Myth and folklore from all kinds of cultures and pantheons around the world, all contain stories about flowers and plants that are either imbued with strange and eldritch properties, or which have special religious or anthropomorphic significance. Greek myth, for example, is full of stories of people being turned into plants. European folksong, on the other hand, often contains a secondary or tertiary meaning if you look at the plants casually mentioned in the song. This week the dragons seek to decode a few of these myths and folksongs, looking at the surprising, poetic and often sinister language of flowers. On the slab this week - The Mabinogion's Tengedau of Arianrhod and the tale of Bloudewedd, the story of Krocus, Apollo and Hyacinth, Scarborough Fair and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 197: The Trouble with the Victorians - How a Single Era Influenced Our Opinions
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 196: Tale as Old as Time - Why Fairytales Endure
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 195: Key & Codex - Secret Societies in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 194: Creaky Floorboards & Locked Doors - Learning Tension and Suspense from Gothic Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 193: Tragic Heroes and Unexpected Children - More Tropes We Love in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 192: Fitted Breastplates & Feminine Mystique - Sexist Absurdities in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 191: It's Harder that You Think - Writing Sex Scenes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 190: Art and Artifice - What Jane Austen has to say to a Modern Readership
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 189: Last One Alive - Final Girl Tropes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 188: I'm Not Gay, I'm Just Evil - The Queer Coded Villain Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 187: Designer Flu & Superhumans - The Conspiracy Theory Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 186: Going Through Changes - Shapeshifters in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 185: This is Not Forgiveness - Redemption Arcs in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 184: Auguries and Omens - Bird Symbolism in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 183: The Future We Deserve? - Learning Hope From Science Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 182: Full Immersion Fantasy - the Appeal of RPG
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 181: Of Their Time - the Changing Faces of Diversity and Prejudice in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 180: 10,000 - A Celebration of Dissecting Dragons
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 179: Truth, Lies & the Big Misunderstanding - Honesty and Deception Tropes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 178: Of Course, This Means War - Narrative Conflict in Speculative Fiction
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