Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

“The Lad Who Went to the North Wind.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 79-84.

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 18:12:41 +0000

“The Lad Who Went to the North Wind.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 79-84. Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2022 - 12:12

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , Jørgen Engebretsen Moe

Tale Summary

A weak old widow has one son who goes to the safe to get food for her to cook. As he starts down the steps, the North Wind appears and sweeps away the food. The boy retrieves more food, but the North Wind takes it away again, and then a third time. Angered, the lad sets out to find the North Wind to ask him to return the food.

After walking a long distance, the boy arrives at the North Wind’s house. He asks the North Wind to give him back the food he took since they are poor and will be left to starve. The North Wind tells him that he does not have the food, but he can give the boy a cloth that will bring him whatever food he requests.

The lad is satisfied and begins the journey home. He finds an inn to stay in for the night, spreads out the cloth on a table, and asks it to serve him all kinds of food. The landlady witnesses the food appear. While the lad is asleep, she takes the North Wind’s cloth and leaves an ordinary cloth in its place.

When the lad arrives home, he tells his mother about the cloth from the North Wind and its power to give him any food he wishes. His mother will not believe this until she sees it for herself. The lad puts the cloth on the table and commands it to serve him good food, but no food appears.

The lad returns to the North Wind and asks him to return the meal that was swept away because the cloth is worthless. The North Wind again says that he does not have the meal, but offers him a ram that can make golden ducats when ordered to “make money.” When he stops at the inn, the landlord takes the North Wind’s ram and exchanges it with an ordinary ram. The lad tells his mother that the ram can make money, but she will not believe it until she sees it for herself.

When the ram makes no money, the lad returns to the North Wind again and tells him that the ram is worthless. This time, the North Wind gives him a stick that will beat someone on command. The lad suspects that the cloth and the ram were stolen, so when he goes to the inn this time, he only pretends to be asleep. The landlord comes up to take the stick, but just before he can steal it, the lad commands the stick to “lay on,” and it beats the landlord. The landlord begs for the beating to stop and says he will return the cloth and the ram. The lad commands the stick to stop and then returns home with the cloth, the ram, and the stick.

Fairy Tale Title

The Lad Who Went to the North Wind

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Common Tale Type

Tale Classification

Page Range of Tale

pp. 79-84

Full Citation of Tale

“The Lad Who Went to the North Wind.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 79-84.

Original Source of the Tale

This is an English-language version of the Norwegian fairy tale “The Lad Who Went to the North Wind.”

Tale Notes

This version includes a black-and-white illustration on page 79.

Research and Curation

Sofia Grant, 2020

Book Title

East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

Book Author/Editor(s)

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent

Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Publisher

G. H. Doran Company

Date Published

19--

Decade Published

Unknown

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Off

Traditional

White

“The Blue Belt.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 29-52.

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 20:29:59 +0000

“The Blue Belt.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 29-52. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 14:29

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , Jørgen Engebretsen Moe

Tale Summary

An old beggar woman is out begging with her son. On their way home, they find a blue belt lying at a place where two paths meet. The woman warns the lad not to pick up the belt in case it contains witchcraft, but he sneaks off to retrieve it. He ties the belt around his waist and immediately feels strong. The lad sees a house on the other side of the hill, which his mother warns him is the home of a troll, but he convinces her to enter to stay for the night. Inside, a twenty-foot-tall troll serves them dinner and shows them to their beds.

Lying awake at night, the lad overhears the troll telling his mother that the two of them could live happily together if they could be rid of the lad. The troll plans to take the lad out to the quarry with him and roll a rock on top of him. The next day, the troll takes the lad out to the quarry and causes a rock to roll toward the lad, but the lad grabs it and lets it roll past. The lad then tricks the troll into standing where the lad had stood, and rolls a rock onto the troll, breaking the troll’s leg. The lad takes the troll home and puts him to bed.

The next night, the troll and the lad’s mother discuss other ways to get rid of him. They plan for the woman to feign illness and to claim that only lion’s milk will make her better so that the lad will be torn to pieces trying to milk the lions in the garden. The next day, however, the lad avoids being eaten by dashing the biggest lion against the stones, causing the remaining lions to submit to him. The lad returns with the milk and the lions attack the troll until the lad orders them to stop.

The troll and the lad’s mother next plot to send the lad to fetch some apples for his mother from a castle orchard, where he will fall asleep for three days and three nights after eating some of the fruit and then will be torn to pieces by the troll’s two brothers. The lad eats the apples, but the lions surround and protect him. When the lad wakes, a maiden invites him into the castle. The maiden tells the lad that she is the King of Arabia’s daughter, who had been kidnapped by the trolls. The lad offers to take the Princess as his wife. The Princess asks the lad if he is man enough to wield one of the trolls’ swords hanging in the great hall, and he leaps up to grab the sword with so much force that the hall shakes.

