Episode 335: The Return of Bird Husband
/We’re feeling nostalgic, so we’re bringing back an old favorite: THE BIRD HUSBAND. We explore the trope, its origins, and various types of birds who wind up as various types of husbands. As we discover, it’s hard to be a bird.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, animal death, animal injury, abusive relationships, imprisonment, forced marriage, sexual references, and violence.
Housekeeping
- Recommendation: This week, Julia recommends the video game, Dredge.
- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
- Call to Action: Check out Exolore: Helping you imagine other worlds, but with facts and science! Every other week, astrophysicist/folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier explores fictional worlds by building them with a panel of expert guests, interviewing professional worldbuilders, or reviewing the merits of worlds that have already been built.
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Transcript
AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: And I'm Julia.
AMANDA: And this, Julia bird Husband, bird husband. It's the return of bird husband, bird husband.
JULIA: Yeaaaah, it is. So I—I've really like— I was thinking about hey, what are things from early Spirits that we haven't returned to lately? Like I was thinking, man spaghetti warehouse what a great time you know, there's so many good stuff there, we had heck poppers and of course Amanda, bird husband.
AMANDA: Episode 23, Julia Koschei the Deathless, was friend of the show. Still a listener of the show. Past or future guests if on [1:14]
JULIA: Yeah, it has been a very, very long time since we've had an example of this kind of story. And I mean, like more recently, we've talked about the animal bridegroom trope, that Beauty and the Beast falls under. And we've talked about animal wives when we talked about crane wife and the variation of animal wives in those tales. But it has been so long since we talked about Bird husband.
AMANDA: That's right.
JULIA: Oh, gosh. and we were, of course, immediately enamored when we heard about bird husband during Koschei the Deathless. But now Amanda, we were but children back then, you know, we were both—
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: —innocent, unmarried youths, and now we're both married folks. So I wanted to—
AMANDA: That's true.
JULIA: —revisit our friend Bird Husband, to see if he is as wonderful as we remember him being.
AMANDA: Okay, let's do it.
JULIA: In the Aarne Thompson Uther Index, the ATU index as we've talked about before on the show, there is a category, a trope known as the bird lover, but also the prince as bird.
AMANDA: Very good.
JULIA: Those are just great titles, you know. Like if I was reading any story where it was like bird lover, or Prince as bird, would 100% be on board.
AMANDA: I'm down. I'm like, I'm taking out the book. I'm renewing the loan already. I'm ready to go.
JULIA: So the index usually defines the story as one in which a woman takes on a bird lover who is usually a nobleman, who is in the shape of a bird, who she finds because he has been wounded by some sort of trap. Usually set by either the woman's husband or father.
AMANDA: Yeah, we saw in crane wife, a lot of reversions of this.
JULIA: Yes, and so she is able to tend to the wounded Berge, cures his injuries, and then later marries him. You'll see that there are some variations, but those beats exist here In most versions of the story. But perhaps one of the most famous versions of the story is by [3:14] who famously coined the term fairytale. She was the first one to create the phrase fairytale. I'll be it in French, but the translation was fairy tale.
AMANDA: No big deal, no big deal.
JULIA: Now her version of the bird lover is the blue bird, which we will get to very shortly. But of course, while that is the most quintessential version of the tale, it was published in 1697. And folklorists have traced the origins of the story to at least the Middle Ages, if not earlier. So of course, as we all know, even though the quote-unquote “quintessential version” was written down and published on a certain date, there's almost always an oral tradition that predates the publication.
AMANDA: Exactly.
JULIA: So one of the clearest examples of an early version was from a French poet whose name is Marie de France, which was not her actual title. It was just kind of a pen name. She's like, my name is Mary, I'm from France. And so they're like, Marie de France.
AMANDA: That's like when I call myself USA author on my earliest chat boards. I was maximum 10 years old.
JULIA: And hey, it was still technically true. You are technically an author from the US.
AMANDA: That's right.
JULIA: So she was a poet who lived in England during the 12th century and famous in—
AMANDA: Wait in England?!
JULIA: I know that's why, that she was— she was Mary from France. So she had to specify like, no, no, I'm not English. I'm from France.
AMANDA: I was gonna say love that just you know, author pen names that we use on internet chat boards, far predate the internet.
JULIA: Well, she was probably writing— I wouldn't say the same level of poetry as 10-year-old Amanda on the chat board. But she did famously write these kinds of narrative poems, 12 of them. One of which did resemble the framework that would become The Bird Lover. And while this is probably the earliest version written down that we have of the tale, there are versions that can be found throughout Europe, such as in Greece, Italy, Spain, Russia, as well as around the world in the Middle East, Algeria, Egypt, Chile, Brazil, and Mongolia.
AMANDA: Right on.
JULIA: But Amanda, let's start with the most quintessential version, which we mentioned earlier, which is the Madam [5:24] the bluebird. So this was first translated to English in 1892 by Andrew Lang, after being published first in French, as I mentioned before in 1697. And the story goes, this is quite a long story, but it's going to set up the beats that we're going to see and all the later ones, so bear with me here.
AMANDA: I'm ready, Julie, I'm strapped in.
JULIA: Woo, let's go. So the story goes that when a wealthy King lost his beloved wife, he eventually fell in love with a fellow widow, and the two were married. The king from his first marriage had a daughter named Florine, and the new queen had a daughter from her previous marriage named Truitonne. Florine was, as the stories usually go beautiful and kind and good, while Truitonne was ugly and spoiled.
AMANDA: Classic stepsister situation.
JULIA: Classic. And as it also usually is, in the case of these stories, the new queen and her daughter became jealous of Florine, her beauty, and the love that the king had for his daughter. Sounds very familiar already, right?
AMANDA: Yeah. And also in like advice columns from right now, this is truly a tale as old as time.
JULIA: Damn, damn. So one day the king decides that the two daughters have come of age, and it was time to arrange their marriages. And shortly after a prince comes to visit the kingdom. The Queen immediately sets her sights on this prince to marry her daughter, to making sure to dress Truitonne in the best dresses and all of the jewels. And she even goes a step further bribing Florines maids to steal and hide all of her dresses and jewels, so she couldn't even compare to Trutitonnes finery, right? However, the moment that the prince sees Florine, even in her plain clothes, and without any jewels, he falls in love and pays Truitonne no mind whatsoever. Despite the Queen trying her best to be like, this is my daughter, look how beautiful she is, don't you want to marry her?
