Evald Tang Kristensen (24 January 1843 – 8 April 1929) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

folklore collector and author. Working first as a schoolteacher and later solely as a collector, he assembled and published a huge amount of detailed information on all aspects of folklore as he visited country people throughout his native

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Biography

Early life

Born in Nørre Bjert near

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companies, ...

, Tang Kristensen had a difficult childhood. After the death of his father when he was still young, he was brought up on the moors near Viborg by an unsympathetic step-father and a mother who suffered from excessive housework. He was charged with looking after the family's two cows and was also expected to care for his younger siblings. Bright for his age, he studied Danish with the local pastor. He wanted to be a doctor but it was beyond the means available. In 1858, he was sent to the seminary in Grenå where he graduated as a school teacher in 1861, soon obtaining posts of assistant teacher at Husby near Nissum Fjord, then in Helstrup near

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. As a result, he became interested in folk music. As a boy he had taken an interest in collecting riddles but it was only when he was teaching in

Gellerup Gellerup is a neighborhood of the Brabrand district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The neighborhood was formerly a suburb that has now completely merged with the city and it is characterized by several natural attractions, detached house sector ...

in 1866 that he realized he had a vocation to become a folklore collector."Evald Tang Kristensen"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 26 November 2011."Evald Tang Kristensens samling"
''Dansk Folkemindesamling''. Retrieved 26 November 2011.

Folklore collection

The first time he copied down the words of a local song was in 1867 while he was spending Christmas with his mother in Brandstrup. In the area where he was teaching, he soon discovered a wealth of songs and ballads, some dating back to the Middle Ages, which he recorded and, thanks to financial support from fellow collector

Svend Grundtvig Svend Hersleb Grundtvig (9 September 1824, Copenhagen – 14 July 1883, Frederiksberg) was a Danish literary historian and ethnographer. He was one of the first systematic collectors of Danish traditional music, and he was especially interested ...

, published as ''Jyske Folkeminder I-II'' (1871–76). He went on to gather folk tales and legends, published as ''Jyske Folkeminder III-IV'' (1876–80), and fairy tales, ''Jyske Folkeminder V'' (1881). For the rest of his life, he continued to collect, record and publish all kinds of folklore. His investigations led him to travel throughout

although he only occasionally worked in eastern Denmark as he felt less at ease with the inhabitants. While teaching in Fårup near Viborg and Brandstrup (1876–84), he received support for his travels from the State. In 1888, the State granted him a fixed amount of DKK 1,800 a year, allowing him to devote all his time to collecting folklore.

Later life

After Svend Grundtvig died, Tang Kristensen founded the Danish Folklore Society (''Folkemindesamfundet'') in 1883 and, until 1889, edited its journal ''Skattegraveren'' (Treasure Digger), bringing him into contact with those interested in folklore throughout the country. After living for a period in

Hadsten Hadsten (locally ) is a railway town in central Denmark with a population of 8,345 (1 January 2023),Mølholm near

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1904, together with

Axel Olrik Axel Olrik (3 July 1864 – 17 February 1917) was a Danish folklorist and scholar of mediaeval historiography, and a pioneer in the methodical study of oral narrative. Olrik was born in Frederiksberg, the son of the artist Henrik Olrik. Artist ...

and

Henning Frederik Feilberg Henning Frederik Feilberg (6 August 1831 in Hillerød – 8 October 1921 in Askov), was a Danish pastor, author and folklorist. His research and publications represent significant contributions to the field of Danish folklore. Biography Feilberg ...

, Tang Kristensen founded the Danish folklore archives. In 1924, he donated all his published works and manuscripts to that institution while leaving most of his other possessions of folkloric interest to the museums at

Herning Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

Assessment

Tang Kristensen's longstanding interest in folklore collection resulted in a wealth of data. Some 6,500 individuals communicated material to him. He himself recorded some 3,000 songs with 1,000 tunes, 2,700 fairy tales, 2,500 jokes, 25,000 legends, numerous sayings, poems and riddles as well as tens of thousands of descriptions of traditions and everyday life. In addition, he collected samples of handwriting, leaflets and music, not to mention all the material he received from others. The fieldnotes from his travels fill 24,000 pages of manuscript. His records maintain a high level of quality thanks to his consistent detailing of time, place and informants. His special qualities as a folklore collector were noted by his friend and colleague Hakon Grüner-Nielsen who emphasized his mastery of local dialects, his exceptional memory and his rigorous approach. Tang Kristensen contributed greatly to the method of collecting folklore by going directly to the sources of oral tales, often recording the narritive tone of his informants. In so doing, together with

Kaarle Krohn Kaarle Krohn (10 May 1863 – 19 July 1933) was a Finnish folklorist, professor and developer of the geographic-historic method of folklore research. He was born into the influential Krohn family of Helsinki. Krohn is best known outside of Finlan ...

and

Antti Aarne Antti Amatus Aarne (December 5, 1867 in Pori – February 2, 1925 in Helsinki) was a Finnish folklorist. Background Antti was a student of Kaarle Krohn, the son of the folklorist Julius Krohn. He further developed their historic-geographic m ...

in Finland, he paved the way for modern folklore research.Helene Høyrup, "Tang Kristensen, Evald (1843–1929)" in David Haase (editor), ''Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folk Tales and Fairy Tales Q - Z'', 2008, Greenwood Press, Westport CT, p. 943. .

Own works

The published works (in Danish) of Tang Christensen include: * ''Sagn fra Jylland. Jyske Folkeminder'', 1880 * ''Æventyr fra Jylland. Jyske Folkeminder'', 1881 * ''Sagn og Overtro fra Jylland. Jyske Folkeminder'', 1883 * ''Gamle viser i Folkemunde'', 1891 * ''Gamle folks fortællinger om det jyske almueliv, som det er blevet ført i mands minde, samt enkelte oplysende sidestykker fra øerne'', 1891–94 * ''Mosekonen brygger. Æventyr og Legender'', 1891 * ''Danske Sagn: Ellefolk, Nisser og adskillige Uhyrer, samt religiøse Sagn, Lys og Varsler'', 1893 * ''Æventyr fra Fyn'', 2007 * ''Danske Sagn: Kjæmper. Kirker. Andre Stedlige Sagn. Skatte'', 1895 * ''Danske Sagn: Personsagn'', 1896 * ''Danske Dyrefabler og Kjæderemser'', 1896 * ''spanske Børnerim, Remser og Lege'', 1896 * ''Danske Sagn: Spøgeri og Gjenfærd'', 1897 * ''Danske Sagn: Djævlekunster, Kloge Mænd og Koner'', 1900 * ''Gamle folks fortællinger om det jyske almueliv'', Tillægsbind, 1900–02 * ''Gamle Kildevæld'', 1927 * ''Minder og Oplevelser'', 4 bind, 1923–27

References

Literature

*Bay, Jens Christian (translator): ''Danish Fairy Tales: A Collection of Popular Stories and Fairy Tales from the Danish of Svend Grundtvig, E. T. Kristensen, Ingvor Bondesen, and L. Budde'', New York: Harper and Brothers, 1899, 293 p. *Holbek, Bengt: ''Interpretation of fairy tales: Danish folklore in a European perspective'', Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Helsinki, 1987, 660 p. *Rockwell, Joan: ''Evald Tang Kristensen : a lifelong adventure in folklore'', Aalborg University Press, Danish Folklore Society, 1982. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Tang Kristensen, Evald 1843 births 1929 deaths Danish ethnographers Danish male writers Danish folk-song collectors Danish folklorists People from Kolding Collectors of fairy tales 19th-century musicologists