WITH BLACK-AND-WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT
Long a treasure in Norway, the folktales collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe have been acclaimed for their richness of humor, fullness of life, and depth of understanding since they first appeared in translation more than a hundred years ago. The Norwegian folktales, said Jacob Grimm, “surpass nearly all others.”
Within these captivating tales we meet witches, trolls, and ogres; sly foxes and great, mysterious bears; beautiful princesses and country-lads-turned-heroes. Collected here in a sparkling contemporary translation by Pat Shaw Iversen and Carl Norman, these tales brim with the matchless vitality and power of their original telling. Included also are the wonderfully evocative original illustrations of Erik Werenskiold and Theodor Kittelsen.
Norwegian Folktales
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English, Norwegian (translation)
From the Inside Flap
Collected here in a contemporary translation. With these tales we meet witches, trolls and ogres, sly foxes and mysterious bears, beautiful princesses and country lads turned heroes. Includes illustrations.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By J. G. Heiser
Format:Paperback
My 9-year old was enthralled with the stories in this book, begging for more every night until we finished it. I disagree with his Freudian interpretation, but Bruno Bettelheim is right that folktales touch something wired within us, fulfilling an innate need children have to comprehend the adult world.
Although not as well-known as the German Grimm's collection in the United States, this book is widely revered in Norway. Both are teutonic cultures, but these stories are different in character and feel from the Grimm Brother stories. While they contain elements common to all european fables, this book is filled with trolls, and the reformation seems like a recent event. Norsk tales have a unique and compelling charm.
My favorite fable is in this collection--the one about the mill that explains why the sea is salty. Read it yourself--I don't want to spoil the ending.
From a purist point of view, drawings detract from stories such as these, but two of Norway's most most well-known illustrators are represented, and the artwork is compelling.
This paperback is a reprint of the original English-language translation from 40 years ago. I have that original text packed away somewhere lost, so it was a real treat to be able to buy a new copy to share with my son.
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Extollager
Format:Paperback
I'm a middle-aged English professor, but I love this book now, as I did when I was a kid. If I had to whittle my personal library down from its present size (maybe 3000?) to a hundred books, I'm sure I'd still keep this one. I read these stories now to my children and remember how I loved the stories when I was their age. When I'm a senior, I'll remember how I shared this book with my kids, as well.
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...alongside the fjords, is its literary tradition, beginning with the Viking romances and sagas, at full flood in the works of Ibsen, but flowing like an underground river through its grotesque folk tales - eventyr - as collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and the Møes father and son. Asbjørnsen began collecting tales in 1834, in isolated rural areas of Norway, a country whose geography has guaranteed isolation through most of history. The publication of the Grimm Brothers' collection of folk tales sparked further enthusiasm amongst Norwegians, but the 'eventyr' are different in many ways from the traditions rescued by the Grimms, and radically different from the literary fairy tales that soon infiltrated Europe and consigned folk tales in general to the realm of children's literature.
Readers familiar with the Icelandic sagas will find many similarities in these hard-minded and hard-handed stories of peasant kings, eerie maidens, and of course trolls, with their peculiar shrewd stupidity. The pleasure of hearing/reading most of the eventyr is in the sardonic humor, the joy of seeing the come-uppance of the rich and powerful. It's interesting to note that stories collected from men are chiefly rough and humorous, and naturalistic, while those collected from women, as translator Pat Shaw reports, "kept to deep, mystic, or eerie themes."
The original illustrations by Erik Werenskiold and Theodor Kittelsen are reproduced in this collection. Black-and-white pen sketches and etchings, they match the eventyr in wry humor and spooky trollishness. I remember them well from my own childhood, when my grandmothers held me on their laps and read to me in Swedish. These are indeed wonderful, memorable stories to read to children, but they shouldn't be limited to laps, not even the laps of Lapps. Adults will enjoy them equally. Most of them are quite short, especially compared with the wordy Grimm tales, and can be relished a few at a time.
I've reviewed three Norwegian items in the past week - music by Harald Saeverud and novels by Borgen and Christensen. You may wonder why a good Swedish fellow like me would be reviewing works by Norskis. Well now, I'm just trying to show that I'm comfortable with diversity.
