Episode 3 Once Upon a Time

Hello, I'm your host Amy, and I'm Rachel, and together we're just two millennials who share a passion for the creepy and the spooky, harbor a true love for true crime, and share our favorite spirits. So sit back, have a cocktail with two creepy ghouls. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I knew you'd love that. So Amy, what's our drink today? Oh, well, what's our theme today? So our theme today is going to be fairy tales based in truth, and I thought, what would be perfect to, a cocktail to drink that would really just set the tone and the mood? So we have the princess shot. And the princess shot is basically just one ounce of vodka, one ounce of sweetener, one ounce of sugar, and one ounce of water. So we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're going to have a cocktail, and we're which I think happily ever after defined today is something totally different, am I right? Yeah, there is no happily ever after. Yeah, that's what she says. And so I also wanted to point out the difference between a folktale versus a fairy tale. So folktales are passed down through an oral tradition versus fairy tales are written in more of a work of fiction. So if you can think back to, you know, back in the day before the written word was really a thing, these stories would be passed down, you know, word of mouth, you know, through like family, friends, that sort of thing, and it was just a beautiful tradition. And then fairy tales came about where it was more fiction and written and, you know, think Mother Goose, Grimm's Fairy Tales, which we're going to be focusing on today. So that kind of thing. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you. And my little thing that I'm going to talk about is just kind of a brief summary on the Brothers Grimm. And the thing is, I think everybody may not know about the Brothers Grimm as much as they know like Grimm's Fairy Tales. I think everybody today, you know, they may not recognize the brothers, but they at least know, you know, Grimm's and they associate it with fairy tales. And the whole story about the Brothers Grimm is, it starts with Jacob and Wilhelm. And they were both German academics, philologists, that's a word to say. Cultural researches was what I found, lexicographers and authors of collections of folklore. They really, their passion was collecting these oral traditions and really capturing them, especially when it comes to talking about their country, Germany. And I also read a little bit that they even became librarians. I mean, talk about a resume here. It goes on and on and on. So basically, their, Jacob was born January 4th, 1785. Wilhelm was born February, February, I just made up a new month guys, February 24th in 1786. And the school names of Jacob was Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm. And Wilhelm's school name was Wilhelm Karl Grimm. And they came from a very big family. They had a total of seven boys and one girl. Damn. I know, eight kids, can you imagine? Definitely not. I wonder if that was inspiration for the mother who lived in the shoe. Oh, probably. I mean, that makes sense, right? And they both actually pursued law degrees like their father. And while at university, they started collecting fairy tales and folktales. Or I should say they collected folktales and then they eventually went on to write the fairy tales. Yes. And very interested in collecting, you know, Germanic stories and anything about the German culture. That was like one of their big focuses. And in 1812, their first book of fairy tales published, Children and Household Tales. And the book was a success, a very big success, with 86 tales. And the next volume was Grimm's Fairy Tales with 70 stories. It grew more and more with six more editions. And their best known work for German literature, like I said. And, you know, they both became professors and scholars. And they both taught at the University of Berlin. And these brothers were actually very close. I think when one of them married, the other one moved in with him. It was like a package deal kind of thing. Not like a throuple, don't be gross. And with stories about kings talking animals in distant lands, fairy tales allow us to work through our own fears, really. Teaching us lessons about morals and the difference between right and wrong. Which, in my reading, that was a big theme I found, was just, you know, finding the difference between right and wrong. If you do the right thing, you'll have a fairy tale ending. Yeah, and that's a very good point. I mean, I think they often taught just, you know, being a good person, good things happen to you kind of thing. But I felt like, and I once heard this, and I don't know if it's true. I didn't really research it as much as I should. Excuse me, I'm like going over my words. The cocktail's getting to me, folks. But I once heard that children's fairy tales were created so that it scared children into behaving. Yeah. And I can see that. Again, I don't know the truth. But like with some of the fairy tales out there, they're actually really gruesome. Disney did not prepare us for like going in. If you go back and really read some of these, like from the Brothers Grimm's perspective, even Mother Goose. I mean, they're kind of like, they're scary, actually. I mean, I think Blumhouse can make a horror like movie franchise out of some of these, which I would totally go see, by the way. I know you would. So, Rachel, can you tell us our first Once Upon a Time here? I would love to, Amy. So the first one I have is about a classic and actually one of, probably my favorite Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast. Did you know that there are 23 variations from around the world? Beauty and the Beast, along with 162 versions of the archetype animal bridegroom story. Get