Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

  THE LITTLE MERMAID (DEN LILLE HAVFRUE, 1837)

  Andersen first wrote a version of this tale in his play Agnete and the Merman (1833), which incorporated his tender feelings for Edvard Collin; indeed, the play and the tale “The Little Mermaid” have often been interpreted as a representation of Andersen’s unrequited love for Collin. However, the motif of a water nymph who desires a human soul has deep roots in medieval folklore about mermaids, water nixies (water sprites), sirens, and sylphs. This tale is clearly related to Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s fairy-tale novella Undine (1811), in which a sprightly water nymph seeks a human soul through marriage with a young knight. Set in the Middle Ages, this tragic story shows how Undine wins the love of a handsome aristocrat and is transformed into a devout and pious Christian. However, when her husband betrays her, she is compelled to revert to her pagan condition and to kill him. E. T. A. Hoffmann, a good friend of Fouqué, used the tale as the basis for his opera Undine (1816), and other operas, such as Antonin Dvorák’s Rusalka (1900), have been based on the plot.

  Andersen recast the water nymph as a mermaid who redeems herself by refusing to take revenge on an innocent prince. Instead, she sacrifices herself, and Andersen makes it clear she will gain some kind of salvation because of her good deeds.

  Andersen’s version served as the basis for numerous films in the latter part of the twentieth century. The Walt Disney Company made two important animated films based on Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” and Russian, British, Czech, and Danish filmmakers also have adapted the story for the cinema.

  THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES (KEJSERENS NYE KLÆDER, 1837)

  This tale can be traced to the fourteenth-century Libro de Patronio (Patronio’s Fifty Stories), by Prince Juan Manuel, who collected Arab and Jewish stories and published them in Spanish. In the Spanish tale, the weavers declare that only men who are truly the sons of their fathers can see the clothes they make; otherwise, the clothes are invisible. In the oral and literary traditions of Europe, the exposure of the emperor occurs in a variety of ways; the tricksters—con men, weavers, or tailors—use various tests to expose the gullibility and pomposity of rulers. Andersen apparently added the child in his narrative at the last moment in order to associate innocence with truth.

  THUMBELINA (TOMMELISE, 1835)

  Andersen’s tale—his unusual version with a female Tom Thumb—owes a great debt to oral tradition and literary versions that also can be traced to “Little Tom Thumb” (1697), written by Charles Perrault, and to “Thumbling” (1815) and “Thumbling’s Travels” (1815), published by the Brothers Grimm. Folk stories about Tom Thumb began appearing in English chapbooks in the seventeenth century. According to Arthurian Legend, the magician Merlin grants a childless couple a child who is no bigger than a thumb. Named Tom Thumb, the little creature, assisted by fairies, faces numerous dangers because of his diminutive size. Many of the situations are comic, and Tom must learn how to use his wits to survive. The plots of similar tales found in Japanese, Indian, and European lore vary, but they all begin with a separation of Tom from his parents that sets off a chain of episodes as he tries to find his way home. Andersen’s contribution is the invention of a female protagonist and her conventional marriage with a prince.

  THE NAUGHTY BOY (DEN UARTIGE DRENG, 1835)

  This tale is based on a work by Greek lyric poet Anacreon (c.582-c.485 B.C.), who wrote short poems called monodies (lyrical verses for a single voice) that celebrated love and wine. Andersen was probably influenced by Christian Pram’s translation of the Anacreon poem. In contrast to Anacreon, Andersen provides an ironic view of the power of love in this story.

  THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE (LYKKENS KALOSKER, 1838)

  This story can be considered one of the first science-fiction tales in European literature. It consists of time-travel episodes in which people come upon “lucky” galoshes that transport them in time and compel them to consider their real situations. The galoshes are somewhat related to the folk motif of seven-league boots that enable people to travel great distances in a matter of seconds. However, seven-league boots are rarely used to carry a protagonist to the past or the future, as the galoshes do in Andersen’s tale.

