The Great Tales
The Great Tales
Myth, Legend, Christ
Myth, legend, and story communicate history, meaning, identity, and the highest truths about both the seen and unseen world. Both ancient Israel and the Christian Church recorded, preserved, rewrote, commented on, and found edification in the great, epic tales (as well as the lesser ones), whether they originated inside or outside the people of God. Join Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Dcn. Seraphim Richard Rohlin as together they read the great tales.  Music attribution: Cold Journey by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Support podcasts like this and more!
Donate Now

Sorted by:

Best match applies when episode search field is filled.
Page
of 8
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Hagiography or Legend?
Special guest co-host Dcn. Nicholas Kotar joins us to tell the story of Russia’s strange tradition of mashing up saints’ lives with fairy tales.
Thursday, April 23, 2026 115 mins
O Death, Where is Your Sting Now?
The week after Bright Week, Fr. Andrew and Dcn. Seraphim read some of the most intense and exciting poems from the Christian tradition, both East and West, about the harrowing of Hell.
Thursday, April 2, 2026 120 mins
Three Bardic Beatdowns
Our hosts recap three legendary poetic showdowns: Väinämöinen vs. Joukahainen in the Kalevala, Homer vs. Hesiod in ancient Greece, and Taliesin vs. an entire court full of Celtic bards. Find out who's bussin' and who's suss, who was spitting fire and who got fired.
Thursday, March 19, 2026 104 mins
Burgundians Behaving Badly
We continue #HoaryNorthernWinter with a turn toward the German tellings of the Volsung story, the Nibelungenlied, and Þiðreks saga. Rather than being translations of the Norse material, these versions transform the story and characters and also tell some tales of their own.
Thursday, March 5, 2026 117 mins
The Scourge of God
#HoaryNorthernWinter continues with the final showdown with the Huns and the fall of the House of the Gjukings. While we're on the subject, we'll look more deeply into the ancient conflict with the Huns that scarred the pysche of Germanic storytellers for a thousand years.
Page
of 8