Norwegian Folktales

Norwegian Folktales (Norwegian: Norske Folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors.

Asbjørnsen, a teacher, and Moe, a minister, had been friends for about 15 years when in 1841 they published the first volume of folktales – the collection of which had been an interest of both for some years. The work's popularity is partly attributable to Norway's newly won partial independence, and the wave of nationalism that swept the country in the 19th century; and the Norwegian written language they contributed to developing (i.e., what would become Bokmål); their language style struck a balance: it was a national language distinct from Danish, but less Norwegian than the rural dialect in pure form.

Asbjørnsen and Moe were inspired by the German folktale collectors, the Brothers Grimm, not merely to emulate their methodology, but drawing encouragement by it, their endeavor was a work of national importance, especially as the Grimms openly gave high praise for the Norske folkeeventyr. Asbjørnsen and Moe applied the principles espoused by the Grimms, for instance, using a simple linguistic style in place of dialects, while maintaining the original form of the stories. Moreover, Asbjørnsen and Moe did not publish collected folktales in the raw, but created "retold" versions, seeking to reconstruct the lost Urform of the tales—although the alterations performed were not as drastic as the Grimms sometimes allowed license for themselves. The Norwegian pair also collected tales from the field themselves, in contrast to the Grimms.

The original series, entitled Norske Folkeeventyr went into publication piecemeal. It first appeared a slim pamphlet (1841) offering a selection of a few tales, without a title page, the editor's names or table of contents. This was sufficiently well-received, and championed by P. A. Munch in a German newspaper. It led to the appearance of a reprint of the first volume in 1843 and the second volume in 1844 as proper hardcovers. The second edition appeared in 1852. Another series dubbed the "New Collection" appeared later (Norske Folke-Eventyr. Ny Samling 1871). The tales are numbered, the original collection containing 58 tales, increased to 60 tales in later editions. The new collection held 50 tales.

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