Sir George Webbe Dasent

Popular Tales from the Norse

Sir George Webbe Dasent

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, friends since childhood, collaboratively published a series of Norwegian legends and folktales. In order to overcome language and dialect difficulties, the two modeled their style after the Brothers Grimm. The stories were originally published in pamphlets, but by 1870 the current collection was published, and the entire work was translated by Sir George Webbe Dasent, a professor of English literature and modern history at Kings College London. Asbjørnsen and Moe called his work «the best and happiest rendering of our tales that has appeared.» These simple yet charming stories are a treat for both children and adults, full of giants, trolls, heroes and princesses. The stories include: «East O' The Sun and West O' The Moon,» «Taming the Shrew,» «The Master Thief,» «The Widow's Son,» «The Three Billy-goats Gruff» and many others.