Finnish Fairytales Vocabulary - Satu Satuja Sadut

This article is just a short one related to fairytales. You can find some simple words as well as the names of the most widely known ones.

International Fairytales

I’ve tried to include links to some sources online where you can listen to or read these fairytales. However, if you’re living abroad, their access may be limited.

Finnish	English
Grimmin sadut	Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Bremenin soittoniekat (listen, read)	The Bremen Town Musicians
Hannu ja Kerttu (listen, read)	Hansel and Gretel
Jaakko ja pavunvarsi (listen)	Jack and the Beanstalk
Jänis ja kilpikonna (listen, read)	The Hare and the Tortoise
Keisari ja satakieli (listen, read)	The Nightingale
Keisarin uudet vaatteet (listen, read)	The Emperor’s New Clothes
Kolme pientä porsasta (listen, read)	The Three Little Pigs
Kultakutri ja kolme karhua (listen, read)	Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Liisa ihmemaassa (listen, read)	Alice in Wonderland
Lumikki ja seitsemän kääpiötä (listen, read)	Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
Pekka ja susi (listen)	Peter and the Wolf
Peter Pan (read)	Peter Pan
Peukalo-Liisa (listen)	Thumbelina
Peukaloinen (watch)	Tom Thumb
Pieni merenneito (read)	The Little Mermaid
Pieni tulitikkutyttö (read)	The Little Matchgirl
Pinokkio (listen, read)	Pinocchio
Prinsessa ja herne (listen, read)	The Princess and the Pea
Prinsessa Ruusunen (listen, read, watch)	Sleeping Beauty
Punahilkka (listen, read, watch)	Little Red Riding Hood
Ritari Siniparta	Bluebeard
Ruma ankanpoika (listen, read)	The Ugly Duckling
Saapasjalkakissa (read, watch)	Puss in Boots
Susi ja seitsemän pientä kiliä (read)	The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids
Tuhkimo (read, watch)	Cinderella

Finnish Folk Stories

In Finland, there are a lot of animal related fables. In these, certain animals have specific personalities:

Kettu (fox): cunning, witty, inventive, selfish, trickster
Karhu (bear): trusting, naive, slow, kind, benevolent
Jänis (rabbit/hare): quick, nimble, makes quick decisions, doesn’t think things through

A different type of stories I really like in Finnish tell about the fictional town Hölmölä. Its inhabitants, hölmöläiset, are humoristically stupid people. If you know some Finnish already, you might like the short story included on Wikipedia here.

More Vocabulary Related to Fairytales

Finnish	English
satu	fairy tale
satukirja	storybook
kansansatu	folk tale
eläinsatu	animal tale, fable
iltasatu	bedtime story
sadunkertoja	storyteller
satukuvitus	fairy tale illustrations
satutunti	fairy tale reading session (e.g. in library)
satuhahmo	fairy tale character
satuolento	fairy tale creature
prinssi	prince
prinsessa	princess
kuningas	king
kuningatar	queen
sankari	hero
sankaritar	heroine
vihollinen	enemy
ritari	knight
keijukainen, keiju	fairy
keijukaiskuningatar	queen of fairies
hyvä haltiatar	good fairy godmother
kääpiö	dwarf
peikko	goblin
tonttu	elf
menninkäinen	pixie, gnome
maahinen	gnome
kodinhaltija	house elf (link)
velho	wizard
paha noita	evil witch
ilkeä noita	wicked witch
noita-akka	witch
paha äitipuoli	evil stepmother
kummitus	ghost
hirviö	monster
lohikäärme	dragon
sammakko	frog
yksisarvinen	unicorn
jättiläinen	giant
paha henki	bad spirit, demon, fiend
paha susi	bad wolf
ihmissusi	werewolf
vampyyri	vampire
nukkumatti	sandman
merenneito	mermaid
taika	magic
loitsu	spell
lumous	enchantment
taikasauva	magic wand
taikajuoma	magic potion
taikapeili	magic mirror
värttinä	spindle
palatsi	palace
linna	castle
satumaa	fairyland, wonderland
satumaailma	fairytale world
aarre	treasure
kruunu	crown
kertoa satuja	to tell stories
lukea iltasatu	to read a bedtime story
pelastaa prinsessa	to save the princess
tappaa lohikäärme	to kill a dragon
pitää vankina	to hold captive
lentää luudalla	to fly with a broom
kirota	to curse
taikoa	to enchant

In addition to the links above, you could also check out these sources.

Yle Areena: Iltasatu series (scroll down to see all stories)

Finnish	English
Olipa kerran…	Once upon a time…
…kauan sitten…	…long ago…
…kaukaisessa maassa…	…in a land far away…
…kaukaisessa valtakunnassa…	…in a realm far away…
…ja he kaikki elivät onnellisina elämänsä loppuun asti	…and they all lived happily ever after.
Sen pituinen se.	The end.