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A white bear taps at a poor family's window, and a daughter's life opens onto a world of secrets.
East of the Sun and West of the Moon gathers Norwegian folk tales collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. In the title tale, a youngest daughter agrees to live with a great white bear. He keeps a secret behind a strict rule, while her mother's worry and curiosity threaten to change everything.
Beyond the title story lie the tales of Boots, the youngest son who sits among the ashes while his brothers seek their fortunes. There are also tales of trolls, goats, and the small overcoming the mighty. Talking bears, princesses on glass hills, and the four winds fill a world where hunger, fear, cleverness, and love sit close together.
What you’ll discover
- A bargain with a bear Step into a poor household where a strange visitor brings a life-changing choice.
- Boots by the hearth Meet an unlikely hero whose wit and good nature matter more than strength.
- Trolls waiting in shadows Encounter huge, greedy creatures under bridges and in mountains, ready to be outwitted.
- The rhythm of threes Follow three brothers, three tasks, and three gifts through the tales' recurring patterns.
- Stories close to speech Enjoy brisk tales told in plain words, with room for both fear and love.
Who will love it
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.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bear offers an unexpected journey
- A broken promise changes the journey
- Help carries her toward the castle
- Early bargains bring a later cost
- Unlikely heroes leave home with little
- Short tales turn on clear jokes
- Mistakes can begin a longer road
- Repetition gives the telling its rhythm
- Overlooked people carry the tales forward
Who’s who
- The youngest daughterA 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 BearA bear by day and a man by night, bewitched by a stepmother, who asks the girl to keep one simple rule.
- The North WindThe oldest and strongest of four wind brothers, grumpy but willing to carry the girl over the sea to the castle.
- HalvorA boy who sits in the ashes until he sails to a strange coast and faces three trolls to free three princesses.
- BootsThe 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 daughterA shepherd's only child who agrees to marry the Lindworm and follows a witch-woman's strange instructions.
- The soldierA 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 sonA poor boy who breaks his master's rule, finds a black horse in a forbidden stall, and rides away on its advice.
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Fairy TalesFree shelf
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen; Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
A girl rides a white bear to a castle, and one lit candle sends her to the end of the world.
Easy read2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Prince Lindworm, shed a skin!”
In short
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.
East of the Sun and West of the Moon at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 35 min2 h fast, 3 h slow
- Length
- 36,400 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
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.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 0 min
- Level
- Easy read
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}
}
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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.
The author
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
1812–1885 · Norwegian folklorist
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812–1885) was a Norwegian writer, folklorist, and forester. He was born in Christiania, now Oslo, and died there. He collected Norwegian folk tales with Jørgen Moe. Their collection, Norwegian Folktales, first appeared in 1841. He also wrote about natural history and worked in forestry.
“Prince Lindworm, shed a skin!”
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