Tales for Troubled Times

Traditional tales, fairytales and folklore online

~ A gift to you from Tom and Rhonda ~

(Tales especially for the bairns are here.)

~ Tales for everyone ~

2019 Orkney Storytelling Festival Highlights

The Selkie's Revenge

A Scottish Traveller's story of terrible retribution

Fated to Drown

A wee, macabre tale from the Orkney island of Stronsay

The Three Wishes

An Irish tale about a lazy lout

The Battle of Summerdale

Orkney folklore springing from a famous battle

Illustration by Bryce Wilson

The Building of the Walls of Asgard

The Nordic myth

Two Orkney Stories of Selkie Men

A selkie story from the island of Sanday of an unexpected guest and another from Yesnaby about a missing woman

The Sheep Thieves

A "true" story from the Orkney island of Westray, told to Tom by his mother

The Theft of Idun and her Apples

A Nordic Myth, where Loki betrays Idun and her apples of youth

Wayland Smith

A Germanic legend of the master of all smiths, and his terrible revenge on his abductor

~ NOT suitable for children ~

The Goita Skerry

A Shetland selkie story from the late, great Lawrence Tulloch

The Three Princesses in the Blue Mountain

A Norwegian folk tale of how a brave young soldier saves the princesses from trolls

A Tale of Two Jarls

A Viking tale from the Orkneyinga Saga, showing that Vikings are not good at sharing

The Fair Isle Beacon

A tale from the Orkneyinga Saga about those tricksey Vikings

(Apologies for the abrupt ending - technical difficulties)

The Storm

A ghostly Irish tale

The Nightingale and the Rose

A wonderful, tragic story written by Oscar Wilde

* Dedicated to Tom's daughter, Josie, who made the stories happen again

The Princess in the Chest

A traditional folktale from Denmark

The Kelpie

A traditional Highlands Scottish kelpie tale

The Blacksmith and the Njugle

A Shetland water horse tale

The Queen's Necklace

A tender-hearted queen tries to help her people in this story by Helena Nyblom from Sweden

The Nucklavee

A traditional, creepy Orkney folktale from the island of Sanday. Probably not a good story for young children, but older kids will love it.

* Illustration by Bryce Wilson

~ Tales especially for the bairns ~

The Princess and the Pea

A classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen

The Emperor's New Clothes

Another Andersen classic story

Rumplestiltskin

The classic fairytale

The Elves and the Shoemaker

A classic tale of kindness

Cinderella

The French version of this classic story

Aschenputtel

A different version of Cinderella collected by the Brothers Grimm

The Three Princesses of Whiteland

A classic Norwegian folk tale

The Three Peas

A Slovenian folk tale about a poor boy trust who trusts to luck

Jamie Freel and the Fairies

A tale I heard from my friend, the great storyteller Audrey Parks from Northern Ireland.

This is my favourite story from her enchanting CD 'On the Tip of my Tongue', which I highly recommend.

The Three Kingdoms -
Copper, Silver and Golden

A Russian wonder tale of a hero's quest to save his mother

Tatterhood

A Norwegian folktale that feminists will love

* Dedicated to Rhonda's mother, Cindy

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

A haunting folktale from France

* Dedicated to Rhonda

The Two Sisters

A folktale from the Faroe Islands

Art by Anna Anglemark

The Hedgehog

A Slovenian folktale showing that beauty is more than skin deep

The Companion

A Norwegian folktale about a mysterious servant

How Jack Went Out to Seek His Fortune

A Jack story showing why everybody needs a few good friends

The Dog and the Peacock

A Scottish Travellers' Christmas tale

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Mermaid image (Rhonda's pages) and storyteller image (Tom's pages), and all other illustrations except where noted are here by the courtesy of our dear friend - Stromness author, artist and historian, Bryce Wilson MBE, who owns all copyrights. Thanks, Bryce!