In this episode, the storyteller Kathy Shimpock, will read you the Grimm tale, "The Goose-Girl at the Well." It's a tale within a tale - a story of a young girl's initiation into womanhood and the guiding hand and protection of the wise crone. First discussed in an earlier podcast (S1, #4), this story just won't go away! It is categorized as Aarne-Thompson tale type 923 ('Love Like Salt'). But even more importantly, the old woman in this story is a study of delightful contrasts. Both young and old, trickster and crone, she has much to say about being the elder!
Story: "Goose-Girl at the Well" (no. 179) recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Grimm's Household Tales, trans. by Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell & Sons, 1884).
Cover illustration by Arthur Rackham in Grimm's Fairy Tales ( 1901).
Music: The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.
For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).