| Acknowledgments | xiii |
| Introduction | xv |
| Animal Tales | 1 |
| Small Birds Can Kill Too! | 3 |
| The Rooster Wins the Race | 3 |
| The Fox, the Bear, and the Honeycomb | 4 |
| How the Bear Got His Stubby Tail | 5 |
| The Fox and the Rowanberries | 7 |
| "They're Sour," Said the Fox | 8 |
| The Fox and the Crane Invite Each Other to Dinner | 8 |
| Why the Hare Has a Cleft Lip | 9 |
| If It Were Summer ... | 9 |
| The Wolf and the Fox | 10 |
| The Wolf Who Wanted to Become Stronger | 10 |
| The Billy Goat and the Wolf | 11 |
| Hold the Wolf by the Tail | 12 |
| Trolls, Giants, Ghosts, and Other Beings | 13 |
| To Squeeze Water from a Stone | 15 |
| The Girl Who Wouldn't Spin | 17 |
| The Boy Who Worked for the Giant | 19 |
| Little Hans | 25 |
| Onen in the Mountain | 30 |
| The Gullible Troll | 34 |
| The Clever Boy | 35 |
| The Backahast (legend) | 36 |
| The Skogsra at Lapptjarns Mountain (legend) | 39 |
| To Catch Smoke (legend) | 40 |
| The Tale of the Troll Woman (legend) | 42 |
| The Tale of Speke (legend) | 43 |
| The Gypsy Girl and Her Dead Fiance (legend) | 43 |
| Hobergsgubben (legend) | 46 |
| The Trolls and the Bear (legend) | 47 |
| The Giant's Toy (legend) | 49 |
| True Dummies and Clever Folk | 53 |
| The Tale of the Crooked Creature | 55 |
| Wise Klara | 56 |
| The Stupid Boy Who Didn't Know About Women | 59 |
| Counting the Stars in Heaven | 60 |
| Fools | 61 |
| The Princess of Catburg | 62 |
| Pretend to Eat, Pretend to Work | 66 |
| Lazy Masse | 67 |
| Big Tomma and Heikin Pieti | 70 |
| For Long Springday | 73 |
| The Students and the Eclipse of the Moon | 74 |
| The Numbskull Who Thought He Married a Man | 75 |
| Talje Fools | 76 |
| The Thief's Three Masterpieces | 80 |
| The Girl and the Calf's Eyes (legend) | 88 |
| The King, the Headsman, and the Twelve Robbers (legend) | 89 |
| Twelve Men in the Forest (legend) | 92 |
| The Wise Daughter (legend) | 93 |
| Bellman Stories (legend) | 93 |
| How to Win the Princess | 97 |
| Twigmouthius, Cowbellowantus, Perchnosimus | 99 |
| The Princess Who Always Had an Answer | 103 |
| The Boat That Sailed on Both Land and Sea | 105 |
| The Liar | 110 |
| Ash Dummy Chops Down the Oak and Becomes the King's Son-in-Law | 112 |
| The Princess with the Louse Skin | 116 |
| Sheepskin Boy | 118 |
| The Princess Who Danced with a Troll Every Night | 123 |
| Stuck on a Goose | 127 |
| The King's Hares | 128 |
| Prince Greenbeard | 132 |
| Tales of Heroes and Heroines | 143 |
| The Three Swords | 145 |
| The Peasant Girl in the Floating Rock | 156 |
| Manasse and Cecilia | 157 |
| The Princess in the Earthen Cave | 160 |
| The Silver Dress, the Gold Dress, and the Diamond Dress | 168 |
| The Boy in the Birch-Bark Basket | 173 |
| The Castle East of the Sun and West of the Wind in the Promised Land | 176 |
| Prince Vilius | 185 |
| The Three Sons Who Each Had a Foal, a Puppy, and a Sword | 195 |
| The Twelve Kidnapped Princesses | 197 |
| The Tale of White Bear | 203 |
| Little Rose and Big Briar | 208 |
| Metamorphoses | 219 |
| The Serpent Prince | 221 |
| The Widow's Son | 228 |
| Gray Cape | 231 |
| The Animal Husbands | 234 |
| Prince Faithful | 239 |
| The Rats in the Juniper Bush | 248 |
| Tales of Men and Women | 253 |
| Like a Cold Wind in Warm Weather | 255 |
| The Quick-Learning Girl | 255 |
| The Girl Who Gave a Knight a Kiss Out of Necessity | 257 |
| The Fussy Fiance | 260 |
| Par and Bengta | 261 |
| Who's Got the Dumbest Husband | 263 |
| Geska | 264 |
| The Stingy Farmer | 266 |
| The Man and Woman Who Changed Jobs | 267 |
| The Contrary Old Woman (legend) | 270 |
| The Tale of a Suitor (legend) | 270 |
| The Hunter and the Skogsra (legend) | 271 |
| The Woman in the Hole (legend) | 273 |
| The Man Who Married the Mara (legend) | 274 |
| The Hidden Key (legend) | 275 |
| Moral Tales | 277 |
| His Just Reward | 279 |
| Master Par and Rag Jan's Boy | 280 |
| The Girl in the Robbers' Den | 291 |
| Funteliten and His Mother | 293 |
| The Girl Who Stepped on the Bread | 298 |
| A Tale of Two Beggars | 298 |
| The Filthy-Rich Student | 299 |
| The Bad Stepmother | 303 |
| The Tale of the Copper Pot | 304 |
| The Two Chests | 305 |
| Godfather Death | 309 |
| The Bear and the Woman | 312 |
| The Boy, the Old Woman, and the Neighbor (legend) | 313 |
| The Salt Mill (legend) | 314 |
| Old Nick and the Widow (legend) | 317 |
| The Lazy Boy and the Industrious Girl (legend) | 318 |
| The Parson's Wife Who Had No Shadow (legend) | 319 |
| The Despised Rake (legend) | 320 |
| The Tale of the Sculptor's Beautiful Wife (legend) | 320 |
| The Big Turnip (legend) | 322 |
| Parsons, the Good Lord, and the Evil One | 325 |
| "Yet a Little While, and the World Seeth Me No More" | 327 |
| The Devil and the Tailor | 327 |
| Kitta Gray | 328 |
| The Pregnant Parson | 330 |
| Forging with Sand | 333 |
| The Parson, the Sexton, and the Devil | 333 |
| The Sermon About Nothing | 336 |
| Sven Fearless | 336 |
| The Tale of the Parson and the Sexton | 339 |
| The Farmer Who Sold His Soul to the Devil (legend) | 341 |
| The Night-Blind Parson (legend) | 341 |
| The Burning Lake (legend) | 346 |
| The Bishop's Visit (legend) | 346 |
| One More Schnapps (legend) | 347 |
| The Hare in the Treetop (legend) | 348 |
| Exchange Heads with the Devil (legend) | 348 |
| Tall Tales, Superstitions, and Jingles | 351 |
| The Mountain in the Forest | 353 |
| The Old Lady's Cat | 354 |
| The Snake Cookers | 354 |
| The Goat Who Wouldn't Go Home | 355 |
| "Eat the Bread Too!" | 356 |
| The Little Old Woman | 357 |
| The Three Lying Old Women | 358 |
| The Biggest Stable and the Biggest Pot | 358 |
| The Black Cow, the Pot, and the Cheese | 358 |
| Boots for the Son in America | 359 |
| That Was the End of the Tale | 360 |
| Notes | 361 |
| Bibliography | 377 |
| The Illustrators | 381 |
| Permissions Acknowledgments | 383 |
