• Folk and Mythology Electronic Texts, page 2.

• Folk and Fairy Tale Links.

• Germanic Myths, Legends, and Sagas.

A

• 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. Four Years in Faery (Isle of Man).
  7. The Fairies' Hill (Scotland).
  8. The Stolen Lady (Scotland).
  9. The Aged Bride (Denmark).
  10. A Smith Rescues a Captured Woman from a Troll (Denmark).
  11. The Sea Nymph (Sweden).

  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. 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 Daydreamer (India, Cecil Henry Bompas).
  4. The Barber's Tale of His Fifth Brother (1001 Nights).
  5. A Wise Lesson; or, The Dervish and the Honey Jar (Jewish).
  6. The Milkmaid and Her Pail (Aesop).
  7. Lazy Heinz (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  8. Lean Lisa (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  9. The Lad and the Fox (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
  10. The Peasant and the Cucumbers (Russia, Leo Tolstoy).
  11. The Milkmaid and Her Bucket (USA, Ambrose Bierce).
  12. Bibliography of additional type 1430 tales (English and German).

• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from the 1001 Nights. The classic "Open Sesame" tale (type 676).

• 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 Frog Maiden (Burma).
  3. The Dog Bride (India).
  4. The Cat Who Became a Queen (India).
  5. The Mouse Maiden (Sri Lanka).
  6. The Prince and the Tortoise (1001 Nights).
  7. The Frog's Skin (Georgia).
  8. The Frog (Austria/Italy).
  9. The Frog's Bridegroom (Germany).
  10. Doll i' the Grass (Norway).
  11. The She-Wolf (Croatia).
  12. 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. The Girl Who Married a Bear (Pueblo).
  9. Of the Woman Who Loved a Serpent Who Lived in a Lake (Passamaquoddy).

• Animals in Exile. Folktales of type 130, about aging animals who make a new life for themselves.
  1. The Bremen Town Musicians (Germany).
  2. The Choristers of St. Gudule (Flanders).
  3. The Robbers and the Farm Animals (Switzerland).
  4. The Story of the White Pet (Scotland).
  5. The Bull, the Tup, the Cock, and the Steg (England).
  6. Jack and His Comrades (Ireland).
  7. How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune, version 1 (USA).
  8. How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune, version 2 (USA).
  9. The Dog, the Cat, the Ass, and the Cock (USA).
  10. The World's Reward (South Africa).

• Anti-Semitic Legends. A collection of legends reflecting anti-Jewish sentiment among European Christians. These tales, like their witchcraft analogs, illustrate an unfortunate chapter in human history.
  1. The Jews' Stone (Austria).
  2. The Girl Who Was Killed by Jews (Germany).
  3. Pfefferkorn the Jew at Halle (Germany).
  4. The Expulsion of the Jews from Prussia (Germany).
  5. The Bloody Children of the Jews (Germany).
  6. The Imprisoned Jew at Magdeburg (Germany).
  7. The Chapel of the Holy Body at Magdeburg (Germany).
  8. The Lost Jew (Germany).
  9. The Story of Judas (Italy).
  10. Malchus at the Column (Italy).
  11. Buttadeu (Sicily).
  12. The Eternal Jew on the Matterhorn (Switzerland).
  13. The Jew in the Thorns (Germany).

• Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen (1812-1885) and Moe, Jørgen (1813-1882).
  Norske Folkeeventyr. The classic collection of Norwegian folktales, here in the Norwegian language.

B

• Bald Stories: Folktales about Hairless Men.
  1. The Man and His Two Wives (Aesop).
  2. The Middle-Aged Man and the Two Widows (Jean de La Fontaine).
  3. The Bald Old Man (Korea).
  4. The Mix-up (from a seventeenth-century German chapbook).
  5. How Saint Peter Lost His Hair (Germany).
  6. Why the Vulture Is Bald (Burma).
  7. The Bald Man (Tibet).

• Balder's Death, as recorded in The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson.

• 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. The Cat on the Dovrefjell (Norway).
  2. The Cat of Norrhult (Sweden).
  3. The Troll and the Bear (Denmark).
  4. The Water Nix in the Oil Mill near Frauendorf (Germany).
  5. The Water-Man (Moravia).

