Recs: fairy tales & folklore

[winkingstar]

I love podfic. It's all well and good to have a story that you can bring with you wherever you go and listen to no matter what you're doing (well, almost), but my love goes deeper than that. Because I grew up with a great love of fairy tales and folklore. And while I read countless picture books and stories, reveling in the wonder of words, as I grew older I lamented the fact that we've lost the culture of telling stories.

Once upon a time, they told stories to warm the long winter nights or to ease the tedium of a day in the fields. Now, we live in a written culture, where print on the page is more common than a fireside story. But then I discovered podfic. And my heart was full to bursting with joy. Because podfic brings the roots of our oral traditions alive again. I can listen to a story to warm me while I walk to the grocery store in winter or to ease the tedium of hours of data entry. Any story is good for that. But the ones that really touch me, the ones that take me away to other worlds with new possibilities, are the stories that draw on those original fireside stories. Although I don't listen to these tales anywhere near a fire, they can make me feel the warmth of a fire and the comforts of good company and great stories.

So here is a list of fairy tale & folklore related stories. Some of them are familiar tales with new twists, and some are original tales that still maintain the feeling of traditional tales.



Title: Rough Diamond by lyrstzha
Reader: luzula
Links: [mp3]
Fandom: Traditional fairy tales (Beauty & the Beast)
Summary: A bard might, perhaps, give you a prettier, more satisfying story. But I, I will tell you what truly happened to Belle and her Beast. If you're sure it's truth that you'd prefer.
Rec notes: I was captivated the first time I listened and I still am every time I listen again. Beauty & the Beast is one of my favourite tales and I love the author's reinterpretation of it. The narrative voice perfectly captures that traditional tale feel and luzula does a wonderful job of bringing that voice to life. (You will notice that half of this list is podfics by luzula. This is because not only does she have a lovely voice, but also she is aces at picking amazing stories with a fairytale flavour.)


Title: The Story of Marli-hrair and the Black Rabbit of Inle by edonohana
Reader: luzula
Links: [mp3], [audiobook]
Fandom: Watership Down
Summary: What lies on the dark side of the moon? Ask the Black Rabbit. He knows.
Rec notes: Rabbit folklore! So cool. And like the older human tales, this story has darker themes and not your typical happily-ever-after. And, as usual, luzula's voice makes me believe that long ago and far away really did happen, even for rabbits.


Title: In the House of Dust by kindkit
Reader: luzula
Links: [mp3]
Fandom: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Summary: Men and cities are made of clay and turn to dust.
Rec notes: You don't actually need to know anything about the Epic of Gilgamesh, as luzula includes the author's background notes at the beginning of the recording. Since I have very little knowledge of Gilgamesh, I find the inclusion of the notes very helpful for setting the scene. The story itself is one of the most beautifully written that I've seen in any fandom, so kudos to luzula for bringing it to the attention of more people through podfic. Definitely give this one a try, whether or not it sounds appealing. It's a gorgeous story and a lovely reading.


Title: l'essential est invisible pour les yeux by formerlydf
Reader: pennyplainknits
Links: [mp3], [audiobook]
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot RPF
Summary: Zach can handle someone metaphorically leaving their heart in his hands; he's never had to contemplate what he would do if someone left their metaphorical heart literally in his hands.
Rec notes: This story is amazing. It is unique and original, with elements of magical realism that qualify it as a modern-day fairy tale in my book. Penny does a great job with the reading. The premise is kind of hilarious, but Penny reads it all with complete seriousness, making it so easy to just fall into the story and believe in it. (I normally don't do RPF, but it was recced to me as a fairy tale and it's different enough from the real world that I didn't mind. So if you're iffy about RPF, I'd recommend giving it a go anyway, especially if you like fairy tales.)


