Mythology & Folklore

Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen | MythFolklore | H. P. Paull

Prince: The prince goes searching everywhere for a real princess. He meets many but there is always something off that makes him think that she isn’t a true princess. Sometimes it isn’t always in his head, since he is unable to find a real and true princess he returns home feeling very upset.

Princess: A bedraggled princess comes to his castle and asks for shelter. Claiming that she is a true princess she is tested with the queen’s idea. Upon waking in the morning she says she was unable to sleep at all and now has bruises from something that was in her mattress keeping her up all night. her sensitivity to the pea makes her the real deal.

Queen: has the idea to put a tiny pea under 20 mattresses since any real princess would feel it. When they all wake up in the morning she asks the princess how she slept. Given the answer of awful, the queen decides that this girl must be a real and true princess. She allows the son to marry her.

I love that at the end of the story the pea is put in a museum.

Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm | MythFolklore | Margaret Hunt

Snow White and Rose Red: Two little girls living in the forest with their mother. They befriend a bear over the winter who stays with them, they save a dwarf multiple times, and they marry princes. The sisters love each other very much and do everything together, they are always safe in the forest even when they sleep there overnight. They keep the house clean for the mother and it is a very inviting place.

The Bear: During the beginning of the winter a bear comes to stay at the cottage each night. At first the girls are a little frightened but the bear explains he just needs a place to sleep. They all become good friends with the girls playing with him all the time. At the start of spring he leaves and tells Snow White it is to guard his treasure as dwarves try to take it. He eventually kills the dwarf who put a spell on him, turning him into a bear, and reveals that he is actually a prince. He marries Snow White and Rose Red marries his brother. They all live happily ever after with the treasure that they take back from the dwarf.

The Dwarf: He is insulting the girls every time that they happen upon him but they still try to help him. They save him from a fallen log that has caught his beard, a fish, and an eagle. Every time they cut his beard and he is horrible to them for all of it. Eventually the bear comes and starts to attack him. Not knowing the girls are friends with the bear, he tells the bear to take the girls but instead the bear kills him. This undoes the curse that the dwarf had put on the bear as well.

Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm | MythFolklore | Margaret Hunt

Mother and Father: A peasant and his wife were longing for a child and prayed that they would have any they could get even if he was as tiny as a thimble. Thumbling came along and though he was small they loved him very much. One day Thumbling says he can lead the horse to his father so he can help with the work and men approach who want to buy him. Thumbling convinces his father to sell him though he doesn’t want to and they rejoice when he comes back home.

Men who bought him: Two men happen upon Thumbling leading the horse to his father and they ask to buy him. He travels with them for a while after they pay for him but then Thumbling disappears down a mouse hole leaving them poorer and without their gimmick to take to the city.

Thieves: Eventually Thumbling happens upon two thieves who are wanting to steal from the pastor. He promises to help them but when they take him to the pastors house Thumbling shouts loud for all to hear causing the cook and then the maid to wake. The thieves leave in fear of being caught.

Maid and Cow: The maid wakes the second time after hearing Thumbling shout. When she wakes for the day and takes hay to the cow she accidentally grabs Thumbling as well. He is eaten by the cow and when he starts shouting, she hears the voice from the night before. Believing that the cow is speaking she calls the pastor who orders the cow to be killed. Thumbling, still inside the cow’s stomach is then eaten by a wolf.

Wolf: Once inside the wolf, Thumbling shouts again and tells the wolf exactly hwo to get to his parents house so the wolf can eat all he pleases. The wolf follows the instructions and eats everything that he can. Too full to move he is killed by the peasant and his wife who take precautions since they know that Thumbling is in the wolf.

Thumbling: Orchestrates most of the story by telling people what to do. They trust him and he usually outsmarts them which usually benefits him.

The Grimm Brothers’ Children’s and Household Tales | MythFolklore | D. L. Ashliman

Shoemaker: The shoemaker was not doing well. He had only enough leather for one pair of shoes and that was it, he cut the shoes and left them to finish in the morning. In the morning though, he found one of the most well made shoes he had seen and after selling them for a nice profit, he bought enough leather for 2 pairs. After multiple nights of setting out cut leather and awakening to new shoes the cobbler and his wife were doing very well. Happy and prosperous they decided they wanted to know who was behind all of this. They stayed awake to see who was helping them and decided to help them as well.

Elves: The night the shoemaker and his wife stayed up to see who was taking care of them, they found naked elves doing all of the work. After making clothes for them, they left them out for the elves to find. The elves were delighted that they now had clothes and realized they didn’t need to make shoes anymore.

I loved that in the end though the elves left, the shoemaker and his wife still lived well after because they had done something nice.

Russian Fairy Tales | MythFolklore | W. R. S. Ralston

The Priest’s Son: The son of the priest in the village after having his lessons with the old woman sees the King’s daughter washing her hair. It was unusual though because her head was not attached, the princess had taken her head off, washed her head, then braided her hair. As he started to tell everyone in the village, the princess becomes ill and continues to worsen. After her death the boy is supposed to read the psalter over her for 3 days. He worries until he gets advice from the old woman. He does as instructed and lives on to be very prosperous.

The Headless Princess: The daughter of the king, she is an enchantress. When the boy sees her and tells everyone in town that she is a witch, she asks her father that if she dies to have the boy read the psalter over her for three nights. She comes back each night after her death for three nights to show horrendous things to the boy to make him pay for telling everyone. In the end though the boy does not succumb and she finally truly dies upside down in her coffin.

