Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Östlich der Sonne und westlich des Mondes
Go deeper: the whole of Östlich der Sonne und westlich des Mondes
About 2 h 40 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who love trolls, talking winds, clever youngest sons and brave girls will feel at home here, as will anyone who wants tales to share aloud.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Would you climb onto a white bear's back and ride into a hillside for a promise of riches?
East of the Sun and West of the Moon gathers fifteen tales collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. They wrote them down from Norwegian storytellers in the 1840s, keeping the plain, spoken voice of the farmhouse fireside.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A bear's bargain sends a girl uphillFree
- 2The winds carry her toward the castle
- 3Strength, serpents and forbidden rooms
- 4Younger sons and soldiers set out on quests
- 5Humor, bridges and a cat that is a bear
- 6Kindness and courage win over strength and pride
- 7Rules are broken, and the cost is real
- 8A voice at the fireside, built for telling
Punkt 1 von 8
A bear's bargain sends a girl uphill
The title tale begins in poverty. A farmer has so many children that he can hardly feed them. One autumn Thursday a huge White Bear taps three times on the window and offers to make the family rich if he may have the youngest daughter. She says no. At last, after her father talks and talks, she gives in and climbs onto the bear's back.
The ride ends at a steep hill. A door opens, and she steps into a castle of silver and gold. At night a man lies down beside her in the dark. She never sees his face, because he is always gone before dawn.
Then loneliness sets in. The bear lets her visit her family on one condition. She must not talk alone with her mother. Her mother coaxes her upstairs, hears about the unseen husband, and says he may be a troll. She hands over a little candle and tells the girl to light it while he sleeps.
Nobody here is wicked.
The candle comes out that night. She sees the loveliest prince anyone has ever seen, and three hot drops of tallow fall on his shirt. He wakes. Now he must go to a castle East of the Sun and West of the Moon and marry a princess with a nose three ells long. The girl wakes alone in a gloomy forest.
A rule given early in a tale, once broken, sets the real story moving.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Östlich der Sonne und westlich des Mondes
About 2 h 40 min to read.Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- The youngest daughter
- A poor farmer's prettiest child, who rides a white bear to a castle and later crosses the winds to find the husband she has lost.
- The White Bear
- A bear by day and a man by night, bewitched by a stepmother, who asks the girl to keep one simple rule.
- The North Wind
- The oldest and strongest of four wind brothers, grumpy but willing to carry the girl over the sea to the castle.
- Halvor
- A boy who sits in the ashes until he sails to a strange coast and faces three trolls to free three princesses.
- Boots
- The youngest prince, riding a worn-out nag, who shares what he has with a raven, a salmon and a wolf and sets out to save his brothers.
- The shepherd's daughter
- A shepherd's only child who agrees to marry the Lindworm and follows a witch-woman's strange instructions.
- The soldier
- A soldier who dreams three times of the lost princesses, sets out with a full wallet, and goes down a hole through fire and water.
- The widow's son
- A poor boy who breaks his master's rule, finds a black horse in a forbidden stall, and rides away on its advice.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 42,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 50 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Östlich der Sonne und westlich des Mondes
What is East of the Sun and West of the Moon about?
It is a collection of fifteen Norwegian folktales. The title tale follows a girl who rides a white bear to a castle, loses him, and travels on the winds to find him again. The other tales include trolls, princesses, magic horses and animal jokes.
What does East of the Sun and West of the Moon mean?
It describes the location of the castle where the bewitched prince must go to his stepmother. The place is described as unreachable, which is why the girl seeks help from three old women and finally the four winds.
Who wrote the stories and when were they collected?
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe collected them from Norwegian storytellers in the 1840s. They are folktales, so no single author made them up. The two collectors wrote them down in a lively, spoken style.
Is it easy to read for children and adults?
The tales are short, with plain language and a clear shape. Many repeat a pattern of three, which makes them easy to follow and to read aloud. Each one can be enjoyed on its own in a few minutes.
What are the main messages of these tales?
Kindness and courage help ordinary people win. Rules are given to be tested, and breaking them has a cost. The overlooked youngest child, the beggar boy or the soldier often proves worth more than the proud and the grand.
Cite this edition
Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe. East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon.
Asbjørnsen, P. C., & Moe, J. E. (2026). East of the sun and west of the moon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon
Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe. East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon.
@book{asbjornsen2026east,
author = {Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen and Moe, Jørgen Engebretsen},
title = {East of the Sun and West of the Moon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon}
}