Readers familiar with the Icelandic sagas will find many similarities in these hard-minded and hard-handed stories of peasant kings, eerie maidens, and of course trolls, with their peculiar shrewd stupidity. The pleasure of hearing/reading most of the eventyr is in the sardonic humor, the joy of seeing the come-uppance of the rich and powerful. It's interesting to note that stories collected from men are chiefly rough and humorous, and naturalistic, while those collected from women, as translator Pat Shaw reports, "kept to deep, mystic, or eerie themes."
The original illustrations by Erik Werenskiold and Theodor Kittelsen are reproduced in this collection. Black-and-white pen sketches and etchings, they match the eventyr in wry humor and spooky trollishness. I remember them well from my own childhood, when my grandmothers held me on their laps and read to me in Swedish. These are indeed wonderful, memorable stories to read to children, but they shouldn't be limited to laps, not even the laps of Lapps. Adults will enjoy them equally. Most of them are quite short, especially compared with the wordy Grimm tales, and can be relished a few at a time.
I've reviewed three Norwegian items in the past week - music by Harald Saeverud and novels by Borgen and Christensen. You may wonder why a good Swedish fellow like me would be reviewing works by Norskis. Well now, I'm just trying to show that I'm comfortable with diversity.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
NEat book
my husband is learning about his culture (his dad immigrated from Norway) as a child. We would enjoy more illustration, or illustration in color, but the book has a good... Read more
Published 4 months ago by firmeadow
3.0 out of 5 stars
The font is TINY. Hard to read!
I'm surprized nobody has mentioned this, but the font in this book is TINY! Most children's books have large font - for smaller kids to read, some have regular, this book has... Read more
Published 8 months ago by E. Pronina
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Norwegian tales...
If you like Norwegian tales, you'll love this book which retells them in a fun and informative way!
Published on August 27, 2009 by Jennifer J. Hoey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good collection but not as large as I would have liked
This is an interesting collection of Norwegian folktales. It is filled with trolls, magically transformed princes and princesses, spirits of the dead, and so forth. Read more
Published on August 16, 2009 by Christopher R. Travers
3.0 out of 5 stars
Missing Three Billy Goats Gruff
I was disappointed that this book lacks the Three Billy Goats Gruff, which is what I was looking for when I got this book.
Published on May 21, 2009 by Joseph A. Hannon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful-beyond-words collection of stories for any age, plus...
There are not enough good words to describe this marvellous book! The Norwegian tales are unsurpassed in everything from folk humour to literary value. Read more
Published on November 23, 2008 by Ro-De-Us
5.0 out of 5 stars
glorious, ethnographically utile chrestomathy
Clearly, the Norwegian peasants enjoyed quite the literary gift. The folktales in this collection are surprising for their sophistication of plot, strong commonalities among the... Read more
Published on June 27, 2007 by Bruce D. Wilner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Norwegian Folktales
The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library is usually excellent, and this book is no exception. It is well worth the money and is a good read. Read more
Published on November 7, 2006 by Thomas W. Blakey
5.0 out of 5 stars
You speak Norwegian like an American ...
I lived near Oslo from Aug. '85-Jan. '86. One fall Saturday, at the checkout counter in a bookstore across from Slottsparken, I said to the clerk in Norwegian "You speak... Read more
Published on June 13, 2000 by Professor Joseph L. McCauley
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 20
books:
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17
books
cite this book:
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- Norwegian Folk Tales by Peter Christen Asbjornsen on page 7, and Back Matter
- Japanese Tales (Pantheon fairy tale & folklore library) by Royall Tyler in Back Matter
- Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) by Moss Roberts in Back Matter
- African Folktales (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) by Roger Abrahams in Back Matter
- Folk Tales by Tina Richard in Back Matter
See all 20 books this book cites
- The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar on page 339, page 350, and Back Matter
- The Troll With no Heart in His Body by Lise Lunge-Larsen on page 41, page 75, and page 88
- Jewish-American Folklore (American Folklore Series) by Josepha Sherman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: UNDERDOGS AND TRICKSTERS by Susan Niditch in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Gods Remain: Old European Religion As Found In Greece, The Germanic Countries & Elsewhere by Thomas Sefton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 17 books citing this book
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