AMANDA: And Julia, I'm sure the queen had absolutely nothing to say or do in response to this and was like, hmm fair enough. Fair enough,
JULIA: Amanda, of course, they became enraged immediately, and decide to basically nag the king to hide Florine away until the prince leaves. The king reluctantly agrees and the Queen sets to trying to win the prince over on Truitonne's behalf, right? She sends him gift, after gift but every time he learns that they are from the Queen and Truitonne, he refuses them. And eventually, the Queen just gets so mad at him that she snaps at him and she tells him that Florine has been locked in a tower, there's no way he's gonna get to see her, it's just not gonna happen. So the prince immediately is like, fucking excuse me, you do what? Take me to her at once. And the queen, she sees an opportunity here Amanda. She says okay, meet me at the bottom of the tower tonight and I will sneak Florine down and you will be able to see her there, right?
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: So the prince does that. However, in the dark, the Queen brings Truitonne—
AMANDA: No!
JULIA: —instead of Florine.
AMANDA: No.
JULIA: And the prince unable to see in the darkness, asks for Truitonne's hand in marriage, instead of Florine's.
AMANDA: Fucking dastardly, y'all.
JULIA: It was— it truly, truly dastardly. Now, in an odd turn of events for this type of fairytale, Truitonne has a fairy godmother.
AMANDA: Oh, really?
JULIA: Whose name is Mazilla. Now, you know that's like interesting to me at least because that typically is a trope that would belong to the heroine of the story, not the like quote-unquote “evil stepsister” but—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —I mean, I guess if you're royalty you get a fairy godmother, no matter how nice and good you are?
AMANDA: I would assume right, that like the— the one without a champion is the one who gets supernatural assistance like Truitonne's, you know mom. The queen is—is doing the literally everything to try to champion her daughter. So it's— it's unusual to me as well.
JULIA: Yeah. Truitonne asks Mazilla to help her trick the prince on the wedding day so that he doesn't realize his mistake. He hasn't realized that he's asked for the wrong woman's hand in marriage. But the fairy godmother is kind of like, hmm this prince is kind of smart. This might be a little bit difficult to do. I'll do my best, but we'll see what we can do. So on the wedding day Truitonne brings forth the ring that the prince has given her when he thought that she was Florine and makes a case that like hey, you proposed so—and I have this ring, so that means you should be marrying me. However, realizing that he has been tricked, obviously, the prince refuses which makes a lot of sense. He shouldn't have to marry a woman that he doesn't want to marry. Mazilla, Fairy Godmother seeing that he will not be persuaded to marry her goddaughter basically, curses the prince for breaking the vow that he made, which transforms him into a bluebird.
AMANDA: There we go. Now, Julia, you have some experience with bluebirds, they— they live in your yard, do they not?
JULIA: I have blue jays and I love them—
AMANDA: [10:12]
JULIA: —they're my favorite. They're aggressive motherfuckers.
AMANDA: I was gonna say so bluebirds are not, blue birds are a little more you know, little more to themselves. Like any— any bluebird characteristics that you want to bring to the episode right now?
JULIA: I mean, they're gorgeous. They're usually blue in at least the US. The bluebird might be different in Europe and across the world. But in the US they are blue with kind of like a bright orange breast and they look gorgeous, and they are a little bit more to themselves and quiet. Kind of the opposite of a bluejay [10:44]
AMANDA: Yeah, yeah, but that's cool.
JULIA: But like, you know, a majestic bird. Certainly.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: So the Queen pissed that this is the choice that the prince made, rather than marry her daughter blames, of course, Florine her stepdaughter.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So she brings Truitonne to Florine, dressed up in her wedding clothes, and lies and says that the prince has agreed to marry to Trutionne, not Florine. She then tells the king like, oh, Florine is so obsessed with this prince. She'll ruin the wedding if you let her out of the tower. You must keep her up there until she comes to her senses.
AMANDA: Brutal.
JULIA: Absolutely brutal. So basically, Florine is just locked in a tower pretty much permanently. But the night that the wedding is supposedly happening, which we know it's not, the prince in the bluebird form flies to the top of the tower and is able to tell Florine the whole story about like, what's happening, what happened to him, how he's not actually marrying her stepsister, etc, etc.
AMANDA: I got two questions for you here Julia.
JULIA: Go for it.
AMANDA: One, where towers to lock princesses in, this common? Or is it one of those things where like, you know how as a kid watching like the Wild Thornberrys and shit, you thought that quicksand would be a much bigger part of adulthood than it has ended up being for us here in suburban North America, you know? Is locking princesses in towers the thing that happened a lot, or is it just like a very evocative trope of stories like Rapunzel and etc?
JULIA: I think it's a very evocative thing because I imagine usually towers are for like storage, like things that you want out of the way and not easily accessible.
AMANDA: Like lookouts, right or like an observatory—
JULIA: Sure.
AMANDA: Maybe a prison, like I get the utility of it?
JULIA: Yeah, and I mean, like, it's also the isolation of it, right? Like there's usually only one access to it, so you can get in and out very easily.
AMANDA: The fire escape, yeah.
JULIA: Fire escape. But there's a window, and so in these stories, at least a bird can easily access it.
AMANDA: Okay, fair, fair. And two, Julia, what would you do if a bird land on your windowsill and talk to you in a grown-ass man's voice?
JULIA: Hmm. Hmm.
AMANDA: Like knowing me, I probably answer.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: I probably down to— to sort of meet it where it is.
JULIA: Well, I mean if you're gonna discover in a lot of these stories, a lot of women are just instantly like, okay, I'll marry you.
AMANDA: Okay, okay.
JULIA: And now, looking out as a married person, simply can't do that.
AMANDA: I mean, occasionally I'll get like a squirrel or a pigeon landing on like my air conditioner, right which is in my window, but not inside my house. And I'll be like, oh, honey, honey, look at the bird, look at squirrel, and then take a picture of it. And if the bird said don't take a picture of me, I might just fall over. I don't even know what I would do.
JULIA: I would definitely like scream for Jake being like the birds talking to me, come look at this.
AMANDA: Fair.
JULIA: And knowing him as is usually the case when I tell him hey, come look at something, he's like five minutes late to the thing and I'm just like it's gone now. The talking bird, you missed it, so.
AMANDA: You missed it. That'll teach you.
JULIA: So these visits between Floribe and bluebird prince, who I'm going to refer to bluebird prince from now on.
AMANDA: Good.
JULIA: Go on for years. Years, Amanda.
AMANDA: Years?! What?!
JULIA: Where he is still a bird and Florine is still trapped in a tower
AMANDA: I thought they had maximum a couple of weeks of courting before they figured this shit out.
JULIA: Years!
AMANDA: Wow.
