The Goose Girl and what matters most

About this episode

Catherine Svehla reflects on the themes of transformation and what truly matters in life through the lens of the Grimm fairy tale 'The Goose Girl at the Well'.

Send Catherine a text Message The end of a year and our seasonal holidays invite evaluation, reflection on what the future holds, and longing for some type of renewal. A fresh start. A clean slate. Restoration. A new green world. The Grimm fairy tale "The Goose Girl at the Well" is not a holiday story and yet, the symbolic language of transformation and value, of what truly matters in a good life, speak to the concerns and longings of December. Like many fairy tales, characters in this ...

People in this episode

Host: Catherine Svehla

Topics covered

• transformation
• renewal
• fairy tales
• Grimm
• life values
• reflection

Keywords

• Goose Girl
• Grimm fairy tales
• transformation
• renewal
• life values
• December
• reflection

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Goose Girl at the Well

More episodes of Myth Matters

• Forms in Flux: Transformation in Ovid's Metamorphoses · June 12, 2026 · 39 min
• Ovid's Metamorphoses: Love and Transformation · May 15, 2026 · 44 min
• The Wild Braid: Stanley Kunitz for National Poetry month · April 10, 2026 · 31 min
• Change perspective and change the story: thought experiment with "Briar Rose" · March 21, 2026 · 32 min
• Disruption, creative edges, and the fairy tale "Tatterhood" · March 6, 2026 · 47 min
• 2MM8 The King and the Corpse · February 13, 2026 · 43 min