Reading and telling folklore →
Compare genres, understand versions and sources, and learn how to tell a story aloud.
Narrative folklore
Lithuanian narrative folklore
Read Lithuanian tales, sakmes, legends, and place legends in English, with context that keeps genre, source status, places, and mythological motifs clear.
Start with a story
Four stories connect these genres with Lithuanian characters, places and cultural memory.
Eglė, Queen of Serpents
Eglė, Queen of Serpents is one of the best-known Lithuanian tales, centered on a promise to a serpent, life beneath the water, betrayal, a sign of blood, and…
Perkūnas’ Gift
A sakme about a hunter who helps Perkūnas shoot Velnias and receives a magically loaded gun whose power disappears when he boasts.
Legend of Puntukas Stone
The legend of Puntukas Stone explains how the huge boulder near Anykščiai came to rest by the Šventoji: the devil was carrying it to smash the church, but a…
Jūratė and Kastytis
Jūratė and Kastytis is one of Lithuania's best-known sea legends: a sea goddess loves a fisherman, Perkūnas punishes them, the amber palace shatters, and amber…
How do tales, mythological tales, place legends and legends differ?
Tales build an extraordinary plot, mythological tales (sakmės) stress the sense that the event really happened, place legends tie a story to a particular place, and legends connect history, literary tradition and cultural memory. The same motif can appear in several genres.