Europe Folklore

A fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf.

Two children abandoned in the forest find a house made of candy and a hungry witch.

A miller's daughter must spin straw into gold with the help of a mysterious little man who demands a terrible price.

A beautiful princess flees from her jealous stepmother and finds refuge with seven dwarfs, but the wicked queen will stop at nothing to become the fairest of them all.

A mistreated girl relies on the help of a magical hazel tree and a little white bird to attend the king's festival and win the prince's heart.

A girl with extraordinarily long hair is locked in a tower by a witch, until a prince discovers her singing and climbs up to meet her.

A spoiled princess loses her golden ball in a well and promises a frog anything if he retrieves it, but she never intends to keep her promise.

A princess cursed by a slighted fairy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls into a hundred-year sleep, until a brave prince awakens her.

Four aging farm animals, discarded by their owners, set off together to become town musicians and outsmart a band of robbers.

A poor fisherman catches an enchanted flounder that grants wishes, but his wife's growing demands push their luck too far.

A diligent girl falls into a magical well and serves the mysterious Mother Holle, while her lazy stepsister learns that hard work brings its own reward.

A princess on her way to be married is betrayed by her maid, who forces her to swap places and tend geese while she impersonates the bride.

A humble tailor who kills seven flies with one swat becomes a legendary hero through wit and courage.

Twelve princesses wear out their shoes every night dancing in a magical underground kingdom, until a wounded soldier discovers their secret.

Two kind sisters befriend a bear who turns out to be a cursed prince, and help him defeat an evil dwarf.

A proud princess rejects all suitors until she is forced to marry a beggar who teaches her humility through hardship.

Twelve princesses wear out their shoes dancing each night until a clever soldier discovers their secret and breaks the enchantment.

Two lovers are separated when an evil witch transforms the maiden into a nightingale, but true love and magic reunite them.

A mother goat warns her seven kids about the wolf, but the wolf's deception leads to tragedy until justice is served.

A servant who tastes the king's magical white snake gains the ability to understand animals and embarks on a journey of destiny.

Four brothers each master a different skill and reunite to rescue a princess from a dragon, proving that cooperation triumphs over individual prowess.

A master thief challenges a lord to prove his skills through three impossible thefts, demonstrating that cleverness can outwit any defense.

A wild man of iron helps a prince achieve maturity and win a kingdom through trials of courage and loyalty.

Two children fall into a well and must help a water nixie with her chores to earn their freedom.

A farmer's son who knows nothing accidentally stumbles into success as a wise advisor through clever misunderstandings.

A father divides his inheritance among his three sons, giving each a special gift that leads them to fortune through cleverness and cooperation.

A simple prince who is mocked for his dullness proves his worth through humility and the help of magical creatures.

A girl with two eyes is mocked by her sisters who have one and three eyes, but a magical goat helps her escape cruelty and find happiness.

A tragic tale of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul.

A story about a bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to his delight, he matures into a beautiful swan.

One of Andersen's longest and most highly acclaimed stories, centered on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by Gerda and her friend, Kay.

A vain emperor is swindled by two weavers who claim to make the finest clothes invisible to anyone who is foolish or unfit for their position.

A prince searching for a real princess discovers one during a storm when she proves her sensitivity by feeling a pea beneath twenty mattresses.

A tiny girl born from a tulip embarks on a perilous journey, carried off by a toad, a beetle, and a mouse, before finding love with a fairy prince her own size.

A one-legged tin soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina and endures a series of trials that test his unwavering devotion.

A Chinese emperor loves the song of a plain grey nightingale until a bejeweled mechanical bird replaces it, only to break down when he needs beautiful music the most.

A girl named Karen becomes obsessed with a pair of red shoes that force her to dance without rest, leading her to seek redemption the only way she can.

A soldier returning from war meets a witch who sends him into a hollow tree to retrieve a magical tinderbox that summons three powerful dogs.

A carefree grasshopper spends summer singing while the ants work hard to store food, only to regret it when winter arrives.

A thirsty crow discovers a pitcher with a small amount of water at the bottom and uses clever thinking to raise the water level.

A hungry fox tries and fails to reach a bunch of grapes hanging high on a vine, then dismisses them as sour to soothe his disappointment.

A lion hunts with a fox and a donkey, and when it is time to divide the spoils, the lion uses threats to claim everything for himself.

An astronomer is so focused on the stars that he falls into a well, teaching that theoretical knowledge must be balanced with practical awareness.

