1. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon
Imaginary places abound in folklore. To enhance the magical aspect of tales, it is important for part, if not all, of the setting to be a nebulous elsewhere. This title, and the place it connotes, originated with this tale. Other authors have since used it--perhaps the most famous is William Morris, who in his three-volume verse epic, The Earthly Paradise (1869), entitles a lengthy portion, "The Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon." His verse tale, "set forth as a dream, tells of a churl's son who won a fair Queen to his love, and afterwards lost her, and yet in the end was not deprived of her." 5
Carol Silver, in an article written for Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, writes that "in a land east of the sun and west of the moon, there lived a race of women who were powerful and free." 6 Both uses of this ethereal place are shrouded in mystery, romance and superhuman qualities.
This Norse tale can be found in similar form in the folkore of India as "Monkeys and Men." Identified as type 425A (The Animal Bridegroom) in the Aarne classification of folktales, it is a variation of "Beauty and the Beast," the English tale, "The Black Bull of Norroway" and the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. 7 Back to text
2. Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen (1873 - 1956)
Gudrun Nielsen was born in Trondheim, Norway. In 1888, she came to America at the age of fifteen. She trained as a teacher and worked in Chicago as a third-grade teacher at the Cook County Normal School, where John Dewey was also a faculty member. Her craft as a storyteller began publicly through a program at the Chicago Public Library. She shared the old Norse folk tales she had learned as a child. Her first book, entitled East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, containing that tale and twenty-one other stories, is a translation and adaptation of the popular tales of Asbjörnsen and Moë.
Mrs. Thorne-Thomsen lectured on folklore and storytelling at the Carnegie Library School of Pittsburgh and the Western Reserve Library School. In 1923, she moved to Ojai, California where she served as principal and literature teacher until her retirement in 1936. She continued her storytelling and work of instructing others, chiefly children's librarians, in the craft. Other books include The Sky Bed (Scribner's, 1944), about the Norwegian resistance to the Nazis during World War II, and In Norway (Viking, 1948). 8 Back to text
According to the Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, hewers of wood are among the "laborers of the lowest class." 9 This is in keeping with the Scandanavian rural society, wherein laborers composed the overwhelming majority of the population. It is chiefly among the
rural population that oral folk traditions were handed down. 10 Back to text
It is not insignificant that this day of the week figures in the tale. Thursday is named for Thor, who, in Norse mythology, is the god of thunder and the sky. He was second only to Odin in importance and was probably the most popular god of the Norse pantheon. His name is believed to be derived from Jupiter Tanarus, the Thundering Jupiter, a Celtic deity. 11 Back to text
As a motif, the number three figures prominently in fairy tales, for example three characters (bears, goats), three wishes, or three chances to triumph over evil ("Rumplestiltskin"). The concept of three is laden with meaning, hidden or open, across cultures. Its significance show clearly in the Christian Trinity, the Chinese Great Triad (man, heaven, earth), Buddhism's Triple Jewel (Buddha, Dharma, Sanga), or ancient Persia's religious motto: "good thoughts, good words and good deeds," to name but a few. 12 Back to text
In literature, the bear conveys a wealth of meanings; on the positive side bravery and strength, and conversely brutality or clumsiness. Beliefs associated with bears abound. To Native Americans the bear symbolizes immortality, since a bear hiberantes in the winter, only to reawaken in the spring. In Norse tradition, the bear is a valiant warrior, representing "the lonely champion, fighting in single combat and leading his men."13 Back to text
7. Rich - Translation differences
Here, Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen (GTT) departs from the Dasent translation where the father puts the question to his daughter, who initially refuses on her own. Under pressure from her father to benefit the family and herself, she reconsiders, and so consents to the match. Back to text
8. Two beds - Translation differences
Again GTT differs in her telling of the tale. Dasent's translation specifies one bed wherein "a man came and laid himself alongside her." 14 Perhaps GTT was responding to the mores of her time by keeping the characters in separate beds. After all, the tale in either version does not include a formal marriage ceremony. Back to text
9. Man or monster - Shape Changing
Throughout the world's cultures, but especially in Norway folk tradition, there exists the phenomenon of shape-changing--a human (more often male) who turns into a beast, usually a bear or a wolf. The change can either be voluntary or imposed through enchantment.15 Back to text
10. Sorrowful - Translation differences
At this point, GTT takes a significant departure from Dasent's rendering. The lassie, when asked why she is so sad, expresses homesickness and a desire to see her family. The White Bear consents, but only on the condition that she not speak to her mother in private. She agrees, but is persuaded by her mother to relate all the details of her life with the White Bear, especially the nights. Her mother provides her with a candle to view the sleeping creature, while warning her not to drop tallow on him.
