Ballads of Love and Death

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this enchanting episode, Dr. Eleanor Janega dissolves the boundaries between history, folklore, and music to explore the haunting world of medieval ballads. Joined by author Amy Jeffs, illustrator Gwen Burns and composer/singer Natalie Brice, Eleanor uncovers the timeless stories sung around firesides and passed from voice to voice for centuries.

From fairy queens and dragon-tenders to the chilling archetype of the “sinful woman”, these songs reveal how ordinary people in medieval Britain grappled with questions of morality, identity, and the supernatural.

Edward the Confessor & New Year Saints

Supernatural Medieval Ireland

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:44.7	I'm Alice Roberts and I've written a new book, Domination, the Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity.
0:56.3	In it, I embark on an investigative journey that takes me from the search for a lost monastery in South Wales
1:02.1	to the other end of the Roman Empire, looking for clues in Corinth, Constantinople and ancient Alexandria.
1:08.7	I delve into the archaeology and history and lift the veil on secrets that have been hidden in plain sight.
1:15.2	Domination is available now in hardback and audiobook.
1:23.1	Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanorianica and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history.
1:32.4	We uncover the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking details, and the latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans, from kings to popes, to the Crusades.
1:45.2	We delve into the rebellions, plots, and murders that tell us who we really were.
1:52.0	And how we got here. She set her foot upon the ship
2:10.0	No mariners could she build
2:16.6	But the sails were off the taffeta,
2:23.3	and the masts of the beaten gold. In this episode of Gone Medieval, we're going to dissolve the boundaries between history, myth, and melody.
2:45.5	Because we are talking about ballads, ancient story songs that were passed from fireside to fireside,
	...

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