• Bearskin and 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. Bearskin (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Germany).
  3. The Devil as Partner (Switzerland).
  4. Never-Wash (Russia).
  5. Don Giovanni de la Fortuna (Sicily).
  6. The Reward of Kindness (Philippines)

• 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. Beauty and the Beast (Basque, Wentworth Webster).
  6. The Summer and Winter Garden (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  7. The Singing, Springing Lark (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  8. The Clinking Clanking Lowesleaf (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  9. The Little Nut Twig (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  10. Little Broomstick (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  11. The Enchanted Frog (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  12. Beauty and the Horse (Denmark, J. Christian Bay).
  13. The Singing Rose (Austria, Ignaz and Joseph Zingerle).
  14. The Bear Prince (Switzerland, Otto Sutermeister).
  15. Zelinda and the Monster (Italy, Thomas Frederick Crane).
  16. The Small-Tooth Dog (England, Sidney Oldall Addy).
  17. The Enchanted Tsarévich (Russia, Alexander Afanasyev).

• The Bell of Justice. Folktales of type 207C, in which an abandoned old horse gains justice by tugging on a bell rope.
  1. Of a Bell That Was Ordered in King John's Days (Italy, Il Novellino).
  2. The Bell of Atri (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn).

• 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. Three Precepts (Jewish).
  2. Of Hearing Good Counsel (Gesta Romanorum).
  3. The Three Proverbs (Poland).

• 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" and Devil Contracts (Scotland).

• The Blue Light by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: A Comparison of the Versions of 1815 and 1857.

• The Blue Light. Folktales of type 462.
  1. The Blue Light (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  2. The Iron Man (Germany, August Ey).
  3. The Three Dogs (Germany, Georg Schambach and Wilhelm Müller).
  4. The Tinderbox (Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen).
  5. Lars, My Lad! (Sweden, G. Djurklo).
  6. 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. King Bluebeard (Germany).
  3. Don Firriulieddu (Italy).
  4. The Little Boy and His Dogs (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).
  5. Blue-Beard (North Carolina, USA).
  6. 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 972.
  5. Griselda (type 887).

• Boniface and the Oak of Donar [Thor]. A Christian missionary cuts down a tree sacred to the German heathens.

• The Boy Who Had Never Seen a Woman. Tales of type 1678.
  1. Filippo Balducci and His Son (abstracted from The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio).
  2. A Young Monk Wanted to Have a Goose (Germany).
  3. How a King Had a Son of His Brought Up in a Dark Place (Italy, Il Novellino).
  4. The Children of Satan (Jewish).

• Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts.
  1. The Historic Fart (1001 Nights).
  2. The Father of Farts (1001 Nights.).
  3. How Till Eulenspiegel Became a Furrier's Apprentice (Germany).
  4. Till Eulenspiegel and the Innkeeper at Cologne (Germany).
  5. Deceiving the Devil (Germany).
  6. General Pumpkin (Korea).

• 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.

• Bulfinch's Mythology. Bob Fisher's exemplary electronic edition of The Age of Fable; or, Stories of Gods and Heroes by Thomas Bulfinch.

• Bump in the Night.
  1. Scottish Prayer.
  2. When the Whole Earth Was Overrun with Ghosts (England).

C

• Cain and Abel. Scriptures and folktales.
  1. Cain and Abel (Genesis).
  2. The Story of the Two Sons of Adam (The Koran).
  3. Kabil and Habil (Palestine).
  4. Cain and Abel (Turkey).
  5. Cain and Abel (Turkey [Armenian]).
  6. Abel and Cain (Italy).
  7. The First Grave (Poland).

• 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 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. The Rats and Their Daughter (Japan).
    3. A Bridegroom for Miss Mole (Korea).
    4. The Story of the Rat and Her Journey to God (Romania).
    5. The Most Powerful Husband in the World (France or French North Africa).

  • Type 2032.
    1. The Cock and the Mouse (Italy).
    2. The Sexton's Nose (Italy).

  • 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. Plop! (Tibet).
    4. The Story of Chicken-Licken (England).
    5. Henny-Penny and Her Fellow Travelers (Scotland).
    6. The Cock and the Hen That Went to Dovrefjell (Norway).
    7. The Little Chicken Kluk and His Companions (Denmark).
    8. The End of the World (Flanders).
    9. 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 Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

• Charms against Sprains. Charms recorded in the Orkney and Shetland Islands during the nineteenth century that bear a close similarity to the famous pre-Christian Merseburg Incantation (Merseburger Zauberspruch) number 2 from Germany.

• Chaucer, Geoffrey (ca. 1340-1400).
  1. The Enchanted Pear Tree. Tales of type 1423.
  2. The Canturbury Tales. A Middle English edition from the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.

