Astonishing Legends16 Feb 2020

The Pied Piper of Hamelin Part One

In the year 1284 CE, a remarkable and colorfully dressed young man came to the town of Hamelin in Lower Saxony, Germany. There are two documentations of this wanderer’s visit, the originals of which have since been lost. According to the contemporary Hamelin chronicle and a depiction in a stained glass window in a local church, this handsome stranger began to play his flute through the streets. Enchanted by the notes, 130 children from the town followed him into the woods, never to be seen again. In the hundreds of years since the supposedly real event occurred, the most significant addition to the story would be the reason for the mass kidnapping. After successfully ridding the town of a plague of rats using his musical pipe, the payment the piper was promised was withheld by the mayor and the town leaders. Furious at his being cheated, the magical visitor took their children as his payment. This later variation of the narrative we have all come to know as “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” Today, we may think of this story as a children’s Fairly Tale. But as the Brothers Grimm had noted themselves, and who are partly responsible for making it known to the world, this is a legend and not a Fairy Tale. The difference is that legends are considered to be based on actual events, people, and places. In relation, it’s also said that there is a kernel of truth to every legend. If that is accurate, then the real Pied Piper event may be far more mysterious and tragic than we could have imagined, either as children or adults.

For more information on this episode visit our website!

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(444)

S1 Ep33: Scare Bear

In tonight’s Dead Letter, Kaleb recounts a few paranormal experiences, starting with a childhood memory of a stuffed bear that seemed to turn its head on its own, but for some bizarre reason didn't fr...

10 Juni 202528min

S1 Ep32: Great Balls of Fire

In tonight’s dead letter, Forrest and Scott read a submission from Misael, who recalls a bizarre childhood encounter involving a blue ball of fire that appeared while he and his sister were playing ba...

3 Juni 202529min

S1 Ep31: The Tipping Point

In tonight’s dead letter, listener Barry talks about the strange phenomenon of table tipping. He recounts an experience from 25 years ago, when he and a friend attempted to raise a heavy coffee table ...

27 Maj 202537min

The Pascagoula Abduction with Philip Mantle Part 2

We are once again joined by investigator Philip Mantle to dive back into the Pascagoula Abduction with Part 2 of our series, peeling back layers of a story that stretches far beyond one night in 1973....

24 Maj 20251h 57min

S1 Ep30: The Glowing Visitor

In tonight’s dead letter, a scientist recounts an eerie experience from his teenage years on Long Island. A self-proclaimed skeptic, he describes waking up one night to see a glowing, humanoid figure ...

20 Maj 202525min

The Pascagoula Abduction with Philip Mantle Part 1

In October 1973, as the Vietnam War waned and Watergate filled headlines, two friends in Pascagoula, Mississippi—Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker—had an encounter that would shake them for life and b...

18 Maj 20251h 47min

S1 Ep29: The Dog Walker

In tonight’s dead letter, Scott and Forrest read a listener submission from Karena in Semaphore, Australia, who recounts a puzzling experience during her morning walk. On a bright, hot summer's day, s...

13 Maj 202531min

The Rhine Institute: Extraordinary Evidence

This week, we’re heading into the world of parapsychology with a visit to the legendary Rhine Research Center in North Carolina—an institution that’s been quietly pushing the boundaries of the human m...

11 Maj 20251h 50min