it? Because it's an animal bridegroom story. So anyways, it all has to do, but the most famous one is about Petrus Gonzales. I know I'm butchering that last name. I apologize. So this was in about the 1500s. So born about 1537, Petrus Gonzales was reportedly a native of the Canary Islands. He began his life as a slave, but he was no ordinary slave. He was what, he had hypertrichosis or werewolf syndrome. Long, luxurious hair covered his body and so wild man, quote unquote, became his name. Excuse me. So appearing more like a wild beast than a man, people treated him as a vicious being, assuming that he was not fully human of his condition. Isn't that awful? I know it was the 1500s, but still. So at the age of 10, Petrus was locked into an iron cage and that's where he was actually treated kind of like an animal, giving animal feed and raw meat, which is kind of rude. But in 1547, so I guess he was about 10 years old, he was gifted. He was a gift to King Henry II, a French king, for his coronation. It's not funny, but it's a little funny. My eyes are just very big as monsters right now. So France treated him like a joke or kind of like a circus. Upon his arrival, he was seen as a wild animal and yet again locked up in a dungeon for inspection. So after prodding and poking, excuse me, the doctors conclude that Petrus was not an animal. He wasn't a human. So his actual real name was Pedro Gonzales, but they changed his name to not sound so foreign, if you will, from the Canary Islands to Petrus Goncelius or something like that. So, but here's the interesting part. So King Henry II actually did do something interesting. He gave Petrus an education. And he actually learned a lot. So he became fluent in Latin and he mastered like etiquette and became an important court guest. And he disapproved the stereotype about him being a beast. There we go, being a beast. Yeah. It said that he mastered three languages, allowing him to get dressed as a nobleman and finally eat cooked food. And apparently everyone was stunned. Everyone thought it was going to be a joke that he would never be able to learn because he wasn't human or wasn't truly human. But he did learn and he learned very well. So the king took a liking to him. But despite the improved status that he had becoming kind of a nobleman, one thing never changed, people's gaze. Court visitors viewed him as a frank mint to dazzle them. And people saw him as just a human pet, which is atrocious. So things were OK for a hot minute. Things were OK for a hot minute. But then King Henry passed away, as one does. And that way, leaving the throne for his wife, Catherine de Medici, who was a real bitch, if you ask me. She arranged for Petrus to get married because back then, I guess, kings and queens decided what noble people got married to what. And so she picked this woman named Catherine as well to marry Petrus and thought it would be hilarious not to tell her what her future husband would look like. So it would be a surprise. She did it just for the idea of amusement, literally amusement. So keeping Petrus' rare condition a secret, the queen ordered Catherine, who was a daughter of one of the royal courts, to marriage. And of course, when you get married, you don't see them until their marriage day. Right. Yeah. So I have a question. Like, I just like my brain going off here. Do you think she arranged this marriage because she may have been jealous or didn't like the girl that she arranged the marriage for? Like, as kind of like, oh, you know, take that, bitch. It doesn't say too much about it, but it is told that she was quite beautiful. So maybe she was a little jealous of her beauty. I'm getting some mean girls. Yeah. So obviously, when young Catherine encountered the sight of her future husband, she was very shocked and unhappy initially with the union. But interesting, with time, she began to care for Petrus. Actually, they ended up having seven children in total. And four of them ended up having the same condition, the hairy condition. So three didn't and four did. And here's where it got a little real sad, because now there's more than just one of them. There's five of them now covered in hair. So they were taken for a tour around Europe so nobles could gawk. So they were paraded around the country or the continent, excuse me, for people to stare at them. Sorry, I lost my spot there for a second. And then one of the children, the eight-year-old daughter, was examined by well-renowned naturalist Ulysses Aldrovandi in the 1590s to see, I guess, study some more if they were human, let alone probably not about their condition. So they eventually settled in Parma, Italy for a new beginning. But tragedy struck. It was pretty bad. So because they weren't really seen as human, the children were sold as gifts to noblemen from around the country. So their whole family was torn apart. And because no one cared about him once he was kind of like settled in Parma, Italy, no one knows how he died or what happened to him, his wife, or probably his three children who didn't have the disease who probably weren't sold. But who knows, maybe they were because it was the 1500s, early 1600s. Yeah, the sad part is no one knows anything about the ending. But, excuse me, that is the sad story of kind of one of the ideas of the origins of Beauty and the Beast. There was no magic here, which do we know? I meant to look this up, but I forgot to see if anyone still has that or if there's maybe like, I don't know if cure is the right word, but maybe medicine that kind of subdues it a bit. I mean, you would think in this day and age that we would have like some kind of antibiotics that would help because I think I'm familiar with this disease. Just because I remember seeing a movie when I was a kid. I mean, it was, this was back in the 90s or something. And