Per Gynt (, ) is a Norwegian fairy tale which originated in the

traditional region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social ...

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...

. The story of Per Gynt is set in the

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

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 ...

. Per Gynt's home in the folklore is traditionally claimed to have been Nordre Hågå farm in Sødorp parish at

Nord-Fron Nord-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vinstra. Other population centers in Nord-Fron include the villages ...

in the county of

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

. The tales encompass the themes of identity, relationships and personal stories from a lonely hunter. The folk tale tells of the eponymous Per Gynt and his various exploits. He rescues three dairy-maids from

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 bei ...

s and shoots the

Bøyg The Bøyg ( no, Bøygen, ), also referred to as the "Great Bøyg of Etnedal" is a legendary gnome-like creature in Scandinavian folklore. It is a great troll from Telemark and Gudbrandsdalen. It is commonly characterized as a giant, slimy serpen ...

, a

which takes the form of a gigantic serpent and stands as a hindrance to travellers. The fairy tale was recorded 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 ...

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 Huldre-Eventyr og Folkesagn'') which was first published in 1845. Asbjørnsen included the stories about Per Gynt into the section "Reindeer Hunting at Rondane" (''Rensdyrjakt ved Rondane''). The folktale served as inspiration for

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's play ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'' which was published in 1867. Ibsen added considerable material, such as Per Gynt travelling to Africa, crossing the Sahara and meeting with a Bedouin princess – 19th-century themes far beyond the scope of the original fairy tale. The play appeared on stage in 1876, accompanied by incidental music by composer

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

who composed the ''

Peer Gynt Suite ''Peer Gynt'', Op. 23, is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Grieg ...

''.

References

Other sources

* *Meyer, Michael (1974)
Ibsen: A Biograph
' (Abridged edition. Pelican Biographies ser. Harmondsworth: Penguin) *Sverre Mørkhagen (1997) ''Peer Gynt – historie, sagn og «forbandet Digt»'' (Oslo: J.W. Cappelens forlag.)

External links

* {{Peer Gynt Norwegian fairy tales Norwegian folklore Scandinavian folklore