"About Ash Lad, Who Stole the Troll's Silver Ducks, Coverlet, and Golden Harp" (

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian (Danish and no, dansk-norsk) was a koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from this ...

: ) is a Norwegian

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

collected by

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collection ...

and

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter ...

in ''

Norwegian Folktales ''Norwegian Folktales'' ( no, Norske folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as ''Asbjørnsen and Moe'', after the collectors. Asbjørnsen and Moe Asbjø ...

'' (''Norske Folkeeventyr'' No. 1), translated as "Boots and the Troll" by

George Webbe Dasent Sir George Webbe Dasent, D. C. L. (1817–1896) was a British translator of folk tales and contributor to ''The Times''. Life Dasent was born 22 May 1817 at St. Vincent, British West Indies, the son of the attorney general, John Roche Dasent. Hi ...

in 1859.

Textual notes

The name "Askepot" was used in the first edition (1843), where the tale was entitled "Om Askepot, som stjal Troldets Sølvænder, Sengetæppe og Guldharpe". The name was changed to Askeladden in the 2nd edition (1852), but only in the title, and the name remained Askepot throughout the story. This was rectified in later issued editions. The tale has been translated as "About Ash Lad, Who Stole the Troll's Silver Ducks, Coverlet, and Golden Harp" by

Tiina Nunnally Tiina Nunnally (born August 7, 1952) is an American author and translator. Early life and education Nunnally was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota. She was an AFS exchange student to ...

, and as "Boots and the Troll" by Dasent (1859).

Synopsis

An old man burned in hell. His three sons set out to seek their fortune. The two older would have nothing to do with the

youngest son The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters. In a family of many daughters, ...

, who they said was fit for nothing but to sit and poke about in ashes. The youngest brought a kneading-trough, the only thing their parents had left behind, which his brothers had not bothered with. His brothers got places under the coachman and gardener at the royal castle, and he got one in the kitchen. He did so much better than they did that they became envious and told the coachman that he had said he could get for the king seven silver ducks that belonged to a

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

, and which the king had long desired. The coachman told the king. When the king insisted that he do it, he demanded wheat and rye, rowed over the lake, in the kneading trough, to the troll's place, and lured the ducks into the trough using the grain. Then his brothers told the coachman he had said he could steal the troll's bed-quilt, and the coachman again told the king. He demanded three days, and when he saw the bed-quilt being hung out to air, he stole it. This time, the king made him his body-servant. His brothers told the coachman he had said he could steal the troll's golden harp that made everyone who heard it glad, and the coachman again told the king. He said he needed six days to think. Then he rowed over, with a nail, a birch-pin, and a taper-end, and let the troll see him. It seized him at once, and put him in a pen to fatten him. One day he stuck out the nail instead of his finger, then the birch-pin, and finally the taper-end, at which point they concluded he was fat enough. The troll went off to ask guests to come, and his daughter went to slaughter the youth. He told her the knife wasn't sharp enough, sharpened it, and suggested testing it on one of her braids; when testing, he cut off her head and then he roasted half of her and boiled the other, as the troll had said he should be cooked. He sat in the corner dressed in her clothing, and the troll ate his daughter and asked if he didn't want any. The youth said he was too sad. The troll told him to get the harp, and where it was. The youth took it and set off in the kneading trough again. The troll shouted after him, and the youth told him he had eaten his own daughter. That made him burst, and the youth took all the troll's gold and silver, and with them won the princess's hand in marriage and half the kingdom. And then his brothers were killed by boulders when they went up a mountain.

Analysis

The tale has been categorized as Aarne-Thompson type 328 "The Boy Steals the Giant's Treasure".

Explanatory notes

References

;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Askeladden Norwegian fairy tales Scandinavian folklore Trolls ATU 300-399 Asbjørnsen and Moe

Textual notes

Synopsis

Analysis

See also

Explanatory notes

References