For fans of epic and high fantasy, the idea that there will nearly always be musician or bard character will come as no surprise. While not often the main character, no band of unlikely misfits is complete without a character who turns up for every quest toting a guitar, lyre, harp or trombone. Such characters are disguised a little better in Sci-fi but they are still very much present - Gurney Halleck anyone? This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at exactly why the bard character is so ubiquitous. What is the purpose of the musician archetype and how does it feed into story telling? And just how strong is the relationship between music and politics? Taking examples from a wide range of myths, legends and other literary and films sources, the dragons set off to find out.
Title music: 'Ecstacy' by Smilin Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 173: Endgame - The Legacy of the MCU
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 172: Crowning Glory - The Significance of Hair in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 171: Inner Landscapes - The Transformative Character Arc in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 170: Maps, Footnotes and Dedications - When Authors go the Extra Mile
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 169: Sly, Cunning and Cuddly - Fantastic Foxes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 168: Woke is My Brand - The Trouble with Toxic Twitter
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 167: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Anthropomorphic Animals in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 166: The Problem of Susan - Wayward Children in Fantasy Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 165: What We Really Want - The Tropes We Love in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 164: The Language of Flowers - Botanical Folklore in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 163: Into the Woods - Mythical, Magical and Malicious Forests in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 162: Bring Out Your Dead - Sickness and Pandemics in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 161: That's not Historically Accurate - the Fallacy of Fantasy Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 160: The Kids are Alright - Why do we need a NA Genre as well as YA?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 159: I See Dead People - Psychics, Mediums and Communing with the Dead
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 158: Dominion, Mastery and Emancipation - Portrayals of Slavery in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 157: Chosen Ones and Fated Champions - the Phenomenon of the Special Snowflake in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 156: Childcatchers and Trunchbulls - Portrayals of Abuse in Children's Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 155: All in Your Head - Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern YA Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 154: Death and Sex Appeal - Assassins in Speculative Fiction
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