Adam's Christmas comes early as we find ourselves in an enchanted cat castle in this week's Grimm story.

When an old miller challenges his apprentices to find the best horse, one befriends a cat who promises to help. But is she more than she seems?

After the story, we find ourselves in early-modern Paris where we meet fairy tale behemoth Madame D'Aulnouy. We hear of her extraordinary life as well as a short version of her related story, The White Cat.

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Liszt's Waltz aus dem Ballet Die Amazonen // Leroy Anderson's The Waltzing Cat, performed by Markus Staab // Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15 - III. Blind Man's Buff, performed by Donald Betts

We take on Donkey Cabbages - one of the most bizarre and barmy tales we've heard in a while.

Not only do we get witches, giants and magic clouds, we also discover a new concept - the minimal counterintuitive hypothesis. What makes a story stick? Some scientists think they've found the answer...

We then briefly look at man-donkeys in storytelling, say hi to Shakespeare, and meet the long-forgotten German folkhero Fortunatus.

Here's a link to the paper we discuss in the episode: Memory and Mystery: The Cultural Selection of Minimally Counterintuitive Narratives

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Grieg's Holberg Suite, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston // Massenet's Toccata Jules Massenet, performed Jean Dube

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Rachmaninoff's Canon in E Minor, performed by Luis Kolodin // Rachmaninoff's String Quartett No. 2 performed by Steve Jones // Rachmaninoff's Etudes-Tableaux Op. 39 performed by Peter Bradley-Fulgoni // Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor

We’re back with a brand new series and a brand new volume of tales...

And we begin with The Four Skillful Brothers, a story of masterly thievery, improbable astronomy, dastardly dragons, and a man who sews up eggs.

After the story, we explore its origins before doing a deep dive on dragons: including the history of rescuing princesses from dragons in storytelling, and a patriotic stretch where we look into the Welsh red dragon and the story of St. George.

We can’t wait to get stuck into Volume 2; thanks for sticking around!

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Dvorak's Romance for violin and piano, performed by Goldstein and M Pavel // Schubert's Fantasy in C Major Op.15 D.760 'Wanderer' - I. Allegro con fuoco

We have our winner! Step on into the castle for a glitzy awards night where we reveal the Grimmbledon champion, as well as the results of the Special Awards.

Thank you so much to everyone who's listened and taken part.

We're away now for the rest of the summer. Click here to pick up a copy of our special Aladdin episode to see you through the hot (northern) summer days, otherwise we'll meet again round the fire for the Grimms' Volume 2 later in the year! As always, keep it grimm.

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, op. 58, G major (1st movement, allegro moderato), performed by Debbie Hu // Brahms' Waltz op. 39, No. 15, performed by Paul Cantrell

Find out which four stories survived the Semi-Finals and made it to the finals! Voting for the final is live right now. Cast your vote here:

https://forms.gle/xkvy8aVEd9EH4qkT9

Or visit www.grimmreading.wordpress.com/final

In the episode, we also read out voters' comments with their reasoning for their choices. And we launch a final Special Awards Poll. It's all go here as we ramp up for the final!

We'll be back soon to crown a champion. In the meantime, keep it grimm!

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Pathétique, Op. 13 - III. Rondo - Allegro 1

The time has arrived to finish off the Grimms’ Children’s Legends, and in this episode we hear the four remaining stories: The Twelve Apostles, Poverty And Humility Lead to Heaven, The Heavenly Wedding, and The Hazel Branch.

We again do our best to parse the piety and manage the misery, and rate them out of 10.

Still one day left to vote in Semi-Final 2. Link here: https://forms.gle/TjJnhyuZ3uVKEvrRA

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Brahms' Piano Sonata no. 3 in Fm, Op. 5 - I. Allegro maestoso, performed by Luis Sarro

It's the second (and last) of the Semi-Finals. Re-discover the sweeping and strange histories of the four competing stories and then cast your vote!

Semi-Final 2 voting link: https://forms.gle/TjJnhyuZ3uVKEvrRA

Battling it out are the tales:

• The Two Brothers
• The Valiant Little Tailor
• The Fisherman And His Wife
• The Elves And The Shoemaker

The top two tales from the poll will secure themselves a place in the Grand Final.

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Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko

Other Music: Brahms' Cello Sonata Cello Sonata No.1, Op.38, performed by Colliard and Ligoratti