International Folktales: A to Z

Van der Grinten map

 

For the annual A to Z Challenge, I decided to summarize folktales from all over the world. This is a list of all the posts:

Australia

Brazil

Canada

Denmark

Ethiopia

France

Germany

Haiti

India

Japan

Kenya

Liberia

Mexico

Nigeria

Oman

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Russia

Sweden

Thailand

Uganda

Venezuela

Wales

Xinjiang

Yemen

Zambia

Z is for Zambia

 How the Mason-Wasp Fetched Fire from God

The birds needed fire but there wasn't any on earth so four birds decided to get it from God. After twenty days of travel, three of the birds died. Mason-Wasp stops at a cloud. God asks what he is doing there and, after explaining, the Lord makes him the leader of the birds and tells him how to make babies (it's not clear if they received fire).

Source: Ila-Speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia by Edwin William Smith

Y is for Yemen

"Knight Exemplar" (2011) by Jason Chan

The Manly Maiden

Two cousins wanted to get married but their fathers disapproved. The couple eloped. However, they became separated and the girl was targeted by men who wanted to marry her. She drugged them all and escaped. Along the way, she befriended forty girls and they dressed as men to avoid unwanted attention. She reached a foreign port and became king of the land. Using her newfound authority, she reunited with her lover, married off all her gal pals, and lived happily ever after.

Source: From the land of Sheba; tales of the Jews of Yemen by S. D.  Goitein.

X is for Xinjiang

 "How Scarlet Lion Khongor Defeated Khan Iron Head Mangna"

Over 6000 people gathered for a feast when  Mangna Khan's messenger arrived, telling the to surrender vatious items and people by a certain date, of be attacked by an army. Khongor refused to be enslaved and went to do battle with his enemy. He captured multiple soldiers until he was shot and his allies treated him. He then battled Khan to the end.

Source: Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads by Saglar Bougdaeva.

More information about the epic here and here.

W is for Wales

"The Castle of Melvales" (1894) by John D. Batten

An Old King and His Three Sons in England

A king fell sick and the only thing that could heal the man was a magic apple. His three sons went in search of it. The youngest, Jack, made it to the enchanted castle with the help of three old Romani brothers who tested his resolve. He finds a Sleeping Beauty in the palace and switches her garter, handkerchief, and watch with his (and kisses her). After escaping the castle, rejuvenating the old men, and arriving at the rendezvous point, he falls asleep. His big bros steal his apples. They trick their father and condemn the youngest prince to execution. The butcher spares him leaves him in the woods. The princess eventually shows up - with an army! - and she exonerates her man before they return to her castle.

Source: Gypsy Folk Tales by Francis Hindes Groome

Tale Type: 551, "The Water of Life"

Variants: "The Rose of Bakawali" and "The Water of Life"

V is for Venezuela

The Horse of Seven Colors

A man's wheat field was devoured and he appointed his sons as watchmen. Two failed. The third caught the culprit - a multicolored pony - which promised to aid him in exchange for its life. Thereafter, the patriarch sent his boys to sell at the marketplace. Yet again, the youngest succeeded. His brothers left home and, wanting to be with them, the boy followed until they blinded and abandoned him. After his sight was magically restored, he reunites with his brothers, who make him their servant. Then there's a competition to win a princess bride and the boy wins with the help of the enchanted horse.

Source: Latin American Folktales: Stories from the Hispanic and Indian Tradition by John Bierhorst.

Tale Type: 530, "Princess on the Glass Mountain"

Variants: "The Thief in the Millet" and "The Princess and the Glass Mountain"

U is for Uganda

Namulindwa

A girl is raised by her paternal aunt after her parents have died. She reaches the cusp of adulthood when, suddenly, her aunt develops the same terminal illness as her father. Before the woman passes away, she tells the girl to never marry without consulting her spirit first. The girl obeys the edict and feels more and more frustrated as her aunt dismisses all of her suitors. Then a prince arrives in the village and proposes to Namulindwa, whose aunt finally approves.

Source: The Oral Tradition of the Baganda of Uganda: A Study and Anthology of Legends, Myths, Epigrams and Folktales by Immaculate N. Kizza.