How could I marry the monstrous lindworm? He had already eaten his first two brides on their wedding nights! But the king had given his orders. I ran into the woods, tearing myself apart on the thorns, desperate to avoid my fate. Why was I chosen? For my kindness and...
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Fairy Godmother of Dotterine
A terrible war broke out, and the king and his army were beaten back until finally they retreated to the town and prepared for a siege. It lasted so long that food supplies ran out, and even at the palace there was nothing to eat. My goddaughter was weak and...
Old Speaking Horse
When the young man came into the stable, he passed rows and rows of fine horses with their names written in gold above their stalls. He stumbled by aimlessly, and I heard him talking to himself. "How can I find the princess Bella-Flor when I have never even seen her?...
Horse Who Flies Over the Sea
Themes: Frustration | Guidance | Return
A giant kept me in me in his stable until a fellow named Ian came along and led me out. He rode me over the sea to the island of Big Women, where we were met by sixteen lads. They were all eager to take me to the stable, but Ian said, "I myself will put her in and see...
Ian, the Soldier’s Son
With the help of my friend the raven, I killed the three giants who had held the maidens hostage. Then the raven told me how to get the ladies down from the high rock where the giants lived. The raven only asked for tobacco by way of thanks. I wanted to give him all...
Wounded Soldier
Themes: Crossroads | Guidance | Resolve
I was making my way toward the city when I met an old woman on the road. She noticed that I was badly wounded and asked me where I was going. “I really don’t know myself,” I said. I had heard about the kings’ twelve daughters, and how they had been wearing out their...
Peasant Named Crabb
I just sold a load of wood to the town doctor, and after he'd counted his money, I noticed how well he ate and drank, sitting there at his table. I asked him how he got to be a doctor, and if I could be a doctor, too. He said, "Oh yes, that is soon managed. All you...
Hungry Giant
Themes: Guidance | Hunger | Reciprocity
Oh, I was hungry. I stood outside my hut, howling with hunger. I was ready to eat anything, even my own child. Then who do I see coming towards me out of the forest but a man. Not much meat on him, but enough to quiet my groaning belly. "It is well that you have come,...
Not-So-Stupid Hans
Themes: Abuse | Challenge | Guidance
My brothers think I'm stupid, but I know the difference between a good man and a bad one. That little elf who came to the door was nothing but trouble. He asked for bread, and when I gave it to him, he let the bread fall to the ground. Then he ordered me to pick it...
Red Mountain
Themes: Guidance | Wisdom | Wonder
If you wonder why I am red, ask one of the villagers who live perched on my cliffs. Those good people will tell you that my color comes from the hue of the princess, whose beauty shines through seven veils and through my walls. No one has ever beheld her face. She...
Old Man Set Free from a Pit
Themes: Captivity | Freedom | Guidance
For a long time, I lived in the bottom of a pit, outside a palace that had no doors. I had only a lantern to my name. I was sleeping one night when a king came along and scrambled down into the pit. He put his hand on my shoulder and woke me. "Are you a bird or snake...
Queen Who Helps Her Son Escape
When our son returned from his long sea voyage, he told us that he had caught the Golden-Headed Fish whose blood would cure his father's blindness. However, there was no time left to bring the fish home. The physician who knew how to make the salve would be gone. So...
The Physician from Far Away
I was called to court to examine the king who had gone blind as a result of a bad illness. After carefully studying his case, I concluded that he had only one remaining hope. "Somewhere in the Great Sea there exists a Golden-Headed Fish," I told the king's son. "If...
Old Greybeard
The rajah arrived in our village with an army of servants, soldiers, muleteers, camel drivers, merchants, singers, musicians, elephants, camels, mules, ponies, donkeys, goats, and cartloads of food for men and beasts. They lacked only one thing—water—and we did not...
Samba
When all was said and done, I found my courage and I met my enemy head on. But do not commend me—were it not for a brave princess who showed me how to meet my fears, I would still be in a dark cellar cowering behind earthenware grain pots! Samba in Samba the Coward,...
Mother of Sheaths
Themes: Enchantment | Guidance | Recovery
I am a well-known enchantress in this region of the world. I live in a cave that is lined with sheaths. Bring me your knife and I will put it in its sheath. One day, a messenger of the Archduke of Placenza came to me. His master had lost his reason and the doctors...
Magic Book
The queen wants to know what will destroy the power of the dark magician Ismenor. Can she understand the words that are written on my pages? She leans against the wall at the foot of Ismenor's tower, drained of all her powers. I must be explicit. "Get ahold of the...
Maiden Betrothed to a Lindworm
Themes: Guidance | Resolve | Threshold
I did not want to marry the lindworm! He had eaten his two other brides! I did nothing to deserve being wed to such a monster. I ran to my mother's grave and I prayed earnestly for her help. Then I became very peaceful and fell asleep. When the sun woke me in the...
Troll’s Daughter
Themes: Captivity | Guidance | Underworld
The young man swims down to me in my glass palace at the bottom of the sea. My father, who is a powerful troll, has trapped me here. He has made everybody dependent on him—all the kings in the country are in his debt, and all the creatures of the forest rely on him...
Queen Who Eats a Plant to Conceive
Themes: Fertility | Guidance | Threshold
I cannot give my husband a child, and now he has gone away. If I have a child by the time he returns, he said, he will love me "beyond measure," but if I do not, he will part with me forever. I won't be having a child with him away, now, will I? Unless he wishes me to...
