WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Beast, from "Over the Garden Wall"

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb And This is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>Autumn is the perfect time to gather around the old

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<v Speaker 2>electric hearth we call a television set and watch the

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<v Speaker 2>twenty fourteen Cartoon Network animated series Over the Garden Wall.

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<v Speaker 2>In this much beloved show, we follow brothers Wort and

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<v Speaker 2>Greg through a woodland world of folkloric intrigue, vintage Halloween vibes,

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<v Speaker 2>old New England charm, and heartwarming whimsy. Created by animator

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<v Speaker 2>Patrick McHale, it features the voice talents of Elijah Wood,

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<v Speaker 2>Melanie Lynsky, Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, and Moore. Over the

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<v Speaker 2>Garden Wall is loaded with silliness in but it's not

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<v Speaker 2>without its spookier moments and its chief antagonist, an entity

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<v Speaker 2>known only as the Beast, really stands out as an

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<v Speaker 2>avatar of pure darkness. He appears throughout the series as

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<v Speaker 2>a shadowy, antlered figure with glowing eyes. And I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>going to spoil everything here, but we eventually learn that

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<v Speaker 2>this entity feeds on the despair and sorrow of children

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<v Speaker 2>and other individuals lost in the woods. The Beast is

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<v Speaker 2>an entity fittingly shrouded in mystery, but we can identify

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<v Speaker 2>various points of possible inspiration and connections to related traditions.

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<v Speaker 2>As is often the case in Western animation, we of

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<v Speaker 2>course must acknowledge the devil as part of the antagonist DNA,

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<v Speaker 2>but there are other more obscure notes as well. Now

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<v Speaker 2>some might point to modern depictions of the wind to Go,

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<v Speaker 2>a spirit from the traditions of the Algonquin people, but

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<v Speaker 2>is my understanding that these depictions of the wind to

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<v Speaker 2>Go as an antlered being are largely an invention of

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<v Speaker 2>non indigenous media depictions. Windigo traditions, however, and related Indigenous

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<v Speaker 2>ideas do touch on themes of wildness, wilderness and survival cannibalism.

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<v Speaker 2>A much clearer point of reference for the Beast, however,

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<v Speaker 2>can likely be found in Herna the Hunter, a spirit

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<v Speaker 2>important of doom from English tradition, tied to the woods

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<v Speaker 2>surrounding windsor castle covered in furs and bearing the skull

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<v Speaker 2>and antlers of a great stag. The entity might well

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<v Speaker 2>be tied to pagan worship of the Celtic fertility god Kurnunos.

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<v Speaker 2>We previously discussed Hernaw the Hunter in Our Stuff to

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<v Speaker 2>Blow Your Mind episode Ghosts of the Wind and Rain.

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<v Speaker 2>The basic iconography of an antlered or horned woodland spirit

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<v Speaker 2>may also connect to a variety of ancient gods of

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<v Speaker 2>the hunt. The beast may also have an analog in

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<v Speaker 2>Germanic tradition, the Earl King or Elf King, Alder King

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<v Speaker 2>or Oak King. The entity was said to haunt the

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<v Speaker 2>Black Forest of Germany, luring travelers and children to death

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<v Speaker 2>in the lonely wilderness. In seventeen eighty two, German poet

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<v Speaker 2>Johann Wolfgang van Gotha wrote of the entity in his

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<v Speaker 2>poem The Earl King. I'm gonna read from the Edgar

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<v Speaker 2>Alfred Bowering translation. Who rides there so late, through the night,

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<v Speaker 2>dark and drear the father? It is with his infant,

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<v Speaker 2>so dear. He holdeth the boy tightly clasped in his arm.

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<v Speaker 2>He holdeth him safely, He keepeth him warm, my son.

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<v Speaker 2>Wherefore seekest thou thy face thus to hide look, Father,

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<v Speaker 2>the Earl King is close by our side. Dost see

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<v Speaker 2>not the Earl King with crown and with train, my son.

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<v Speaker 2>Tis the mist rising over the plain. Oh come now,

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<v Speaker 2>dear infant, Oh come thou with me, for many a

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<v Speaker 2>game I will play there, with thee on my strand

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<v Speaker 2>lovely flowers their blossoms on folk. My mother shall grace

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<v Speaker 2>thee with garments of gold. My father, my father, And

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<v Speaker 2>dost thou not hear the words that the Earl King

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<v Speaker 2>now breathes in mine ear be calm, dearest child. Tis

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<v Speaker 2>thy fancy deceives. Tis the sad wind that sighs through

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<v Speaker 2>the withering leaves. Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go

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<v Speaker 2>with me there. My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care.

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<v Speaker 2>My daughters by night their glad festival keep. They'll dance

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<v Speaker 2>thee and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep. My father,

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<v Speaker 2>my father, and dost thou not see how the Earl

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<v Speaker 2>King his daughters has brought here for me, my darling,

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<v Speaker 2>My darling, I see it all right. Tis the aged

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<v Speaker 2>gray willows, deceiving thy sight. I love thee. I'm charmed

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<v Speaker 2>by thy beauty, dear boy. And if thou art unwilling,

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<v Speaker 2>then force all employ my father. My father, he seizes

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<v Speaker 2>me fast for sorely. The Earl King has hurt me

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<v Speaker 2>at last. The father now gallops with terror. Half wild,

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<v Speaker 2>he grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child. He

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<v Speaker 2>reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread. The child

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<v Speaker 2>in his arms finds he motionless dead. Quite a dark ending,

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<v Speaker 2>I think you'll agree. But for word in greg and

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<v Speaker 2>over the garden Wall, things don't go quite as badly.

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<v Speaker 2>But it is a near thing. The Beast, like the

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<v Speaker 2>Earl King, would seem to command great power in those

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<v Speaker 2>places where long forgotten stories are revealed to those who

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<v Speaker 2>travel through the wood. Tune in for additional episodes of

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<v Speaker 2>the Monster, Fact, the Artifact or Animaliustupendium each week. As always,

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<v Speaker 2>you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>your Mind dot com.

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