Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales: Tales From Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland & Iceland

by Anonymous, Claire Booss (Editor)

A collection of folk literature from five countries, with illustrations by native artists.

Genres: Folklore, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction, Short Stories, Scandinavian Literature

666 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 1988

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say that these were really disappointing :(
(There was literally only ONE story about vikings in this whole book!)
Also worth noting, is that these tales are heavily influenced by early christian views of the Scandinavian countries, rather than the pantheon of norse gods and goddesses. Recorded between the 1400-1900s, a lot of the tales reward the male characters for scheming, tricking and murdering their way to riches or crowns. While their female counterparts were punished for not being submissive or acting in their own best interests, which was obviously not entertaining to me as a reader.

Here were some of my favorites from each section:
(note: there are not many)

Section 1, Tales from Norway
The Lad and the North Wind
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Master Tobacco

Section 2, Tales from Sweden
The Werwolf

Section 3, Tales from Denmark
The Troll's Hammer
Toller's Neighbors
The Girl Clad in Mouseskin

Section 4, Tales from Finland
The Mouse Bride
Antti and the Wizard's Prophecy
Jurma and the Sea God
Liisa and the Prince

Section 5, Tales from Iceland:
The Grateful Elfwoman
Hildur, the Queen of the Elves

[Skallagrimsen]

A massive compendium of folk tales from the frosty northern rim of Europe, including the classic works of the Danish genius, Hans Christian Anderson. The copy I received when I was a kid for Christmas Yule is one of the books I most credit for getting me in touch with my ancestral imaginarium.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects many folk and fairy tales from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The stories are pulled from the oral tradition and thus vary greatly in length and level of complexity. Some are just a quick paragraph with a moral, while others are more of a short story length and feature fantastic descriptions, legendary characters, and so on. The stories retain an authentic-feeling voice--I can just picture an 18th-century goatherd telling these tales to a visiting folklorist.

I was particularly interested in learning about Icelandic folklore, which often seem to feature troublesome elf-human interactions at Christmastime. I read some of the tales from other countries too. There's a wide variety, telling of trolls, elves, witches, wish-granting beings, princesses, and more. Some elements will be familiar to readers of fairy tales from other places, while others hint at particularly Scandinavian beasts, landscapes, and characters.

[no_more_color · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oh, thousands of times have we played on the shore,
And caught little fishes---dost mind it no more?
We raced with the surf as it rolled at our feet,
And the lurking old Merman we always did cheat.

"Yes, much shalt thou think of at my lullaby,
Whilst the billows do rock and the breezes do sigh.
Who sits now and weeps o'er thy cheeks? It is she
Who gave thee her soul, and whose soul lived in thee.

"But once as an eider-duck homeward I came
Thou didst lie 'neath a rock, with thy rifle didst aim;
In my breast thou didst strike me; the blood thou dost see
Is the mark that I bear, oh! beloved one, of thee."

This excerpt from the Finnish tale "Finn Blood" captures the spirit of the entire collection, but these stories are important for another reason; my favorite video games derive many of their plot lines from them.

[lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, very dense, and an excellent reference book that I can't bear to let the library get rid of, even though our only copy is falling to pieces, but I think I wanted to read more about the mythology of Scandinavia, so this book fell short.

[Robert Costic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This makes a good reference book. but I don't see it as something to read cover to cover. There are a huge number of tales, and with the exception of a few by Andersen they are told in the vernacular, which can grow tiring after a while.

[Michael Lent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky, original and endlessly interesting. If you know anyone who is Scandinavian or Nordic, this volume will go a long way toward explaining their quirks, unique sense of humor, meant toughness and shrewd, common sense.

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this one. I got stuck in the middle but finally got back to it. There were certain themes I enjoyed like the elves of Iceland, some Swedish and Norse stories, and several of the Finnish stories. A lot of trolls in Scandinavian stories.

[Luke Arden is currently busy writing✌️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are full of magic,✶⋆.˚ but the protagonists are usually everyday people:𓀚 𓃔𓃽 housewives, hunters, farmers, and milkmaids, instead of vikings and their gods.𓊝 The tales mix common European fairy-tale🧚 characters, like Chanticleer the rooster🐓 and Reynard the fox,🦊 with Christian elements,‪✝︎ like parsons and churchyards.⛪ But the antagonists—aside from a Devil🤘 of the breed celebrated in the Charlie Daniels Band song🎻—are frequently survivors from the pagan days: elves🧝‍♀️ and trolls.🧌

Trolls are the most versatile creatures. They can be bad🦟 or good,🐞 ugly🦂 or beautiful,🦋 mischievous🐵 or helpful🐶—whatever the story needs. Anyone or anything in a Scandinavian fairy tale might turn out to be a troll.👱🏻‍♂️👩🏻🐄🪾

The book is divided into five sections corresponding to the five Scandinavian countries: Norway,🇳🇴 Sweden,🇸🇪 Denmark,🇩🇰 Finland,🇫🇮 and Iceland.🇮🇸 However, in my household, where we read these as bedtime stories,⏾ we categorized them into the short ones🩳 and the long ones.👖 The short ones are good for when the children are already falling asleep,🧸💤 and maybe Mom and Dad too.🥱

Length📏 isn't the only difference between those two informal types. The shorter ones tend to be the most entertaining, with more absurd🌜🫖🐍 plots, which always appeal to me. In general, all Scandinavian fairy tales have an absurd🥥 streak. Strange events don't always happen because of mistakes🙊 and "you should have known better."🫵 They happen simply because of chance🎲 and the pockets of ancient magic🐇🎩 that linger in the forests݁.𖠰 ݁↟ and mountains.🏔️ It's rare to find any moral lessons here.😇 I love Aesop's fables𓏢 and their good advice, but there's something attractive about plunging🤿 into the wilderness🐾 and being reminded that logic📊 is only one way of interpreting the world.👩‍🎨🖼🎨

Here's a short tale from Sweden:

At Vejefors forge, up near the northern frontier, there was, many years ago, a charcoal burner....🪵🔥🪨

One evening,⏾⋆.˚ as he sat in his hut mending his tools,🪓 a beautiful maiden entered,🤌🏼 and, complaining that she was almost frozen,☃️ asked permission to warm herself at the fire.♨️🌡️

The coal burner, who had been long in the woods,😭 understood at once that his visitor was a wood nymph,🌳🧚🏼‍♀️ beautiful and enchanting when seen face to face,😍 but, when seen behind, is adorned with a bushy fox tail.ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

When she had warmed herself in front awhile,🧎‍♀️ she turned her back to the fire,🧎‍♀️‍➡️ and the coal burner was given an opportunity to see the tail,੭ whereupon, with unexpected courtesy,🍭🍬 he addressed his guest:

"Miss, look out for your train, please!"😲

That nice name for her troublesome appendage won the Troll woman's affections,💘 and from that day everything went admirably with the coal burner.🎰 𝟕 𝟕 𝟕

Kalandra is a great Norwegian band with a fairy-tale feel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtsai...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6by9...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL7NW...

And here's that classic Charlie Daniels song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh7BZ...

[Lock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories, and while the introduction describes Christianity as the "early and prime" faith of Scandinavia, some do retain elements of the pre-Christian folk spirituality. Its a pretty extensive collection. The organization is by country, which allows interesting characterization of the various cultures of the region.

[AA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of fairy tales!

[Bridgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vast collection of tales from all over Scandinavia.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of folk and fairy tales; you can see the roots of what inspired Tolkien and what continues to inspire Gaiman.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good collection, includes Lap and Finn tales.