38A-Korean Literature: Crossing the Threshold

Myths and Legends

Jason Weiser, Carissa Weiser

Fiction, History, Arts, Books

4.8 • 25.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2016

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hong Gildong has been called the Korean Robin Hood, but really oversimplifies the story. It is both an awesome adventure tale with dragons, magic, assassins, demons, bandits, and betrayal, and a complex human drama, where one young man must find and understand his place in the world. It's both action-packed, and heartbreaking. The titular character, Gildong, was born a second-class citizen, and he was determined to make a way for himself in a world that kept pushing him down, even if that meant living outside the law. This is his story. The creature this time is the saalah, and they are what happens when a mommy genie and a daddy human (or the other way around) love each other very much. Loot crate is fantastic. Check out Loot crate: http://www.lootcrate.com/legends (Offer code: LEGENDS) Looking to build a website? Check out http://www.weebly.com/myths Say hi on twitter? I'm http://www.twitter.com/mythpodcast That incredibly great source for this story today: https://amzn.com/0143107690

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This week on the Myths and Legends podcast, it's part one of the story of Hong Gil-dong,
0:05.6	a story from Korea.
0:06.6	You'll see that if you want to get rid of someone, you shouldn't let him know ahead
0:11.2	of time and then give me your tombself to learn magic.
0:15.2	You'll learn a pretty amazing pick-up line and how if you have a dream where you're
0:18.8	being eaten by a dragon, it's basically the best thing that could ever happen to you.
0:23.7	Then on the creature of the week, we'll meet the Salah, a half genie, half human, a hideous
0:28.8	creature who will rush out of the forest, wanting to dance with you.
0:37.3	This is the Myths and Legends podcast, episode 38A, Crossing the Threshold.
0:47.1	This is a podcast where I tell stories from folklore.
0:49.4	Some are incredibly popular stories you think you know, but with surprising origins.
0:53.3	Others are stories you might not have heard, but really should.
0:56.0	Today's story is very important, and also apparently very well known in South Korea.
1:00.8	Even to the point where the protagonist's name, Hong Gil-dong, seems to be used as a placeholder
1:04.9	name, like John Doe or John Smith in America.
1:08.4	It's a really interesting, awesome adventure tale that actually has a really human element
1:13.2	to it.
1:14.2	Also, this is another story that isn't really folklore, though it's considered as such
1:17.7	in some places.
1:19.2	It's literature, but it's grown into a story that's culturally important in Korea.
1:22.6	I've heard some others that aren't technically folklore in here, like Little Mermaid, Beating
1:27.4	the Beast, The Snow Queen, etc.
	...

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