it was called Wolf Girl. Very sad movie, by the way. But I remember because, you know, it was a freak show. This girl had that unfortunate disease where just hair grew everywhere. And I mean, it's obviously, it's a health condition. I mean, you know, perfectly healthy. It's just she grows hair and like weird, you know, all over your body. It's everywhere. It's like the weird hormone thing. So, and I think she just like shaved it. So, I'm not sure. Maybe if you just keep track of like, maybe, you know what would be good is electrolysis or laser hair removal. I mean, would that help maybe? I mean, nowadays. I mean, nowadays, obviously, they didn't have this back then. But I mean, it's just a hormone deficiency basically, I think. But no, I'm familiar just because I've seen like, you know, freak shows back in the day. They had these kind of things. You know, the bearded lady, perfect example. She had, you know, a beard, obviously. A full-fledged beard. A full-fledged beard. It's just your hormones, man. So, I mean, it's very sad. Can you imagine even being gifted a human being? No. No, absolutely not. Like, it just amazes me. And I know this is like years and years and years and years ago. But it's like. I'm still listening. I don't understand it. Where's your moral compass here? There wasn't one. There sure as hell wasn't. So, I think we're going to find that out in like the stories we tell you today. And you're going to be like, there's going to be so many like, the fuck moments. Excuse my French. The F-bombs are necessary to really, you know, point our point home. So, it's bananas, man. It's bananas. So, the story. One of the ones I'm going to be talking about is Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which I always loved as a child. I can even tell you a memory I have where I had my Snow White Barbie doll. Loved her. I bought a new one from Etsy. Don't judge me. We've already talked about my Barbie doll collection. So, it's just. It makes you think of an innocent time when you were a child. It was so awesome. And I even had like the little dopey figurine where you would take like a little ice cube and put it on its cheek and like a pair of lips would appear like she kissed him. I didn't know that. Yeah, man, 90s. I had that. And then I also had this mirror that I loved. It was like the children's handheld mirror, but mine was gold and it was the Snow White one. And when you clicked on it, it would say, You're the fairest one of all. I played it so many times. My mom took it away from me. She was like, enough. You're done. I would just sit in my room on Christmas Day and I was like, ha, ha, ha, ha. Because it was gold and it was pretty because the button was a ruby. It was awesome. And the screen would like, or the mirror would light up and you'd see a picture of a dwarf. And so, yeah, I remember my mom took it away from me and she was like, I can't listen to it anymore. It's Christmas. You will get it back whenever I feel like you were fit. I had that memory. I don't have the mirror, but you know, maybe one day I'll find it on Etsy. Who knows? But we are going to talk about the inspiration behind Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Does it have a happy ending? No. No, but it's interesting information. And so I am, you know, I don't promise any happily ever afters here, but information, it's interesting. I wish it was happier, but hey, we're just going to go for this ride with me, will ya? So, Margarita von Waldeck was said to be inspiration for this story. And she was born in 1533. She was a German countess. Records say she was said to be very beautiful and even a blonde. So, imagine that. We're all used to her having jet black hair like ravens when she was a little girl. She had wings, but she was actually a blonde. At least that's what records indicate to us. She was named after her mother who passed when she was four years old. So, losing mother, young age, that's a classic Disney trope there. Her mother who passed was married to Philip IV. He remarried Katharina von Hatzfeld. And forgive me if I'm mispronouncing these names, I'm trying. Her new stepmother was not overly fond of her or her new husband's children. So, she sent them to live with relatives. So, they were out of her sight, basically. And when our Snow White Margarita was 16, she went to live with her uncle, Johan Verkenza in Brussels at the Valkenburg Castle, which is in present day Limburg, Netherlands. And when presented at court of Mary of Hungary, she caught the eye of not one, but three nobles. One of which was Philip II of Spain who fell in love with her. However, the King of Spain did not approve of this match. He wanted his son to find a match that would benefit the kingdom more and the line of Spain. So, he wanted like a more political marriage, so to speak. You know, she was just a countess. She wasn't, you know, a princess. So, it was said that an alleged assassin was hired to do away with Margarita. And Margarita became very ill at the age of 21. And this illness like slowly came about and grew serious. I should also state which led to those close to her to speculate that she was gradually poisoned. They believed that over time, you know, a little poison in like her food, it caused her ultimately to just grow like very, very ill. And in March of 1554, she died and she was only 21. Like I said, only 21 years old. And she also had like a last will and testament. And it was written in very shaky handwriting which leads them to think, okay, this chick was like, it wasn't natural causes here. I think this was, it was planned. And this convinced historians of that as well, that it wasn't natural at all. Like nothing about this was natural. And so, unfortunately, and she never got married, died very young. And, you know, the whole thing was, I think, was very