ReadThe Three Billy Goats Gruff
Three goats called Gruff cross a bridge to a green mountain, while a hungry troll under the bridge waits for the biggest one.
Retold from: Asbjørnsen and Moe
Asbjørnsen and Moe were two friends who collected Norwegian folk tales about trolls, sly animals and clever peasants.
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812–1885) was a naturalist, and Jørgen Moe (1813–1882) was a priest and poet. They became friends as schoolboys and later decided to write down together the tales they heard in Norwegian villages and mountains.
Their first tales were published in 1841, and within a few years the collection “Norwegian Folk Tales” took shape. The collectors preserved the simple, lively manner of the storytellers, so Norwegians still regard these tales as a national treasure.
The site already has “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”, “Why the Bear Has a Short Tail” and “The Cat of the Dovre Mountains”: about billy goats and a hungry troll under a bridge, about a trusting Bear and a sly Fox, and about a white bear whom the trolls mistook for a giant kitty on Christmas Eve.
Stories
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ReadWhy the Bear Has a Short Tail
A sly fox teaches a bear to fish with his tail through a hole in the ice, and ever since, all bears have had stubby little tails.
ReadThe Cat of the Dovre Mountains
A hunter taking a white bear to the king spends Christmas Eve in a cottage that trolls invade, and they mistake the bear for a giant kitty!