14 h 1 minAudiobook17 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 344 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 344 pagesAbout this book
Step into a world where curses carry weight, animals speak, and a ragged cloak may hide unexpected kindness.
The Red Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, gathers folk tales from across Europe, including France, Russia, Iceland, Denmark, and Germany. In stories such as The True History of Little Golden-Hood, The Three Dwarfs, and The Twelve Brothers, familiar fairy-tale wonders meet real danger. Bravery takes effort, and magic offers no promise of an easy path.
This collection leads you through enchanted castles, daring escapes, and kingdoms won through cleverness. Witches, talking animals, and magical transformations give these tales their strange life. Beneath the wonder lie questions of courage, humility, loyalty, and love. Lang’s retellings preserve the beauty and strangeness of oral traditions, inviting you to linger over their poetic rhythms as well as their adventures.
What you’ll discover
- Europe’s folk traditions Explore stories from France to Iceland, each opening another door into fairy-tale wonder.
- Magic with real stakes Enter a world of weighty curses, dangerous witches, and bravery that must be earned.
- Cleverness against the odds Discover quests where a quick mind can win a kingdom and shape an adventure.
- Kindness beneath ragged cloaks Look beyond appearances as these tales bring humility, loyalty, and love into view.
- Beauty beside strangeness Savour the poetic rhythms and unexpected turns that keep old folk stories alive.
Who will love it
Readers who love once upon a time stories, enchanted animals, wicked stepmothers and clever heroes, and anyone who wants a shelf of old tales from many countries to dip into, share aloud or return to.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Cowherd Follows Twelve Dancing Princesses
- Towers, Trolls and a Deathless Captor
- Cunning Thieves, Cursed Children and a Lost Princess
- Enchanted Husbands, Hidden Monsters and a Magic Tree
- Mice, Magic Boxes and a Voice That Calls
- Magic Hides, Quacking Creditors and a Piper with a Grudge
- Kindness Rewarded, Courtesy Tested
- Shape-Shifters, Servants and a Dragonslayer
- Kind Hearts, Clever Heads and the Way the Tales Are Told
Who’s who
- Michael the Star GazerA dreamy cowherd who follows a golden-robed lady's advice to Beloeil, uses magic laurels to become invisible and tries to learn where twelve princesses dance each night.
- Princess MayblossomA king's daughter kept in a windowless tower under a fairy's curse, who is dazzled by a splendid ambassador and wants her freedom.
- HalvorAn idle boy who loves poking in the ashes, sails away with a sea captain and faces three trolls to free three princesses.
- Prince IvanA brave prince who marries Marya Morevna, cannot resist opening the forbidden closet and spends the rest of his tale trying to win her back.
- MinnikinA newborn who walks out into the world, steals the eyes of old hags and wins a magic sword, a pocket ship and a brewing secret.
- Kari WoodengownA king's daughter who flees her stepmother on the back of a blue bull and works in a prince's kitchen wearing a wooden gown.
- JackA poor widow's flighty but kind son who sells the cow for beans, climbs the stalk and sets out to win back his father's treasure from a giant.
- SigurdA young Norse hero with the sword Gram and the horse Grani, who sets out to kill the dragon Fafnir and claim the cursed gold.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 1 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 17 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 344 pages: 12,95 USD when you start free, 18,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 344 pages: 21,95 USD when you start free, 27,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in, 519 pages: 19,95 USD when you start free, 25,95 USD on its own.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in, 519 pages: 27,95 USD when you start free, 33,95 USD on its own.
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The Red Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang (editor) · 1890
Twelve princesses wear out their satin shoes by night, and a cowherd named Michael follows them down.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Red Fairy Book is a gathering of thirty-seven folk and fairy tales, brought together by the Scottish writer Andrew Lang and published in 1890 for young readers. The stories come from France, Russia, Norway, Germany, Ireland and Flanders, and the last one is an old Norse saga.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Cowherd Follows Twelve Dancing Princesses
The book opens with The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Michael is a little cowherd with no parents, living in the village of Montignies-sur-Roc. Everyone calls him the Star Gazer because he walks with his head in the air. He thinks the village girls plain and dreams of marrying a princess. Three days in a row, a lady in a golden robe appears in his sleep and tells him to go to the castle of Beloeil.
On the third day he drives the cows home early and leaves. At Beloeil, twelve princesses sleep in twelve beds in one room. The doors are bolted three times, yet each morning their satin shoes are worn through. The Duke has promised one daughter to whoever can solve the puzzle, but every prince who keeps watch has vanished by morning.
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What is The Red Fairy Book about?
It is a collection of thirty-seven folk and fairy tales from France, Russia, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Flanders and the Norse North. They feature princesses, trolls, witches, talking animals, clever thieves and enchanted princes, and finish with the saga of Sigurd.
Who wrote The Red Fairy Book and when was it published?
Andrew Lang, a Scottish writer and folklorist, gathered the tales and published the book in 1890. He did not invent the stories. They come from old oral and written traditions in many countries.
Is Little Golden Hood the same as Little Red Riding Hood?
It is a retelling of the same story with a different outcome. The girl is named Blanchette and wears a golden hood made from a ray of sunshine, which gives her protection, so the tale surprises readers who know the usual version.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
More by Andrew Lang (editor)
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