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The Yellow Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

The Yellow Fairy Book

This book is a collection of traditional tales. The collection was assembled by Scottish folklorist Andrew Lang although authorship of the stories is unknown. Lang published several collections of traditional tales, collectively known as Andrew Lang's Fairy Books.

Source: Lang, A. (Ed.). (1894). The Yellow Fairy Book. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

Alphege, or the Green Monkey
Alphege gains a throne, a queen, and a brother.
Blockhead-Hans
How Blockhead-Hans won the princess over his two cleverer brothers.
The Blue Mountains
An Irishman meets an enchanted princess and has to overcome obstacles to finally marry her.
The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise
A brother and sister forsake their younger brother, who turns into a wolf.
The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership
A cat and mouse cannot be in partnership for long, for nature will win out.
The Crow
A princess helps ease a cursed prince’s suffering and is finally rewarded by his curse being lifted. They live happily together thereafter.
The Dead Wife
A man has a difficult time letting his dead wife go.
The Donkey Cabbage
The adventures of a hunter who finds magical cabbages, meets a maiden, and overcomes a witch’s plans.
The Dragon and His Grandmother
Three soldiers desert a king’s army and end up enthralled to a dragon.
The Dragon of the North
A youth steals a magic ring from a witch-maiden in order to slay a dragon, but suffers her punishment for the theft.
Fairer-Than-A-Fairy
The story of Fairer-Than-A-Fairy and the Rainbow Prince.
The Flower Queen’s Daughter
A prince wins the flower queen’s daughter.
The Flying Ship
A simpleton gains friends and a wife.
The Giants and the Herd-Boy
How a poor orphan boy won a princess and prosperity.
The Glass Axe
How a Prince overcomes a curse and is able to live happily with his bride.
The Golden Crab
A prince overcomes a curse as a crab and an eagle.
The Grateful Beasts
A beautiful youth overcomes his wicked brothers’ plans to get rid of him.
The Hazel-Nut Child
How a tiny child found ways to overcome his size, grow rich, and live in prosperity with his parents.
How Six Men Traveled through the Wide World
How six men with extraordinary powers win a treasure from a king.
In the Land of Souls
A prince travels to the Land of Souls to see his just-deceased bride.
The Invisible Prince
How the Prince of the Air found his way to the Golden Isle.
The Iron Stove
A princess frees a prince trapped by magic in an iron stove, then has to travel far to find him and reclaim him.
The Little Green Frog
The adventures of King Peridor.
The Magic Ring
Martin saves the lives of a dog and a cat and gains a magic ring. The ring wins him the hand of a princess, but she does not want to marry a poor man and has him put into a tower to starve, accused of witchcraft. But his faithful friends bring him the magic ring and food, and soon the King lets him out, and he forgives his wife.
The Nightingale
The Emperor learns to appreciate the nightingale.
The Nixy
How a nixy helps a miller regain happiness.
Prince Ring
The adventures of Prince Ring.
The Seven-Headed Serpent
How a youth overcomes the seven-headed serpent who has demanded from his nation twenty-four young people each year.
The Six Swans
How a sister is ready to sacrifice everything to save her brothers from a curse.
The Snow-Daughter and the Fire-Son
The difficult lives and unhappy end of the snow-daughter and fire-son.
The Steadfast Tin-Soldier
The life of a one-legged tin soldier and his paper love, a Dancer.
A Story About a Darning-Needle
A darning-needle takes on different jobs and has adventures.
The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus
The adventures of Big Klaus and Little Klaus, and how one overcame the other.
The Story of King Frost
A step-daughter’s kind ways saves her and earns her riches, and a step-mother’s wicked ways kills her daughter and herself.
The Swineherd
A shallow princess is taught a lesson by a beautiful prince.
The Three Brothers
How one brother overcame many trials and finally married his love.
Thumbelina
The many travels of Thumbelina.
The Tinder-Box
A soldier of unworthy morals becomes king by nefarious means.
The White Duck
A wicked witch turns a queen into a duck and takes her place in the castle, but the white duck is finally able to free herself and save her children.
The Witch in the Stone Boat
A king must overcome a witch and restore his real queen.
The Witch
How a boy and a girl overcome a witch and get rid of their mean step-mother.
  • Year Published: 1894
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: England
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 6.8
  • Word Count: 97,676
  • Genre: Fairy Tale/Folk Tale
  • Keywords: adventures, appreciating friendship, being steadfast, cleverness, competition, deceit, endurance, faithfulness, fake friendship, family, friendship, greed, heroics, kindness, letting go, love, loyalty, mourning, obstacles, overcoming, overcoming adversity, overcoming enemies, overcoming obstacles, perseverance, positive thinking, pride, riddles, rivalry, selfishness, shallow, sibling, steadfastness, vanity
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