The Violet Fairy Book

What It's About

Published in 1901, The Violet Fairy Book gathers thirty-two fairy tales drawn from folklore traditions around the world, including sources from Russia, Romania, Serbia, Portugal, Iceland, and India, among others. The tales were translated and retold by a team working under Lang's editorial direction (chiefly his wife, Leonora Blanche Lang) and range across a wide variety of cultures and storytelling styles.

Key Concepts

The collection is built around familiar fairy-tale motifs: magic and transformation, quests and trials, cunning and trickery, animal helpers, and the triumph of the youngest, poorest, or most overlooked character. Because the tales come from many different cultures, the collection also offers a broad, comparative glimpse into how similar folk motifs recur across different storytelling traditions.

About the Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a Scottish man of letters, poet, novelist, literary critic, and folklorist. Born in Selkirk and educated at St Andrews and Balliol College, Oxford, he became a prolific and versatile writer, closely associated with the study and popularisation of folklore, mythology, and fairy tales.