Gertrude's Bird (''Gjertrudsfuglen'') is a Norwegian

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 ...

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 their ''

Norske Folkeeventyr ''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 Asbj ...

''. The adventure is part of Asbjørnsen and Moe's collection of ''Norwegian Folk Tales,'' which was first published in the period 1841-1844. Of a total of 22 known legends in Norway ''Gjertrudsfuglen'' is the most prevalent. The adventure should be known in 39 variants.

Synopsis

In those days when

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and St. Peter wandered upon earth, they came to a house where lived a woman named Gertrude. They were both hungry and asked for a taste of

lefse Lefse () is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread. It is made with flour, can include riced potatoes, and includes butter, and milk, cream, or lard. It is cooked on a large, flat griddle. Special tools are used to prepare lefse, including a p ...

. She took a tiny piece of dough, but it covered the whole griddle just the same, and she thought it too large to give to them. She tried twice more, each time with less dough, but could not make a lefse small enough. So she refused to give them anything. Our Lord punishes her by transforming her into a bird that immediately flies up through the chimney. The bird, later known as the woodpecker, can be seen with a black body and a red hat, where it pecks for food between bark and wood and beeps thirsty against the rain.

References

External links

''Gertrude's Bird''
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Synopsis

References

Related reading

External links