Episodes

Rostam embarks on his quest to free his king, taken captive in the land of the demons, where he'll not only have to free his stupid, stupid ruler and end the war, but embark on seven labors which will include: letting his horse do a lot of the heavy lifting, a dragon fight, a new friend, and tossing a demon's head like a bride throws a bouquet. The creatures this week are the kakamora, from Polynesian mythology and, yes, from Moana. Unlike Moana, however, they are way less violent, way more nake...

The story of Rostam from the Shahnameh, an important book in Iranian Mythology. It starts out in a weird place, with a strange little Benjamin Button-type baby being raised by a mythological peacock dog, and only gets stranger, but it explores themes of loyalty, fealty, and power, even if a leader is not deserving. The creature this week is the Jackalope, from Wyoming, and you can only hunt them one day a year. Unfortunately, that day doesn't exist. -- Music: "Softly Villainous" by Blue Dot Se...

A fairy tale from Ireland with a genre savvy queen who has one request for her husband: don't let his surely evil next wife get anywhere near her three sons. Of course, things don't really go as planned. The creature this week is hook girl! Don't bug hook girl, or hook girl will bug you...and by "bug you" I mean "tear you to tiny pieces." -- Music: "Building the Sled" by Blue Dot Sessions "Flashing Runner" by Blue Dot Sessions "Awaiting an Arrival" by Blue Dot Sessions "Bauxite" by Blue Dot Ses...

A story from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, about revenge, letting go, and moving on. Also why you shouldn't mess with babies that can whisper threats at three months old and survive way more things than you could. -- Music: "Alphabet Soup" by Podington Bear "Thin Passage" by Blue Dot Sessions "Readers do you Read?" by Chris Zabriskie "Vik Fenceta Lan" by Blue Dot Sessions "Another Version of You" by Chris Zabriskie "Vik Fenceta" by Blue Dot Sessions "NirvanaVEVO" by Chris Zabriskie S...

On our annual Halloween episode, it's stories of a monstrous creature who stalks the north woods...and how they might be sitting right next to you. The creature is a vampire that's super scary...only it can't actually walk...and moreso bounces everywhere...and hates messy rooms. -- Music: "Traffic" by Kai Engel "Somnolence" by Kai Engel "Delirium" by Kai Engel "Nothing (Bonus Track)" by Kai Engel "Mare" by Kai Engel Support the show: https://www.mythpodcast.com/membership

We're back in Norse Mythology. It's set before Ragnarok (obviously), and it's a story we never got to of Freyja, Odin, Loki, and four dwarves. Freyja makes a lot of new friends, and Loki gets completely out of control at a party and tells all the Aesir exactly what he thinks of them. The creature of the week is the invunche, a very sad, hairy, contorted baby -- Music: "Catching Feathers" by Ketsa "Midnight" by Ketsa "The Confrontation" by Podington Bear "Direct to Video" by Chris Zabriskie "Wa...

Theseus has had a long and storied life, but now he faces his greatest challenge: after you've accomplished everything you set out to do and your name will live on for generations, what comes next? The creature is the, impundulu environmentally-conscience bird who only uses alternative fuels for its tiny plane. Unfortunately, the alternative fuel is human blood. --- Theseus episodes: 17A: https://www.mythpodcast.com/3329/17a-theseus-its-dangerous-to-go-alone/ 17B: https://www.mythpodcast.com/3...

A game turns dark as a child disappears. Her brothers must follow her into a land that's like a mirror image of our own to get her back from the king who lives in the dark tower. Oh and also Merlin is barely any help at all. The creature this time is the ilomba, from Zambia, and it's a terrible reason to collect your fingernail clippings. -- The Stephen King Quote: https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2017/08/how-did-stephen-king-to-the-dark-tower-come-through-robert-brownings-childe-roland/ -- Suppo...

A king fighting against fate. A young man surviving the impossible. A hermit reading the future from his toilet. This week, it's the long road to becoming who you were always meant to be. -- Music: "Raven" by Chad Crouch "CGI Snake" by Chris Zabriskie "We Always Thought the Future would be Kind of Fun" by Chris Zabriskie "Nuthatch" by Blue Dot Sessions "Petaluma" by Blue Dot Sessions "Releasing the Sculpture" by Podington Bear "Nocturne" by Podington Bear "New Skin" by Podington Bear "Cloudbank"...

A man loses everything except for his children and his field, but it's while he's in that field with his children that he receives a visit from a mythological creature...and makes a deal that will change all of their lives forever. The creature of the week is a mythpodcat! She just loves to dance! And set you on fire! -- Music: "Red-winged Blackbird" by Chad Crouch "Clear and Present" by Ketsa "Divider" by Chris Zabriskie "Lope and Shimmer" by Podington Bear "That Kid in the Fourth Grade Who Re...

Seven people have been informed that they will be pivotal in the quest for the greatest holy object that has ever existed: the Holy Grail. First, they have to get it to England. That, of course, will involve angelic post-it notes, ships with ejector seats, attacking giants, and, the most unbelievable thing of all (to some of our characters): multi-colored wood. We'll see how the Grail comes to Britain and that the end of Joseph's quest is just the beginning. -- "Svela Tal" by Blue Dot Sessions ...

