Telling Stories in the SCA
Mistress Dervila ni Leanon, O.L.
March 10, 2002
Last update July 2016

Introduction
The purpose of this article is to take people who want to tell stories but don't know where to begin and take them to standing in front of people and telling stories. I've also included information for the more experienced storyteller, but I've tried to keep the emphasis on the beginner. 
The structure of this article is based on the steps I go through myself in storytelling:
•	Finding the story
•	Working up the story
•	Rehearsing the story
•	Performing the story
•	Getting feedback
While I've based this on years of experience telling stories and research into how the process works, it's nowhere near the last word. If there's something in here that doesn't work for you, don't use it. The only thing that applies to all storytellers is Dervila's Two Rules of Storytelling:
You must be intelligible 
If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.
Finding Your Story
You can find stories anywhere - books, songs, friends, other storytellers, history, poetry, real-life events. (Books are the most common, so I've put an annotated bibliography at the end of this article.) Expose yourself to as many stories as you can until you find one you like - one you really like, one that you can't wait to tell. Preparing a story takes work; life is too short to put all that work into a story you don't like and won't enjoy telling.
If you have trouble finding stories you like, ask yourself these questions:
•	what do you like to hear, and why do you like it? What characteristics appeal to you? Funny versus tragic, real life versus folktale versus myth, quiet versus boisterous, flowery speech versus plain speech versus alliteration and rhyme, - what do you like? Once you figure out what characteristics you like, look for a story with those characteristics or upon which you can impose those characteristics
•	Why do you want to tell? Look for stories that fit your answer.
If this is your first SCA story, keep these things in mind while you're looking:
•	First, do no harm. While you don't have to be able to document your stories, your stories should at least do no harm to the medieval atmosphere of an event.
•	 Less is more. Short simple stories are easier than long complex stories. Avoid stories with sub-plots, stories that require a lot of explanation, or stories that are more than five pages long.
•	People like to laugh. If comedy has any appeal to you, try a funny story.
•	Ask permission before telling another's story. If you got your story from another storyteller, get their permission before you tell it. If they say no, and it's an original story, don't tell the story. If they say no, and it's a traditional tale, just work up your own version. No one owns folktales or myths.
•	Ask permission before telling a story about someone. If the characters in your story are recognizable as individuals in the Society, ask their permission before you tell it. You might find it funny to tell how Duke Sir Bigshot only takes blows that crease his helm, or Lady ButterFingers dumped hot soup all over the visiting royalty, but the people involved might find your story embarrassing or even insulting.   

In short - find a story you like that you think you will enjoy telling - and if this is your first try, shorter is better
Working up your story
There are two ways of remembering stories: pictures and words. Some people (like me) memorize stories completely as a series of images. Telling the story is then just a matter of "rolling the film" and describing what happens. Other people memorize stories word for word. Telling the story is then just a matter of "starting the tape" and letting the words pour forth. Most people use both techniques to some extent. Your method of working up a story will depend to some extent on how your memory works best. Remember, there is no wrong way - if it works for you, do it.
I work up stories in successive drafts. The first draft is the rough draft where I answer only the most general questions: why am I telling this story? what is the general plot? what style will I use? Once I get everything roughed in, I start refining, cutting, re-working, polishing - and telling it. 
For beginning storytellers
•	Write down an outline. If you memorize visually, try dividing the story into scenes, as if it were a play. Or you can even try drawing pictures.
•	Read several versions of the story. Keep what you like, discard what you don't like. There are several folklore indices such as Margaret Read McDonald's Storyteller's Sourcebook that can help you find different versions of a story. Ask your librarian for others.
•	Forget the unimportant stuff. Read the story a few times, walk away from it for a few days, then write down whatever you remember about the story. Whatever you can remember is probably worth keeping. Flesh the story out from there. This works particularly well with over-long stories.
•	Write down the bare bones. Try writing down what it would take to tell someone about the story. If you take that, read it, and time it, you also have a minimum performance time for your story. If the bare bones is longer than two or three minutes, you may want to consider another story.
•	Keep your hand moving. Start writing about the story. Write anything that comes to mind, just keep your hand moving. It doesn't have to make sense, it doesn't have to be in order, it doesn't have to be any good, it doesn't even have to always be about the story - just keep your hand moving. You can cut stuff out in later drafts - the idea here is to get the "censor" part of your brain to shut up and go to sleep. Once that happens, you'll be amazed at what comes out.
 For more advanced storytellers:
•	Modify traditional tales. Modifying, combining, or even re-writing folktales and myths is fun, and figuring out how to change a tale that is the product of hundreds of tellings without 'breaking' it will teach you a lot about how and why stories work. Just remember - it's not as easy as it looks!
•	Research your story. If you're working on a folktale, myth, or legend, look into the culture that produced it. If you're working on a realistic story, look into the time and place in which the story is set. You'll discover the most amazing things, and both your understanding and your telling of the story will be richer for it. This is also a good way to add depth and texture to a story that just seems too 'flat'.
For later drafts of a story
•	Be brief. Your first story, and most stories, should be between five and ten minutes long. When you start editing, ask not "Why should I throw this out?" but rather "Why should I keep this in?" 
•	Choose what you flesh out. <>
•	Be specific. Sycamore, not tree. A Viking berserker, not a warrior. Just after dawn, not morning. Harrumphed, not said.
•	Talk the story out. What reads well doesn't tell well, and what tells well doesn't read well. If you're like most people, you write for a reader, not a listener. As you write a story down, run the words through your mouth so you can hear what you're writing. To work out a section that sounds bad, stop writing and talk it out until you get it right - then write it down. More advanced storytellers can try working out a story on tape, but be warned - it takes a while to get used to how you sound on tape.
•	Wing it. Work on it until you have the minimum you need to tell, then get up in front of a group of your friends, tell it, and see what happens. You will have no doubt as to what works, what doesn’t, and which areas need the most attention. My definition of “the minimum I need to tell” is to have the first lines, last lines, outline of the story memorized and the point of the story memorized. I’ve also noticed that this only works once per story for me - the first time I do it, I’m terrified enough to become very inventive; after that I think I know what I’m doing and the story goes flat. 

In short - figure out the first line, last line, outline, and point of the story. 
Rehearsing Your Story
Whether it's in front of people, a camera, a tape recorder, or a stuffed animal, rehearse the story. Be sure you've told it all the way through without stopping at least once before you take it out in public.
Dealing with stage fright
Everyone asks me how to deal with stage fright. Well, I can’t tell you from personal experience, because I so rarely have it. But I have collected suggestions from various sources.
•	Stage fright doesn’t go away. You just get better at dealing with it. Don’t wait to perform until you think you’ll be completely comfortable on stage, because then you’ll never perform.
•	Toastmasters. If you’re really serious about being able to speak in public, join your local chapter of Toastmasters. They’re the experts.
•	Be prepared. Spend five minutes rehearsing for every minute of telling. I have to do this with new or rarely told stories.
•	Practice in front of a mirror.
•	Be ready to improvise. Try different ways of saying the same words or sentences to be prepared for improvising as necessary. Do this, and you’ll find it easier to recover when you forget what you were planning to say next.
•	Make rehearsal fun. Rehearse in pleasant surroundings. Rehearse when you have the energy, in front of stuffed animals, whatever it takes. Give yourself a reasonable reward for rehearsing for a certain time or reaching a predetermined goal.
•	Make rehearsal difficult. Once you think you know the story, tell in distracting conditions. If you can tell with the radio on, conversation nearby, or with other distractions, you can probably handle anything a bardic circle can throw at you. Don’t rehearse if it will distract you from something important, like driving. Then, just shut up and drive. 
•	Set an “anxiety” time limit. For instance, if you’re going to perform at 8:00, give yourself until 4:00 to be anxious.
•	Set easy goals. Tell yourself “I will rehearse for only five minutes” If you wind up going longer, great! If you only get your five minutes in, you still win! Celebrate the small victories. I do this in everyday life.
•	Practice makes progress. Wondering if your story is ready? Then it’s probably not. Rehearse some more.
For beginning storytellers 
•	Rework the spots you get stuck on. Rewrite the words, flesh out your images, whatever works for you.
•	Memorize your first lines, your last lines, your outline, and the point of your story. Knowing the first lines cold will get you over that "deer-in-the-headlights" feeling that hits when you first stand up. Knowing the last lines cold will give you a target so you don't wander off into the ozone. Knowing your outline cold will get you from beginning to end without too much floundering. Knowing the point of the story (for me it’s often “What emotion am I trying to get my audience to experience?”) will get you through humps and bring forth those occasional flashes of brilliance that are so wonderful to experience.
•	If you memorize your stories, try starting at the end. This way you know the end best, and you're moving towards familiar territory as you tell, not away.
•	Use your normal speaking style. If you normally speak with your hands, tell with your hands. If you normally speak with no body language, tell with no body language. Use your normal accent, and your normal manner of speech. You can change your style, and take on accents and different speech patterns, but it's a lot of work. Save it for later.
•	Be intelligible. Usually you’re trying to communicate with words, so speak slowly, project, and enunciate. Be warned - most people speak quickly and sloppily when nervous. If you use body language, make sure it matches your words. Don't be like George H. Bush who said "The deficit is growing larger and larger" while bringing his hands together. You can also use just body language or just tone of voice to communicate- being intelligible simply means getting the information across.
•	Work on one thing at a time. There's a lot going on when you tell a story - words, vocal inflection, remembering what happens next, enunciation, timing, rhythm, gesture, facial expression, and so on, and so on. You can't work on all of that at once - pick one thing and work on it. Once you've got that to the point where it no longer takes all of your attention, move on to something else. 
•	Time your story. With a clock. If you've never done this sort of thing before, you'll be amazed at how long it really is. Doing this will help you tell it through without stopping, and it will let you know just how much time you're taking. If it's too long, cut it. Don't try talking faster, that just makes you hard to understand.
For more advanced storytellers
•	Use silence. Don't feel like you have to fill every second with speech. Stories,  like music, are made up of silence as well as sound, and a well placed silence can do more than reams of words.
•	Populate your stage. If you use any body language at all, keep track of where you put things and characters. If you put a glass down on your right, pick it back up from your right. You can differentiate between characters by stepping forward or back. Polishing a story can actually include blocking, where you record the movements of all the important characters and objects on your stage for each scene. Doing this makes it easier for the audience to build a consistent mental picture of your story.
•	Use stage memory. Basically, every event leaves an emotional "charge" in the area of the stage where it took place. The stronger the event, the stronger the charge. For instance, if the love scene takes place in the same area of the stage where someone was murdered, the love scene is more sinister than if it took place in another, less negatively charged, area of the stage. This is very subtle, and requires enough space for you to clearly define areas of your stage, but it can be fun to play with.

Make a record of your final product! There's nothing more frustrating than going through all the effort of working up a story only to lose it in a few weeks because you don't have any records. (Trust me, I know.) Try to make your records as complete as possible - not just the words you use, but also how you use your voice, your face, and your body. Some people find it easier to record themselves on tape, but I just write down the words with notes on blocking, vocal inflection, timing, character mood, etc.

In short - go through it several times before you take it in front of your audience. Make some sort of record of what you end up with so you don’t forget it.

Performing Your Story
Dealing with stage fright
•	Exercise. Take a brisk walk just before you tell. Exercise helps almost any bad mood get better. I exercise when I’m angry or depressed. Or just use your large muscles - stage fright activates the “fight or flight” response, and there are all your muscles, set to throw a spear at a mastodon. Move them to release tension and stress. Stretch the smaller muscles of your head, neck and face.
•	Breathe deeply and slowly. When you perceive a threatening situation, your heart rate and breathing speed up, and then your mind gets into the act. Next thing you know, you’re frightened and/or stressed. This can become a vicious circle, with your body egging on your mind egging on your body… Breathing deeply and slowly tricks your mind into thinking “Hey, maybe things aren’t as scary as I thought.” Then you might be able to….
•	Change the fear into energy. Tell yourself you’re not scared, you’re excited as if you were going onto a roller coaster or to a suspense movie.
•	Feign confidence. Ask yourself, “suppose I was just AMAZING at this?” And then perform with that in mind.
•	Start where you are. If you have to read the piece to be able to perform, do it. Be sure to practice it beforehand so you’re less likely to have problems. Don’t use sheets of paper - the audience can see you hands shake. Use index cards or a book. If you’re not sure you need to read the piece, try performing without your notes but have them available just in case.
•	Tell to the friendliest faces in the audience. Why concentrate on anyone who looks hostile or bored? Tell to the ones you think are really listening, really getting into the story. This can help build your confidence. Oh, and those people who look hostile or bored? Most of them really are listening.
•	Try to concentrate on your successes rather than the possibility of failure. Distract yourself by thinking about things that increase your confidence or make you feel good.
For beginning storytellers
•	If you mess up, improvise. The audience will never know you made a mistake unless you tell them. If you've forgotten something unimportant, skip it. If you've forgotten something important, stick it in where you are. 
•	Consider your audience. Don't tell bawdy stories in front of moderns and children. Don't tell thoughtful tragic stories in front of rowdy drunken fighters.
•	Consider your setting. Don't tell to the entire feast hall - people want to talk to their friends; there's no way you can make yourself heard over the din. Tell at places where people want to hear stories. Tell to people who are bored, such as those waiting in the looooong line to check in at Pennsic.
•	Don't tell the audience how bad you'll be. They just might believe you! Give yourself and your story a chance.
•	Be clear about when the story starts and when the story ends. Bowing is a good way to end. Introducing yourself is a good way to begin.
•	Be intelligible. Project and enunciate. Keep your head up. Speak slowly. 
•	Open your eyes. When you close your eyes (or even look down at the floor) you “disappear” and your audience will be more easily distracted. If you can’t make eye contact, look out just over people’s heads.
•	Don't apologize for your performance. Someone may have enjoyed your story; apologizing insults their taste. 
•	Don't explain the story, tell the story. The story should explain itself. If you use strange words, define them the first time you use them, and move on. If you use strange concepts, explain it by the context of the story or with a short phrase. If a story doesn't stand on its own without introductory explanations, then it probably needs more work.
•	Give credit where credit is due. If you got the story from another teller, whether through a book or a performance, say so. Doing this reflects well on both you and the other teller.
•	Accept compliments gracefully. If some says how wonderful they thought your performance was, thank them! They’re trying to connect with you, bask in your glory. Don’t insult them by not responding. At least say “Thank you.” What I always say is “Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
•	Known when not to tell. Feeling sick? Exhausted? Had a bad day? Want to punch somebody, anybody? Then you probably shouldn’t tell stories. Too much stress will make you easily distracted, forgetful, and generally detract from your performance. Go do something you enjoy instead.
For more advanced storytellers:
•	An introduction can change the mood. Sometimes if you tell an audience what to expect, they'll follow along. I use this mostly to go from a rowdy mood to a quiet one; it's not necessary when going in the other direction. Be sure to keep the introduction short, and don’t give everything away.
•	Make eye contact. This is amazingly difficult, but it creates a powerful connection between you and the audience. Try to bounce around from person to person instead of using the “corn-cob” approach. Maintain eye contact with any given person for at least three seconds so you actually connect.
•	Consider your setting - acoustics, lighting, and nearby activities. Try to tell in quiet, calm, places, where people can see your face. If your style relies on facial expressions and gestures, avoid being backlit.
•	Avoid meaningless gestures. This means no fidgeting! Everything you do while telling a story should be done on purpose. If you have trouble standing still, consider holding something like a staff that will keep you from moving.
•	Don't hog the circle.
•	Avoid expectations. Just because you don't get the reaction you expect, or you don't get a reaction at all, doesn't mean your audience isn't paying attention to and enjoying your story. Different people get different things out of a story at different times. Set your stories out like a banquet, and let your audience take what they want
Dealing with hecklers and other distractions
•	Ignore it. Sometimes if you stay focused on the story, the audience does too. If you allow yourself to be distracted, the audience will definitely be distracted as well.
•	Work it in. This takes improvisational skill, and seems easiest to do with comedy (perhaps because comedy derives in part from absurd juxtapositions)
•	Don't antagonize your audience. Don't interrupt your story to harangue people and call them names. The story is much more enjoyable than any insults you could hurl.
•	Just stop. Maybe you were wrong and they don’t want to hear your stories. Don’t get mad, just calmly indicate that you’re done. And if there are people who want to hear your stories, they’re now mad at the hecklers for depriving them. My mother (who taught first grade for over 30 years) calls this “applying peer pressure”.

