The first light
The evenings are drawing in, so we begin to tell. Dark Slavic Tales every week until All Souls' Day, Sea Legends every other week.
It is the middle of October. Dusk comes earlier every day, and the mist comes down from the meadows earlier too. In the old days this was the season when, with the field work done, people sat by the stove, someone put another log on the fire and someone else began to tell: of the godmother who came from the crossroads, of the treasure keeper who guards the mine, of the dead who ride faster than the living.
These stories survived because someone once wrote them down. A century and a half ago, collectors went from village to village and noted them as they heard them: in dialect, with the names of fields and rivers, with all their dread and all their humour. Today many of them are known only in a version smoothed out for a schoolbook, or not at all. We go back to those records and tell them again, with what usually gets lost along the way.
Dark Slavic Tales: every week, until All Souls’ Day
Polish folk tales, the darker ones. Of Death, who can be a godmother and keeps her word. Of strzygas, drowned men and noon witches. Of the fern flower, which costs more than anyone expects.
A new episode every week. We are saving the grand finale for All Souls’ Day, 2 November: the night when, by the old beliefs, the dead return to their churches and cottages, and the living leave them bread on the table and the door ajar. There is no better evening for these stories.
Sea Legends: every other week
Legends from the world’s coasts. Cities that sank beneath the waves for their pride. Seal folk from the Shetland skerries who shed their skins on the shore. Giants who wade knee-deep through the Baltic, and markets held where no living person should ever go.
A new episode every other week.
Where to listen
Premieres come out on YouTube, and each one has its own page here: with chapters, sources, links to the old scans and an honest list of what we added. If you don’t want to miss anything, sign up for premiere alerts. One short e-mail whenever a new light comes on.