In lieu of a standard episode disclaimer, I will simply say: I spent the whole book expecting the “Owl Service” to be some kind of organized operation, perhaps to threaten outsiders or deliver pellets into enemies’ quarters. Only now, upon reflection, do I realize that it is a description of the set of plates. I am a fool and the owls are beyond me. They should be flowers, anyway.

This book defies description and we laughed, cried and wondered in reading it for the first time. Thank you, as always, for introducing us to magnificent books that we missed in our childhoods! This one’s for our listeners.

SIGNIFICANT pronunciation disclaimer. It would be painful to come off as disrespectful of the Welsh language and its folkore when we are actually pronunciation-challenged and (unfortunately) too American. Please know that we love learning more about the Mabinogion and can only improve from here!

EPISODE MEDIA

This was a very visual episode! Visit https://www.dragonbabiespodcast.com/ to see everything we reference.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Grab your blood cakes and head to Mother Malkin’s pit! We’re reading Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney. As the seventh son of a seventh son, Tom is destined to become the Spook’s apprentice (at least according to his mom). He learns to trap boggarts under steel (just don’t get your fingers stuck!!) and imprison witches in barred pits - and makes friends like Alice, a girl with suspiciously pointy shoes, along the way. Grim, gross and fascinating, this is an apprenticeship like no other and we have so much to discuss. We are all witches, but are we good witches or bad witches? The Spook recommends putting us into pits just as a precaution. Join us!

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We take our first step outside the Abhorsen trilogy to learn more about Terciel and Elinor, aka Papa and Mama Sabriel! Beautifully streamlined storytelling adds series background - the basics of Charter magic at Wyverly, historical Ancelstierre/Old Kingdom relations, an exceptional gender-swapped playwright named Charlotte Breakspear - while bringing Tercial and Elinor together and giving their lives true purpose. A perfect prequel!

Our other Old Kingdom episodes:

Sabriel / Sabriel Redux

Lirael

Abhorsen

Music - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/