In short - have your first line, last line, outline, and the point of the story memorized. Keep your head up and your words clear. Never apologize, never explain. Tell where people have gathered to hear stories.

Getting feedback
The best way to get better is to get good feedback.
Dealing with stage fright
•	Persevere. You will make mistakes. You have to learn to deal with them. I have killed a bardic circle, totally blown a new story, used up more than my fair share of time, and just plain told stories badly. I hate to say it, but it’s a learning opportunity, not just a mistake. 
•	Perform again. Some people find that the more often they get up and perform, the easier it is to deal with the stage fright.
•	Remember your successes. All of them, not just your storytelling successes. I have friends who keep what I’ll call “I’m not so bad” boxes. The boxes contain things that remind them of past successes.
For beginning storytellers
•	Ask your friends. If your friends don't perform, prime them with specific questions beforehand, like "Is there anything you really like? Can you hear me? Am I talking too fast? Can you tell which character is which? Do I keep my head up? Do I have any distracting nervous twitches? Did you notice when I got lost?"
•	Ask other storytellers. Try to get both types of feedback, what to keep and what to change. It's all too easy to focus on what's wrong. we also need to acknowledge what's right. Whenever you give feedback, always say what you liked before mentioning what you would change. Remember, people's fragile egos are involved here - no fighting, no biting.
•	Ask judges. If you’re telling in a competition, ask the judges for feedback. Also ask for their contact information so you can ask questions. If you get a judging from without a name or contact information, take the comments with a grain of salt. A judge that won’t sign a judging form can be a judge who is careless or even cruel.
For more advanced storytellers
•	Tape yourself. This is not for the faint of heart - people are always dismayed at how they sound on tape. But once you get over the shock, you can get a lot out of listening to yourself tell a story. After all, you're the only one who really knows what you're trying to do, so only you can see what's working and what isn't. Another plus: you can do this while driving. If your style involves a lot of body language, you can even videotape yourself.
•	Give feedback

In short - find a way to improve. Just plain rehearse, record yourself, ask for feedback, whatever. 

Conclusion
Please feel free to contact me with questions, advice, feedback, comments, or anything to do with this article in particular or storytelling in general. You can get hold of me at:
		Physical mail:	Amerie Helton
				P.O. Box 272
				Canton, NC 28716
		Email:		dervila@pobox.com

In short - find a story you like that you think you will enjoy telling - and if this is your first try, shorter is better
Figure out your first line, last line, outline, and the point of the story
Go through it once before you take it in front of your audience. Make some sort of record of what you end up with so you don’t forget it.
Have your first line, last line, outline, and the point of your story memorized. Keep your head up and your words clear. Never apologize, never explain. Tell where people have gathered to hear stories
Find a way to improve. Just plain rehearse, record yourself, ask for feedback, whatever
And always remember Dervila’s Only Rule of Storytelling:
If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right

"Snip, snout, My tale's told out"

