The Other Side of the Fairy Tales
The Other Side of the Fairy Tales Forgotten, Dark, and Strange Norwegian Folktales
Book 1 in the Fra munn til munn: Den glemte kulturarven series
The Other Side of the Fairy Tales brings together forgotten, dark, and strange Norwegian folktales that differ from the most famous and polished classics. Here readers meet trolls, hulders, giants, bewitched princes, cunning farmhands, and fearless heroes in stories full of drama, savagery, humor, and superstition.
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Forget the nice fairy tales
Here the trolls are dangerous, the heroes are ruthless, and the humor is darker than you remember.
The Other Side of the Fairy Tales opens the door to a forgotten part of the Norwegian storytelling tradition. Here you meet hulders guarding treasures, giants fooled by farmhands, bewitched bridegrooms, wicked stepmothers, fearless heroes, and cunning figures who find a way out when all seems impossible.
These are not the polished fairy tales of childhood. The stories are rawer, more absurd, and far more unpredictable. They offer black humor and grotesque twists, magical objects and ancient beliefs – and dramatic encounters between humans and supernatural beings.
A fascinating collection for anyone who loves Norwegian folklore, cultural history, old legends, dark fairy tales, and stories that refuse to behave.
Read the book – and discover what lies hidden on the other side of the fairy tales.
Book details
- Type
- Fairy tale collection
- Genre
- Fairy tales, Folklore, Norwegian folklore
- ISBN
-
- 978-82-92302-14-9 PDF
- 978-82-92302-19-4 EPUB
- Published
- Original language
- Bokmål
- Series
- Fra munn til munn: Den glemte kulturarven (#1)
About the book
Behind the well-known Norwegian folktales lies a darker, more unpredictable, and often far stranger storytelling tradition.
The Other Side of the Fairy Tales – Forgotten, Dark, and Strange Norwegian Folktales brings forward stories that rarely find their way into modern fairy tale collections. Here we meet trolls, hulders, giants, robbers and mountain folk, bewitched princes, clever girls, cunning farmhands, and heroes who survive through courage, savagery, and quick wit.
The collection includes, among others, the tales of Ola Veijar and Åkenball, Oskefisen, Ola Orædd, Jernbruden, Grønnskjegg, and De tre mostrene (in all their brutality), along with a number of other figures from the Norwegian oral storytelling tradition.
The tales contain brutality and superstition, absurdity and popular humor, magic and moral trials. Good deeds may be rewarded, greed may be punished, and the weakest may defeat both trolls and kings – as long as they are cunning enough.
All the tales are drawn from the letters of Moltke Moe, son of Jørgen Moe, and were written down around 1877–1883. The texts have been reworked and edited by SA Robbestad into accessible, modern language, while preserving the oral rhythm, the folk tone, and the distinctive character of the stories.
This is a book for readers who want to discover a lesser-known side of the Norwegian cultural heritage – far from the neat and tidy princess tales, and much closer to the wild, grotesque, and mysterious underside of the fairy tales.