667+ Folk Tales and Classic Stories — Free to Read Online Explore all stories →

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm assembled their nineteenth-century household tales from tellers and earlier written sources. Familiar titles such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin and the Frog Prince appear alongside less familiar stories.

Translations and editions can differ, especially in their endings. The story notes identify the telling followed here. Some retain cruelty, death or coercive marriage plots, and brief wording does not make every version suitable for children.

67 stories are in this collection right now.

67 stories found
The Twelve Huntsmen Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 9-12

The Twelve Huntsmen

A princess and eleven look-alike friends disguise themselves as huntsmen to win back the young king who promised to marry someone else.

The Valiant Little Tailor Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 9-12

The Valiant Little Tailor

A tailor swats seven flies, straps on “Seven at one stroke,” and bluffs his way past giants, a unicorn, and a boar to a crown.

The Turnip Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Turnip

A poor gardener’s giant turnip wins the king’s favor; his rich brother’s envy ends with a “sack of wisdom” swinging in a tree.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 9-12

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

A king’s twelve daughters wear out their shoes each night; a soldier with an invisible cloak follows them to an underground ball and wins the eldest.

The Travelling Musicians Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 6-8

The Travelling Musicians

An old donkey, dog, cat, and cock set out for Bremen as town musicians—and their midnight concert drives robbers from a forest house.

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 9-12

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

A straw, a coal, and a bean flee an old woman's hearth, try to cross a brook on a straw bridge—and only the bean lives to tell why beans have a seam.

The Three Languages Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Three Languages

A count's son learns only what dogs, birds, and frogs say—then those "useless" languages save a tower, a country, and make him pope.

The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was

A youth who cannot shudder survives frightening encounters and a haunted castle, then finally trembles when cold fish are poured over him.

The Salad Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Salad

A huntsman loses a wishing-cloak and a magical bird heart, then uses two kinds of salad to transform those who took them.

The Seven Ravens Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Seven Ravens

A father's angry wish turns seven sons into ravens; their sister walks to the world's end and opens a glass-mountain with her own finger.

The Raven Grimm's Fairy Tales Ages 9-12

The Raven

A mother's impatient wish turns her daughter into a raven; a traveller must stay awake three days—or climb the glass mountain of Stromberg.

The Robber Bridegroom Grimm's Fairy Tales

The Robber Bridegroom

A miller's daughter follows ashes into the forest to her betrothed's house—where a caged bird warns her it is a murderers' den.