Grey Tales

Cris Frickenschmidt
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Mythology, folklore, legends. We all know and love them. But where did they come from? How did they evolve? How is everything connected. Let's dig in together. This is a journey into the stories that come from the darker days of old.

  1. Jul 25

    The Fire Burns — But the Witch Is Lying | The Invented Tradition From the Alps

    Every year on the first weekend after Ash Wednesday, thirty-metre wooden towers are erected across Vorarlberg, Austria — and set ablaze along with a gunpowder-filled witch doll. The custom is called "Funken," it's UNESCO-listed, and the standard explanation is: ancient paganism, driving out winter demons. But is that really true? In this episode, I follow up on a viewer suggestion and uncover a story far more surprising than any myth. The fire may trace back to Roman antiquity — to the Vestal Virgins and the sacred flame rekindled on 1 March, the old Roman New Year. The witch, however, is barely 200 years old: a nineteenth-century invention inspired by the Brothers Grimm, designed to revive a dying tradition. And she stands in sharp contrast to the real witch persecutions in Vorarlberg, where more than 120 people — ninety per cent of them women — were executed. An episode about fire, myth, political identity, and the question of who actually has the right to tell a story. Sources & Further Reading:— Manfred Tschaikner: "Damit das Böse ausgerottet werde." Hexenverfolgungen in Vorarlberg im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. Bregenz, 1992.— Manfred Tschaikner: "Die Lust, Hexen zu verbrennen." In: Der Bludenzer, 1996.— Manfred Tschaikner: "Wohin mit den Funkenhexen?" In: Vorarlberger Nachrichten, 3/4 February 2024.— Reinhard Johler: Die Formierung eines Brauches. Der Funken- und Holepfannsonntag. Vienna, 2000.— Matthias Zender: Die Termine der Jahresfeuer in Europa. Göttingen, 1980.— Franz Josef Fischer: Der Funken- und Küachlesonntag in Vorarlberg und Liechtenstein. 1921.— Hermann Bausinger: Zur Kritik der Folklorismuskritik, 1969.

    The Fire Burns — But the Witch Is Lying | The Invented Tradition From the Alps

  2. Jul 23

    (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 4/4)

    The grand finale of our four-part series on the real myths behind the monsters of "The Witcher" takes us away from the Slavic forests – south, to Portugal, Spain and Galicia. There the bruxa waits: in the games a beautiful, deadly vampire; in real folk belief a child-killing night-witch who turns into a bird and comes through any crack. We follow her trail all the way back to ancient Rome – to the strix in Ovid – and with that we close the circle to the striga from Part 2: because the bruxa and the strzyga are, in truth, the same ancient creature. We visit the Basque witch trials of Zugarramurdi, meet the inquisitor Salazar Frías, who ended the Spanish witch-burnings – and ask, one last time: who tells a story, and why? 📖 Further reading & sources: • Andrzej Sapkowski: "A Grain of Truth" (Ziarno prawdy, 1989; in "The Last Wish") • Oswald Crawfurd: Portugal, Old and New (1880) – Northern Portuguese bruxa folklore • José Leite de Vasconcelos: Tradições Populares de Portugal (1882 ff.) • Ovid: Fasti, Book 6 (c. 8 AD) – the strix • Daniel Ogden: The Strix-Witch (Cambridge University Press, 2021) • Carmelo Lisón Tolosana: Brujería, estructura social y simbolismo en Galicia (1979) • Julio Caro Baroja: The World of the Witches (Las brujas y su mundo, 1961) • Gustav Henningsen: The Witches' Advocate – Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition (1980) • Carlo Ginzburg: The Night Battles (1966) & Ecstasies (1989) • José Miguel de Barandiarán: Diccionario de mitología vasca • Aurelio de Llano: Del folklore asturiano (1922) – the guaxa #Bruxa #TheWitcher #Witcher3 #BloodAndWine #Vampire #Witch #IberianMythology #Folklore #Zugarramurdi #strix #GreyTales A note: this episode touches on historical witch persecution, infant death, and violence against women. Take good care of yourself.

