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 Two Friends (1)	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Two Friends: friendship, greed, buried treasure, deception, testing loyalty, trickery, betrayal, comic justice	1901
The King And His Son	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The King And His Son: piety, miracle, filial bond, marriage, wandering, divine aid, kingship, destiny	1901
The Hedgehog, The Jackal, And The Lion	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Hedgehog, The Jackal, And The Lion: animal cunning, survival, wit, power, trickster, rivalry, justice, fable	1901
The Good Man And The Bad One	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Good Man And The Bad One: morality, contrast, virtue, vice, justice, consequence, conduct, judgement	1901
Beddou	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Beddou: trickery, theft, gluttony, comic excess, rogues, deception, greed, boastfulness	1901
Thadhellala	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Thadhellala: female cunning, theft, disguise, wit, social ambition, trickery, escape, deception	1901
Djokhrane And The Jays	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Djokhrane And The Jays: loyalty, gratitude, ancestry, animal helpers, memory, kinship, taboo, reciprocity	1901
Half-A-Cock	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Half-A-Cock: resilience, pilgrimage, animal cunning, magical aid, adventure, perseverance, transformation, reward	1901
Salomon And The Griffin	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Salomon And The Griffin: fate, prophecy, lovers united, divine will, magical beings, separation, reunion, destiny	1901
Mahomet Ben Soltan	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Mahomet Ben Soltan: rash youth, quest, prophecy, perilous courtship, ogress, enchantment, trials, perseverance	1901
H'Ab Sliman	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	H’Ab Sliman: sibling devotion, jealousy, magic, stepfamily cruelty, wonder child, restoration, revenge, justice	1901
Sayd And Hyzyya	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Sayd And Hyzyya: tragic love, mourning, beauty, loss, elegy, remembrance, grief, devotion	1901
The Seven Brothers (2)	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Seven Brothers: sibling rivalry, abandonment, survival, wandering, injustice, endurance, family, reversal	1901
The King And His Family	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The King And His Family: shipwreck, separation, providence, family reunion, learning, kingship, endurance, fortune	1901
The Language Of The Beasts	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Language Of The Beasts: compassion, magic knowledge, animal speech, fortune, gratitude, secrecy, transformation, marvel	1901
The Infidel Jew	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Infidel Jew: trust, fraud, recovery, wit, justice, deception, communal tension, cleverness	1901
The Story Of Sidi Brahim Of Massat	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Story Of Sidi Brahim Of Massat: saintly biography, learning, piety, social order, taxation, community life, authority, devotion	1901
The Stolen Woman	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Stolen Woman: beauty, abduction, jealousy, separation, royal desire, loss, pursuit, captivity	1901
Hamed Ben Ceggad	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Hamed Ben Ceggad: heroic quests, jealousy, royal service, bravery, impossible tasks, adventure, triumph, endurance	1901
The Magic Napkin	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Magic Napkin: betrayal, magical object, poverty to wealth, hidden treasure, wonder, cunning, transformation, reward	1901
The Flute-Player	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Flute-Player: music, desire, cunning, social ambition, courtship, trickery, performance, reward	1901
The Lion, The Jackal, And The Man (1)	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Lion, The Jackal, And The Man: animal cunning, labour, survival, trickster counsel, power, revenge, fable, justice	1901
The Turtle, The Frog, And The Serpent	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Turtle, The Frog, And The Serpent: marriage quarrel, animal speech, trickery, hierarchy, persistence, fable, wit, reconciliation	1901
The Robber And The Two Pilgrims	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Robber And The Two Pilgrims: brigandage, hospitality, marriage promise, prophecy, pursuit, disguise, devotion, fate	1901
Strange Meetings	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Strange Meetings: allegory, wisdom, interpretation, travel, riddles, moral insight, signs, reflection	1901
Song Of Fatima	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Song Of Fatima: lovesickness, longing, lament, beauty, desire, healing, sorrow, devotion	1901
The King, The Arab, And The Monster	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The King, The Arab, And The Monster: monster-slaying, exile, courage, faith, kingship, survival, adventure, heroism	1901
The Ogre And The Beautiful Woman	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Ogre And The Beautiful Woman: ogre, quest, beauty, captivity, bravery, pursuit, rescue, marriage	1901
The Aïssaoua In Paris	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Aïssaoua In Paris: travel, satire, spectacle, poverty, disillusionment, cultural encounter, exploitation, performance	1901
The Haunted Garden	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Haunted Garden: haunting, hidden danger, fear, wonder, forbidden place, supernatural encounter, courage, mystery	1901
Ahmed El Hilalieu And El Redah	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Ahmed El Hilalieu And El Redah: love, longing, separation, beauty, desire, courtship, lament, devotion	1901
The Sheik's Head	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Sheik’s Head: impulsive violence, concealment, confession, mother and son, guilt, cunning, community judgement, consequence	1901
Adventure Of Sidi Mahomet	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	Adventure Of Sidi Mahomet: sainthood, royal power, piety, ordeal, miracle, spiritual authority, justice, endurance	1901
The Wagtail And The Jackal (1)	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Wagtail And The Jackal: false witness, animal cunning, justice, trickster, calumny, revenge, fable, rescue	1901
The Monkey And The Fisherman	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Arabic	The Monkey And The Fisherman: poverty, magical helper, courtship, social rise, wit, adventure, transformation, reward	1901
Fatima's Love	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Fatima’s Love: love, devotion, yearning, beauty, tenderness, courtship, longing, passion, fidelity, sorrow	1901
The Braggart Rebuked	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Braggart Rebuked: boasting, rebuke, pride, shame, honour, arrogance, correction, humility, reputation, satire	1901
The Admiral's Farewell	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Admiral’s Farewell: farewell, departure, sea voyage, duty, honour, longing, separation, courage, service, sorrow	1901
Moriana And Galvan	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Moriana And Galvan: romance, courtship, loyalty, honour, beauty, longing, rivalry, devotion, chivalry, sorrow	1901
The Bereaved Father	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Bereaved Father: grief, parenthood, mourning, loss, sorrow, remembrance, family, despair, tenderness, death	1901
The Warden Of Molina	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Warden Of Molina: duty, vigilance, honour, frontier, authority, warfare, loyalty, courage, defence, responsibility	1901
The Loves Of Boabdil And Vindaraja	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Loves Of Boabdil And Vindaraja: romance, royalty, Granada, longing, courtly love, jealousy, devotion, beauty, sorrow, memory	1901
The Infanta Sevilla And Peranguelos	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Infanta Sevilla And Peranguelos: romance, nobility, courtship, honour, intrigue, loyalty, beauty, rivalry, lineage, devotion	1901
Celin's Farewell	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Celin’s Farewell: farewell, parting, grief, love, separation, devotion, longing, sorrow, memory, absence	1901
Celin's Return	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Celin’s Return: return, reunion, hope, love, homecoming, relief, memory, constancy, joy, restoration	1901
Baza Revisited	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Baza Revisited: remembrance, return, nostalgia, loss, place, memory, history, longing, ruin, reflection	1901
Captive Zara	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Captive Zara: captivity, longing, sorrow, endurance, love, separation, confinement, hope, loss, dignity	1901
The Jealous King	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Jealous King: jealousy, kingship, suspicion, power, honour, rivalry, court intrigue, wrath, mistrust, tragedy	1901
The Lovers Of Antequera	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	The Lovers Of Antequera: lovers, romance, separation, devotion, longing, honour, sorrow, constancy, reunion, fate	1901
Tarfe's Truce	Moorish Literature	René Basset, PH.D.	Spain	Tarfe’s Truce: truce, honour, diplomacy, warfare, restraint, rivalry, negotiation, respect, chivalry, peace	1901

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