• 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 Future Buddha as Judge (The Jataka Tales).
  3. King Alfonso, the Slave Girl, and Her Master (Italy).

• China.
  Folktales from China.
  1. The Gold Colt and the Fire Dragon Shirt.
  2. The Story of the Three Genjias.
  3. Aniz the Shepherd.
  4. The Wooden Horse.
  5. The Magic Moneybag.
  6. The Golden Reed Pipe.
  7. Seeking Her Husband at the Great Wall.
  8. The Tiger King's Skin Cloak.
  9. The Frog Who Became an Emperor.
  10. Tikki Tikki Tembo.

• A Chinese Creation and Flood Myth from the Miao people.

• Cinderella. Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktale type 510A and related stories of persecuted heroines.
  1. The Cinder Maid (reconstructed from various European sources by Joseph Jacobs).
  2. Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper (France, Charles Perrault).
  3. Cinderella (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, version of 1812).
  4. Katie Woodencloak (Norway, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe).
  5. Fair, Brown, and Trembling (Ireland).
  6. Rashin-Coatie (Scotland).
  7. Cinderella (Italy).
  8. Conkiajgharuna, the Little Rag Girl (Georgia).
  9. Pepelyouga (Serbia).
  10. The Wonderful Birch (Russia).
  11. The Baba Yaga (Russia, Aleksandr Afanasyev).
  12. The Wicked Stepmother (Kashmir).
  13. Link to The Green Knight (Denmark).
  14. Link to The Story of Tam and Cam (Vietnam).
  15. Link to Tam and Cam (Vietnam). Another version of the above tale.
  16. 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. Saddaedda (Italy).
  10. The Golden Arm (England).
  11. The Golden Cup (England).
  12. Teeny-Tiny (England).
  13. Give Me My Teeth (England).
  14. The Old Man at the White House (England).
  15. A Ghost Story (African-American).

• 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 Creation of the Earth and the Great Flood according to Greek and Roman Mythology, abstracted from The Metamorphoses of Ovid.

  • Kabyl Creation and Origin Myths. The Kabyl people belong to the Berbers of North Africa. They are native to the Djurdjura Mountains of Algeria.
    1. The First Human Beings.
    2. The Beginning of Agriculture.

  • 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."

  • How the World Began: A Seneca Creation Myth.

  • 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. Gefion Creates the Island of Zealand (Denmark, from The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson).
    5. Gefion Creates the Island of Zealand (Denmark, from the Ynglinga Saga of Snorri Sturluson).
    6. 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. The Peasant and the Devil (Germany).
  10. Saint John and the Devil (Italy/Austria).
  11. Mercury and the Traveler (Aesop).

• Cupid and Psyche, as recorded by the Roman writer Lucius Apuleius.

D

• Death of a Child: Folktales about Excessive Mourning
  1. The Parable of the Mustard Seed (India).
  2. The Burial Shirt (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  3. Let the Dead Rest (Germany).
  4. Grieving Mothers (Germany).
  5. The Sad Little Angel (Germany).
  6. Excessive Grief for the Dead (England).

• 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. The Unknown Girl (Germany).
  5. King Pippe Is Dead! (Denmark).
  6. The Troll Turned Cat (Denmark).
  7. The Cat of the Carman's Stage (Ireland).
  8. The King of the Cats (Scotland).
  9. The King o' the Cats (England).
  10. Mally Dixon (England).

• 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 Cobbler and His Three Daughters (Basque).
  3. Your Hen Is in the Mountain (Norway).
  4. Fitcher's Bird (Germany).
  5. The Hare's Bride (Germany).
  6. The Three Chests: The Story of the Wicked Old Man of the Sea (Finland).
  7. The Widow and Her Daughters (Scotland).
  8. Peerifool (Scotland).
  9. The Secret Room (USA).
  10. Zerendac (Palestine).

• 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).

• 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 Devil's Bridge (Switzerland).
  6. The Devil's Bridge (Switzerland/France).
  7. The Devil's Bridge in Cardiganshire (Wales).
  8. The Devil's Bridge (Wales).
  9. The Devil's Bridge at Kirkby (England).
  10. The Bridge at Kentchurch (England).
  11. The Devil's Bridge (England).
  12. Kilgrim Bridge (England).

• Disappearance of the Little People. Legends from Germany explaining the disappearance of dwarfs, elves, and other underground people, translated and edited by E. Dale Wenger.

