Summary
Summary of Popular Tales from the Norse
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Country voices carry the tales
Popular Tales from the Norse brings together stories told in Norway long before anyone wrote them down. Farmers, hunters and old women passed them from one generation to another. Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe gathered them in the countryside, and Sir George Webbe Dasent brought a selection to English readers.
The stories range from youngest sons and hungry trolls to helpful animals and foolish husbands. Across these different adventures, a plain, lively voice keeps the feeling of someone telling a tale aloud.
Key idea 2
Two friends preserve a shared voice
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Key idea 3
Boots listens where others turn away
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Key idea 4
Trolls make danger look foolish
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Key idea 5
Helpers make impossible tasks possible
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Key idea 6
Ordinary mistakes become warm comedy
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Key idea 7
Repetition gives listeners a familiar path
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Key idea 8
Small acts matter more than strength
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
You will love this book if you enjoy fairy tales told plainly, trolls and talking animals, clever youngest sons, or the old Norse gods hiding inside nursery stories. It rewards anyone curious about where stories come from.
What this book is
Trolls and talking animals live in Popular Tales from the Norse, which Sir George Webbe Dasent translated from the Norwegian collection of Asbjornsen and Moe.
In this summary
- 1A Norwegian collection with a bold introductionFree
- 2The same tales turn up across the world
- 3Odin and Thor wear new names in the tales
- 4The lad from the ashes always rises
- 5Kind girls meet strange helpers on the road
- 6Wit beats strength in the beast tales
- 7Trolls, ogres and giants without hearts
- 8Rogues, fools and clever bargains
- 9Saints, quests and tales from the West Indies
Key point 1 of 9
A Norwegian collection with a bold introduction
Two Norwegian collectors, Asbjornsen and Moe, wrote down the folk tales told in the countryside, and Dasent put them into English. His second edition added thirteen tales, so the whole Norwegian collection stood complete. He chose not to soften the rougher tales, because he held that a collection of this kind is worth only as much as its faithfulness.
He opens with an essay that treats nursery tales as a science. He credits Jacob Grimm with raising such stories from old wives’ fables to a subject worthy of serious study. Before Grimm, he says, English children mostly met Cinderella and Bluebeard through French books.
The essay sets the stage for everything that follows. Keep that double view in mind as you read.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Boots help strangers he meets on the road?
Right. “Those he helps later repay him with advice or magic that saves him when the real test comes.”Not quite. “Those he helps later repay him with advice or magic that saves him when the real test comes.”
What makes powerful trolls vulnerable to weaker heroes?
Right. “He is often slow, boastful and greedy, and these faults are what a quick hero uses against him.”Not quite. “He is often slow, boastful and greedy, and these faults are what a quick hero uses against him.”
How does repetition shape the tales?
Right. “The same question, the same warning or the same refusal comes round three times, and the third time something changes.”Not quite. “The same question, the same warning or the same refusal comes round three times, and the third time something changes.”
Questions about Popular Tales from the Norse
What is Popular Tales from the Norse about?
It gathers Norwegian folk tales such as East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Boots stories. An introduction explains how such tales spread among related peoples and carry traces of Norse myth.
Who is Boots in Norse fairy tales?
Boots is the name Dasent gives the youngest son, who sits by the fire among the ashes and is mocked by his brothers. With good heart and quick wit, he wins the princess in many stories.
Who collected these Norwegian tales and who translated them?
Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe collected them from country people in Norway. Sir George Webbe Dasent translated them into English and wrote the introduction on their origin.
Are the tales in this book suitable for children?
Most are lively and short, with clear plots, repeated phrases and talking animals that suit reading aloud. Dasent also marks a few at the end as written for grown readers.
What is the main message of these tales?
They often show that cleverness and kindness beat brute force and pride. Humble heroes, helped by those they treat well, win in the end, while boasters and bullies meet their match.
