Norwegian fairy tales indisputably belong among the classical European fairy and folk tales. When the first Norwegian collections were being published, Jakob Grimm, the older of the two famous Grimm brothers, declared that he felt the tales from Norway ranked well above most others.
The fairy tales were compiled by two friends, who had spent many years walking in the Norwegian countryside, talking to the people and listening to their stories. Eventually, the recorded and identified stories were transcribed into versions consistent in form and language. Of the pair of friends, one was the zoologist and forester Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812 – 1885), and the other the theologian and poet Jørgen Moe (1813 – 1882), who served as a vicar and later became a bishop. To some extent, they modelled themselves on Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, with whom they corresponded. Both Grimm brothers wrote encouragingly to the two young Norwegian collectors of folk and fairy tales, urging them not to give up – they must complete the task they had set themselves.
By 1851 (updated in 1852), their collection of over 150 tales was published. Through this work, Asbjørnsen and Moe made a significant contribution to the national awareness of a distinct Norwegian identity, set within the framework of a shared European tradition.
The transcriptions, as carried out by Asbjørnsen und Moe, meant that the tales were neither used as raw material for new texts, nor simply noted down as plain records. In their retelling, the tales express many of the characteristics and experiences of the Norwegian people. The presentation, too, was done in a manner and format that tugged at the heartstrings and offered painters and illustrator a wealth of ideas to develop. In a rare and inspired collaboration, the narrators and their illustrators succeeded in capturing the moods of Norway’s wild landscapes, its forests and mountain pastures.
In addition to the well-known fairy tale figures that recur in the stories from many countries, the Norwegian tales have their own unique characters. Here, we will take a closer look at a magic boy, Espen the Ash-Lad (Askeladd) and the trolls, which come in many shapes.
Espen Askeladd, often called the Ash-Lad for short (in German, Espen Aschenbengel), is a much-loved protagonist in several of the best known tales. He is a charming good-for-nothing who nonetheless always seems to have fate and fortune on his side. He often comes across as a bit stupid and slow as he hangs back, waiting for his time to come and keeping his remarkable powers well concealed. In most of the tales, he has two older brothers who look down on him. Their sneering is mistaken: the Ash-Lad turns out to have more brains than most. Using wit, cunning and inventive trickery, he comes through in the end, and wins not only the princess and half the kingdom but also outsmarts the blockheaded trolls and runs away with their piled-up treasures of silver and gold.
The trolls are probably the best known of all the creatures in Scandinavian folklore. Having been lifted straight out of old Norse mythology and into the fairy tales, trolls are sinister, usually brutal beings with magic powers. They are somehow part of nature and can take on many different appearances: sometimes gigantic, sometimes shaped like human beings. Some have with just one head, others three or even nine. Trolls live inside mountains but can be seen outside their caves at night, lumbering through Norway’s deep forests on their own mysterious errands. They must beware of sunrise, though: unless they get back into the mountains, the sun’s rays will make them burst and turn to stone. They do not live among people but always try to come into contact with them, and particularly with Christians. Most of these attempts are hostile, because they are known to have a craving for Christian blood. They are invariably believed to be behind every kind of uncanny event.
That the trolls of the fairy tales are fundamentally dangerous to people distinguishes them from the older folk belief that, even though some trolls are evil and devious, others are good friends to humans and their animals. The total opposition between the trolls and the followers of Christ grew during the Middle Ages, when Christianity was taking hold in Norway. By the time of Asbjørnsen and Moe, the idea had entered so deeply into the people’s mental picture of the world that the two folklorists needed to add very little to the image of ‘the troll’ that we familiar with nowadays.
My new translations of 30 Norwegian fairy tales, which I believe to be a representative selection from the collections by Asbjørnsen und Moe, have been published in Germany (Verlag Edition Hamouda, 2013) under the title Mit Espen Aschenbengel im Land der Trolle (With Espen the Ash-Lad in the land of the trolls).
A second volume from the same publisher is entitled Mit Espen Aschenbengel zu neuen Abenteuern im Land der Trolle (With Espen the Ash-Lad on new adventures in the land of the trolls) and contains 24 further fairy tales.
In the more recent selection, I have emphasised three particular aspects:
- Cockerel and hen, bear and fox, sheep and pig – jokey and thoughtful figures from the animal world of Norwegian fairy tales;
- Princesses and other women – strong and unusual women in the land of the trolls;
- Trolls and magic powers – on the road with Espen Aschenbengel
Enjoy reading all the fairy tales from the rich Norwegian tradition!
More information
For those who are interested in Norwegian fairy tales but prefer to read translations into English:
Translated from the German by Anna Paterson.