Fiction by Genre
Folklore & Mythology
5 stories | Updated June 12, 2023
Looking for a folktale, fairy tale, legend, fable, or myth?
Here you can find original and retold stories in the Folklore and Mythology genres on Medium, built on story listings submitted by fiction authors.
Have fun browsing!
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The Princess and the Blue Rose
By E. Ardincaple | Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends
• Read time: 8 min • Genre(s): Folktale, fairy tale • Type: Short story • Status: Complete • Rating: E • Tags: Folktale retelling, Chinese folktale, old-fashioned, sweet, sentimental, love story, bedtime story
This is a retelling/re-imagining of The Legend of the Blue Rose, a Chinese folktale. I ran across it when looking up the symbolism of blue roses, and I thought it was such a lovely story that I wanted to put my own spin on it!
Life and Everything After
By Peter Sassi | next top writers
Read Time: 18 minutes Genre(s): Ghost Story, Grief Type: Short Story Status: Complete Rating: 8+ Tags: Ghost Story, Suspense, Loss
Rob was a museum security guard stained in the Egyptian Room where he had only a single visitor.
The Tale of the Mermaid’s Tears
By E. Ardincaple | Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends
• Read time: 6 min • Genre(s): Folklore, legend • Type: Flash fiction • Status: Complete • Rating: 8+ • Tags: Mermaid, sea captain, sea glass, storm, ocean
“Although tales of mermaids often spell doom for the sailors that they lure to the ocean’s depths, many other stories tell of fish-tailed maidens who rescue men lost at sea, falling in love with them and bringing them to safety.
This is one such story: the tale of the mermaid’s tears…”
This story also includes information about the history of sea glass.
The Tale of Lí Ban
By E. Ardincaple | Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends
• Read time: 9 min read • Genre(s): Myth retelling, legend retelling • Type: Short story • Status: Complete • Rating: 8+ • Tags: Ireland, Irish, Celtic, princess, mermaid, saint, apocalypse, destruction “In Northern Ireland, there is a vast lake known as Lough Neagh…
It is the largest freshwater lake in Ireland and the British Isles, and is thought to have formed over 400 million years ago from tectonic events…
According to ancient tales in Ireland, however, the lake’s origin story is far stranger than the geologic record would suggest…
One that involved a mermaid who would one day become a saint.”
The Rivers and the Sea
By E. Ardincaple | Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends
• Read time: 1 min • Genre(s): Fable • Type: Microfiction • Status: Complete • Rating: E • Tags: Aesop’s Fables, retelling, Ancient Greece, Greek mythology, ocean, gods, moral of the story
“When the water flows through our lands, it is drinkable and pure, and the people of the world use this bounty for their crops. Why is it, O Sea, that when our sweet waters meet your tides, you make them briny and unsafe for any person or crop to drink?”
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