JULIA: In the meantime, Amanda, the Queen has been trying to make another match for her daughter. But every single one of her potential suitors eventually rejects her. So frustrated. She goes to see Florine in her tower, but spies on her singing with the Bluebird. Now Florine she sees, releases the bluebird back out of the window, but the Queen sees that Florine has these like luxuries in the tower that she definitely didn't have before. Such as like beautiful jewels and dresses, and all these kinds of things, right? So the Queen instantly is like, you are getting some sort of aid here. I'm gonna accuse you of treason.
AMANDA: Great.
JULIA: Which is a bold statement to make.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: But cannot come up with any evidence. So she assigns a spy to dig up dirt on Florine.
AMANDA: I like how the king is totally absent here.
JULIA: Mm-hmm. Yep. Sure is.
AMANDA: Can't get involved. Can't—can't help at all. Can't stand up for your own kid.
JULIA: I'm sure that a lot of this is happening without his knowledge.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: Yeah. Like we've watched a lot of Game of Thrones.
AMANDA: Oh especially, yeah, marriage and domestic affairs, like uh you— you deal with that to the Queen.
JULIA: Exactly. So Florine, suspecting that the Queen might be up to something, does not call for her bluebird lover for several days. But when she discovers the spy and sees that he has fallen asleep on duty, she calls the bird back to her. However, Amanda, but they're not being very careful about their whole affair. And so the spy overhears their meeting and relays it to the Queen.
AMANDA: Damn. Maybe I just woke up in a vicious mood, but I really thought you were gonna say that bird prince pecked out the spy's eyes.
JULIA: That'd be nice. That'd be good, but then you like wouldn't be rooting for him really, unnecessarily because you're like, man, that's violent, huh?
AMANDA: Yeah. Or if I feel like if this was a Russian tale, then that definitely would have happened.
JULIA: That's true. That's fair. Well let's wait until the end of the story, you'll see what happen.
AMANDA: [15:46]
JULIA: So the queen now knowing that the bird perches in a nearby fur tree, orders that its branches be covered with glass and sharp metal. So that if he lands there, he'll be wounded and unable to fly.
AMANDA: Woah.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: Intense.
JULIA: Hardcore. So when Florine next calls to him, he lands on the tree, injures himself as planned. And when he cannot fly to Florine's window, she believes that he has given up on her and becomes heartbroken. Which you know, a safe assumption, it's been years.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: It's been years. I feel like my self-doubt would also be like, no, he didn't show up, and it's just because you haven't been able to really be together for years and years, and that's on you. And of course, he hates you.
AMANDA: Yeah, I—I get it. Right, or like he could break the curse. And so he like is back to his life or whatever. I get. No, no judgment for Florine in this situation. She's in a tough spot.
JULIA: As is the Prince, Amanda because he's a bird and injured right now. However, a passing magician hears the sad song that the bird Prince is singing, and so saves him from the tree. And he as a fellow magic user, goes to Mazilla, who again is the fairy godmother who transformed the Prince in the first place.
AMANDA: Am I picturing the Firefox logo as you say this? Yes, I am. I know it was spelled differently. I like it.
JULIA: So he asks her to transform the prince back into a man. If only for a few months, and then at the end of those months, if he is still not agreed to marry Truitonne, she can transform him back into a bird which Mazilla agrees to. But Amanda, around the same time, the king, Florine's father, you are wondering where he has been.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Well, he's died.
AMANDA: Oh, great. Fucking no help at all, dying right away. Damn.
JULIA: Yeah. The people like the just citizens of the kingdom are pissed, because obviously, they don't want the Queen to be the queen because she's proven herself to be extremely cruel. And so they, Amanda, straight up revolt.
AMANDA: Oh, good. Okay, France come through.
JULIA: I know, right? They demand the release of Florine, that she can be queen. And when the Queen tries to resist, they just kill her.
AMANDA: Ohhh. [laughs]
JULIA: They make Florine the Queen, and then Truitonne flees to her fairy godmother for protection, because she's like, hey, they killed my mom.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: I don't think the new queen feels very good about me. Please, please help me.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So Florine as Queen prepares to go on a journey to try to find her bluebird Prince now that she is free, and she's like, I want to know what's going on with this dude, right?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So she disguises herself as a peasant woman. Which if this is your first order of business as queen, I have a couple of questions, which is to leave your kingdom behind? Probably not great.
AMANDA: Yes, like thank you, thank you citizenry for revolting and deposing the old leader. Great news, I will be back in four to eight weeks depending on the roads and the horses. Don't worry about me.
JULIA: So she disguises herself as a peasant woman and goes on her journey. And eventually, she comes across an old woman who turns out to be a fairy like Mazilla, right? So she tells Florine that the prince has returned to his human form because he has agreed to finally marry Truitonne. Florine is of course, heartbroken again but the fairy offers her help to win him back, by giving her four magical eggs.
AMANDA: This is like hour three of a Christopher Nolan movie, Julia. This keeps turning and turning.
JULIA: Truly is. There's like at least two more hours and you're like Christopher Nolan, please wrap it up.
AMANDA: Come on, no one cares as much about Dunkirk.
JULIA: So she takes the eggs from the fairy and sets out for her task once again. The first egg that she cracks open allows her to climb a great ivory hill that stands in her way. Very classic kind of fairy tale stuff. The next egg she cracks open, reveals a chariot pulled by doves, which she uses to quickly traverse to the castle where her prince and Truitonne are. However, because she is still disguised as a peasant woman, she is barred entry from the castle. So she's like, what am I going to do here? So she instead tells the guards, listen, I have these jewels that I wish to sell to the Queen. Their jewels fit for royalty. Can you please take me to her so that I can show them to her and see if she's interested in them?
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: So the guards let her in. Truitonne sees the jewels, she's like, oh yeah, I'm interested in these. Let me take these back to my husband to see what they're worth. And so takes them and brings them to the prince and asks him hey, what do you think of these? Now Amanda, the prince looks at those jewels and it's like, those are the jewels that I gave to Florine. Oh no, my heart is broken. She must have pawned them off because she no longer loves me.
AMANDA: Real gift to the Magi situation.
JULIA: Real gift to the Magi situation. So he doesn't reveal any of this to Truitonne though. And the stepsister goes back to Florine to sell them, and Florine says that her price is one night in the chamber of echoes. Now, Chamber of Echoes is something that the prince had told her about while he was in bluebird form, and they were spending all these years and years together. Where it is a chamber in his castle, where anything said in that room of the palace can also be heard in the Princess's bedroom.
AMANDA: Sounds convenient.
JULIA: Convenient, very convenient. So Truitonne agrees to the sale. And in the night, Florine angrily tries to reproach the prince for leaving her and spends the night lamenting over their lost love, right? However, Amanda, what she doesn't know is that the prince each night takes a sleeping potion and cannot hear her in his sleep.