Annotated Bibliography
This bibliography is probably the best answer to the question that inspired this article in the first place - "Dervila, where do you get your stories?". These books are some of the places I get my stories, especially the stories you hear me tell at SCA events. This bibliography is not meant to be all-encompassing, it's just a subset of the books I happen to own that I think others might find interesting. 
The books are divided into two groups: books about storytelling, which are how-to books and reference books; and story books, which are books that actually contain stories. I briefly describe each book in both sections, but the story books I have broken up geographically, and have also added four extra headings to their descriptions: difficulty level, source type, sources cited and ebook availability.
The difficulty level of a story book is a rating, from 1 to 5, on how difficult it is to get a tellable story out of that book. The ratings are:
1 - Stories that were written to be told, not read. These stories are almost completely ready to tell, they need only be adapted to your personal style. Perfect for beginners.
2 - Stories that need a little work to be ready to tell. Not too difficult for beginners, and a good place to start learning how to adapt written stories for telling.
3 - Stories that need a moderate amount of work to be ready to tell. These are generally stories that came from an oral tradition but have since been written to be read, not told. The beginner might want to wait until their second or third story before trying this level.
4 - Stories that need a large amount of work to be ready to tell. These are literary stories and books that may or may not have a base in oral tradition. Tellable stories have to be picked out of a longer narrative and then edited. Not for the beginner. 
5 - Stories that need a great deal of work to be ready to tell. These stories are so long and/or tightly woven that it's difficult finding something small enough to tell. Only those comfortable with re-working stories, such as experienced storytellers, writers, or editors, should attempt this level. 
The source type of a story book  describes how period the stories in the book are. The various source types, from less period to more, are
Other - definitely not period, generally found as part of a mixture. Stories by Hans Christian Anderson or African-American folktales fall into this category. 
'Medievalish' folktales - not documentably medieval, but they will do no harm to the medieval atmosphere of an SCA event. Most folktales fall into this category.
Retelling based on period sources - The content is documentably period, but it has been massaged by a modern author, usually by bringing several sources together to tell a more complete story. 
Translation of a period source - The content is documentably period, but it has been translated from a foreign language. All early writings (in my library, at least) fall into this category.
Period source - The content and the language are as written by a period author, although the spelling may be modernized. This is the real thing. Shakespeare would fall into this category.
The sources cited heading for a story book generally simply says "yes" or "no" depending on whether the author cites their sources for the stories, although there are occasionally a few words of explanation.
The ebook heading tells you whether or not the book or another version of it is available as an ebook. If it is available, 
it points you to the place(s) you can find an ebook version 
tells you what device/program you need to read it
tells you whether or not it’s free.
Please be aware that free ebooks are almost all public domain books, which means that they were generally written before 1923. This means that you might not be able to find the exact version of the book I have described in the bibliography. I have added the ebook heading because ebooks are generally cheaper than the print version, and because they can be bookmarked, annotated and searched more easily than print books. I have found this to be a boon for my research.
If you have a computer and not an ebook device, you can still read these books. As of this writing, there are both Nook and Kindle programs available for free, as well as Adobe Digital Editions. I use Adobe Digital Editions because it is, at the moment, the most flexible of the three. Be aware that any Nook or Kindle ebook you buy can only be read on that device/program.

Resources About Storytelling
Davis, Donald. Telling Your Own Stories. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1993. ISBN: 0-87483-235-7
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free.
Description:
This book was written by a professional storyteller, and tells you how to collect and create personal and family stories.
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1986. ISBN: 0-87773-375-9
Ebook: google books for any device/program, amazon.com for Kindle. Not free.
Description:
This isn't a storytelling book - it's a writing book, and a very good one. I include it here because it's helped me in working up my various story drafts - indeed, some of my suggestions come from this book. If you're interested in creative writing, whether for storytelling or any other reason, get this book!
Harvey, Dr. Hannah B. The Art of Storytelling: From Parents to Professionals. From Great Courses, 2012.
Ebook: N/A
Description
This isn’t a book, it’s a series of  24 half hour lectures on storytelling. The lecturer is on the faculty of ETSU’s Master’s Program in Storytelling. I have found almost every lecture to be pure gold. I plan to add the notes I have taken from these lectures to my storytelling class (fear not, I have her permission). This is an excellent adjunct to my course because she takes a different approach in some things.
You have to buy this from Great Courses, and you really want to wait for it to be on sale. You also want to buy the video version so you can see the storytellers in action. I have only the audio version and I feel like I’m missing a lot.
Lipman, Doug. Improving Your Storytelling: Beyond the Basics for All Who Tell Stories in Work or Play. Atlanta: August House, 1993. ISBN: 8-0-87483-530-4
Ebook: None available
Description:
Excellent how-to book. This book addresses topics I never thought of, and I bought it as soon as I looked at it. The table of contents itself is four pages long and very detailed. I cannot recommend this book enough. Version two of this article will be greatly influenced by this book.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Storyteller's Start-up Book. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House,1993. ISBN: 0-87483-305-1
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free.
Description:
Good how-to book for beginning and advanced storytellers alike, although some may find it a trifle condescending. The author believes storytelling is easy, and the way she explains it, it is. She also discusses more advanced topics, such as the role of the storyteller and the values of storytelling. This book is aimed at telling to children, but most of what she says is valid for telling to adults as well. She also has a bibliography that is almost worth the price of the book.
McDonald, Margaret Read. The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children. Detroit: Neal-Schuman/Gale Research, 1982
Ebook:Internet Archive (archive.org) in Daisy format. Daisy is an audio format that requires who knows what type of player. Free.
Description:
This is a folklore index. Its purpose is to help you find different versions of a given folk tale. The introduction to the book tells you how to use it. The only drawback is that the book is limited to children's books, thus excluding many myths and most of the Arthurian literature. However, when you see the size of the book, you won't blame her for limiting her scope. It’s useful for storytellers who want to make up their own folktales, because this book also gives you a wide variety of folktale motifs.
Maguire, Jack. Creative Storytelling. Cambridge, Mass: Yellow Moon Press, 1985. ISBN: 0-938756-35-4
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This is another good book for beginning and advanced storytellers, and those who find The Storyteller's Start-up Book condescending will feel better about this book. Again, this book is aimed at telling to children, but most of what he says is valid for telling to adults. He covers types of stories, remembering and adapting stories, creating your own stories, telling the story, and other topics.

Multi-National Stories
Appelbaum, Stanley ed. and trans. Medieval Tales and Stories. Mineola, New York. Dover Books, 2000. ISBN:0-486-41407-8
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type: Period sources and translation of period sources.
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Not free.
Description:
The title says it all - real live actual medieval tales and stories, from various collections of medieval short stories. The material here comes from Western Europe in the period between 1100 and 1500. They cover the full range from sacred to bawdy. And since the editor gives the sources, you can find them and have even more stories!
Booss, Claire ed. Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales. New York: Avenel Books, 1984. ISBN: 0-517-43620-5
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (Hans Christian Anderson)
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
While this book claims to have tales ranging from the 15th to the 20th centuries, I can't see any evidence for any claim earlier than the 1800's. Perhaps a more careful reader or better scholar will see what I am missing. Be that as it may, this book does have a wide variety of folk tales from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, and is a good book for anyone interested in folktales from those countries.
Clarkson, Atelia and Cross, Gilbert B. eds. World Folktales. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980. ISBN: 0-684-17763-3.
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Source cited: yes, and also cites sources for parallel tales
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Over sixty folktales from around the world arranged by tale type: magic tales, fairy tales, realistic tales, formula tales, trickster tales, morality tales, porquoi tales, and droll tales. This book also has an excellent introduction on how to research folktales, and discusses each tale and its variants. A good book for beginners, especially those interested in folktales.
Forest, Heather. Wonder Tales from Around the World. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1995. ISBN: 0-87483-422-8
Difficulty level: 1
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This is a collection of stories from the repertoire of Heather Forest, a professional storyteller. They're in the form in which she tells them, so they're great for a beginner. This book is out of print.
Hazeltine, Alice I., ed. Hero Tales from Many Lands. New York: Abingdon Press, 1961
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Some retellings very loosely based on period sources, Other (retellings of new world folktales)
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This is an anthology of hero stories for children. It takes short stories out of various classics and reduces them to a more simplified form that is closer to a told form. However, this makes it hard to tell how much liberty a given author has taken with a period story. She also has a bibliography for those who are interested in further reading. This book may be out of print.
Holt, David and Mooney, Bill. Ready-to-Tell Tales. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House:1994. ISBN: 0-87483-381-7
Difficulty level: 1
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Sources cited: no
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This book might as well be called 'Please Steal These Stories', since all of these stories have been specifically released into the public domain for telling. Each story has been honed and polished by a professional storyteller, then contributed to this collection, complete with performance notes from the donating teller. It is meant for the beginning teller who wants to tell but doesn't yet know how to work up stories. The introduction includes a good discussion on what constitutes fair use of a story. I highly recommend this book to any beginner. 
There also seems to be a companion volume, More Ready to Tell Tales. I don’t know anything about this book, but it’s probably worth looking at.
NAPPS (now NSA). Best-Loved Stories Told at the National Storytelling Festival. Jonesborough, Tenn.: National Storytelling Press, 1991. ISBN: 1-879991-00-4
Difficulty level: 1
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Sources cited: no
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Another collection of stories as told by professional storytellers. Some are folktales, and some are anecdotes. The main differences between this book and Ready To Tell Tales are that there are no performance notes, and these stories have not been released into the public domain. While you can certainly tell these stories at SCA events, you may not tell them for profit.
This may also be available as an audio cassette.
Phelps, Ethel Johnston ed. Tatterhood and Other Tales. New York: The Feminist Press, 1978. ISBN: 0-912670-50-9 
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Sources cited: yes, for each story
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Not free.
Description:
If you're as tired of passive heroines as I am, this is the book for you. All of these are bona fide folktales with active, clever heroines. It also includes an interesting discussion of the place of women in folktales. However, these tales have been modified for modern sensibilities - some extensively. You may prefer the original version of a given tale. 
Rugoff, Milton ed. A Harvest of World Folk Tales. New York: Viking Press, 1949. SBN: 670-00220-8
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales and Other (new world folktales)
Sources cited: yes
Ebook:  Not available
Description:
A collection of world folktales arranged geographically. Over 170 tales in all, of all types and from various time periods. Lots of stories in one book!