• Doctor Know-All and other folktales of type 1641 about being in the right place at the right time.
  1. Harisarman (India).
  2. The Stolen Treasure (India).
  3. Crab (Italy).
  4. Doctor Know-All (Germany).
  5. Doctor and Detective (Denmark).
  6. Black Robin (Wales).

• Dream.
  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.
  1. The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream (The 1001 Nights).
  2. How the Junkman Traveled to Find treasure in His Own Yard (Turkey).
  3. The Peddler of Swaffham (England).
  4. Upsall Castle (England).
  5. Dundonald Castle (Scotland).
  6. Themselves (Isle of Man).
  7. The Dream of Treasure under the Bridge at Limerick (Ireland).
  8. The Dream of the Treasure on the Bridge (Germany).
  9. The Dream of Treasure (Austria).
  10. The Dream of the Zirl Bridge (Austria).
  11. The Church at Erritsö (Denmark).

E

• 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 tale.
  3. Das Glück von Edenhall. A German ballad by Ludwig Uhland.
  4. 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 Silk Robe (Sri Lanka).
  3. The King's New Turban (Turkey).
  4. The King and the Clever Girl (India).
  5. The Miller with the Golden Thumb (England).

• End of the World. Folktales types 2033 and 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, The Jataka Tales).
  2. The Flight of the Beasts (Tibet, Anton Schiefner).
  3. Plop! (Tibet).
  4. The Story of Chicken-Licken (England, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps).
  5. Henny-Penny and Her Fellow Travelers (Scotland, Robert Chambers).
  6. The Cock and the Hen That Went to Dovrefjell (Norway, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe).
  7. The Little Chicken Kluk and His Companions (Denmark, Benjamin Thorpe).
  8. The End of the World (Flanders, Jean de Bosschère).
  9. Brother Rabbit Takes Some Exercise (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).

• 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.

F

• Fairies' Hope for Christian Salvation. Migratory legends of type 5050.
  1. A Redeemer for the Elves? (Sweden).
  2. Salvation for the Neck (Sweden).
  3. The Water Nymph (Sweden).
  4. The Prospects of the Huldre-Folk for Salvation (Norway).
  5. The Trolls Desire to Be Saved (Denmark).
  6. The Clergyman and the Dwarfs (Denmark).
  7. When We Cease to Exist.... (An excerpt from "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen).
  8. A Ross-shire Narrative (Scotland).
  9. The Priest's Supper (Ireland).
  10. The Belated Priest (Ireland).
  11. The Fairy and the Priest (Ireland).

• 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 Rillaton Gold Cup (England, Sabine Baring-Gould).
  14. The Luck of Edenhall [Eden Hall] (England).
  15. The Fairy Cup of Kirk Malew (Isle of Man, George Waldron).
  16. The Silver Cup (Isle of Man, Sophia Morrison).
  17. 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 Legend of Knockgrafton (Ireland).
  3. The Palace in the Rath (Ireland).
  4. Billy Beg, Tom Beg, and the Fairies (Isle of Man).
  5. The Fairies and the Two Hunchbacks: A Story of Picardy (France)
  6. The Tailor on the Brocken (Germany).
  7. The Gifts of the Mountain Spirits (Germany).
  8. The Gifts of the Little People (Germany).
  9. The Two Humpbacks (Italy).
  10. The Elves and the Envious Neighbor (Japan).
  11. How an Old Man Lost His Wen (Japan).
  12. The Story of Hok Lee and the Dwarfs (China).
  13. The Man with the Goiter (Tibet).

• 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 Lute Player (Russia).
  5. A Story Told by a Hindu (India).
  6. Link to Andreas Grein of Purbach, a related legend about Turkish slavery from Burgenland, Austria.
  7. Link to The Weathercock on Saint Stephen's Cathedral, another Austrian legend about a prisoner's miraculous escape.

• 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. Gold Teeth (Italy, Estella Canziani).
  12. All-Kinds-of-Fur (Greece, J. G. von Hahn).
  13. The Princess Who Would Not Marry Her Father (Portugal, Consiglieri Pedroso).
  14. The King Who Wished to Marry His Daughter (Scotland, J. F. Campbell).
  15. Morag a Chota Bhain -- Margery White Coats (Scotland, J. F. Campbell).
  16. The Princess and the Golden Cow (England, Isabella Barclay).
  17. The Story of Catskin (England, James Orchard Halliwell).
  18. The Princess in the Cat-Skins (Ireland, Patrick Kennedy).
  19. Pigskin (Russia, Alexander Afanasyev).
  20. Kniaz Danila Govorila (Russia, Alexander Afanasyev).
  21. Notes and Bibliography.
      • Type 510B folktales in the English language.
      • Type 510B folktales in the German language.

