Norwegian fairy tales

Norwegian fairy tales written down and retold by Peter Kristen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885) were translated into Russian by the spouses Anna Vasilievna Ganzen (1869-1942) and Peter Gottfridovich Ganzen (1846-1930). One hundred and fourteen drawings in the book were made by Norwegian artists Peter Nikolai Arbo (1831-1892), Erik Theodor Werenschell (1855-1938), Hans Fredrik Gude (1825-1903), and Karl Reingold Kalmander (1840-1922), Theodor Severin Kittelsen (1857-1914), Vincent Stoltenberg Lerche (1837-1892), Jalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen (1852-1928), Otto Ludwig Sinding (1842-1909), Adolf Tiedemand (1814-1876), and Gerhard August Schneider (1842-1873).
Peter Kristen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885), the son of a simple artisan, was born in Christiania and grew up in an atmosphere saturated with fairy tales, legends and beliefs - his mother was extremely superstitious, believing in ghosts, foresters, gnomes and other supernatural creatures. At that time the lower classes of the population, even in the capital, were infected with superstition. Asbjørnsen tells in his memoirs, for example, that one family he knew deliberately went to bed a few hours earlier than other people, "so as not to disturb the house-keeper".
Preparing to enter the university, Asbjørnsen met with Jørgen Mu, befriended him, and this friendship became even closer when they were connected by a common passion for collecting and recording monuments of folk poetry and superstition. After graduating from university and living as a home teacher in the province, Asbjørnsen spent all his free time wandering around the surrounding villages, adding to his materials.
Jørgen Engebretsen Mu (1813-1882), the son of a peasant, was born near Christiania. The peculiar beauty of his native land early lodged in his soul, and he often praised it later. His distinguishing features were meekness and some unusual firm, calm confidence, attracted to him universal sympathy. On him as if reflected around him from childhood majestic, peaceful mountain nature. Initial education Mu received in a simple folk school, the boy's brilliant abilities were noticed and his father decided to give him the opportunity to prepare for university. Like Asbjørnsen, Mu devoted all his free time to studying folk poetry and collecting its monuments.
Asbjørnsen and Mu worked so amicably together in the name of their favorite idea that their merits remain inseparable. The chief importance of their work was that it showed for the first time a genuine, truly national folk element, and became a treasury from which young Norwegian literature could draw a wealth of imagery and color.
These Norwegian fairy tales were translated into Russian by the couple Anna Vasilievna Ganzen (1869-1942) and Peter Gottfridovich Ganzen (1846-1930). One hundred and fourteen drawings in the book were made by Norwegian artists Peter Nikolai Arbo (1831-1892), Erik Theodor Werenschell (1855-1938), Hans Fredrik Gude (1825-1903), Karl Reingold Kalmander (1840-1922), Theodor Severin Kittelsen (1857-1914), Vincent Stoltenberg Lerche (1837-1892), Jalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen (1852-1928), Otto Ludwig Sinding (1842-1909), Adolf Tiedemand (1814-1876), and Gerhard August Schneider (1842-1873).