Norwegian Folk Tales ─ From the Collection of Peter Christen Asbjrnsen, Jrgen Moe

WITH BLACK-AND-WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT

Long a treasure in Norway, the folktales collected by Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen 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.

Boyhood friends Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe discovered an interest in folktales in common, and were inspired by the German Grimm brothers to collect and publish their favorite homeland tales. The first volume of collected Norwegian Folktales was published in 1845, and became exceedingly popular. Asbjornsen was born in 1812 in Christiana (Oslo) and became a teacher. Moe was born on a farm in Ringerike, and continued his family trade.