• 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 Stonecutter (Japan).
  4. The Stonemason Who Was Never Satisfied (China).
  5. The Bullock's Balls (India).

• Flood Myths from the Philippines.
  1. The Flood Story (Igorot).
  2. The Flood Story (Bukidnon).

• 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. Dr. Faust at Boxberg Castle (Germany, Bernhard Baader).
  3. Dr. Faust's Hell-Master (Germany, Joh. Aug. Ernst Köhler).
  4. Dr. Faust in Erfurt (Germany, J. G. Th. Grässe).
  5. Dr. Faust and Melanchton in Wittenberg (Germany, J. G. Th. Grässe).
  6. Dr. Faust in Anhalt (Germany, Ludwig Bechstein).
  7. Dr. Faustus Was a Good Man (a nursery rhyme from England).
  8. Dafydd Hiraddug and the Crow Barn (Wales, Elias Owen).
  9. Selected literary works based on the Faust Legend.
  10. Selected musical works based on the Faust Legend.

• The Foolish Friend and 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 Hare and the Merchant (Tibet).
  5. The Stupid Boy (Sri Lanka).
  6. The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr (Pakistan).
  7. The Bald Man and the Fly (Aesop).
  8. The Bear and the Amateur of Gardening (Jean de La Fontaine).
  9. Fortunio (Giovanni Francesco Straparola).
  10. Giufà and the Judge (Italy).
  11. The Little Omelet (Italy).
  12. Permission Granted, but Probably Regreted (Switzerland).
  13. Foolish Hans (Austria-Hungary).
  14. The Blockhead and the Judge (England).
  15. The Tale of the Butter Tub (Iceland).
  16. The Seven Crazy Fellows (Philippines).
  17. 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. Johha Fails to Count the Donkey He Is Riding (Palestine).
  2. One Cow More (Vietnam).

• Fools Cannot Count Themselves. Folktales of type 1287.
  1. The Hodja and His Eight Donkeys (Turkey).
  2. The Twelve Men of Gotham (England).
  3. The Five Traveling Journeymen (Germany).
  4. The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr (Pakistan).
  5. The Lost Peasant (Kashmir).
  6. How the Kadambawa Men Counted Themselves (Sri Lanka).

• Forgiveness and Redemption. Legends of type 755 and 756.
  1. The Flourishing Staff (Jewish).
  2. Tannhäuser (Germany).
  3. The Woman Who Had No Shadow (Scandinavia).

• The Fox and the Cat and other fables of type 105 about the dangers of being too clever.
  1. The Fish That Were Too Clever (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Fox and the Cat (Aesop).
  3. The Cat and the Fox (France, Jean de La Fontaine).
  4. The Fox and the Cat (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  5. The Seven-Witted Fox and the One-Witted Owl (Romania).
  6. The Fox and His Bagful of Wits and the One-Witted Hedgehog (Romania).
  7. The Fox and the Hedgehog (South Slavonic).
  8. The Tiger Finds a Teacher (China).

• 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 (or Jackal) and the Fleas. Fables of type 63.
  1. The Fox and the Flees (Scotland).
  2. The Jackal and the Flees (India).

• The Fox Steals the Butter. Fables of type 15.
  1. Reynard and Bruin (Europe).
  2. The Fox Cheats the Bear out of His Yule Feast (Norway).
  3. Fox and 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. Here It Is Told of the Fox and the Mule (Italy).
  3. Two Foxes and a Horse (Scotland).

• Frau Holle by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. A comparison of the versions of 1812 and 1857.

• 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 Wonderful Frog (Hungary, W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf).
  5. The Enchanted Frog (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  6. The Queen Who Sought a Drink from a Certain Well (Scotland, J. F. Campbell).
  7. The Paddo (Scotland, Robert Chambers).
  8. The Well of the World's End (Scotland, Joseph Jacobs).
  9. The Maiden and the Frog (England, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps).
  10. The Kind Stepdaughter and the Frog (England, W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf).
  11. The Frog Prince (Sri Lanka [Ceylon], H. Parker).
  12. A Frog for a Husband (Korea, William Elliot Griffis).
  13. The Toad Bridegroom (Korea, Zong In-Sob).
  14. The Frog Who Became an Emperor (China).

