Folklore Podcasts to Know
Compiled by J. S. Hopkins for Hyldyr, July 2023. Special thanks to Danielle Cudmore.
Maybe you’re on a journey from point A to point B, perhaps you’ve a lot of repetitive tasks ahead of you, or maybe you’d just like a little audio company. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a podcast.
In this article, we take a look at some of our favorite podcasts focused on folklore studies and look at a few examples emphasizing a variety of folklore of particular relevance to Hyldyr, what we today call Norse mythology.
We’ll update and expand on this article over time. Enjoy!
Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments
IRELAND
A fantastic and unique folklore podcast focused on contemporary Ireland. As the podcast itself puts it: “Bluiríní Béaloidis is the podcast from The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin, and is a platform to explore Irish and wider European folk tradition across an array of subject areas and topics. Host Jonny Dillon hopes this tour through the folklore furrow will appeal to those who wish to learn about the richness and depth of their traditional cultural inheritance; that a knowledge and understanding of our past might inform our present and guide our future.”
Brute Norse Podcast
USA & NORWAY
Equal parts funny, educational, and bizarre, Norwegian academic and artist Eirik Storesund's podcast takes two general forms: a. Wonderfully presented and well-researched podcast essays often focused on Scandinavian folklore and related topics, and b. interviews with scholars that here and there even break big news. While you're at it be sure to also check out Storesund's Troll Cat Press for even more excellent explorations of this material.
Fair Folk Podcast
CANADA
Nomadic scholar Danica Boyce lives and breathes folklore in all its forms. Join Boyce as she traverses the land, making field recordings and carefully analyzing material. We're especially fond of her eternally relevant almanac episodes but don't miss her interview episodes with scholars like folklorist Terry Gunnell. Boyce’s folk music selections are always a treat.
Folklore & Fiction
CANADA
Truly unique and a real treat, everyone has something to gain from tuning in to folklorist Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran's Folklore & Fiction podcast. Expect to find much discussion for both the budding folklorist and author, and if you're an author who intends to draw from folklore—as the greatest do—you'll find this podcast to be a particular treasure trove.
More Folklore Podcasts
Can’t get enough folklore topics in your podcast? Curious what else is out there? We recommend heading over to the American Folklore Society’s list of folklore podcasts. There you’ll find no shortage of discussion and features about diverse folklore topics.
Example: Norse Myth
What we know as folklore takes many different forms: traditional recipes, folktales, legends, traditional jokes, charms, traditional games, folk belief, ghostlore, traditional riddles, and so forth. In this section, we’ll take a look at how podcasts handle one specific form of folklore: myth. This topic can be defined in a variety of ways but here we’re using a very simple definition of myth, ‘stories about gods’. And in this section we focus on a specific variety of myth often relevant to Hyldyr activities, the bodies of myths known to us today from speakers of ancient North Germanic languages—Norse mythology.
the nordic mythology podcast
UNITED KINGDOM
Daniel Farrand's extremely prolific Nordic Mythology Podcast is something of a nexus for scholars and artists working with the topic of Norse mythology. The style here is casual and conversational, providing unique insight into the minds behind many of the very formal studies we see on these topics. Many episodes also feature Hyldyr collaborator Mathias Nordvig.
NORSE MYTHOLOGY: THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
USA
Although only one of many types of folklore, myth is a great stepping stone toward becoming more familiar with the topic of folklore in general. And if you’re new to what we today know as Norse mythology—the body of myths of speakers of North Germanic langauges—and you're looking for some well-considered discussion about it in audio form, then this is the podcast for you.
THE SACRED FLAME PODCAST
USA
Frequent Hyldyr collaborator Mathias Nordvig's podcast, recorded in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Here Mathias takes a more personal approach to his reception of topics like Nordic mythology. Consider this podcast something of a Germanic philology fireside chat with one of the most active scholars in the field today.
See Also
