Across Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, stories move through forests and villages, over plains and river valleys, along mountain paths and old trade roads, from manor houses and market towns to hearthside kitchens and roadside inns. In these pages you will meet clever youngest sons, watchful maidens, proud nobles, wandering soldiers, witches, wolves, dragons, saints, tricksters and talking creatures of many kinds. Some tales are playful, some are bleak, and some carry that distinct Eastern European gift of seeming plain on the surface while holding older, stranger things beneath.
This collection brings together tales shaped by Eastern Europe's varied landscapes and long, unsettled history, its borderlands and kingdoms, its villages, forests and mountains, and the deep impress left by faith, invasion, empire and endurance. Here are old warnings, sharp humour, hard bargains and moments of grace, retold with a clear voice and a strong sense of place, where courage is often quiet, resilience matters, and the marvellous rises naturally out of ordinary life. Read them aloud, read them at dusk, and let them do what such tales have always done, which is to keep memory alive, hold wonder close, and make the dark a little easier to face.
