Popular European Folklore Books
Find folklore books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (19)
11.
The Chimera by Sebastiano Vassalli EN
ItalyDescription:
Offering a study of hypocrisy and evil, a comic novel of religious corruption and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Italy chronicles the fate of a young orphan named Antonia, who is burned at the stake in the town of Novara in 1610.
12.
The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen EN
DenmarkDescription:
More than 156 of the great Dane's best-loved fairy tales.
13.
The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen EN
Description:
An exclusive Apple edition of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Fir Tree, featuring stunning illustrations and read by Rosamund Pike. Hans Christian Andersen's tragic tale of naive greed and dissatisfaction is retold through the beautiful and intricate illustrations of Finnish illustrator Sanna Annukka. Sanna Annukka is familiar to many from her collaborations with Marimekko and her artwork for Keane's album, Under the Iron Sea. For her first book project, she illustrates Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, The Fir Tree.
14.
The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde EN
IrelandDescription:
These special fairy tales, which Oscar Wilde made up for his own sons, include 'The Happy Prince', who was not as happy as he seemed; 'The Selfish Giant', who learned to love little children; 'The Star Child', who suffered bitter trials when he rejected his parents. . . . Often whimsical and sometimes sad, they all shine with poetry and magic.
15.
The Saga of the Volsungs by author unknown, Jesse L. Byock (translator) EN
IcelandDescription:
One of the great books of world literature--an unforgettable tale of jealousy, unrequited love, greed, and vengeance. Based on Viking Age poems and composed in thirteenth-century Iceland, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend, and sheer human drama in telling of the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer, who acquires runic knowledge from one of Odin's Valkyries. Yet the saga is set in a very human world, incorporating oral memories of the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun and other warriors fought on the northern frontiers of the Roman empire. In his illuminating... continue
16.
The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Andersen EN
Description:
Andersen's bittersweet fairy tales propelled their troubled author to international fame and revolutionized children's writing.
17.
The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec EN
Country: Europe / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Angrboda's story begins where most witch's tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to give him knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into a remote forest. There she is found by a man Loki, and her initial distrust grows into a deep and abiding love. Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who she is keen to raise at the hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life - and possibly all of existence - is in danger.
Sweden19.
When the Whales Leave by Yuri Rytkheu EN
RussiaDescription:
Nau cannot remember a time when she was not one with the world around her: with the fast breeze, the green grass, the high clouds, and the endless blue sky. But her greatest joy is to descend from her little spit of land to the sea, where the whales gather each morning, gaily spouting rainbows. Then, one day, she finds a man in the mist where a whale should be: Reu, who has taken human form out of his Great Love for her. Together they become parents first to two whales, and then to mankind. Their children grow up, Reu passes on, and still Nau lives. But with each new generation, the old woman'... continue