The Princess eventually decides to return home, and the lad remembers the apples that his mother had asked him to fetch for her. He returns home to find that his mother and the troll are both healthy. He offers to bring them to live in the castle with him. On the way to the castle, the lad confides to his mother that it is the blue belt, which he still wears around his waist, that made him so strong. The woman tears off the belt and, with the troll’s encouragement, burns out his eyes and sends him adrift in a small boat. The lions bring the boat ashore and place him on a bed of feathers under a fir tree. The lions bring the lad to a magical spring that restores his sight, and the lions come together to make a raft and swim him to the mainland. The lad sneaks into the castle and sees his belt hanging in the kitchen. He seizes the belt, and with his strength returned, punishes the troll by burning his eyes out and setting him adrift.

With four ships, the lad sets out for Arabia to find the Princess. While waiting out the wind on a rocky island, the sailors find a large egg, but none of them can crack its shell. The lad cracks the egg with the sword he had found in the castle’s great hall, and a chicken the size of an elephant emerges. The men sail to Arabia in twenty-three hours. Upon their arrival, the lad orders the sailors to sit down under a sandhill, beneath a fir tree, so that they cannot see the ships. A large bird flying overhead drops an island onto the fleet and sinks the ships. The bird flies up to the sandhill and the lad kills it with the sword.

The King of Arabia has hidden the Princess and has promised her hand in marriage to anyone who finds her. The lad buys a white bear skin. Dressed as a bear and led on a chain by one of his captains, he plays pranks throughout the town. A messenger orders the “bear” to the castle for the King to see, since it has made such fun in the town. The King orders his men not to laugh so that they will not be torn to pieces by the “bear.” One of the King’s maids enters and begins to laugh at and make fun of the “bear,” and the “bear” tears her to pieces. The King arranges for a bed to be made for the “bear” to sleep in the castle. At midnight, the King brings the “bear” to a house in the sea, in which he has hidden the Princess. The “bear” curls up by the stove as if to sleep, but as soon as the King leaves, the “bear” asks the Princess to undo his collar. His identity now revealed, the lad decides to earn the Princess’s hand a second time and is led out of the castle in his bear disguise the next morning.

Now dressed as a prince, the beggar lad returns to the King to ask for his daughter and is told that he forfeits his life if she is not found within twenty-four hours. The lad dances until there is only one hour left, and then follows the same path by which the King had led him to the Princess in his “bear” disguise. With three minutes left, the lad asks for the key to the house floating in the sea, but the King delays and claims he has no key. The lad kicks down the door to reveal the Princess. The Princess and the lad are married soon after.

Fairy Tale Title

The Blue Belt

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Common Tale Type

The Faithless Mother

Tale Classification

ATU 590

Page Range of Tale

pp. 29-52

Full Citation of Tale

“The Blue Belt.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 29-52.

Original Source of the Tale

This is an English-language version of the Norwegian fairy tale “The Blue Belt.”

Tale Notes

This version includes several black-and-white illustrations and one illustration in partial color.

Research and Curation

Sofia Grant, 2020

Book Title

East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

Book Author/Editor(s)

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent

Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Publisher

G. H. Doran Company

Date Published

19--

Decade Published

Unknown

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Off

Traditional

White

“The Husband Who Was to Mind the House.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 75-78.

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 20:21:51 +0000

“The Husband Who Was to Mind the House.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 75-78. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 14:21

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , Jørgen Engebretsen Moe

Tale Summary

An ill-tempered man who never thinks his wife does her housework well comes home one night, angry with his wife. His wife suggests that the next day, they will swap roles; she will go out and mow the fields, and he will take care of the house. The husband eagerly agrees. The next morning, his wife goes out with a scythe to cut the hay.

The husband spends some time churning butter, but eventually becomes thirsty and goes to the cellar for some ale. Before he can have a drink, the pig enters the kitchen, and the man hurries up the stairs to find that the pig has knocked over the churn. The man, in a fury, kicks the pig and leaves it for dead on the doorstep. He runs back to the cellar but finds that all of the ale has dripped out of the cask.

The man refills the churn and begins again, but realizes that the milking cow hasn’t been fed yet. He has the idea to bring the cow onto the sod roof of the house to graze. He brings the churn outside with him so it will not be knocked over again. While drawing water from the well for the cow, he accidentally dumps all of the cream in the churn into the well.

