Soria Moria Castle and The Death Of Koschei The Deathless | The Lang Fairy Tales: The Red Fairy Book (1890)

On today's episode of the Lang Fairy Tale Project we have a double bill!

First comes Soria Moria Castle, performed by Eleanor, which feels like a story built out of parts of other possibly better tales. Does it have original things to offer, besides a witch with a nose so long she can stir soup with it?

Then it's time for The Death of Koschei The Deathless, read by Martin, which features many elements listeners might recognise from Eleanor's telling of Vasilisa The Brave over Christmas.

Yet in this original translation, despite some awesome writing, seems to miss out key elements of this very famous story.

We chat about all this at the end of the episode, and wonder if Baba Yaga could ever really be so easily dispatched...

Launched in 2025 to help us bridge gaps between main series, we began by sharing readings from us of the iconic stories found in the Blue Fairy Book compiled by Andrew Lang. From the Red Fairy Book onwards, we have also spent time digging into the stories, their histories and relationships to tale types, and are engaged in an ongoing mission to celebrate the woman truly behind the 12 coloured fairy books – Andrew’s wife Leonora, whose impact on children’s literature and fantasy fiction cannot be understated.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

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