Grey Man in the Enchanted Castle
I am the only one alive in this enchanted castle. If you find me here in my locked room, I will show you how to break the spell. The tasks are inscribed on a stone table. Look here. There are three. No one has even completed the first task, let alone all three. Shall...
Wind Wizard of Finland
Themes: Grief | Guidance | Recovery
Only a good wind can heal the heart that a bad wind has broken. That's what I told the king's messenger. A week later I flew on the winds to speak directly to the king. Respectfully, I told him that his son's illness was caused by an evil wind. A magic ball had...
Little Green Frog
Themes: Dependency | Frustration | Guidance
He is SO irritating! I tell him what to do and he does more than he is instructed. I tell him, go to the stable, get the horse, and lead him out of there. What does he do? He goes to the stable, gets the horse, and decides to put on a saddle. Not what I said! He's...
Lake
Themes: Guidance | Vulnerability | Wisdom
Listen to me. It's the Lake speaking. If you want to avoid being eaten by the Serpent King of this island, here's what you must do. Take off your clothes and spread them on the path that leads from the water to the lord's castle. It pleases the king to glide over...
Fisherman’s Blessed Wife
Themes: Fertility | Guidance | Surrender
An old woman came to me and said that I would have children if my husband could catch a little goldfish. Then she told me to cut it up into six pieces. One for me, and one for my husband. One for the dog, and one for the mare. One was to be buried to the right of the...
Simpleton at the Threshold
Themes: Crossroads | Guidance | Reciprocity
My brothers left me at the crossroads and I continued on my own to search for the wonderful vine. It was stolen from my father, and he cannot stop weeping over its loss. When I stopped to have something to eat, a lame fox came along and said he was hungry. I had very...
Eldest of the Old Sisters
I live in a turf hut, far from land that any man knows. There are great distances between myself and my sisters, so, as you might imagine, I hardly ever greet anyone at my door. Today, though, a young man came to the house. He said he was looking for the Sister of the...
The Queen Who Loves the Fairies
I was very close to my son, and when I became ill, I brought him into my confidence. I advised him that if ever he were to undertake something large, he must consult his fairy godmother. Until then I had kept her whereabouts a secret, because my husband is a wizard,...
Shadows in the Land of Souls
Themes: Guidance | Underworld
If you are passing through the Land of Souls, then you will have laid your body down. As you fly along you will find that the earth has become sweeter. The flowers will nod to you, the animals will rub their noses against you, the birds will circle around you, and the...
Old Forest Guardian
Themes: Guidance | Protection | Threshold
I've seen a lot of winters come and go. Indeed, I am so old that you might easily mistake me for another tree in the forest. I am grey, gaunt, and crooked as my staff. But ignore me at your peril! The huge, wild forest you are entering is full of ravenous beasts. How...
Helpless White Horse
We cut a pretty picture when we left on our quest. My rider, dressed in shining armor with his golden hair flying behind him. Me, with my white mane blowing in the wind. My tail was braided with gold threads, and I wore bright new shoes. A picture is all it was, I'm...
Daughter Who Follows a Spirit
I had been lost in the forest for nine days when I came upon an iron stove. I wondered how it came to be so far away from everything. Then a voice issued from it, and asked me, “From whence do you come, and whither do you you?” I said, “I have lost my father’s...
White Dove on the Holy Man’s Shoulder
Themes: Guidance | Kinship | Leadership
"That's him! That's him!" we cried when the young man stepped into the church. Me and my mate flew to him and sat on his shoulders. A great silence fell on the room, like the silence of snow. When the priests found their tongues, they asked the young man if he would...
Donkey Princess
Themes: Departure | Guidance | Incest
My father wanted to marry me and I absolutely refused! I consulted my fairy godmother and she advised me to ask him for impossible things. But he gave me everything I asked for. The only way out of the awful predicament was to ask my father for a fur coat made from...
Master of the Birds
The man asked me if I knew where to find the Blue Mountains. I didn't know where they were. I couldn't find them in any of my books. If the Blue Mountains existed, only the birds would know it. Since the man had traveled so far, and I had not seen a single man for...
Prince with the Speaking Horse
Themes: Escape | Friendship | Guidance
I was lost my way the forest, and after five days of wandering, I came to a stately palace in a large open space. The atmosphere was silent, without a trace of human life, and the door was open. I went in and wandered through the deserted rooms without seeing a living...
Helpful Fox
Themes: Dread | Frustration | Guidance
The youngest son of the king has a good heart, and I am helping him, but he is so annoying! He won't follow my instructions. He would not put the golden bird in a common cage. He would not put a common saddle on a golden horse, and he completely ignored my warning not...
Magic Horse
Themes: Guidance | Separation
I may live underground, but I can fly high into the air if I am ridden into battle. I can scatter the enemy in every direction and soar into the sky, making my rider look like a god. My very dear friend is a prince who doesn't mind working as a servant when he has to....
Genie of the Lamp
Themes: Dread | Guidance | Suspicion
I will obey everything Aladdin commands, but not this! What a sacrilege! How dare he order me to bring him a Roc's egg! The Roc is a sacred bird, and my true master. What would Aladdin, a tailor's son, know about the Roc or the buried secrets of Solomon? After...
Old Woodcutter
Themes: Guidance | Threshold | Underworld
I’m an old man and my beard is long and white but I still have the strength to chop Yule logs. So far, the work has kept me outside the Hall of the Dead. One night a young man came by. He was holding an ham and heading into the Hall. He greeted me and I asked him...