The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe

By: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Moe, Tiina Nunnally - translator, Neil Gaiman - foreword

Narrated by: Ann Richardson

Magic and myth inhabit these chapters in figures both familiar and strange. Giant trolls and talking animals are everywhere. The winds take human form. A one-eyed old woman might seem reminiscent of the Norse god Odin. We meet sly aunts, resourceful princesses, and devious robbers.

These stories, set in Norway's majestic landscape of towering mountains and dense forests, are filled with humor, mischief, and sometimes surprisingly cruel twists of fate. All are rendered in the deceptively simple narrative style perfected by Asbjørnsen and Moe - now translated into an English that is as finely tuned to the modern ear as it is true to the original Norwegian.

Included here - for the very first time in English - are Asbjørnsen and Moe's forewords and introductions to the early Norwegian editions of the tales. Asbjørnsen gives us an intriguing glimpse into the actual collection process and describes how the stories were initially received, both in Norway and abroad.

Equally fascinating are Moe's views on how central characters might be interpreted and his notes on the regions where each story was originally collected. Nunnally's informative translator's note places the tales in a biographical, historical, and literary context for the 21st century.

©2019 Tiina Nunnally (English translation); Foreword copyright 2019 by Neil Gaiman (P)2020 Tantor

Interesting stories.

The reader was very expressive. The stories are not ones that you hear in other collections.

interesting

Folklore tales are interesting. These are very similar to other people's tales in many ways, you will see familiar themes and plots. but they also certainly have a bit of a different flavor to them. The narrator did an excellent job.

Stories I have never heard.

Sweet little collection. Be patient and listen all the way through. Not all at one time necessarily. Lots of nice surprises.

Beautiful narration

The stories are narrated well. It is great to listen to stories from another country!

Lots of great stories

many of the stories seemed to be repetitive or used the same character name which was at times confusing

Old-timey life/death and sexism with magic and heroic honorable deeds

Enjoyable, but like other original fairy tales, this is no Disney/Pixar trip! Don’t play this for your little ones, unless they’ve had firsthand experience with brutality and gore. You know, like the kids who were around when these stories were new and life was fire and hunting and death by bear and raiders in spring.

As for the performance, I’m not sure what’s up with the accent. However the natural voice of the speaker is lovely and clear and the pace is great. Clearly attention was paid to the script and cadence.

Excellent Moral Stories

The reader, she was excellent. The various lessons that came from many of the stories (e.g., telling the truth and being nice is the best approach to life).

Okay

It was okay but I recommend Nordic Tales by Chronicle Books more. Most of the same stories but better delivery/more engaging.

I love these stories!

I love all of these stories and the narration. I listen to them often.

Pretty good

All of the tales are good ,it’s just all the violence in almost all of them ,and I couldn’t help but notice that some of them had basically the same story framework . Three brothers go on a quest to find their fortunes leaving the youngest at home because he apparently couldn’t do anything except dig in the ashes of the fireplace.The three brothers try to do some deed for a king fail and either have their heads abruptly cut off or have their ears cut off or get sent to a desolate island forever.Then the youngest comes along succeeds at helping the king gets married to the princess and gets half of the kingdom.