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
The Marriage Of Sir Gawayne	Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race	M. I. Ebbutt	England	The Marriage Of Sir Gawayne: sovereignty, honour, transformation, and the testing of courtesy.	1910
The Dream Of Maxen Wledig (2)	Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race	M. I. Ebbutt	England	The Dream Of Maxen Wledig: vision, destiny, empire, love, and heroic quest.	1910
Hereward The Wake (2)	Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race	M. I. Ebbutt	England	Hereward The Wake: resistance, patriotism, cunning, and defiance of conquest.	1910
Gudbjart Floke And The Bishop Of Holar	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Gudbjart Floke And The Bishop Of Holar: faith, authority, piety, conflict, miracle, justice, destiny	1919
Asmund And Signe	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Asmund And Signe: love, loyalty, separation, fate, endurance, reunion	1919
How Seals Came Into Being	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	How Seals Came Into Being: transformation, origins, sea, enchantment, loss, wonder	1919
Jon And The Giantess	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Jon And The Giantess: courage, temptation, wilderness, otherworld, danger, survival	1919
What Happened To Jon's Soul	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	What Happened To Jon’s Soul: sin, judgement, soul, afterlife, redemption, morality	1919
The Groom And The Ghost	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Groom And The Ghost: haunting, duty, fear, death, loyalty, release	1919
The Ulfssee	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Ulfssee: omen, mystery, landscape, dread, folklore, the uncanny	1919
The Troll In The Rock	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Troll In The Rock: hidden beings, threat, landscape, cunning, fear, superstition	1919
The Brothers (2)	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Brothers (2): kinship, rivalry, loyalty, inheritance, courage, fate	1919
The Two Rowan Trees	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Two Rowan Trees: love, memory, nature, loss, transformation, haunting	1919
The Grateful Raven	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Grateful Raven: gratitude, aid, reciprocity, animal helper, reward, kindness	1919
The Parish Daughter Of Praestebakke	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Parish Daughter Of Praestebakke: honour, reputation, love, community, sorrow, fate	1919
The South Driver-Asmund	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The South Driver-Asmund: travel, endurance, identity, reputation, courage, hardship	1919
Tales Of Saemund The Wise	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Tales Of Saemund The Wise: wisdom, magic, cunning, learning, power, the devil	1919
Hleidrargaard's Skotta	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Hleidrargaard’s Skotta: haunting, farmstead, female spirit, fear, folklore, unrest	1919
The Night Troll	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Night Troll: darkness, menace, wilderness, hidden beings, fear, survival	1919
Kort From Mödruvold And The Sea Monster	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Kort From Mödruvold And The Sea Monster: sea peril, bravery, monster, voyage, struggle, legend	1919
The Legend Of Jon Asmundsson	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Legend Of Jon Asmundsson: memory, reputation, endurance, faith, folklore, legacy	1919
The Brave Boy	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Brave Boy: courage, youth, trial, resilience, triumph, innocence	1919
The Alf Queen	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Alf Queen: enchantment, otherworld, beauty, seduction, danger, sovereignty	1919
The Man From Grimsö And The Bear	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Man From Grimsö And The Bear: wilderness, struggle, man and beast, survival, strength	1919
Guldbraa Und Skegge	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Guldbraa Und Skegge: love, enchantment, otherworld, beauty, longing, fate	1919
The Sailor	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Sailor: voyage, hardship, fate, sea, longing, endurance	1919
The Shoes Made Of Human Skin	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Shoes Made Of Human Skin: horror, punishment, guilt, mortality, cruelty, dread	1919
The Glowing Key	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Glowing Key: mystery, revelation, hidden knowledge, threshold, magic, destiny	1919
The Sexton Of Mörkaa	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Sexton Of Mörkaa: church, haunting, duty, fear, death, piety	1919
Trunt, Trunt And The Troll In The Mountains	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Trunt, Trunt And The Troll In The Mountains: cunning, danger, mountains, troll, survival, wit	1919
The Nöck	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Nöck: water spirit, seduction, danger, music, death, enchantment	1919
The Lindwurm In The Lagar River	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Lindwurm In The Lagar River: monster, river, fear, heroism, community, legend	1919
The Huldrönig From Selö	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Huldrönig From Selö: hidden folk, desire, danger, wilderness, enchantment, loss	1919
The Changeling Of Sogn	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Changeling Of Sogn: substitution, fear, family, the uncanny, folklore, identity	1919
Legends Of Priest Erik In Vogsosar	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Legends Of Priest Erik In Vogsosar: faith, miracle, conflict, piety, folklore, spiritual authority	1919
Gilitrutt (1)	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Gilitrutt (1): trickery, monstrous feminine, fear, wit, threat, folklore	1919
The Woman From Malmö	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Woman From Malmö: mystery, travel, identity, loss, memory, fate	1919
The Marriage Devil	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Marriage Devil: temptation, pact, marriage, deceit, sin, consequence	1919
The Barrel	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Barrel: absurdity, misfortune, humour, endurance, folk cunning, reversal	1919
Sigurd And The Ghost	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Sigurd And The Ghost: haunting, courage, reckoning, death, fear, release	1919
The Red Bull	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Red Bull: strength, wildness, pursuit, magic, danger, transformation	1919
Thord Von Throstestad	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Thord Von Throstestad: reputation, conflict, endurance, fate, community, memory	1919
The Cradle	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Cradle: infancy, threat, protection, family, fear, the uncanny	1919
The Farmer Of Gnupar	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Farmer Of Gnupar: rural life, resilience, hardship, cunning, fate, community	1919
Bishop Brynjolf	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	Bishop Brynjolf: faith, authority, miracle, leadership, piety, legend	1919
The Bear Who Wrestled With The Barrel	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Bear Who Wrestled With The Barrel: comedy, animal strength, absurdity, struggle, folklore	1919
The Wizards Of The Westmänds Islands	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Wizards Of The Westmänds Islands: sorcery, rivalry, power, islands, wonder, danger	1919
The Ghost Hood	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Ghost Hood: haunting, concealment, fear, death, revelation, folklore	1919
The Case Of Von Kalb Arneson	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Case Of Von Kalb Arneson: dispute, justice, reputation, conflict, testimony, fate	1919
The Sower Girl	Icelandic Fairy Tales and Folk Tales	Å. Eskil Avenstrup	Iceland	The Sower Girl: labour, humility, virtue, endurance, rural life, reward	1919

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