The Folktale Project
Every week The Folktale Project brings you new folklore, fairytales, myths and legends from around the world. Some tales you've heard before and some brand new.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 9 minutes
- Episodes
- 1352
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
The Molly of Dovre
Once upon a time, there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a large white bear. He would go to the king of Denmark with it. It so happened that he came to the mountains of Dovre one Christmas Eve…
Poverty and Humility Lead to Heaven
There was once a King’s son who went out into the world, and he was full of thought and sad. He looked at the sky, which was so beautifully pure and blue, then he sighed, and said, “How well must all…
How The Toad Got His Bruises
Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, the toad had a smooth skin. In those days, he was a great roamer. He never could be found in his own house. If any one had a party, he was sure to go, no matter h…
The Red Bear
On the tundra south of the mouth of the Yukon River an orphan boy once lived with his aunt. They were all alone with no house within sight; but the boy had heard that there were people living farther…
What The Man in The Moon Did
Long ago there was a poor little orphan boy who had no home and no one to protect him. All the inhabitants of the village neglected and abused him. He was not allowed to sleep in any of the huts, but…
The Flying Ship
There was once upon a time an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons; two were clever, but the third was a fool. The old woman loved the first two, and quite spoiled them, but the latter w…
The Blacksmith at Brandywine
Terrible in the field at Brandywine was the figure of a man armed only with a hammer, who plunged into the ranks of the enemy, heedless of his own life, yet seeming to escape their shots and sabre cu…
The First Liberal Church
In 1770 the brig Hand-in-Hand went ashore at Good Luck, New Jersey. Among the passengers on board the vessel, that it would perhaps be wrong to call ill fated, was John Murray, founder of Universalis…
The Iron Wolf
There was once upon a time a parson who had a servant, and when this servant had served him faithfully for twelve years and upward, he came to the parson and said, “Let us now settle our accounts, ma…
Man's First Grief
After Raven had gone, Man and his son went down to the sea to try some of the ways they had been taught. They made rather bad work of it, but the son caught a seal and held it. They tried to kill it …
The Sparrow and His Four Children
A sparrow had four young ones in a swallow’s nest. When they were fledged, some naughty boys pulled out the nest, but fortunately all the birds got safely away in the high wind. Then the old bird was…
The Origin of The Mole
Once upon a time a rich man and a poor man had a field in common, and they sowed it with the same seed at the same time. But God prospered the poor man’s labour and made his seed to grow, but the ric…
The Princess of The Springs
Once, long ago, the Moon Giant wooed the beautiful giantess who dwells in the Great River and won her love. He built for her a wonderful palace where the Great River runs into the sea. It was made of…
The Star Money
There was once on a time a little girl whose father and mother were dead, and she was so poor that she no longer had any little room to live in, or bed to sleep in, and at last she had nothing else b…
Edward Randolph's Portrait
Nothing is left of Province House, the old home of the royal governors, in Boston, but the gilded Indian that served as its weathercock and aimed his arrow at the winds from the cupola. The house its…
Odds and Ends
There was once on a time a maiden who was pretty, but idle and negligent. When she had to spin she was so out of temper that if there was a little knot in the flax, she at once pulled out a whole hea…
How The Rabbit Lost His Tail
Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, the rabbit had a long tail, but the cat had none. She looked with envious eyes at the one the rabbit had. It was exactly the sort of a tail she longed to have.
Th…
The Wicked Wolverine
One day a wolverine was out walking on the hill-side, when, on turning a corner, he suddenly saw a large rock.
‘Was that you I heard walking about just now?’ he asked, for wolverines are cautious ani…
Iktomi and The Muskrat
Beside a white lake, beneath a large grown willow tree, sat Iktomi on the bare ground. The heap of smouldering ashes told of a recent open fire. With ankles crossed together around a pot of soup, Ikt…
The Badger and The Bear
On the edge of a forest there lived a large family of badgers. In the ground their dwelling was made. Its walls and roof were covered with rocks and straw.
Old father badger was a great hunter. He kn…