Wise Crone Cottage Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

 In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will be reading Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, A Christmas Carol.   The work is a novella, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843.  Because of the story's length, it will be read over four episodes. This is chapter two (or what Dickens called Stave Two, The First of the Three Spirits).   In this story Scrooge will have a visit from "Christmas Past."  He will visit his childhood, time when he was apprenticed, and his failed relationship with Belle. You'll find a link in the credits to the tale, so you can read along.  At the end of each reading, there will be questions for you to journal and reflect on.  Although Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol long ago, this story is relevant for today.

Story:  A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens (1843).
A Christmas Carol Study Questions, East Tennessee State University.
Illustration: Arthur Rackham, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2024 Kathy Shimpock.    

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will be reading Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, A Christmas Carol.   The work is a novella, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843.  Because of the story's length, it will be read over the next four episodes. This is chapter one (or what Dickens called Stave One, Marley’s Ghost).   You'll find a link in the credits to the tale, so you can read along.  At the end of each reading, there will be questions for you to journal and reflect on.  Although Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol long ago, this story is relevant for today.

Story:  A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens (1843).
A Christmas Carol Study Questions, East Tennessee State University.
Illustration: Arthur Rackham, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2024 Kathy Shimpock.    

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will focus on the Shadow side of the Christmas holiday. Not all folklore surrounding this time is happy and gay; some of the characters are birthed from our deepest nightmares.  This time, we’ll look at Krampus and the goblins from Charles Dickens’s imagination. She'll read “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton.” It’s a shadowy precursor to the Dickens' story “A Christmas Carol.”

Story: Dickens, Charles,  "Goblins Who Stole a Sexton"  in The Pickwick Papers. Part 10. 1837.
Cover Image:   "An Extraordinary Supernatural Visitor -The Goblin King,  illustrated by  Hablot K. Browne (1837).  (https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/pickwick/24.html) 
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.    

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

 In this episode, the storyteller Kathy Shimpock, will continue our discussion of the Russian folktale "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What." In doing so, we'll learn a bit more about Baba Yaga, the Slavic character who's part witch and part wise crone.  Who is she in this story?  Maybe it's a bit of both.   (Because this is a long story, our discussion is broken into two parts.  Last month the story was shared and this episode furthers the discussion.)

Story: "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What." Adapted from Bain, R. Nisbet, Russian Fairy Tales: From the Skazki of Polevoi. 3rd ed. London: A. H. Bullen, 1901.
Cover Image:   Russian Wonder Tales, illustrated by  Ivan Bilibin (1902) . 
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.    

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller Kathy Shimpock, will read the Russian tale, “Go I Know Not Whither, Fetch I Know Not What.”  It’s a story with two crones: one the wise crone and the other the infamous Baba Yaga.  Perhaps she’s a wise crone too.  Only time will tell.  (Because this is a long story, our discussion will be broken into two parts. This month is the story and next month will be the discussion.)

Story: "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What." Adapted from Bain, R. Nisbet, Russian Fairy Tales: From the Skazki of Polevoi. 3rd ed. London: A. H. Bullen, 1901. 
Cover Image:   Illustrated by N.Kochergin (1897-1974). 
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.   

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will read the story of “Old Rinkrank.”  It’s a Grimm Brother’s tale with a surprising ending.  We’ll discuss the innocent persecuted heroine and how her journey differs from the traditional hero’s journey tales. Where is the wise crone in this story?  I can’t wait to tell you!

Story: "Old Rinkrank" in  Grimm's Household Tales, eds. Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. London: George Bell and Sons, 1884.
Cover Image:   Illustrated by John Dickson Batten. "The Glassy Hill," in More English Fairy Tales, eds. Joseph Jacobs (1890-1893).  
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.  

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will read the literary fairy tale, "The Maiden in the Castle of Rosy Clouds."  It's a story written by the Swedish author Harald Ostenson in the early 20th century.  We'll identify the differences between traditional folktales and literary tales.  Finally, we'll discuss how older characters are depicted in stories and discover how a hero's journey can become an example of positive aging.

Story: Ostenson, Harald, "The Maiden in the Castle of Rosy Clouds"( in Jungfrun i Rosiga Molnens Borg, 1911). Great Swedish Fairy Tales, ed. by Elsa Olenius, trans. by Holger Lundbergh (New York: Delacorte Press, 1974). Reprinted in Swedish Folk Talesr (Edinburgh, UK: Floris Book), 2004: 192-198. (Story derivation discovered after recording.)
Cover Image:  compiled from Pixabay images
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles."
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock  

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, we’ll look at three stories in which an old woman meets and outwits the devil.  The first is “Devil’s Bridge,” a Welsh legend.  The second, “The Devil and His Grandmother,” is a German folktale recorded by the Brothers’ Grimm. The last story, “Kitta Grau” is from Sweden.  The old woman in these tales runs the course of characters from helper to hero and villain too. But no matter what her role, the wise crone knows exactly what to do to come out on top!

 Story: Baring-Gould, S., A Book of South Wales (London: Methuen and Company, 1905), pp. 266-67.  Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm,  "The Devil and his Grandmother."  no. 125. Margaret Hunt, trans. Grimm's Household Tales, Volume 2. 1884.  Martens, F. H., Stroebe, K., & Hood, G. (1921). “The Evil One and Kitta Grau.” In The Swedish Fairy Book. Project Gutenberg.  Sikes.W., British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends, and Traditions.  2nd ed. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1880), pp. 205-206. 
Cover Image:  Three Bridges of Devil's Bridge, Ceredigion, Wales and Devil (Pixabay). 
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles" and  from Pixabay.
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock 

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In the last "Wise Crone Cottage Podcast,"  storyteller, Kathy Shimpock shared the Grimm fairy tale "The Girl Without Hands."  This is a continuation of that discussion. This time we'll focus on the earlier 1812 version of the story. We'll see how the Handless Maiden shifts from a persecuted figure into a heroine.  We'll also explore the ways this story has been used for both healing and empowering.  Finally, Kathy will share her version of this tale.  I wonder which you'll enjoy best.  I'm sure the wise crone knows.  [For best understanding, start by listening to the Season 4, Episode 1 podcast or read the story below.]

 Story: from  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "Mädchen ohne Hände," Kinder- und Hausmärchen [Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales], 1st edition, vol. 1 (Berlin: In der Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812), no. 31, pp. 132-38.   Found at: (https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm031.html). 
Cover Image: "The Girl With No Hands, " illustrated by Philipp Grot Johann (1841-1892).
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.      

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will explore the Grimm tale, "The Girl Who Lost Her Hands."  It's a story that packs a punch and leaves listeners quaking in the dust.  Well, maybe that's a bit extreme.   You can judge for yourself!  We'll look at several versions of the story, its derivation and multiple interpretations.  And finally, and perhaps most importantly, there will be an interview with the Handless Maiden herself.  Who will give the interview?  Why the wise crone, that's who!

 Story: from   Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "Das Mädchen ohne Hände," Kinder- und Hausmärchen, gesammelt durch die Brüder Grimm [Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales], 7th edition, vol. 1 (Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, 1857), no. 31, pp. 162-68.  Found at: (https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm031.html).
"Vasilisa the Beautiful" found in Wheeler, Post. Russian Wonder Tales. New York: The Century Company, 1912.  (https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/books/russian/russianwondertales/vasilissa.html)
Cover photo:  Fairy Tales from Grimm. Illustrations by Gordon Browne (1858-1932).  
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.     

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).