• 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.

G

• 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.

• Gawain.
  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The middle English text, based on a printed book edited by J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon.

• 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.

• The Girl with White Hands. A Zobell family legend about Kirstine Andersdatter, also known as Christine Andersen.

• The God Gióng. A legend from Vietnam about the miraculous conception and birth of a young giant, and his subsequent defeat of the foreign invaders threatening his homeland.

• Godfather Death. Tales of type 332.
  1. Godfather Death (Germany).
  2. Dr. Urssenbeck, Physician of Miracles and Death (Austria).
  3. The Boy with the Ale Keg (Norway).
  4. The Just Man (Italy).

• 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).

• 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 Golem: A Jewish Legend. The Golem was a man-and-magic-made monster created to protect Jews against the false accusations of ritual murder. This legend may have prompted Mary Shelley to write her famous novel about Dr. Frankenstein and his artificial monster.

• 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. Rappoport, Angelo S. The Story of the Grateful Dead (Jewish).
  16. Spence, Lewis. The Man of Honour (Brittany).
  17. Steele, Robert. Sila Tsarevich and Ivashka with the White Smock (Russia).
  18. Straparola, Giovanni Francesco (or Gianfrancesco). Night 11, fable 2 of The Facetious Nights (Italy).
  19. Wolf, Johann Wilhelm. Des Todten Dank (Germany).
  20. 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).

• Grettir's Saga.
  The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Grettir's Saga)

• 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. New texts are being added regularly, so check back if you did not find the tale you were seeking.

  3. Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm. These German-language texts are part of the Bibliothek der Märchen, a library of folk and fairy tales, sponsored by Projekt Gutenberg-DE, die digitale Bibliothek.

  4. Deutsche Sagen, herausgegeben von den Brüdern Grimm. These German-language texts are part of the Sagensammlung, a library of legends, sponsored by Projekt Gutenberg-DE, die digitale Bibliothek.

H

• 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 (England, Thomas and Katharine Macquoid).
  2. The Hand of Glory (three legends from England, Edwin Sidney Hartland).
  3. Thieves' Lights (Germany, Ernst Moritz Arndt).
  4. Thieves' Lights (two legends from Germany, Karl Bartsch).

• Hanging Game. Folktales of type 1066, in which boys, playing that they are executioners, end up killing one of their comrades.
  1. The Hanging Game (England).
  2. Boys Try Beheading (Germany/Poland).

• 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. Molly Whuppie (England).
  5. Jan and Hanna (Poland).
  6. Old Grule (Moravia).
  7. The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother (Romania).
  8. Juan and Maria (Philippines).

• Haunted by the Ghost of a Murdered Child. Migratory legends of type 4025.
  1. Mother Mine, in the Fold, Fold (Iceland).
  2. The Child Phantom (Sweden).
  3. The Crying Child (Poland).

• Hávamál: The Words of Odin the High One. Proverbs and wisdom from the Elder or Poetic Edda.

• The Heathen Temple at Uppsala by Adam of Bremen. A description, written between 1072 and 1076, of the Norse temple dedicated to the gods Thor, Wotan (Odin), and Frey.

• Heimskringla; or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson. This monumental work is a collection of sagas concerning the rulers of Norway, between about 850 and 1177. It includes:
  1. Ynglinga Saga;
  2. Halfdan the Black Saga
  3. Harald Harfager's Saga
  4. Hakon the Good's Saga
  5. Saga of King Harald Grafeld and of Earl Hakon Son of Sigurd
  6. King Olaf Trygvason's Saga
  7. Saga of Olaf Haraldson (St. Olaf)
  8. Saga of Magnus the Good
  9. Saga of Harald Hardrade
  10. Saga of Olaf Kyrre
  11. Magnus Barefoot's Saga
  12. Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf
  13. Saga of Magnus the Blind and of Harald Gille
  14. Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald
  15. Saga of Hakon Herdebreid ("Hakon the Broad-Shouldered")
  16. Magnus Erlingson's Saga

• 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.

• 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, Geovanni Francesco Straparola).
  2. Hans-My-Hedgehog, version of 1814 (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  3. The Wild Pig (Germany, J. W. Wolf).
  4. The Hedgehog, the Merchant, the King, and the Poor Man (Hungary, Jeremiah Curtin).
  5. The Enchanted Pig (Romania).
  6. The Story of the Pig (Romania, Ion Creanga).

