Traditional marriage stories

Middle Eastern bride choosing best man over groom beneath desert tree in parchment-style folktale scene.

The Three Tests of a Bride

African Folktales·East African Folktales·Ethiopian Folktales

In the bustling marketplace of an ancient Middle Eastern city, where merchants called their wares beneath colorful awnings and the scent of cardamom and cinnamon filled the air, there lived a young man whose heart burned with passionate love. The object of his affection was a beautiful and intelligent girl from a respectable family, but their love faced an insurmountable

Hare tricking the buffalo at the baobab tree, Mossi folktale scene from Burkina Faso in parchment style.

African Folktales·Burkinabe Folktales·West African Folktales

Hare and the Chief’s Daughter: A Mossi Folktale That Teaches Lessons on Cleverness and Deceit

Long ago, among the Mossi people of Burkina Faso, there lived a powerful chief who loved his only daughter dearly. She was known throughout the land for her beauty, grace, and intelligence. Many young men longed to marry her, but the chief desired only the cleverest and most resourceful man

Illustration of a bearded man disguised as a woman, wearing a beige robe and headscarf, pounding maize in a wooden mortar with a long pestle. A seated older man in a rust-colored robe and white turban watches calmly from a stool inside a modest, earth-toned room with clay walls, a wooden door, and a niche holding a jug. The scene is drawn in textured ink and muted colors on parchment, signed “OLDFOLKTALES.COM” in the top right corner.

The Clever Wife Who Outsmarts Sheikh

In a sun-baked village where the desert winds carried the scent of

The Three Tests of a Bride

Hare and the Chief’s Daughter: A Mossi Folktale That Teaches Lessons on Cleverness and Deceit

The Clever Wife Who Outsmarts Sheikh

Banner