Folktales and Fairy Tales

A form of made-up folklore told primarily for entertainment and sometimes containing a message.

Sub-headings:

Fables and Animal Tales

An ancient and widespread form of folklore. Fables are animal tales with a clear moral.

Resources in this category:

The Blue Fairy Book
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/LanBlue.html

The first volume of Andrew Lang's popular retellings of "fairy tales."

Charles Perrault's Mother Goose Tales
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault.html

Charles Perrault was the first person to collect traditional folktales under the title of "Mother Goose" in 1697. Read the electronic text of his book here.

Grimm Brothers' Homepage
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html

All about the Grimm brothers and their contributions to the world of folklore. This webpage has timelines, biographical information, lots of links and some of the stories in English and German.

Grimm's Fairytales
http://myweb.dal.ca/barkerb/fairies/grimm/

An electronic text based on the original 1884 translations of Margaret Hunt.

Grimms' Fairy Tales
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/

Come on an expedition with the National Geographic Society into the original Grimm's Fairy Tales.

The Real Mother Goose
http://www.fidella.com/trmg/

This popular collection of Mother Goose stories was penned in 1916 by Blanche Fisher Wright. Now it’s available online with complete illustrations. Includes a text-only version.

The Red Fairy Book
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/LanRedF.html

Online version of the second volume of Andrew Lang's versions of folktales from around the world, given a Victorian slant.

SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/

This is a site dedicated to the study of fairy tales and folklore, from "Beauty and the Beast" to "Puss in Boots." It includes annotated stories, the history of each story and cross cultural tales.

The Violet Fairy Book
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/LanViol.html

Online version of Andrew Lang's fairy series.

The Yellow Fairy Book
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/LanYell.html

Online version of another volume of Andrew Lang's fairy series.