AMANDA: What the hell?
JULIA: Which I get it like I take my melatonin and pass out for the night. I understand.
AMANDA: I have my CBD oil. Fair enough. I live on a noisy street, whatever. But damn.
JULIA: I know right? So after her plan does not work and she gets no response from the prince. She breaks open her third egg, within contains a tiny coach drawn by mice.
AMANDA: Oh, adorable.
JULIA: Very cute. And she once again sells it to Truitonne for a night in the chamber of echoes and once again, cries and laments to this on hearing prince, who is sleeping too soundly to hear her.
AMANDA: Brutal. I'll also if I were Truitonne, I'd be like, you really do have a lot of stuff and really love that chamber, huh. I would— I would feel a little suspish.
JULIA: Yeah, she's like, nah, this carriage is cool, I'll take it like no big deal. I don't really care what you do, old lady.
AMANDA: I mean, I also would buy a tiny carriage drawn by mice if I had the chance.
JULIA: 100%.
AMANDA: Sounds adorable.
JULIA: Hey, if someone wants to send that to us.
AMANDA: Right?
JULIA: Even if it's not live mice, you know?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: That'd be cute. However, Amanda, while the prince is not hearing any of her lamenting, there are pages that can hear her cries within the King's bedroom because they're there you know. Either protecting or doing page things. The— you know, the typical stuff that happens around the king that he's like, I'm not going to concern myself with how these things get done.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: You just get done, right?
AMANDA: You close the curtains, you open the window.
JULIA: Exactly. So the next day, she opens the final egg which contains a pie with six singing birds within.
AMANDA: Okay, what happens with this pie?
JULIA: Well, Amanda, she uses the pie to bribe one of the pages to see if the prince has truly not been moved by her words. And she's like I've been lamenting, clearly, he must be hearing me.
AMANDA: He used to love when I lamented, what changed?
JULIA: I look at it all the time. And the page reveals to her that he takes a sleeping potion each night. And she's like, that makes so much sense now. And she's like, please, I'll give you this pie, just don't give him the potion tonight.
AMANDA: What is the page do with the pie? What do you do with that?
JULIA: I don't know. I don't know.
AMANDA: [23:33] cut it open, let the birds go.
JULIA: Yeah, do you eat it like—
AMANDA: No!
JULIA: And I don't know. So the page agrees and does whatever he does with the pies.
AMANDA: Whatever. Yeah.
JULIA: And that night finally the prince hears Florine from the Chamber of Echoes. And as soon as he hears her, he runs to the chamber, and the two are reunited.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Now, this would be all well and good, right, and Amanda and it would be a happy ending. If not for the fact that the prince, is already married to Truitonne.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And also the couple of fears reprisal from the fairy godmother, Mazilla who has already turned his men into a bird before.
AMANDA: I don't see how this could possibly end well.
JULIA: So Amanda, the magician from earlier that saved the prince.
AMANDA: The helpful wandering magician, yes.
JULIA: Yes. And also the fairy that helped Florine with the magic eggs, they show up in the assure the couple that they can protect them from Mazilla. And when Truitonne discovers the couple, the magician in the fairy transform her into a cow. And—
AMANDA: Oh, good.
JULIA: — Florine and the prince are married and live happily ever after the end.
AMANDA: Wow. That really wrapped up.
JULIA: Very neatly wrapped up.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Very neatly wrapped up.
AMANDA: Damn, what a journey.
JULIA: It is a book wild one, lots of twists and turns, a lot of really classic fairy tale tropes in there that we kind of like see as the groundwork used in other fairy tales. And we'll get to a couple more versions of this bird-husband story, but first, how about we grab a refill?
AMANDA: Only if there's a singing bird inside Julia, you know me.
JULIA: I'll have to do my best.
[theme]
JULIA: Hey, this is Julia and welcome to the refill. We have to start of course by welcoming our newest patrons, Born Stellar, Julia R., and Royal Butterfly. Welcome, welcome, welcome. As you can see, we're feeling a little nostalgic today with this episode. So we are so glad you've come to join us and join our little Patreon family. And if you would like to join our Patreon family, you can go to patreon.com/spiritspodcast today to become a patron and get cool bonuses like our ad-free tier at $8 a month. Or you can join our supporting producer-level patrons like Uhleeseeuh, Anne, Brittany, Froody Chick, Hannah, Jack Marie, Jane, Kneazlekins, Lily, Matthew, Megan Moon, Nathan, Phil Fresh, Rikoelike, Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Sarah, Scott, and Zazi. Or become a legend-level patron like Arianna, Audra, Bex, Chibi Yokai, Morgan, Sarah, Schmitty, & Bea Me Up Scotty. All of that and more can start at our basic level, which is $4 a month and we just go up from there with cool, cool bonuses like ad-free episodes, tarot readings, bonus urban legends episodes, and so, so much more. And all of that at patreon.com/spiritspodcast. And as always, I like to recommend to you something that I have been enjoying lately. And normally, I do not recommend video games to you all here, but I Have to recommend a really cool one that I have been enjoying. and that is a game called Dredge. I believe it's on Steam, but I have been playing it on Switch and it is so freakin cool. It's a fishing game, which I normally would not be anything about. But it's a fishing game with Eldritch horrors involved. And the idea that as you stay out later and you don't get enough sleep, things start to get really spooky and scary, so that is Dredge. Check it out, it's a really, really fun game. Speaking of really fun and interesting things, have you ever wondered what life would be like on a planet different from our own? Or how writers create your favorite fictional worlds? We'll here at Multitude you can wonder no more because Exolore is the podcast for you. Every other week astrophysicist and folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier explores fictional worlds by building them with a panel of expert guests. Interviewing professional world builders or reviewing the merits of worlds that have already been built. You will learn, you will laugh, and you will gain an appreciation for just how special our planet really is. So you can subscribe today by searching Exolore in your podcast app or going to exolorepod.com This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Listen, you are as a person constantly growing. And that's what's great about being a person, but sometimes it's really hard to be able to look at yourself and your life introspectively, right? 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And now let's get back to the show.
JULIA: Now Amanda, I was thinking about bird cocktails. And instantly the first one that came to my mind because I love tiki drinks was of course—
AMANDA: You do.
JULIA: —The jungle bird.
AMANDA: What's this guy?
