A library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology, page 1 (original) (raw)

Folklore and Mythology

Electronic Texts

page 1

edited and/or translated by
D. L. Ashliman
University of Pittsburgh
© 1996-2024

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• Folk and Mythology Electronic Texts, page 2.
• Folk and Fairy Tale Links.

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• Abducted by Aliens. The aliens in these legends are not men from outer space but the underground folk: fairies, trolls, elves, and the like.
  1. The Recovered Bride (Ireland).
  2. Taken by the Good People (Ireland).
  3. Twenty Years with the Good People (Ireland).
  4. Ethna the Bride (Ireland).
  5. Jamie Freel and the Young Lady (Ireland).
  6. Kidnappers (Ireland).
  7. Ned the Jockey (Wales).
  8. The Old Man and the Fairies (Wales).
  9. A Visit to Fairyland (Wales).
  10. Four Years in Faery (Isle of Man).
  11. The Lost Wife of Ballaleece (Isle of Man).
  12. On Fairies (England).
  13. The Lost Child (England).
  14. Thomas of Erceldoune (Scotland).
  15. Tamlane (Scotland).
  16. The Fairies' Hill (Scotland).
  17. The Stolen Lady (Scotland).
  18. Touching the Elements (Shetland Islands).
  19. The Aged Bride (Denmark).
  20. The Troll in Mæhred (Denmark).
  21. The Sea Nymph (Sweden).
• Advice Well Taken. Folktales of type 910B.
  1. The Three Advices (Ireland).
  2. The Three Advices Which the King with the Red Soles Gave to His Son (Ireland).
  3. The Highlander Takes Three Advices from the English Farmer (Scotland).
  4. The Three Admonitions (Italy).
  5. The Prince Who Acquired Wisdom (India).
  6. Three Pieces of Advice (Jamaica).
• Aesop.
  1. Aesop's Fables. Joseph Jacobs' classic retelling of 82 fables and included in the Harvard Classics, vol. 17, part 1. This site is part of Great Books Online: bartleby.com.
  2. Aesop's Fables, edited by John R. Long.
  3. Aesop's Children. A selection of fables depicting the relationship between children and adults.
  4. Old Folks in Aesop's Fables.
• Aging and Death in Folklore. An essay by D. L. Ashliman, with supporting texts from proverbs, folktales, and myths from around the world.
• Air Castles. Tales of type 1430 about daydreams of wealth and fame.
  1. The Broken Pot (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Poor Man and the Flask of Oil (India, Bidpai).
  3. The Story of the Devotee Who Spilt the Jar of Honey and Oil (India / Persia).
  4. What Happened to the Ascetic When He Lost His Honey and Oil (Kalilah and Dimnah).
  5. The Daydreamer (India, Cecil Henry Bompas).
  6. Sheik Chilli (India, Alice Elizabeth Dracott).
  7. The Fakir and His Jar of Butter (1001 Nights).
  8. The Barber's Tale of His Fifth Brother (1001 Nights).
  9. Day-Dreaming (1001 Nights, retold by Joseph Jacobs).
  10. The Milkmaid and Her Pail (Aesop).
  11. Story of an Old Woman, Carrying Milk to Market in an Earthen Vessel (France, Jacques de Vitry).
  12. What Happened to a Woman Called Truhana (Spain, Prince Don Juan Manuel).
  13. The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk (France, Jean de La Fontaine).
  14. Lazy Heinz (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  15. Lean Lisa (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  16. Buttermilk Jack (England, Thomas Hughes).
  17. Story (Ireland, The Schools' Collection).
  18. Air Castles (Denmark, Evald Tang Kristensen).
  19. Great Expectations (Denmark, Evald Tang Kristensen).
  20. The Egg (Denmark, Jens Kamp).
  21. The Lad and the Fox (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
  22. The Peasant and the Cucumbers (Russia, Leo Tolstoy).
  23. The Milkmaid and Her Bucket (USA, Ambrose Bierce).
  24. The $30,000 Bequest (USA, Mark Twain).
• Ali Baba and the Forty Thievesfrom the 1001 Nights. The classic "Open Sesame" tale (type 676).
  1. The Forty Thieves (retold by Andrew Lang).
  2. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (translated by Richard F. Burton).
• Amleth, Prince of Denmark, from the Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus. This account, written about 1185 but based on older oral tradition, describes the same players and events that were immortalized by William Shakespeare in his The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, written about 1602.
• Andersen, Hans Christian (1805-1875).
  1. Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories. An excellent home page featuring Denmark's most famous writer. Included here are a chronological listing of Andersen's folk-like fairy tales, electronic texts of most stories, and links to additional information.
  2. The H. C. Andersen Home Page. Links to Andersen's works in Danish. This site is sponsored by the Danish Royal Library.
  3. H. C. Andersen-Centret, a treasure trove of information (in Danish and in English) from the H. C. Andersen Center in Odense, Denmark.
• Androcles and the Lion. Tales of type 156, in which a man pulls a thorn from a lion's paw, thus gaining the beast's eternal gratitude and loyalty.
  1. Androcles (Aesop).
  2. The Slave and the Lion (Aesop).
  3. Androcles and the Lion (Joseph Jacobs).
  4. The Lion and the Saint [Saint Jerome] (Andrew Lang).
  5. Of the Remembrance of Benefits (Gesta Romanorum).
  6. The Lion and the Thorn (Ambrose Bierce).
• Animal Brides. Folktales of type 402.
  1. Chonguita the Monkey Wife (Philippines).
  2. The Dog Bride (India).
  3. The Cat Who Became a Queen (India).
  4. The Mouse Maiden (Sri Lanka).
  5. The Frog's Skin (Georgia).
  6. The Tsarevna Frog (Russia).
  7. The Frog (Austria/Italy).
  8. The Frog's Bridegroom (Germany).
  9. Doll i' the Grass (Norway).
  10. The She-Wolf (Croatia).
  11. Links to additional tales of type 402.
• Animal Brides and Animal Bridegrooms: Tales Told by North American Indians.
  1. The Bear Who Married a Woman (Tsimshian).
  2. The Girl Who Married the Crow (Thompson [Ntlakyapamuk]).
  3. The Woman Who Became a Horse (Thompson [Ntlakyapamuk]).
  4. The Woman Who Became a Horse (Skidi Pawnee).
  5. The Bear Woman (Okanagon).
  6. The Fish Man (Salish).
  7. The Man Who Married a Bear (Nez Percé).
  8. Of the Woman Who Loved a Serpent Who Lived in a Lake (Passamaquoddy).
• Ant and Grasshopper. Fables of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 280A, Perry Index number 373, and similar stories about work, reward, and charity.
  1. The Fable of the Ant and of the Sygalle [Cigala, Grasshopper] (Aesop, Caxton, 1484).
  2. An Ant and a Grasshopper (Anianus, L'Estrange, 1692).
  3. An Ant Formerly a Man (Aesop, L'Estrange, 1692).
  4. The Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop, Croxall, 1775).
  5. The Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop, Bewick, 1818).
  6. The Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop, James, 1848).
  7. The Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop, Jacobs, 1894).
  8. The Grasshopper and the Ants (Aesop, Jones, 1912).
  9. The Grasshopper and the Ant (La Fontaine, 1668).
  10. The Grasshopper and the Ant (Ambrose Bierce, 1899).
  11. The Ants and the Grasshopper (Ambrose Bierce, 1899).
  12. The Story of the Little Red Hen (USA, 1874).
• Arthur, Legendary King of Britain: Excerpts from his Life Story.
  1. Arthur's Conception and Birth.
  2. Arthur Is Chosen King.
  3. Arthur Gets the Sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake.
  4. Arthur Marries Guinevere.
  5. Arthur Kills a Giant at Mont-Saint-Michel.
  6. Mordred's Treachery.
  7. Arthur's Death.
• Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen (1812-1885) and Moe, Jørgen (1813-1882).
  Norske Folkeeventyr. The classic collection of Norwegian folktales, here in the Norwegian language.

