a less whimsical illustration that encapsulates the fun of searching an archive of over 15

The Archive...

Have a wander through the Fireside folktale archive below, and see what you stumble into. Use the filters to narrow the world down, or fling the doors wide and browse by country, region, theme, collector, or whatever takes your fancy, then let the table do the rest. A few clicks can carry you from storm-tossed coasts to mountain villages, from clever tricksters to quiet miracles, and you will often find that the story you meant to read is not the one that chooses you.

Archive under construction...

Structured Filters

Use these drop down lists to choose one or more filters to select groups of tales to investigate in more detail

Other than my own versions of tales (as indicated), the stories in this archive are in the public domain

Stories in this view:

3988

Title	Book	Author / Collector	Country	Subject	Year
Far Darrig In Donegal	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Far Darrig In Donegal: fear dearg, fairy mischief, abduction, terror, trickster spirit, superstition, night danger	1888
The Witch Hare	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Witch Hare: shapeshifting witch, pursuit, hunting, rural suspicion, uncanny animal, revenge, folklore belief	1888
How Thomas Connolly Met The Banshee	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	How Thomas Connolly Met The Banshee: banshee, omen of death, family fate, supernatural warning, night encounter, dread	1888
The Priest's Soul (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Priest’s Soul: afterlife, penance, priesthood, ghostly return, redemption, spiritual anxiety, Catholic belief	1888
A Donegal Fairy	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	A Donegal Fairy: fairy encounter, otherworld charm, danger, local belief, rural life, superstition, wonder, taboo	1888
The Phantom Isle	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Phantom Isle: vanished land, sea mystery, vision, longing, mythic geography, uncertainty, wonder	1888
The Piper And The Puca (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Piper And The Puca: music, puca, enchantment, night journey, mischief, supernatural bargain, rural folklore	1888
The Radiant Boy	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Radiant Boy: apparition, ghostly child, warning, haunting, prophecy, dread, spectral innocence	1888
King O'Toole And His Goose (2)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	King O’Toole And His Goose: comic kingship, animal companion, absurdity, wit, satire, transformation, playful folklore	1888
The Kildare Pooka (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Kildare Pooka: pooka, shapeshifting, trickery, night riding, fear, local legend, supernatural mischief	1888
Grace Connor	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Grace Connor: love, loyalty, misfortune, sorrow, endurance, domestic hardship, emotional resilience	1888
Bewitched Butter (Queen's County)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Bewitched Butter (Queen’s County): butter magic, malefic enchantment, folk remedy, domestic life, suspicion, village belief	1888
The Giant's Stairs	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Giant’s Stairs: giants, landscape myth, origins, heroic scale, place legend, wonder, ancient past	1888
The Demon Cat (3)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Demon Cat: monstrous animal, terror, uncanny visitation, evil omen, folklore horror, night fear	1888
Loughleagh (Lake Of Healing)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Loughleagh (Lake Of Healing): sacred waters, healing, pilgrimage, miracle, faith, local legend, suffering, hope	1888
Rent-Day (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Rent-Day: landlord pressure, poverty, rural hardship, social tension, wit, survival, peasant life	1888
Paddy Corcoran's Wife	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Paddy Corcoran’s Wife: fairy abduction, changeling fear, marriage, rescue, deception, household peril, otherworld	1888
The Legend Of O'Donoghue (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Legend Of O’Donoghue: lake legend, spectral lord, return, memory, romance, landscape myth, nobility	1888
Bewitched Butter (Donegal)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Bewitched Butter (Donegal): household magic, stolen produce, witchcraft, dairy lore, rural economy, counter-spell, superstition	1888
The Soul Cages	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Soul Cages: merrow, sea folklore, captivity, soul imprisonment, rescue, coastal legend, courage	1888
Master And Man (1)	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Master And Man: servant cleverness, bargaining, trickery, class relations, supernatural test, survival, comic reversal	1888
The Story Of The Little Bird	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Story Of The Little Bird: small creature, wisdom, wonder, transformation, song, innocence, moral insight	1888
The Story Of Conn-Eda	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Story Of Conn-Eda: heroism, exile, quest, love, kingship, adventure, trials, destiny	1888
The Countess Kathleen O'Shea	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	The Countess Kathleen O'shea: aristocracy, pride, tragedy, haunting, honour, family memory, decline	1888
Frank Martin And The Fairies	Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry	W B Yeats	Ireland	Frank Martin And The Fairies: fairy abduction, music, temptation, time distortion, otherworld, rescue, enchantment	1888
Father Mikko	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Father Mikko: piety, wisdom, humility, folk religion, guidance, charity, community, morality, compassion, devotion	1893
The World's Creation And The Birth Of Wainamoinen	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The World’s Creation And The Birth Of Wainamoinen: creation myth, cosmic beginnings, birth, nature, destiny, primal waters, divine order, wonder, hero, origins	1893
The Planting Of The Trees	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Planting Of The Trees: cultivation, beginnings, nature, fertility, labour, growth, blessing, order, renewal, landscape	1893
Wainamoinen And Youkahainen	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen And Youkahainen: rivalry, boasting, wisdom, magic song, humiliation, challenge, pride, contest, revenge, knowledge	1893
Aino's Fate	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Aino’s Fate: tragic love, coercion, grief, female agency, loss, fate, sorrow, rejection, death, water	1893
Wainamoinen's Search For Aino	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen’s Search For Aino: longing, regret, pursuit, grief, loss, love, absence, yearning, rejection, sorrow	1893
Wainamoinen's Unlucky Journey	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen’s Unlucky Journey: misfortune, travel, obstacles, magic, perseverance, setback, danger, fate, frustration, quest	1893
Wainamoinen's Rescue	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen’s Rescue: peril, deliverance, endurance, magic, survival, aid, struggle, escape, providence, recovery	1893
The Rainbow-Maiden	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Rainbow-Maiden: unattainable beauty, longing, courtship, wonder, celestial maiden, quest, desire, distance, enchantment, yearning	1893
Ilmarinen Forges The Sampo	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Ilmarinen Forges The Sampo: creation, craftsmanship, magic, prosperity, quest, labour, smithcraft, wonder, power, destiny	1893
Lemminkainen And Kyllikki	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Lemminkainen And Kyllikki: abduction, courtship, passion, pride, marriage, conflict, oath, adventure, desire, defiance	1893
Kyllikki’s Broken Vow	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Kyllikki’s Broken Vow: broken promise, fidelity, marriage, conflict, distrust, honour, domestic strife, regret, oath, separation	1893
Lemminkainen's Second Wooing	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Lemminkainen’s Second Wooing: renewed courtship, persistence, desire, rivalry, pride, testing, adventure, love, determination, travel	1893
Lemminkainen's Death	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Lemminkainen’s Death: peril, magic, heroism, death, underworld, vengeance, fate, violence, loss, tragedy	1893
Lemminkainen's Restoration	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Lemminkainen’s Restoration: resurrection, maternal love, healing, devotion, magic, recovery, hope, renewal, persistence, miracle	1893
Wainamoinen's Boat-Building	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen’s Boat-Building: craftsmanship, magic, quest, labour, ingenuity, travel, creation, difficulty, persistence, preparation	1893
Wainamoinen Finds The Lost Words	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Wainamoinen Finds The Lost Words: quest for knowledge, magic words, wisdom, perseverance, power, initiation, speech, mastery, journey, learning	1893
The Rival Suitors	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Rival Suitors: competition, courtship, pride, testing, love, rivalry, status, choice, persistence, conflict	1893
Ilmarinen's Wooing	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Ilmarinen’s Wooing: courtship, quest, endurance, love, trials, determination, rivalry, honour, travel, hope	1893
The Brewing Of Beer	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Brewing Of Beer: festivity, origin tale, craft, abundance, ritual, hospitality, celebration, labour, community, song	1893
Ilmarinen's Wedding Feast	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	Ilmarinen’s Wedding Feast: marriage, celebration, hospitality, ritual, kinship, abundance, community, song, custom, feasting	1893
The Origin Of The Serpent	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Origin Of The Serpent: origin myth, danger, evil, poison, creation, fear, explanation, magic, menace, nature	1893
The Unwelcome Guest	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Unwelcome Guest: intrusion, hospitality tested, insult, conflict, disorder, social tension, resentment, revenge, feast, shame	1893
The Isle Of Refuge	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Isle Of Refuge: escape, sanctuary, exile, safety, pursuit, isolation, rest, shelter, withdrawal, survival	1893
The Frost-Fiend	Finnish Legends For English Children	R. Eivind	Finland	The Frost-Fiend: winter, hardship, destructive force, endurance, nature, menace, struggle, survival, cold, magic	1893

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