Episode 128: Dark Fae: Minotaur

The folklore of the minotaur in a nutshell, translated to Afrikaans, and how I reimagined it for my writing.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2024 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about minotaurs in folklore here.

Get the transcript here.

Learn more about the author and her writing here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With over a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my Dark Court Sisters book series. Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Three sisters. Three destinies. Three ways to destroy the world. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/darkcourtsistersseries for more.

You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion. Go to buymeacoffee.com/ronel to support me.

We’re continuing our exploration of Dark Fae.

Today’s Faery: Minotaur

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

The minotaur was the result of Pasiphae, wife of King Minos of Crete, having an unnatural desire to mate with one of Poseidon’s sacred bulls. Being a queen, she got what she wanted and the offspring of this coupling was a child with a bull’s head. The child, Asterion, had a temper and a taste for human flesh. At first it was cast out of the city, to roam the countryside and do what it wanted, but it’s appetite grew and a labyrinth was constructed beneath the city for it to live in. Human sacrifices were sent in to placate the monster. Every seventh year, seven boys and seven girls were sent from Athens to Crete to be sacrificed to the monster. One year, Theseus was one of the tributes. He befriended princess Ariadne, used red twine to navigate the labyrinth, slew the minotaur, and ran off with the princess.

Clearly, there was some sort of intervention by the Olympian gods for the Minotaur to not be killed before Theseus did the job.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an Origin of the Fae: Minotaur

Though Asterion the minotaur from Crete is the most infamous of its kind, it isn’t the only one of its kind. Minotaurs roam labyrinths, mazes and other places not easily navigated – like catacombs and sewers. They can take on human form, though they retain their aggression. Minotaurs have furry human bodies and the heads of bulls. They are muscled and strong. There are males and females. Once they start hunting someone, they never stop. They have superior tracking skill and use scent to hunt by. They enjoy feasting on the flesh of humans and fae alike.

As a little bonus, let’s look at this faery translated to Afrikaans: Minotaurus

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

Available at

Audible | Podbean | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | Spotify | Youtube | iHeart Radio | Player FM | Listen Notes | Apple Podcasts | TuneIn

You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.