This week on Myths and Legends, it's the first half of an Estonian epic, where you'll

learn that the only thing more dangerous than fighting a legendary hero might just be

partying with a legendary hero.

The creature this time is why you actually want to give a piggyback ride to that stranger

that jumps on your back in the forest at night.

This is Myths and Legends, Episode 150A, King Me.

This is a podcast where I tell stories from mythology and folklore.

Some are incredibly popular stories you'd think you know, but with surprising origins.

Others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth listening.

This story comes from the Kalevi Poit, the National Epic of Estonia, a country in northern

Europe in the Baltic Sea.

It's just south of Finland.

It was written by Frederick Reinhold Crutzfalt in 1853.

Even though this is just one work by one author, it's believed that he deeply investigated

Estonian folklore and crafted a narrative that not only includes a ton of stories about

his home country, but works as a complete narrative in its own right.

The story itself is much older and is believed to come from an oral tradition of ancient

Estonia, with the earliest known reference to it coming from a 6th century Anglo-Saxon poem.

Basically, we're in a similar, but different world from all the Viking legends of the

Northwest, and the Finnish legends we talked about earlier this year.

In fact, I guess there's a debate going on about whether the chief god of Estonian mythology,

Tara, is a local version of Thor.

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