A single lost-fairy-wife tale recurs across Italy, Persia, and Norway

Evidence

So the Italian tale joins its cousins from Persia (Mash Akbar), Norway (East o’ the Sun), and beyond: the magical spouse lost through one broken promise, and the long, faithful journey required to win her back. — , A Year of World Stories, 14264

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the book’s Persian and Norse chapters already read, and to general folklore motif analysis of the supernatural spouse. — connects to: Identical tales arising at opposite ends of Europe raise the travel-versus-independent question — , A Year of World Stories, 14038