The man heats water over the fire to make porridge for dinner. He leaves to tie up the cow so she does not fall off the sod roof and break her neck. He ties one end of the rope around the cow’s neck, passes the rope through the chimney, and ties the other end around his thigh. As the man begins to grind the oatmeal, the cow falls off the house. This pulls the man up into the chimney.

The man’s wife finally comes home, having waited a long time for him to call her home for dinner. She finds the cow dangling from the roof by a rope, and cuts the rope to free the cow. This causes her husband to fall, and she finds him, with his head down, in the porridge pot.

Fairy Tale Title

The Husband Who Was to Mind the House

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Common Tale Type

Tale Classification

Page Range of Tale

pp. 75-78

Full Citation of Tale

“The Husband Who Was to Mind the House.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 75-78.

Original Source of the Tale

This is an English-language version of the Norwegian fairy tale “The Husband Who Was to Mind the House.”

Tale Notes

This version includes one black-and-white illustration on page 78.

Research and Curation

Sofia Grant, 2020

Book Title

East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

Book Author/Editor(s)

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent

Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Publisher

G. H. Doran Company

Date Published

19--

Decade Published

Unknown

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Off

Traditional

White

“Prince Lindworm.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 53-63.

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 20:12:25 +0000

“Prince Lindworm.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 53-63. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 14:12

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , Jørgen Engebretsen Moe

Tale Summary

A young King and Queen are sad because they have no children. On a walk one day, the Queen encounters an “ugly old woman” and tells the old woman that she is upset because she and the King have no children. The old woman promises to set this right if the Queen follows her orders exactly: tonight at sunset, the Queen should take a drinking cup with two handles and place it bottom-up in the northwest corner of the garden. The next day at sunrise, the Queen should find two roses under the cup; she should eat the red rose if she wishes to give birth to a boy, and eat the white rose if she wishes to have a girl, but she should not eat both roses, or she will be sorry. The Queen returns home and follows the old woman’s instructions, but she does not know which rose to eat; if she has a boy, he may be sent to war and killed, but if she has a girl, she will eventually be married off. She decides to eat the white rose, but because it tastes sweet, she ignores the old woman’s warning and also eats the red rose. While the King is away at war, the Queen gives birth to both a healthy baby boy and a serpent-like Lindworm. The Lindworm quickly wriggles away and the Queen assumes it was a dream. The King is pleased with the birth of an heir, and nobody mentions the Lindworm.

When the young Prince is old enough to marry, the King sends him out to find a suitable wife. The Prince is blocked at a crossroads by a gigantic and terrifying Lindworm. The Lindworm forces the Prince to turn back home with the words, “A bride for me before a bride for you!” The Queen admits to her son that the Lindworm is his older twin and must marry before the Prince does. To find a bride for the Lindworm, the King writes to a distant land asking for a Princess to marry his son. A Princess is sent, but she is not allowed to see her husband until the wedding when it is too late to refuse the marriage. The next morning, the Princess is gone, and it is evident that the Lindworm has eaten her. The Prince tries again to seek a bride for himself but is once again blocked by the Lindworm and told that the Lindworm must be married first. Another Princess is sent to marry the Lindworm, and again this Princess is eaten.

The Prince encounters the Lindworm at the crossroads a third time. This time, the King does not expect to find another Princess to marry the Lindworm, because no Princess would dare come after what happened to the first two. However, the King asks his shepherd if he will marry her daughter to the Lindworm in exchange for lifelong riches for the shepherd. The shepherd refuses, but the King eventually persuades him to give up his daughter. The girl is distraught and wanders through the woods, where she encounters the old witch-woman and tells the old woman that she has to marry the Lindworm and will be eaten. The old woman tells her to follow her instructions exactly: after the wedding, the girl should ask to be dressed in ten white shifts, and then ask for a tub of lye, a tub of milk, and an armful of whips to be brought into the bedroom. She should then ask the Lindworm to shed his skin, whip him with lye and wash him with milk. Then she should hold him in her arms, even if only momentarily. The girl does not want to hold the Lindworm, but the old woman assures her that everything will go well if she follows the orders.

The girl follows the old woman’s instructions to obtain lye, milk, and whips, and she and the Lindworm are married. The Lindworm asks the girl to shed one of her ten shifts, and the girl asks him to shed his skin. They repeat this exchange until the Lindworm has shed all of his skin and the girl has removed all of her shifts. The girl then dips the whips in lye and whips the Lindworm, and washes him with milk. She holds him and then falls asleep. The next morning, the King finds the girl alive, with the Lindworm having been transformed into a handsome prince. The King and Queen rejoice at the marriage and the rescue of their oldest son.

