Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales

Once upon a time...

I remember sitting in the Town Library of Raahe with a pile of thick books next to me. Russian, French and Finnish fairy tales; Native American, African and Greek myths; Legends of cunning rabbits and suffering princesses, magical artefacts and shapeshifters. I loved finding different variations of the same story. Vasilisa the Wise and the smart fisherman's daughter with the goat and the fishnet are manifestations of the same story root. It's astonishing how many cultures have legends of a great flood.

All tales are not pretty and safe, all don't have a happy ending. "Pojat joit' ei saatu hyviks nyt on jauhettuina jyviks" in a Finnish drama version of Max und Moritz by Wilhelm Busch (where the naughty prankster boys are put in a mill, ground into grain and eaten by the miller's ducks) disturbed my sleep for many nights. But I was hooked. I found adult fairy tales: old and undiluted versions and modern re-tellings of familiar stories. Feminism. Horror. Psychoanalysis. Lessons of fear. Stories of survival. They touch us somewhere very deep.

History of fairy tales

• SurLaLune Fairy Tales Site
• Russian Fairy Tales

Many versions of the same story

• Snow White
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Little Red Riding Hood Project
• The Cinderella Project
• The Jack and the Beanstalk Project
• Rapunzel
• Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts: many stories and myths.

Fairy tale interpretation

• Sources for the Analysis and Interpretation of Folk and Fairy Tales

Art inspired by stories

• The Endicott Studio of Mythic Arts
• Art Passions

Link lists

• Stories, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Theme Page
• Fairy tale links inb Google

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