Old Woman: The priests son is so worried during his lessons that he confides to the old woman his fear of reading the psalter over the princess. The old woman admits she knew the princess was a witch and tells the boy how to deal with the problem. He is to carve a circle around himself and not turn around no matter what the princess showed him. The final night he is supposed to put four nails into the corner of the coffin and hold the hammer with him. All of this works.

The King: After he daughters final death, he is told of her being a witch and he rewards the priests son with prosperous wealth.

Russian Fairy Tales | MythFolklore | W. R. S. Ralston

Young Housewife: The young housewife was working as usual but realized how late it had gotten. She decided to sleep and finish her spinning in the morning but said an innocent prayer to Mother Wednesday about waking early to be productive. Unfortunately the prayer was answered and with the advice of a neighbor was able to rid her house of Wednesday at the break of dawn.

Wednesday: Mother Wednesday comes and wakes the young housewife early, she sets the fire and getting ready for the day. She sent the housewife out to get water and bring it back so they could bleach the linen and iron it. When the housewife returns she tricks Wednesday out of the house and wouldn’t let her back in. Wednesday cries aloud about how the linen will never get bleached and to let her in. Eventually at dawn she shouts out and flees.

Granny next door: The young housewife, after Wednesday arrives, worries about Wednesday killing her so she runs to her neighbors house. Though it is still dark out she knocks until the neighbor comes to answer. Calling her granny, the housewife pleads for help and the neighbor comes up with a plan to help her. She instructs the housewife to yell outside that Wednesday’s children are burning up and when Wednesday steps out of the house, to run back in and not let her back inside no matter what she says or does. This works.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | MythFolklore | Lewis Carroll

White Rabbit: At the very start of the story the white rabbit appears and runs past Alice. She thinks nothing of his attire but does notice that he speaks about being late. As this is so unusual she follows him down the rabbit hole. The only other time he is seen in this section is when she has finished falling and tries to follow him when she finds the hall with all the doors.

Alice: A very peculiar girl who speaks to herself as if she has another identity sometimes. She follows the rabbit without thought and notices how long her fall is. She has time to ponder, look at things and put them back, and compare what the fall has been like. She determines that she must have fallen at least to halfway through the world which lets her show off her education. She uses big words to sound grandiose and educated. Eventually at the end of her fall she comes to a hallway with many doors. Here she tries every door and then finds a key that doesn’t belong to any of the doors. After finding a tiny door that the key would fit, she realizes that she won’t. Back at the key table she sees a little bottle that after looking for a poison label decides to drink which makes her super small. As she shortens she runs off to the little door but has forgotten the key on the table. She eats the cake quickly to see if it will make her normal size again but she grows even larger. After becoming way too large to fit through the door she begins to cry. Looking for something to shrink her again she checks a nearby mushroom. On the top of the mushroom she sees the caterpillar with his hookah.

The Welsh Fairy Book | MythFolklore | W. Jenkyn Thomas

The Fairy Reward

Ianto: a man who is visited late one night by a fair family. He lets them into his home to take care of their babies and in turn they leave money before they leave on the hearth. He starts to leave a fire and other necessities out for them like a fairy hotel and they keep leaving money for him. He makes enough from the fairies that he can stop working and decides to find a wife.

Betsi: Ianto’s wife that he finds. After they are married she decides its time to find out where his money comes from. She pressures him to tell her even though he refrains. Eventually she guesses it’s the fairies and he finally admits it is.

The fairies: finding a safe place they like keep visiting Ianto’s house in exchange for money that they leave him. When Ianto admits to his wife that the fairies are paying him, they stop and no longer visit. This makes Ianto have to go back to work.

The Welsh Fairy Book | MythFolklore | W. Jenkyn Thomas

Einion: is Angharad’s husband who is walking through Trefeilir forest when he happens upon the Lady of the Greenwood. She puts him under a spell and he must follow her always. He is to leave his wife and he wishes to say goodbye and they split the golden ring between them so each has half. The Lady of Greenwood becomes invisible to watch him leave and make sure he comes back to her. After years have passed he is alone in the forest, not knowing where the Lady had gone, and the man in white finds him. He is able to go back home and find his true love, Angharad where he shows her his half of the golden ring.

Lady of the Greenwood: a goblin who can take on many forms to the person she wishes. Einion sees that she has hooves for feet and realizes she is a goblin. For Einion she becomes a beautiful woman and casts a spell on him so he feels he has to follow her. For Angharad she becomes a nobleman who brings news of Einions death and offers marriage to her. Angharad accepts until Einion comes back home. The goblin’s spell is broken by their love.

The man in white: happens upon Einion in the forest and helps him see past the spell that the Lady of the Greenwood has on him. He also grants him one wish and sends him home to Angharad where the Lady of the Greenwood also is.

Angharad: is Einions wife but when the goblin posing as a nobleman shows up with news of his death nine years ago, she agrees to marry him. She keeps a harp in her hall and none can tune it. When Einion comes home, due to the spell the Lady of the Greenwood has on her, she can only see him as an old man. Einion tunes the harp, shows her his gold ring, and lets her hold the staff of the man in white so she can see the goblin for what it is. She faints and wakes back up to Einion and their love breaks the spell of the Lady of the Greenwood.