English Fairy Tales and other popular English folk tales. Totally free (2024)

Read popular English fairy tales and folk tales from well-known authors and collectors Joseph Jacobs, Flora Annie Steel and others English fairy tales. Go to full list of English fairy tales and folk tales.

About: England has been the birthplace of many of the most well-known children’s stories including Jack and the Beanstalk and Tom Thumb- the little boy no bigger than his father’s thumb. Similar to other European countries, the English fairy tale tradition emerged from those folklore stories that are believed to have originated in the British Isles. This folklore developed over centuries through the storytelling tradition and is unique given the distinct culture and identity of the land’s various regions. As such, England’s fairy tale and folklore tradition has strong connections to Celtic, Germanic and Christian sources.

Jacobs was an Australian collector and publisher of England’s folklore, and authored English Fairy Tales.The goal of his work was to popularize folk tales of England among children and adults, as many readers were caught up in the folk tales of Germany and France at the time. Jacobs is one of the most known English storytellers of folk tales and fairy tales, and his work also helped preserve ballads, after he wrote them as tales. He later published a second volume, More English Fairy Tales. Another notable literary figure in England’s folklore is Flora Annie Steel.Steel took on some of the popular folk tales in England at the time of publication, and shared them with a new audience.

The country’s folklore has its own dialect, with each region’s tale offering something new for the reader. The characters within the stories include mythical creatures or spirits such as brownies, elves, boggarts, ogres, giants and trolls. You’ll also encounter heroes, cunning folk (wizards), and plenty of royalty in the English folk tales. Many of the tales are rich in superstition, sharing rules about various folk beliefs.

Listen to English fairy tales and folktales plus hundreds of other fairy taleaudiobooks in theFairytalez Audio Book AppforAppleandAndroid devices.

    a

  • The Ass, the Table and the Stick
  • b

  • Binnorie
  • Black Bull of Norroway
  • The Blinded Giant
  • The Buried Moon
  • The Bones of Djulung
  • The Blue Mountains
  • The Baker's Daughter
  • The Barn Elves
  • The Brown Man of the Moors
  • The Beginning of the Armadillos
  • The Butterfly that Stamped
  • c

  • Cap-of-Rushes
  • Childe Rowland
  • The Cat and the Mouse
  • The Cauld Lad of Hilton
  • Coat O'Clay
  • The Children in the Wood
  • Catskin
  • The Comb and the Collar
  • Caporushes
  • Cinder-Maid (Joseph Jacobs' Version of Cinderella)
  • The Crab That Played with the Sea
  • The Cat That Walked by Himself
  • d

  • The Duergar
  • e

  • Earl Mar's Daughter
  • The Elephant's Child
  • f

  • The Fish and the Ring
  • Fairy Ointment
  • The Fairy Children
  • The Fairies' Cup
  • g

  • The Golden Arm
  • The Golden Ball
  • Gobborn Seer
  • h

  • How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune
  • Henny-Penny
  • Hereafterthis
  • The Hedley Kow
  • The Hobyahs
  • The History of Jack the Giant-Killer
  • The History of Whittington
  • How the Cobbler Cheated the Devil
  • How Peeping Kate Was Piskey-Led
  • How the Whale Got His Throat
  • How the Camel Got His Hump
  • How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
  • How the Leopard Got His Spots
  • How the First Letter Was Written
  • How the Alphabet Was Made
  • j

  • Jack Hannaford
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • Jack and His Golden Snuff Box
  • Jack the Giant-Killer
  • Johnny-Cake
  • Johnny Gloke
  • Johnny Reed's Cat
  • k

  • Kate Crackernuts
  • l

  • Lazy Jack
  • The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh
  • Lawkamercyme
  • The Lambton Worm
  • The Lucky Peer
  • Little Maia
  • Lame Molly
  • m

  • Mr. Vinegar
  • Mouse and Mouser
  • The Master and His Pupil
  • Molly Whoppie
  • Mr. Fox
  • Mr. Miacca
  • The Magpie's Nest
  • Master of All Masters
  • My Own Self
  • The Magic Ring
  • The Magic Ring
  • n

  • Nix Nought Nothing
  • Nelly the Knocker
  • o

  • The Old Woman and Her Pig
  • The Old Witch
  • The Old Woman and the Crooked Sixpence
  • p

  • The Pied Piper
  • The Peddlar of Swaffham
  • Princess of Canterbury
  • A Pleasant and Delightful History of Thomas Hickathrift
  • r

  • The Rose-Tree
  • The Red Etin
  • s

  • The Story of the Three Little Pigs
  • The Story of the Three Bears
  • The Strange Visitor
  • Sir Gammer Vans
  • Scrapegoat
  • A Son of Adam
  • Stupid's Cries
  • The Six Sillies
  • St. George of Merrie England
  • Silky
  • The Spectre Coach
  • Sweet Pea and Sweet William
  • The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
  • t

  • Tom Tit Tot
  • The Three Sillies
  • Teeny-Tiny
  • Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse
  • The History of Tom Thumb
  • The Three Heads of the Well
  • Three Feathers
  • Tom Hickathrift
  • Tattercoats
  • The Three Cows
  • The Three Wishes
  • The Three Little Pigs (Andrew Lang Version)
  • The Two Sisters
  • The Three Fools
  • The Tulip Fairies
  • The Tavistock Witch
  • v

  • A Voyage to Lilliput
  • w

  • Whittington and His Cat
  • The Well of the World's End
  • The Wee Bannock
  • The Wise Men of Gotham
  • The White Lady
  • y

  • Yallery Brown
  • The Yorkshire Boggart
English Fairy Tales and other popular English folk tales. Totally free (2024)
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