The library
Public domain folk tales, free to read
Bard's Bield gathers over three thousand folk tales and fairy tales whose collections are in the public domain, and gives them a calm, immersive place to be read.
Where the tales come from
Most tales come from classic folklore collections published on Project Gutenberg. Palestinian tales come from verified Wikisource texts. Each tale keeps a note of the collection it came from.
Traditions in the library
Celtic, West African, East Asian, Indigenous American, South Asian, Middle Eastern, European and many more traditions sit side by side. You can search by title, filter by region and browse by genre: tricksters, animal fables, spirits, quests and more.
Why public domain matters
Because these collections are free of copyright, anyone can read, share and retell them. That is how folk tales have always lived: by being passed on.