Folk Tales

[J-H]

I'm in Toastmasters (an organization for building public speaking & communication skills). I've gotten into the Storytelling speech manual, because I really need to work on incorporating dialogue, vocal emotions, and storytelling, into my speech style. I need to pick out a folk tale to retell on Friday at our meeting.

Any recommendations for a reasonably obscure one that most people (USA) won't already be familiar with? Russian, Chinese, Indian, etc. are OK as long as the names are easy to pronounce and remember.

[Grinner]

Well, it's not really within your criterion, but with no others forthcoming, I'll toss out John Smith and The Devil (http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/stories/John_the_Blacksmith.htm). I went on a camping trip when I was little, and my friend's father worked absolute magic with it. Perhaps it can do the same for you.

[Zaydos]

I'd suggest some classic Appalachian Jack Tales (http://www2.ferrum.edu/applit//bibs/tales/index.htm#Jack), most people manage not to know about them even in the USA because our oral story telling traditions fell away at some point. Just avoid Jack and the Beanstalk, and maybe Soldier Jack (or the man who caught death in a sack), and the Jack'o'Lantern one.

[BWR]

Here (http://oaks.nvg.org/norwegian-folktales.html)we have some Norwegian folk tales. This (http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales53.html#hedale) was my favorite when I was a kid.
Here (http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales68.html) are (http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales31.html#atematch) some (http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales63.html#sillies)of the more famous folk tales.

I haven't read the translation so I can't vouch for the qulity, but in all honesty, the originals weren't masterpieces of wordsmithing.

[Kato]

Hm... popular German item for stories is Lorelei (http://oaks.nvg.org/gers10.html#lorelei). Depending on the story she's in she's somewhere between a siren or a lost soul... thing. There are a bunch of stories about her (and the page offers a few and some others)
There are also many others but that's best what I can find in english right now.

[blacklight101]

I always thought Baba Yaga was pretty cool as far as folk tales go. Russian in origin, can be really creepy or helpful. Any of the old mythologies make for good stories. Personal preference to Norse and Greek/Roman.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Isn't the whole point of folk tales that the audience already knows them?

Any of the big famous collections like Brothers Grimm or Arabian Knights tend to have obscure ones as well as the obvious ones.


Hm... popular German item for stories is Lorelei (http://oaks.nvg.org/gers10.html#lorelei). Depending on the story she's in she's somewhere between a siren or a lost soul... thing. There are a bunch of stories about her (and the page offers a few and some others)
There are also many others but that's best what I can find in english right now.

(english) Wikipedia disagrees heavily with that link, claiming Lorelei only goes back to 1801.

Which doesn't mean much really, depending on your definition of folk tale. They all had an author at some point. Washinton Irving's stuff is later and get away with being folk tales despite everyone knowing he made them up and when they were first published. Most Russian folk tales were heavily re-written or out right made up for ballet and opera, but you're meant to rewrite folk tales so it doesn't matter too much even if the very different originals are completely displaced.

[Corlindale]

I like The Four Clever Brothers (http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-45.html), mainly because it sort of looks like a distant prequel to D&D (four brothers go out and get training in 4 different professions. They go on a quest, and each of them needs to use his special abilities in order to earn succes).

[trmadu]

Kunekune from Japan. It's quite a harrowing, short read:
http://www.scaryforkids.com/kunekune/

Taloden-asal as well.