"The Feathered Ogre" was originally published in Fiabe Italiane, Calvino's 1956 collection and retelling of two hundred traditional Italian fables and folktales. It was translated into English by Louis Brigante and published as Italian Fables in 1961. In 1980 it was published in a new translation by George Martin, with the title Italian Folktales.

The significance of Calvino's collection to the study of international folklore is probably best explained by Calvino himself in his introduction to Italian Folk Tales. In tackling the project, Calvino wished to produce a definitive volume of Italian folktales and fables equivalent to that of the Brothers Grimm, whose name, since the early nineteenth century, has become synonymous with the German folk tale. Calvino wished to produce a "readable master collection of Italian folktales which would be popular in every sense of the word." In approaching the task, Calvino studied the transcriptions of anthropologists and...