Welcome to the African folktales page!
Africa is the second largest continent in the world. The earliest humans we know of are discovered in Africa.
The people from Africa included unique characteristics in their folklore, showing their way of life and the animals and plants that surround them. African stories sometimes include trickster animals and spirits.
The collection of folktales from Africa consists of four books with 88 stories: 28 South African folktales, 40 Nigerian folktales and 10 Tanzanian folktales.
Top African folktales
Songs for Ikenga by Natty Mark Samuels
The Banana Ballad by Natty Mark Samuels
Tale of Silk Cotton by Natty Mark Samuels
1.The man who never lied
2.Lion and Jackal
3.The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter
4.The Woman with Two Skins
5.The King's Magic Drum
6.Why the Bat flies by Night
7.The Hare and the Lion
8.Why the sun and the moon live in the sky
9.The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder
10.The Ape, the Snake, and the Lion
South African folktales Outa Karel's Stories
South African Folk-Lore Tales
Notes: Contains 15 South African folktales.
Author: Sanni Metelerkamp
Published: 1914
Publisher: Macmillan and Co., Limited
St. Martin's Street, London
Old Hendrik's Tales
Notes: Contains 13 South African folktales.
Author: Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan
Published: 1904
Publisher: Longmans, Green and Co., London, New York & Bombay
Nigerian folktales Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria
Notes: Contains 40 Nigerian folktales. The introduction is written by Andrew Lang.
Author: Elphinstone Dayrell
Published: 1910
Publisher:Longmans, Green and Co., London, New York, Bombay & Calcutta
Tanzanian folktalesZanzibar Tales
Notes: Contains 10 fairy tales told by natives of the East Coast of Africa.
Author: Various
Translator: George W. Bateman
Published: 1901
Publisher: A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago
