Norwegian Folktales

Norwegian Folktales
Asbjørnsen og Moes norske folke- og huldre-eventyr. Edition from 1896.

Norwegian Folktales (Norwegian: Norske Folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors.

Contents

Asbjørnsen and Moe

Asbjørnsen, a teacher, and Moe, a minister, had been friends since the age of 13 or 14 by the time they published the folktales – the collection of which had been an interest of both for many years. The work must be seen in connection with Norway’s new-won independence, and the wave of nationalism that swept the country in the 19th century. The authors considered the stories remains from Old Norse mythology, and the period of Norwegian greatness before the union with Denmark.

Norwegian orthography at the time was very similar to Danish. The language was therefore poorly suited for retelling fairy tales, which stemmed from a uniquely Norwegian tradition, and had its sources in local dialects that were even more conservative than they are today. Asbjørnsen and Moe solved the problem by applying the principles of the Brothers Grimm: using a simple linguistic style in place of dialects, while maintaining the original form of the stories. At the same time the language in the tales also contained many words from Norwegian dialect, and helped create an autonomous Norwegian written language, distinct from Danish.

The fairy tales of Asbjørnsen and Moe were first released in small pamphlets. Later they were re-published in one collection in 1845 and another in 1848. In 1870 the collection known today was published, and the original language has been retained in since then. Later editions of the work were famously illustrated by the Norwegian artists Erik Werenskiold, Theodor Kittelsen, Otto Sinding and others.[1]

Translation into English

The tales were first translated into English by Sir George Webbe Dasent. His first version of the collection was called Popular Tales from the Norse (1859). In later editions at least thirteen more tales were included. Asbjørnsen and Moe evidently approved of Dasent's translations: "In France and England collections have appeared in which our tales have not only been correctly and faultlessly translated, but even rendered with exemplary truth and care nay, with thorough mastery. The English translation, by George Webbe Dasent, is the best and happiest rendering of our tales that has appeared."

Fairy tales

  • Goosey Grizzel (Giske)
  • The Lad Who Went to the North Wind (Gutten som gikk til nordenvinden og krevde igjen melet)
  • The Master Thief (Mestertyven)
  • The Best Wish (Det har ingen nød med den som alle kvinnfolk er glad i)
  • The Three Billy-Goats Gruff (De tre bukkene Bruse som skulle gå til seters og gjøre seg fete)
  • Well Done and Ill Paid (Vel gjort og ille lønnet)
  • The Husband Who Was to Mind the House (Mannen som skulle stelle hjemme)
  • Dapplegrim (Grimsborken)
  • Farmer Weathersky (Bonde Værskjegg)
  • Lord Peter (Herreper)
  • The Seven Foals (De syv folene)
  • The Widow's Son (Enkesønnen)
  • Bushy Bride (Buskebrura)
  • Boots and His Brothers (Per, Pål og Espen Askeladd)
  • Big Peter and Little Peter (Vesle-Per og Store-Per)
  • Tatterhood (Lurvehette)
  • The Cock and Hen That Went to the Dovrefell (Høna som skulle til Dovre forat ikke allverden skulle forgå)
  • Katie Woodencloak (Kari Trestakk)
  • Thumbikin (Tommeliten)
  • Doll i' the Grass (Dukken i gresset')
  • The Lad and the Deil (Gutten og fanden)
  • The Cock and Hen a-Nutting (Hanen og høna i nøtteskogen)
  • The Big Bird Dan (Fugl Dam)
  • Soria Moria Castle (Soria Moria slott)
  • Bruin and Reynard (Reven snyter bjørnen for julekosten)
  • Tom Totherhouse (Pål Andrestua)
  • Little Annie the Goose-Girl (Vesle Åse Gåsepike)
  • "Good Day, Fellow!" "Axe Handle!" (God dag, mann! - Økseskaft)
  • The Charcoal Burner (Kullbrenneren)
  • The Parson and the Sexton (Presten og klokkeren)
  • White-Bear-King-Valemon (Kvitebjørn kong Valemon)
  • The Companion (Følgesvennen)
  • Little Freddy with His Fiddle (Veslefrikk med fela)
  • The Ram and the Pig who went into the Woods to live by Themselves (Væren og grisen som skulle til skogs og bo for seg selv)

References

  1. ^ Norske Folkeeventyr. A Polysystemic Approach to Folk Literature in Nineteenth-Century Norway (Mette Rudvin)

External links


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