These 38 Norwegian folk and fairy tales of elemental mountain, forest and sea spirits, have been handed down through the generations by hinds and huntsmen, woodcutters and fisher-folk, who led hard and lonely lives amid primitive surroundings are, perhaps, among the most fascinating the Scandinavian countries have to offer. Not only are they meant to delight children, and this they do not fail to do. "Grown-ups" who also, who take pleasure in a good story, will enjoy this book as well.
Here you will find stories which are well told. Readers will enjoy the original legend of "Peer Gynt" as it existed before Ibsen gave it more symbolic meaning. You will also find a glowingly, beautiful picture of an Avalon of the Northern seas described in "The Island of Udröst." And what could be more human and moving than the tragic "The Player on the Jew's-Harp," or none more genuinely entertaining than "The King's Hares"? The thrill and fascination of black magic and mystery run through such stories as "The Secret Church," "The Comrade," and "Lucky Andrew." In "The Honest Four-Shilling Piece" we have the adventures of a Norse Dick Whittington. "Storm Magic" is one of the most thrilling sea tales, bar none, ever written, but every story included in the volume seems to bring with it the breath of the Norse mountains.
One cannot but believe that "The Book of Norwegian Fairy Tales" has an appeal for one and all, since it is a book in which fairy-tales mirror and reflect human yearnings and aspirations, human loves, ambitions and disillusionments, in an imaginatively festooned world. It is the translator's hope that those who may come to know this book will derive as much pleasure from its reading as it gave him to translate it into English.