Grimm Reading

A magical gift destroys a family, but perhaps out of the ashes something beautiful will bloom.  In this week's episode we read 'The Pink': a tale of deception, love, justice, health and safety breaches and fire-breathing poodles.  There's also an extra special treat in the form of 'The Myrtle', a related story by the titanic Neapolitan fairy tale writer Giambattista Basile. Seduction, murder and high drama - it's quite the roller coaster. And finally, we pick the next four stories we'll be giving the Grimm Reading treatment. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor I. Allegro and F Minor II. Adagio performed by David Ezra Okonsar / Brahms's 16 Waltzes, Op.39, #13 performed by Martha Goldstein

  A kindly wolf invites cousin fox to be her child’s godfather to teach it some valuable foxy skills. But the dastardly fox has other intentions and leads the wolf through the worst day of her life…   In part 3 of The Fox Quadrilogy - the epic story of the rise and fall of the Reynard the fox- discover how peasants wash and why you should never get a barn and stable confused.    We reflect on some shocking fox behaviour and trace the idea of the trickster fox from Aesop through to medieval France and Geoffrey Chaucer, where along the way he picks up the name Raynard.  Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101 - IV performed by Daniel Veesey  

Sneakily gorging on some delectable white snake gives one servant extraordinary powers and sets him on the journey of a lifetime. With the help of new faunistic friends, the servant tackles a series of perilous challenges to win the heart of a fair princess. We hunt down other stories featuring white snakes in Europe to try to discover what it all means and why everyone is chowing down on yummy albino serpents. Over in Botswana, Matt outlines his outlandish pagan snake theory and in China we learn why you should never go into business with an immortal snake women. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Beethoven's Piano Trio No7 in B-flat Major Op97

A triple whammy of Grimm fun this week as we reveal the results of our listener poll, dip our toes in the academic world of folklore and perhaps even read a couple of stories... You've been voting and we've been counting; It's been a head to head between Elves & the Shoemaker, Rapunzel and The Robber Bridegroom - but which will emege victorious? After revealing the results, we then dive into the Aarne Thompson Uther Classification of Folktales, exploring how folktales are categorised and the hidden history of folklore from across the world. And finally a hungry wolf and speedy pancake make an unexpected appearance. Music: Intro sonata by Robert Schumann / Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 8 in Gmajor performed by Paul_Rosenthal & Edward Auer Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com

An unusual choice for Godfather changes the fate of one man's life forever, or does it? Things get fatalistic, subversive and skeletal in this week's episode: 'Godfather Death'. We explore the meaning of the story, alternative versions, folk medicine recipies and briefly examine the history of the personification of death in western culture. And of course we finally meet Death himself, the latest and most withered character in the franchise. And just maybe, we have our first big scoring divergence... Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Robert Schumann's Fantasiestucke Op 88 / Chopin's Bercuse performed by Veronica Van Der Knaap Episode image by listener Lyba Murphy @lybamurphy

“If I could but shudder!” With nothing more than his good looks and a fifty dollar donation, a banished youth goes on an adventure to learn the art of fear in ‘The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was'. Facing demonic cats, maniacal old men and an evening of bowling with skeletons, can our hero survive three nights in a haunted castle and win the princess? We explore what it means to feel fear and uncover a bad case of ichthyophobia, in undoubtedly the most gruesome and also most fun episode we’ve made yet! This episode is ‘Certified Grimm’ for dark themes and potentially upsetting situations and may not be suitable for all listeners. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major (Op. 58) 2nd & 3rd movements performed by Debbie Hu

In 'Cat and Mouse in Partnership', sheer force of love sees a cat and mouse overcome their natural differences and set up house together. But winter is coming, and the mouse is growing suspicious at the unreasonable amount of christening invitations the cat's receiving... In this story, learn why all people are innately greedy, selfish and just nasty. Or perhaps maybe it's just a few cats. We also explore other tales of the (spoiler) 'partner steals keg of butter' narrative type from Norway, Scotland and America. The latter of which explains, most importantly of all, why foxes have a white tail tip... Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major ("Kreutzer", Op. 47), 1st movement and 2nd movement, performed by Paul Rosenthal and Edward Auer Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15, No. 1 "Of Foreign Lands and Peoples" performed and recorded by Leonard Vertighel

This week on Grimm Reading we meet Germany's finest animal supergroup: 'The Bremen Town Musicians'. Fearing for his life, a lute playing donkey escapes his owner and hits the road to Bremen. On route he forms a band with a hound, a cat and a cock, and plans for a string of tour dates begin to form. Getting closer to Bremen they spy a cottage and head over to investigate. But little do our musicians know, it's occupied by a gang of nasty robbers... This cult favourite Grimm tale has inspired artists and musicians across the world. Does it deserve the hype and just what exactly has got the cock in such a tizz? Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Johannes Brahms's Lullaby performed by Howie Mitchell and Ruth Meyer

In this week's tale the Brother's Grimm meets Marvel in the epic caper 'How Six Men Got On In The World'.  Despite his superb behaviour, upon returning from war, a budding Art Historian gets mistreated by the realm. On his way to find the king and justice he meets an unlikely band of rogues, each with a unique special ability... Discover the ultimate origin story in an early imagining of the Marvel cinematic Universe and the very first iteration of Avengers Assemble, complete with an epic final battle!  Things also take a distinctly marxist-communist turn as we discover our first 'Certified Soviet' tale. Quite possibly your only chance to ever hear a communist superhero fairytale. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme Music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other Music: Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12, No. 2 performed by Corey Cerovsek & Paavali Jumppanen. 

Elves, Princesses, Kings, evil stepmothers, magic, defenestration and strawberries – we are finally in full-on fairytale territory! The daughter of a man with serious boot problems gets on the wrong side of her stepmother and finds herself picking strawberries in winter in a paper frock. But deep in the woods three peculiar little gentlemen come to her aid with three generous gifts... Find out why it pays to be beautiful and also the best way to rinse yarn as things get fantastical and trippy in this week's Grimm Reading: the Three Little Men in the Wood. This episode is 'Certified Grimm' for excessive violence and may not be suitable for children or the faint of heart. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other Music: Chopin's Etude in A-flat, Op. 25, no. 1 performed by Michal Hambourg

This week we follow the adventures of adrenaline junkie Thumbling as he meets some disreputable types, briefly falls into a life of crime, and has some unfortunate dealings with hungry animals. Hang about, is this not the Tom Thumb we know and love? We explain the difference between Tom Thumb and Thumbling and other little man European legends, and even recount the story of Tom Thumb himself. And finally we pick the next three stories we'll be exploring. Twitter Facebook Instagram grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Johannes Brahms' Waltz Op 39 No 15 performed by Paul Cantrell Fréderic Chopin's Nocturne Op 15 No 2 performed by Paul Cantrell

Domestic bliss has been established in a certain household where everyone has just the right job. What could possibly go wrong?  Things get moralistic in this episode of Grimm Reading as we dive into the fable of The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage. Some good old fashioned values and questionable gender politics inform the story line and we definitively learn to not let sausages go into the woods alone. We also unveil the 'Certified Grimm' rating system, whereby in future episodes we'll be able to warn listeners of any potentially offensive or unsuitable material.  Theme music: 'Bicycle Waltz' by Goodbye Kumiko Other music: Beethoven's Sonata No. 21 in C Major 'Waldstein' Op. 53 performed by Michael Hawley