Once Upon a Time... 420 Fairy Tales from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books

Why the Sea Is Salt (Norwegian: Kvernen som maler på havsens bunn; the mill that grinds at the bottom of the sea) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book (1889).

The is the first story in The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. According to Lang's preface, this version of this fairy tale from the  Middle East or Central Asia was translated and adapted from Traditions Populaires de l'Asie Mineure by Carnoy et Nicolaides (Paris: Maison-neuve, 1889). ⁠Andrew Lang⁠ included it in ⁠The Blue Fairy Book⁠ (1889).