fairy tales, fables and folk tales...

[Nikolas]

Ok.

Maybe google could provide some, but in all honesty these words are SO common that I'm getting completely moronic sites all the time. So sorry about this thread.

I need suggestions from you, world people, about fables, fairy tales, folk tales, etc.

I would like to write a rather 'serious' (not silly kids songs) work for children. My kids are 6,5 and 4,5 and I think they would love that, as have I in the past. But of course being Greek means that I do know the Aesop myths and so on, but I'm looking for something 'deeper' somehow. I do know a few fairy tales from around the world (bros Grimm for example) and that's it.

For example: The Firebird musically done (magnifically) by Stravinsky
The Stone Flower done by Prokofiev
Peter and the wolf again by Prokofiev, with a story not so amazing, but stunning music...
etc, etc...

The www.mythinglinks.org seems to be filled with a wealth of information, and I will research on it.

But in the meantime, if you have any suggestions (or even have written something?), do post.

As always, thank you! ^_^

[Atelier]

For England there's always the rather clichéd Robin Hood. Or if you're looking for something more original try The Witch of Wookey Hole, or Uffington White Horse. My favourite would be Hereward the Wake. Wikipedia is a bit wordy on this but it's certainly one of the epic tales.

Well... that's about it for England . But Wales, Scotland, and Ireland surely have more folklore than we do (our heads are screwed on tighter ).

[Calin Leafshade]

The best folk tales come from Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.

anything sung by Sandy Denny is a good start but I suggest you look up Tam Lin.

and of course anything from Arthurian Legend.

[Igor Hardy]

Hey Nikolas! It's not perfectly clear to me what would you need. Would it be sufficient to give you titles of fables and fairy-tales for you to research on your own? I can't send you scans from books because I don't have these kind of things in English.

The best folk tales come from Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.

I really doubt that. I've got a whole collection of weird Eastern Eropean and Oriental ones and I've read nothing that could match them from other regions.

[Calin Leafshade]

Well, presumably it's all a matter of opinion but I dont like to put "In my opinion" before everything I say.

[Igor Hardy]

This wasn't really a complaint. I rarely use "IMO" myself. I only adressed your statement because it was stronger than simply telling what are your favorites, and I used that to make my own sound stronger too.

Anyway, I certainly can't claim I researched and compared stories from all over the world. I just know there are many really good ones, while personally I was probably the most exposed to fables from the East and would recommend them to people looking for unusual ones.

[Stupot]

I own the complete works of both Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm.
Their tales are easily the most popular in western culture, but even some of their lesser known ones are worth reading.

[Nikolas]

Thank you all.

Titles of books, or tales, or names, or myths, or stories, that are known or lesser known, but seem to contain the 'ingredience' for a wonderful childrens story... Stories about magic, love, myths, etc...

If I have the titles I would buy, research, etc, all I need. I don't want anyone to break copyright by scanning books, etc. But huge thanks thus far!

[vertigoaddict]

I have always had a fascination with Heinrich Hoffman's fairytales. A couple of them were quite ahead of his time, I mean there are  stories that dealt with racism, anorexia, psychopath tailors and animal rights  (in all seriousness though)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12116/12116-h/12116-h.htm

[Bulbapuck]

Well, I'm a big fan of Astrid Lindgren (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_Lindgren) and I would really recommend most of her stories for people of all ages. And I mean that.

I still read her books today

[Crimson Wizard]

Well, since everyone speaks about their own, I may mention a quite famous collection of Russian Folk Tales compiled by Alexander Afanasiev.

BTW, thus happened that I own the collection of Folk Tales in 2 books, in english language and with precious illustrations in Palekh style.

If you need, I can scan illustrations, they are quite beautiful and can give you an inspiration
Something like this: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120545&id=115808443372&ref=pb

Well, I can scan text too. However, I have a feeling that it is possible to find Afanasiev's collection in the internet on english for free reading.

If I have the titles I would buy, research, etc, all I need. I don't want anyone to break copyright by scanning books, etc.

I think these stories are counted as public property, since Afanasiev lived in XIX century.  
Wait.... they are Folk Tales anyway... so, we all own them 

[Ali]

My favourite Grimm tale is 'Our Lady's Child' or 'The Virgin Mary's Child', it's a beautiful and sad story questioning how we make moral judgements.

Uncle Remus's stories of Brer Rabbit are also excellent. They're US slave stories, collected by Joel Chandler Harris about the fraternity of animals. There is latent racism of course, but the quality of the stories speak for themselves.

Also Jack Zipes is a folklorist and translator who has collected and written about folktales from a broadly marxist perspective, which I find to be very refreshing in contrast with the more familiar psychoanalytical interpretations. I'd recommend anything he's written or edited.

[HammerBlade]

If you want a fable on the value of showing kindness to others, some versions of the tale of Baba Yaga might have what you're looking for.  (Considering she's an antagonist in Quest for Glory, I'm surprised no one's mentioned this one yet  )

[Jim Reed]

Here, have a look here and here.

[Anian]

Here, have a look here and here.

Heh, yeah, was about to recommend Brlic-Mazuranic, she's got some cool stories. I think that's about it for fairy tales in Croatia, we mostly have songs about fighting the Ottoman empire and lots and lots of drama stories, novels and plays.

[Tuomas]

The german author, Erich Kästner is quite well known for his children's literature and fabels. I once wrote an essay on him and got to read some of them. Nice stuff, pretty outdated, but remarkably good. If you could find any translated, there should be a lot.

[Igor Hardy]

Sadly, so far I haven't been able to find the collection I was talking about previously, but...

...possibly my favorite fable ever is the Russian story "The green piglet with a button in its nose" by Gieorgij Judin - a story of a friendship between a naive plasticine piglet and a cat who happens to be a thief and a con-man. What always struck me as interesting (as I got old enough to understand that) is that in the second half includes a satire (of sorts) of a totalitarian government and its manipulations. The cons that the cat character does could be perceived as a lead-in to that part. But it's in no way just an allegorical tale meant for adults - first of all it's a delightful, thrilling tale for children.