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B

• Bald Stories: Folktales about Hairless Men.
  1. A Man and Two Wives (Aesop -- L'Estrange, type 1394).
  2. The Man and His Two Wives (Aesop -- Jacobs, type 1394).
  3. The Middle-Aged Man between Two Ages and His Two Mistresses (Jean de La Fontaine, type 1394).
  4. A Horse-Man's Wig Blown Off (Avianus).
  5. The Bald Man and the Fly (Aesop, type 1586).
  6. The Pedant, the Bald Man, and the Barber (Europe, type 1284).
  7. The Foolish Bald Man and the Fool Who Pelted Him (India).
  8. The Bald Man and the Hair-Restorer (India).
  9. How Saint Peter Lost His Hair (Germany, type 774J).
  10. Old Hanrahan (Ireland).
  11. How Come Mr. Buzzard to Have a Bald Head (African-American).
• The Bear Trainer and His Cat. Folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1161 (also categorized as migratory legends of Christiansen type 6015) in which a troll or other sinister creature mistakes a bear for a cat (or other domestic animal), then quickly learns that bears do not make good pets.
  1. Peer Gynt and the Trolls (Norway).
  2. The Cat on the Dovrefjell (Norway).
  3. The Cat of Norrhult (Sweden).
  4. The Troll and the Bear (Denmark).
  5. The Kobold and the Polar Bear (Germany).
  6. The Cat Mill (Germany).
  7. The Water Nix in the Oil Mill near Frauendorf (Germany).
  8. The Water-Man (Moravia).
  9. Kelpie and the Boar (Scotland).
• Bearskinand other tales of type 361, in which a man gains a fortune and a beautiful bride by entering into a pact with the devil.
  1. Bearskin (Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Germany).
  2. Devil Greenjacket (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Germany)
  3. Bearskin (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Germany).
  4. Go to the Devil (Germany).
  5. The Devil as Partner (Switzerland).
  6. Hell's Gatekeeper (Austria).
  7. Two for One (Italy).
  8. The Bear Man (Denmark).
  9. Never-Wash (Russia).
  10. Don Giovanni de la Fortuna (Sicily).
  11. The Reward of Kindness (Philippines).
  12. The King's Tabernacle (Wales).
• Beauty and the Beast. Folktales of type 425C.
  1. Beauty and the Beast (Reconstructed from various European sources by Joseph Jacobs).
  2. Beauty and the Beast (France, Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont).
  3. The Story of Beauty and the Beast (France, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve).
  4. Beauty and the Beast (France, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve [abridged and retold by Andrew Lang]).
  5. The Small-Tooth Dog (England, Sidney Oldall Addy).
  6. Rose (Irish-American).
  7. The Summer and Winter Garden (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  8. The Singing, Springing Lark (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  9. The Clinking Clanking Lowesleaf (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  10. The Little Nut Twig (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  11. Little Broomstick (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  12. The Enchanted Frog (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  13. Beauty and the Horse (Denmark, J. Christian Bay).
  14. The Singing Rose (Austria, Ignaz and Joseph Zingerle).
  15. The Bear Prince (Switzerland, Otto Sutermeister).
  16. Beauty and the Beast (Basque, Wentworth Webster).
  17. Zelinda and the Monster (Italy, Thomas Frederick Crane).
  18. The Snake-Prince (Greece, Lucy M. J. Garnett).
  19. The Enchanted Tsarévich (Russia, Alexander Afanasyev).
  20. The Fairy Serpent (China, Adele M. Fielde).
• Bells.
  • The Bell of Justice. Folktales of type 207C, in which a serpent or an abandoned old horse gains justice by tugging on a bell rope.
    1. Of the Vicissitude of Everything Good, and Especially of a Right Justice (Gesta Romanorum).
    2. The Emperor Charlemagne and the Serpent (Switzerland).
    3. The Bell of Atri (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn).
    4. The Dumb Plaintiff (Germany).
  • Sunken Bells. Migratory legends of type 7070.
    1. Bomere Pool (1) (Shropshire).
    2. Bomere Pool (2) (Shropshire).
    3. Kentsham Bell (Herefordshire).
    4. The Mermaid of Marden (Herefordshire).
    5. The Bells of Forrabury Church (Cornwall).
    6. The Bosham Bell (Sussex).
    7. The Whitby Abbey Bells (Yorkshire).
    8. Whitby: Submarine Bells (Yorkshire).
    9. The Buried Chime (Yorkshire).
    10. A Legend of Semewater (Yorkshire).
    11. Simmerwater [Semerwater] (Yorkshire).
    12. The Bells of Brinkburn (1) (Northumberland).
    13. The Bells of Brinkburn (2) (Northumberland).
    14. Rostherne Mere (Cheshire).
    15. A Legend of Rostherne Mere (Cheshire).
• Beowulf: A Summary in English Prose.
• Big Peter and Little Peter, a classic trickster tale of type 1535 from Norway.
• The Bird's Three Precepts. Fables of type 150, in which a captured bird gains its freedom by giving its captor three pieces of advice.
  1. Of Hearing Good Counsel (Gesta Romanorum).
  2. The Three Proverbs (Poland).
• The Birthmarks of the Princess. Folktales of type 850 in which a low-born suitor wins the hand of a princess by describing her hidden birthmarks.
  1. The Swineherd Who Married a Princess (Europe).
  2. Three Little Red Pigs (Denmark).
  3. The Princess's Birthmarks (Denmark).
  4. The Pig-Boy and the Princess (Germany).
  5. The Nobleman's Daughter and the Shepherd (Germany).
  6. Three Golden Hairs (Wendish).
  7. Many Things Can Be Achieved through Beautiful Clothes (Slavic).
  8. The Emperor's Daughter and the Swineherd (Slavic).
  9. The Shepherd and the King's Daughter (Serbia).
  10. The Enchanted Lambs (Russia).
  11. The Youngest Prince and the Youngest Princess (Hungary).
  12. The Rivals (Bukovina).
  13. Dshahan and the Three Pigs (Malta).
  14. The Pearl Queen (Germany).
  15. The Swineherd (Hans Christian Andersen).
  16. The Clever Little Tailor (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
• The Black School. Migratory legends of type 3000, in which a wizard in training escapes from his satanic teacher, albeit with the loss of his shadow.
  1. The Black School (Iceland).
  2. Black Airt (Scotland).
• The Blind Men and the Elephant. Parables of type 1317.
  1. The Blind Men and the Elephant (The Udāna).
  2. On the Blind Men and the Affair of the Elephant (Sanai, The Enclosed Garden of the Truth).
  3. All Faiths Lead to God: Four Blind Men and an Elephant (Ramakrishna)
  4. The Blind Men and the Elephant: A Hindoo Fable (John Godfrey Saxe).
  5. The King and the Elephants (Leo Tolstoy).
• The Blood Brothers, a European folktale of type 303.
• The Blue Light by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: A Comparison of the Versions of 1815 and 1857.
• The Blue Light. Folktales of type 562.
  1. The Blue Light (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. The Deserter with the Tinderbox (Austria, J. R. Bünker).
  3. The Iron Man (Germany, August Ey).
  4. The Three Dogs (Germany, Georg Schambach and Wilhelm Müller).
  5. The Soldier and the Tinderbox (Germany, Wilhelm Busch).
  6. The Giants and the Tinderbox (Germany, Heinrich Pröhle).
  7. The Transverse Flute (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  8. The Tinderbox (Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen).
  9. Lars, My Lad! (Sweden, G. Djurklo).
  10. Sir Buzz (India, Flora Annie Steel).
• Bluebeard. Folktales of types 312 and 312A about women whose brothers rescue them from their ruthless husbands or abductors.
  1. Bluebeard (France, Charles Perrault).
  2. Bluebeard: A Legend from Auvergne (France).
  3. King Bluebeard (Germany).
  4. Knight Goldbeard (Switzerland).
  5. Don Firriulieddu (Italy).
  6. The Little Boy and His Dogs (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
  7. Blue-Beard (North Carolina, USA).
  8. The Chosen Suitor (Antigua, British West Indies).
  9. Man-Snake as Bridegroom (Jamaica).
  10. The Brahman Girl That Married a Tiger (India).
• The Blue Belt. A folktale from Norway, collected in the mid nineteenth century by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. The magic belt in this tale is reminiscent of the Norse god Thor's belt of strength as described in The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson.
• Boccaccio, Giovanni (1313-1375).
  1. The Decameron Web. Sponsored by the Italian Studies Department at Brown University.
  2. The Boy Who Had Never Seen a Woman. Tales of type 1678.
  3. The Enchanted Pear Tree. Tales of type 1423.
  4. The Three-Ring Parable. Tales of type 920E.
  5. Griselda (type 887).
• Bogeymen / Boogeymen. Stories about imaginary specters used to frighten children.
  1. Dictionary Definitions.
  2. Of Vaine Apparitions (Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584).
  3. Imaginary Monsters (England).
  4. Goblin Names (England).
  5. Raw Head and Bloody Bones (England).
  6. Peg Powler (England).
  7. Menschikoff (England).
  8. The Bogey Man (England).
  9. Mr. Miacca (England).
  10. The Fairies (Ireland).
  11. A Rhyme We Say While Skipping (Ireland).
  12. The Night Huntsman (Germany).
  13. The Rye-Mother (Germany).
  14. Frau Trude (Germany).
  15. Mother Hinne's Parlor (Germany).
  16. Frightening Children (Germany).
  17. Butzemann (Germany).
  18. Krampus-Chains (Austria).
  19. The Krampus (Austria).
  20. The Krampus and Saint Nicholas (Austria).
  21. The Devil Takes a Child (Austria).
  22. The Hard-Hearted Father (Austria).
• The Boy Who Had Never Seen a Woman. Tales of types 1678 and 1459.
  1. Filippo Balducci and His Son (abstracted from The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio).
  2. A Young Monk Wanted to Have a Goose (Germany).
  3. An Inexperienced Youth (Italy, The Facetiæ of Poggio).
• Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts.
  1. The Historic Fart (1001 Nights).
  2. The Hodja as Envoy to the Kurds (Turkey).
  3. How Till Eulenspiegel Became a Furrier's Apprentice (Germany).
  4. Till Eulenspiegel and the Innkeeper at Cologne (Germany).
• The Bremen Town Musicians and other folktales of type 130, about aging animals who make a new life for themselves.
  1. The Bremen Town Musicians (Germany).
  2. The Robber and the Farm Animals (Germany / Switzerland).
  3. The Sheep and the Pig Who Set Up House (Norway).
  4. The Six Male Animals (Denmark).
  5. The Animals and the Devil (Finland).
  6. The Choristers of St. Gudule (Flanders).
  7. The Story of the White Pet (Scotland).
  8. The Bull, the Tup, the Cock, and the Steg (England).
  9. Jack and His Comrades (Ireland).
  10. A Story (Ireland).
  11. How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune, version 1 (USA).
  12. How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune, version 2 (USA).
  13. The Dog, the Cat, the Ass, and the Cock (USA).
  14. Benibaire (Spain).
  15. The World's Reward (South Africa).
• Bride Tests. Folktales about housekeeping tests used for choosing a bride.
  1. The Hurds (type 1451, Germany).
  2. Choosing a Bride (type 1452, Germany).
  3. The Cheese Test (type 1452, Switzerland).
  4. The Storehouse Key in the Distaff (type 1453, Norway).
  5. The Suitor (types 1450, 1453, and 1457; Denmark).
• Brothers.
  The Blood Brothers, a European folktale of type 303.
  The Brothers Who Were Turned into Birds, folktales of type 451.
  1. The Seven Doves (Italy, Giambattista Basile).
  2. The Curse of the Seven Children (Italy).
  3. The Bewitched Brothers (Romania).
  4. The Twelve Brothers (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  5. The Seven Ravens (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  6. The Six Swans (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  7. The Twelve Wild Ducks (Norway, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe).
  8. The Wild Swans (Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen).
  9. The Little Sister: The Story of Suyettar and the Nine Brothers (Finland).
  10. The Twelve Wild Geese (Ireland).
  11. The Sister and Her Seven Brothers (Basque).
  12. Udea and Her Seven Brothers (Libya).
• Bump in the Night.
  1. Scottish Prayer.
  2. When the Whole Earth Was Overrun with Ghosts (England).

