Old Folktales is a global storytelling archive and the central home for the world’s oral heritage. We gather, preserve, and retell timeless stories that have shaped human culture – from desert campfires to mountain temples, from ancient kingdoms to modern villages.
Our mission is to unite the wisdom of humanity’s oldest stories in one place – through our growing network of regional and cultural folklore websites.
Our Global Network
OldFolktales.com serves as the main aggregator of our international storytelling platforms, including:
- Old Folklore – OldFolklore.com: dedicated to myths, gods, spirits, creatures, and legends from every culture.
- US Folktales – USFolktales.com: the living heart of American storytelling, from Native American myths to frontier legends.
- American Folktales – FolktalesAmerica.com: tales from Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Andes.
- African Folktales – Folktales.Africa: stories from 54 nations, told through the voices of their tribes and ancestors.
- Asian Folktales – AsianFolktales.com: legends and moral tales from the East, from Japan and China to India and the Philippines.
- European Folktales – EuropeanFolktales.com: fairy tales, ballads, and myths from the forests and kingdoms of Europe.
- Oceanian Folktales – OceanianFolktales.com: stories from the Pacific islands – Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia.
Together, these websites form one unified storytelling universe – preserving folktales and folklore in all their diversity and wonder.
Our Mission
At Old Folktales, we believe stories are the world’s oldest form of wisdom.
Our mission is to:
- Preserve vanishing oral traditions before they are lost.
- Present authentic, culturally grounded stories in accessible, modern language.
- Connect generations through shared morals, humor, and history.
- Build a global digital library where every culture’s voice is heard and honored.
Each tale is rewritten with care – not to modernize it, but to make its rhythm, tone, and moral beauty clear to the modern reader.
Our Method
Each story published on OldFolktales.com or its regional archives follows our heritage process:
- Sourced from authentic traditional or academic collections.
- Culturally grounded and retold with respect for its original tone.
- Presented with full origin, moral lesson, and “Knowledge Check” for understanding.
- Tagged by region, culture, and theme to help readers explore the world through storytelling.
This structure lets readers not only enjoy the tale – but learn from its cultural context.
Folktales vs. Folklore – Our Balance
OldFolktales.com focuses on narrative stories – the moral, magical, or humorous tales once told around firesides.
OldFolklore.com, its companion site, explores the mythic world behind the stories – the gods, heroes, spirits, creatures, and symbols that shape human imagination.
Together, they preserve both the stories and the storytellers’ worlds.
Why “Old Folktales”?
Because the oldest stories are never truly old — they live every time they are retold.
Our archives remind the world that though languages, borders, and empires may change, our stories always rhyme.
Join the Journey
Old Folktales is for readers, teachers, historians, dreamers, and everyone who believes that the past still has something to say.
Explore our tales, share your heritage, and help us keep the world’s storytelling flame alive.
Old Folktales — The World’s Stories, Retold for the Modern Age.
Visit: www.OldFolktales.com
Discover our mythic sister site: www.OldFolklore.com