    (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 4/4)

  3. Jul 10

    Guardian, Devil, Monster: The Leszy's Lost Face (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 2/4)

    He's one of the most iconic creatures in "The Witcher 3": the Leshen, a towering forest terror with a deer skull and antlers. But in Part 3 of our four-part series on the real myths behind the monsters of "The Witcher," we uncover the truth: that face is largely invented – a modern "invented tradition." We dig up the real Leszy: the master and shepherd of the forest, neither good nor evil, who leads travellers astray, makes pacts with shepherds and hunters, and punishes greed. We follow the famous "leading astray" motif all the way to a genuine scientific study on walking in circles (Souman et al., Current Biology, 2009), watch Christianity turn the guardian into a horned devil – and ask, at the end, why we summon this forest monster back today. 📖 Further reading & sources: • Tomasz Z. Majkowski, Magdalena Kozyra & Aleksandra Prokopek: "The Invention of Leshy," in: Games and Culture (2025) • Alexander Afanasyev: Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature (1865–1869) • Sergei Maksimov: Nechistaya, nevedomaya i krestnaya sila (1903) • Dmitry Zelenin: Ocherki russkoi mifologii (1916) • Kazimierz Moszyński: Kultura ludowa Słowian, Vol. II (1929–1939) • Aleksander Gieysztor: Mitologia Słowian (1982) • Linda J. Ivanits: Russian Folk Belief (1989) • W. F. Ryan: The Bathhouse at Midnight (1999) • Jan L. Souman et al.: "Walking Straight into Circles," in: Current Biology 19 (2009) • Vic Tandy & Tony Lawrence: "The Ghost in the Machine," in: Journal of the SPR (1998) – infrasound

    Guardian, Devil, Monster: The Leszy's Lost Face (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 2/4)

  4. Jul 7

    Strzyga: From Roman Owl-Demon to Cursed Princess (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 3/4)

    It's the very first monster of the Witcher saga – and the moment Geralt became a hero: the striga, a cursed princess who rises from her crypt by night. In Part 2 of our four-part series on the real myths behind the monsters of "The Witcher," we uncover where this creature truly comes from.We follow the trail from Andrzej Sapkowski's debut (1986) back to Roman Zmorski's fairy tale "Strzyga" (1852) – plagiarism accusation and all – then on through the Roman owl-demon strix in Ovid, to the disturbing folk belief in two souls, two hearts and two rows of teeth. We open the "vampire graves" of Drawsko and Pień, hear the literary echo in Gogol's "Viy" – and ask, at the end, who the real monster was.📖 Further reading & sources: • Roman Zmorski: "Strzyga," in: Podania i baśni ludu w Mazowszu (1852) • Andrzej Sapkowski: "Wiedźmin" (in: Fantastyka, 1986; collected in "The Last Wish") • Magdalena Roszczynialska: "Nowa baśń: 'Strzyga' Romana Zmorskiego i 'Wiedźmin' Andrzeja Sapkowskiego" (2003) • Ovid: Fasti, Book 6 (c. 8 AD) – the strix and the boy Proca • Aleksander Brückner: Mitologia słowiańska i polska (etymology strix → strzyga) • Szymon Gonet: "Strzygonie," in: Lud, vol. 3 (1897) • Henryk Biegeleisen: Śmierć w obrzędach, zwyczajach i wierzeniach ludu polskiego (1930) • Kazimierz Moszyński: Kultura ludowa Słowian, vol. II (1929–1934) • Jarosław Kolczyński: "Jeszcze raz o upiorze (wampirze) i strzygoni (strzydze)," in: Etnografia Polska 47 (2003) • Gregoricka, Betsinger, Scott & Polcyn: "Apotropaic Practices and the Undead," in: PLOS ONE (2014) – Drawsko cemetery • Prof. Dariusz Poliński, Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń – Pień excavation / "Zosia" (2022/2023) • Nikolai Gogol: "Viy" (1835) • Paul Barber: Vampires, Burial, and Death (Yale University Press, 1988)#Striga #Strzyga #TheWitcher #Witcher #SlavicMythology #Vampire #Folklore #Zmorski #Gogol #GreyTalesA note: this episode deals with historical folk beliefs around death and burial. If these themes feel heavy for you right now, take good care of yourself.