Arabian Stories
Anonymous,  Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. Translated by N.J. Dawood. New York: Penguin Books: 1988. ISBN: 0-14-044289-8
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book, and fewer of the tales.
Description:
While some of these tales seem to go back as far as 850 A.D., I am not expert enough to know which they are, so I leave this as an exercise for the reader. This version is, in the translator's words, "an unexpurgated rendering of the finest and best-known tales [from the Thousand and One Nights] in contemporary English".

Arthurian Stories
I’ve collected these stories under one heading regardless of nationality because they deal with one subject: King Arthur and/or his court. Tales of Arthur spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance so that the Matter of Britain was molded by French, Italian, German, and other European authors.
Anonymous King Arthur's Death. Translated by Brian Stone. London: Penguin Books, 1988. ISBN: 0-14-044445-9.
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Translations of period sources
Sources cited: yes
Ebook:Not available. 
Description:
This book contains two poems on the end times of King Arthur - the alliterative Morte Arthure (c. 1400) and the stanzaic Le Morte Arthur (c. 1350), both of which predate Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. The poems, especially the alliterative poem, are a great place for finding good phrases and word pictures, and since they are poems, it takes less chopping to get a tellable tale. Be warned - they tell a slightly different version of the Arthurian legends than most people are used to.
Anonymous, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by Brian Stone. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1971. ISBN: 0-14044-092-5.
Difficulty level: 5
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: google books and gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free.Not the same book.
Description:
This is a long poem - over 2500 lines - describing how Sir Gawain played the beheading game with the Green Knight and what became of it. It is, however, a worthwhile place to mine phrases and word-images, and it may even be possible to get tellable tale out of it - if you're willing to work at it.
Bédier, Joseph and Hilaire Belloc trans. The Romance of Tristan and Iseult. New York: Vintage, 1945. ISBN: 394-70271-9
Difficulty level: 2
Source type:  Translation of a retelling based on period sources
Sources cited: Yes, but not so they're easy to find.
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Not free. Same book.
Description:
This book contains the entire story of Tristan and Iseult, based on various period poems that tell fragments of the story. The book is made up of short chapters, and each chapter can probably be made up into a tellable tale with a little editing.
de Boron, Robert, Merlin and the Grail. Translated by Nigel Bryant. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-85991-779-7
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes, in the introduction
Ebook: Not available.
Description:
This is a compilation of the three Arthurian books attributed to Robert de Boron. The books are mostly about the Holy Grail. The three books are: Joseph of Arimathea, Merlin, and Perceval. Joseph of Arimathea traces the Holy Grail from the Crucifixion to England, and tells the story of the Fisher King. Merlin tells the story of Merlin from his conception to his “leaving the world”, and includes Vortigern’s tower, the conception of King Arthur, the battles with the Saxons, and the founding of the Round Table. Perceval follows Sir Perceval through the Quest for the Holy Grail, then follows King Arthur unto his death. This is a good book for someone who wants a short version of the entire Arthurian cycle.
de France, Marie, The Lais of Marie de France. Translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby. London: Penguin Books, 1986. ISBN:0-14-044476-9
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes, in translator’s notes.
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
The Lais are short story-poems based on Breton tales, and are loosely classified as courtly love stories. Some are based in Arthur’s court, and for sheer general variety, you can’t beat this small book of twelve stories. Unlike the most popular courtly love stories, which are adulterous and put the woman up on a pedestal, Marie has a mix - some adulterous, some not; some women on pedestals, some not. And she’s even got a werewolf in one of the stories - and the werewolf is the good guy.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D'Arthur. Edited byJanet Cowen. Middlesex: Penguin Classics, 1987. (volume 1) ISBN: 0-14-043043-1. (volume 2) ISBN: 0-14-043044-X
Difficulty level:2-4
Source type: Period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book. Also ebooks.adelaide.edu.au for Kindle and any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
This is the version of the Arthurian legends that everyone knows. This is Caxton's edition, which was printed in 1485, although the editors have modernized the spelling.This has it all - Lancelot and Guinevere, the Holy Grail, and other divers adventures. There are some short adventure episodes that would be easy to adapt, and other, longer, more difficult episodes.
Troyes, Chrétien de. Arthurian Romances. Translated by William W. Kibler. Middlesex: Penguin Classics, 1991. ISBN: 0-14-044521-8
Difficulty level: 5
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook:gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
This is the first appearance of Lancelot in print, and the first treatment of the Arthurian legend as a courtly romance, and the first appearance of the Graal, which became the Holy Grail. Good introduction for those ignorant of Chrétien’s place in the Arthurian canon. The stories, however, are very long and tightly woven. I have yet to extract a story from here.
Celtic Stories
Jacobs, Joseph ed. Celtic Fairy Tales. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1968. ISBN: 0-486-21826-0
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Some retellings based loosely on period sources, some 'Medievalish' folktales 
Sources cited: yes, for each story.
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Same book.
Description:
These stories were collected in the Victorian era, and so are occasionally a little too cute for my tastes, but otherwise, this is a good book. I'm not sure how much liberty the author has taken in his retellings, but there is a section at the end where he discusses his sources for each story and how he used them. 
Young, Ella. Celtic Wonder Tales. Edinborough: Floris Books, 1988. ISBN: 0-86315-510-3
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: no
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. The same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. The same book.
Description:
For a long time, this was the only book I had that deals with Celtic gods and goddesses. Unfortunately, this book contains only stories - no introduction, no background on Celtic mythology, no citations, so it's difficult to know how period the stories are (I've played it safe and guessed at 'Medievalish' folktales) and it's also easy to become confused regarding what's going on in the stories. Still, a decent book for those interested in such things and beautifully written.
Chinese Stories
Roberts, Moss, ed. and trans. Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979. ISBN: 0-394-73994-9.
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: Translations of period sources, ‘medievalish’ folktales
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book.
Description:
These tales are very literary, meant more for the reader than the listener, and my difficulty rating reflects this. According to the introduction, most of these tales come from the lower classes who leaned more towards the egalitarian Taoist worldview than the hierarchical Confucian worldview. They are very different from the Western folktales, and some of the stories seem to me not to be stories at all. Still and all, I found about two dozen interesting stories in my first reading. While I recommend this book for someone starting to tell Chinese folktales, I suspect there are better books out there.
English Stories
Anonymous, Beowulf. Translated by Seamus Heaney. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN: 0-393-32097-9.
Difficulty level: 3
Source type:Translation of a period source
Source cited:yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book. amazon.com for Kindle.  Not free. Same book.
Description:
Yes, you read it in high school, and probably hated it, but it’s still a good tale. Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel’s mother, then fifty years later he and the dragon kill each other. For all the length of the poem, that’s the whole thing in a nutshell, so it’s possible to cut the stories to tellable length.
But this translation is in verse, and as close to the original form as the poet/translator could get. So even if you’re not interested in Beowulf itself, read this version if you want to get a feel for the rhythm and images of Old English translated into modern English.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Translated by Nevill Coghill. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1952. No ISBN
Difficulty level: 2-5
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
Here we have a great collection of varied stories. For those of you who slept through English Literature, the premise is a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury who agree to each tell two tales, one on the way to Canterbury and one on the way back, to shorten the journey. There are bawdy stories, saintly stories, action/adventure stories, love stories, short stories, long stories, you want it, it’s probably here. 
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Dead Moon. London: Faber and Faber, 1982. ISBN: 0-571-13879-9
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This is a collection of folktales from East Anglia and the Fen Country. They're written for children, but that just makes them easier to adapt to telling. They tales have the same otherworldly eeriness often found in Welsh or old Celtic tales, and Kevin Crossley-Holland does his usual splendid job at retelling the tales.
Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of the Kings of Britain. Translated by Lewis Thorpe. London: Penguin Books, 1966. ISBN: 0-14-044170-0.
Difficulty level: 4
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Not the same book. google books for any device/program. Not free. Not the same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not the same book.
Description:
This 'History' is more of a collection of legends than what we would call a history, but it contains the first actual story of King Arthur (most other period Arthurian tales can be traced back to Geoffrey) as well as other legendary figures such as King Lear. An excellent insight into what the Britons of the 12th century thought of the history of their country. The translator gives a good introduction to both Geoffrey and his work.
Reeves, James. English Fables and Fairy Tales. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989 ISBN: 0-19-274137-3.
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: no
Ebook: Not available.
Description:
Here you can find several old favorites, such as Dick Whittington, Tom Thumb, and Jack & the Beanstalk; as well as some more obscure but equally good tales. This book may be out of print.

