In The Green Fairy Book, Andrew Lang continues his celebrated work of gathering fairy tales from many nations into one collection, preserving stories that have delighted generations and offering them anew to young listeners—and to all who value the enduring charm of folklore. This volume, the third in Lang’s famous “Coloured” Fairy Book series, draws its tales from an especially wide array of sources: French, German, Russian, Italian, Scottish, and even oral traditions from tribal cultures such as the Zulus of South Africa.

Lang, though a scholar of history and literature, held a deep affection for the fairy tale. In his original introduction, he writes, “The fairy tale is the oldest form of fiction, and it may be the most enduring.” He believed that fairy tales served not only to entertain but to cultivate imagination, to sharpen a child’s sense of wonder, and to subtly shape moral understanding. Though some may dismiss such tales as fanciful or outdated, Lang insisted that they contain “a kind of poetry and fun which children appreciate more than people suppose.”

Not all of the stories have the neat, happy endings we have come to expect from the sanitised versions of Fairy Tales in the 20th Century, and quite a few have their macabre and bloodthirsty moments!

Head Stories Audio presents The Green Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. Narration and original music by Simon Hester.