C is for Chic and Awe (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

"Chic and Awe" is the name for this motif used on the TV Tropes website, and it was too fun to pass up. It is the kind of trope where someone assumes that someone else is horrible / unattractive, and then the person walks in and turns out to be amazing. And obviously it results in a love story.

(Image is a reference to this scene)

THE FOLKLORE

Folklore is often criticized for emphasizing physical beauty. Whether or not a character is beautiful or not is a cardinal point in a lot of stories. And there are some, indeed, where someone is assumed to be unattractive, and turns out to be... not that.

THE STORIES

The farmer and the barber (Folktale from India)

Two friends, a farmer and a barber, are about to be married. The barber visits his own bride who turns out to be unattractive, and only offers him spinach for lunch. He then visits his friend's bride out of curiosity, and finds that she is pretty, and also offers great food. Out of jealousy, the barber runs to his friend and tells him "your bride is awful and only cooks spinach". Out of disappointment, the farmer then decides to blindfold himself for the wedding, and refuses to take a look at his wife or eat her food.

Soon after, the farmer and the barber are playing a gambling game in their garden, when the farmer's spurned wife decides to pay a visit. She pretends to be a guest, and immediately enchants her unwitting husband. He keeps inviting her back to play gambling games, and she keeps winning. After the games, he always goes home and puts on the blindfold again, none the wiser. The wife eventually hides all the things she had won from her husband inside pastries. When he opens them, he realizes that the mysterious beauty had been his own wife all along, and runs home to her. Thus discovering the barber's deception, they can now live happily.

Quamar Al-Zamaan and Shams Al-Dunya (Lebanese folktale)

Two kings engage their children when they are born. The boy and the girl are raised together until age then, when they are spearated according to custom. Even though the girl grows up to be perfect, her thirteen jealous cousins plot to destroy her impending marriage to the handsome prince. When the prince is on his way to the wedding, they orchestrate a situation where he can "overhear" them chatting, lamenting how the bride grew up to be disgusting and awful. The prince, shocked, flees from his wedding, and hides in the gardens of the summer palace.

The bride, suspecting what happends, decides to get her groom back. She visits the garden disguised as a guest, and manages to enchant the reclusive prince. He falls in love with her, and wants to marry her instead of is "ugly bride". Eventually his mother arranges a meeting with said bride - and the prince realizes the two are the same person.

(Sadly, there is no happy ending for this story; after years of happy marriage, the prince loses his wife, and goes through a long story of grief.)

Soqak Boqak! (Palestinian folktale)

A very smiliar story to the two above: a prince is to marry a peasant girl, and his spurned royal brides conspire to give him a false account of her looks. The groom hides in an orchard, and the bride decides (with the in-laws' help) to get him back. She digs a tunnel to the orchard and appears there, enchants the gardener, and tears up plants. The prince wants to know who the mysterious visitor is, and obviously they fall in love. Eventually, she reveals that she has been his bride all along.

Kinan Kinan (Haitian folktale)

A bit of a twist on the story: a prince doesn't want to marry, but his father orders him to. He rejects every girl that shows up to visit him, solely based on his servant calling out how pretty they are. When a dirty peasant girl wanders that way, he servant calls out how disgusting she is - and the prince decides to marry her. Once she is cleaned up, she surprises everyone by actually being very pretty, and the prince happily marries her. (This is also a Makeover, obviously, which is a whole other related trope.)

The marriage of Kudim-Os (Permyak legend)

The young chief Kudim-Os wants to build a fortress on top of a sacred hill. The shaman of the hill tries to distract him from his plan, and spreads a rumor that a Votyak chief has the most beautiful daughter in the world. In fact, the daughter is said to be so horrendous that her father keeps her locked away, killing all suitors - but the rumor mill works, and Kudim-Os sets out to win her as a wife. When he arrives, his companion visits the girl's tent first, but her horrible monster face scares him. Next, Kudim-Os enters... and despite the face, he sees something in her eyes. When she sees that he is not retreating, the girl reveals that the monster face is only a mask - her mother's idea to discover which suitor would see past appearances.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

B is for Best Friend's Girlfriend (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Best friend's girlfriend (boyfriend) is pretty self-explanatory: it's about a protagonist who falls for the love interest of their best friend. The excitement, as far as I can tell, comes from the tension between love and loyalty. Or finding out that the person you thought was right for you is actually not the one you are with.

