10 h 32 minAudiobook16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a poor person can outwit a ruler, and the smallest creature can beat the largest?
The Olive Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, brings together folk and fairy tales from many lands. Kings, poor families and clever animals share a world of difficult tests and magic that rewards or punishes. Each separate story offers a fresh encounter, without asking you to follow one long plot.
These tales open a world where strength and rank do not always decide who succeeds. Here, the pleasure lies in moving from one story to another: a contest of wits, a test to pass, a small creature facing a larger one. No knowledge of folklore is needed.
What you’ll discover
- Cleverness against power Meet poor people whose wits can matter more than a ruler's power.
- Small creatures, large challenges Discover tales where a small animal can overcome a much larger opponent.
- Magic with consequences Enter a world where magic can bring rewards or punishments, and tests demand an answer.
- Stories from many lands Explore folk traditions gathered together, with a different tale waiting at each turn.
- One tale at a time Enjoy stories short enough for one sitting, or share their pleasures by reading aloud.
Who will love it
Readers who love fairy tales from many lands, listeners at bedtime, parents and teachers who want stories to share aloud, and anyone who enjoys clever heroes, talking animals, magic words and endings that carry a saying.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A single word can freeze a wedding
- Memory and courage carry lovers through danger
- Quick wits beat greed and stubbornness
- Secrets, disguises and promises test marriages
- Clever and brave women take the lead
- Animals and transformations carry the lessons
- Patience and wise advice pay off
- Longer quests lead to strange and costly prizes
- How the tales are told and what lasts
Who’s who
- The bald youthA lazy young man who falls for the sultan's daughter and gathers the birds of the world with a single magic word.
- King LinoA courteous young king who sets out to marry Princess Hermosa and falls into the hands of the magician Ismenor.
- GeirlaugA princess who knows magic and does all she can to protect her foster brother Grethari from a witch queen.
- AbeilleA girl carried off by gnomes who is offered jewels but longs only for the sky, her mother and Youri.
- King LocThe tiny king of the gnomes, who grows to love Abeille and must decide what her happiness is worth.
- Ameer AliBorn in a forest to a banished queen, he serves a rajah and wins the help of a fairy of the forest.
- ImaniA princess who tells her father she would rather make her own fortune, and does so by spinning and weaving.
- DoraniA perfume seller's daughter with golden hair who spends her nights singing and dancing at the court of Rajah Indra.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 32 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 16 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Olive Fairy Book in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Olive Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang (editor) · 1907
A bald youth freezes a palace with one word, and a princess takes her husband's armor into battle.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Olive Fairy Book is a gathering of twenty-nine folk and fairy tales from many lands, put together by the Scottish writer Andrew Lang for readers who love to be told a story. The tales come from India and the Punjab, from Armenia and Turkey, from Denmark and Iceland, from old French collections of fairy stories, and from the country along the Nile.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A single word can freeze a wedding
The book opens with Madschun. A bald young man, barely twenty and too lazy to keep any trade, sees the sultan's daughter ride by and decides he will marry her and no one else. His mother is sure he has lost his mind. Still, he gives her no peace until she carries his request to the palace. The sultan loves anything unusual, so he sends for the son.
The sultan wants rid of him and sets a price. The young man must bring every bird in the world into the palace gardens. A dervish in the desert tells him to sit under a huge cypress and speak the word Madschun once the birds have settled. Held on their perches, they let him walk into the palace covered in feathers. The sultan then asks for thick curly hair.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Olive Fairy Book
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Olive Fairy Book about?
It is a collection of twenty-nine folk and fairy tales from India, Armenia, Turkey, Denmark, Iceland, France and the Nile country, with princes, witches, clever farmers, talking animals and magic words in tale after tale.
Who edited The Olive Fairy Book?
Andrew Lang edited it. He gathered tales from many collectors and older books into one volume, as he did for the other colored fairy books, and each tale ends with a note saying where it comes from.
What are the best-known stories in The Olive Fairy Book?
Readers often remember Madschun, The Blue Parrot, Little King Loc, Jackal or Tiger, Dorani, The Strange Adventures of Little Maia, Zoulvisia and He Wins Who Waits, each with its own memorable hero.
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)
All 16 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