political. I think that's safe to say. But we have inspiration here that the dwarves that we all know, and the Snow White, they were actually copper mines in the area of Margarita's home. Many were unfortunately operated by children. So child labor. And owned by Margarita's, I read father and then I read brother. So I think it's safe to say this was a family business. And the working conditions were just very deplorable. And the labor was so harsh and hard on the children, it would even, it would stunt their growth, essentially. You know, hurt their backs. They had like probably humps and it stunt their growth. And that would cause them to grow, you know, not to full height, to where they were in storage stature. And the gases of the mine would even cause premature graying. And they were housed in very small cottages. Like one room cottages. And probably, I read in one article, it said 20 children per cottage. And then another it said 30. So I think we can, you know, safe to say. 25. Let's just round it to 25, it's fine. And you know, just one room cottages where you're just stuffing a bunch of kids together to live. So not very happy times. Not very magical. No, no. We did not get that. And then we had, regarding the magic mirror. In the neighboring kingdom of Lohr, H, or not H, L-O-H-R. There was a princess, Maria Sofia Margarita. There's Maria Princess, Maria Sofia Margarita. And Catherine Von Urthel. Sorry, my nose got jumbled again. I do the notes of a child that is cramming for a test. There is some debate on which one was the inspiration, whether it was Margarita or Descaterina. And the fairy tales, odds are that the Grimm's Brothers drew ideas from a variety of stories. I mean, it wasn't just one. They got inspiration from all these folk tales that they were going through and collecting. And after Maria's mother passed, her father actually remarried, like we said. And he gifted Catharina, the new stepmother, a large mirror. And the mirror was gifted to her. And the glass works of the area were told to be so clear that they only spoke the truth. So the glass was supposed to be so good that it only spoke the truth. And they contained little aphorisms in the left-hand corner that inspired self-love of the mirror. So it would probably be like, you know, just imagine today when you're manifesting or doing any of that stuff, you know, these very positive affirmations, they were actually on the mirror around it. So that's where we get, like, mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all. I thought that was really interesting. And I also read somewhere that he gifted her a mirror, like, especially because she liked to look at herself. Conceited, isn't it? A little vanity. But, and then we're on to the poisoned apples. Now, this is a fun little bit. Okay, so there are records that states that there is a man in the village of Rildungen who became fed up with local thieves, a.k.a. children, and started distributing poisoned apples to the children he suspected were stealing from him. Later, the man was arrested eventually, but the story spread of his ill will. So that's one part where he could have gotten inspiration. I personally think that was probably one bit that gave him inspiration for Snow White. But I also think, because I read that the Grimm's brothers were theologists, that he could have gotten inspiration from the Bible with Adam and Eve and, you know, the fruit of knowledge. So, I, you know, it's, like we said, they could have grabbed, like, inspiration from various things, but I think, that's just my personal theory, is that Adam and Eve kind of inspired them, too. But that's my story on Snow White. And, like I said, that's the history. Not very happy, but a lot of thieves you're going to find really aren't that happy. Okay, so do you want to hear me talk to you about where the original, one of the original ideas for Rapunzel came from? Hell yes, I do. Great, because it is also very depressing. That's why we drink. Yep, the story of Rapunzel, which is most famous now through that movie Tangled, which we all love. I love Tangled. It's a great movie. I want a chameleon just to name it Pascal. As one should. So, the tragic story of a beautiful princess locked away in a tall tower is based on the story of St. Barbara, a holy virgin who lived in the third century, so we're going way, way back. Her life is narrated in the medieval book The Golden Legend and has many similarities to the popular adaptations. So, St. Barbara was the daughter of a rich merchant in the third century. Her own father, not an evil witch lady, her own father locked her in a tower so that she wouldn't convert to Christianity. Because, I think I have it down earlier. Oh, I may say it in a second. But of course, Babs found a way. In the early years of Christianity, Barbara secretly converted to the new faith, but her father, who practiced the Roman religion, locked his daughter in the tower so that, his whole point was so that she wouldn't be able to become one. Because he was a rich Roman merchant and his daughter couldn't be seen not having the Roman religion. I have to say, when in Rome, do as many Romans as you can. Okay. She also resisted marriage, just like the Christian saints who protected their virginity with some extreme measures. How extreme? I'm pretty sure chastity belt, but I didn't really go into that. I'm going to give you a little spoiler alert here at the end, but it won't end it for you. So, as punishment for her faith, Barbara's father grabbed her by the hair and beheaded her. Spoiler alert. A way to get ahead in life. Oh my gosh. So, the links between St. Barbara and Rapunzel go beyond both being locked in towers. Like St. Barbara, Rapunzel was an independent woman who refused to listen to authority. But luckily for Rapunzel, she didn't suffer the same gruesome fate