JULIA: Oh, it is a super fun tropical rum drink. It features some rum, pineapple juice, lime juice, of course, but then also a little like bitter bite of Campari, which really balances out the sweetness of the drink. I'm a big fan of Jungle bird. It's one of the ones that I make most frequently in my home. And the recipe also usually calls for a simple syrup. But if you wanted to add an extra pop of color, sometimes I sub the simple syrup out for blue curacao, which I think also suits our bluebird story from earlier before the break.
AMANDA: I see what you did there.
JULIA: So enjoy a jungle bird, and let's tell some other versions of the story, featuring our bird husband.
AMANDA: Yay!
JULIA: Bird husband, he's a bird and a husband, bird husband.
AMANDA: Alright, Julia, what bird would your husband be?
JULIA: Ooh, if Jake was a bird. I'm always a big fan of when you're out like buy a body of water, and you see mallard ducks and they're always a couple because they bond for life, and they meet for life.
AMANDA: They do.
JULIA: I always go and I pointed them out like, Jake it's us. He was like yeah, so Jake would be a mallard duck. I think.
AMANDA: That's adorable.
JULIA: What would Eric be?
AMANDA: You know, I'm thinking about a Kestrel, which is like a small to medium Falcon. They are incredibly strong. They are farsighted just like my husband. And they are very, very good hunters. They'll eat like lizards and small mammals, and like dive at them from great heights. And they can roost in all kinds of environments, including in like urban ones. So I think it's really great. And also their feathers remind me of his beard, which has lots of like browns, and like blondes, and reds and different colors in it.
JULIA: Oh, I also thought an Osprey would be good for Jake. Just so I don't give him only, oh, you're a duck.
AMANDA: No, no, Osprey, Osprey also great, and live in your— in your environment.
JULIA: They do. They do. And they're also made for life, and also are very good parents and also love to fish.
AMANDA: So cute.
JULIA: We'd love them Osprey. So Amanda, how about I tell you one of my favorites, which is a version of the story from the Middle East called Tamara.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: So in the story, Tamara is the youngest of three sisters from a poor family, and is known to be of course quite beautiful. One day when she's out walking, she comes across a peacock, who of course speaks to her.
AMANDA: Classic.
JULIA: Telling her that her— his name is Prince Bahagin, and he is royalty who has been cursed by a sorcerer because his half-brothers desired his title. His curse means that he is a peacock during the day, but transforms back into a human at night.
AMANDA: Okay, I mean, that's not bad.
JULIA: It's not bad. And I was like, I know you say you're cursed, and it is, I'm sure it is a curse. But what if you just like ruled by night instead? Like you only held court at nighttime, and like you know, did all your meetings at night and then slept during the day while you were peacock? Like wouldn't that solve the problem a little bit?
AMANDA: Certainly workable. And what pop culture has taught me about royalty, they hate to get up early and they love to stay out late, so.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: You know, this could be—this could be a lot worse. I myself I think I prefer to be a bird in the nighttime, just because like you know, you're not going to be worried about like flying and getting hunted at night as much I would say. Probably all like little rodents and stuff are out, but also, nesting sounds lovely. And sleeping with my little head tuck in my little wings, sounds like a great way to pass the night as a bird.
JULIA: I wish my neck worked like that where—
AMANDA: Right?
JULIA: —I tuck it under my arm and be all comfy.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Like any time I see a cat that's like rolled up into a ball sleeping, I'm like, that's the dream.
AMANDA: It is the dream.
JULIA: It's dream man.
AMANDA: We did get an adult-size beanbag installed a memory foam recently, and it's an incredible addition to our life, but it does make me feel like a cat in a cat bed in the absolute best way.
JULIA: Oh, no, I don't need that. I have no room.
AMANDA: Well.
JULIA: Okay.
AMANDA: Well, I don't know I'm seeing some space behind you, Julia.
JULIA: Well, there's been cats there.
AMANDA: You could get away with the medium size. I had to get th— I had to get the big.
JULIA: Interesting, interesting. What if I just turned my desk chair into adult size beanbag?
AMANDA: You may have a risk of falling asleep while working. Pros and cons.
JULIA: Would the listeners like to hear 45 minutes of me snoring? Potentially.
AMANDA: Potentially.
JULIA: So this prince and Tamara they become infatuated with each other. And Tamara stays to see him transform from a peacock into a man when night falls, right?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So they begin to spend their nights together and every night he leaves a bag of gold for her before he transforms back into a bird and leaves her each morning.
AMANDA: Dang.
JULIA: Eventually the two become married, making him truly a bird husband.
AMANDA: Yep.
JULIA: And the prince invites Tamara's sisters to come live with them, which is very generous. I appreciate that. You got to—
AMANDA: So nice.
JULIA: — you got to take care of your in-laws. The sisters, however, as is typically the case with this kind of story, become jealous of the luxury that their sister has married into and her excellent match. So one day, one of the sisters overhears the couple discussing how if shards of broken glass just happened to be placed on her window paign, then the prince would be gravely injured.
AMANDA: No.
JULIA: Don't talk about your potential for grave injury in like, even if you think it's a private conversation, I feel like. Maybe write it down and then burn the note afterwards.
AMANDA: Yeah, just don't ever acknowledge your mortality. It's like the–0you know, in sort of Agatha Christie mysteries where people are like, oh, good thing nobody knows about my life-threatening allergy to walnuts or whatever.
JULIA: Yep, yep. And you're like, damn, son shouldn't have said that out loud.
AMANDA: Shouldn't said that.
JULIA: Now you gotta get murder via Walnut.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: The sister in her jealousy does exactly that. And when Bahadin attempts to fly into the room in his peacock form, he's badly injured, mortally wounded, one would say.
AMANDA: Oh my God.
JULIA: So he retreats back to his kingdom to see if you know, perhaps they can find a cure there, right?
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: Now Tamara is able to learn what has happened to her husband, and she sets out on a journey to cure him and eventually finds a cure. Returns to his castle and is able to save him and break the curse that was upon him at the same time in doing so.
AMANDA: Oh, hell yeah, dude.
JULIA: Hell yeah. Great. Like we love that story. And Amanda, it's a very common story, we're gonna see a lot of that in the future. So there's also a Greek version of the tale called The Merchants Daughter. And this one, is also very similar to some of the beats in the version of the Beauty in the Beasts that we did in that episode, right?
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: Basically, a merchant has several daughters, the youngest of which is named Daphne. So once before going on a trip, the Merchant asks each of his daughters if he could bring them back something from his travels. Daphne asks her father to bring her the golden ring, which happens to be not an item of mythical origins, Amanda, but rather the title of a prince from India.
AMANDA: So she's like, oh, Daddy, give me the golden ring. And he's like, nice. I'm a merchant I can afford things. I'll certainly get you a golden ring. And then she's like, oopsy doodle, I ordered a man.