French Stories
Einhard and the Monk of Saint Gall. Two Lives of Charlemagne. Edited by A. J. Grant. Lawrence, Kansas: Digireads.com Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 1-4209-3811-8
Difficulty level: 5 for Einhard, 3 for the Monk of St. Gall
Source type: Translation of period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not same book. booksamillion.com for any device/program able to read ePub format. I think. Not free. Not same book. google books for any device/program. Not free. Same book.
Description:
The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard or Eginhard is short, brisk, and to the point. No stories there. On the other hand, The Life of Charlemagne by the Monk of St. Gall has a good number of little nuggets of stories that simply need a little fleshing out.
Joinville and Villehardoiun, The Chronicles of the Crusades. Translated by M.R.B Shaw. New York: Penguin Books, 1963. ISBN: 0-14-04-4124-7
Difficulty level: 5 for Villehardoiun, 4 for Joinville
Source type: Translation of period sources
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Free, not the same book. Not free, the same book.
Description:
Here we have two histories of the crusades: one of the 4th crusade, which sacked Constantinople; and the 7th crusade, which only fortified the remaining cities under Christian rule. Neither crusade ever reached Jerusalem. 
The first one is called The Conquest of Constantinople, written by Geoffry of Villehardouin. It is a simple recitation of facts, and I have given it a difficulty level of 5 for that reason. If you can put your own flesh on the bare bones Villehardouin gives you, you might be able to get a story out of it. It ends rather suddenly, presumably due to the author’s death.
The second one is called The Crusade of St. Louis, written by Jean Joinvile. It’s chattier and has more flesh on it than Villehardouin’s account, but still not easy to pull stories out of. If you are looking for battle stories, the second account might be a good place to start.
Owen, D. D. R., trans. The Romance of Reynard the Fox. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. ISBN: 0-19-282801-0.
Difficulty level: 2
Source type:Translation of a period source
Source cited:yes
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Free. Only one chapter.
Description:
This is a beast epic, with talking animals mimicking human society. But there are still humans out there, and they all have it in for the animals. The book contains “the principle episodes of Roman de Renart”, so some of the original is missing in this translation. While there are still plenty of stories here, the plots are almost all the same: Reynard plays a trick to get some animal in a tight spot, the animal is beaten soundly by peasants and barely gets away with its life. In my opinion, this limits its usefulness. Still, a good place for beginners to start, and you can get several stories out of it - more, if you’re willing to embellish.
German Stories
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhem Grimm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Translated by Jack Zipes. New York: Bantam Books, 1992. ISBN: 0-553-37101-0.
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type: ‘Medievalish’ folktales
Sources cited: Yes
Ebook: google books for any device/program. Free. Cleaned up for grades 1-3. Not the same book. Google books also has The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Not free. Not the same book. gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Selected tales, not the same book.
Description:
This is the source for most of our modern fairy tales - the Brothers Grimm. Here you’ll find Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Puss in Boots, Little Red Cap, and so on for a total of 250 stories. The translator, Zipes, has an excellent introduction on Jacob and Wilhem Grimm as well as notes on his translations. And this book is only part of the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm - the folktales are not included in this book. Be warned - even though the Grimms cleaned up the tales, this is still not the Disney version.

