Fellow Christian artists: join Alicia Pollard in discussing how the eternal Word of God clarifies and beautifies the craft of retelling fairy tales. Whether you are retelling a fairy tale in the form of a novel, play, poem, short story, painting, or opera, the Bible provides the perfect illumination for ethics and aesthetics, morality and mystery. Artists who follow Christ have no better lantern than Scripture for studying a ...
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Alicia interviews C.S. Lewis (metaphorically) on how to retell a fairy tale in the light of Scripture. Lewis’s masterful novel Till We Have Faces (1956), a retelling of the fairy tale “Cupid and Psyche,” expresses the beauty of the gospel in the language of Greek/pagan mythology. Topics discussed include a little of Lewis’s journey in writing this story and his artistic process; his brilliant interpretation of the unseen husband, the sin of jealousy, and the veil images from the fairy tale; and the intersection of research and craft. Resources Huttar, Charles (2009) "What C.S. Lewis Really Did to "Cupid and Psyche"," Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis. Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1, Article 4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/1940-5537.1027 Ancrene Riwle — medieval text, includes an allegory of the Seven Deadly Sins Dorothy Sayers’s essay, “The Other Six Deadly Sins” Strong’s Hebrew on jealousy: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7067.htm Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Cody Martin’s “Gate of Alfheim”
Alicia returns to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” with a second guest, K.B. (Karin) Hoyle, to talk about Karin’s recently released retelling of the tale, Son of Bitter Glass. They discuss Karin’s interpretation/adaptation of flower symbolism; ravens; eternity and snow; romance and friendship; the fae; the rich imagery of fairy tales and folklore in general; and more. To order a copy of Son of Bitter Glass, visit the Owl’s Nest Publishers bookstore online. Resources K.B. Hoyle’s Son of Bitter Glass and the companion book that comes before it, Son of the Deep Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Third Age’s “Tuatha Dé Danann”
Alicia explores the Scottish folktale, “Aspittle and the Stoorworm,” and how an artist might interpret the title character, the sea dragon, and the battle in the beast in a retelling. Topics discussed include ashes, fire, and dreams; etiological tales; the Leviathan passage in Job; and the paradox of the weak overcoming the strong. Resources See “Aspittle and the Stoorworm” in Norah and William Montgomerie’s The Folktales of Scotland “At the Burial of the Dead” service from the Book of Common Prayer: https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/burial-dead Liver as the seat of the emotions - entry in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3516.htm William MacDonald’s Believer’s Bible Commentary on Job and Isaiah 27 See John Piper’s sermons on Job on DesiringGod.org Charles Simeon Trust Society's online course on Wisdom Literature, especially Douglas Sean O'Donnell's exposition of Job 42 Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales of the Past,” episode segments from Cody Martin’s “Taking the North”
Alicia Pollard and a returning guest, K.C. (Kimberlee) Ireton, discuss Kimberlee’s theological reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” They discuss the images of the mirror and the nature of evil; perfection in roses vs. snowflakes; isolation; resurrection; summer; and much more. Resources K. C. Ireton’s website: kcireton.com (Enter your email and get two free chapters of “A Yellow Wood”) K. C. Ireton’s Substack: kcireton.substack.com (Grab your free copy of “Rose at Dawn,” a fairy tale retelling) Tiina Nunnally’s translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales Albert Mohler’s talk on the noetic (knowledge-related) effects of sin: https://www.ligonier.org/posts/session-3-albert-mohler-2012-national-conference Vigen Guorian’s Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters For more on the Deadly Sin of Sloth (acedia), see R.J. Snell’s Acedia and its Discontents or Kathleen Norris’s Acedia and Me Music: intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from Adam Saban’s “The Enchanted Castle”
Alicia explores the beautiful sadness of the Celtic folktale “The Selkie Wife”. Topics discussed include a Christian perspective on literary tragedy; the themes of exile, the stranger, and a dual nature; and ocean imagery in Scripture. Resources Daniel Sarlo, entry for “Sea” in the Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016 More resources on the Biblical image of the sea: John H. Walton’s Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. H.R. Balz and G. Schneider’s Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament, volume 2 Tsumura, David Toshio, The Earth and the Waters in Genesis 1 and 2: A Linguistic Investigation. Gunkel, Hermann. Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton: A Religio-Historical Study of Genesis 1 and Revelation 12. The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) Song of the Sea (2014) “The Music Man” musical Ladies in Lavender (2004) William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “Othello,” and “Macbeth” Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex” and “Antigone” Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragedy of Dr. Faustus” John Gardner: “There are only two plots in all of literature: 1) A person goes on a journey., 2) A stranger comes to town.” Christianity and Literature 2017 conference, “Beauty in Exile,” Grove City College Music: Intro from Adam Saban’s “Tales from the Past”; episode segments from “West” by Shimmer