Re:The Golden Scale: A Collection of Norwegian Folktales
by ivarru on Friday June 07, 2019 @11:34AM
(#20125584)
Minor correction: Norway was not formally a part of Sweden. The arrangement was a "personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign policy", see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_between_Sweden_and_Norwa....
Re:The Golden Scale: A Collection of Norwegian Folktales
by marvin on Friday June 07, 2019 @10:07AM
(#20124614)
I love "The priest and the clerk" for its incredibly colorful use of arcaic Norwegian language.
Not sure how well it translates without a huge amount of care, but at least it's a good long-form joke in English as well :)
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" is the original source material for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, being the inspiration for La Belle et la Bête.
Collecting Norwegian folk tales was a result of the national romantic (you could say separatist) movement during the 19th century; Norway was a part of Sweden at the time.
Most Norwegians haven't read more than a few of these. They are perhaps best known as stop-motion/puppet films by the director Ivo Caprino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dMbxrspfoU&list=PL6B529FE04...
Here are the ones that I think are most entertaining/recognized to such a degree that they are worth reading:
- The Three Billy-Goats Gruff - The Ashlad Who Ate a Match with the Troll - The Ashlad and his Crew (the film above) - East of the Sun and West of the Moon - The Husband Who Was to Mind the House - The Boy Who Went to the North Wind - One's Own Children Are Always Prettiest - The Ashlad Who Made the Princess Say "That's a lie!" - Soria Moria Castle - The Giant without a Heart in his Body - The Three Princesses in the Blue Mountain