THE FOLKLORE

Technically, I guess, a lot of famous stories would fall under this trope: Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, Sigurd and Brünhilde, Herburt and Hild - since the younger knight that seduces the princess is usually a close friend / loyal companion of the king. But I wanted to go in a different direction with today's post.

THE STORIES

Kelea, the surf-rider (Legend from Hawaii)

This story features a princess from Maui named Kelea who loves to surf. To her royal brother's exasperation, she doesn't show any interest in marriage, claiming that she prefers her surf-board as her husband. Lolale, a chief from Oahu, is looking for a bride - her previous bried drowned, so he abhors the sea. (Obviously this is not a great match at first look). Lolale sends out his cousin and confidant Kalamakua to find a suitable wife for him. Kalamakua makes a daring promise that if the bride he finds won't suit Lolale, then he will marry her himself. Eventually he ends up in Maui and selects Kelea as a bride - impressing her with his maritime skills. Kelea and Lolale marry, but their marriage flounders, given that she loves to spend time on the beach surfing, and he hates the water. Eventually, everyone recognizes that Kelea is a much better match to Kalamakua, and the two fall in love. Lolale lets Kelea go, and she marries Kalamakua, living (and surfing) happily ever after.

Huryo and Kabacalaf (Somali folktale)

A girl called Huryo ("Ugly") elopes with a young man, because her parents don't approve of the marriage. They are accompanied by the groom's best friend, Kabacalaf, who is helping them on the way. Huryo decides to test the intelligence of her groom. She keeps making curious comments that he doesn't get, and Kabacalaf keeps explaining to his friend what the bride means. When they arrive to the priest, Huryo refuses to marry the groom, and chooses the clever best friend instead. Even after they are married, they play good-natured tricks on each other.

Hiiaka and Lohiau (Legend from Hawaii)

More of a "sister's boyfriend" situation. One of the most well known Hawaiian legends, an entire epic in itself. The volcano goddess Pele falls in love with a mortal man named Lohiau while she visits him in spirit. Once she wakes up from the spirit journey she sends her sister Hiiaka to fetch him (in other versions she gets bored of him, but then wants him back). Hiiaka goes on an epic adventure, defeating monsters and saving people, and brings Lohiau back. However, Pele in her impatience decides Hiiaka must have cheated her, and burns her gardens and her lover in her absence. There are different versions of the story, but in some, Hiiaka and Lohiau fall in love on the way back, or fall in love after Pele's rage. Either way, Hiiaka brings the man back to life, and they end up living together. 

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

What do you think of the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

A is for Arranged Marriage (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Arranged Marriage in romance means a story where the protagonists are married before they fall in love (or even meet). They usually do end up falling in love, in a "slow burn" way, as they get to know each other. Forced marriage (where one party is forced into the marriage, rather than being an even match) is a subset of this trope.

(Yes, I am learning these as I go along.)

THE FOLKLORE

This one might seem like a low hanging fruit for folklore, since for centuries arranged marriage was the norm, rather than the exception. Traditional tales are teeming with princesses being doled out by their parents willy-nilly. But I was trying to aim higher, looking for stories where love and romance are an important component within the arranged marriage story.

