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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,

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Speaker 1: ideas and monsters in time. Make no mistake, the winter

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Speaker 1: holidays are a time of monsters. The Yule Lads sneak

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Speaker 1: in from the shadows, Gorilla hungers for the flesh of

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Speaker 1: naughty children in the darkness, and sinister crampus stalks down

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Speaker 1: from the snow covered peaks with chains and switches and

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Speaker 1: child basket in tow. Even Santa Claus is an immortal

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Speaker 1: being who rules over elves and bioluminescent reindeer. But the

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Speaker 1: creatures I want to highlight today are the Calcanzari from

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Speaker 1: the legends and folklore of Greece. They are described as giant,

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Speaker 1: shaggy satyr like creatures, not entirely unlike the crampus of

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Speaker 1: Alpine traditions. But the Calkanzari are subterranean creatures. They thrive

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Speaker 1: in the dark, they hate the light, and above all else,

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Speaker 1: they hate the world tree, which supports the heavens with

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Speaker 1: its lofty branches and even connects the underworld through its

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Speaker 1: vast system of roots. The Calakanzari, in their tunnels gnaw

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Speaker 1: or saw the roots of the world tree in an

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Speaker 1: attempt to fell it and bring down the universe as well.

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Speaker 1: But as winter sets in during the time between Christmas

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Speaker 1: and Epiphany, the nights grow long and dark enough that

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Speaker 1: the Calakanzari conventure above ground, and so they neglect their

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Speaker 1: great work of undoing and instead damage crops, kill livestock,

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Speaker 1: and dance, dance, dance. If they catch you alone on

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Speaker 1: the road at night, they might make you dance and

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Speaker 1: dance and dance till you die of exhaustion. Though likewise,

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Speaker 1: as Cloris Carol Rose points out in Giants, Monsters and Dragons,

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Speaker 1: you might also defeat the Calakanzari at their own game

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Speaker 1: by keeping them dancing until the sun finally comes up.

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Speaker 1: But alas it is a season of darkness, the Calakanzari

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Speaker 1: run wild. Even human infants born during this time must

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Speaker 1: be tested to make sure they are not actually creatures

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Speaker 1: of the dark. But after the day of Epiphany, the

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Speaker 1: days grow longer again and the Calakanzari can no longer

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Speaker 1: rule the night above ground. Grumbling, they return once more

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Speaker 1: to the destruction of the World Tree's roots system and

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Speaker 1: find that during the holiday festivities, the roots have regenerated

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Speaker 1: completely and they must now begin their work all over again.

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Speaker 1: Tune in for additional installments of the Monster fact or

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Speaker 1: the Artifact each week as always as you can. Email

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Speaker 1: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.