NORSKE FOLKEEVENTYR

(184144; Norwegian Folktales), collection of folktales and legends, by Peter Christen Asbjrnsen and Jrgen Engebretsen Moe, that had survived and developed from Old Norse pagan mythology in the mountain and fjord dialects of Norway. The authors, stimulated by a revival of interest in Norway's past, gathered the tales of ghosts, fairies, gods, and mountain trolls and compiled them into a brilliant narration that preserved the oral feeling and distinctively Norwegian characteristics of the tales while rendering them in standard Norwegian. Asbjrnsen's vivid prose sketches of folklife and Moe's poems recaptured the folk heritage of Norway for the modern age. The Norske folkeeventyr stimulated further research into folktales and ballads and reawakened a sense of national identity.