Summary
Summary of Tales of Folk and Fairies
Tales of Folk and Fairies at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 45 min fast, 4 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 49,000 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1919by Katharine Pyle
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
An unlikely hero waits by the ashes
A sea monster stretches halfway around the world, and the king's wisest councillors have no plan. The person who may have an answer is not among those advisers. He is Ashipattle, a boy who sits among the ashes to warm his toes while his brothers mock him.
This opening introduces a collection of fourteen tales from many lands, retold by Katharine Pyle. It also raises a question that returns throughout the stories: what might others miss when they dismiss someone?
Key idea 2
A quick mind faces the monster
A sorcerer says the Stoorworm will leave only if Princess Gemlovely is given to it.
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Key idea 3
Simple questions expose a false claim
When a king orders a wise girl to hatch boiled eggs, she answers through her father: he should sow boiled beans and call for a good crop.
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Key idea 4
Blanche respects the old woman's rules
Blanche works all day and receives harsh words from her mother, while her sister Rose sits idle.
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Key idea 5
The frog wife conceals a princess
Ivan must marry where his arrow lands, even when the wind carries it to a frog in a swamp.
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Key idea 6
Generosity needs attention and quick action
A merchant's younger son gives so freely that he is left with nothing, then his elder brother abandons him at a port.
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Key idea 7
Help and curiosity bring different gifts
Boots stops to free an old hag whose nose is caught in a log, unlike his mocking elder brothers.
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Key idea 8
Jealousy threatens mothers and their children
The old Ranee hates her son's marriage to Guzra Bai.
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Key idea 9
Notice who keeps the early rules
Across these tales, the overlooked person often sees most clearly.
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Who it’s for
This book will delight listeners who love fairy tales, folklore and stories told by the fire. It suits anyone curious about how the youngest, poorest or most mocked hero appears in many lands.
What this book is
What would you do if a sea monster stretched halfway around the world and the king's wisest councillors had no plan at all? In the first tale of this book, the answer comes from a boy who sits among the ashes to warm his toes. Everyone calls him Ashipattle, and his brothers mock him.
Tales of Folk and Fairies gathers fourteen stories from many lands, retold by Katharine Pyle, an American writer and illustrator.
In this summary
- 1An unlikely hero waits by the ashesFree
- 2A quick mind faces the monster
- 3Simple questions expose a false claim
- 4Blanche respects the old woman's rules
- 5The frog wife conceals a princess
- 6Generosity needs attention and quick action
- 7Help and curiosity bring different gifts
- 8Jealousy threatens mothers and their children
- 9Notice who keeps the early rules
A mocked boy faces the Stoorworm
The first tale sets a sturdy lad against the largest enemy imaginable. A Stoorworm, a huge sea serpent, rises from the ocean and stretches halfway around the world.
At last a sorcerer says the beast will leave only if Princess Gemlovely is given to it. So the king announces that whoever drives off the worm may have her, half the kingdom and his sword, Snickersnapper. Only thirty-six brave hearts come forward, and none of them lasts.
Meanwhile Ashipattle sits by the fire and says nothing. He learns the secret of his father's swift horse, dresses before dawn in his brothers' clothes, takes a pot of burning peat and a kitchen knife, and rides away. At the shore he tricks the king's boatman into leaving his boat, and he sails toward the sleeping monster.
When strength is missing, a quick mind and a good plan can do the work.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
What gives Ashipattle a way to face an enemy beyond his strength?
Right. “When strength is missing, a quick mind and a good plan can do the work.”Not quite. “When strength is missing, a quick mind and a good plan can do the work.”
What guides Blanche toward her reward?
Right. “Kindness and silence earn Blanche a reward, while following the old woman's rule guides her choice of eggs.”Not quite. “Kindness and silence earn Blanche a reward, while following the old woman's rule guides her choice of eggs.”
What pattern connects many of the tales?
Right. “The youngest, the poorest or the most mocked is often the hero.”Not quite. “The youngest, the poorest or the most mocked is often the hero.”
Go deeper: the whole of Tales of Folk and Fairies
About 3 h 30 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 49,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 25 min
Questions about Tales of Folk and Fairies
What is Tales of Folk and Fairies about?
It is a collection of fourteen folk and fairy tales from Scotland, Louisiana, Scandinavia, Serbia, Arabia, Russia, Persia, Norway, India and Bengal. Each tale follows a hero, often the youngest or poorest, who wins through kindness, wit or courage.
Who wrote Tales of Folk and Fairies?
Katharine Pyle, an American author and illustrator who died in 1938, retold these tales. She is known for gathering stories from many cultures and telling them in plain, lively prose that reads well aloud.
What is the Meester Stoorworm?
It is a huge sea serpent in the Scottish tale that opens the book. It stretches halfway around the world, has one fiery eye, and withers whatever its breath touches. A boy called Ashipattle faces it.
Are these stories true or old legends?
They are traditional folk tales and legends passed down by word of mouth in many lands. Pyle retold them in English, so each keeps its own setting, magic and customs, from Scottish isles to Persian gardens.
Is Tales of Folk and Fairies easy to read aloud?
Yes, the tales use short sentences, clear scenes and storyteller phrases such as a short way and a long way. Each tale stands alone, so you can read one at a time at bedtime or by the fire.
Cite this edition
Pyle, Katharine. Tales of Folk and Fairies. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies.
Pyle, K. (2026). Tales of folk and fairies. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies (Original work published 1919)
Pyle, Katharine. Tales of Folk and Fairies. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies.
@book{pyle2026tales,
author = {Pyle, Katharine},
title = {Tales of Folk and Fairies},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies},
note = {First published 1919}
}
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