• 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 Tast Horseflesh (Norway).
  3. Fox and Wolf (Netherlands).
  4. Brother Fox Catches Mr. Horse (African America).
  5. The Fox, the Monkey, the Hare, and the Horse (China).

• The Husband Who Was to Mind the House (Norway). A man and woman exchange jobs for the day.

• Human Sacrifice in Legends and Myths.
  1. Human Sacrifice among the Gauls (France).
  2. Aun Sacrifices Nine Sons to Odin (Sweden).
  3. The Heathen Temple at Uppsala (Sweden).
  4. Buried Alive (Sweden).
  5. The Höxter Ghost (Germany).
  6. Entombment (Germany).
  7. The Entombed Child (Germany).
  8. The Ghost at Spyker (Germany).
  9. Sacrificing Virgins to Lakes (Germany).
  10. The Old Church at Kohlstädt (Germany).
  11. The Name Greene (Germany).
  12. An Infant Speaks (Germany).
  13. The Secured Foundation Stone (Germany).
  14. Plesse Castle (Germany).
  15. Merlin the Magician Rescues King Vortigern (Wales).
  16. Sacrifice, Human (England).
  17. London Bridge Has Fallen Down (England).
  18. The Magdeburg Bridge -- Die Magdeburger Brücke (Germany).
  19. Story of the Bridge (Turkey -- Gypsy).
  20. Rumors of Foundation Sacrifice (India).
  21. Mbila (a Kabyl legend).
  22. How the Cannibals Drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the Cross River (Nigeria).
  23. Jephthah and His Daughter (Book of Judges).

I

• Iceland Accepts Christianity. The history of the first Christian mission in Iceland, abstracted from the medieval epic Njal's Saga.

• Incest in Indo-European Folktales. An essay, with folklore texts, by D. L. Ashliman.

• Ingratitude Is the World's Reward. Folktales of type 155. A kind person rescues a trapped animal, who in turn threatens to eat 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 Ungrateful Tiger (Korea).
  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 Peasant, the Snake, and King Solomon (Romania).
  19. 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.

J

• Jack and the Beanstalk. Five versions of the English folktale (type 328).

• The Jackal and the Farmer and other tales of type 154.
  1. The Jackal and the Farmer (North Africa, Kabyl).
  2. Well Done and Ill Paid (Norway).

• 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 Judge.
  2. The Mosquito and the Carpenter.
  3. The Golden Mallard.
  4. The Tortoise That Refused to Leave Home.
  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. The Language of Animals.
  11. Sulasa and Sattuka.
  12. How an Ungrateful Son Planned to Murder His Old Father.

• Jephthah and His Daughter, a story of human sacrifice from the Old Testament.

• Justice as a Joke. Folktales of type 1534A.
  1. Judgements of Karakash (Palestine).
  2. Chelm Justice (Jewish).

K

• Kormak's Saga.
  The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald ("Kormak's Saga").

L

• Lang, Andrew (1844-1912).
  The Colored Fairy Books of Andrew Lang. From the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.
  1. The Blue Fairy Book (1889).
  2. The Red Fairy Book (1890).
  3. The Yellow Fairy Book (1894).
  4. The Violet Fairy Book (1901).

• 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 Understood the Language of Animals (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. Frederigo da Pozzuolo Is Pressed by His Wife to Tell a Secret (Italy, Giovanni Francesco Straparola).

• 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. Singh Rajah [Lion King] and the Cunning Little Jackals (India).
    4. The Tiger and the Shadow (Malaya).
    5. The Tiger and the Hare (Pakistan).
    6. The Tiger and the Fox (Pakistan).
    7. The Rabbit's Revenge (Tibet).
    8. Brother Rabbit Conquers Brother Lion (African-American, Joel Chandler Harris).

  • 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 Gellert and other folktales of type 178A.
  1. The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose (India, Georgiana Kingscote).
  3. The Faithful Dog and the Serpent (Jewish, Angelo S. Rappoport).
  4. Folliculus and His Greyhound (Gesta Romanorum).
  5. The Farmer and His Dog (Æsop).
  6. Beth Gellert (Wales).

• Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882).
  1. The Bell of Justice 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].

• 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.

• Luxembourg Legends. Sponsored by the Luxembourg Tourist Office of London.
  1. Melusina, the Mermaid of Luxembourg.
  2. The "Stierchesgeescht."
  3. The "Zidewitzen" at Bourglinster.
  4. Dancing Witches in Koerich.
  5. The Werewolf of Bettembourg.