  THE GARDEN OF EDEN (PARADISETS HAVE, 1839)

  Andersen may have first heard this tale as a child, but it is more probable that he read or heard about Madame d‘Aulnoy’s fairy tale “Île de la Félicité” (“The Island of Happiness”), which was incorporated in her novel Histoire d’Hypolite, comte de Duglas (1690), translated into Danish in 1787. In this tale the prince of Russia is transported by Zephyr, the west wind, to a paradise and spends centuries there. He loses his love and his life when he tries to return to Russia and forgets the warning of the princess of paradise never to descend from his horse, otherwise Death would capture him.

  THE BRONZE PIG (METALSVINET, 1842)

  Andersen conceived this tale in 1833 and 1834 while visiting Florence, where he saw the statue of the bronze boar on the Via Porta Rossa. The tale concerns the miraculous development of a poor, oppressed boy into an artist, a motif that appears in several of Andersen’s tales. It was first published in his travel book A Poet’s Bazaar (1842). He may have based the story on the life of Danish painter Wilhelm Bendz, who was born in 1804 in Odense and died in Italy in 1832.

  THE ROSE ELF (ROSEN-ALFEN, 1839)

  This tale, whose title is sometimes translated as “The Rose Fairy,” was based on a story taken from Boccaccio’s Decameron.

  THE PIXIE AT THE GROCER’S (NISSEN HOS SPEKHØKEREN, 1852)

  Andersen was often concerned with the conflict between materialism and art that is mirrored in the pixie’s existential dilemma. Pixies—intermediaries between the natural and the supernatural worlds—are important characters in Danish folklore. They appear in Andersen’s “The Traveling Companion” and “The Hill of the Elves,” among other works.

  IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINE (IB OG LILLE CHRISTINE, 1855)

  Andersen wrote this tale during a period of depression. It is a sentimental and moralistic picture of a poor young man who is dedicated to the simple, pure life in the country, while his childhood sweetheart, Christine, is corrupted by the materialism of the big city.

  THE ICE MAIDEN (IISJOMFRUEN, 1862)

  This tale, written while Andersen was visiting Switzerland, bears a strong resemblance to Johann Peter Hebel’s “Unverhofftes Wiedersehen” (“Unexpected Reunion,” 1811) and E. T. A. Hoffmann’s “Die Bergwerke zu Falun” (“The Mines at Falun,” 1819), in which a young miner is captured by a dangerous queen of an underground realm on his wedding day. His petrified body is found many years later by his former bride, now an old woman.

  The allure of an erotic, mysterious woman, a common motif in romantic fairy tales, was often set in opposition to a safe, bourgeois life. Andersen’s tale is less about this dichotomy and more about the tragedy of a young man whose rise in society is undermined by immoral forces. Even though Rudy is a good and talented person who trusts in God, he does not succeed. As Andersen comments, “God gives us the nuts, but he doesn’t crack them open for us.” The episode about the eagle’s nest, Rudy’s marital test, was an actual story told to Andersen by the Bavarian poet Koppel. Andersen was originally going to write just the episode about the eagle’s nest but changed his mind after reading a travel book about Switzerland, in which he came across the incident concerning the bridal couple.

  EVANGELICAL AND RELIGIOUS TALES

  THE SNOW QUEEN (SNEEDRONNINGEN, 1845)

  Although Andersen had already introduced the Christian quest tale in “The Traveling Companion,” published in his second collection of tales, it was not until “The Snow Queen” that he fully developed this motif; in this tale he uses children as his main characters. The prologue, which concerns the origins of evil in the world, prepares the reader for the conflict between the good-hearted children, Kai and Gerda, and the demonic Snow Queen. It is only because of Gerda’s purity of soul and the help of angels that she is able
to rescue Kai. The tale’s moral message is that only those who have faith in God can triumph over the most difficult obstacles in life. This evangelical message was generally omitted or glossed over in late-twentieth-century adaptations, especially cinematic ones; instead the spiritual theme was transformed into a secular one about the power of love. Andersen combined pagan beliefs with an unusual interpretation of Christianity in this tale, but the tone and style overwhelmingly emphasize the theme of Christian salvation.

