Folklore, Myth and Legend

The Stories

Aesop's Fables

Brief versions of over 300 fables, from the edition by George Fyler Townsend.

Fairy Tales and Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen

Texts and some links to H.C. Andersen information.

Grimm's Fairy Tales

This website contains 209 Grimm tales that appear to be complete and authentic, though the exact print source is unknown.

A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hawthorne's retellings of classical myths are still remarkably fresh and effective.

The Blue Fairy Book
The Red Fairy Book
The Yellow Fairy Book
The Violet Fairy Book
The Arabian Nights Entertainments

Online versions of some of Andrew Lang's popular collections. Those with access to the print versions of these and others in the series may also be interested in this Index to Andrew Lang's Fairy Books compiled by Emily Crawford.

Tales of Wonder

An archive of folk and fairy tales from around the world, compiled by Richard Darsie.

Tales to Tell

At thekids.com. Includes extremely well-done illustrated versions of poems, folktales, hero tales, and fables. Stories submitted by young people are available elsewhere at the site.

Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts

Edited and/or translated by D.L. Ashliman. An interesting miscellany af little-known tales; mostly oriental and Nordic.

The Cinderella Project

A text and image archive of a dozen English-language versions of Cinderella published between 1729 and 1912. The texts used come from the collections of the de Grummond Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. (Note: For information on other versions of Cinderella, don't miss our list of Variations on the Cinderella Story.)

The Little Red Riding Hood Project

A text-and-image archive of sixteen early versions of the story, drawn from the de Grummond Children's Literature Research Collection.

Snow White

An excellent site by Kay Vandergrift includes good comparative texts and illustrations, and takes an academic look at the fairy tale and its variations.

Folktales from around the World

Folktales about Anansi and Los Nobos the wolf.

Good Stories for Great Holidays

This 1914 book by Frances Jenkins Olcott includes folktales, myths, and historical stories. The Web version is from The University of Virginia Electronic Text Center

Stories to Tell to Children: Fifty-One Stories With Some Suggestions for Telling (1908)
How to Tell Stories to Children, and Some Stories to Tell (1915)

Books by Sara Cone Bryant, with a good selection of traditional tales, and old favorites.

Mariam's Story Park

Stories--some Sufi, some from elsewhere, and some written by Mariam Ispahani.

Myths and Legends of the Sioux

Compiled by Marie L. McLaughlin (1916)

Old Indian Legends

Zitkala-Sa [aka Gertrude Simmons Bonnin]. Stories of Iktomi and other legends of the Dakotas (1901)

Ninteenth-Century German Stories

Struwwelpeter, Busch, Grimm Brothers in German- and English-language versions, often with illustrations. From the Foreign Language Department - Virginia Commonwealth University.

Tales of Traditional Wisdom

From Reed Educational Publishing. Legends and stories submitted by students from around the world.

Bulfinch's Mythology

The three volumes (Legends of Charlemagne, Legends of King Arthur, and Stories of Gods and Heroes), in text format.

The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children

By Charles Kingsley (1855). Text-only (271K).

The Great Famine Commemoration

As part of a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Great Potato Famine, this site includes poetry, stories and songs of the Irish Potato Famine. Also includes recipes, and historical and scientific information.

Scottish Folktales

From the Dalriada Celtic Heritage Society.

The Story of Owl