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C

• Cain and Abel. Scriptures and folktales.
  1. Cain and Abel (Genesis).
  2. The Story of the Two Sons of Adam (The Koran).
  3. Cain and Abel (Jewish Legend).
  4. Kabil and Habil (Palestine).
  5. Cain and Abel (Turkey).
  6. Cain and Abel (Turkey [Armenian]).
  7. Abel and Cain (Italy).
  8. The First Grave (Poland).
  9. The Treasures of Cain (Romania).
• Cannibalism.
  The Place Where There Were No Graves. Folktales about eating dead people.
  1. The Place Where There Were No Graves (Egypt).
  2. The Country Where Death Is Not (Sudan).
• Cat and Mouse. Fables about cats and mice.
  1. Cat and Mouse in Partnership (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm), type 15.
  2. Mouse and Mouser (England), type 111.
  3. Belling the Cat (Aesop), type 110.
  4. The Cat and the Mice (Aesop), type 113*.
  5. The Hypocritical Cat (Tibet), type 113B.
  6. The Cat and the Mice (Tibet), type 113B.
  7. The Cat as Holy Man (Palestine), type 113B.
  8. The Town Mouse and the Field Mouse (Romania), types 112 and 113B.
  9. The Dog, the Cat, and the Mouse (Romania), type 200.
  10. The Cat and the Mouse (England), type 2034.
  11. Cat and Mouse (Germany), type 2034.
  12. Why the Cat Kills Rats (Nigeria).
• Cattarinetta, a folktale from Italy of type 333A about a careless girl who is eaten up by a witch.
• Censorship in Folklore: An Essay by D. L. Ashliman.
• Chain tales (also known as cumulative tales).
  • Type 2015: Nanny Who Wouldn't Go Home to Supper (Norway).
  • Type 2022: Mourning the Death of a Spouse.
    1. Little Louse and Little Flea (Germany).
    2. Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse (England).
    3. The Cock Who Fell into the Brewing Vat (Norway).
    4. The Cat and the Mouse (Italy).
    5. The Death and Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow (Pakistan).
  • Type 2025: The Runaway Pancake.
    1. The Pancake (Norway).
    2. The Runaway Pancake (Germany).
    3. The Thick, Fat Pancake (Germany).
    4. Dathera Dad (England).
    5. The Wonderful Cake (Ireland).
    6. The Wee Bunnock (Scotland [Ayrshire]).
    7. The Wee Bannock (Scotland [Dumfriesshire]).
    8. The Wee Bannock (Scotland [Selkirkshire]).
    9. The Fox and the Little Bonnach (Scotland).
    10. The Gingerbread Boy (USA).
    11. The Johnny-Cake (USA).
    12. The Little Cakeen (USA).
    13. The Devil in the Dough-Pan (Russia).
  • Type 2030.
    1. The Old Woman and Her Pig (England).
    2. Moorachug and Meenachug (Scotland).
    3. The Wife and Her Bush of Berries (Scotland).
    4. The Wifie an Her Kidie (Scotland).
    5. Nanny Who Wouldn't Go Home to Supper (Norway).
  • Type 2031C: The Mouse Who Was to Marry the Sun.
    1. The Transformed Mouse Seeks a Bridegroom (India).
    2. A Story on Caste (India).
    3. The Rats and Their Daughter (Japan).
    4. A Bridegroom for Miss Mole (Korea).
    5. The Most Powerful Husband in the World (French North Africa).
    6. The Vole Who Sought a Wife (Marie de France).
    7. The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Maid (Jean de La Fontaine).
    8. The Story of the Rat and Her Journey to God (Romania).
  • Type 2032.
    1. The Cock and the Mouse (Italy).
    2. The Sexton's Nose (Italy).
  • Type 20C (formerly type 2033): The End of the World (The Sky Is Falling In).
    1. The Timid Hare and the Flight of the Beasts (India).
    2. The Flight of the Beasts (Tibet).
    3. The Hares and the Frogs (Aesop -- edited by Samuel Croxall).
    4. The Hares and the Frogs (Aesop -- edited by Thomas Berwick).
    5. The Story of Chicken-Licken (England).
    6. Henny-Penny and Her Fellow Travelers (Scotland).
    7. Chickie Birdie (Scotland).
    8. Henny-Penny (England/Australia).
    9. The End of the World (Ireland)
    10. The Hen That Went to Dovrefjell to Keep the Whole World from Coming to an End (Norway).
    11. The Little Chicken Kluk and His Companions (Denmark).
    12. The End of the World (Flanders).
    13. The Dumb Little Animals (Alsace).
    14. Brother Rabbit Takes Some Exercise (African-American).
  • Type 2034D.
    1. The Grain of Corn (India).
    2. The Little Blackbird (India).
  • Type 2035: The House That Jack Built.
  • Type 2043: What Have You Got There? (children's games with chain-tale narratives.
  • Tikki Tikki Tembo. A chain tale from China about a boy with an enormously long name.
• Changeling legends.
  Fairies, trolls, elves, and devils kidnap human children, leaving their own demonic offspring in their place.
  1. Changelings: An Essay by D. L. Ashliman.
  2. The Changeling. A poem by James Russell Lowell.
  3. The Changeling. A ballad by John Greenleaf Whittier.
  4. Changeling Legends from the British Isles. Stories from England, Wales, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Ireland.
  5. German Changeling Legends. Stories from German-speaking countries.
  6. Scandinavian Changeling Legends. Stories from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Faroe Islands, and Iceland.
• Charms against Sprains.
  1. Cure for the Sprain (Ireland).
  2. Sprain Thread (Ireland).
  3. Straining Thread (Ireland).
  4. The Wristing or Wresting Thread (Orkney Islands).
  5. When a Person Has Received a Sprain (Shetland Islands).
  6. Link to the second Merseburg Incantation -- Merseburger Zauberspruch -- (Germany).
• Chaucer, Geoffrey (ca. 1340-1400).
  1. The Enchanted Pear Tree (The Merchant's Tale), a folktale of type 1423.
  2. Treasure Finders Murder One Another (The Pardoner's Tale), a folktale of type 763.
• Child Custody. Tales of type 926 in which a wise judge decides a disputed child custody case.
  1. Solomon and the Two Women (Bible, First Book of Kings).
  2. The Iugement of the kynge Salamon (Geoffroy de La Tour Landry).
  3. The Future Buddha as a Wise Judge (The Jataka Tales).
  4. The Question Regarding the Son (Ummaga Jataka).
  5. The Brahman and His Two Wives (Telugu Folktale).
• China.
  A Chinese Creation and Flood Mythfrom the Miao people.
• Cinderella. Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktale type 510A and related stories of persecuted heroines.
  1. Rhodopis (Strabo).
  2. The Cinder Maid (reconstructed from various European sources by Joseph Jacobs).
  3. Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper (France).
  4. Cinderella (Germany).
  5. Katie Woodencloak (Norway).
  6. The Broken Pitcher (England).
  7. Ashey Pelt (Ireland).
  8. Fair, Brown, and Trembling (Ireland).
  9. The Sharp Grey Sheep (Scotland).
  10. Rashin-Coatie (Scotland).
  11. The Hearth-Cat (Portugal).
  12. Cinderella (Italy).
  13. Little Saddleslut (Greece).
  14. Conkiajgharuna, the Little Rag Girl (Georgia).
  15. Pepelyouga (Serbia).
  16. The Wonderful Birch (Russia).
  17. The Baba Yaga (Russia).
  18. The Wicked Stepmother (Kashmir).
  19. Maria and the Golden Slipper (Philippines).
  20. The Poor Turkey Girl (Native American, Zuni).
  21. The Turkey Herd (Native American, Zuni).
  22. The Indian Cinderella (Native American).
  23. Link to The Green Knight (Denmark).
  24. Link to The Father Who Wanted to Marry His Daughter. Folktales of type 510B.
• Clothes Make the Man. Folktales of type 1558.
  1. The Brahman's Clothes (India).
  2. Nasreddin Hodja at a Bridal Festival (Turkey).
  3. Eat, My Clothes! (Italy).
  4. Heroes They Seemed When Once They Were Clothed (Iceland).
• A Corpse Claims Its Property. Ghost stories of type 366.
  1. White Cap (Iceland).
  2. The Shroud (Russia).
  3. The Stolen Liver (Poland).
  4. Ahlemann (Germany).
  5. The Man from the Gallows (Germany).
  6. The Burial Dress (Germany).
  7. The Audacious Girl (Germany).
  8. The Golden Leg (Germany).
  9. It's Mine! (Denmark).
  10. Saddaedda (Italy).
  11. The Golden Arm (England).
  12. The Golden Cup (England).
  13. Teeny-Tiny (England).
  14. Give Me My Teeth (England).
  15. The Old Man at the White House (England).
  16. A Ghost Story (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
  17. How to Tell a Story: The Golden Arm (African-American, Mark Twain).
• The Crane, the Crab, and the Fish. Fables of type 231.
  1. The Cruel Crane Outwitted (India, The Jataka).
  2. The Heron That Liked Crab-Meat (India, The Panchatantra).
  3. The Heron and the Crab (India, The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah).
  4. The Crane and the Makara (India, The Kathá Sarit Ságara).
  5. The Booby and the Crab (India, The Hitopadesa).
  6. The Crane and the Fish (India).
  7. The Crane, the Crab, and the Fish (India).
  8. The Pelican's Punishment (Malaya).
  9. The Heron and the Crab (Sri Lanka).
  10. The Story of a Fish in the Pond (The 1001 Nights).
  11. The Fishes and the Cormorant (Jean de La Fontaine).
  12. The Heron, the Fishes, and the Crab (Leo Tolstoy).
• Creation and origin myths.
  • Blackfoot Creation and Origin Myths.
    1. The Making of the Earth.
    2. Languages Confused on a Mountain.
    3. Order of Life and Death.
    4. Why People Die Forever.
    5. The First Marriage.
    6. Old Man Leads a Migration.
    7. Old Man and the Great Spirit.
  • A Chinese Creation and Flood Myth from the Miao people.
  • Creation Myths from the Philippines.
    1. How the World Was Made.
    2. The Creation (Igorot).
    3. How the Moon and the Stars Came to Be (Bukidnon).
    4. Origin (Bagobo).
    5. The Story of the Creation (Bilaan).
    6. In the Beginning (Bilaan).
    7. The Children of the Limokon (Mandaya).
    8. The Creation Story (Tagalog).
  • The Raelian Creation of Life on Earth. In what might be called the most recent of all creation myths, the Raelians outline here their belief that "scientists from another planet created all life on earth using DNA."
  • In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The creation according to The First Book of Moses, called Genesis.
  • Legendary Origins.
    1. The Origin of the Wrekin (England).
    2. Bomere Pool (England).
    3. The Origin of Tis Lake (Denmark).
    4. The Origin of the Island Hiddensee (Germany).
  • The Origin of Underground People. Legends about elves and other hidden creatures.
    1. Origin of the Hidden People (Iceland).
    2. When Satan Was Cast out of Heaven (Sweden).
    3. Origin of the Underground People in Amrum (Germany).
    4. Origin of the Elemental Spirits in Bohemia (Bohemia).
    5. Origin of the Fairies (Wales).
  • Paiute Creation and Origin Legends.
• Crop Division between Man and Ogre. Folktales of type 1030.
  1. The Farmer and the Devil on Island of the Popefigs (France, François Rabelais).
  2. The Troll Outwitted (Denmark).
  3. The Bear and the Fox Go into Partnership (Norway).
  4. The Fox and the Wolf Plant Oats and Potatoes (Scotland).
  5. The Farmer and the Boggart (England).
  6. The Bogie and the Farmer (England).
  7. Jack o' Kent and the Devil: The Tops and the Butts (England).
  8. Th' Man an' th' Boggard (England).
  9. Paddy Always on Top (Ireland).
  10. Above the Ground and under the Ground (USA).
  11. The Peasant and the Devil (Germany).
  12. Saint John and the Devil (Italy/Austria).
  13. The Peasant and the Bear (Russia).
  14. Mercury and the Traveler (Aesop).
• Cupid and Psyche, as recorded by the Roman writer Lucius Apuleius.