THE STORIES

The pasha's daughter (Arab folktale)

This story begins with a pasha who has a clever and brave daughter, Uns-ul-Juloos. She refuses to marry anyone she does not love. When she rejects a very high profile suitor, her father grows furious, and decides to teach her a lesson by marrying her to the most wretched person in the city. His servants dig up a drunk, dirty and poor man, and Uns-ul-Juloos is married to him immediately. However, even when she is moved from palace to dingy hovel, she doesn't despair. She soon learns that her husband is actually a kind person, and he grows to love her so much that he puts in the effort to give her a good life. They slowly grow to love each other and build a life together. Then one day he takes a job traveling with a caravan, and encounters a jinn who grants him some magic pomegranates. With the use of the fruit, Uns-ul-Juloos and her husband become wealthy, and manage to prove to the pasha that a good relationship with a good person is much better than a rich suitor would have been.

Sultan Hasan (Egyptian folktale)

A sultan has to go into exile and live in disguise to avoid a family curse. On his travels, he encounters a man who keeps abusing his wife, divorcing and re-marrying her again and again. Eventually, by law, she has to be married to someone else before he can have her again. So they arrange for her to marry some random beggar for one day only. The beggar happens to be the sultan in disguise - and the woman decides that he is a much better husband. They refuse to divorce after the one day is up.

Mongan and Dubh-Lacha (Irish legend)

Mongan is an Irish hero born to Manannan Mac Lir, lord of the Land of Promise, and a mortal woman. The woman's husband, Fiachna the Fair, offers his wife to Manannan in exchange for the deity saving him in a battle against venomous sheep (yes, really). When the child of this one-night stand is born, Manannan takes the baby away to be raised in his world. But before that, baby Mongan is engaged to the daughter of Fiachna the Fair's co-king, Fiachna the Black. While Mongan is away, Fiachna the Balck kills Fiachna the Fair, and takes over the kingdom. When sixteen-year-old Prince Mongan returns by popular demand, he makes peace with his (foster) father's killer, and marries his daughter Dubh-Lacha (Black Duck). So, this is not only an arranged marriage, but also a political union between enemies. Mongan eventually does kill Fiachna the Black, and becomes sole king.

Despite this fact, Mongan and Dubh-Lacha prove to be a fitting couple. Later on, Mongan makes a mistake, promising his friend the King of Leinster "whatever he wishes for" in his kingdom. The king demands Dubh-Lacha, and to preserve his honor, Mongan has to give her up. However, he soon decides to use his magic powers (earned in the Land of Promise) to get her back. With his foster brother Mac An Daimh at his side (who is married to Dubh-Lacha's foster sister), he sets out, and goes through a series of tricks and adventures until he rescues his wife. And to prove that she is very happy with this development, and one point he disguises himself as a priest just to take her confession - which promptly turns into sex.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Can you see these folktale versions as blurbs for novels?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!

Happy A to Z!

The 2024 A to Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

 

Oh crap, the A to Z Blogging Challenge is approaching again! I almost ran out of time for this theme reveal.

This is my 12th year participating. Even when I am scrambling for time and attention span, I really love being part of the A to Z community. And I enjoy the challenge itself. In the past 11 years I've always had a theme:

Weird Princesses (2013)
Tales with Colors (2014)
Epics A to Z (2015)
Diversity A to Z (2016)
WTF - Weird Things in Folktales (2017)
WTF Hungary - Weird Things in Hungarian Folktales (2018)
Fruit Folktales (2019)
Folktales of Endangered Species (2020)
Tarot Tales (2021)
Gemstone Folklore (2022)
Body Folktales (2023)

I think this year (maybe due to being a new mom) it was especially, wildly difficult for me to settle on a theme. I made lists. Lots of lists. I always do "Mythology and Folklore" topics, as you see above, but I just didn't feel inspired by any of the ideas. 

I considered folktales about

- Emotions (I actually wrote 3 posts for this one and then got bored)

- Constellations (I am slowly assembling this one but it's not ready yet)

- Trees (Takes more research than I have time for)

- Natural disasters (Felt too depressing)

- Queer identities (Couldn't quite fill all the letters AND find tales for them)

- StorySpotting (Didn't want this to make watching TV feel like a chore)

- Music (Didn't wanna argue about interpreting songs)

I was about ready to give up trying to get inspired. I polled people on Mastodon and Facebook. I talked to blogger friends. Everyone had opinions on which ones would be fun to read... but nothing sat quite right. And then, finally, I remembered last year's big takeaway:

WHEN IN DOUBT, GO WITH THE IDEA THAT IS JUST DUMB FUN.

