Family Folktales

You likely think you know this tale, but I’ll wager you don’t know it all!

A childless couple decides to pay a deceitful clerk to teach their bull calf to speak.

The king has set odd conditions for anyone wanting to marry his daughter. When a young man who has spent his entire fortune trying to meet the conditions, the king changes them! How can a hermit help the young man win the hand of the princess?

A king is forced to give his daughter as wife to a white wolf – but all may not be as it seems!

The suitor of a very silly young woman sets off to find three people sillier than the young woman and her parents.

Brothers in search of wives are turned to stone by an old man whose heart is hidden in a distant bird. Their brother heads off to find the heart, but he may need the help of some unusual friends if he is to succeed.

A witch-maiden, a magician, a broken heart, and magic – all may play a part in helping a young man defeat a dragon with “a body like an ox, and legs like a frog, two short fore-legs, and two long ones behind, and a tail like a serpent, ten fathoms in length.” Yikes!

You know one version (or maybe more!) of Little Red Riding-Hood. Here’s a whole new take!

When a princess inadvertently curses her twelve brothers, she learns the only way to return them to their natural form is to remain utterly silent for 7 years. A single giggle or spoken word will cause their immediate deaths; can she do it, even after catching the eye of the king?

Two step-children of a witch run away, but the witch’s enchantments follow them, turning the boy into a small roe buck. When the girl marries a king and takes her brother to live in the castle, the evil witch hatches a plot to put her ugly daughter in the queen’s place, and get rid of the rightful queen entirely.

An old enchantress turns pretty girls into birds when they stray too close to her castle, and turns their suitors to stone. Once he is freed from his enchantment, how far will he to return his beloved to his arms?

When a cruel widow’s kind daughter returns from serving a fairy, the widow sends her spiteful daughter to perform the same tasks. But will she earn the same reward?

A poor man agrees to do something for his wealthy brother in exchange for meat for his family. A stranger helps him to exchange that meat for something far more valuable – in the right hands, that is.

A princess journeying to her wedding is betrayed by her waiting-maid, who takes her place, while the real princess is given the task of looking after the geese. Will the king be able to help her regain her rightful place?

An orphaned girl with a cruel brother, a pot of flowers, a fairy queen, and an enchanted hen and cabbages: can all these parts work together to earn the girl a “happily ever after” with a prince?

Three princesses are left at home while their father goes to war, and their disobedience shows them who they will marry. When the youngest betrays her pig husband, how far will she go to find him and save their marriage?

A man is determined that he and his family will avoid death forever. What will happen when they reach a country where the people do not even know what death means?

A man has everything but a wife, it seems; but all the eligible young ladies are put off by his odd blue beard. When he finally marries, he tells his wife there is only one room she is not to enter – but sometimes, curiosity is too strong.

This story begins much like the one you already know, but once she’s awakened by the prince, things take a bit of a turn.

A king’s son goes off to see the world; what will he learn to help him win the hand of a lovely (though arrogant) princess?

When a cruel widow’s kind daughter returns from serving a fairy, she sends her spiteful daughter to perform the same tasks. But will she earn the same reward?

When his love is enchanted by a wicked witch, a prince goes to great lengths – even consulting the Wizard of Finland – to restore her to her human form.

A cobbler takes up with fearsome creatures, but what will happen when they tire of him?

A little chick with only half a body goes off to see the world. How will his unwillingness to help others change his journey?

A queen is forced to promise her daughter to an unkind and unworthy man. When the princess learns her fate, she is determined to marry another. Will anyone live happily ever after?