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• Dancing in Thorns. Tales of type 592.
  1. The Jew in the Thorns (Germany).
  2. They Dance to the Pipe (Austria).
  3. Little Freddy and His Fiddle (Norway).
  4. The Gifts of the Magician (Finland).
  5. Jack Horner's Magic Pipes (England).
  6. A Mery Geste of the Frere and the Boye (England).
  7. The Friar and the Boy (England).
  8. A Witch Rescues a Man (England).
  9. The Golden Harp (Wales).
  10. The Fiddler and the Minister (Ireland).
  11. Tom Clancy (Ireland).
  12. The Man Who Could Make People Dance (Ireland).
  13. The Three Gifts (France).
  14. Shortboot and His Flute (France).
  15. The Magic Violin (France).
  16. The Little Flute (Italy).
  17. The Magic Flute (Greece).
  18. Cecilio, the Servant of Emilio (Philippines).
  19. Cochinango (Philippines).
• Daughter of the Sun, a Danish folktale of type 898 from the collection of Jens Kamp.
• Death of a Child: Folktales about Excessive Mourning
  1. The Parable of the Mustard Seed (A Buddhist parable).
  2. The Death of a Dearly Loved Grandson (A Buddhist parable from The Udana).
  3. Ubbiri: Why Weep for Eighty-Four Thousand Daughters (A Buddhist parable).
  4. The Burial Shirt (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  5. A Mother's Tears (Thomas of Cantimpré).
  6. The Tear-Filled Jug (Germany).
  7. Let the Dead Rest (Germany).
  8. Grief-Stricken Mothers (Germany).
  9. The Sad Little Angel (Germany).
  10. The Sad Child (Switzerland).
  11. Excessive Grief for the Dead (England).
  12. The Child's Grave (Ireland).
  13. A Mother's Tears (Denmark).
  14. Cried to Life (Denmark).
• Death of an Underground Person, or of the King of the Cats. Migratory legends of type 6070B and tales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 113A.
  1. Torke's Child Is Dead / Kilian's Child Is Dead (Germany).
  2. Hübel and Habel (Germany).
  3. Prilling and Pralling Is Dead (Germany).
  4. Pingel Is Dead! (Germany).
  5. The Unknown Girl (Germany).
  6. King Pippe Is Dead! (Denmark).
  7. The Troll Turned Cat (Denmark).
  8. The Cat of the Carman's Stage (Ireland).
  9. The King of the Cats (Ireland).
  10. The King of the Cats (Scotland).
  11. The King o' the Cats (England).
  12. Dildrum, King of the Cats (England).
  13. Mally Dixon (England).
  14. Johnny Reed's Cat (England).
  15. Le Petit Colin (Guernsey).
• Death's Messengers, tales of type 335.
  1. Death's Messengers (retold by D. L. Ashliman).
  2. Death's Messengers (Hans Wilhelm Kirchhof, Wendunmuth).
  3. Death's Messengers (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  4. An Old Man That Was Willing to Put off Death (Laurentius Abstemius).
  5. Our Lord and the Church Father (Transylvania).
  6. The Old Man and the Physician (Rumi, The Masnavi).
  7. Spanish Moss (Georgia, USA).
• Death and the Old Man, tales of type 845.
  1. Death and an Old Man (Aesop, Roger L'Estrange).
  2. The Asses Skin (Aesop, Roger L'Estrange).
  3. The Old Man and Death (Aesop, Samuel Croxall).
  4. The Old Man and Death (Aesop, Robert Dodsley).
  5. The Old Man and Death (Aesop, Joseph Jacobs).
  6. Death and the Unfortunate (Jean de La Fontaine).
  7. Death and the Woodman (Jean de La Fontaine).
  8. The Old Man and Death (Leo Tolstoy).
  9. The Lord and Toby (USA -- Virginia).
  10. The Lord and Langton (USA -- Virginia).
  11. God and Moses (USA -- Florida).
  12. Death and the Negro Man (Joel Chandler Harris).
• Death of the Seven Dwarfs, a folk legend from Switzerland with an ending quite different from that of the familiar fairy tale "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs" by the Grimm brothers.
• Devil.
• How the Devil Married Three Sisters and other type 311 tales.
  1. How the Devil Married Three Sisters (Italy).
  2. The Devil (Italy).
  3. The Cobbler and His Three Daughters (Basque).
  4. The Three Sisters Who Were Taken into the Mountain (Norway).
  5. The Sisters in the Troll's Hill (Denmark).
  6. Fitcher's Bird (Germany).
  7. The Three Sisters (Germany).
  8. The Hare's Bride (Germany).
  9. The Three Chests: The Story of the Wicked Old Man of the Sea (Finland).
  10. The Widow and Her Daughters (Scotland).
  11. Peerifool (Scotland).
  12. Jean-Parle (Canada).
  13. The Secret Room (USA).
  14. The Three Sisters (Jamaica).
  15. The Wood-Cutter's Daughter (Palestine).
  16. The Tiger's Bride (India).
• The Devil (or Ogre) and the Gun. Folktales of type 1157 in which a stupid ogre is tricked into shooting himself.
  1. How the Devil Played the Flute (Germany).
  2. The Origin of the Jack-o'-Lantern (Wales).
• Deceiving the Devil with a Rope of Sand. Folktales of type 1174.
  1. Michael Scott (Scotland).
  2. Mitchell Scott (England).
  3. Donald Duival and the Devil (England).
  4. A Wild Legend (Scotland).
  5. The Devil and the Schoolmaster at Cockerham (England).
  6. Tregeagle (England).
  7. The Devil's Mill (Ireland).
  8. The Shoemaker, the Tailor, and the Sailor (Germany).
  9. The Cheated Devil (Germany).
• Straightening a Curly Hair. A devil is defeated because he cannot straighten a curly hair.
  1. The Brahmarâkshas and the Hair (India)
  2. Tapai and the Brahman (India)
  3. The Devil and the Farmer (England)
  4. Tricking the Devil (Germany)
• Deceiving the Devil by Breaking Wind. Folktales of type 1176.
  1. Ridiculing the Devil (Martin Luther).
  2. The Peasant and the Devil (Martin Montanus).
  3. Timmermann's Fart (Germany).
  4. Deceiving the Devil (Germany).
  5. The Cheated Devil (Germany).
  6. The Square Knot (East Prussia).
  7. A Story (Ireland).
  8. A Funny Story (Ireland).
• Devil's Bridge Legends. Folktales of type 1191, in which the devil builds a bridge, but is then cheated out of the human soul he expected as payment.
  1. The Sachsenhäuser Bridge at Frankfurt (Germany).
  2. The Bamberg Cathedral and Bridge (Germany).
  3. The Devil's Bridge in Lake Galenbeck (Germany).
  4. The Devil's Bridge (Austria).
  5. The Taugl Bridge (Austria).
  6. The Devil's Bridge Near Klaus (Austria).
  7. The Devil's Bridge (Switzerland).
  8. The Devil's Bridge (Switzerland/France).
  9. The Legend of the Devil's Bridge (Tuscany, Italy).
  10. The Devil's Bridge in Martorell (Catalonia, Spain).
  11. The Devil's Bridge in Cardiganshire (Wales).
  12. The Devil's Bridge (Wales).
  13. The Devil's Bridge (Wales).
  14. The Devil's Bridge at Kirkby (England).
  15. The Bridge at Kentchurch (England).
  16. The Devil's Bridge (England).
  17. Kilgrim Bridge (England).
• Dividing Souls in the Graveyard. Folktales of type 1791.
  1. The Miller and the Tailor (England).
  2. The Bag of Nuts (Derbyshire, England).
  3. Mother Elston's Bag of Nuts (Devonshire, England).
  4. Tom Daly and the Nut-Eating Ghost (Ireland).
  5. Dividing the Souls (Virginia, USA).
  6. Dividing the Souls (North Carolina, USA).
• Divination: Charms to Predict Future Bridegrooms and Brides.
  1. Saint Andrew's Eve (Germany / Austria).
  2. Superstitions (Germany).
  3. The Spell (England).
  4. Midsummer Superstitious Customs (Cornwall, England).
  5. Halloween (Scotland).
  6. The Bible and Key Trial (Scotland).
  7. Rhamanta, or Romantic Divination (Wales).
  8. A Story (Ireland).
  9. Hallow-E'n (Ireland).
  10. Hallowe'en Customs (Ireland).
• Doctor Know-All and other folktales of type 1641 about being in the right place at the right time.
  1. The Cobbler Turned Doctor (Attributed to Aesop).
  2. Harisarman (India).
  3. The Stolen Treasure (India).
  4. The Four Jogis (India).
  5. Crab (Italy).
  6. Doctor Know-All (Germany).
  7. Doctor Cure-All (Ireland).
  8. Black Robin (Wales).
  9. Doctor and Detective (Denmark).
  10. The Charcoal Burner (Norway).
  11. John the Conjurer (Spain).
  12. Suan's Good Luck (Philippines).
• Dragons and Dragon Slayers
  • Dragon Slayers: An Index Page.
  • Alpine Dragons, legends from Switzerland and neighboring Alpine countries.
    1. About Snakes and Dragons in Switzerland (Switzerland).
    2. Syntram and Baltram (Canton Bern).
    3. The Dragon in the Reuss River (Luzern).
    4. The Cooper in the Dragon Hole (Mount Pilatus).
    5. The Cat-Faced Dragon on Mount Wangserberg (St. Gallen).
    6. Winkelried and the Lindworm (Unterwalden).
    7. The Dragon in the Macun-Lakes Plateau (Graubünden).
    8. The Dragon in Lake Alpiglia (Graubünden).
    9. The Stollenwurm (Bernese Oberland).
    10. Giant Haym (Innsbruck).
    11. Saint Mang and the Dragon (Tyrol / Bavaria).
    12. The Dragon in Seefelder Lake (Tyrol).
    13. Dragons near Salzburg (Salzburg).
    14. The Lindworm of Lake Goggau (Carinthia).
    15. The Dragon Fight at Murnau (Bavaria).
    16. The Lindworm in Volkach (Bavaria).
    17. The Lindworm in Marktbreit (Bavaria).
  • British Dragons, legends from England, Wales, and Scotland.
    1. Fiery Dragons at Lindisfarne (Northumberland).
    2. Kindling Fires to Drive Away Dragons (Traditional).
    3. Bone-Fires (Traditional).
    4. The Red Dragon of Wales (Wales).
    5. The Story of Lludd and Llevelys (Wales).
    6. The Radnorshire Dragon (Wales).
    7. The Linton Worm (Roxburghshire, Scotland).
    8. The Dragon at the Nine Maidens' Well (Forfarshire, Scotland).
    9. The Stove Worm (Orkney Islands, Scotland).
    10. The Dragon of Loschy Wood (Yorkshire).
    11. The Serpent of Kellington (Yorkshire).
    12. The Slingsby Serpent (North Yorkshire).
    13. The Dragon of Wantley (South Yorkshire).
    14. The Dragon of Unsworth (Lancashire).
    15. The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heugh (Northumberland).
    16. The Longwitton Dragon (Northumbria).
    17. The Serpent of Deerhurst (Gloucestershire).
    18. Saint George and the Uffington White Horse (Oxfordshire).
    19. The Mordiford Dragon or Serpent (Herefordshire).
    20. The Dragon's Well at Brinsop (Herefordshire).
    21. The Lambton Worm (County Durham).
    22. Conyers of Sockburn (County Durham).
    23. The Dragon of Well (County Durham).
    24. Piers Shonke and the Serpent (Hertfordshire).
    25. The Long Dragon of Shervage Wood (Somerset).
    26. The Dragon of St. Leonard's Forest (Sussex).
    27. The Dragon of Bignor Hill (Sussex).
    28. The Fiery Dragon of Dolbury Hill (Devonshire).
    29. The Legend of the Ludham Dragon (Norfolk).
• Dream.
  Dream Bread. Tales of type 1626.
  1. The Three Dreams (Petrus Alphonsi).
  2. The Three Travelers (The Masnavi).
  3. Jesus, Peter, and Judas (The Toledot Yeshu).
  4. Of the Deceits of the Devil (Gesta Romanorum).
  5. Comical History of Three Dreamers. (Spain).
  6. The "Dream-Bread" Story Once More (USA).
  7. The Three Travelers and the Load (W. A. Clouston).
     Dream Treasure Turns to Filth. Tales of type 1645B.
  8. A Man Who Found Gold During His Sleep (Poggio Bracciolini).
  9. The Hodja Dreams That He Had Found a Treasure (Attributed to Nasreddin Hodja).
     The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream and other tales of type 1645 in which dreamers seek treasure abroad but find it at home.
  10. The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream (The 1001 Nights).
  11. A Man of Baghdad (Persia).
  12. Numan's Dream (Turkey).
  13. How the Junkman Traveled to Find treasure in His Own Yard (Turkey).
  14. The Peddler of Swaffham (England).
  15. The Swaffham Legend (England).
  16. A Cobbler in Somersetshire (England).
  17. Upsall Castle (England).
  18. Dundonald Castle (Scotland).
  19. Themselves (Isle of Man).
  20. Dreaming Tim Jarvis (Ireland).
  21. The Bridge of the Kist (Ireland).
  22. The Dream of Treasure under the Bridge at Limerick (Ireland).
  23. A Kerry Man (Ireland).
  24. Treasure at Ardnaveagh (Ireland).
  25. Dreams Should Not Be Ignored (Netherlands).
  26. The Dream of the Treasure on the Bridge (Germany).
  27. The Pine Tree of Steltzen (Germany).
  28. Digging Up Snakes (Germany).
  29. A Good Dream (Switzerland).
  30. The Dream of Treasure (Austria).
  31. The Dream of the Zirl Bridge (Austria).
  32. The Golden Fox (Czech Republic / Austria).
  33. The Church at Erritsø (Denmark).
  34. The Treasure in Translet (Denmark).
  35. A Peasant in Vester-Brøndum (Denmark).

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• East of the Sun and West of the Moon. A classic animal bridegroom tale from the Norwegian collection of Asbjørnsen and Moe.
• Eat Me When I'm Fatter. Fables of type 122F.
  1. The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf, and the Hare (Tibet).
  2. The Lambikin (India).
  3. The Fisher and the Little Fish (Aesop).
  4. The Dog and the Wolf (Bohemia).
  5. Mr. Hawk and Brother Rabbit (African-America).
• Edenhall, The Luck of.
  1. The Luck of Edenhall (1). A fairy legend from Cumberland, England.
  2. The Luck of Eden Hall (2). Another version of the above legend.
  3. The Luck of Eden Hall (3). A third version of the above legend.
  4. The Luck of Eden Hall (4). A fourth version of the above legend.
  5. Das Glück von Edenhall. A German ballad by Ludwig Uhland.
  6. The Luck of Edenhall. An English translation of Uhland's ballad by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• The Emperor's New Clothes and other tales of type 1620.
  1. The Emperor's New Clothes (Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen).
  2. The Invisible Cloth (Spain).
  3. How Eulenspiegel Painted the Forbears of the Landgrave of Hessen (Germany).
  4. Fine Thread (Russia).
  5. The Miller with the Golden Thumb (England).
  6. The King's New Turban (Turkey).
  7. The King and the Clever Girl (India).
  8. The Invisible Silk Robe (Sri Lanka).
• End of the World. Folktales type 20C, in which storytellers from around the world make light of paranoia and mass hysteria.
  1. The Timid Hare and the Flight of the Beasts (India).
  2. The Flight of the Beasts (Tibet).
  3. The Hares and the Frogs (Aesop -- edited by Samuel Croxall).
  4. The Hares and the Frogs (Aesop -- edited by Thomas Berwick).
  5. The Story of Chicken-Licken (England).
  6. Henny-Penny and Her Fellow Travelers (Scotland).
  7. Chickie Birdie (Scotland).
  8. Henny-Penny (England/Australia).
  9. The End of the World (Ireland)
  10. The Cock and the Hen That Went to Dovrefjell (Norway).
  11. The Little Chicken Kluk and His Companions (Denmark).
  12. The End of the World (Flanders).
  13. The Dumb Little Animals (Alsace).
  14. Brother Rabbit Takes Some Exercise (African-American).
• England
  Folklore, Folktales, and Fairy Tales from England, a library of books digitized by books.google.com and others.
• Ertha, the Germanic Earth Goddess. The account, written by Tacitus in the year 98, of a north German deity variously named Ertha, Hertha, Nerthus, or Mother Earth. She may be related to the folkloric figures known as Bertha or Frau Holle.

