D'aulaires's book of greek mythology was one of my favorites, so of course I had to read this. There are not nearly enough of their charming illustrations in this one, but the stories are so charming, adaptations of an older translation, that I don't mind. (Some are 'new' translations-- the book was originally published in 1938-- but most are adapted from the George Webb Dasent Translation of the collection of Asbjornsen and Moe.
A number of these stories I remember appearing in Little Golden Books from my childhood, but many are new to me. They include:
Herding the King's Hares;
The Ship that went by Land as By Sea;
The Quern that Stands and Grinds at the Bottom of the Sea (which I know as "Why the Sea is Salt");
The Maid on the Glass Mountain;
The Widow's Son;
Lord Per (similar to Puss in Boots);
Soria Moria Castle;
Per, Paal, and Espen Cinderlad;
Cinderlad and the Troll;
The Big Bird Dam;
Kari Woodenskirt (Cinderella-like);
Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed;
East of the Sun and West of the Moon;
The Three Princesses in the Mountain So Blue;
The Three Bushy Billy-Goats;
Tatterhood;
Dapplegrim;
Gudbrand on the Hillside;
The Hen Trips in the Mountain;
The Three Aunts (a flax-processing cousin of Rumplestiltskin);
Doll in the Grass.

Cinderlad, in these stories, is not the same as Cinderella-- his cinders come from lazing around the hearth rather than doing heavy work. A number of these stories are reminiscent of Russian fairy-tales, but whether they came from Russia or went there, or have a common Rus source, I couldn't say. As usual in a collection of this kind, there are repeating themes and tropes, though some (like Tatterhood and the Big Bird Dam) are unique. ( )

Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire - the husband-wife team whose D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, Norse Gods And Giants, and D'Aulaires' Trolls provided so many hours of reading pleasure in my childhood - appear to have been far more prolific than I had realized, producing close to thirty picture-books and story collections in their long career together. This volume, first published in 1938, and reprinted in this edition in 1969, was their eighth book, and presents twenty-one Norwegian folktales, taken from the classic nineteenth-century collection of Asbjørnsen and Moe. Readers familiar with that collection will recognize these tales with pleasure, just as fans of the D'Aulaires' work will delight in the distinctive illustrations to be found herein.

I had already encountered most of the tales in East of the Sun and West of the Moon, through various other collections of Norwegian folklore I have read over the years, so I found myself focusing more on tale-types during this reading, as so many of these stories have parallels in the other folk traditions of Europe. Herding the King's Hares, for instance - in which a young man, aided by a magical whistle that allows him to herd the king's hares, wins the hand of the princess - reminded me in part of the French tale of the Three Perfect Peaches. The Ship That Went As Well By Land As By Sea was quite reminiscent of the Russian story of The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, as well as the German The Six Servants, from the collection of the Brothers Grimm. The Maid on the Glass Mountain is quite similar, in many respects, to the Russian Chestnut-Grey, and so on.

Of course, it is entertaining to pick out such similarities, but though these tales can certainly be placed in the wider folkloric context, they are also uniquely Norwegian, with their abundance of trolls, and down-to-earth heroes and heroines. The titular East of the Sun and West of the Moon (so reminiscent of Cupid and Psyche), is always a favorite of mine, as is the odd Tatterhood. A lovely collection, sure to entertain folklore enthusiasts and D'Aulaires fans alike, this wonderful volume would be an excellent candidate, for reprinting by the New York Review of Books! Here's hoping... ( )