Title: Melusine by toft_froggy
Reader: thingswithwings
Links: [mp3], [audiobook]
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Summary: Just your everyday offworld trip, with monsters.
Rec notes: thingswithwings does a great job reading this. Toft's story has elements of the more dark and creepy traditional tales and the music is a perfect match for the tone of the story. Part of the story consists of a storyteller's performance and the rest of the story has a fairytale feel as well. My favourite part, though, is that this story was literally made to be podficced. thingswithwings and Toft traded stories to read as podfics and then released the podfic versions first, only later providing the text versions. When I first saw their podfic post, I literally went, "asjslkfhsgkb♥♥♥" Because, as I said, I am madly in love with oral traditions and I love that other people believe that podfics are a part of that. (The story that thingswithwings wrote for Toft is called "lion body, head of man" and it's also awesome, but not as directly related to folklore, so I'm not including it officially in this set. But here are the [mp3] and [audiobook] links anyway.)


Title: Coming of Age by astolat
Reader: FayJay (pandarus)
Links: [mp3], [audiobook]
Fandom: Merlin
Summary: "I have called you to give you a warning," the dragon said. "A red moon rises over Camelot this night. The Wild Hunt will ride." (Technically, this is the second of a [trilogy], but it stands alone just fine, too.)
Rec notes: The story itself is a narrative, with less of the oral tradition feel to it, but FayJay still manages to bring the oral tradition feel with her amazing storytelling skills. I love the way she gives every character a different voice, and in this one she does an especially awesome job with the ethereal voice of the Huntsman.


Happy listening! And thank you to all podficcers, whether you read fairy tales or not, for keeping our oral traditions alive into the 21st century. ♥

(And please feel free to rec more fairy tale/folklore podfics in comments!)

[Cross-posted to amplificathon.]

Comments

[were_duck]

Wow, your intro to this post is gorgeous, because yes! This! I'd never thought of podfic as the new oral tradition, but I find the notion totally charming. I am looking forward to listening to these :)

[jesse_the_k]

What she said! Thanks for opening my eyes to yet another reason I love podfic.

I adore luzula's Due South stories because, well, werewolves! but have reread all her DS podfic. So more luzula = love!

[winkingstar]

I'm glad you like my rec theme! :)

And, actually, luzula got me hooked on dS fandom, too, with her reading of Academic Punk. So, yes to luzula love!

[winkingstar]

Thanks! :) The oral tradition aspect didn't hit me until I started recording myself. I began my podfic career with a fic that was based on a fairy tale, but it still didn't quite sink in until I recorded one with a narrative voice that felt like it was just meant to be read aloud. I do record and listen to non-fairy tale stories, but my favourites are the fairy tale/folklore ones. They just flow so naturally (which, of course, is partly thanks to the authors who write with a storytelling voice that begs to be read aloud) and I can feel the storytelling roots stretching back through time.

I hope you enjoy these! :)

[lian]

oh, man, I love fairy tales.

You know, we were doing the dishes on christmas eve and my little sis (well, she's in her 20ies, too, so not *that* little) said to me, "tell me a story". I did cobble together something from a variety of fairy tales I know (I didn't want to tell the popular Grimm ones, everyone knows those), and it was fun, we spiced it up a little with contemporary stuff (a group of fratboys made an entrance), but I was still a little miffed that I can't tell a story off the bat in a proper narrative style. I really want to work on that.

Maybe I'll just try and take one of your recommendations as an example :D Thank you for the beauitful write-up!

[winkingstar]

Yay fairy tales love! \o/

It is so hard to come up with a story on-the-fly! I wish I were better at that, too. My little sis asked me for a story once, too, a few years back, and I was taking a class on Russian fairy tales at the time, so I sort of managed to retell one of those tales, but it was definitely not an elegant telling.

[izzady]

Great idea for recs!
I had been putting off listening to some of luzula's shorter, rarer-fandom stuff, but I've downloaded now, so thank you!
The Gilgamesh one is enthralling. And I agree, it was cool the way she included the background info.
Can't wait to get to the others!

[winkingstar]

I'm glad you liked the theme! And I'm glad you enjoyed the Gilgamesh story--it really is exceptional. The epic itself never sounded terribly appealing to me, but I figured I'd give that podfic a try since I'd already fallen in love with luzula's voice and story-picking ability, and I was so pleasantly surprised!