as the inspiration for it. Um. Sorry. There we go. Sorry. So, the story also claims that Barbara's father feared the influence of religion, as I said before. So, this is my favorite part of the entire story. So, he already put Barbara in a tower so that she wouldn't convert to Christianity. And he was already fearful that she may have been, because he already knew that she cared for the poor. That was a giveaway. So, having a heart, basically, and a conscience makes you a Christian. Yeah, instead of the Roman religion, which I wish I looked a little bit more up on. But, um, I'm guessing they had like deities and stuff. Yeah, like, how can you even pinpoint that? They believed in like multiple gods. Yeah. Yeah, I know. But anyways, as I had mentioned already, Barbara learned about Christianity anyway. Even though she spent years in the tower, getting her clothes and her food delivered with a basket on a rope, somehow the new religion found a way to reach her. According to the legend, a stranger snuck a book in Barbara's basket. It taught about Christianity, and Barbara instantly converted. She even tricked her father into sending a priest to her by pretending to be ill and requesting a doctor. Priests were known as doctors of the soul. So that she could secretly receive a baptism. In the saint's tale, Barbara's conversion is treated as a miraculous accomplishment, but it also led to her downfall. So, she secretly practiced the Christian faith against her father's wishes, and one sign of her hidden faith, other than caring for the poor, Did she have a cross? No. was built into the tower where she was trapped. When Barbara's father was out of town, she asked the men working on her tower to make one change. Instead of putting two windows in the tower, she wanted three. The architecture modification wasn't because she wanted to make sure she got enough light. No, no, no. Rather, the windows were a reminder of the Holy Trinity, one window each for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or as Barbara explained to her father, three windows lighten all the world and all the creatures, but two makes darkness. It was as good as a confession that she was secretly a Christian. So, according to the life of Saint Barbara, written in the 13th century, so this is a thousand years later, Barbara's father was furious when she told him that she had converted. He dragged her to jail by her hair. Her father took her by her hair and drew her down from the mountain and shut her fast in prison. I think he deserves Father of the Year in my mind. And even though she was his own daughter, Barbara's father demanded that she go on trial simply for being a Christian, which I think you could get in trouble for at that time. At the trial, the pagan judge ordered Barbara to choose between renouncing her Christianity or torture. Barbara, of course, chose torture. She also made a fiery speech where she said, Bye on you devils! And her faith carried her through a series of gruesome tortures. It doesn't say too, too much, but one was the judge, this reminds me of Game of Thrones. No, the judge stripped her naked and beat her with the cenusa bowls, which I'm not really sure, and frothed her flesh with salt. Like putting salt in your wounds, yeah. Yeah, I think that is something they did actually. It also said, and I apologize, this is going to be a little gruesome, they cut off her breast and burned her with lamps. That probably means that they cut them off and they carterized it. That's what I would assume. Oh God. So when Barbara was paraded through town naked to shame her, Game of Thrones, God sent an angel to cloak her body in a fog so that she wouldn't suffer too much. At that point I don't know if having people see me would be my biggest concern. You're in so much pain at that point, would you really give a shit? I don't think so, I wouldn't. In the end, the same person who locked Barbara in the tower ended her life. Barbara's own father grabbed her beautiful hair and struck off her head with a sword. According to legend, this is my favorite part, as soon as Barbara died a bolt of lightning struck her father and killed him. I hope so. I hope that there is some truth to that. I hope so. However, now the stories of Saint Barbara claim that she had extremely long hair. Her hair is mentioned several times, and I'm guessing it's because her father dragged her by it and was holding her hair, I guess, when he beheaded her. But no one climbs her hair. But that's alright. So, some people wonder, well, where's the long hair come from? Most people argue that the long hair was borrowed from a Persian epic, the Shamanon, written around 1000 B.C., so way before even Saint Barbara. In the story, the beautiful Rudaba catches the eye of a young hero named Zal. In order to meet up, he visits her tower and she throws down her long hair so he can climb up to see her. That is very Rapunzel. Their story also ends with an unplanned pregnancy and a Romeo and Juliet twist. Their fathers don't approve of the union because Zal is Persian and Rudaba is Babylonian, but they get a happy ending when the astrologers predict that their son will conquer the world. So, yeah. I have one other little story if you want to hear about it. Yeah, sure. Alright, so, this is another idea of where Rapunzel may have come from. In the late 1600s, a woman wrote her own version of the Rapunzel story and she used it to criticize the most powerful ruler in Europe, Charlotte Rose de Conte de La Force. That is a long name. We'll just call her Charlotte. She was a French fairytale writer with a scandalous history. She had multiple affairs, including one with an actor who shocked the royal court by accidentally leaving his nightcap in her room. I mean, haven't we all had one of those? I mean, probably. And according to one rumor, Charlotte