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
Deegeenboyah The Soldier-Bird	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	poverty, deception, theft, hunting rights, retribution	1896
Meamei The Seven Sisters	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	anger, abduction, sisterhood, escape, origin of the Pleiades	1896
Dinewan The Emu, And Goomblegubbon The Bustard	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	jealousy, trickery, motherhood, revenge, animal characteristics	1896
Gooloo The Magpie, And The Wahroogah	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	deception, child endangerment, grief, betrayal, lasting regret	1896
Dinewan The Emu, And Wahn The Crows	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	practical joking, marital conflict, retaliation, fire, animal origins	1896
Bougoodoogahdah The Rain Bird	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	predation, cruelty, revenge, supernatural justice, origins of rain	1896
Mayrah, The Wind That Blows The Winter Away	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	seasonal change, renewal, fertility, abundance, natural cycles	1896
Weedah The Mocking Bird	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	imitation, deception, curiosity, violence, transformation	1896
The Borah Of Byamee	Australian Legendary Tales	K. Langloh Parker	Australia	ritual initiation, secrecy, spiritual power, community, supernatural danger	1896
Eothwald: The Young Sculptor	Baron Bruno, Or, the Unbelieving Philosopher, and Other Fairy Stories	Louisa Morgan	England	Eothwald: The Young Sculptor: artistic longing, forbidden love, illusion, and tragic loss.	1875
The Witch And The New-Born Infant	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Witch And The New-Born Infant: witchcraft, childbirth peril, infant threat, household fear, maternal anxiety, protective rites, sorcery, rural belief, danger to newborns, uncanny attack	1879
The Son Who Heard Voices	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Son Who Heard Voices: prophecy, rejected child, supernatural voice, parental fear, exile, fulfilment of fate, recognition, reversal of status, destiny, marvel	1879
The Mother And Her Idiot Son; Or, The Clever Thief	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Mother And Her Idiot Son; Or, The Clever Thief: idiot hero, hidden cleverness, theft, comic cunning, maternal bond, social inversion, trickster tale, escape, peasant wit, success	1879
The Young School-Boy	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Young School-Boy: youthful cleverness, learning, prophecy, adversity, journey, rise from obscurity, intelligence, marvel, recognition, advancement	1879
The Witches And The Idiots	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Witches And The Idiots: witches, fools, comic confrontation, nocturnal adventure, peasant humour, inversion, fear and laughter, rustic cunning, sabbat lore, absurdity	1879
The Grateful Tartaro And The Heren-Suge	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Grateful Tartaro And The Heren-Suge: monster alliance, gratitude, serpent lore, heroic release, supernatural obligation, danger, kingship, marvel, ordeal, rescue	1879
Jesus Christ And The Old Soldier	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Jesus Christ And The Old Soldier: Christ in disguise, old soldier, almsgiving, divine encounter, humility, justice, Christian morality, pilgrimage tone, reward, redemption	1879
Erua, The Madman	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Erua, The Madman: mad hero, ogre encounter, mischief, exile, grotesque comedy, courage by accident, trickery, monstrous foe, reversal, rough humour	1879
Juan Dekos, The Blockhead (Tontua)	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Juan Dekos, The Blockhead (Tontua): simpleton hero, underestimated son, luck, cunning in folly, comic adventure, social reversal, marriage, improbable success, peasant tale, trickster energy	1879
Fourteen	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Fourteen: Christ in disguise, charity, humble hospitality, divine testing, reward and punishment, piety, soldier figure, moral reckoning, religious tale, grace	1879
The Cobbler And His Three Daughters (Blue-Beard)	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Cobbler And His Three Daughters (Blue-Beard): dangerous bridegroom, forbidden chamber, poverty, daughters, murderous secrecy, discovery, female peril, rescue, curiosity, survival	1879
Dragon	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Dragon: dragon combat, perilous quest, rescue, enchanted adversary, courage, wonder tale, royal stakes, supernatural trial, triumph, adventure	1879
The Singing Tree, The Bird Which Tells The Truth, And The Water Which Makes Young	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Singing Tree, The Bird Which Tells The Truth, And The Water Which Makes Young: magical quest objects, slandered queen, truth revealed, sibling bond, rejuvenation, marvellous bird, enchanted tree, restoration, innocence, royal family	1879
Juan De Kalais	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Juan De Kalais: foolish hero, sea voyage, barter, betrayal, abandoned at sea, faithful wife, miraculous return, fox helper, recognition, restoration	1879
The Three Brothers, The Cruel Master, And The Tartaro.	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Three Brothers, The Cruel Master, And The Tartaro: three brothers, cruel employer, ogre, tasks, survival, brotherly contrast, trickery, labour, escape, victory	1879
The Serpent In The Wood	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Serpent In The Wood: serpent bridegroom motif, daughters, fear and acceptance, woodland encounter, transformation, family testing, enchanted being, beauty and beast pattern, marriage, release	1879
