The Singing Sword [Estonian Folk Tale]

2016-06-30

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at The Singing Sword, an Eastern European folk tale brought to us from Estonia via Brooklyn. It was written in 1928 by Frances Jenkins Olcott, who was born in Paris and later moved to New York to become an assistant librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. She left that position to head up the first Children's Department at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, returning to New York in 1911 to write children's books, including Wonder Tales From Baltic Wizards -- where we find this piece.

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at The Singing Sword, an Eastern European folk tale brought to us from Estonia via Brooklyn.

It was written in 1928 by Frances Jenkins Olcott, who was born in Paris and later moved to New York to become an assistant librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. She left that position to head up the first Children's Department at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, returning to New York in 1911 to write children's books, including Wonder Tales From Baltic Wizards -- where we find this piece.

The Singing Sword is a brilliantly energetic tale, opening with a breathless description of our hero, the Giant Kalevide, and his titular weapon. It goes on to describe how he loses the sword first at the hands of crafty wizard, and then more permanently to a Water Nymph.

Honestly, it has been a while since I've had this much fun with a read.

The Singing Sword is a fast-paced story about giants, wizards, magic, and the beauty of Nymphs.

I hope you enjoy.

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-reads-stories/id1087197185

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