On her way back to the castle, the lassie falsely assures the Bear she did not listen to her mother's advice. Back to text
Again the motif of three occurs, this time connoting dire misfortune. Back to text
12. Wicked witch - Translation differences
In Dasent's version this person is named stepmother, a common motif for mistreatment and cruelty in fairy tales. Another slight variation is Dasent's specification of a Long-nosed princess who is the intended bride. See Kay Vandergrift's Snow White Issues Page for a discussion of stepmothers in fairy tales. Back to text
The Quest motif, whether for person or object (Holy Grail), is prevalent in traditional tales. Usually the quest is undertaken at the request of another, but is occasionally voluntary. This tale is a mixture of both. The heroine, as true wife, feels an inner compulsion to find her husband, but he makes no demands on her to free him. This is where her strength in juxtaposition to his weak resignation shines through. Back to text
14. No one - Translation differences
Another omission from the Dasent translation, the lassie in her quest comes upon an old hag, playing with a gold apple. The old woman loans her a horse, gives her the apple and sends her to a neighbor. The neighbor, also a crone, in turn loans her a horse, gives her a gold carding comb, and sends her to still another old neighbor woman. This one loans her a horse, gives her a gold spinning wheel, and sends her to the East Wind. The motif of three again makes an appearance. Back to text
The wind is frequently personified in folk tales and legends. Early Christianity depicts the winds as "controlled by four angels at the four corners of the world." 16 Each of the four winds has a different connotation. The East Wind is gentle and brings rain. The West Wind denotes vigor and dry weather, especially in Europe. The South Wind brings heat and drought. The strongest of all, the North Wind, bodes fair weather along the Meditteranean, but is the harbinger of winter and bitter cold in Northern Europe. 17 Back to text
16. Windows - Translation differences
GTT's final major departure from Dasent occurs here. Before the castle windows, the lassie is playing with her golden apple, comb and spinning wheel. Each time she is spied by the Long-nosed princess who covets these pretty things. The true wife barters each object in return for a night alone with the Prince. On the third night, the Prince (having slept through nights one and two because of a sleeping draught) is awake to tell the lassie that she might win him by washing his shirt clean.
GTT replaces these incidents with the lassie's brief encounter with the witch who tells her what is happening. This telling gives more credence to the strength of the heroine. She must be brave and resourceful to free the Prince without the aid of golden trinkets. Back to text
The troll is unique to Scandinavian lore. He is monstrous and ugly, always inimical to humans and goodness. These creatures often possessed magic powers, lived in castles and haunted the surrounding areas after dark. If exposed to sunlight, they burst or turned to stone.18
Witches abound in fairy tales where they are almost without exception, female purveyors of evil and black magic. The belief in witchcraft is found throughout the world and, since the advent of Christianity, its practitioners are generally regarded as privy to natural and supernatural secrets to be used for harmful deeds. The physical appearance of witches in folk tales is almost universally ugly, though witches are capable of transforming themselves or others into any form they choose. Back to text
The act of washing to denote purification of what has been sullied points to the parallel of Jesus washing the disciples feet, symbolic of washing away sin. I find a parallel also in Shakespeare's Macbeth when Lady Macbeth cannot remove the spots which condemn her heinous acts. Back to text
Webster's defines an ell as a unit of measure of length, now little used, varying in different countries: in England equal to 45 inches. That would make the witch's nose in this tale 135 inches long! Back to text
One of the many meanings for stone in literature is punishment. Another meaning which would apply here is permanence. The circle of stones could be an allusion to the mystic and ancient stone circles of Northern Europe à la Stonehenge. Back to text