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• Fairies' Hope for Christian Salvation. Migratory legends of type 5050.
  1. A Redeemer for the Elves? (Sweden).
  2. The Näck and the Strömkarl (Sweden).
  3. Salvation for the Neck (Sweden).
  4. The Water Nymph (Sweden).
  5. The Prospects of the _Huldre_-Folk for Salvation (Norway).
  6. The Trolls Desire to Be Saved (Denmark).
  7. The Clergyman and the Dwarfs (Denmark).
  8. Gillikop (Denmark).
  9. When We Cease to Exist.... (An excerpt from "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen).
  10. The Convent Nixie in Guben (Germany).
  11. The Sea Bishop (Germany / Poland).
  12. The Pious Clergyman and the Fairy (Scotland).
  13. A Ross-shire Narrative (Scotland).
  14. The Priest's Supper (Ireland).
  15. The Belated Priest (Ireland).
  16. The First Turf Fire (Ireland).
• A Fairy Captured. Migratory legends of type 6010.
  1. A Fairy Caught (England).
  2. Skillywidden the Fairy (England).
  3. Colman Grey (England).
  4. A Woman Caught a Fairy (Wales).
  5. The Wonderful Plough (Germany).
  6. Krachöhrle! Where Are You? (Germany).
  7. Link to The Leprechaun: Ireland's Fairy Shoemaker, additional tales about captured fairies.
• Fairy Cup Legends. Migratory legends of type 6045 and other stories of drinking vessels stolen from or abandoned by fairies.
  1. The Oldenburg Horn (Germany, Hermann Hamelmann).
  2. The Oldenburg Horn (Germany, Adalbert Kuhn and Wilhelm Schwartz).
  3. The Osenberg Dwarfs (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  4. The Stolen Cup (Germany, Karl Müllenhoff).
  5. Church Cups (Germany/Denmark, Karl Müllenhoff).
  6. The Altar Cup in Aagerup [Ågerup] (Denmark, Thomas Keightley).
  7. Svend Fælling and the Elle-Maid (Denmark, J. M. Thiele).
  8. The Öiestad [Øyestad] Horn (Norway, Benjamin Thorpe).
  9. The Trolls Celebrate Christmas (Sweden, Benjamin Thorpe).
  10. Origin of the Noble Name of Trolle (Sweden, Benjamin Thorpe).
  11. The Fairy Banquet (England, William of Newburgh).
  12. The Fairy Horn (England, Gervase of Tilbury).
  13. The Story of the Fairy Horn (England, Ernest Rhys).
  14. The Rillaton Gold Cup (England, Sabine Baring-Gould).
  15. The Luck of Edenhall [Eden Hall] (England).
  16. The Fairy Cup of Kirk Malew (Isle of Man, George Waldron).
  17. The Silver Cup (Isle of Man, Sophia Morrison).
  18. The Trowie Pig (Scotland, John Nicolson).
• The Fairy Flag of Dunraven Castle. Legends from the Scottish Isle of Sky about a gift from a fairy lover.
• Fairy Gifts. Stories of type 503 from around the world about mortals who are blessed or cursed by the "hidden people."
  1. The Fairies and the Hump-Back (Scotland).
  2. The Hunchback of Willow Brake (Scotland).
  3. The Legend of Knockgrafton (Ireland).
  4. The Palace in the Rath (Ireland).
  5. A Fairy Tale in the Ancient English Style (Thomas Parnell).
  6. Billy Beg, Tom Beg, and the Fairies (Isle of Man).
  7. The Fairies and the Two Hunchbacks: A Story of Picardy (France)
  8. The Tailor on the Brocken (Germany).
  9. The Gifts of the Mountain Spirits (Germany).
  10. The Gifts of the Little People (Germany).
  11. The Two Hunchbacked Brothers (Italy).
  12. The Two Humpbacks (Italy).
  13. The Elves and the Envious Neighbor (Japan).
  14. How an Old Man Lost His Wen (Japan).
  15. The Old Man with the Wen (Japan).
  16. The Story of Hok Lee and the Dwarfs (China).
• Fairy Theft. Legends about thieving fairies.
  1. Of the Subterranean Inhabitants (Scotland).
  2. Fairy Theft (Scotland).
  3. Fairy Control over Crops (Ireland).
  4. Fairies on May Day (Ireland).
  5. The Sidhe (Ireland).
  6. The Silver Cup (Isle of Man).
  7. The Three Cows (England).
  8. A "Verry Volk" Fest (Wales and Brittany).
  9. Riechert the Smith (Germany).
• The Faithful Wife. Folktales of type 888.
  1. Of Chastity (Gesta Romanorum).
  2. The Man Hitched to a Plow (France/Germany).
  3. Conrad von Tannenberg (Germany).
  4. The Tsaritsa Harpist (Russia).
  5. The Lute Player (Russia).
  6. A Story Told by a Hindu (India).
  7. Link to Andreas Grein of Purbach, a related legend about Turkish slavery from Burgenland, Austria.
• Father-daughter incest.
  The Father Who Wanted to Marry His Daughter. Folktales of type 510B.
  1. Doralice (Italy, Giovanni Francesco Straparola).
  2. The She-Bear (Italy, Giambattista Basile).
  3. Donkey Skin (France, Charles Perrault).
  4. Ass-Skin (Basque, Wentworth Webster).
  5. All-Kinds-of-Fur, also known as "Allerleirauh" (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, version of 1812, with a link to the version of 1857).
  6. Cinder Blower (Germany, Karl Bartsch).
  7. Kaiser Heinrich in Sudemer Mountain (Germany, A. Kuhn and W. Schwartz).
  8. Broomthrow, Brushthrow, Combthrow (Austria, Theodor Vernaleken).
  9. The Emperor's Daughter in the Pig Stall (Romania, Arthur and Albert Schott).
  10. Fair Maria Wood (Italy, Thomas Frederick Crane).
  11. Maria Wood (Italy, Rachel Harriette Busk).
  12. All-Kinds-of-Fur (Greece, J. G. von Hahn).
  13. The Princess Who Would Not Marry Her Father (Portugal, Consiglieri Pedroso).
  14. The Horse's Skin (Portugal, Francisco Adolpho Coelho).
  15. The King Who Wished to Marry His Daughter (Scotland, J. F. Campbell).
  16. Morag a Chota Bhain -- Margery White Coats (Scotland, J. F. Campbell).
  17. Rashen Coatie (Scotland, Peter Buchan).
  18. The Princess and the Golden Cow (England, Isabella Barclay).
  19. The Story of Catskin (England, James Orchard Halliwell).
  20. The Princess in the Cat-Skins (Ireland, Patrick Kennedy).
  21. The Beautiful Princess (Lithuania, August Schleicher).
  22. The Princess with a Golden Star on Her Forehead (Czechia, Božena Němcová).
  23. Pigskin (Little Russia [Ukraine], Alexander Afanasyev).
  24. Kniaz Danila Govorila (Russia, Alexander Afanasyev).
  25. Seggu-Jataka: How a Pious Greengrocer Tested His Daughter's Virtue (India, The Jataka).
• Faust Legends. Stories about mortals who enter into contracts with the demonic powers.
  1. Doctor Johann Faustus (Germany, abstracted from the Faust Chapbook of 1587).
  2. Doctor Faust in Neu-Ruppin (Germany).
  3. Dr. Faust at Boxberg Castle (Germany).
  4. Dr. Faust in Erfurt (Germany).
  5. Dr. Faust and Melanchton in Wittenberg (Germany).
  6. Dr. Faust in Anhalt (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  7. How Doctor Faust Came Back to Life (Germany).
  8. Faustschlössl (Austria).
  9. Doctor Faust at Castle Waardenburg (Netherlands).
  10. Faust's Book of Hell's Charms (Germany).
  11. Dr. Faust's Hell-Master (Germany).
  12. The Pact (Austria).
  13. A Scholar Assigns Himself to the Devil (Denmark).
  14. Doctor Faustus Was a Good Man (1) (a nursery rhyme from England).
  15. Doctor Faustus Was a Good Man (2) (a nursery rhyme from England).
  16. Dule upon Dun (England).
  17. Devil Compacts (Scotland).
  18. Dafydd Hiraddug and the Crow Barn (Wales, Elias Owen).
  19. Selected literary works based on the Faust Legend.
  20. Selected musical works based on the Faust Legend.
• Fear. Folktales of type 326 and related stories.
  1. Good Bowling and Card-Playing (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1812).
  2. The Story of a boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1819).
  3. Shuddering (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  4. The Brave Flute Player (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  5. A Fearless Boy (Denmark).
  6. The Boy Who Did Not Know What Fear Was (Iceland).
  7. Jack Dreadnought (Hungary).
  8. The Boy Who Found Fear at Last (Turkey).
  9. The Deadly Mosque (Persia).
  10. About the Young Boy Who Had No Fear (Lithuania).
  11. The Headless Dwarfs (Estonia).
  12. The Man Who Never Knew Fear (Ireland).
  13. The Boy Who Feared Nothing (England).
  14. The Dauntless Girl (England).
  15. A Wager Won (England).
  16. The Boy and the Ghost (USA).
  17. The Dismembered Ghost (USA).
  18. The Haunted House (USA).
• The Fisherman and His Wife and other tales of dissatisfaction and greed.
  1. The Fisherman and His Wife (Germany).
  2. Hanns Dudeldee (Germany).
  3. The Old Man, His Wife, and the Fish (Russia).
  4. The Stonecutter (Japan).
  5. The Bullock's Balls (India).
• Flood Myths from the Philippines.
  1. The Flood Story (Igorot).
  2. The Flood Story (Bukidnon).
• The Flying Dutchman. Legends about a seaman cursed to sail the oceans forever.
  1. The Sailors Said They Saw the Flying Dutchman (John MacDonald, 1790).
  2. The Story of the Flying Dutchman (A Voyage to New South Wales, 1795).
  3. A Common Superstition of Mariners (Scotland, 1803).
  4. Written on Passing Dead-Man's Island (Thomas Moore, 1804).
  5. The Dæman-Frigate (Sir Walter Scott, 1813).
  6. Vanderdecken's Message Home (Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 1821).
  7. The Flying Dutchman (The Voyage of H.M.S. Leven, 1823).
  8. The Fable of the Flying Dutchman (Heinrich Heine, The Memoirs of Herr von Schnabelewopski, 1833).
  9. The Flying Dutchman of the Tappan Sea (Washington Irving Wolfert's Roost, 1855).
  10. The Rotterdam (Scotland, 1859).
  11. The Spectre Ship of Porthcurno (Cornwall, England, 1865).
  12. We Meet the Flying Dutchman (The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship "Bacchante," 1881).
  13. The Phantom Ship (James William Buehl, 1891).
  14. Links to additional texts.
• The Foolish Friendand other tales of type 1586, in which a fool kills an insect resting on someone's head, with catastrophic consequences.
  1. The Mosquito and the Carpenter (The Jataka Tales).
  2. The Foolish Friend (The Panchatantra).
  3. The Gardner and the Bear (Bidpai).
  4. The Stupid Boy (Sri Lanka).
  5. The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr (Pakistan).
  6. The Bald Man and the Fly (Aesop).
  7. The Bear and the Amateur of Gardening (Jean de La Fontaine).
  8. Fortunio (Giovanni Francesco Straparola).
  9. Giufà and the Judge (Italy).
  10. The Little Omelet (Italy).
  11. Permission Granted, but Probably Regreted (Switzerland).
  12. Foolish Hans (Austria-Hungary).
  13. The Blockhead and the Judge (England).
  14. The Tale of the Butter Tub (Iceland).
  15. The Seven Crazy Fellows (Philippines).
  16. The Monkeys and the Dragonflies (Philippines).
• Foolish Wishes. Tales of type 750A and other stories about the foolish use of magic wishes.
  1. The Two-Headed Weaver (The Panchatantra).
  2. The Three Wishes (1001 Nights).
  3. The Ridiculous Wishes (France, Charles Perrault).
  4. The Sausage (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
  5. Loppi and Lappi (Estonia, Friedrich Kreutzwald).
  6. The Wishes (Hungary, W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf).
  7. The Woodman's Three Wishes (England, Thomas Sternberg).
  8. The Three Wishes (England, Joseph Jacobs).
  9. The Monkey's Paw (England, W. W. Jacobs).
• A Fool Does Not Count the Animal He Is Riding. Folktales of type 1288A.
  1. The Simpleton with Ten Asses (Turkey).
  2. The Hodja and His Eight Donkeys (Turkey).
  3. Johha Fails to Count the Donkey He Is Riding (Palestine).
• The Fool Whose Wishes All Came True. Folktales of type 675.
  1. Hans Dumb (Germany).
  2. Stupid Michel (Germany).
  3. Lazy Lars, Who Won the Princess (Denmark).
  4. Emelyan the Fool (Russia).
  5. Halfman (Greece).
  6. Juvadi and the Princess (Italy).
  7. Peter the Fool (Giovanni Francesco Straparola, The Facetious Nights).
  8. Peruonto (Giambattista Basile, The Pentamerone).
• The Fool and the Mare's Egg. Folktales of type 1319.
  1. The Purchase of the Horse's Egg (India).
  2. The Weaver and the Watermelon (India).
  3. Buying a Pumpkin Instead of a Mule (Algeria).
  4. Nasreddin Hodja and the Mule's Egg (Turkey).
  5. The Two Cockneys and the Mare's Egg (England).
  6. The McAndrew Family (Ireland).
  7. Kleinenberg Horse Eggs (Germany).
  8. The Men from Ried Hatch a Donkey (Switzerland).
  9. Donkey Seed (Italy).
  10. The Pumpkin (Serbia).
  11. The People of Sainte-Dode (France).
  12. The Irishman and the Mare's Egg (Canada).
  13. The Irishman and the Pumpkin (USA -- Virginia).
  14. Racehorse Eggs (USA -- Idaho).
• Fools Cannot Count Themselves. Folktales of type 1287.
  1. The Twelve Men of Gotham (England).
  2. The Five Traveling Journeymen (Germany).
  3. The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr (Pakistan).
  4. The Lost Peasant (Kashmir).
  5. How the Kadambawa Men Counted Themselves (Sri Lanka).
• Forgiveness and Redemption. Legends of type 755 and 756.
  1. Tannhäuser (Germany).
  2. The Woman Who Had No Shadow (Scandinavia).
• The Fox and the Catand other fables of type 105 about the dangers of being too clever.
  1. The Fish That Were Too Clever (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Crow and the Swan (India, The Mahabharata).
  3. A Fox and a Cat (Aesop, Roger L'Estrange, 1692).
  4. The Fox and the Cat (Aesop, Joseph Jacobs, 1894).
  5. The Cat and Fox (France, Jean de La Fontaine).
  6. The Fox and the Cat (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  7. The Seven-Witted Fox and the One-Witted Owl (Romania).
  8. The Fox and His Bagful of Wits and the One-Witted Hedgehog (Romania).
  9. The Fox and the Hedgehog (South Slavonic).
  10. The Fox and the Hedgehog (Greece).
  11. The Bear as Judge (Finland).
  12. Two Losses (Georgia).
  13. Can You Swim? (England).
• The Fox and the Crow. Fables of type 57.
  1. The Fox and the Crow (Aesop, 4 versions).
  2. Le Corbeau et le Renard (La Fontaine).
  3. The Crow and the Fox (La Fontaine).
  4. Jambu-Khādaka-Jātaka. (India).
  5. Anta-Jātaka (India).
  6. Auac and Lamiran (Philippines).
  7. The Fox and the Raven (China).
• The Fox and the Fleas. Fables of type 63.
  1. When the Fox Is Infested with Fleas (Germany).
  2. When the Fox Wants to Get Rid of His Fleas (Norway).
  3. When the Fox Is Plagued by Fleas (Denmark).
  4. The Fox and the Flees (Scotland).
  5. How the Fox Gets Rid of Fleas (USA -- Georgia).
  6. The Jackal and the Flees (India / Pakistan).
• The Fox Steals the Butter. Fables of type 15.
  1. Reynard and Bruin (Europe).
  2. The Fox Cheats the Bear out of His Christmas Fare (Norway).
  3. The Fox and The Wolf (Netherlands).
  4. The Keg of Butter (Scotland).
  5. Cat and Mouse in Partnership (Germany).
  6. Mister Rabbit Nibbles Up the Butter (African-American).
• The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse and other fables of type 47E.
  1. The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse (France, Jean de La Fontaine).
  2. Two Foxes and a Horse (Scotland).
  3. The Wolf and the Tailor (Russia).
  4. The Vixen and the Mule (Italy).
• Frau Holle by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. A comparison of the versions of 1812 and 1857.
• Frau Holle and Other Tales of Type 480 (The Kind and the Unkind Girls).
  1. Frau Holle (Germany).
  2. Frau Holle and the Distaff (Germany).
  3. Saint Joseph in the Woods (Germany).
  4. The Two Girls and the Angel (Germany).
  5. The Two Stepsisters (Norway).
  6. The Fairies (France).
  7. The Bucket (Italy).
  8. The Three Heads of the Well (England).
  9. The Old Woman and the Two Servant Girls (England).
  10. The Old Witch (England).
  11. Morozko (Jack Frost) (Russia).
  12. The Twelve Months (Russia).
  13. Conkiajgharuna, the Little Rag-Girl (Georgia).
  14. The Two Stepsisters (Romania).
  15. The Three Gifts (Poland).
  16. Mangita and Larina (Philippines).
  17. The Bald Wife (India).
  18. Lazy Maria (USA).
• Friday. A Russian folktale of type 779J*.
• Fridleif the Dragon Slayer. An account of a Danish hero from the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus.
• Frog Kings. Folktales of type 440 about slimy suitors.
  1. The Frog King; or, Iron Heinrich (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. The Frog Prince (The first English translation [with an altered title and a revised ending] of the above tale).
  3. The Frog Prince (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  4. The Enchanted Frog (Germany).
  5. The Singing Frog (Denmark).
  6. The Wonderful Frog (Hungary).
  7. The Princess and the Frog (Ireland).
  8. A Story: The Girl and the Frog (Ireland).
  9. A Story: A King in Ireland Who Had Three Daughters (Ireland).
  10. The Queen Who Sought a Drink from a Certain Well (Scotland).
  11. The Paddo (Scotland).
  12. The Well of the World's End (Ireland).
  13. The Well of the World's End (Scotland).
  14. The Maiden and the Frog (England).
  15. The Frog Gentleman (England).
  16. The Kind Stepdaughter and the Frog (England).
  17. The Frog Prince (Sri Lanka [Ceylon]).
  18. A Frog for a Husband (Korea).

