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Step into the Triune Monarchy with Avram Davidson’s unforgettable story “The Old Woman Who Lived with a Bear” (from The Enquiries of Doctor Eszterhazy, 1975).

This professional narration brings to life the wit, mystery, and folkloric strangeness of Dr. Engelbert Eszterhazy’s world — where Gothic traditions, superstition, and rational inquiry intertwine.

Whether you’re a longtime Davidson devotee or new to his genius, this is a chance to immerse yourself in one of his finest Eszterhazy adventures.

👉 Stay tuned for our follow-up discussion episode where Bob and Virgil dive into the story’s themes, humor, and deeper meanings.

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Avram Davidson (himself) warms up for a lecture and pulls you aboard a lateen-rigged dhow to ask the irresistible question: where, exactly, did Sinbad sail—Borneo, Sumatra, Serendib, even Madagascar—or only through our imaginations?

Show notes:

• Paul Bunyan vs. Sinbad: why tall tales can still point to real shores

• Baghdad’s golden age, Harun al-Rashid, and merchants’ cargo lists like poetry

• Dhows, monsoons, “islands” that breathe (whale? turtle?), and apes near Sumatra

• The rukh/roc, Aepyornis eggs, and dagobas that look like giant eggs from afar

• Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the joys of pure serendipity

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#AvramDavidson #AdventuresInUnhistory #sinbad #arabiannights #mythology #indianocean #baghdad #dhow #rock #borneo #sumatra #srilanka #madagascar #historynerd

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Bob and Virgil unpack Avram’s clues—dhows, monsoons, Borneo and Sumatra, Sri Lanka’s dagobas, Madagascar’s giant eggs—and debate how far a fable can take you toward the truth.

• Reading the text like a chart: Kabil/Kasil → Borneo?

• Sumatra’s “island of apes,” ears to the shoulders, and traveler’s overlap with the Odyssey

• The roc vs. Aepyornis: why giant birds matter even when they can’t fly

• Serendip/Anuradhapura: when a white dagoba becomes a “roc egg” on the horizon

• Takeaways for modern readers: how to spot facts hiding in folklore

Hashtags:

#podcastdiscussion #AvramDavidson #sinbad #mythology #historypodcast #IndianOceanWorld #borneo #sumatra #srilanka #madagascar #marcopolo #ibnbattutamall

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Adventures in Unhistory is a literary journey into the strange, the mythical, and the half-forgotten—led by the genius of Avram Davidson and explored by Bob & Virgil. Each episode dives into Davidson’s witty and erudite examinations of myths and legends: mermaids, dragons, werewolves, unicorns, the phoenix, Sinbad, Prester John, Aleister Crowley, and more. Davidson’s essays, at once scholarly and playful, reveal the hidden roots of stories that have captivated humanity for centuries.

Expect dazzling digressions, deep dives into ancient texts, and the kind of humor and erudition that make Davidson’s work timeless. As Peter S. Beagle once said, his prose “cries out to be read aloud.” Bob & Virgil bring that spirit to life—part literary salon, part campfire storytelling, part detective hunt through history’s margins.

Whether you’re a scholar, a fantasy fan, or just a curious traveler through the world’s oldest mysteries, Adventures in Unhistory will entertain, educate, and make you wonder: what if the myths were true?

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Bob & Virgil go deep on Avram Davidson’s Eszterhazy tale: lurlies vs. Lorelei, undines and baptismal souls, why “Mud” matters, how Davidson blends courtly satire with folklore, and where Eszterhazy fits in the occult-detective lineage (think Hodgson/Machen—but funnier, kinder, and sneakier). We hit publication context (Fantastic, 1975), the expanded Eszterhazy collection, and the story’s quiet ecological thread (buckwheat, wudkey, and the costs of progress). Spoiler-light for newcomers, juicy for devotees.

#OccultDetective #AvramDavidson #DoctorEszterhazy #weirdfiction #fantasyhistory #literarydiscussion #SFFPodcast #classicsfeature #mythandmystery #StoryDeepDive #booktube

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Performed by David Pickering. @davidpickering8483

Set in Avram Davidson’s sly, Mitteleuropean corner of the map, this stand-alone performance brings Doctor Eszterhazy to life as he follows a trail from a humble sewing box to lurlies on the Vlox-Minor and a mystery tangled up with folklore, industry, and an undine’s old grief. David Pickering’s rich narration highlights Davidson’s humor, history-deep worldbuilding, and the story’s gentle twist on the “occult detective” tradition—no gore, just genius. Settle in for steam runabouts, button-makers, buckwheat anxieties, and Paracelsian whispers.

Hashtags: #AvramDavidson #DoctorEszterhazy #OccultDetective #weirdfiction #historicalfantasy #speculativefiction #audiofiction #classicsfeature #fantasymystery #shortstory

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In this episode, Bob & Virgil discuss the many genres of Avram Davidson.

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In this episode, Bob & Virgil discuss El Vilvoy de las Islas, originally published in Asimov’s (August 1988) and later collected in The Other Nineteenth Century.