The Storyteller

A barren peasant woman, desperately craving a child, naively says aloud that she wouldn't care what it looks like. Soon enough, she gives birth to a baby who resembles a hedgehog, much to the father's dismay and the scorn of the villagers.

A young man named Fearnot sets out on a quest to learn how to shiver in fright. He meets a traveling tinker called McKay who vows to lead the boy to frightening places. Still, nothing on their path manages to put the shivers into Fearnot, no matter how frightening it gets.

The Storyteller recounts a time in his life when he came upon a castle as a beggar and talked himself into a commission to tell the King a story each night for a year. On the last very day, he couldn't come up with a story and would have been boiled alive in oil for breaking the deal, if it weren't for the timely arrival of a mysterious beggar.

When a cruel, cold-hearted king hears about the birth of a luck child prophesied to one day rule in his stead, he seeks out the child and tries to get rid of him, but luck is with the baby and against the king. Seventeen years later when the ruler tries once more to sentence the boy to certain death, he ends up becoming his son-in-law and heir to the throne instead.

Young Prince Leo learns about a heartless giant imprisoned long ago by his father the King somewhere in his castle. The boy tries to befriend the giant, but the giant tricks Leo into setting him free. The other princes set out to recapture the giant but are turned to stone instead. Ridden by guilt, Leo decides to seek out the giant's heart instead.

An honest soldier receives a ruby whistle, a comparable dance, an unbeatable deck of cards, and a magic sack for being kind to three beggars. He defeats a bunch of devils by playing cards and catches them in his sack when they refuse to pay up. After a successful career as a miracle doctor, the soldier manages to trick Death himself and trap him in his sack.

Anja has been forced to work for a nasty troll all her life. When her master's tasks become increasingly difficult, a magical white lion appears out of nowhere to help her out. After being rid of the troll, Anja finds true love in the form of a gardener, but just before they can get married, her sweetheart is enchanted by none other than the Troll's daughter, the Trollop.

A king with three grown daughters is looking to find a new wife and proclaims to marry whoever fits the original queen's ring. When his daughter Sapsorrow puts on the ring by mistake, she plans to make her escape from the castle with help from her animal friends. Disguised as a dirty, ragged thing, she sets to work in another castle where she falls for a handsome prince.

A witch has set her eyes on the widower King and manages to turn his three young sons into ravens. The king's daughter escapes the curse and vows to remain silent for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days in order to break the spell, but things become increasingly difficult when she falls in love with a prince whose new stepmother is the same witch that ruined her entire family.