was sent away from court when King Louis XIV, the Sun King, suspected she was sleeping with his son. I mean... So... Get it, girl. So, Charlotte wasn't just sent away. She was locked in a convent against her wishes. While in the convent, she wrote her own version of the Rapunzel story called Personette. Trying to see, like... That was her being locked away for, I guess, being with people. Yeah. Being a woman. But those are some versions of... But the most one that people associate it with is Saint Barbara. Oh, and she became a saint because of her conviction and learning to become a Christian even while being locked away in a tower. And... And that. And her father murdering her. Oh, while you were talking, I did look up. So, the Extreme Hair Syndrome, the hyper... Hypertychosis or something like that. There is a 1 in 1 billion to 1 in 10 billion chance of having it. There are only 50 known cases ever happening in the world. Really? So, there's, like, no cases today? There's, like, hardly... Yeah, I don't even know if there are any at this moment. Because I knew it was, like, super rare. But... But is that... So, that's like a hormone. It's an attack on your hormones, basically. Causing the... Oh, gosh, poor people. Okay, can I just say something? While you were just telling your story, all I could think in my head was, Papa, can you hear me? Papa! And then all I could think about... Does anybody remember the SNL? That was when he would go, Barbara, I'm for Clint. And he... Okay, that just shows my age right there. I'm in my early 30s, by the way. I'm not that old. But, okay, so I was just thinking, Barbara, Bob, Babs. Perfect. Do you like that? Okay, thank you. But, yeah, mainly, the whole thing, I was going, Papa, can you hear me? Did you want to do your last one or wait until next week? I think we have time. I'm going to tell you about Bluebeard. It's a long one, but I feel like I can basically summarize it for you guys in 10 minutes. So be patient with me. A lot of notes here. Going back and forth. We're going to Tarantino this. So let's start from the ending of my notes and work our way back to the beginning. So, Bluebeard was said to be inspired by Conomer the Cursed, and let me just spell his name for you. C-O-N-O-M-O-R. He was said to be from Brittany, which was actually in the northwestern part of France. Excuse my language. And he was known as Conomer the Cursed, was said to be the inspiration. He was a figure from the Dark Ages in the first half of the 6th century, so 150 years or more after the fall of Rome. And like I said, in Brittany, so he was like a Briton, I guess. And it is where his, it is believed that he is from. There isn't a lot of information, but everywhere I looked, they referenced this fellow just being a tyrant, very cruel. He's known from his misdeeds, inspired a lot of folklore tales. So I'm going to do my best to kind of give you guys the story of Bluebeard and then the folktale that I read that is inspired by Bluebeard. So, like I said, Bluebeard was actually a villain of Charles Perrault, and he was in famous fairy tales. And Charles Perrault, not the Grimm's brothers, actually wrote this story. And in the tale of Bluebeard, the story is about a man of great wealth and a husband of a number of wives that just mysteriously disappeared. But he is regarded, you know, hideous by, he has this long strange beard and also a fun note, the color blue was associated as the color of the aristocracy at this time. So aristocracy, color blue, that was his beard color. And so, but in the story, we have Bluebeard, he courts two beautiful sisters. And he gives them, like, hospitality, very, you know, the typical kind of evil sleazy villain, you know, talks them up, very charming, very good things. And so he ends up marrying the younger sister. He persuades her, so she agrees. And they get married. And before he leaves, he gives his new wife a large bunch of keys. Like, they get married, he takes her back to his home, and he gives her these, he's called away on business, and he gives her this large bunch of keys. And these keys are said to be able to unlock like all the rooms in the home. But he warns her, he says, the only room, there's only one room that is forbidden to you. And it is the smallest key that unlocks this door. And it's down a long hallway at the end. And of course, he warns her, you know, do not enter, or else, you know, he will unleash his fury upon her. Which, when you're told not to do something so many times, you want to do it, am I wrong? So he leaves, and of course, she opens the door. Shocker there. And to her horror, once she unlocks the door, she sees the floor is coated with thick blood. And the decapitated bodies of Bluebeard's wives, who are all hanging from the walls. So I assumed, whenever I was reading this, that the bodies are hanging from the walls, and like the heads are like in the bucket in the middle. That's the image I got personally. She just drops the keys in a rush in this pooling blood at her feet. And she picks it up later, and she tries to scrub the keys clean, and is just like, oh my god, I gotta clean up my mess, I gotta make it look like I was never here. And it is believed that these keys are actually charmed. To where, you know, because one of the keys that she opened with was like stained red in the story. And so she couldn't get it, and so when she returned the keys to her husband, when he comes back he calls for her and she returns the keys to him. Of course he's like, oh you betrayed me, you didn't listen to me, you didn't listen to your husband. Oh my god, you didn't listen to me. And she's like begging for mercy because she doesn't want to be a victim. And he's like, he can't be swayed, and she's pleading for her life. He's like, no, you must be executed because you disobeyed me. And she's like, I'm