As equinox tips us once more into the dark half of the year (here in the northern hemisphere), the season of story, we journey to the underworld with the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone. And finally, we're finishing our exploration of Hans Christian Andersen's The
September 25, 2020
We've been exploring "The Snow Queen" all season, but in this episode of Roots of Lore, let's explore Hans Christian Andersen in a bit more depth. We're getting a sense of who he was and the context of his fairy tales, and
February 27, 2020
We are at a threshold time. Last week marked the midway point between Winter solstice and spring equinox. Now you might be feeling the stirrings of Spring. Depending on where you are, it might even already look like Spring. And it might be tempting to want to rush through this
February 12, 2020
Happy New Year! We are standing at the portal between one year and the next, and you may be thinking of New Year's Resolutions or goals to hit the ground running here at the beginning of the year. In this episode of Roots of Lore, we're
January 01, 2020
It's the season of celebration and in this episode of Roots of Lore, we explore The Saturnalia. More from Dr. Rhiannon Evans: * @DrRhiannonEvans on Twitter * Caesar's Triumphs over Gaul and Rome by Sarah Midford and Rhiannon Evans * Emperors of Rome Podcast * Emperors of Rome on Facebook
December 25, 2019
The nights grow long and dark. And from them spring holidays, rituals, celebrations, and stories. Now perhaps more than any other time of year, we find ourselves craving a slow-down to wrap ourselves in tradition, in familiarity, in comfort, and in meaning. So let us begin with the Winter Solstice,
December 18, 2019
Cinderella is the fairy tale that, perhaps more than any other, sets our standard for how we expect a fairy tale to behave. But this story tells us more than what happens if you have some fancy shoes and a fairy godmother on your side. In this episode, let'
March 08, 2019
What would you choose if you had to pick one: beauty or intelligence? In this episode of Roots of Lore, we're exploring two stories that test what qualities are most important in love: Riquet with the Tuft (of Charles Perrault and Catherine Bernard) and Beauty and the Beast
February 20, 2019
Sometimes stories serve as lessons for children, but in Perrault's day, sometimes fairy tales were a manners guide for adults. This episode explores "The Fairies" (Les Fées) — sometimes known as "Diamonds and Toads" — by Charles Perrault, "The Enchantments of Eloquence" by Marie‐
February 01, 2019
Animals appear often in fairy tales and folklore, and the most famous Animal as Helper is perhaps none other than our favorite booted feline, Puss in Boots (or The Master Cat). In this episode, let's start with Charles Perrault's version of "The Master Cat"
January 16, 2019
In this episode, we're exploring the class system of Louis XIV's France through the story of Charles Perrault's Le Petit Poucet, or Little Thumb. We'll explore how it ties to the Grimms' Hansel and Gretel and how the ogre creature evolved
January 10, 2019
Will you take the path of pins or the path of needles? This is the question that Little Red Riding Hood must answer not as a girl who should be wary of talking to strangers, but as a young woman entering into sexual maturity who might be the target of
January 03, 2019
There are many ways to examine a story, and Charles Perrault's story of Bluebeard is a haunting one. So in this episode of Roots of Lore, we're going to look at the story from a psychological approach as well as a historical approach to see who
December 19, 2018
What if Sleeping Beauty didn't wake up from her sleep because of a kiss? What if the story doesn't end with a marriage and happily ever after? In this episode of Roots of Lore, we're exploring Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty and how
December 12, 2018
In season one of the Roots of Lore podcast, we'll be diving into Charles Perrault's fairy tales: Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose. So in this first episode, let's set the scene of who was Perrault? What was
December 05, 2018