• 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).

M

• The Magdeburg Bridge -- Die Magdeburger Brücke (a nursery rhyme from Germany, similar to the English "London Bridge Is Falling Down").

• Magic Books. Legends from Germany.
  1. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Chemnitz).
  2. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Rügen).
  3. The Black Book (Rügen).
  4. Faust's Book of Hell's Charms (Zellerfeld).

• Man and Serpent. Tales of type 285D.
  1. The Man and the Serpent (Aesop).
  2. The Gold-Giving Snake (The Panchatantra).
  3. Of Good Advice (Gesta Romanorum).

• 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).

• 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. Who Built the Reynir Church? (Iceland).
  6. The Devil's Church near Dembe (Poland).
  7. Why the North Tower of Saint Stephen's Cathedral Remains Unfinished (Austria).
  8. Why the Tower of Wasserburg Church Remains Unfinished (Bavaria).
  9. The Master Builder of the Würzburg Cathedral (Bavaria).

• Melusina. Legends about mermaids, water sprites, and forest nymphs and their sensuous relationships with mortal men.
  1. Melusina (France).
  2. Melusina (Luxembourg).
  3. Melusina (Germany).
  4. Herr Peter Dimringer von Staufenberg (Germany).
  5. The Water Maid (Germany).
  6. Brauhard's Mermaid (Germany).
  7. Melusina (Germany).

• Merlin the Magician Rescues King Vortigern: Why the Red Dragon Is the Emblem of Wales (Wales, W. Jenkyn Thomas).

• The Mermaid Wife and other legends of type 4080.
  1. The Mermaid Wife (Shetland Islands).
  2. The Silkie Wife (Shetland and Orkney Islands).
  3. Herman Perk and the Seal (Shetland Islands).
  4. The Sealskin (Iceland).
  5. Touched by Iron (Wales).
  6. Tom Moore and the Seal (Ireland).
  7. The Lady of Gollerus (Ireland).

• 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 the Orkney and Shetland Islands during the nineteenth century.

• 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. The Servant Girl and the Elves (Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  4. The Godmother (Switzerland, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm).
  5. The Woman among the Elves (Germany, Karl Lyncker).
  6. The Dwarfs in Schalk Mountain (Germany, Carl and Theodor Colshorn).
  7. An Underground Woman in Labor (Germany, Karl Bartsch).
  8. Midwife for a Nixie (Germany, Adalbert Kuhn and Wilhelm Schwartz).
  9. The Midwife of Hafoddydd (Wales, John Rhys).
  10. The Fairy Nurse (Ireland, W. R. Wilde).
  11. The Fairy Nurse (Ireland, Patrick Kennedy).
  12. The Midwife of Listowel (Ireland, Jeremiah Curtin).
  13. Fairy Ointment (England, Anna Eliza Bray).
  14. 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, The Jataka Tales).
  2. The Foolish Dragon (China).
  3. The Rabbit and the Turtle (Korea).
  4. The Monkey and the Crocodile (Philippines).
  5. The Monkey and the Jellyfish (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, folktales of type 247.
  1. The Crow and Its Ugly Fledglings (Romania).
  2. Why Is There Enmity Between the Crow and the Hawk? (Romania).
  3. The Eagle and the Owl (France).
  4. Everyone Thinks His Children Are Best (Norway).
  5. Jupiter and the Monkey (Aesop).
  6. 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.

  The Mouse Who Was to Marry the Sun. Fables of type 2031C.

  1. The Transformed Mouse Seeks a Bridegroom (India, The Panchatantra).
  2. The Rats and Their Daughter (Japan).
  3. A Bridegroom for Miss Mole (Korea).
  4. The Story of the Rat and Her Journey to God (Romania).
  5. The Most Powerful Husband in the World (France or French North Africa).

  Town Mouse and Country Mouse. Fables of type 112.

  1. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (Aesop).
  2. The Town Rat and the Country Rat (La Fontaine).
  3. The Town Mouse and the Field Mouse (Romania).
  4. The House Mouse and the Country Mouse (Norway).

• 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. King 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.

• Folk and Mythology Electronic Texts, page 2.

• The home page of D. L. Ashliman.

• Folk and Fairy Tale Links.

• Germanic Myths, Legends, and Sagas.

• Yahoo! index Society and Culture: Mythology and Folklore.

• the top of this document.

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