    Strzyga: From Roman Owl-Demon to Cursed Princess (The Witcher: 4 monsters and their origin, part 3/4)

  5. Jun 27

    Lady Midday – The Deadliest Ghost Appears in the Brightest Light | The Real Myth Behind THE WITCHER: 4 Monsters explained

    Geralt calls her a "Noonwraith." The Poles call her Południca. And in Lusatia she was feared as the Noon Woman — sickle in hand. In Part 1 of our new four-part series on the real myths behind the monsters of "The Witcher," we dig up where the deadliest ghost in Slavic legend truly comes from: a demon who doesn't appear in the night, but in the merciless light of the noon hour. We follow her from the Witcher contract "The White Lady" through the Sorbian legends of Lusatia and the biblical "noonday demon" to Dvořák's chilling tone poem — and ask, at the end, what CD Projekt Red changed about the old myth. And why. 📖 Further reading & sources: Karl Haupt: Sagenbuch der Lausitz, Vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1862) – "Die Mittagsfrau. Připolniza"Johann Georg Theodor Grässe: Der Sagenschatz des Königreichs Sachsen, Vol. 2 (Dresden, 1855/1874) – "Das Mittagsgespenst"Edmund Veckenstedt: Wendische Sagen, Märchen und abergläubische Gebräuche (Graz, 1880)Friedrich Sieber: Wendische Sagen (1925) – "Die Mittagsfrau fragt zu Tode"Elias Canetti: Crowds and Power (Masse und Macht, 1960), chapter "Question and Answer"Kazimierz Moszyński: Kultura ludowa Słowian (Folk Culture of the Slavs)Karel Jaromír Erben: Kytice (1853), ballad "Polednice"Antonín Dvořák: The Noon Witch (Polednice), Op. 108 (1896)Research of the Sorbian Institute / Serbski institut on the Noon WomanPsalm 91:6 (Vulgate 90:6): "daemonium meridianum"#LadyMidday #Poludnica #Noonwraith #TheWitcher #SlavicMythology #Folklore #Lusatia #Sorbs #Mythology #GreyTales

    Lady Midday – The Deadliest Ghost Appears in the Brightest Light | The Real Myth Behind THE WITCHER: 4 Monsters explained

  6. Jun 21

    Hitchhiking Ghost: The White Lady of the Ebersberg Forest, Bavaria, Germany

    Forty minutes east of Munich lies one of the largest unbroken forests in Germany — ninety square kilometres, with not a single settlement to break it up. Cutting straight through it runs State Road 2080, and along it, level with the lonely Hubertus Chapel, a "White Lady" is said to walk at night: the ghost of a cyclist who supposedly bled to death in the forest after a hit-and-run. She waves drivers down, gets in without a word, and vanishes again — or grabs the wheel and steers the car into a tree. The problem: that accident never happened. No record, no bicycle, no body. And yet the locals would rather take a nightly detour than drive the stretch. In this episode we ask how a ghost is born out of nothing. We trace the White Lady back to the death omen of the House of Hohenzollern and the pagan-Germanic goddess Perchta, we meet the international "Vanishing Hitchhiker," and we descend into a forest that lies over a pagan boar cult, Iron Age graves, and the skull of a plague saint. What we're left with is an unsettling realisation: the White Lady of the Ebersberg Forest is the only ghost whose birth we can watch almost in real time — a legend that formed before our eyes, in the age of the internet. Further reading / sources: Jan Harold Brunvand: The Vanishing Hitchhiker. American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (1981)Johann Georg Theodor Grässe: Sagenbuch des Preußischen Staats, Vol. 1 (the legend of the White Lady)Oskar Schwebel: Die Sagen der Hohenzollern (1878)Jacob Grimm: Teutonic Mythology / Deutsche Mythologie (on Frau Holle / Perchta and white female figures)Wikipedia: "White Lady (ghost)," "Ebersberg Forest," "Ebersberg Abbey," "St. Sebastian (Ebersberg)"Bavarian State Office / BfN on the Ebersberg Forest (history as a sovereign hunting forest, forest layout)Süddeutsche Zeitung, Ebersberg local section, on the modern haunting legendNote: This episode deals with a legend. It is folklore and folk studies, not a documented criminal case.

