A fairy tale is a type of story that typically features fantastic folklore characters, such as dwarves , dragons , elves , fairies , giants , gnomes , goblins , griffins , mermaids , talking animals, trolls , unicorns or witches . History also, as a rule, presents magic or enchantments. Fairy tales are distinguished from other folk tales such as legends (which, in general, involve a belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicitly moral stories, including fables . The term is, above all, used for stories with origins in the European tradition and, at least in recent centuries, it is mostly related to children's literature .