  THE RED SHOES (DE RØDE SKO, 1845)

  In his autobiography of 1847 Andersen relates that an incident from his childhood influenced the writing of this tale. On the occasion of his confirmation he was given a new pair of boots that squeaked when he walked on the church floor. The squeaking drew the attention of the congregation, and Andersen was pleased that everyone would notice that he was wearing his first pair of new boots. At the same time, he was ashamed because his thoughts were turned away from God. It is not clear whether Andersen specifically referenced this childhood incident in “The Red Shoes,” but the stark Christian message is clear. Karen’s alleged vanity is punished so mercilessly in the name of the Lord that the story has often been criticized for its misogynism.

  THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL (DEN LILLE PIGE MED SVOVLSTIKKERNE, 1845)

  Andersen wrote this tale as a commission from the magazine Dansk Folkekalender. While traveling outside Copenhagen, he received a letter from the publisher, asking him to address one of three pictures that he enclosed. Andersen chose a drawing by Danish painter J. T. Lundbye that portrays a poor little girl with a bunch of matches. As in many of his tales about poor children, there is divine salvation at the end. Andersen may have been recalling an incident in his mother’s childhood when she was sent out to beg; when she returned, she was reprimanded for not obtaining any money.

  THE BOG KING’S DAUGHTER (DYND-KONGENS DATTER, 1858)

  Part of this complex tale, whose title is sometimes translated as “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” was first told to one of Andersen’s friends, who related it to Andersen. After he wrote it down, he made several drafts and added new elements before he was satisfied with it. Though Andersen uses pagan motifs from animal fables as well as Scandinavian folklore and legend, he creates a religious story about the taming of the wild spirit in Helga, who becomes humble and merciful through her encounter with the priest.

  THE GIRL WHO STEPPED ON BREAD (PIGEN, SOME TRAADTE PAA BRØDET, 1859)

  The title of this narrative is also translated as “The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf.” It is based in a tale Andersen heard in his childhood. He transformed it into a moral tale of salvation, similar to “The Red Shoes” and with the same misogynistic tendencies. The girl is punished for her sinful actions and is transformed into a bird only after she learns the lesson of Christian humility. The motif of bread turning to stone originated in medieval oral tales and may have belonged to traditional legends of Odense.

  THE BELL (KLOKKEN, 1845)

  This tale, published in Maanedsskrift for Børn (Monthly Journal for Children) and supposedly Andersen’s own invention, celebrates the divine and mysterious qualities of nature that can be attributed only to God. The motif of the bell also can be found in the poems of German writers Friedrich Schiller and J. L. Heiberg.

  THE THORNY PATH TO GLORY (ÆRENS TORNEVEI, 1856)

  This tale was first published in Folkekalender for Danmark. All the great protagonists depicted in the narrative have attributes similar to those of Jesus Christ. Their lives parallel the lives of many of Andersen’s protagonists, who must endure great suffering before becoming famous.

  THE JEWISH MAID (JØDEPIGEN, 1856)

  Based on a Hungarian legend, this tale was first published in Folkekalender for Danmark. The story’s notion of Christian redemption is striking. Although Sara does not convert to Christianity because of the vow she has made to her mother, she is redeemed by Christianity. Several scholars believe that the story is based on Andersen’s childhood memories of a Jewish girl named Sara Heimann.

  THE STORY OLD JOHANNA TOLD (HVAD GAMLE JOHANNE FORTALTE, 1872)

  Composed between September 16 and September 24, this fairy tale was the last Andersen ever wrote. The first English translation, with the title “The Story Old Joan Told,” appeared in Aunt Judy’s Christmas Volume, 1873. It was based on a tale that Andersen had heard during his youth from an old woman. Andersen had been struck by the appearance of an old withered man, and the old woman told him the tale about the boiling pot with a special brew that a wise woman could use to bring a young man back from foreign lands to his sweetheart, no matter how far he had traveled. The only difficulty was that the brew often caused the young man to become decrepit. In Andersen’s version of the story he transforms the young tailor, who is a man without faith in God, and it is this lack of faith that brings about his downfall.

