Myths, Fairytales and Legends

A classic tale from Switzerland of overbearing authority and a father with a very steady hand.

Whenever royal families married, fought and died in Mediaeval Europe, the borders of their realms changed, and their long-suffering peoples were told to forget whatever loyalties they had sworn last, and swear new ones. There were always those willing to prosper by spying on their fellows, and according to legend, one day a Swiss archer named William Tell was spotted in an act of lese-majesty.

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A telling satire on fashionable thinking among the elite.

Why do fashionable ideas continue to circulate among the elite, long after ordinary people have realised that they are nonsense? Andersen’s folk-tale explains it brilliantly.

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It’s easier to change how you look than to hide who you are.

Originally, this story was about a weasel, an animal which the ancient Greeks kept for pest control in the way we keep cats. Modern Greek versions of this story make it a story about a cat, as did Victorian storyteller Joseph Jacobs.

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A valuable lesson when dealing with practised liars.

If you are going to tell outrageous fibs, it is a good idea to do it when there is no one around to contradict you.

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Don’t get greedy when things are going well.

THE story of a man whose impatience and greed cost him everything.

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Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

A SPITEFUL little terrier with a penchant for nipping people on the ankle didn’t quite understand why his master had given him a jolly little bell.

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