Soria Moria Castle is a Norwegian
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
made famous by
Peter Christen AsbjørnsenPeter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore...
and
Jørgen MoeJørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author.He is best known for the Norske Folkeeventyr, a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen....
in their classic
Norske FolkeeventyrNorwegian Folktales 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....
. Later
Andrew LangAndrew Lang was a prolific Scots man of letters. He was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, and contributor to anthropology...
included the story in his series of fairy tale collections in
The Red Fairy Book.
A poor couple had a son named Halvor who was like the Ash Lad (Norwegian:
AskeladdenAskeladden is the main character in many Norwegian folktales. In some ways, he represents the small man who succeeds where all others fail, although the means employed are not always, strictly speaking, honourable...
), good for nothing but to sit about groping in the ashes. One day, a skipper asked him if he would like to go to sea.
Soria Moria Castle is a Norwegian
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
made famous by
Peter Christen AsbjørnsenPeter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore...
and
Jørgen MoeJørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author.He is best known for the Norske Folkeeventyr, a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen....
in their classic
Norske FolkeeventyrNorwegian Folktales 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....
. Later
Andrew LangAndrew Lang was a prolific Scots man of letters. He was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, and contributor to anthropology...
included the story in his series of fairy tale collections in
The Red Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A poor couple had a son named Halvor who was like the Ash Lad (Norwegian:
AskeladdenAskeladden is the main character in many Norwegian folktales. In some ways, he represents the small man who succeeds where all others fail, although the means employed are not always, strictly speaking, honourable...
), good for nothing but to sit about groping in the ashes. One day, a skipper asked him if he would like to go to sea. He went, and a storm blew them far off course. When Halvor got off the ship, he walked and found a castle. When he reached it, a princess warned him that a
trollA troll is a member of a race of fearsome creatures from Norse mythology.Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like...
with three heads lived there and would eat him. Halvor refused to leave. The princess fed him and asked him to try to wield a sword. He could not, and she advised him to drink from a flask; afterwards, he could wield it. He killed the troll on its return. The princess told him of her two other sisters, also held captive by trolls, and Halvor rescued them as well, though one troll had six heads and the other nine.
They offered that any of them would marry him, and he chose the youngest princess, but he missed his parents and wanted to tell them what had happened. The princesses gave him a ring to
wishA wish is a hope or desire for something. Fictionally, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.- In literature :...
himself there and back but warned him not to name them. His parents took a long time to recognize this grand lord as their son, but they were very pleased with him. The young women were abashed before him, because they used to mock him. He wished the princesses were there to show them how abashed they should be. They appeared. The youngest princess persuaded Halvor to lie down and sleep, put a ring on his finger, took the wishing ring and wished them back to Soria Moria Castle.
He set out to find them, bought a horse, and found a cottage with an old couple where the woman had a nose long enough to stir the fire with. He asked if they knew the way to Soria Moria Castle, and they did not, nor did the Moon when the old woman asked it, but the old woman traded him a pair of
bootsSeven-league boots are an element in European folklore. The boots allow the wearer to take great strides—seven leagues each step—resulting in great speed. The boots are often presented by a magical character to the protagonist to aid in the completion of a significant task...
that took twenty miles a step for his horse, and asked him to wait for the West Wind. It knew where Soria Moria Castle was, and that there was to be a wedding there. Halvor set out with the West Wind to reach it. There, Halvor put the ring the princess had given him into a cup and had it brought to the princess. She recognized it and married Halvor instead of the
new bridegroomThe false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is, therefore, always of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presents some claim to the position. By...
.
Commentary
Soria Moria Castle is quite possibly the most well-known Norwegian folktale. The search for Soria Moria castle might be thought of as a progression, the symbol for perfect happiness. According to legend, the path to the castle is not clearly marked, and the journey is solitary because all people are different and therefore cannot reach the goal in the same manner. It is characteristic of most Norwegian folktales in that it contains a unique undertone of realism and folk humor. These folktales express many customary values, ideas, and characters. One of the most common values expressed is the idea of a common person rising above the circumstances of his birth and becoming successful.
The legend has continued to capture the Norwegian imagination. In 1881, Theodor Severin Kittelsen painted his famous version for publication in an edition of
Norske Folkeeventyr. This legend was written as a poem within
Ole Edvart RølvaagOle Edvart Rølvaag was an American novelist and professor. He became well known for his writings on the Norwegian American immigrant experience...
's 1933 novel
The Boat of Longing. More recently, it appeared in the form of a song titled
Soria Moria in a 1989 album from Norwegian singer
Sissel KyrkjebøSissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is best known for singing the Olympic Hymn at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, for duets with Plácido Domingo, Charles Aznavour, José Carreras, Neil Sedaka, Warren...
.
External links
See also
- The Three Princesses of Whiteland
The Three Princesses of Whiteland is a Norwegian fairy tale, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. Andrew Lang collected it in The Red Fairy Book....
- The Sister of the Sun
- The Rider Of Grianaig, And Iain The Soldier's Son
The Rider Of Grianaig, And Iain The Soldier's Son is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as Donald MacNiven, a lame carrier, in Bowmore, Islay; the story was written down by Hector MacLean on 5 July, 1859...
- The Story of Bensurdatu
The Story of Bensurdatu is an Italian fairy tale collected by Laura Gonzenbach in Sicilianische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon
East of the Sun and West of the Moon is the Norwegian version of an old Scandinavian fairy tale. The Swedish version is called Prince Hat under the Ground....
- The Raven
The Raven is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 93 in their collections.It is Aarne-Thompson type 401, the girl transformed into an animal.-Synopsis:...
- Hind Horn
"Hind Horn" is traditional folk ballad.-Synopsis:Hind Horn and the king's daughter Jean fall in love. He gives her a silver wand, and she gives him a diamond ring and tells him when the stones grow pale, he has lost her love. One day, on his travels, he sees it growing pale and sets out for her...