The Holy Grail: The greatest legendary item of all time and the focal point of the Arthurian legends. This is its origin. Beginning as the humble cup of a crucified savior, the Grail will take on legendary status. We'll see how it moved from Jerusalem to a far-flung province on the edge of the world, and we'll meet the people tasked with protecting it, whose great, great, great, great grandchildren will become the heroes of the Arthurian legends. This is a Grail story unlike any you've ever hea...

It's the first written version of Sleeping Beauty, put down to paper in the 1600s by the Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile. And it's horrifying. The creature is elephant rat. It's an elephant whose also a rat sometimes. No big deal. Now move along and let him murder in peace. -- Music: "Running on Empty" by Podington Bear "Sylvestor" by Blue Dot Sessions "Midday" by Blue Dot Sessions "Black Cosmos Ring" by Podington Bear "The Nightmare" by Podington Bear "Studie I" by Jahzzar "Betrayal" b...

The king is annoyed. All of these people want to make him work. It's just...not fair. Sure, they're starving and about to riot in the streets, but actually showing up to work is really going to cut into his sitting around time. Unfortunately, he might not have a choice. The people are getting angry, and that leads to a journey west, farther than anyone in his kingdom has ever gone, to unearth an ancient secret. -- The article I referenced: https://medium.com/s/futurehuman/survival-of-the-riches...

This week, it's the fairy tale "Youth without Age and Life without Death", from Romania, a tale of love, loss, impossible quests, and acheiving your dreams. Also, why you shouldn't make idle promises to a kid that's just an hour old. It might end with them playing dominos with your horses and taking half of your kingdom's worth of gold. The creature this week is the hili, from Lesotho, Africa. If you've never seen Big Bird's toilet...well...that's because it's you -- Music: “Flutterbee” by Po...

Joaquin is out of control. He is riding through town, doubling the rewards on his own wanted posters. He has cowed or killed anyone who has tried to stop him, and he thinks he is untouchable. He's not wrong, either. The only people who know his face are either very trusted or very dead. Still, the more he pushes, the more the state of California pushes back, until one man is finally commissioned with a bill from the California legislature to hunt him down for good. -- Music: Opener” by Blue Do...

It's 1850. The gold rush in the wild west, and Joaquin Murrieta seeks a better life in the US state of California, only recently taken from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. He tries to play by the rules and live by the laws, but everything keeps getting taken from him over and over again. Tired of living underfoot in a land that used to be his homeland, Joaquin decides to stand up and take his place as one of the legendary bandits of the old west. The creature this week is the headless mule....

The story of Meng Jiangnu and the Great Wall is one of the four great folktales of China. It's the story of love, tyranny, and standing up for what is right, no matter the cost. If you like your evil creatures without any way to defeat them whatsoever, then this week's creature might be for you. -- The book by Wilt Idema: https://bardic.link/Pieuc -- Music: "Mindset" by Ketsa "Calming Storms" by Ketsa "Management" by Ketsa "Our Digital Compass" by Blue Dot Sessions "Rate Sheet" by Blue Dot Se...

The world has been quiet for centuries, but everyone knows that they will return. The demon kings. An ancient evil destined to be reborn a third and final time. Then, one day, a child is born. The parents rejoice, but only for a moment. There is something different about the child, and there are rumors that the monster has been reborn once again and, after his battle with the one destined to fight him through the ages, the world will never be the same. -- That roach: https://bardic.link/b9fiF ...

Three lifetimes, two guardians, one objective: get back home. In our long overdue first foray into stories from India, it's the story of Jaya and Vijaya, the gatekeepers to Vishnu's celestial abode and the fateful decision they made one day that would change everything. It's the story of a demon that, reborn across generations and millennia, battles heroes that are born for the fight. The creature this week is an angry bird who is less about wrecking towers and more about exsanguinating the cor...

The prince is having a bad day...because the prince is having a great day. His life is just too easy. Too awesome. He is suffering from too much luxury. It's definitely not because he's into a girl who doesn't like him back. Nope. Not at all. Ok, it totally is. But don't tell his mom. The creature this week is a homicidal sea monster baby, because sure. --- Support the show: https://www.mythpodcast.com/membership

It's the end for Pinocchio. We left him last week the lead suspect in a murder investigation (no, I'm not joking), and we'll catch up to him on the beach, facing the authorities as he stands over the body with the murder weapon in hand. Also a lot of other stuff happens. Like, way too much stuff, like deep-fried puppets, snail butlers, and sleazy millionaires. And that's just in the first half of the episode. The creature this week is a gentleman who is so polite as to bow at every opportunity....

I wouldn't really call Pinocchio ill-fated. That implies that it's undeserved, and it's definitely not. The little guy lies like it's a second language. Regardless, a lot happens to our little buddy in this episode, starting with him coming back from the dead. The creature this week is the Hai Ho Shang, a vicious merman from Chinese mythology who absolutely has some opinions on your dancing. -- Music: "Slow Dial" by Blue Dot Sessions "Lakeside Path" by Blue Dot Sessions "Arbinac" by Blue Dot ...

Prison. Assassins. Marionette dance parties. The original story of Pinocchio has it all. Of course, you know of Pinocchio and Geppetto, but did you know that Geppetto, in order to get the wood to make Pinocchio, had to chew on an old man's wig? Or that the original story had a shockingly brutal end, even for an 1800s children's tale? Check it out. This story is wild. The creature this time is a giant grasshopper who wants to have your kids over for dinner. And no, he's not being playfully ambig...