This week, on Myths and Legends, we're in Slavic folklore, telling the story of Ivan the Cow's son.

We'll learn which magical fish dinners will get you, and your cook and your cow pregnant,

and how if you can't get in that house on chicken legs, you might want to try asking nicely.

The creature this time is a headless McDonald's security guard

from Scotland.

This is Myths and Legends, Episode 406, utter nonsense.

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

Some are incredibly popular tales you might think you know, but with surprising origins.

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

Today's story is a Slavic fairy tale from the Middle Ages.

And since it's a fairy tale, time period isn't incredibly important.

It does check off nearly all the boxes of Slavic folklore with some fan favorites, but we'll get to those.

For now, we'll jump in with a young czar who has an old problem.

I would say I don't know what the czar was hoping to gain from asking a room full of drunk guys how he could have a son with his wife. but I feel like it was pretty clear to us and

everyone there, he wanted a son. Most kings do. Still a pretty significant gamble, because back

then, only about half of the children even born survived to adulthood. In fact, it's kind of a

fun thing about ancient medieval history.

Anyone could drop dead at any time for any reason. Rich or poor, royal or common, no one was safe.

So, when you have a shot to get a handful of gold, you take that shot. All the fellow czars

and nobles, the czar invited invited might be a little bit extremely drunk,

but they knew better than to make promises inebriated that would get them exiled sober.

The king was casting a wide net, and, in addition to nobles, he opened up his doors to the peasants as well.

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