sorry, she leaves to prepare herself and she's like, okay, well at least grant me this request to like go prepare myself for my demise. Let me go dress in my wedding gown. He's like, fine, fine. And it's a ruse because she's like, okay, my brothers promised to visit me once I was married, so I'm gonna wait for them to come. And when she got married, her sister, you know, moved in with them and suddenly she is, she says, go look out for her brothers. You know, I'm gonna try to stall as much as I can, but let me know when they're fast approaching. And she's like trying to bide her time. And the twice I have here in my notes, the bride called sister Ann, the only character with a name, by the way, to see if her brothers are coming. And twice her sister says, all I can see is the flurries of the sun and grass turning green. And during all this time, Bluebeard is at the foot of the stairs shouting to her, getting angrier and angrier. And his wife calls down with, you know, excuse after excuse. Time is running out and Bluebeard's patience is running thin. And then suddenly, like dramatic, the clouds part and she sees her brothers are on the horizon galloping toward the home. And she's just like, she's like, oh my gosh, like, you know, stalling, the brothers are coming. And next thing you know, her brothers burst through the doors. And Bluebeard, you know, is halting his execution, running away. And then suddenly he doesn't escape because the brothers cut him down. Oh, shit. The wife uses Bluebeard's riches after her husband is, you know, and she makes a fine match for her sister, finding her a good husband. And then she remarries and then she finds herself, you know, a second hubby who's going to treat her right. And she gets her brother's commissions as officers in the king's army. The end. Damn. Now, the folklore version is more of a doozy. So, let's get into it, shall we? And so, like we said, Conomer, medieval ruler of Brittany, largest peninsula in France. Just giving us a quick recap. And this is the northwestern part of France. Largest peninsula, like I said. And just a little quick side note. His name was a Welsh cognate of Sinfar, which means great dog, but could also mean sea dog. So, maybe he was a pirate. We don't know. And like I said, known for his cruelty. He became a legendary villain in Britain culture. All right, now for the story. All right, are you ready? I am. Oh, let me just give this one more side note. Like I said, I'm like a girl who did her book report on the day that it's due. So, Charles Perrault, who we said wrote Bluebeard and published it in 1697. But before it was written and published by Perrault, versions of this tale were spoken orally throughout France. So, we're going back to folk tales that were handed down from generation to generation, and he's just a horrible, horrible villain. And so, he was also, let's see, I don't know what that word was, but we're going to get into it. So, a little story on the tale of Conomer. All right. Okay. The story of Conomer is that once upon a time, once upon a time and I wish I had like Masterpiece Theater music here. He had a group of his emissaries from his court visit Curnew, which was the stronghold of Gwened, seeking an audience with Gurek, G-U-E-R-E-C-H, who was the overlord of this land. And, you know, Gurek and Conomer, they lived in peace. They weren't, you know, fighting or anything, you know, it was kind of just, you know, your land is right next to mine, but they had like very calm, very peaceful. So, keep that in mind. So, the emissaries of Conomer's went to visit Gurek and they were offering him tribute of flax, honey, and a dozen suckling pigs. Yum, yum. Gurek was thankful, of course, very polite. And then, they told him, just picture mean girls like when they're giving him like, oh, here you go, but here's a little gossip. So, Conomer's emissaries tell how their lord had actually visited the city's summer fair and disguised himself as a soldier. Conomer disguised himself as a common soldier for this fair and he spotted Gurek's daughter and fell for her and wanted her hand in marriage. And, Conomer seemed an ideal candidate, really. I mean, you look at it, you know, he's ambitious, he has money, he has land, I mean, you know, a lot of pros in this match. But, this was Gurek's only daughter and her name was Triffin. And Conomer was, you know, like we said, powerful, wealthy, but he also had a dark side. Very dark side. He was cruel and known to have a wicked, wicked temper. Like, think Jekyll and Hyde. This guy could, like, flip sides and, you know, just, flip sides and slap. And he was unpredictable. And this is a side note in the story. The common folk would share that Conomer's mother would sound a bell to warn the villagers that he was in a mood and unsuccessful with a hunt. So, if Baby Boy was out there hunting and he didn't catch, like, a stag or, you know, nothing, Baby Boy was mad. So, she would, she would basically sound the bell like, Junior's pissed off, he's coming back, he's going to be in a rampage, you know, don't make eye contact, run and hide. Because, for sports and shits and giggles, he satisfies blood lust. He would also pick on the farm hands and he would have his dogs rip them to shreds. So, yeah, when Baby Boy's mad, like, Junior's mad. He needs, he needs something to amuse him. So, that was just a little side note. But the worst, he was married four times. And each wife just suddenly died. We don't know how. Mysterious circumstances. And, of course, there were whispers that, you know, Conor did them all in. And so, with all this news, Gurek is like, I'm going to say no to this union. He says, but I'm going to be polite about it. He said, you know, I appreciate the gifts, I'm trying to be very diplomatic, but right now, my daughter, you know, she's young, we're, you