A bat switches sides between the birds and the beasts during their war, and ends up rejected by both when peace returns.

A classic Aesop's fable about the consequences of lying.

A father teaches his arguing sons a lesson about unity by showing them that a bundle of sticks cannot be broken, but a single stick can.

A dog carrying a bone sees his reflection in a stream and drops his own while trying to grab what he thinks is a bigger one.

A kind farmer nurses a freezing snake back to health, only to be bitten by the very creature he saved.

A stork caught in a farmer net with cranes pleads innocence, but learns that keeping bad company leads to sharing their fate.

A fisherman catches a tiny fish that begs to be released, promising to grow bigger. The fisherman wisely keeps his small but certain catch.

A fox serves soup on a flat plate that the stork cannot eat from, so the stork returns the favor with food served in a long-necked jar.

The frogs ask Jupiter for a king and learn to be careful what they wish for when they receive increasingly terrifying rulers.

A farmer destroys his greatest treasure through greed, killing the goose that laid golden eggs in hopes of getting all the gold at once.

A hart admires his magnificent antlers but despises his slender legs, only to discover that his legs save his life while his antlers doom him.

A jay tries to pass himself off as a peacock by dressing in their fallen feathers, but is quickly exposed as an impostor.

A fable about how even the smallest creature can help the mightiest.

The mice devise a clever plan to bell the cat, but discover that having a good idea and executing it are very different things.

A miser buries his gold and visits it daily, never spending it. When it is stolen, he learns that unused wealth is no wealth at all.

An eagle and a serpent fight, and each is saved by a third party, demonstrating that even enemies share a common interest in mutual restraint.

Two friends encounter a bear in the forest. One climbs a tree to safety while the other plays dead, revealing the true nature of friendship in crisis.

A brass pot and an earthen pot float down a river together, but the stronger pot causes the weaker one to break against it.

The Wind and the Sun compete to remove a traveler coat, demonstrating that gentleness succeeds where force fails.

A wolf with a bone stuck in his throat promises a crane a reward for removing it, but gives her nothing but the lesson that being paid to not be eaten is reward enough.

A wolf disguises himself in a sheep's skin to infiltrate the flock, but his deception is ultimately discovered.

A boastful hare challenges a slow tortoise to a race, only to discover that steady persistence outlasts overconfidence.

A country mouse visits his cousin in the city and samples luxury, but discovers that fine dining is not worth the constant danger.

The Norse myth of Thor and Loki's journey to the land of the giants, where they are tested by illusions.

A universal myth found in almost every culture, explaining the origin of the Pleiades star cluster.

One of the three Sorrowful Tales of Ireland — King Lir's four children are transformed into swans by their jealous stepmother and spend 900 years in exile before finding peace.

The Greek hero Perseus, armed with divine gifts, undertakes the perilous quest to slay the Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turns all living things to stone.

The legendary musician Orpheus descends into the underworld to reclaim his beloved wife Eurydice, using his incomparable music to charm the gods of death.

The Athenian hero Theseus ventures into the Labyrinth of Crete to slay the Minotaur, a monstrous half-man half-bull, ending the tribute of human sacrifice.

The master inventor Daedalus crafts wings of wax and feathers to escape imprisonment in Crete, but his son Icarus flies too close to the sun with tragic consequences.

Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cave of the man-eating Cyclops Polyphemus. Using cunning rather than strength, Odysseus must find a way to escape before they become the monster's next meal.

A story of a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune.

A Russian fairy tale about a young girl, a magical doll, and the fearsome witch Baba Yaga.

A kind young woman agrees to live with a fearsome beast to save her father, and gradually discovers that true beauty lies within.

A clever cat uses trickery and cunning to transform his poor miller's-son master into a wealthy nobleman and win the hand of a princess.

A wealthy nobleman with a blue beard has married many wives who have all disappeared, and his newest bride discovers the horrifying secret behind a forbidden door.

A mysterious piper rids the town of Hamelin of its rats, but when the townspeople refuse to pay, he leads their children away with his enchanted music.

The fearsome witch of Slavic folklore who lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs, flies in a mortar, and eats those who fail her tests.

A mass-produced painting of a crying child is found intact among the ashes of burned houses, fueling beliefs it carries a supernatural curse.

A mysterious stranger at a party utters a chilling phrase that later proves to be a fatal premonition about a crowded elevator.