House of Legends: World Myths & Legends
World myths and legends with Scottish storyteller and USA Today bestselling author Daniel Allison. Discover breathtaking stories from around the world, all told in Daniel's intimate and lyrical style. Also featuring guest spots from the world's best oral storytellers.
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 96
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Episode 16: Where Music Comes From
The story comes from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and the version I based my telling on is called 'The Dark Doctor' in 'Celtic Sea Stories' by George Macpherson. I've made a few little tweaks but th…
Episode 15: The Kitchen Gods with Charlotte Elizabeth
This episode was recorded at Storyfest Singapore in June 2019, where I was fortunate enough to see a group of young storytellers perform. The group had been mentored by festival organiser and legenda…
Episode 14: Stone Soup
A European folk-tale that feels absolutely universal.
In some versions, there is an axe in the soup, instead of stones.
No source for this - I've only ever heard it orally. Try telling it yourself - i…
Episode 13: The Flying Head with Ana Maria Lines
A Brazilian tale from storyteller Ana Maria Lines.
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Episode 12: Kiss of the Crow Queen
An episode from the Tain Bo Cauilgne, The Cattle Raid of Cooley, the great epic of Irish & Celtic oral literature.
A great translation of the Tain is:
The Tain by Ciaran Carson
I've been so inspired by …
Episode 11: Fox & Dog
A tale from the legendary Scottish Traveller storyteller, Duncan Williamson.
I heard this on an audio recording of Duncan. The same story can be found in:
'The Coming of the Unicorn' by Duncan Williams…
Episode 10: The Makers of Dreams
A story from the island of Skye, on Scotland's west coast. It can be found in my book, Scottish Myths & Legends.
Skye also plays a part in the Cuchulainn legends, when Cuchulainn comes to the island t…
Episode 9: Why We Tell Stories with Martina Pisciali
Our first guest on House of Legends is Martina Pisciali, a young storyteller from Italy whom I was fortunate enough to work with at Storyfest in Singapore.
Martina is a regular performer at Raccontam…
Episode 8: Do Not Weep Yet
A classic Russian tale, taken from Men and The Water of Life by Michael Meade.
Dedicated to Mon, Head Trainer at Diamond Muay Thai, Koh Phangan.
Learn more about Michael's amazing work as a storyteller…
Episode 7: Town of Cats
A literary, pseudo-folk tale by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami, featured in his novel IQ84.
Support the podcast by buying an ebook for the price of a cup of coffee here.
Get Daniel's free full-col…
Episode 6: The Corpse Bride
This story is taken from:
'The Creative Fire: Myths & Stories on the Cycles of Creativity' by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Estes is best known for her seminal work 'Women Who Run With The Wolves'. If you enj…
Episode 3: Seventy Languages
In this episode we visit Siberia for the story of Seventy Languages.
This story was taken from ‘Singing Story, Healing Drum’ by Kira Van Deusen. Other recommended volumes by the author are ‘Raven and…
Episode 2: Ossian & Niamh
The classic Celtic legend of Ossian and Niamh, in which the son of Fionn Mac Cumhaill travels to Tir Nan Nog, Land of the Ever Young.
Support the podcast by buying an ebook for the price of a cup of c…
Episode 1: The Hunter's Tears
This episode welcomes you to the House of Legends before taking you to the Kalahari Desert for the story of the Hunter’s Tears.
If you would like to learn more about the San or Bushmen people, who tel…