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The Story of Nikita the Tanner
In a Certain Kingdom
English - June 16, 2021 10:14 - ★★★★★ - 111 ratingsChristianity Religion & Spirituality russian fantasy myth mythology storytelling subcreation orthodoxy orthodox church christianity Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Previous Episode: Dobrynia Nikitich and the Dragon
Next Episode: The Wedding of Dobrynia, son of Nikita.
In our second dragon-themed tale, Kiev the great city's perfect existence is darkened by a terrible dragon. It promises not to destroy the city, but only if the people offer it a beautiful maiden once a month. Finally, it's the princess's turn. Her only hope of avoiding a terrible death is a humble tanner living in obscurity outside the city. But he wants to have nothing to do with dragons...
In the analysis section, Deacon Nicholas offers some thoughts about how evil can emerge in reality, and how the good stories explain the emergence of evil not only in metaphorical terms, but in actual ones. Turns out that not only are fairy tales comforting, but they may be indispensable if we want to avoid the emergence of evil in our own lives.