I don't need this blog series to be useful. Or neat. Or meaningful.

I just want it to be fun to research, and fun to share.

And then, finally, inspiration struck.

So, without further ado, let me present to you my theme for the 2024 April A to Z Blogging Challenge:

ROMANCE TROPES IN FOLKLORE!

A bit of context:

I don't read a lot of romance. It's not really my genre. I do appreciate romantic plots, but usually incorporated into other, larger stories. And romance tropes often feature into role-paying games, which I play and also extensively researched.

Also, I love discussing romance tropes with fellow writers and gamers. And spotting them in movies and TV shows. And I recently had a discussion with a folklorist friend about how romance clichés are not all that different from folktale motifs: they pop up again and again because people just enjoy them. We can argue till the cows come home about whether a romance trope is hurtful or elegant or overdone or cringe. But in the end, folktales are highly formulaic too, and no one accuses them of being unoriginal.

So, here is my own challenge this year: I am going to look up popular romance (novel, movie, game, etc.) tropes, and find folktales that match them. That's it.

Are you participating this year? 

Are you doing a theme reveal? 

Leave a link in your comments so I can visit back!

Folktales about women who save themselves (International Women's Day)

It's International Women's Day again, and it has become tradition for me to post a list of folktales on this day. In previous years I have done lists of women who slay monsters, women in war, woman healers, women helping women, and badass grandmas.

Strange Craft by Josephine Wall

This year, today also marks the premiere of the much-anticipated Damsel movie. The whole media hype about "this is not a fairy tale" and "this princess saves herself" just rubs me the wrong way - once again, major outlets are making the sweeping assumption that in folktales, these things don't happen. Since I have already posted last year about women who slay dragons, this year I wanted to make a list of folktales where women save themselves. With or without a sword.

Links in the titles, as usual.

Old Rinkrank (Grimm)

A princess tries to help her beloved prince complete an imposisble task, and she ends up being swallowed up by the Glass Mountain, trapped by a gnome named Old Rinkrank. She grows old waiting for the prince to rescue her - when nothing happens, she comes up with a plan to break free and save herself.

The ring (Spain)

A female "Odysseus and the Cyclops" story. A girl is captured by a one-eyed giant, and escapes the same way Odysseus did. When the giant's ring gets stuck on her finger and keeps calling out to the giant, the girl cuts off her own finger and tosses it into a river, successfully getting away. The blind giant, following the ring's call, drowns.

The old woman who lost her dumplings (Japan)

A funny old woman drops a rice dumpling, and it rolls into a hole in the ground. She follows, and plummets into the underworld. She encounters a group of fearsome oni monsters who capture her and make her cook for them. Eventually she runs away. When the oni pursue her, she deters them by flashing them and making them laugh.

The three sisters (Georgia)

This is a classic "golden haired children" folktale, but I enjoy the beginning: three sisters fall into a pit, and are abandoned by their father. The two oldest want to eat the youngest girl, but she prays so fervently that her hands turn into a shovel and a pickaxe, and she literally digs her way out of the hole into freedom.

The legend of the Rosstrappe (Harz Mountains)

The beautiful princess Brünhilda is promised to a giant by her father. She comes up with a plan of escape: she secretly learns to ride one of the giant's terrible horses, and escapes on horseback the night before the wedding. The giant pursues her, but when she jumps the horse across a wide valley, the giant can't follow her, and he crashes to his death.

Mr. Fox and Molly Cottontail (African-American)

Molly Cottontail is a trickster rabbit, the female equivalent of Br'er Rabbit. When Mr. Fox pretends to be dead, and organizes his own funeral, to lure Molly out of hiding, Molly appears at the funeral and steals the show. She manages to uncover the deception, and gets away scot free.

Rübezahl (Giant Mountains)

Rübezahl, the gnome king of the mountains, kidnaps a princess and keeps her captive in his underground realm. She first figures out a way to stall the wedding, and then to send messages to her beloved prince above. Finally, she tricks the gnome into counting turnips in a field, long enough for her to saddle a horse and ride away to safety.

The tortoise husband (Italy)

A mysterious man courts three sisters, but the two older girls reject him because he is only ever seen at night. The youngest agrees to the marriage, and finds out her husband is under a spell: he is a tortoise during the day, and a man at night. He has to travel around the world to break the spell. She stays home to wait for him. In the meantime, three men keep trying to seduce her. She uses her wits, and a bit of magic, to give them their comeuppance.

Sister Lace (Miao people)

I mentioned it recently, but it's worth repeating. A girl is famous for making lace that she can even bring to life. When an evil emperor kidnaps her and forces her to create fantastic creatures, she eventually makes a dragon out of lace, and uses it to break out of captivity. 

The pirate princess (Jewish)

A princess is separated from her beloved and kidnapped by a merchant. She manages to save herself... and then does it two more times, once by getting a bunch of pirates drunk and sailing away with an all-female crew. Finally she becomes a king (disguised as a man) and finds her true love again.

Eternal friendship (Taiwan)

This story mostly revolves around the friendship of two men, but at one point we encounter a girl who climbs out of a window to run away with her lover. The lover, however, doesn't show. She decides to leave her home anyway, and go see the world in the company of one of the protagonists.

The ghouleh of Trans-Jordan (Palestine)

A ghoul tricks a man into thinking she is his aunt. Even when his wife and daughter warn him, the man refuses to see the truth, and is eventually devoured by the monster. When the ghoul comes for the women, mother and daughter find a way to kill it.

The three little eggs (Eswatini)

A woman leaves her abusive husband, taking her two childen with her. She even defeats some monsters along the way, and finally becomes a queen.

Thabaton (India)

A girl is left home alone by her seven brothers. An old woman gives her up to a demon, and the demon kidnaps her, keeping her captive for years. Her brothers eventually return and find her, but they can't seem to rescue her. Instead, Thabaton comes up with a plan to save herself, and take revenge on the monster and the old woman.

The canary prince (Italy)

A girl is locked in a tower, but falls in love with a prince who can visit her in the form of a canary. The princess' evil stepmother wounds the canary, and it never returns. The princess makes rope out of her bedding and escpaes from the tower to go cure the prince.

The girl and the wolves (Hungary)

This is a variant of Little Red Riding Hood, with a different ending. A girl first scalds the wolf with water, and then finds a way to outwit a whole pack of them in a very painful way. After that, they leave her alone.

The clever maiden and the robbers 

This is an entire folktale type, ATU 956B. A girl is alone at home when 12 (or 13) robbers try to sneak into her house. She quickly and mercilessly kills all of them, except their leader, whom she wounds. He later returns in disguise and asks for her hand in marriage. Eventually the girl recognizes who her suitor is, and finds a way to escape, and have the robber (and his new companions) arrested and executed.

Honestly, I could keep going, but I used up a lot of stories about women saving themselves in the previous years' posts (especially where they also slay monsters), and I don't want to repeat myself. Look them up through the links at the top if you are curious!

StorySpotting: The goddess under the ice (True Detective: Night Country)

 StorySpotting is a series about folktales, tropes, references, and story motifs that pop up in popular media, from TV shows to video games. Topics are random, depending on what I have watched/played/read recently. Also, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Be warned!

I don't usually post about shows where the entire story is based on folklore, but this season of True Detective was just too well done.

Where was the story spotted?

True Detective: Night Country (Season 4)

What happens?

When the entire crew of an arctic research station disappears at the start of the weeks-long winter night, two (personally messed up, as per usual for TD) detectives start trying to solve the case. The plot is intertwined with Indigenous tradition, identity, and relationships with the white residents of the town. There is a distinct supernatural tint to this season: people seeing (and getting clues from) spirits and ghosts, traditions being carried of questioned, and an open-ended season finale that leaves room for explanations that are not tangible.

Early on, the young son of one of the policemen in town is seen drawing a gory picture (below). When his (white) father is taken aback by this, his Indigenous mother argues that he should "know his own culture." It has been confirmed by showrunners that the image is that of the goddess most often referred to as Sedna. The rest of the show has many more moments that reference her myth and her character, although she is never mentioned by name (only as She). The plot is also - loosely - based on her story, if you look close enough.

What's the story?

The earliest published records of this story can be found in Franz Boas' book on Inuit culture (1903), and Knud Rasmussen's books on the Thule Expeditions in the first decades of the 20th century. They collected a lot of information on Inuit folklore and mythology - stories among them. For example, Rasmussen writes that the most powerful spirit in Netsilik tradition was named Nuliajuk, mistress of land and sea and the mother of animals. Boas records her name as Sedna.

So here are some of the elements of this mythology that make a appearance in the show:

- The goddess can make hunting bountiful, or can make animals disappear (In the first scene of the season, we see reindeer fleeing into the abyss from a hunter.)

- She used to be a mortal woman who was thrown overboard into the sea, and people (or her own father) cut her fingers off when she clung to the kayak. Her fingers turned into seals and other sea creatures, and she sank to the bottom of the ocean, becoming a powerful spirit. In some versions, one of her eyes is also knocked out. (See drawing above. I would also argue that the missing eye of a witness, and the missing fingers of the killer who is finally revealed are also an homage to Sedna.)

- She has a house made of whale bones at the bottom of the sea (The ice cave the detectives finally locate has frozen whale bones in the walls.)

- She can summon blizzards (A blizzard, and other freak weather events, play an important role in the show)

- She is especially dangerous, with a lot of taboo directed at her, during the dark time of the year (Which is when the show takes place.)

- When people don't observe taboo, or disrespect nature, she is angered, and she hides the animals. These times, shamans have to descend into her realm to placate her, by combing all the filth out of her hair. (Many people in the show literally descent under the ice, and have various visions and journeys, trying to solve the case that seems like the result of her wrath over the pollution of the local mines.)

- In connection to the above, one source mentions that the "pollution" that offends the goddess is designated with the same word that is used for stillborn children. (In the show, it is specifically mentioned that several children had died due to the pollution from the mines.)

- She also rules over the underworld, where people's spirits go after they die, at least for a while. (Many deceased people make an appearance in the show, talking to various living relatives.)

You can read in detail about Sedna's mythology - and its relationship to environmental awareness - in this book.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed slowly picking up on the references to the myth over the course of the show, and then making guesses at what the solution was going to be. I still did not anticipate the actual reveal in the finale, but I think it was excellently done.

Firendship, love, and dragons (Lunar New Year)

We are entering the Year of the Dragon with this lunar new year, according to various East Asian traditions. So, it is time to break out some of my favorite dragons stories! 

I have done similar collections before, for the years of the Rabbit, Rat, and Pig. Dragons are obviously popular when it comes to folklore - so I decided to limit this list to some highlights where dragons are friendly... or even falling in love. 

Links in the titles, as usual.

Benzaiten and the Dragon

This is an 11th century Japanese legend, chronicling the destruction a fearsome five-headed dragon named Gozuryu brought on people. Eventually, to ease their suffering, the goddess Benzaiten (herself daughter of a dragon) descended from the heavens and created an island to live on. The dragon fell in love with her, but she rejected his suit, pointing out the evils he had committed. The dragon felt shame and changed his ways, transforming into a series of hills to protect the villages he had harmed.