    Hitchhiking Ghost: The White Lady of the Ebersberg Forest, Bavaria, Germany

  7. Jun 16

    This German Vampire Doesn't Bite. It Chews. From Inside the Grave: The Nachzehrer

    In 1576, a gravedigger on a plague island in the Venetian lagoon reopened a mass grave. One of the corpses — a woman — was bloated, red-lipped, and her burial shroud was torn to shreds around her open mouth. It looked like she had been eating. He grabbed a brick and shoved it between her jaws. In 2006, archaeologists found her. The brick was still there. The Nachzehrer is the forgotten vampire of German folklore — and it is nothing like the one you know. No cape, no fangs, no castle. This undead lies in its coffin and chews. First its shroud, then its own flesh. And through an invisible, magical connection, everyone it was close to in life begins to waste away. You don't see it coming. You just get tired. Pale. And then you die. In this episode, we trace the Nachzehrer from the plague pits of medieval Germany to the academic vampire debates at the University of Leipzig. We uncover the Kashubian Vjesci — a near-identical creature from Poland's Baltic coast — and the eerie "Empty Night" ritual designed to catch the undead before burial. We examine the forensic science that explains everything the gravediggers saw: the bloating, the red lips, the torn shroud, the sounds from underground. And we visit the Venice find — a 16th-century woman with a brick in her mouth, whose face was reconstructed by scientists in 2024, more than 400 years after she was declared a monster. 🔔 Subscribe for deep dives into folklore, the uncanny, and the stories that refuse to stay buried.

    This German Vampire Doesn't Bite. It Chews. From Inside the Grave: The Nachzehrer

  8. Jun 11

    Elizabeth Báthory Was Walled In Alive. The Reason Will Disturb You. All about the Blood Countess.

    Imagine a bathtub. Stone, or maybe copper. In a cold chamber of a castle high in the Carpathians. Filled not with water — but with the blood of young girls. In it sits a countess who believes this bath will keep her young.Nearly everyone knows this image. It is one of the most famous horror stories in Europe. And it is an invention. It appears in no court record. No witness ever described it. It was written 115 years after the woman's death by a Jesuit scholar who never met her.Elizabeth Báthory — the Blood Countess. 650 victims, says a legend. 80, says a court verdict. Zero, say some historians today. In this episode, the final chapter of the Carpathian Trilogy, we lay out every side. The countess as sadist. The countess as political victim. And the long, dark space in between where the two can no longer be separated. We trace the rigged trial of 1611, the torture confessions, the phantom number of 650, and the revisionist case that Báthory was destroyed by Habsburg debt, Counter-Reformation politics, and a cousin who happened to be Palatine. And we ask why the most enduring image — the blood bath — was fabricated a century after her death, and what that tells us about every monster story we've ever been told.This is the third and final episode of the Carpathian Trilogy. --------------------------------🔔 Subscribe for deep dives into folklore, the uncanny, and the stories that refuse to stay buried.

    Elizabeth Báthory Was Walled In Alive. The Reason Will Disturb You. All about the Blood Countess.
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About

Mythology, folklore, legends. We all know and love them. But where did they come from? How did they evolve? How is everything connected. Let's dig in together. This is a journey into the stories that come from the darker days of old.

Information

  • Creator
    Cris Frickenschmidt
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Cris Frickenschmidt
  • Show Website
    Grey Tales