Ezkabi-Fidel	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Ezkabi-Fidel: faithful servant, loyalty, betrayal, trials, recognition, hidden merit, suffering rewarded, constancy, justice, wonder tale	1879
The Widow And Her Son	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Widow And Her Son: filial devotion, pilgrimage, apples as tokens, promise, service, danger, mother-son bond, perseverance, Christian adventure, reward	1879
The Tartaro And Petit Perroquet	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Tartaro And Petit Perroquet: ogre, small clever hero, wit versus strength, deception, escape, comic bravery, monstrous foe, trickster triumph, adventure, reversal	1879
Acheria, The Fox	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Acheria, The Fox: trickery, animal cunning, deception, partnership, greed, theft, comic reversal, peasant wit, survival, moral irony	1879
The Step-Mother And Step-Daughter	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Step-Mother And Step-Daughter: stepfamily tension, hidden grooming, stealth, lost shoe, marriage test, Cinderella motif, unexpected kindness, beauty revealed, royal choice, fortune	1879
The Duped Priest	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Duped Priest: anticlerical humour, peasant trickery, sporting tale, written messages, comic deception, social satire, wit over authority, farce, rustic cunning, reversal	1879
Laur-Cantons	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Laur-Cantons: quest, ordeal, marvellous helpers, distant lands, heroic perseverance, trials, kingship, wonder journey, adventure, triumph	1879
The Servant At The Fairy's	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Servant At The Fairy’s: service in the otherworld, fairy mistress, obedience, taboo, household tasks, supernatural reward, hidden knowledge, wonder tale, trial, return	1879
Legends Of The Tartaro	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Legends Of The Tartaro: ogre figure, giant adversary, captivity, monstrous appetite, escape, trickery, strength, terror, folklore monster, mountain myth	1879
The Changeling (2)	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Changeling: fairy theft, substituted child, uncanny infant, household anxiety, witchcraft, old belief, family distress, supernatural suspicion, folklore explanation, recovery	1879
Ass'-Skin	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Ass’-Skin: false accusation, exile, disguise, animal skin, hidden identity, magical aid, royal marriage, innocence vindicated, festival, endurance	1879
The White Blackbird	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The White Blackbird: healing quest, blindness, rare bird, brothers, rivalry, marvellous cure, royal need, journey, betrayal, restoration	1879
The Pretty But Idle Girl	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Pretty But Idle Girl: beauty versus industry, laziness, household labour, moral correction, comic judgement, social expectation, fairy-world echoes, cautionary tale, work ethic, reversal	1879
The Sister And Her Seven Brothers	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Sister And Her Seven Brothers: sisterly devotion, transformed brothers, exile, enchantment, family loyalty, perseverance, breaking the spell, wonder tale, suffering, redemption	1879
The Slandered And Despised Girl	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Slandered And Despised Girl: false reputation, social cruelty, poverty, endurance, public shame, innocence, eventual vindication, female suffering, moral reversal, compassion	1879
The Saintly Orphan Girl	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Saintly Orphan Girl: orphan heroine, piety, suffering, innocence, endurance, persecution, virtue rewarded, religious wonder, charity, sanctity	1879
The Ass And The Wolf	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Ass And The Wolf: animal fable, deception, appetite, foolishness, predator and prey, rustic humour, survival, verbal trick, irony, moral lesson	1879
The Poor Soldier And The Rich Man	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Poor Soldier And The Rich Man: poverty and wealth, moral contrast, humility, judgement, Christian justice, charity, afterlife colouring, reversal, conscience, religious warning	1879
Beauty And The Beast (8)	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Beauty And The Beast: youngest daughter, monstrous bridegroom, inner worth, transformation, filial duty, enchanted household, patience, broken spell, love, marvel	1879
The Seven-Headed Serpent	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Seven-Headed Serpent: multi-headed monster, heroic combat, rescue, royal daughter, perilous quest, courage, magical struggle, victory, wonder tale, reward	1879
The Witches At The Sabbat	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Witches At The Sabbat: sabbat, nocturnal gathering, sorcery, devilry, rural fear, secret rites, witch belief, transgression, night flight, uncanny spectacle	1879
Basa-Jauna, The Wild Man	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Basa-Jauna, The Wild Man: wild man, forest being, vampire note, brothers, youngest hero, enchanted household, female helper, strength, wilderness, supernatural contest	1879
The Fairy Queen Godmother	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	The Fairy Queen Godmother: fairy patronage, godmother figure, magical gifts, protection, guidance, young heroine, transformation, blessing, destiny, wonder	1879
Tabakiera, The Snuff-Box	Basque Legends	Wentworth Webster	Spain - Basque	Tabakiera, The Snuff-Box: magical object, wish fulfilment, snuff-box, trickery, exchange, fortune, marvel, comic tale, possession, reversal	1879

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