The dragons of Lake Tazawa

Another Japanese legend, possibly reminiscent of a volcanic eruption that happened a thousand years ago. A girl wants to become immortal, but gets too greedy, and transforms into a dragon. A hunter is punished for his own greet by turning into a dragon too, and then being exiled from his lake by a hostile monk. The two of them end up meeting and falling in love. Legend says Hachirotaro (the hunter) visits his beloved in Lake Tazawa and stays with her every winter - because of that, the lake never freezes over.

The dragon-prince and the stepmother

A Turkish folktale about a queen who gives birth to a dragon. The dragon-prince devours all his nurses, teachers, and brides, until one servant-girl shows up and manages to tame him. On their wedding night, the dragon turns into a prince. Later, the lovers are separated, and the girl marries again; when the dragon prince finds her, she needs to make a difficult choice.

King Dragon

Also known as the Lindworm. It's the better known Danish version of the story above. It features a scene where the bride takes off several layers of gowns while the dragon takes off his skins.

The black dragon and the red dragon

Also a Turkish folktale, about a pasha who sets out to find his forty stolen children. On his way he encounters a brood of newborn dragons, and helps them reunite with their mother. The grateful mother dragon, and her brother, help the pasha along his journey, and save him multiple times until he finally finds his own children and returns home with them.

Courageous Daughter

Uighur folktale about a brave girl who sets out to find a cure for her father's blindness. On the way she befriends a dragon, and goes through a series of adventures (including a trip to Rome, and saving a princess), until she can return home with the cure - and even disenchant the dragon.

Pear Blossom and the flower dragon

I highly doubt this is a folktale at all, even though it runs as a "Chinese folktale". Anyway, it works well with young children. It is about a poor girl who sets out to visit her rich uncle, and on her journey befriends a fairy and a flower-loving dragon. In the end, the uncle turns out to be a horrible person, but the dragon helps her achieve her dreams.

The dragon carved from wood

One of my favorite dragon stories, from the Bai people. A village is plagued by an evil dragon. A wise carpenter volunteers to help them by carving a wooden dragon and bringing it to life to have it fight the evil one. It is quite the epic story, with a lot of twists and turns.

Wild Goose Lake

Also from the Bai people. A girl, seeking water for her village during a drought, befriends the third daughter of a dragon king. They share a mutual love of singing, and together they devise a plan to unlock the dam of the lake where the king hoards water. For saving the humans, the dragon girl is exiled, and she moves in with her human friend.

The Laidly Worm of Bamborough

An English story about a princess who is turned into a dragon by her stepmother. Her brother uses magic to combat the witch's curse, and saves his sister through kindness and compassion.

The cooper and the dragons

A cooper accidentally falls into a ravine in the mountains, and has to spend the winter with a pair of hibernating dragons. In the spring, when the dragons fly out, he clings to one of them and manages to return to his village. This is one of my favorite folktale types; it also exists in Hungary, Bhutan, and other places around the world. 

Princess Sita

A legend from Vietnam, about a dragon princess who helps her immortal friend win a bride. When the groom's rival tries to destroy humanity, Sita fights to save people, and even makes a huge personal sacrifice to end the destruction.

Aoxingbe and the dragon

An Oroqen folktale from China. When Aoxingbe tries to rescue a princess from an underworld demon, he gets stuck in the realm below. There he meets a dragon prince who is similarly trapped. He saves the dragon, and in turn, the dragon helps him return home and win the princess.

The dragon king's daugther

A Chinese folktale about a dragon princess who is very curious about the human world. She sneaks out to attend a lantern festival, but almost causes disaster when she gets her clothes wet and returns to her original shape. She almost dies to save humans from her own power, but in the end, a goddess intervenes on her behalf.

Sister Lace

Tale from the Miao people. A girl is famous for making lace that she can even bring to life. When an evil emperor kidnaps her and forces her to create fantastic creatures, she eventually makes a dragon out of lace, and uses it to break out of captivity.

Also, I am not going to list all the tales from it, but I highly recommend my favorite collection of Chinese (and minority) dragon folktales, titled Eight Dragons on the Roof. It is a gem of a book.

Happy New Year!