The Lake of Nix (A Fairy Story) (c. 1920-30s)
In Barfield’s papers at the Bodleian Library (Dep. c. 1083), the story is about a man and woman who dislike soup, marry each other, and choose to eat ice instead. They find ice to be extremely economical and raise their children to eat only ice as well, which causes some undesirable consequences.
The Child and the Giant (1930)
Barfield wrote this fairy tale in 1930 while teaching at a Steiner school, but it was not published until 1988 in Child and Man: Education as an Art (now known as Steiner Education) and has since been reprinted in English and German. The story concerns an orphan boy who lives with a Giant in the forest; after a tragedy, the child must grow up and learn from his experience.
A Story for Alexander (c. 1930s)
Written for Barfield’s son Alexander, the story is about a little boy whose parents are imprisoned, and he is sent to live far from home with other children. The text is transcribed from the manuscript at the Bodleian Library (Barfield Papers, Dep. c. 1083).