Greco-Roman Stories
Russell, Dr. William F. Classic Myths to Read Aloud. New York: Crown Publishers, 1989. ISBN: 0-517-58837-4.
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: Retelling very loosely based on period sources
Sources cited: no
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book.
Description:
A selection of Greek and Roman myths to read aloud to children. The author assumes no knowledge of the myths, and so explains who everyone is and gives the background for each story. The author has avoided the temptation to clean the stories up for children, so they are fairly true to the originals - just more simply written. However, it is very difficult to say how far removed his sources are from the originals. 
Ovid, The Metamorphoses. Translated by Horace Gregory. New York: New American Library, 1958. ISBN: 0-451-62622-2
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
This is the first attempt to  link all the Greek myths to the Roman myths of Ovids day. And so there are *many* myths, all in verse. He starts with Chaos and Creation, and moves through many a familiar story - Orpheus and Eurydice, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Arachne’s transformation into a spider, short versions of the Trojan War and the travels of Ulysses, and so on. The stories only need a little work to pluck them out of the poem.
Icelandic Stories
Simpson, Jacqueline trans. The Northmen Talk. London: Phoenix House, 1965.
Difficulty level: 4
Source type: Translation based on period sources
Sources cited: yes, for each story
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Tales from Iceland, complete with an introduction to medieval Iceland and its literature. Tales include Norse myths, biographies, realistic tales, fantastic tales, ballads (without music, alas) and - tales about poets and storytellers!
Anonymous, Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Stories. Translated by Hermann Palsson. New York: Penguin Books, 1970. ISBN: 0-14-044-283-3
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: Translation of period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook:amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book.
Description:
Fear not, even though these are called sagas, the entire book is only 137 pages long and contains seven stories. I don’t think any of the “sagas” in here contain worthwhile sub-stories, but some of them are short enough to tell in their entirety, and the longer ones can be cut down easily.
Irish Stories
Gantz, Jeffrey trans. Early Irish Myths and Sagas. New York: Penguin Books: 1984. ISBN: 0-14 044397-5
Difficulty level: 3 and 5
Source type: Translation of period sources
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Most of the stories are long and involved enough to deserve a rating of 5, but a couple are very short, and so are rated at 3. 
This is a sampler of Early Irish literature. The book has a good introduction which describes early Irish literature, and an excellent bibliography for those who want to know more.
Heaney, Marie. Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends. London: Faber and Faber Ltd.: 1994. ISBN: 0-571-17518-X
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: Translation of period sources
Sources cited: yes, for each tale
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This book is a treasure-trove for the storyteller interested in Celtic legends. The author includes well-known tales from three of the four main cycles of early Irish literature: the Mythological Cycle (which tells of the Tuatha De Danaan), the Ulster Cycle (which tells of the exploits of the Red Branch and CuChulainn), and the Fenian Cycle (which tells of Finn Mac Cumhaill). The stories are well-written, and she even has a pronunciation guide, and a bibliography for those interested in further reading.
Yeats, W.B. and Lady Gregory. A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore. New York: Avenel Books, 1986. ISBN: 0-517-48904-X
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales, Other (19th century stories and poems), Retelling and translation of period sources
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry: gutenberg.org. Free. Not same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not the same book.
Ebook: CuChulainn of Muirthemne: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Not the same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not the same book.
Description:
This is actually two books in one: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, edited by Yeats, and CuChulainn of Muirthemne, translated and retold by Lady Gregory. Yeats' Fairy and Folk Tales are, at best, medievalish folktales - they may all be 19th century literary stories; it's hard to tell. Lady Gregory's CuChulainn is certainly a retelling and translation of period sources, but it's hard to tell how faithful she has been to the originals. Both are written in easy-to-understand English, and so are easy to read. I find Lady Gregory's CuChulainn to be the more interesting of the two, and would find it even more interesting if there were a more thorough introduction explaining the background of the piece. A good book, but it shouldn't be your only one if you're seriously interested in Irish literature.

Italian Stories
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. Translated by George Martin. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and Company: 1980, ISBN: 0-15-645489-0
Difficulty level: 2-4
Source type: ‘Medievalish’ Folktales.
Sources cited: yes, but they’re all in Italian
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book.
Description:
Italo Calvino was emulating the Brothers Grimm - only he went back to books where the Grimms went to the people. Like the Grimms, however, he re-wrote his tales, and like the Grimms’ book mentioned earlier, this is a translation. These folktales are much lighter and sunnier than Grimm’s, and also sometimes racier, since they were written with an adult audience in mind. The author has an excellent introduction describing both how he went about his work and the nature of Italian folktales in general. 
Polo, Marco and Rustichello of Pisa. The Travels of Marco Polo. Translated by Henry Yule and Henri Cordier. Mineola, NewYork: Dover Publications, 1993(?). ISBN: 0-486-27586-8
Difficulty level: 4
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Same book. amazon.com for Kindle. Free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not Free. Both same books and different books.
Description:
It’s a travelogue. The world’s most famous travelogue, but still just a travelogue. Great background for stories, interesting reading, but not a very good source. I found a few stories, none of them very interesting to me. But I freely admit I only read Volume I of the book. If you do pick up this edition and notice how thick  it is, don’t worry - 90-95% of it is notes. For instance, the actual book doesn’t start until page 275 in the ebook version.
Japanese Stories
Edmonds, I. G. The Case of the Marble Monster and Other Stories. New York: Scholastic Book Service, 1966.
 Difficulty level: 1-2
Source type: 'Medievalish' Folktales
Sources cited: no
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Tales from Japan about the wise Judge O-oka, who always handed down justice - even if he had to bend the law a little to do it. Great for those interested in Japanese tales. However, this book is out of print and hard to find at a reasonable price. It originally appeared under the title O-oka the Wise.