JULIA: No, no, the golden ring. A lot of times in this version of the story. And there's a lot of versions of the story where it's got the same premise, but there's no bird. So I was like, I'm not gonna feature those.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: But there's a lot of like, there's three daughters, they asked for things. The third thing that the youngest daughter asks for is not actually a thing, but rather a person. And then he's like—
AMANDA: Impossible.
JULIA: I guess I'll bring the person [38:30] So the merchant meets this prince in his travels. And when the merchant describes his daughters to the prince, the golden ring tells him that he has seen Daphne in his dreams and has fallen in love with her from that alone. So he tells the merchant that he wishes for Daphne's hand in marriage. And he gives the merchant a letter, a cup, and a golden ring to bring back to her. Now Amanda you're probably wondering, like oh you know, a letter that makes sense introducing himself. a ring you know to propose marriage that makes a lot of sense. What's up with that cup?
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: [39:03] with the cup?
AMANDA: Why is there a cup? Maybe to like, I don't know toast their upcoming marriage, I guess? That could be nice little courting gift.
JULIA: That is cute. So the merchant returns home, he gives the gifts to Daphne. And then that night Amanda, the Prince having been transformed into a pigeon in order to meet Daphne by her window in secret, flies to her window, then jumps into the cup that he's gifted her which transforms him back into a human.
AMANDA: Whoa!
JULIA: It's a magic cup.
AMANDA: Magic cup, I love this.
JULIA: [39:33].
AMANDA: You know, I often wish for a magic cup that will keep my water cold, and filled and never get like that grimy stuff around the straw, you know?
JULIA: I agree. Yeah, that'd be nice.
AMANDA: That'd be nice.
JULIA: The two now, that he's come and visited her spend many nights in secret happiness together. Which always like is a kind of implication be like, they're having six out of wedlock, but they're never gonna—
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: —say that in the fairytale.
AMANDA: You know, I don't want to be crass, but I was saying earlier, like sex all night and gold, that sounds great with the—
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: —with the peacock husband.
JULIA: Hell yeah, hell yeah. So the pigeon husband even better now. So the two again spend many secret nights together, but once again as is often the case, Daphne sisters grow jealous of her happiness and they discover what the prince has been doing. So the sisters put a knife into the cup that transforms him back into a man—
AMANDA: No!
JULIA: —thus injuring him when he lands on it and bird form.
AMANDA: I am learning so many ways birds can get murdered, and also learning that you should never have daughters is I think the takeaway from all of this.
JULIA: Or just like make sure that they're not jealous of each other, I guess? Like, treat all them equally.
AMANDA: [40:38]
JULIA: Like let them you know, sort things out on their own.
AMANDA: Brutal.
JULIA: Communication, I guess? I don't know I'm an only child. [40:45] Much like in Tamara, the prince flees back to his kingdom to tend to his wounds. Now when Daphne discovers what has been done to her beloved, she disguises herself as a man and sales to India to try to find out what's going on with this prince. What happened to him? So while she is wandering the kingdom, she overhears a conversation between two birds, because, sure, why not?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Where they discuss how the prince could be cured. And they happen to mention that the prince can be cured by killing them, the talking birds, and then dipping their bodies into a magical spring to create an ointment that can heal him.
AMANDA: Classic. Saying your weaknesses in front of passing travelers.
JULIA: We talked about this in Rumplestiltskin. You can't just keep singing your social security number out for people to listen and hear.
AMANDA: Stop whistling your personal identifying information people. Not to victim blame, but a little bit to victim blame.
JULIA: Yes. Daphne, you know, does that because—
AMANDA: I mean, can you blame her?
JULIA: Yeah. So she does that, she kills those birds, she makes the ointment, she travels to the princess's castle, disguised as a doctor. Is a lot of disguises happening in the story, and I appreciate it.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: So she's allowed entry into the princess chambers. She's able to cure him with that ointment, heals his wounds, transforms him back into a man, and now healed the two are reunited and married.
AMANDA: Right on. I do appreciate the agency that a lot of these wives of bird husbands are displaying.
JULIA: They're doing a great job. It feels very much to me, especially that one in particular, like the Psyche and Eros story where it's like—
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: You got hurt, I'm not technically to blame. But I should do something to win you back. And this is what I'm going to do about it.
AMANDA: I like it.
JULIA: Yeah. A lot of these versions of the story feature a father going on a journey and then asking them what presents they would like him to bring back for them. But sometimes the story features a mother giving gifts to her daughters.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Not just daddy's who gives gifts.
AMANDA: Good.
JULIA: So in this Armenian tale, The Bride of the Fountain, a mother goes to buy dresses for her three daughters. But after buying two for her oldest daughters, she just kind of forgets to buy one for the youngest.
AMANDA: [42:59] it happens, got a lot of kids. They got a lot of things. I don't know. We left Austin behind once, it happens.
JULIA: So frustrated with her forgetfulness, she stops at a fountain and just like sighs very loudly. It's like, oh, I'm so silly. And just then a handsome man emerges from the fountain and asks her what's up? Why are you all upset? What's going on?
AMANDA: Ohh.
JULIA: She explains her situation and the whole thing with the Forgotten dress. And the man suggests oh, what you should do is returned to this fountain with your daughter and shout tush.
AMANDA: Tush?
JULIA: Tush.
AMANDA: Now what does that mean in Armenian, because I know it doesn't mean high knee.
JULIA: So the original translation is she needs to shout eh?
AMANDA: Oh, so maybe just like a— like a—
JULIA: I think it's a exclamation—
AMANDA: —noise [43:36]
JULIA: —of some kind.
AMANDA: Yeah. Okay.
JULIA: And the man who's like, so yell tush at the fountain, and perhaps you'll be rewarded, who can say, really?
AMANDA: Okay, high risk, high reward here. I don't think I would do it, but I do hope this person does.
JULIA: Well, she does.
AMANDA: Great.
JULIA: She gives the dresses to her two oldest daughters, and then returns to the fountain With the youngest. She shouts tush at the fountain. and the man appears once again giving the dress to the youngest daughter and then the mother. Somewhat inexplicable, inexplicably, I would say just decides to leave the youngest daughter With This magic fountain man. and then two months later, the girl returns back to her family. Oh, the girl seems very happy and once again the sisters grow very envious of her happiness. and they discover that the magic fountain man who has married the youngest girl has been coming to her window every night in the form of a partridge dam. as is the case with these stories. Once again place razors on the windowsill so that he is injured when he tries to enter.
AMANDA: It's hard to be a bird I had no idea. it's hard to be a bird. So again,
JULIA: He flies away after being injured and after many days of not seeing her bird husband. The girl realizes that something must be wrong and decides to go looking for him. She first goes to the fountain once again calls out tush To summon her husband, and he appears alongside his father and accuses her of being the one that put the razors on the windowsill and that he has not been able to heal his wounds from those razors, which I'm just like, why would she do like, was your marriage unhappy? Why do you think that she's the one that put the razor so on the windowsill? No idea,
JULIA: No idea. So the bird husband's father transforms as well into an eagle, and the eagle scoops up the girl and then drops her off in the desert.
AMANDA: Okay. Strong Eagle strong, small girl.
JULIA: I don't know maybe both the young girl becomes lost in the desert but soon comes across two men who are just like in the middle of a conversation about the best ways to cure certain ailments and injuries. Classic. So they say that the best way of healing razor wounds is to take the milk from a nursing mother who just gave birth to a son and then to mix it up With some dried blood.
AMANDA: I mean, all Right. I mean, I bet it's nutritious.
JULIA: So the girl gathers those ingredients returns back
AMANDA: She walks away anybody recently postpartum anyone a wet nurse.
JULIA: A little nurse a little milk glaze, please. Gosh. So she returns back to the fountain calls upon her husband tends to his wounds proves to him that she is not the one who intended harm to him. All is forgiven and they live happily ever after.
AMANDA: Oh, I mean yeah, alright. I am— I am truly loving all of these wild-ass recipes. That solves like very minor bird wounds like—
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: A bird lands on a piece of glass or a razor. I mean, their—their feetsis are really hard. It— they're meant to land on branches and shit.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: The knife and the cup, I— I totally understand. The other are like really mortally wounded.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah.
AMANDA: Maybe because their a bird husbands, they don't have the birds instincts. And so in a way that a bird would get close than be like danger, danger and then flap away. The bird husband doesn't.
JULIA: That is perhaps true. I also think that maybe— maybe the mortal wound is not actually the cuts, but rather their ego and being hurt so easily.
AMANDA: Yeah, and it's also—this is not the 21st century with like Neosporin and shit. So a wound can— any wound can become a mortal wound very easy without you know, antibacterial cream.
JULIA: We've all seen Game of Thrones, we know what happens.
AMANDA: We all seen it. We all know.
JULIA: Another version of this tale is a variation from Mongolia, and it is called the white bird and his wife.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Once there was a goat herd with three daughters. They lived a simple life, but one day their goats disappeared, Amanda. You can't be a goat herd if you don't have goats.
AMANDA: Oh shit.
JULIA: And so the eldest daughter takes it upon herself to go looking for them. So while searching for them, she finds a mysterious large red door in the forest. She goes through it and then finds within it a gate made out of mother of pearl. And then through that, an emerald gate.
AMANDA: Oh shit.
JULIA: So she passes through all three and finds within them a white bird, which appears to her and tells her that he knows where her goat herd is, and will tell her where she can find them. But first, she must agree to marry him.
AMANDA: Damn. High price. Goats are valuable, so.
JULIA: Oh, yeah, yeah. So someone understandably, she refuses to marry this random bird and returns back to her family without the goats. The next day the middle daughter goes to search for the goats, finds the same door, goes through them and the same white bird proposes the same deal. She also refuses. You can see where this is going. On the third day, the youngest daughter goes searching instead and the same thing occurs, she passes through the doors and finds the white bird. But unlike her sisters, she agrees to marry him.
AMANDA: Alright, I'm revising my takeaway here. It's not never have daughters. It's never had more than one daughter is the— is the real lesson.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah. She marries that bird joins him in his palace beyond the doors and returns the goats to her family.
AMANDA: Alright.
JULIA: Sometime later, probably a few months later, there is a festival that lasts 13 days at the local temple, and the youngest daughter makes her first appearance since marrying the white bird. However, while at the festival on the first day, she sees this mysterious handsome rider on a dappled grey horse. And she's very intrigued by this man. And when she returns back to her husband's palace, she tells him about the rider, but he's like very dismissive. He's like nevermind, I'm sure it's just nothing. Don't even worry about it.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: So the same thing occurs over the course of the festival. The man on the horse keeps appearing each day and catching the youngest daughter's attention. So finally the girl speaks to a wise old woman saying she believes that her heart belongs to this rider. And what should she do, ma'am, please your old telling me your ways. The woman advises the girls pretend that she's going to go to the festival, and then wait to see what her husband does after he thinks that she's left, right? Very classic. So confused but curious, the girl pretends to leave and then hides and watches her husband take off his feather skin and become a man, leaving on you guessed it, a dappled grey horse.
AMANDA: Julia, this is best case scenario. The stranger you're entranced by, is in fact, the one you're married to.
JULIA: Exactly. That's great. And so this woman is like, well, I want my husband to be a human always. I've been married to a bird for a very long time now. So she burns his perch, his bird cage, and the feather skin.
AMANDA: Girl, you're in a fairy tale. You know, there's a reason this man is a bird.
JULIA: So when he returns from the festival, she happily tells him that he could be a human now permanently. He can stay in human form. But the husband, of course, Amanda is distraught and tells her that his soul was inside the cave.
AMANDA: No!
JULIA: And now that it's been destroyed, both gods and demons can come find and punish him.
AMANDA: No!
JULIA: So he says, there's only one way to stop them from coming and getting me. What I need you to do is stand at the Mother of Pearl gate outside of my palace, and carve a stick for seven days and seven nights without interruption, and that will protect me.
AMANDA: Alright.
JULIA: Now this girl obviously wanting to make amends. She manages to resist sleep for seven days. But on the seventh night, she falls asleep and her husband is taken from her.
AMANDA: Shit.
JULIA: Yes, but ever the dutiful wife, she goes to search for him across the lands. Even in the heavens, Amanda, and she spends many years searching and searching. Until one day she hears a familiar voice up on a mountain.
AMANDA: Ohh.
JULIA: So she climbs the mountain, she follows a stream where she finds her husband, there in human form. He tells her that the gods had stolen him away to make him their water carrier. And he tells her that the only way to free him is to build a new birdcage. And in doing so welcome his soul in the form of a bird back. And so his wife does just that and is able to entice her husband's soul back, which frees him from his servitude, and reunites the couple. The end.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: We're really going places here.
JULIA: That's an intense one. That's got a lot of beats and steps, and twists and turns in it. The final version that I want to tell you is a Slavic story, which is known as the crow.
AMANDA: We got to end on some Slavic folklore.
JULIA: Of course. There's actually— if you want to read it for yourself, there's a great translation of this version of the tale in Andrew Lang's Yellow Fairy Book. So pick that up and read about it. So this story starts with a king with you guessed it, three daughters. He of course loved his youngest daughter the most because she was of course the loveliest and kindest of his children [52:51]. So one day the youngest daughter is walking through a garden near the ruins of an old castle and comes across a crow.
AMANDA: Sounds great, honestly. Sounds like a great day so far.
JULIA: Yeah, garden. Ruined forest, and now a crow? Great, I love it.
AMANDA: Incredible. I would text you and be like Julia, I'm walking here in abandoned castle, and there's a crow here. and you'd be like tight dude.
JULIA: Tight. Don't do with this girl is about to do. So the crow has been badly wounded and the young princess laments at the state of it. She's like, oh, this poor crow. Oh, n poor crow, are you okay? And the crow is like, no, I'm not okay. I'm actually a prince.
AMANDA: Great.
JULIA: And I've been enchanted to take the form of a crow and be cursed to stay like this for seven years. So he's like, listen, there is a way that you can help me and my suffering, and transform me back into a man. What you have to do, is you have to agree to live in the one remaining room of this ruined castle. You have to sleep on a golden bed each night without making any noise. And then you can free me from my curse sooner.
AMANDA: I did literally wake my husband up last night yelling no in a nightmare, after watching the episode of The Sopranos, where Tony has like a 35-minute nightmare. So I would fail at this task.
JULIA: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The Crow is like just as a fair warning, if you're unable to complete this task, I'm gonna get cursed for an additional seven years. They're gonna double my punishment.
AMANDA: The cross putting a lot of trust in this random girlie.
JULIA: Well, he's like, oh, you're so beautiful. And you seem so kind, and you seem so upset that I was hurt. Maybe your kindness will help save me.
AMANDA: That's fair.
JULIA: So of course she is pure of heart and wanting to help so the princess agrees and moves into the castle. Apparently didn't consult her father about this at all, but what can he do?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: However, Amanda, the crow failed to mention that every night at midnight, wicked ghouls and ghosts would appear in the bedroom and attempt to terrify the princess.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
JULIA: So that's where the whole, oh you have to stay quiet part comes from. So in spite of her fear, she refused to scream out in terror because of the deal that she made with this enchanted prince. One day her sister comes to visit her and wants to sleep in the golden bed, but it's so terrified when the ghosts and ghouls appear that she screams out. Not the princess who made the deal, but rather the sister. So the next morning the youngest princess is like, hey, listen, clearly you're not up for this task. I'm gonna have to do this alone so that I'm not tempted to also scream while you're screaming. And so she continues her horrifying nights alone, but silent.
AMANDA: Brutal.
JULIA: However Amanda there is like a ray of sunshine here because every morning she sees that the crow that she's doing all of this for, he seems to be doing better and better. He's healing, he's happier and he assures her like yes— yes this is really helping with my curse, right? Now this Amanda continues on for two years.
AMANDA: That's so long.
JULIA: It's so long, why is it so long? I figured this would be like yeah, do this for a month and then I'll be released from my curse.
AMANDA: Yeah, 30 days maximum 100, that's like more than 700 sleeps.
JULIA: At that point do just fucking wait it out. It's only seven years.
AMANDA: Dude.
JULIA: So after the two years of her being terrified every single night, the crow comes to her and he's like thank you for all you've done so far. I really appreciate it, we're getting real close now. But in order to complete this task and set me free, you have to work as a servant for a year.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: Yes. which you know this is a princess, she's only lived in luxury before. She's only been served by servants. Has never had to be the servant herself. And you know what, she agrees Amanda, she agrees. But in her new job, she is treated terribly by her new master. It is a slog. It is a difficult task that she has been burdened with. But she suffers in silence Amanda, and she doesn't give in. And when the year comes to an end, the crow is transformed back into a man and the two marry.
AMANDA: Wow.
JULIA: Amanda, she's shaking her head at me being like, girl was it worth it?
AMANDA: You know, in romance, there's happily ever afters of course. But then there are also happily for no,w is happy for now. Is where you know, maybe it's not a forever relationship. They don't all have to be—to be valuable I guess. And so you're happy for now? This is an I hope it was worth it relationship, because good God did she suffer.
JULIA: This is real I could fix him situation here.
AMANDA: Yes it is.
JULIA: Well luckily Amanda did all kind of work out in her favor because when they return after being married to the ruin of a castle in which they met, the castle has been fully restored back to its original glory. And the to live their happily ever after. Thankfully, also ghost free.
AMANDA: Okay. Well, the fact that you get a restored house out of it at the end, that changes the Calculus. I have a little more a—a little more on board with that now.
JULIA: Yeah, imagine it's like an HGTV show where it's like, alright, you're gonna have to suffer in kind of production limbo for three years, but when you're done—
AMANDA: People would do it, yes of course they would.
JULIA: — you get a full-fledged castle. And I'd be like yes, sign me the fuck up. I'll live in a motel for three years if it means I got a free castle at the end.
AMANDA: Sounds great.
JULIA: Fuck yeah. So, Amanda, those are some of the bird husbands that Have been spread out throughout folklore around the world. And there's— there's so many more Amanda, but did you have a favorite bird husband that you would be willing to marry that I talked about today?
AMANDA: My favorite bird husband is the bird husband I have.
JULIA: Damn right.
AMANDA: Eric Lauren Silver, my —my Kestrel, a medium prince, and my hubs.
JULIA: And shout out to my mallard ducks/Osprey, of a wonderful husband Jake, you're great.
AMANDA: Jake ZD.
JULIA: I love you. My sweet boy, Jake TZD. Now remember, listeners if you come across an injured bird that requires you to have nightmares for two years. Consider staying creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
[theme]
AMANDA: Spirits was created by Amanda McLoughlin, Julia Schifini, and Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Alison Wakeman.
JULIA: Keep up with all things creepy and cool by following us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. We also have all of our episode transcripts, guest appearances, and merch on our website. As well as a form to send us in your urban legends and your advice from folklore questions at spiritspodcast.com.
AMANDA: Join our member community on Patreon, patreon.com/spiritspodcast, for all kinds of behind-the-scenes goodies. Just $1 gets you access to audio extras with so much more. Like recipe cards with alcoholic and nonalcoholic for every single episode, directors' commentaries, real physical gifts, and more.
JULIA: We are a founding member of Multitude, an independent podcast collective, and production studio. If you like Spirits you will love the other shows that live on our website at multitude.productions.
AMANDA: Above all else, if you liked what you heard today, please text one friend about us. That's the very best way to help keep us growing.
JULIA: Thanks for listening to Spirits. We'll see you next week.
AMANDA: Bye!