      • The Frog King by the brothers Grimm. A comparison of the versions of 1812 and 1857.
      • Der Froschkönig von den Brüdern Grimm. A comparison, in the orignal German, of the versions of 1812 and 1857.

• The Two Frogs. Fables of types 278A, 278A*, and related tales.
  1. Two Neighbour-Frogs (Aesop -- Roger L'Estrange).
  2. The Two Frogs Who Were Neighbours (Aesop -- George Fyler Townsend).
  3. Two Frogs That Wanted Water (Aesop -- Roger L'Estrange).
  4. The Two Frogs (Aesop -- George Fyler Townsend).
  5. How a Tortoise Came to Grief Because He Loved His Home Too Much (The Jataka).
  6. The Three Fishes (The Masnavi).

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• Gambara and the Longbeards (Langobards). A clever woman, with the help of the goddess Frea (Frigg), tricks Wodan (Odin) into blessing her tribe with victory.
• Gefion's Home Page. This site contains two accounts, both written by Snorri Sturlason, the 13th-century Icelandic writer, describing how the Æsir goddess Gefion (also spelled Gefjon) created the Danish island of Sjælland (Zealand) by plowing out an enormous field from the Kingdom of Sweden.
• Ghost Stories
  • Haunted by the Ghost of a Murdered Child. Migratory legends of type 4025.
    1. Mother Mine, in the Fold, Fold (Iceland).
    2. I Should Have Gotten Married (Iceland).
    3. The Child Murderer (Denmark).
    4. The Child Phantom (Sweden).
    5. Short-Hoggers o' Whittinghame (Scotland).
    6. Fine Flowers in the Valley (Scotland).
    7. Lady Anne (Scotland).
    8. The Infanticide Mother (England).
    9. The Crying Child (Poland).
  • Real Ghosts and Fake Ghosts. Folktales of types 1676 and 1676B
    1. Two Spirits (Belgium).
    2. Do Not Disturb the Rest of the Dead (Germany).
    3. A Ghostly Council Meeting (Germany).
    4. The Death Shroud (Germany).
    5. The Scoffer of Herzberg (Germany).
    6. The Peasant and the Owls (Germany).
    7. The Preacher and the Ghost (Sweden).
    8. The Blacksmith (Ireland).
    9. A Ghost Story (Ireland).
    10. Meg of Meldon (England).
    11. The Chivalrous Devil (England).
• The Girl with White Hands. A Zobell family legend about Kirstine Andersdatter, also known as Christine Andersen.
• The Girl without Hands. Tales of type 706.
  1. Biancabella (Giovanni Francesco Straparola, The Facetious Nights).
  2. Penta the Handless (Giovanni Battista Basile, Il Pentamerone).
  3. The Innkeeper's Beautiful Daughter (Italy).
  4. The Girl without Hands (Italy / Austria).
  5. Beautiful Magdalene (Germany).
  6. The Girl without Hands (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm -- 1812).
  7. The Girl without Hands (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm -- 1857).
  8. The Daughter Who Was Promised to the Devil (Germany).
  9. The Girl without Hands (Finland).
  10. The Girl without Hands (Hungary).
  11. William of the Tree (Ireland).
  12. The Bad Stepmother (Ireland).
  13. The Cruel Stepmother (Scotland).
  14. Anecdote of a Charitable Woman (The 1001 Nights).
  15. The Girl without Legs (Somalia).
  16. Blessing or Property (Swahili).
  17. The Sun and the Moon (Eskimo).
  18. Sun and Moon (Eskimo).
  19. Wild Sanctuary: The Handless Maiden (Link to an essay by Terri Windling with art by Jeanie Tomanek).
• Godfather Death. Tales of type 332.
  1. Godfather Death (Germany).
  2. The Doctor and Death (Denmark).
  3. The Boy with the Ale Keg (Norway).
  4. Story (Ireland).
  5. The Just Man (France).
  6. The Godson of Death (France).
  7. Juan Holgado and Death (Spain).
  8. Dr. Urssenbeck, Physician Death (Austria).
  9. Godmother Death (Moravia).
  10. The Poor Man and Death (Hungary).
  11. Godfather Death (Italy).
  12. The Just Man (Italy).
  13. Godfather Charon (Greece).
• Godiva. The legend of Lady Godiva (Godgifu) from Coventry in Warwickshire, England.
  1. Lady Godiva (Roger of Wendover).
  2. Godiva (Alfred, Lord Tennyson).
• Golden Fowls.
  1. The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs (Aesop).
  2. The Goose and the Golden Eggs (Aesop).
  3. The Golden Mallard (from The Jataka; or, Stories of The Buddha's Former Births).
  4. The Lucky-Bird Humá (Kashmir).
  5. The Duck That Laid Golden Eggs (Russia).
  6. The Golden Goose (Germany).
• The Golden Key. The Grimm Brothers' final tale, an enigmatic story with no ending, suggesting perhaps that there is no final word in folktale interpretation.
• The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man. Fables of type 160.
  1. The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Traveler and the Goldsmith (India, Kalila and Dimna).
  3. Story of the Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Woman (India, The Kathasaritsagara).
  4. The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man (Tibet).
  5. Vitalis and the Woodcutter (England, attributed to Richard the Lionheart (Richard Coeur de Lion).
  6. Of Ingratitude (Gesta Romanorum).
  7. Adrian and Bardus (England, John Gower).
• The Grateful Dead. Folktales of type 505.
  1. Andersen, Hans Christian. Reisekammeraten (Denmark).
  2. Andersen, Hans Christian. The Travelling Companion (Denmark).
  3. Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen. The Companion (Norway).
  4. Campbell, J. F. The Barra Widow's Son (Scotland).
  5. Crane, Thomas Frederick. Fair Brow (Italy).
  6. Curtin, Jeremiah. Shaking Head (Ireland).
  7. Gale, James S. The Grateful Ghost (Korea).
  8. Gerould, Gordon Hall. The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story.
  9. Groome, Francis Hindes. The Dead Man's Gratitude (Turkish-Gypsy).
  10. Grundtvig, Svend. De tre Mark (Denmark).
  11. Grundtvig, Svend. The Three Pennies (Denmark).
  12. Kennedy, Patrick. Jack the Master and Jack the Servant (Ireland).
  13. Lorimer, D. L. R. and E. O. The Story of the Grateful Corpse (Iran).
  14. MacManus, Seumas. The Snow, the Crow, and the Blood (Ireland).
  15. Spence, Lewis. The Man of Honour (Brittany).
  16. Steele, Robert. Sila Tsarevich and Ivashka with the White Smock (Russia).
  17. Straparola, Giovanni Francesco (or Gianfrancesco). Night 11, fable 2 of The Facetious Nights (Italy).
  18. Wolf, Johann Wilhelm. Des Todten Dank (Germany).
  19. Wratislaw, Albert Henry. The Spirit of a Buried Man (Poland).
• Greed. Folktales of type 68A in which an individual places himself at risk by trying to hold too much.
  1. The Boy and the Filberts (Aesop).
  2. Capturing Monkeys (India).
  3. The Greedy Monkey (Pakistan).
  4. The Monkey and the Nuts (USA, Ambrose Bierce).
• Grimm Brothers -- Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859).
  1. Grimm Brothers' Home Page.
  2. Grimms' Children's and Household Tales . Also known as The Grimms' Fairy Tales, this is the most influential of all folklore collections and one of the most beloved books of all time. At this site are listed all the stories' titles, in English and in German, plus their Aarne-Thompson-Uther type classification numbers. This site also includes links to texts of the Grimms' tales, both in the original German and in English translation.
  3. Grimms' Fairy Tales in English. A bibliography of books available without cost on the Internet.

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• Hand from the Grave. Legends from Germany and Switzerland about wayward children whose hands, following their death and burial, refuse to stay buried.
  1. The Willful Child (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. The Hand on the Grave (J. D. H. Temme).
  3. The Parent Murderer of Salzwedel (J. D. H. Temme).
  4. The Hand in Mellenthin (A. Kuhn and W. Schwartz).
  5. A Hand Grows from the Grave (A. Kuhn and W. Schwartz).
  6. A Hand Grows from the Grave (three legends, Karl Bartsch).
  7. The Withered Hand in the Church at Bergen (A. Haas).
  8. The Cursed Hand (Karl Haupt).
  9. A Hand Grows from the Grave (Bernhard Baader).
  10. The Hand That Grew from the Grave (J. G. Th. Grässe).
  11. A Child's Hand That Wrongly Attacked a Mother Grows Out of the Grave (Friederich Wagenfeld).
  12. A Mother Disciplines Her Deceased Child (Switzerland, Franz Niderberger).
• Hand of Glory. Legends about magic lights made from human hands.
  1. The Hand of Glory (Sabine Baring-Gould).
  2. The Hand of Glory (Francis Grose).
  3. The Inn of Spital on Stanmore (England, Thomas and Katharine Macquoid).
  4. The Hand of Glory (three legends from England, Edwin Sidney Hartland).
  5. The Hand of Glory in Herefordshire (England, Ella Mary Leather).
  6. Thief's Foot -- Thief's Hand -- Thief's Finger (Netherlands).
  7. Thieves' Thumbs (Germany, Jacob Grimm).
  8. Thieves' Lights (Germany, Ernst Moritz Arndt).
  9. Spell and Counter-Spell (Germany, Adalbert Kuhn).
  10. Thieves' Lights (two legends from Germany, Karl Bartsch).
  11. The Hands of Unbaptized Children (Switzerland).
  12. The Finger of Sin (Poland).
• Hands. The Girl without Hands: Tales of type 706.
• Hanging Game. Folktales of type 1343 (formerly type 1066), in which boys inadvertenly kill one of their comrades.
  1. The White Hare (Denmark).
  2. The Limping Hare (Germany).
  3. The Hanging Game (Switzerland).
  4. The Hanging Game (England).
  5. The Shifty Lad (Scotland).
  6. The Two Thieves (Scotland).
  7. Boys Try Beheading (Poland).
  8. Children Play at Slaughtering (Germany).
  9. Playing at Hanging (China).
• Hansel and Gretel by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: A comparison of the versions of 1812 and 1857.
• Hansel and Gretel, and other type 327 folktales about abandoned children.
  1. Hansel and Gretel (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. Ninnillo and Nennella (Italy, Giambattista Basile).
  3. Little Thumb (France, Charles Perrault).
  4. An Old Story (Ireland).
  5. Molly Whuppie (England).
  6. Jan and Hanna (Poland).
  7. The House of Candy (Czechia, Božena Němcová).
  8. Old Grule (Moravia).
  9. The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother (Romania).
  10. The Witch (Russia).
  11. Magic Flight (African American).
  12. The Children and the Witch (Jamaica).
  13. Juan and Maria (Philippines).
• Hávamál: The Words of Odin the High One. Proverbs and wisdom from the Elder or Poetic Edda.
• Hello, House! Folktales of type 66A.
  1. The Hare and the Lion (Zanzibar).
  2. The Alligator and the Jackal (India).
  3. Heyo, House! (African-American).
• Hertha Lake, a legend about the heathen deity Hertha. This may be the earth goddess mentioned by Tacitus in his Germania, written in the year 98.
• Hildebrandslied. A heroic epic from eight-century Germany.
• The Himphamp. Folktales of type 571B and other stories about illicit lovers who are magically stuck together.
  1. The Himphamp (Scandinavia).
  2. The Smith and the Priest (Germany).
  3. The Story of the Himphamp (Germany).
  4. Stupid Hans (Germany / Poland).
  5. The Count and the Smith (Poland).
  6. The Tale of the Basin (England).
  7. Jack Horner and the Innkeeper's Wife (England).
  8. The Enchanted Piss-Pot (England).
  9. The Plaisham (Ireland).
  10. The Raja's Son and the Kotwal's Son (India).
  11. The Love of Ares and Aphrodite (Homer, The Odyssey).
  12. Vulcan, Mars, and Venus (Ovid, The Metamorphoses).
  13. Vulcan, Mars, and Venus (The Romance of the Rose).
• Hodja. See Nasreddin Hodja: Tales of the Turkish Trickster.
• Hog Bridegrooms. Tales of type 441, in which a beautiful maiden is forced to marry a hog or a hedgehog.
  1. King Pig (Italy, Giovanni Francesco Straparola).
  2. Hans-My-Hedgehog, version of 1814 (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  3. The Wild Pig (Germany).
  4. The Hedgehog That Married the King's Daughter (Lithuania).
  5. Prince Hedgehog (Russia).
  6. The Hedgehog, the Merchant, the King, and the Poor Man (Hungary).
  7. The Enchanted Pig (Romania).
• Horse.
  Catching a Horse by Its Tail. Folktales of type 47A in which a trickster cons his victim into thinking he can catch a horse by tying himself to its tail.
  1. The Fox and the Horse (Germany).
  2. Reynard Wants to Taste Horseflesh (Norway).
  3. Fox and Wolf (Netherlands).
  4. Brother Fox Catches Mr. Horse (African America).
  5. The Fox and the Wolf (Native American--Chickasaw).
• Hot and Cold with the Same Breath. Folktales of type 1342.
  1. The Man and the Satyr (Aesop).
  2. The Satyr and the Traveler (Jean de La Fontaine).
  3. The Peasant and the Satyrs (Flanders).
  4. The Peasant and the Student (Germany).
• The Husband Who Was to Mind the House(Norway). A folktale of type 1408 in which a man and a woman exchange jobs for the day.
• Human Sacrifice in Legends and Myths.
  1. Human Sacrifice among the Gauls (France).
  2. King Aun Sacrifices Nine Sons to Odin (Sweden).
  3. Buried Alive (Sweden).
  4. The Churchyard on the Island of Fur (Denmark).
  5. An Old Belief (Germany).
  6. The Höxter Ghost (Germany).
  7. Entombment (Germany).
  8. The Entombed Child (Germany).
  9. The Ghost at Spyker (Germany).
  10. Sacrificing Virgins to Lakes (Germany).
  11. The Old Church at Kohlstädt (Germany).
  12. The Name Greene (Germany).
  13. An Infant Speaks (Germany).
  14. The Secured Foundation Stone (Germany).
  15. Plesse Castle (Germany).
  16. Merlin the Magician Rescues King Vortigern (Wales).
  17. Sacrifice, Human (England).
  18. London Bridge Has Fallen Down (England).
  19. The Magdeburg Bridge -- Die Magdeburger Brücke (Germany).
  20. Story of the Bridge (Turkey -- Gypsy).
  21. Rumors of Foundation Sacrifice (India).
  22. Mbila (a Kabyl legend).
  23. How the Cannibals Drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the Cross River (Nigeria).
  24. Jephthah and His Daughter (Book of Judges).

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• Iceland Accepts Christianity. The history of the first Christian mission in Iceland, abstracted from the medieval epic Njal's Saga.
• Ingratitude Is the World's Reward. Folktales of type 155. A kind person rescues a trapped animal, who in turn threatens to kill his benefactor. In the end the animal is tricked back into the trap.
  1. The Crocodile, the Brahman, and the Fox (India, The Southern Panchatantra).
  2. The Camel Driver and the Adder (Bidpai).
  3. The Brahman, the Tiger, and the Six Judges (India).
  4. The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal (India).
  5. The Farmer, the Crocodile, and the Jackal (Pakistan).
  6. The Young Man and the Snake (Pakistan).
  7. The Jackal's Judgment (Sri Lanka).
  8. The Unmannerly Tiger (Korea).
  9. The Snake's Thanks (Jewish).
  10. Inside Again (Europe).
  11. Of Nature and the Returns of Ingratitude (Gesta Romanorum).
  12. The Reward of Good Deeds (Denmark).
  13. The Reward of Kindness (Finland).
  14. The Man, the Serpent, and the Fox (Greece).
  15. The Ingrates (Italy).
  16. The Lion, the Horse, and the Fox (Italy).
  17. Ingratitude Is the World's Reward (Moravia).
  18. The World's Reward (Russia).
  19. The Peasant, the Snake, and King Solomon (Romania).
  20. Brother Wolf Still in Trouble (African-American).
• Ireland
  Folklore, Folktales, and Fairy Tales from Ireland, a library of books digitized by books.google.com and others.

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• Jack and the Beanstalk. nine versions of the English folktale (type 328).
• The Jackal and the Farmerand other tales of type 154.
  1. The Jackal and the Farmer (North Africa, Kabyl).
  2. Well Done and Ill Paid (Norway).
• Japan
  • Folklore, Folktales, and Fairy Tales from Japan. A digital library.
  • Japanese Folktales.
    1. The Two Frogs
    2. The Mirror of Matsuyama
    3. Visu the Woodsman and the Old Priest
    4. Little Peachling (Momotaro)
    5. The Tongue-Cut Sparrow
    6. A Woman and the Bell of Miidera
    7. The Stonecutter
    8. Danzayémon, Chief of the Etas
  • Japanese Legends about Supernatural Sweethearts.
    1. The Robe of Feathers.
    2. The Snow Bride.
    3. Willow Wife.
    4. The White Butterfly.
    5. The Vampire Cat.
    6. The Firefly.
    7. The Princess Peony.
• Jataka Tales. Stories about the different incarnations of the future Buddha.
  1. The Future Buddha as a Wise Judge.
  2. The Mosquito and the Carpenter.
  3. The Golden Mallard.
  4. The Tortoise That Loved His Home Too Much.
  5. How a Parrot Told Tales of His Mistress and Had His Neck Wrung.
  6. The Monkey's Heart.
  7. The Talkative Tortoise.
  8. The People Who Saw the Judas Tree.
  9. The Timid Hare and the Flight of the Beasts.
  10. How a Vain Woman Was Reborn As a Dung-Worm.
  11. The Language of Animals.
  12. Sulasa and Sattuka.
  13. How an Ungrateful Son Planned to Murder His Old Father.
• Jephthah and His Daughter. A story of human sacrifice from the Old Testament.

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• Kora and His Sister. A folktale from India about brother-sister incest.

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• Lang, Andrew (1844-1912).
  Andrew Lang's Colored Fairy Books. Links to original texts.
• The Language of Animals. Folktales of type 670 about wife beating.
  1. The Language of Animals (from The Jataka; or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births).
  2. The King and His Inquisitive Queen (India).
  3. The Billy Goat and the King (India).
  4. Ramai and the Bonga (India).
  5. The King Who Learnt the Speech of Animals (Sri Lanka).
  6. The Bull, the Donkey, and the Husbandman (from The 1001 Nights).
  7. The Merchant Who Knew the Language of Beasts (Palestine).
  8. The Snake's Gift: Language of Animals (Serbia).
  9. The Language of Animals (Bulgaria).
  10. The Language of Beasts (Bulgaria).
  11. Woman's Curiosity (Hungary).
  12. The Dog and the Cock (Denmark).
  13. The Wicked Wife (Germany).
  14. Frederigo da Pozzuolo Is Pressed by His Wife to Tell a Secret (Italy, Giovanni Francesco Straparola).
  15. The Language of Beasts (Jamaica).
• The Leprechaun: Ireland's Fairy Shoemaker
  1. Variant spellings and designations.
  2. Lepreghaun (Lady Morgan Sydney).
  3. The Field of Boliauns [Ragweed] (Thomas Crofton Croker).
  4. The Little Shoe (Thomas Crofton Croker).
  5. Cluricaune or Leprehaune (Thomas Crofton Croker).
  6. The Three Leprechauns (Thomas Keightley).
  7. The Kildare Lurikeen (Patrick Kennedy).
  8. The Leprehaun (Lady Wilde).
  9. The Solitary Fairies: Lepracaun, Cluricaun, Far Darrig (William Butler Yeats).
  10. The Maker of Brogues (Brampton Hunt).
• Lion
  • The Lion in the Water. Fables of type 92.
    1. The Lion and the Hare (India, The Panchatantra).
    2. The Lion and the Hare (Bidpai).
    3. The Lion Whose Name Was Pingala (India).
    4. Singh Rajah [Lion King] and the Cunning Little Jackals (India).
    5. The Killing of the Rakhas (India).
    6. The Lion and the Hare (India).
    7. The Tiger and the Shadow (Malaya).
    8. The Tiger and the Hare (Pakistan).
    9. The Tiger and the Fox (Pakistan).
    10. The Hare and the Lions (Tibet).
    11. Brother Rabbit Conquers Brother Lion (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
    12. Lion Brooks No Rival (African-American).
  • The Sick Lion. Fables of type 50 about lions and other powerful animals who are tricked into punishing a physically weaker (but very clever) animal's enemies.
    1. The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox (Aesop).
    2. The Lion, Wolf, and Fox (Jean de La Fontaine).
    3. The Hyena Outwitted (India).
    4. The King of the Tigers Is Sick (Malaya).
• Llewellyn and His Dog Gellertand other folktales of type 178A.
  1. The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Dog and the Snake and the Child (India, The Book of Sindibad)
  3. The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose (India, Georgiana Kingscote).
  4. The Greyhound, the Serpent, and the Child (The Seven Wise Masters).
  5. Folliculus and His Greyhound (Gesta Romanorum).
  6. Beth Gellert (Wales, Joseph Jacobs).
  7. The Dog Gellert (Wales, Horace E. Scudder).
  8. The Farmer and His Dog (a modern fable).
• Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882).
  1. The Bell of Atri from_Tales of a Wayside Inn_.
  2. Norse Ballads of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
     • The Challenge of Thor.
     • Thangbrand the Priest.
     • The Skeleton in Armor.
     • Tegner's Drapa [on the death of Balder the Beautiful].
• Lorelei. Legends and ballads about the Rhine River nymph.
  Legends:
  1. Lore Lay (Clemens Brentano).
  2. The Lorelei (Paul Zaunert).
  3. Lurlei (Ludwig Bechstein).
  4. The Maiden on the Lorelei (Karl Wehrhan).
  5. The Lorelei (Lewis Spence).
  6. Lorlei Castle (Philipp von Steinau).
     Ballads (in the German language):
  7. Zu Bacharach am Rheine (Clemens Brentano).
  8. Waldgespräch (Joseph von Eichendorff).
  9. Loreley: Eine Sage vom Rhein (Otto Heinrich Graf von Loeben).
  10. Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten (Heinrich Heine).
  11. Der Handstand auf der Loreley (Nach einer wahren Begebenheit) (Erich K&aum;stner).
• Luther, Martin (1483-1546).
  Doctor Luther at the Wartburg. The legend of Martin Luther throwing an ink pot at the devil, here recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
• Lying Tales. Self-contradictory stories of type 1965 and similar playful lies.
  1. Lying Tale (England).
  2. Sir Gammer Vans (England).
  3. One Dark Night (USA).
  4. Knoist and His Three Sons (Germany).
  5. The Three Brothers (Italy).

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• The Magdeburg Bridge -- Die Magdeburger Brücke (a nursery rhyme from Germany, similar to the English "London Bridge Is Falling Down").
• Magic Books. Legends from Northern Europe.
  1. Books on Black Art (Ireland).
  2. The Wondrous Michael Scott (Scotland).
  3. The Magic Book (Guben, Germany).
  4. The Magic Book and the Crows (Guben, Germany).
  5. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Guben, Germany).
  6. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Meesow, Germany / Mieszewo, Poland).
  7. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Chemnitz, Germany).
  8. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Rügen, Germany).
  9. The Black Book (Rügen, Germany).
  10. Faust's Book of Hell's Charms (Zellerfeld, Germany).
  11. Dr. Faust's Hell-Master (Erzgebirge, Germany).
  12. The Book of Cyprianus (Denmark).
  13. The Milkmaid from Listrup (Denmark).
  14. The Court Tutor at Tøjstrup Manor (Denmark).
  15. Cyprianus (Denmark).
  16. Folk Beliefs about the Cyprianus (Denmark).
  17. The Devil Is Given a Task (Denmark).
  18. The Book of Magic (Russia).
• Man and Serpent. Fables of type 285D.
  1. The Man and the Serpent (Aesop).
  2. The Gold-Giving Snake (The Panchatantra).
  3. Of Good Advice (Gesta Romanorum).
  4. The Rattlesnake's Vengeance (Native American, Cherokee).
• The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey. Fables of type 1215 about the futility of trying to please everyone.
  1. The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey (Aesop).
  2. The Lady's Nineteenth Story (Turkey).
  3. It Is Difficult to Please Everyone (Turkey).
  4. Of the Olde Man and His Sonne That Brought His Asse to the Towne to Sylle (England).
  5. An Unusual Ride (Switzerland/Germany).
  6. The Miller, His Son, and the Ass (Jean de La Fontaine).
  7. Le Meunier, son fils et l'âne (Jean de La Fontaine).
• Man, Isle of
  Folklore, Folktales, and Fairy Tales from the Isle of Man, a library of books digitized by books.google.com and others.
• Mastermaid (Norway). A masterful telling of a type 313 folktale.
• Master Builder Legends.
  1. Loki and the Master Builder (From The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson.
  2. King Olaf and the Giant (Norway/Sweden).
  3. The Giant Finn and Lund's Cathedral (Sweden).
  4. Esbern Snare and the Kalundborg Church (Denmark).
  5. The Builder Zi (Denmark).
  6. Who Built the Reynir Church? (Iceland).
  7. The Devil's Church near Dembe (Poland).
  8. Why the North Tower of Saint Stephen's Cathedral Remains Unfinished (Austria).
  9. Saint Michael's Church in Steyr (Austria).
  10. Construction of Saint Lawrence's Church near Altheim (Austria).
  11. The Two Master Builders at Wasserburg (Germany).
  12. The Master Builder of the Würzburg Cathedral (Germany).
  13. The Master Builder of the Bamberg Cathedral (Germany).
• Melusina (Mélusine, Melusine). Legends about mermaids, water sprites, and forest nymphs and their sensuous relationships with mortal men.
  1. Water People (Paracelsus).
  2. The True Melusina (Paracelsus).
  3. The Fair Melusina (Albania).
  4. Melusina (France).
  5. The Legend of Beautiful Melusina, the Ancestress of Luxembourg Counts (Luxembourg).
  6. Melusina -- Soldiers' Legend (Luxembourg).
  7. The Mysterious Maiden Mélusine (Luxembourg).
  8. Melusina (Germany).
  9. Herr Peter Dimringer von Staufenberg (Germany).
  10. The Water Maid (Germany).
  11. Brauhard's Mermaid (Germany).
  12. Melusina (Germany).
• Merlin the Magician Rescues King Vortigern: Why the Red Dragon Is the Emblem of Wales(Wales, W. Jenkyn Thomas).
• The Mermaid Wife. Legends of type 4080 and related tales.
  1. The Captured Mermaid (Isle of Man).
  2. The Mermaid and the Shepherd (Isle of Man).
  3. The Mermaid Wife (Shetland Islands).
  4. The Silkie Wife (Shetland and Orkney Islands).
  5. Herman Perk and the Seal (Shetland Islands).
  6. The Goodman of Wastness (Orkney Islands).
  7. The Mermaid of Lochinver (Scotland).
  8. The Sealskin (Iceland).
  9. Touched by Iron (Wales).
  10. The Mermaid of Zennor (Cornwall).
  11. Tom Moore and the Seal (Ireland).
  12. The Lady of Gollerus (Ireland).
  13. The Mermaid (Ireland).
  14. Legend of O' Dowd of Inniscrone Castle and the Mermaid (Ireland).
  15. The Mermaid (Ireland).
  16. Brauhard's Mermaid (Germany).
• The Merseburg Incantations (Merseburger Zaubersprüche). Two magic poems from pre-Christian Germany.
  1. The first poem describes the activities of valkyrie-like sorceresses called "the Idisi" who have the power to bind or to free battling warriors. Following the narrative are the words of a brief incantation or charm chanted to free captured warriors.
  2. The second poem tells how a number of goddesses unsuccessfully attempt to cure the injured leg of Balder's horse. Wodan, with his unfailing magic, knows the right charm, and the horse is healed. The narrative concludes with the actual words of an incantation used to heal broken limbs. This pre-Christian incantation is similar to charms against sprains recorded in Ireland and in the Orkney and Shetland Islands in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• Midas, and other folktales of type 782 about humans with animal ears or horns.
  1. Midas (Greece).
  2. The Goat's Ears of the Emperor Trojan (Serbia).
  3. The King with the Horse's Ears (Ireland).
  4. March's Ears (1) (Wales).
  5. March's Ears (2) (Wales).
  6. The Child with the Ears of an Ox (India).
  7. The Presidente Who Had Horns (Philippines).
• Midwife (or Godparent) for the Elves. A human helps deliver an elf-woman's baby, or serves as the elf-child's godparent. Stories of this type are found throughout northern Europe, and are classified as migratory legend type 5070 or Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktale type 476*.
  1. The Troll Labor (Sweden, Peter Rahm).
  2. The Clergyman's Wife (Sweden).
  3. Midwife for a Mermaid (Germany, Johannes Praetorius).
  4. The Water-Nix Takes a Midwife to His Wife (Germany, Johann Jacob Bräuner).
  5. The Servant Girl and the Elves (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  6. The Godmother (Switzerland, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  7. Straw into Gold (Germany, Gustav Schwab).
  8. The Water-Many (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  9. The Woman among the Elves (Germany, Karl Lyncker).
  10. The Dwarfs in Schalk Mountain (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  11. An Underground Woman in Labor (Germany, Karl Bartsch).
  12. Midwife for a Nixie (Germany, Adalbert Kuhn and Wilhelm Schwartz).
  13. The Midwife of Hafoddydd (Wales, John Rhys).
  14. The Fairy Nurse (Ireland, W. R. Wilde).
  15. The Fairy Nurse (Ireland, Patrick Kennedy).
  16. The Midwife of Listowel (Ireland, Jeremiah Curtin).
  17. The Midwife (Ireland, The Schools's Collection).
  18. Fairy Ointment (England, Anna Eliza Bray).
  19. Fairy Ointment (England, Joseph Jacobs).
• Monkey Bridegrooms.
  1. The Monkey Boy (India).
  2. The Monkey and the Girl (India).
  3. The Monkey Husband (India).
  4. Juan Wearing a Monkey's Skin (Philippines).
  5. The Enchanted Prince (Philippines).
  6. Mr. Monkey, the Bridegroom (French Louisiana).
• The Monkey's Heart. Folktales of type 91, in which a captive animal rescues itself by claiming to have left its heart (or other tasty organ) at home.
  1. The Monkey's Heart (India, Jataka Tales).
  2. The Monkey and the Crocodile (India, Suka Saptati; or, Seventy Tales of a Parrot)
  3. The Foolish Dragon (China).
  4. The Monkey and the Jellyfish (Japan).
  5. The Jellyfish and the Monkey (Japan).
  6. The Heart of a Monkey (Africa, Swahili).
  7. Brother Rabbit and the Gizzard-Eater (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
• The Moon in the Well, folktales of type 1335A about fools who attempt to rescue the moon's reflection from a pond or a well.
  1. Nasreddin Hodja Rescues the Moon (Turkey).
  2. The Monkeys and the Moon (Tibet).
  3. The Moon in the Mill-Pond (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
  4. The Three Sillies (England).
• Mother and child.
  • Every Mother Thinks Her Child Is the Most Beautiful, fables of type 247.
    1. The Eagle and the Owl (Jean de La Fontaine).
    2. Prose Summary of La Fontaine's Verse Fable (D. L. Ashliman).
    3. One's Own Children Are Always Prettiest (Norway).
    4. The Crow and Its Ugly Fledglings (Romania).
    5. Why Is There Enmity Between the Crow and the Hawk? (Romania).
    6. Jupiter and the Monkey (Aesop).
    7. Jupiter and the Baby Show (Ambrose Bierce).
  • Mother Killed Me, Father Ate Me, folktales of type 720.
    1. The Juniper Tree (Germany).
    2. The Girl and the Boy (Austria).
    3. The Crow's Nest (Hungary).
    4. The Rose-Tree (England).
    5. The Satin Frock (England).
    6. The Milk-White Doo [Dove] (Scotland).
    7. The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother (Romania).
• Mouse, Mice.
  • The Iron-Eating Mice. Folktales of type 1592.
    1. Miracle upon Miracle (India, The Panchantantra).
    2. The Mice That Ate an Iron Balance (India, The Kátha Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story).
    3. The Iron Weights and Scales Which Were Eaten by Mice (India, The "Suka Saptati," or, The Seventy Tales of Parrot.
    4. The Faithless Depositary (France, Jean de La Fontaine).
    5. The Two Merchants (Russia, Leo Tolstoy).
  • The Mouse Who Was to Marry the Sun. Fables of type 2031C.
    1. The Transformed Mouse Seeks a Bridegroom (India).
    2. A Story on Caste (India).
    3. The Rats and Their Daughter (Japan).
    4. A Bridegroom for Miss Mole (Korea).
    5. The Most Powerful Husband in the World (French North Africa).
    6. The Vole Who Sought a Wife (Marie de France).
    7. The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Maid (Jean de La Fontaine).
    8. The Story of the Rat and Her Journey to God (Romania).
  • Town Mouse and Country Mouse. Fables of type 112 and related tales.
    1. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (Aesop).
    2. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (Horace).
    3. The Town Rat and the Country Rat (La Fontaine).
    4. The Story of the Town Mouse and the Field Mouse (Romania).
    5. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (Norway).
    6. A Mouse in the Hill and a Mouse in a Farm (Scotland).
    7. The Greedy and Ambitious Cat (India).
    8. The Dog That Went Abroad (India).
    9. The Mouse Who Went to the Country (James Thurber).
• Multiple Births in Legend and Folklore. Multiple births have not always been considered to be a blessing. Indeed, as the following legends show, in times past they were sometimes seen to be a sign of the mother's infidelity or other sin, with potentially fatal consequences for the children.
  1. The Birth of Aistulf (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. As Many Children As There Are Days in the Year (The Netherlands, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  3. The Woman with Three Hundred and Sixty-Six Children (Netherlands, William Elliot Griffis).
  4. The Boy in the Fishpond (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  5. The Origin of the Welfs (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  6. Wölpe (Germany, A. Kuhn and W. Schwarz).
  7. Donkey Meadow and the Nine Brunos (Germany, A. Kuhn and W. Schwarz).
  8. Nine Children at One Time (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  9. The Entombed Noblewoman (Austria, Johann Adolf Heyl).
  10. The Dogs (Germany, Karl Lyncker).
  11. The Nine Children (Germany, Karl Lyncker).
  12. Twelve Children Born at One Time (Scandinavia).
  13. Links to related stories.

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• The home page of D. L. Ashliman.
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• the top of this document.

Revised October 24, 2024.