Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812–1885)

A young military lieutenant, recently ill and unable to travel to his childhood home in the country, looks forward to his first Christmas without his family in this holiday short story from Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, the noted Norwegian author and folklorist who, together with Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, is celebrated for his role in collecting Norwegian folklore in the 19th century. Rooming with two maiden ladies in Christiania (modern-day Oslo), the lieutenant joins a fireside Christmas Eve party with his landladies and their young nieces and nephews, visiting for the occasion. It is then, round the Yule log, that the lieutenant and some of the other adults share thrilling stories from folklore: tales of trolls, brownies (nisse), and ghosts. After a night of dreams influenced by these tales, the lieutenant awakens to happy news: a family servant has come to take him home...

'Round the Yule-Log: Christmas in Norway is the sixth installment of Boston-based Dana Estes and Company's Christmas in Many Lands series that I have read, and it is by far my favorite so far. The series began in 1892, when the American publisher reprinted four Christmas short stories by sisters and author/illustrator team Florence and Edith Scannell, originally published in their native Britain in 1888, and set (respectively) in England, France, Germany and Italy. Each of these brief stories was published separately, in slim 32-page volumes that were profusely illustrated. It is worth noting that these first four books in the series were also published in a single volume, Christmas in Many Lands: England, France, Germany, and Italy, in 1888 (the same year they were published in the UK). In 1894 the Boston publisher added an American volume to the collection, with Hezekiah Butterworth's The Parson's Miracle and My Grandmother's Grandmother's Christmas Candle: Christmas In America, and then in 1895 this Norwegian Christmas story was published. The story in this American publication was translated into English by H.L. Brœkstad, and initially appeared as the opening tale in the similarly titled Round the Yule Log: Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, a collection published in Britain in 1881, fourteen years earlier, which presented a much more extensive selection of traditional Norwegian tales, using the ailing lieutenant's convalescence as a framing device for their telling.

As someone with a great love of folklore, who has enjoyed a number of translations of Asbjørnsen and Moe's work in this area, I approached this book with some curiosity. Perhaps owing to the nature of the foregoing five entries in the Christmas in Many Lands series, I had the impression that it was an original story written by someone who was also famed for his folktale collections. How happy I was to discover however, that the sharing of traditional tales was an integral part of the Christmas celebration around which this story was organized. I immediately recognized the first tale related by the lieutenant as the classic The Cat on the Dovrefell, which I have encountered in picture book form at least three different times. The other stories also felt familiar to me, particularly the one about the ghostly church service, although I couldn't name it specifically. I did wonder a bit at the fact that the house spirits / elves / gnomes known as "nisse" in Norway were referred to here as brownies, but perhaps it was the custom in that day to use a similar term, taken from English and Scottish folklore, rather than retain the original word, when translating such stories. However that may be, this was very enjoyable, and more than enough to convince me, not just to carry on with my reading of the Christmas in Many Lands series, but also to seek out the larger collection containing this one story.… (meer)

A pancake jumps out of the pan and rolls away in order to escape being eaten in this traditional Norwegian tale, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe—the Brothers Grimm of Norway. Encountering any number of creatures along the way, each of which wish him to stop and allow them to eat him, the pancake trundles on, until it meets a very clever pig...

The tale type in which a runaway pastry eludes many would-be pursuers, only to fall victim to a clever foe in the end, is quite widespread. In Russia and other Slavic countries there is the story of Kolobok, a little bun that runs aways from its creators, and is eventually eaten by a fox. Retold by Marcia Brown in her The Bun: A Tale from Russia, the story can also be found in Irina Zheleznova's Ukrainian Folk Tales, where it is known as The Little Round Bun. A German variant can be found in Carl and Theodor Colshorn's Märchen und Sagen aus Hannover, while the Euro-American version from New England, perhaps best known to American children, is The Gingerbread Man.

In any case, this Norwegian variant, originally known as Pannekaken, was collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in their 1871 Norske Folke-Eventyr. Ny Samling ("Norwegian Folktales. New Collection"). The story is humorous and enjoyable, making good use of it repetitive structure and expanding refrain, both in the growing list of compliments paid to the mother by her hungry children, as she is making the pancake, and by the pancake itself as it refuses each animal's request that he stop and allow himself to be eaten. This presentation of the tale, illustrated by Svend Otto S., who also illustrated Asbjørnsen and Moe's The Man Who Kept House, was originally published in Denmark in 1980. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts, particularly those familiar with other variants of this tale type.… (meer)

A wealthy squire decides he wishes to remarry in this Norwegian folktale, only to discover that the object of his affections—the daughter of a poor farmer in the area—is not interested in becoming his wife. Determined to make her his nonetheless, the squire involves the girl's father in his efforts, and when even parental persuasion proves ineffective, a new plan is devised. The wedding will be prepared, and the girl sent to the squire's house unawares... but things do not go quite as planned, when the girl sends a mare in her place...

Collected by those giants of Norwegian folklore, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, as part of their 1871 Norske Folke-Eventyr. Ny Samling ("Norwegian Folktales. New Collection"), where it was known as Herremannsbruden, this humorous tale is presented in this picture-book edition with the lovely illustrations of American artist Marcia Sewell. The story itself was enjoyable, celebrating a clever young girl who knows what she wants (and what she doesn't!), but what lifted this presentation above the ordinary was the pencil drawings from Sewell. Delicate but quite expressive, these pictures draw the reader in, every bit as engaging as more colorful folktale artwork. Recommended to young folklore lovers, or to picture-book readers looking for books with Norwegian content. For my part, I hope to track down more of Sewell's books.… (meer)