English Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Fables
Read popular English fairy tales and folk tales from well-known authors and collectors Joseph Jacobs, Flora Annie Steel and others. 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 tale audiobooks in the Fairytalez Audio Book App for Apple and Android devices.
- The Beginning of the Armadillos
- Binnorie
- The Butterfly that Stamped
- The Blue Mountains
- The Bones of Djulung
- Black Bull of Norroway
- The Baker's Daughter
- The Barn Elves
- The Brown Man of the Moors
- The Blinded Giant
- The Buried Moon
- Catskin
- The Crab That Played with the Sea
- The Cat That Walked by Himself
- Cap-of-Rushes
- Childe Rowland
- The Cat and the Mouse
- The Cauld Lad of Hilton
- Cinder-Maid (Joseph Jacobs' Version of Cinderella)
- Coat O'Clay
- The Comb and the Collar
- Caporushes
- The Children in the Wood
- How the Camel Got His Hump
- How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
- How the Leopard Got His Spots
- How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune
- How the First Letter Was Written
- How the Alphabet Was Made
- Henny-Penny
- How Peeping Kate Was Piskey-Led
- Hereafterthis
- The Hedley Kow
- The History of Jack the Giant-Killer
- How the Cobbler Cheated the Devil
- The History of Whittington
- How the Whale Got His Throat
- The Hobyahs
- Jack Hannaford
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Jack and His Golden Snuff Box
- Jack the Giant-Killer
- Johnny-Cake
- Johnny Gloke
- Johnny Reed's Cat
- The Lucky Peer
- Lazy Jack
- The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh
- Lawkamercyme
- Lame Molly
- Little Maia
- The Lambton Worm
- Mr. Vinegar
- Mouse and Mouser
- The Magic Ring
- The Master and His Pupil
- The Magic Ring
- Molly Whoppie
- Mr. Fox
- Mr. Miacca
- My Own Self
- The Magpie's Nest
- Master of All Masters
- The Pied Piper
- A Pleasant and Delightful History of Thomas Hickathrift
- The Peddlar of Swaffham
- Princess of Canterbury
- Stupid's Cries
- The Six Sillies
- The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
- The Story of the Three Little Pigs
- The Story of the Three Bears
- The Strange Visitor
- Sir Gammer Vans
- Silky
- Sweet Pea and Sweet William
- The Spectre Coach
- Scrapegoat
- St. George of Merrie England
- A Son of Adam
- Tom Tit Tot
- The Three Sillies
- Teeny-Tiny
- Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse
- The History of Tom Thumb
- The Three Little Pigs (Andrew Lang Version)
- Three Feathers
- Tom Hickathrift
- The Three Heads of the Well
- Tattercoats
- The Three Fools
- The Tulip Fairies
- The Three Cows
- The Tavistock Witch
- The Three Wishes
- The Two Sisters
- Whittington and His Cat
- The Well of the World's End
- The Wee Bannock
- The White Lady
- The Wise Men of Gotham
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