Jewish Stories
Schwartz, Howard. Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-19-533565-1
Difficulty level: 3-4
Source type: ‘Medievalish’  folktales, retellings based on period sources
Sources cited: Yes
Ebook: google books for any program/device. Not free. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free.
Description:
An excellent book for anyone interested in Jewish folktales. The compiler/reteller gives both sources and commentary for every story. Many of these tales are rather long, and those rate the difficulty level of 4. If you don’t want to tell stories with any religious overtones, there are still some stories here for you. 
Norse and Norwegian Stories
Asbjornsen, Peter and Jorgen Moe, East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. Translated by Sir George Webbe. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1970. ISBN: 0-486-22521-6.
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book. amazon.com for Kindle. Free. Same book. gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Same book, different name - Popular Tales from the Norse.
Description:
This is a translation of the Norwegian folktales collected by Asbjornsen and Moe, the Norwegian equivalents of the Brothers Grimm. The stories are only a few steps removed from their oral forms, so they're relatively easy to get back into tellable form, and the collection has as many heroines as heroes. Make sure you get the right book; there are many books with the same name.
Byock, Jesse L. trans. The Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. Berkley, California: University of California Press, 1990. ISBN: 0-520-06904-8.
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
This contains the story of Sigurd and Fafnir the dragon which deeply affected J.R.R. Tolkien as a child. If anything, the trouble I personally have with this version (the Nibelungenlied is another version) is that the stories are too sparse. I find myself having to add stuff instead of subtract. These stories are related to those used by Wagner in his Ring cycle operas.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths. New York, Pantheon Books: 1980. ISBN: 0-394-74846-8
Difficulty level: 2
Source type: Translation and retelling based on period sources
Sources cited: yes, both for the book as a whole and each myth in particular
Ebook: Not available
Description:
An excellent book on the Norse myths. The author recreates a sense of the language as well as the contents of the myths. The introduction discusses the Norse view of the world as well as the Norse view of their gods. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about and/or telling Norse myths. This is one of my personal favorites.
Russian
Guterman, Norbert, trans. Russian Fairy Tales Collected by Aleksandr Afanas’ev. New York: Pantheon Books, 1973. ISBN: 0-394-73090-9
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Source cited: no
Ebook: Not available
Description:
This book contains more than 150 tales, some a few paragraphs, most  2-4 pages, and some longer than that. They were collected by Aleksandr Afanas’ev, the Russian equivalent of the Brothers Grimm. Thus many of them are close to the told version, with very little literary description and persiflage. While there are no sources cited, the book does contain an article “On Russian Fairy Tales” which is somewhat informative.
Spanish
Hamilton, Rita, and Perry, Janet, trans. The Poem of the Cid. London: Penguin Books, 1984. ISBN: 0-14-044446-7.
Difficulty level: 2-3
Source type:Translation of a period source
Source cited:yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
This is the epic poem of Spain, just as Beowulf is the epic poem of England. There are a great many words spent describing booty and finery which should be left out of a story told to a modern audience. There are two types of stories here - the battle stories, and the story of how El Cid’s first set of son-in-laws abandoned their wives in the woods and what El Cid did about it. So this is not a very rich source for stories.
Welsh Stories
Gantz, Jeffrey, trans. The Mabinogion. Middlesex: Penguin Classics, 1984. ISBN: 0-14-044322-3.
Difficulty level: 5
Source type: Translation of a period source
Sources cited: no
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description:
I include this book more as a source of Welsh "mood", motifs, phrases, and word-pictures  than as a source of stories because the stories tend to be so fragmentary. If you're interested in telling Welsh or Celtic stories and telling them well, you eventually have to read this book. The introduction also includes a bibliography, but I believe it is meant for those who are interested in reading more, not as a citation of sources.
Pugh, Ellen. More Tales from the Welsh Hills. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1971. ISBN: 0-396-06294-6.
Difficulty level: 3
Source type: 'Medievalish' folktales
Sources cited: no
Ebook: Not available
Description:
A good book for those interested in telling Welsh stories. There's a wide variety, including the mystic otherworldly stories that seem so peculiar to the Welsh.

Other Useful Resources
Publishers of storytelling books:
August House Publishers Inc. 
3500 Piedmont Road, NE
Suite 310
Atlanta, GA 30305  
1-800-284-8784
www.augusthouse.com

Storytelling Organizations:
National Storytelling Network (formerly NSA, formerly NAPPS)
PO Box 795
Jonesborough TN 37659
 1-800-525-4514
www.storynet.org

Websites
www.pitt.edu/~dash/ashliman.html (Changed as of 6/2013)
A virtual library of folktales that you can download and print out.

www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/liststorytelma.html
An Internet hotlist on storytelling. MANY links to various resources, including festivals, organizations, and stories. No longer available as of July 2016

www.storyteller.net
Another interesting website of resources, including articles and news.

www.florilegium.org/
Stefan’s Florilegium, a collection of files that Stefan has assembled on the SCA. There are many useful files under the “Performance Arts” section. As of this writing (July, 2016) he has the previous version of this article, which does not contain the section on dealing with stage fright.
Personal notes: would like to add the following to the bibliography.
Sturluson, Snorri, Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Lee M. Hollander. Austin: University of Texas press, 1995. ISBN: 0-292-73061-6 
Difficulty level: 
Source type:Translation of a period source
Source cited:yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not the same book.
Description: 
Tyler, Royall,  ed. and trans. Japanese Tales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN: 0-375-71451-0
Difficulty level: 
Source type:Translation of period sources
Source cited:yes
Ebook: barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Same book. amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book.
Description:
Anonymous, Lancelot of the Lake. Translated by Corin Corley. Oxford, England: Clays Ltd, 1989. ISBN: 978-0-19-054966-5
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:

Gerald of Wales. The History and Topography of Ireland. Translated by John O’Meara. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. ISBN: 0-14-044423-8
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Free. Not same book. 
Description:
Asser and others. Alfred the Great: Asser’s Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources. Translated by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. New York: Penguin Books, 1983. ISBN: 0-14-044-409-2
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited: yes
Ebook:amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Same book.
Description:
Jones, Charles W. editor. Medieval Literature in Translation. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1978. ISBN 0-486-41581-3.
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: google books. Not free. Same book.
Description:
Anonymous. The Tain: from the Irish Epic Tain Bo Cuailinge. Translated by Thomas Kinsella. Oxford, England: MacKays PLC, 1969. ISBN: 0-19-281090
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of a source before our period
Source cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org. Free. Not same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not same book.
Description:
Gruber, H. A. editor. Middle Ages Myths and Legends. London: Senate,1994. ISBN: 1-85958-012-2
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:

Sturlson, Snorri. The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology. Translated by Jean I. Young. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954. ISBN: None given
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited: yes
Ebook: gutenberg.org for any device/program. Free. Not same book. google books for any device/program. Free. Not same book. amazon.com for Kindle. Not free. Not same book. barnesandnoble.com for Nook. Not free. Not same book.
Description:
de Troyes, Chretien and others. Perceval: The Story of the Grail. Translated by Nigel Bryant. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: D.S. Brewer, 1982. ISBN: 0-85991224-8.
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: Not available.
Description: 
A word of explanation first: Chretien de Troyes started a poem called Perceval: The Story of the Grail, and had the bad taste to die before finishing it. But other medieval poets simply couldn’t leave it alone. Four other authors completed the romance. The works of the other authors are called the Continuations. This book contains both Chretien’s work and all of the Continuations in a reasonable order. The ad for this book says it’s the only book in English to contain all of this material, so be careful when shopping. I’ve found other books of the same name that contain only Chretien’s work.
Hahn, Thomas, editor. Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995. ISBN: 1-879288-59-1. 
Difficulty level:
Source type: Period sources
Source cited: yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
These stories are actually in Middle English, but don’t worry - they’re written for people who are trying to learn Middle English, so weird words are translated and there are lots of notes to help you out. If you have trouble, reading it aloud can help.
Lacy, Norris J., editor. The Lancelot-Grail Reader. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 2000. ISBN 0-8135-3419-2
Difficulty level:
Source Type: Translation of period source
Source cited: Yes
Ebook: Not available
Description:
Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks. Translated by Lewis Thorpe. Middlesex, England: Penguin Classics, 1974. ISBN 0-14-044-295-2
Difficulty level:
Source type: Translation of a period source
Source cited:
Ebook:
Description:
Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone, translator and editor. A Celtic Miscellany. Middlesex, England: Penguin Classics, 1971. ISBN 0-14-044272-2
Difficulty level: 
Source type: Translations of period sources
Sources cited:
Ebook:
Description: