Religion & SpiritualityChristianity

The Great Tales

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, Dcn. Seraphim Richard Rohlin, and Ancient Faith Ministries

Myth, Legend, Christ

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21 episodes
fortnightly
English

Episodes 21

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August 18 · length unknown
The Odyssey Part Deux-ly: Departed Suitors
Father Andrew and Dn. Seraphim pick up the Homeric threads again, wrapping up their discussion on The Odyssey. All the beauty and nostalgia of the homecoming, plus the brutality of the ancient world, are on full display in this second half.
August 6 · length unknown
The Man of Many Twists and Turns
Father Andrew and Dn. Seraphim return to the Bronze Age to tell the story of a man who was variously identified as the Trojan War's greatest hero or its greatest villain.
July 2 · length unknown
Kullervo: Born for Ruin
PARENTAL ADVISORY: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE UPSETTING FOR CHILDREN. Kullervo is one of the most memorable figures in the Kalevala, the great poetic compendium of Finland. His compelling haplessness and dark story drew the interest of Tolkien and still command our attention today.
June 18 · length unknown
The Queen of Serpents
One of the greatest tales of Lithuania is Eglė, Queen of Serpents. We welcome our friend Fr. Gintaras Sungaila live from Lithuania to talk about this story as well as to share Baltic tales from the late medieval period which mix saints with pagan gods.
June 5 · length unknown
Fate the Mighty
How do you live in a collapsed civilization? Three Old English poems stand out for their reflection amidst loss - "The Ruin", "Deor," and "The Wanderer." Their elegiac power still sings across a thousand years and teaches in our own time of collapse, loss, and uncertainty.
May 21 · length unknown
Mermaid's Tale and Raven's Wing
Fr. Andrew and Dcn. Seraphim tell you three tales from medieval romance and legend -- tales concerning mermaids, monsters, and the Raven of St. Oswald.
May 8 · length unknown
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.
April 23 · length unknown
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.
April 3 · length unknown
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.
March 20 · length unknown
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.
March 6 · length unknown
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.
February 27 · length unknown
The Quarrel of the Queens
#HoaryNorthernWinter continues as we come to one of the most famous scenes in the Volsunga Saga: the Quarrel of the Queens, the moment when everything breaks for Sigurd and the Gjukings. Atilla the Hun makes an appearance.
February 13 · length unknown
The Cup of the Gjukings
We continue #HoaryNorthernWinter as we resume the Volsunga Saga and find out what happens to our great dragon-slaying hero when he comes to the Hall of the Gjukings and is offered certain magical draughts...
January 16 · length unknown
The Rhizomatic Evolution of the Nibelung Dragon-Slayer
The story of Sigurd the dragon-slayer is one of the most celebrated tales in all of European literature—but it doesn't come to us in a single, authoritative form. Instead, it spreads like a root system across languages, centuries, and cultures: Old Norse sagas and Eddic poetry, Middle High German epic, Scandinavian ballads, and medieval German song. In this episode, we begin mapping that rhizomatic network, introducing the major sources that preserve the Völsung-Nibelung tradition before diving
January 3 · length unknown
Dragonsbane of the North
Greatest among the Norse and Germanic tales is the Völsunga saga – the story of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, the cursed ring of Andvari, and how a powerful family of storied warriors went up (literally) in flames. Let the #HoaryNorthernWinter begin!
Dec 19, 2025 · length unknown
The Beowulfian Apostle
Fr. Andrew and Dcn. Seraphim conclude their discussion of "Andreas," the Old English poem about St. Andrew rescuing St. Matthew from an island of cannibals. One of the wildest stories involving the apostles is told in multiple early sources, from the 4th-century Greek "The Acts of Andrew and Matthias among the Anthropophagi" to Homily XIX in the 10th-century Old English Blickling Homilies to the 1700-line 10th-century Old English poem “Andreas,” found in the Vercelli manuscript. In this story
Dec 5, 2025 · length unknown
The Flood of St. Andrew
Delving into Old English sources, Fr. Andrew and Dcn. Seraphim read “Andreas,” the 10th-century poem that looks and sounds like Beowulf and tells the tale of how St. Andrew rescued St. Matthew from a city of cannibals.
Nov 22, 2025 · length unknown
Two Pilgrim Tales
Back from their pilgrimage to Scotland and Northumbria, Fr. Andrew and Dcn. Seraphim tell two tales from the road -- how St. Cædmon went from shepherd to hymnographer and how St. Oran insisted he be buried alive on Iona.
Oct 8, 2025 · length unknown
The Wight Stuff
It was a graveyard smash. From the fjords to the graves, it caught on in a flash! Our hosts tell some Viking-age ghost stories, from Grettir’s late-night tussles with draugr to Angantyr’s rude awakening. Prepare for a monster mash of restless dead, barrow brawls, and heroes who know how to crash the crypt. In this very special episode recorded live at The Lord of Spirits Conference, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Dcn. Seraphim Richard Rohlin tell some Old Norse stories about waking the dead, put
Sep 19, 2025 · length unknown
Sleeping Beauty and the Bird Bombardier
The hosts of The Great Tales podcast read and discuss two strange, dark, wondrous, and perplexing fairy tales: Little Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) and The Juniper Tree.

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