This week on the Myths and Legends podcast, it's the story of Mulan.

You'll see how looking at historical context can ruin the message of even the most inspirational tales.

And that even if your name brings to mind 80s spandex, you can lead rebellion and hold on empire hostage.

In the creature of the week, if you've ever felt like you're being watched in the forest,

the good news is that it's just an adorable Irish wolf town that's really good at sucking in this stomach.

The bad news is that unless you're stinking drunk, he's probably going to eat you.

This is the Myths and Legends podcast, episode 4. A likely hero.

This is a podcast where I tell the original tales behind legendary stories.

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

Others are stories you probably haven't heard, but really should.

This week it's a shorter story with one episode on Mulan, the Chinese legendary hero that

Disney made kind of a big movie out of the 90s. The story takes place in China in the fifth or

sixth century, essentially a couple hundred years before the Vulsongs of the last story,

and almost exactly the same time as King Arthur and his knights are galloping around England.

Now for this, there are multiple sources. The first source is a poem called the Ballad of Mulan,

but that's only 360-ish words long, and only tells the most basic of the stories.

It was written in about the 12th century, though it's said to be referencing a much older work

that's been lost to history. There's a stage play that was written in the 16th century,

or at the beginning of the Renaissance, that it elaborates on the story.

After that, there's a 17th century romance that touches on the story that will just use bits and

pieces from that. Most of the stories there after are just expanded versions of the originals,

so I'm just going to use those three sources. Anyway, it takes place in China in the mid-fifth

...