dragons bring you another fairy tales in focus episode. Rumpelstiltskin is a mixed bag when you really look at it, but this macabre and often funny tale of deception and trickery has always resonated with children. However, this story dates back far further than the Brothers Grimm. In fact there's good evidence that it may be one of the oldest fairy tales in existence. Join Jules and Madeleine as they take a look at what's hidden in the story, from it's probable bloody origins as a tale of bargaining and sacrifice to its more modern retellings as a horror story or an upbeat fantasy. On the slab this week: Gilded - Marissa Meyer, Spinning Silver - Naomi Novak, A Curse as Dark as Gold - Elizabeth C Bunce and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by smiling Cynic
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Episode 375: The Batcherlorette - Bookish Edition
Ep 374: Her Fatal Curiosity - Tracing the Origins of Bluebeard
Ep 373: Circe Morgana and Rosaline - The Problem with Feminist Retellings
Episode 372: Truth Fiction and Outright Absurdity - More Strange Author Mysteries
Episode 371: Breaking the Stained Glass Window - Language Storytelling Absolutism and Censorship
Episode 370: Running with th Wolves - Werewolves in Folklore and Speculative Fiction Part 2
Episode 369: Running with the Wolves - Werewolves in Folklore and Speculative Fiction Part 1
Episode 368: Help I’ve Written a Book - What to do next when you want to get published
Episode 367: To Like or Not to Like - Writing Likeable Characters in Speculative Fiction
Episode 366: The Deserving and the Undeserving - Avoiding Classism in Speculative Fiction
Episode 365: Amazing Pets and Fantasy Coffee - How to Incorporate Wish Fulfilment Fantasies in Speculative Fiction
Episode 364: There can be only one, no seven - Writing Ensemble Casts in Speculative Fiction
Episode 363: Easter Eggs Accidents or Clever Inclusions - Delving into Disney Fan Theories
Episode 362: The Maiden in the Tower - Tracing the Origins of Rapunzel
Episode 361: The Butler Did it - or Did He - How Who-dunnits Have Shaped Speculative Fiction
Episode 360: Fated Brides & Fatal Spies - the Romantasy Phenomenon
Episode 359: A Great and Mighty Destiny - Legacies and Magical Bloodlines in Speculative Fiction
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Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
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Anne of Green Gables
Frankenstein
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends