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
Palombelletta	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	Palombelletta: delicate beauty, courtship, innocence, transformation, wonder, love, fragility, enchantment, femininity, lyric folklore	1877
The Satyr	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	The Satyr: wild nature, pagan remnant, lust, woodland being, fear, rustic superstition, encounter, antiquity surviving, otherness, folklore	1877
The Princess And The Gentleman	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	The Princess And The Gentleman: unequal courtship, nobility and merit, romance, testing, dignity, love across rank, wit, perseverance, marriage, recognition	1877
Padre Fontanarosa (Three Tales)	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	Padre Fontanarosa (Three Tales): priestly folklore, wit, miracle, popular religion, village anecdote, moral lesson, humour, piety, authority, wonder	1877
The Two Hunchbacked Brothers	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	The Two Hunchbacked Brothers: deformity, music or fairies, reward and punishment, envy, transformation, sibling contrast, luck, supernatural encounter, bodily change, moral reversal	1877
The Enchanted Rose Tree	Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome	Rachel Harriette Busk	Italy	The Enchanted Rose Tree: transformation, beauty, enchantment, hidden life, quest, love, marvel, growth, rescue, wonder	1877
The Passion Rose	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Passion Rose: love, sacrifice, holiness, suffering, purity, devotion, miracle, memory, grief, faith	1909
The Gnome	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Gnome: greed, hidden treasure, jealousy, enchantment, darkness, temptation, subterranean mystery, danger, obsession, doom	1909
All Souls’ Night	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	All Souls’ Night: death, remembrance, superstition, haunting, devotion, fear, the dead, night, ritual, mortality	1909
The Tavern Of The Cats	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Tavern Of The Cats: urban mystery, fear, the uncanny, night, folklore, suspicion, secrecy, menace, superstition, darkness	1909
Believe In God	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	Believe In God: faith, salvation, repentance, divine justice, mercy, sin, redemption, danger, providence, piety	1909
The Ray Of Moonshine	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Ray Of Moonshine: illusion, longing, beauty, unattainable love, fantasy, solitude, nature, desire, melancholy, dream	1909
The Set Of Emeralds	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Set Of Emeralds: greed, vanity, possession, status, temptation, jealousy, wealth, beauty, conflict, loss	1909
The Miserere	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Miserere: penance, music, ghosts, redemption, sin, devotion, haunting, liturgy, fear, salvation	1909
Strange!	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	Strange!: obsession, mystery, fear, passion, illusion, unease, desire, fate, the uncanny, doubt	1909
Withered Leaves	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	Withered Leaves: memory, autumn, lost love, melancholy, time, fading beauty, regret, reflection, transience	1909
The Kiss	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Kiss: pride, sacrilege, desire, death, the supernatural, honour, punishment, irony, transgression, terror	1909
Master Pérez The Organist	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	Master Pérez The Organist: devotion, music, death, miracle, faith, Christmas, memory, sanctity, art, transcendence	1909
The Spirits’ Mountain	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Spirits’ Mountain: haunting, greed, legend, the dead, fear, treasure, curse, isolation, the supernatural, doom	1909
The Christ Of The Skull	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Christ Of The Skull: honour, rivalry, love, repentance, miracle, chivalry, faith, conflict, forgiveness, devotion	1909
The Cave Of The Moor’s Daughter	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Cave Of The Moor’s Daughter: love, legend, loss, memory, hidden treasure, Moorish Spain, enchantment, longing, fate, sorrow	1909
The Emerald Eyes	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Emerald Eyes: obsession, beauty, illusion, desire, madness, idealisation, mystery, yearning, fantasy, loss	1909
The Promise	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Promise: love, duty, death, fidelity, honour, grief, vow, tragedy, remembrance, destiny	1909
The Golden Bracelet	Romantic Legends Of Spain	Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer	Spain	The Golden Bracelet: theft, guilt, sacredness, punishment, greed, fear, crime, conscience, religion, justice	1909
Tangaloa the Queen of Earth	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Origins	1884
The children of Ilu, worm, and Mamao	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Origins	1884
Samoa, The Origin of the Name	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Origins	1884
The Origin Of Fire	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Ancestors	1884
A Battle Between Two Trees	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Conflict	1884
A Shark Story	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Conflict	1884
The Owl And The Serpent	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Conflict	1884
The Fowl And The Turtle	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Conflict	1884
The Three Friends	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Fable	1884
Toa and Pale, or Hero and Helper	Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before	George Turner	Samoa	Conflict	1884
Mr Fox's Housewarming	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Mr Fox’s Housewarming ambition, cleverness, intrusion, ruined plans	1921
The Revenge Of The Gnomes	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	The Revenge Of The Gnomes slight, revenge, party chaos, fairy politics	1921
Little Never-Upset	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Little Never-Upset resilience, cheerfulness, forgiveness, peacemaking, playroom harmony	1921
The Wind-Flower's Story	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	The Wind-Flower’s Story modesty, hidden depth, romance, transience	1921
The Little China Shepherdess	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	The Little China Shepherdess unrequited love, ornament, longing, toy-world romance	1921
Inquisitive Mr Possum	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Inquisitive Mr Possum curiosity, meddling, humiliation, consequences, winter	1921
Old North Wind	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Old North Wind pride, force, rivalry, nature’s balance, defeat	1921
Discontented Dewdrop	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Discontented Dewdrop vanity, ambition, self-loss, contentment, scale	1921
Was It The Field Fairy?	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Was It The Field Fairy? hardship, wonder, mercy, change, rural magic	1921
The Frogs And The Fairies	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	The Frogs And The Fairies curiosity, trespass, punishment, nocturnal danger	1921
Morning-Glory	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Morning-Glory loneliness, wandering, dependence, restraint, belonging	1921
Orianna	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Orianna protection, kindness, cultural imagination, fairy guardianship	1921
How The Buttercup Grew Yellow	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	How The Buttercup Grew Yellow transformation, envy, fairy magic, beauty, colour	1921
Little Pitcher-Man	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	Little Pitcher-Man laughter, memory, absurdity, domestic comedy	1921
When Jack Frost Was Young	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	When Jack Frost Was Young youthful disobedience, inexperience, winter mischief, consequence	1921
The Rain Elves	Sandman's Goodnight Stories	Abbie Phillips Walker	USA	The Rain Elves disobedience, freedom, weather, maternal authority	1921

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