Why the Sea Is Salt

A Norse myth retold from Florence Holbrook

This story comes from The Book of Nature Myths by Florence Holbrook, a collection of tales that explain how things in nature came to be. The Norse people of Scandinavia told this myth long ago to explain why the ocean tastes salty. The magic millstones, the greedy king, and the women who worked them are remembered in folklore across northern Europe. The story teaches children that being cruel and greedy can lead to trouble. It is a "why" story, the kind people told before science explained the world—and it is still a good story today.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 335 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

The Book of Nature Myths, Florence Holbrook · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.