  SHE WAS NO GOOD (HUN DUGDE IKKE, 1853)

  This tale was Andersen’s endeavor to portray his mother, who was an alcoholic, in a positive light and to transform her story into a parable of religious salvation. Andersen’s relationship with his mother was fraught with contradictions. He barely mentions her in his diaries and was evidently filled with shame because of her low social status and her drinking.

  THE ANTHROPOMORPHIZING OF ANIMALS AND NATURE

  THE UGLY DUCKLING (DEN GRIMME ÆLLING, 1844)

  One of Andersen’s most successful tales, “The Ugly Duckling” is not only a clear autobiographical narrative of his rise from rags to riches and a wish-fulfillment story that captures the deepest psychological wishes of powerless children; it is also a remarkable example of the animal fable with a clear moral. In Andersen’s narrative the path to survival and success is ironically tied to Darwin’s notion of the survival of the fittest. Though Andersen was opposed to Darwin’s theories, his tale demonstrates that there are species in the animal world that are more adapted to survival and more beautiful than others. Andersen implies that faith in one’s true self will lead to happiness and thus aligns himself with the philosophy of essentialism. His essential identity was noble, and his nobility was a nobility of the soul and the true artist. Once this tale became famous, Andersen often identified himself as the ugly duckling.

  Originally this tale was to be called “The Swan Chick,” but Andersen changed the title so there would be an element of surprise when the so-called duckling changes into a swan.

  IN THE DUCKYARD (I ANDEGAARDEN, 1861)

  This grim tale uses the proud and haughty Portuguese hen to comment on snobbery and the survival of the fittest. It can be regarded as a counter-tale to “The Ugly Ducking.” The story also is apparently a tale of revenge. Andersen often used animals to satirize people he knew. In this case, the rooster and the Portuguese hen clearly represent people he detested, but scholars have not been able to identify them.

  THE STORKS (STORKENDE, 1839)

  In this tale, based on the superstitious belief that storks bring babies, Andersen provides an ironic moral twist to criticize the cruelty of children. Several of Andersen’s stories include the stork, his favorite bird.

  THE SPRUCE TREE (GRANTRÆET, 1845)

  This powerful parable, which deals with the vain pursuit of fame, may reflect some of Andersen’s personal concerns as he desperately tried to become famous. More than that, the tale is a perfect allegory about misguided notions of celebrity, and its initial light tone turns cynical in the end. In addition to attempting to expose the artificiality and superficiality of the upper classes, Andersen tried to show how gullible people might be caught up in the false glow of fame.

  IT’S PERFECTLY TRUE! (DET ER GANSKE VIST! 1852)

  This ironic tale is a delightful comic commentary on how rumors spread and return to haunt the people who start them.

  THE DUNG BEETLE (SKARNBASSEN, 1861)

  This tale was inspired by a statement Charles Dickens published in his magazine Household Words: “When the Emperor’s horse got his golden shoes, the beetle also stretched his leg ou
t.” Dickens recommended that Andersen write a story based on this Arabian proverb, and this satirical tale about a pompous beetle was the result. Andersen thought that Dickens had written the passage. However, it was part of a series of proverbs compiled by Dickens’s co-editor Richard H. Horne.

  THE BUTTERFLY (SOMMERFUGLEN, 1861)

  This tale, first published in Folkekalender for Danmark, was conceived in Switzerland during a trip Andersen made in August 1860 and was completed in Slagelse, Denmark, while he was staying at Basnaes Manor, in November. There is a good deal of self-irony in this story, in which a choosy butterfly ends up as a lonely bachelor.