know, we're not looking at getting her married. That's the bottom line here. Trying to be, like, just nice and, you know, they'll think, oh, well, okay, you know, we tried. But, Conor's men were prepared for Gurek to say no. So, they said, um, here's the deal. If you don't let Trippin come back with us, we're going to start a war. And so, Gurek was being the good father, and, like your story, this is actually good father, he was like, you know what, I'm prepared to deal with whatever comes my way. You know what, you act in whatever interest you have to for your lord. But, um, my answer still stands, no. So, the emissaries left, vowing to return, and as they were leaving, one of the men, which, um, actually took, like, started a match, or a flame, whatever you want to call it, that the fire would actually lead back to this, um, Gurek's city, and set fire, and, you know, that was a warning, like, we're coming back. Prepare bitches. And so, our boy Gurek was not going to allow this to, um, just his choice to weigh heavy on him, he knew he was acting in the best interest of his daughter, but he also didn't want to dilly or dally, and so he summoned his men, and he was like, okay, we need to prepare, I mean, let's not be stupid, we need to have, like, something on the works here. So, um, with that said, um, he actually, Gurek went to his family, said farewell, he was like, I'm gonna work on this, I'm gonna protect us, just hold tight. So, and then we get mention of a character named Gweltas, G-W-E-L-T-A-S, and, initially when I read this, I was thinking he was a priest, but, on further reading, they specified that it was Saint Gweltas, so this was a saint. Okay. So, Triffin is in the chapel, you know, praying, and she's just, you know, cause she knows there's, like, fighting going on in her name, so to speak, and she's feeling really guilty about it, and just really horrible, and she wants, you know, she doesn't want this to happen. So Gweltas comes to her, and he implores her, he's like, listen, I think you need to marry Conover, and stop all this unnecessary bloodshed, you know, it's just, it's too much, and she actually is agreeing with him, like, no, you're right, so poor, she's like, you know, I'm just going to go meet my fate, if this is how it's going to happen, this is how I meet my end, so she's like, okay, I'm going, I will marry Conover, and so the saint actually gifts her with this silver ring, and the silver ring, he says, you know, whenever you're in trouble, it will turn black, so that's kind of like, you know, you're not going to die, if any trouble or any, like, evil deeds are coming toward you, the spring will turn black as night, and, you know, you will know to take cover, protect yourself, that sort of thing, so she's feeling a little bit better about this, and her decision, so she goes out there, and then the saint is actually, like, telling everybody, like, there's going to be a wedding, stop this fighting, let's celebrate, this is a time for celebrating, you know, talk about turning a frown upside down, and the celebration lasted, like, three days, there was musicians, they served food to the rich, the poor, I mean, it was a huge thing that went on in the spoketail, and so, then, of course, um, Trippin, you know, eventually, after the three days, the wedding, you know, she went with Conomer, and you would think that this was actually turning into a real happily ever after, like, his, I think, after the marriage, he was, like, like, calming the beast, essentially, and so, you would think, okay, everything's good, everything's great, and, um, but Trippin always was, like, on the fence, like, she's like, listen, this guy's unpredictable, I don't fully trust him, I mean, I'm still looking at my ring every day, you know, it's, like, one foot in, one foot out kind of thing, but, you know, everything was, you know, going good so far, but, you know, Conomer summoned, and so, without his wife, so he's like, you know, I have to go out of town to, you know, show my face kind of thing, and, um, keep up appearances, you know, I will be back, and, um, we'll, you know, we'll resume, you know, our lovely marriage, and so she's like, okay, but he gives her a set of keys to the chambers of his home. He's like, you know, kind of like, do whatever you want to do, he didn't want her like our other husband, so he's like, you know, just while I'm gone, amuse yourself, essentially. So, five months pass, actually, and he's not back? He's not back. So, like, five months go by, and then he comes back, you know, he's very happy to see her, and everything, but what he walks into is she is sewing a child's cap, and so, she tells him, I'm pregnant, I'm, you know, I'm expecting a child, and she, you know, she's just there in her room, like, in her closet, in her clothing, and he just rushes out, he's horrified, and she's like, what the hell? You know, this is good news. Well, he goes away, and our boy, Conor, he's having an episode of his own, and so, she notices her ring turns black. Oh, no. So, she's like, oh, shit. She, immediately being, you know, tripping, she's like, I'm going to go pray and this will be better. So, she goes to the chapel, she starts praying, and, by the way, she was actually, she visited the wife's tombs while he was, you know, just kind of being respectful, so she would go pray, visit the tombs, and then, as she was praying, you know, it's been hours, hours, it's midnight, so, then, she hears the tombs, the wind blows, she hears the sound of rocks separating, the tomb's doors are opening, she's like, something's happening, and then, she hears the whispers of, Conomer wants you dead, Conomer wants you dead, and she's like, what the hell? His wives appear to him, and they say, the wives, like a nymph, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like,