Asmund and Signy is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

published by Scandinavist in ''Islandische Märchen''.

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

included it in ''

The Brown Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...

''.

Synopsis

A king and queen had a son, Asmund, and a daughter, Signy. Asmund loved the outdoors. He persuaded his father to give him two giant

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s, and told Signy that he would hollow them out and live in them. Signy asked to live there, too, and Asmund agreed. They lived there a time, when their father had to go to war, and their mother died... Nearby, a king had a son, Prince Ring, who had heard of Signy's beauty and was determined to marry her. When setting out in search for her, he met a beautiful woman who told him she was Signy and explained her being alone on the way as stemming from her grief at her mother's death; she was, in fact, a gigantic

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

. He told her he wished to marry her. She agreed but said she had to go into the woods and would join him at the ship. In the woods, she tore up the two oaks and carried them with her. Ring carried her home, where she was made welcome, and the oaks were planted outside her windows. The prince asked her when they could marry, she agreed to a date, and he brought her fine cloth to make her wedding gown. As soon as he left, she took on her own shape and raged, because she could not sew and would soon starve if her brother did not bring her raw meat and bones. A giant brought her meat, but she still raged over the cloth. Asmund asked Signy to sew the cloth, because otherwise they would have no peace. Signy did so, and Ring was pleased with the clothing. But the witch continued to rave about her food. Finally, Asmund brought Ring to listen to her plans after the wedding: slaughtering the courtiers and bringing her relatives, the giants, to court. Ring burned down the house with both her and her brother in it. Ring fell in love with Signy at sight, and Asmund with Ring's sister, so they had a double wedding, and Asmund returned with his bride to his father's kingdom.

Analysis

Tale type

In his 1987 study of folktales, folklorist

D. L. Ashliman Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore an ...

classified the tale as type AaTh 870B*, "The True Bride Sews a Wedding Dress". In

Stith Thompson Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976) was an American folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist". He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes folktales by type, and the ...

's revision of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, he classified the tale as type 870B*, "Princess Sews for False Bride", and listed 8 variants in Iceland.Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. ''The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography''. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. p. 291.

References

{{Portal , Children's literature

External links

''Asmund and Signy''
Icelandic fairy tales Fictional princesses Fictional princes

Synopsis

Analysis

Tale type

See also

References

External links