A Molbo story is 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 ance ...

folktale about the people of

Mols Mols is a small Danish gathering of hilly peninsulas in the southern part of the larger peninsula of Djursland on the east coast of Jutland. The largest peninsulas of Mols comprise Skødshoved to the west, and Helgenæs to the east. Mols' la ...

, who live in eastern

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 ...

near the town of

Ebeltoft Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,204 (1 January 2022).Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

before finally appearing in print. Christian Elovius Mangor, who by permission of the

monarch Christian VII had started a printing press in Viborg, published the first collection, ''Tales of the well-known Molboes' wise and brave actions'', in 1771. A second edition followed in 1780. Over the years Molbo stories have been published in books for adults and children in several languages, including

, Norwegian and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Similar narratives are found in other cultures.

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, for instance, has "Lazy Jack" and "The Wise Men of Gotham." In

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

there are stories about the people of Hölmölä (Hölmöläiset). In 1898 the operetta ''"Molboerne"'' (The People of Mols) by composer Olfert Jespersen and lyricist Herman Petersen premiered in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The work not only had a memorable score but numerous references to such Molbo stories as “The Stork In The Corn” and “Leg-Sorting”.

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, which for nearly three centuries was part of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway, received many cultural influences from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Consequently, Molbo stories are known in both

and

, and the word “Molbo” is used in both countries as a term of disparagement. The expression "Molbo politics" is prohibited when speaking from the rostrum in Norway's parliament.

The Headless Man

:The Molboes have a long way to the forest so they must rise early to collect wood. One morning some of them drove to the forest to bring home a tree they had bought. But on the way the one who drove first happened to lose his axe, and when the others saw that, they thought he threw it away on purpose, so they threw away their axes as well. Now, as they stood in the forest, they had nothing with which to chop, they didn't know what to do at all, and they certainly didn't want to come home empty-handed. Finally one of them had the brilliant idea to pull the tree down; but as they hadn't brought a rope, one of them had to climb the tree and lay his head in the cleavage between two branches then the others were to pull his legs until the tree yielded. Very well, they pulled and they pulled, and eventually they all fell backwards, including the chap they had been pulling, only he had no head. This they couldn't fathom, they went searching and searching, but no, they didn't find the head, because it was stuck in the tree. Well, that couldn't be helped, now it was time to return home. And so they laid the headless man in the wagon and took him home to his wife and asked if she was sure that her husband had brought his head when he left home this morning. "I can't remember that right now!", said the wife; but then she thought for a while: "Oh yes, he did bring his head!" she said. "He ate cabbage with it this morning before he left."''A priceless Molbo-story'' by Ariane Schjelderup and Øyvind Olsholt
''buf.no''. Retrieved: May 25, 2014.

References

External links

Molbohistorier 01The Molbo ColumnHayseeds And BumpkinsThe Molboes and the Hen
;Book
''Molbo- og aggerbohistorier''
;Images
Old Stories From DenmarkThose Foolish Molboes
;Streaming audio
''Serenade af Molboerne''
;Videos
''Serenade af Molboerne''''Potpourri af Molboerne''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molbo Story Danish humour Danish folklore Joke cycles Short story types

The Headless Man

See also

References

External links