Tales are analyzed by Tale Type, Motif, character and character roles, (i.e. hero, villain), setting, (forest, castle, meadow), and keyword (trickster, bully, friendship, sibling rivalry).  In addition, one can search by tale title, source of the tale, collector, editor, collection name, ethnic group, country from which tale collected, and the original language if available.

Note: On the blue bar at the top of the screen, you will find “List All Tales” which is a list of all tales contained in the database.  If you know the exact name of a tale, click on the “List All Tales.”  Each tale in the list is linked to the full text of the tale.  On this same bar is a list of all of the “Countries/Languages” and a list of “Native American Tribes.”  Neither of the last two items are linked to the database, but, the information can be searched by entering the exact term.  The information is included on the “Performance” screen.

The database has been designed so that people can search for tales that have particular characteristics that they want.   Given the degree of analysis of each tale the keywords are designed to include important information not covered elsewhere in the database.   The basic terms which are included as keywords by the analysts are words that reflect emotions, character traits, types of characters, conflict, gender, interpersonal relations, meaning or morals, relationships, and cultural details.

When you type in a keyword all of the areas analyzed are searched for that term.  A search is then made of the Tale Type, Motifs, characters and character roles, settings, short summaries, genre, tale title, bibliography, and performance information.

NOTE:  IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE ARE AN UNTOLD NUMBER OF TALES SUITABLE TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATABASE AND NEW TALES WILL BE ADDED MONTHLY. IF A SPECIFIC TALE TITLE DOES NOT APPEAR, CONSIDER AN APPROPRIATE TERM THAT MIGHT DESCRIBE AN EVENT IN THAT TALE. ENTER THAT TERM AND A SIMILAR TALE WHICH MAY MEET YOUR NEEDS MAY CURRENTLY BE IN THE DATABASE UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME.

NOTE:  CURRENTLY WE ARE NOT INCLUDING GREEK OR ROMAN MYTHS OR TALES CONCERNING KING ARTHUR.

Once you have entered the search term and clicked on it, the “Search Results” page that appears contains the tale title highlighted in BLUE and underlined, the Collection in which the tale can be found, the Age Appropriateness of the tale with cautions of possible violence, inappropriate language or sexual references (if relevant), the Pagination (pages in the written text on which the tale is contained), and the Genre (terms which describe the tale as a folktale, fairy tale, legend, saga, catch tale, etc.  All unfamiliar terms are described and defined in the Glossary.  All of this information is followed by a short summary of the major events in a tale to enable the user to select that tale most relevant to his/her needs.

Once you identify the tale you are seeking, to display the full text, click on the blue highlighted “Tale Title” and the full text of the tale along with the source of the tale will be displayed.

In rare cases where the collection was considered important but was not in the public domain and therefore still under copyright, the full text page will contain long summaries rather than the original text.  Since no summary can do justice to the artistry of the full tale, and we hope in those cases, where we can’t provide full text, you will seek it out yourself.  In order to do this you will need the bibliographic information, which we provide access to by clicking on the blue bar at the top of the full text screen.  In the future these tales will contain the full text when arrangements can be made with the copyright holder.

At the top of the full text screen in addition to the Bibliographic information, you can advance to the Notes, Performance Information, and Variant Titles related to the selected tale.  These can be brought to the screen by clicking on the appropriate term.

You can also go to the Previous Screen, the Search screen, Help, Glossary, About Us and go Back to the Results Page to consult another tale or other summaries and repeat the process.

For more detailed instructions to use the “Simple Search” read the following:

Navigating or moving around the database

How to Close a Screen:  To close a screen and go out of the database, click on the “x” button in the upper right hand corner.

How to Return to a Previous Screen:  At the top of each screen other than the first search screen, on the blue bar, you will see the words “previous screen.” Clicking on these words will lead you back to the previous screen.  You can always click on the “back” button on your web navigation bar (upper left-hand corner of your screen) to go to the previous screen.

How To Start a New Search:  Click on the “search” button on the blue bar which is located on every screen except the screen on which you type in the search information.  This will send you back to the “simple search” and “Thompson-Motif Index” search.

How to Begin an Advanced Search:  Click on the words “advanced search” on the “simple search” screen.

Using Simple Search

Once you have decided to do a simple search, you will need to choose a search criteria which is a search term (word(s) for the database to search for).

How to Choose a Search Term:

Language:  We recommend that you type in basic nouns rather than adjectives or adverbs.  Also, general terms will get more hits than will specialized terms; for example, “monster” will get more hits than will “dragon.”  Of course, if you are only interested in tales with “dragons” and are not interested in tales with “ogres” or “griffins,” then you should choose the term “dragon.”  You can type in phrases, although we recommend that you keep phrases short because every additional term raises the likelihood that no matches will be found.

In this database, the computer looks for the exact term you type in, so, if you misspell a word, you might get the reply that there are no tales that fit your search term.  To avoid receiving that message, check the spelling and your typing of the term you wish to search before you click on the “search” key.

How to Find Specific Tales:

Tales that deal with specific emotions:  Psychological issues are often at the heart of folktales, and you can find tales that address them if you choose such terms as “depression,” “fight,” “mother and son,” “worry,” “betrayal,” “abuse,” and “growing up.”

Tales that describe specific cultures:  Folktales often describe information about cultures in which they are told, including ideas about “gender roles,” “festivals,” “what to eat,” and “cultural identity”.  To find examples of tales that describe such cultural information, type in search terms such as “food,” “history,” “marriage,” “gender roles,” and “foodways.”

Tales that describe specific religions:  You can find tales that you are interested in by typing “Hindu,” “Buddhist,” “Islam,” “Christian,” “Judaism,” “Zuni,” “Lakota.”  Or you can type in terms that deal with general religious themes such as “prayer,” “church,” “baptism,” “holiday,” “sacred,” or “initiation.”

Terms that use specific kinds of language:  Some tales include proverbs, rhymes, prayers, songs, or other specialized types of language.  To search for these tales use search terms such as “proverb,” “poetry,” “song,” “singing,” or “prayer.”

Where available, we also include the original language or the language in which the tale is told.  To search for such tales, enter terms such as “German,” “Russian,” “French,” “English,” or a specific language to see if tales for that language group have been included

How to Search for Motifs:

Click on “Click here for help” under the “Thompson Motif Index Search” included on the lower half of the simple search screen.  Motif number and descriptor searching is discussed on the help screen for the “Motif index.”  “Motif” is a small part of a tale, such as a character, an object, a setting, or an action.  So that folklorists or individuals with specific interests can easily refer to such things, these motifs can be referred to by standard combinations of numbers.  For example, the motif about a flood that almost destroys the world and is an element in many tales for many cultures, is motif A1010. World flood.  If you are not interested in such detail, you might not want to use the motif index.  If it will provide you with the basis you need to make a point, the instructions on the help screen should enable you to succeed in your search efforts.

NOTE: Since we are continuously adding tales from all parts of the world and for as many different groups as we can, if at first you don’t find a tale that meets your needs, try again at a later date.

To more quickly isolate more specific information go to the advanced search screen.

© 2004 by Tales Unlimited, Inc.
8926 North Belleforte Ave.
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2017
Fax: 847-965-4687
Phone: 866-255-6252