The Squire's Bride - AT 1440
To solve his problems, a farmer in debt promised his pretty daughter to his master, a rich, old landowner, against her will. On the wedding day the master sent a servant to get 'that which was promised him'. The daughter sent a horse with the uninformed servant. The landowner thought the daughter had arrived to be wed at last. Too preoccupied with his own wedding plans, the old man silenced all attempts at objections and suspected no gambits. Thus the little horse was taken into the master's chamber and dressed up as a bride at his command. He made a laughing-stock of himself.[THE TALE]
The Twelve Ducks - AT 451
A queen was promised a daughter on condition that she lost her many sons. When the girl was born, the brothers were transformed to wild ducks and flew away. The sister found them much later and learnt how to disenchant them. She had to pluck bog cotton and sew shirts for them without talking, laughing or weeping. A prince saw the speechless girl and married her right before her task was done.After the wedding her children were stolen by her mother-in-law and she was accused of killing them. As she was about to be burnt as a witch, the wild ducks flew down to save her. They got their shirts, were disenchanted, and much was cleared up.
[THE TALE]
Rich Peter the Pedlar - AT 461
A rich man (Rich Peter) was foretold that his daughter would marry a poor lad. He made attempts to kill the youth and prevent the marriage, but in vain. Then the boy was promised the daughter in return for performing a dangerous and difficult task: Go to the world's end and bring back three feathers from a dragon. On his way he was asked various questions and also asked to find the answers. He was helped to do this by a princess in captivity at the dragon's place, and returned with gold and silver. The envious rich man tried to imitate the youth's exploits, but he was compelled to relieve the ferryman in the other world.[THE TALE]
The Mastermaid - AT 313
The girl as helper in the hero's flight) The hero came into an ogre's power, and was assigned impossible tasks: to clean out a stable, build a bridge, go for wild horses, and further. He got help from a mastermaid, a woman who had been trained in the giant's arts. The maid and the hero eloped and escaped from the ogre by acts of transformations. They appeared to be a man with a cow, duck and water, tussock with straw and the like. They also dropped magic objects which were transmuted and stopped the ogre.Then something sad happened: the boy lost the girl because he broke a taboo, forgets her or something else. She, in turn, settled down in a cabin, where three rich visitors came to court her, but she paralyses them into humiliating positions. While this went on, the hero was on his way to marry another woman, but his wagon was damaged, and he had to borrow things from the girl in the cabin in order to reach the church. At the wedding table she showed herself to him through her tokens of fidelity. He recognized her joyfully, and she took her place as bride, a place she had won.
[THE TALE]
Lord Peter - AT 545B
It is about having a cat as helper: The youngest of three brothers inherited a cat, and it proved to be his helper. It caught and sent various fine animals as gifts to a king's court, dressed up the boy and introduced him to the king, convincing him that Peter was a wealthy nobleman. The king was enticed into visiting the boy's palace. The cat went ahead and made herdsmen say that they were working for the cat's master. The cat went to a giant's castle where the cat tricked the troll into looking at the sun, and thereby killed him. After taking possession of the giant's property, the cat then asked Peter to cut off her head, which he reluctantly did. In that moment the cat became a beautiful princess, and she married Peter.This type of tales (AT 545B) is also known as PUSS-IN-BOOTS from the French.
[THE TALE]
Hacon Grizzlebeard - AT 900
A haughty princess turned down all her suitors, and humiliated a prince among them in particular. He came back disguised as another (a beggar, merchant) and married her. Her father banished them, and she had to endure a series of humiliations: She had to work at the hardest tasks, and she rued her former pride. Only then did the prince reveal himself and celebrated the wedding with her. He taught her a very harsh lesson.[THE TALE]
Goosey Grizzel - AT 1383
The woman who does not know herself is a deep theme of this and similar tales:The woman in question was smeared over with fat and soot. Thus she forgot who she was, and did not know herself any longer. Instead she thought she was an animal or a devil. She banded with some thieves and stole from her husband and others, and went on to frighten the village or town - much through ignorance.
The type is the same as that of the Grimm tale "Clever Elsie".
[THE TALE]
The Spinning Women by the Spring (Two Stepsisters) - AT 480
The kind one of two (step-)sisters was forced into into a well, because she lost a spinning-contest. On her way on the other side she gave help to animals and other objects that need her. She entered the service of a supernatural person (troll, witch, the Virgin Mary), who assigned her difficult and impossible tasks. But she was aided by the birds, and they also advised her when she finally was to choose a reward. The witch pursued her on the way home, but the grateful animals and objects help her, and she came hom overly rich.The other sister attempted to have the same success as she got, but she was unconsiderate and self-centred, disobedient and rude, and was harshly punished for the rest of her life.
[THE TALE]
Literature
Asbjørnsen, Peter, og Jørgen Moe. Samlede eventyr, bd 1-3. Oslo: Kunstnerutgaven, Gyldendal, 1965.
Ashliman, D.: A Guide to Folktales in the English Language. New York: Greenwood, 1987.
Dasent, George Webbe, tr. Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. Philadelphia: David McKay, 1921 [Here are 59 tales of about a hundred. Other translations and editions may contain the ones that are lacking in Dasen'ts translations, many of which are on-line. Compare the next item:]
Dasent, George Webbe, tr. P. Chr. Asbjørnsen. Tales from the Fjeld. New York: Putnam, 1917?
Hodne, Ørnulf: The Types of the Norwegian Folktale. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget, 1984.
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