Christmas Special 2025 - The Mistletoe Bride

About this episode

In this Christmas Special, Mark Norman explores the legend of the Mistletoe Bride and its origins in Germany, featuring a performance by Jackie Oates.

Welcome to the 2025 Folklore Podcast Christmas Special. Folklorist Mark Norman, the creator and host of The Folklore Podcast for the last 10 years, relates the legend of the Mistletoe Bride and provides a rare look at a very obscure reference to what is probably the earliest version of the tale in print, from 1809, placing the story in Germany and not England at all. The episode is rounded off with a performance of the song which popularised the legend, 'The Mistletoe Bough' given exclusively for the audience of the podcast by critically acclaimed English folk singer Jackie Oates. Visit Jackie's website at www.jackieoates.co.uk Support The Folklore Podcast on Patreon for extra content at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

People in this episode

Host: Mark Norman

Guest: Jackie Oates

Topics covered

• Christmas folklore
• Mistletoe Bride legend
• German folklore
• English folk music
• cultural history

Keywords

• Mistletoe Bride
• folklore
• Christmas
• Mark Norman
• Jackie Oates
• German legend
• English folk music

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Mistletoe Bough

Places: Germany, England

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