Fairy Tale Title

Prince Lindworm

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Common Tale Type

Prince Lindworm

Tale Classification

ATU 433B

Page Range of Tale

pp. 53-63

Full Citation of Tale

“Prince Lindworm.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 53-63.

Original Source of the Tale

This is an English-language version of the Norwegian fairy tale “Prince Lindworm.”

Tale Notes

This version of the tale features two illustrations, one in black and white and another in partial color.

Research and Curation

Sofia Grant, 2020

Book Title

East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

Book Author/Editor(s)

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent

Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Publisher

G. H. Doran Company

Date Published

19--

Decade Published

Unknown

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Off

Traditional

White

“The Lassie and Her Godmother.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 65-73.

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 04:26:19 +0000

“The Lassie and Her Godmother.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 65-73. Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/04/2022 - 22:26

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

Tale Summary

A woman who lives in the woods with her husband gives birth to a beautiful baby girl. The family is poor and they do not have the money to pay for the baby’s christening. The father walks from house to house for a full day in search of someone who will pay the christening fees, but finds nobody who is willing to pay.

On his way home, the man encounters a beautiful lady in fine clothes who offers to pay for the christening, if she can keep the baby in exchange. On returning home, the man asks his wife if she would like to give her daughter to the lady, and she refuses. The next day, the man encounters the lady again. This time, his wife agrees to give her child to the lady if they find nobody else who will pay, since she seemed good-natured.

On the third day, the baby’s father promises the lady that he will give her the baby in exchange for her christening. The lady comes to christen the baby girl the following morning. The baby goes to live with the lady as her foster mother.

When the lassie is old enough to have a sense of morality, the lady gives her permission to go anywhere in the house, except a set of three rooms that she had shown her. While her foster mother is away, the girl cannot resist opening one of the doors just a bit, and a star comes out. When the lady returns, she is very angry and threatens to send the girl away, but the girl pleads with her foster mother and is allowed to stay. The lady leaves on another journey, and this time the girl opens a second door, from which the moon flies out. The lady is very angry and tells the girl that she can no longer stay with her, but the girl once again pleads with her foster mother and is allowed to stay.

When the lady leaves a third time, the lassie opens the third door, and the sun comes out. This time, the lady throws the girl out of her house, but gives her a choice: she can either be the most beautiful woman in the world, and be unable to speak, or she can be the ugliest woman, but able to speak. The girl chooses to become beautiful and loses her speech.

The lassie wanders through a vast wood and sleeps in a tall tree above a spring. A maid from a nearby castle comes to fetch water from the spring for the Prince’s tea, and sees a beautiful face reflected in the spring. She mistakes the reflection for her own and abandons her task, believing that she is too good to fetch water. Another maid comes to fetch the water, also believing the reflection to be her own. Finally, the Prince comes to the spring; upon seeing the reflection, he looks up to find a beautiful young woman in the tree. The Prince takes the lassie home to be his wife, against his mother’s wishes.

A few months later, the lassie gives birth to a child. Everyone in the castle enters a deep sleep,

and the lassie’s foster mother arrives, cuts the infant’s finger, and smears the lassie’s mouth with blood. She takes the infant so that the lassie will know the grief the foster mother felt when the lassie allowed the star to escape. The Queen, believing the lassie has eaten her own child, wants her burned alive, but the Prince dissuades her. The foster mother comes for the lassie’s next two children, to punish her for letting out the moon and sun. The third time, the Prince agrees that the lassie should be burned at the stake. The foster mother then appears with the lassie’s three children and reveals herself to be the Virgin Mary. Since her punishment is complete, she returns both the lassie’s speech and her children. From that point onward, the Prince and the lassie live happily together.

Fairy Tale Title

The Lassie and Her Godmother

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Common Tale Type

Tale Classification

Page Range of Tale

pp. 65-73

Full Citation of Tale

“The Lassie and Her Godmother.” East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Sir George Webbe Dasent, New York: G. H. Doran Company, 19--, pp. 65-73.

Original Source of the Tale

This is an English-language version of the Norwegian fairy tale “The Lassie and Her Godmother.”

Tale Notes

This version includes several illustrations in black-and-white and color.

Research and Curation

Sofia Grant, 2020

Book Title

East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

Book Author/Editor(s)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, Sir George Webbe Dasent

Illustrator(s)

Kay Nielsen

Publisher

G. H. Doran Company

Date Published

19--

Decade Published

Unknown

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Off

Traditional

White