Askeladden and the Troll

Read how Askeladden outwits a troll in this Norwegian folktale for children, with cultural background and three reading levels.

Region: Norway (Østlandet)
Category: Folk & Fairy Tales
Ages: From 4, with three reading levels (ages 4–6, 7–9 and 10+)
Languages: English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish

About the legend

Being: Troll
Cultural meaning: Askeladden, the Ash Lad, is the hero of many Norwegian folk tales: the youngest of three brothers, who sits by the hearth poking the ashes while his big brothers boast. Everyone underestimates him, and he wins with sharp eyes, a calm head and clever ideas, never with strength. The trolls in these tales are huge, old and proud, strong but slow to think, and that is what gives the small hero his chance.
Fun fact: The cheese trick is found in other countries too! In the Brothers Grimm's tale "The Brave Little Tailor", a little tailor fools a giant in the same way: he squeezes whey from a soft cheese and pretends it is a stone.

Cultural notes

The story is based on "Askeladden som kappåt med trollet" (The Ash Lad Who Had an Eating Match with the Troll), which Jørgen Moe wrote down for Norske Folkeeventyr (1841–1844), the collection he published with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen. The two friends were inspired by the Brothers Grimm, and their tales became popular at a time of strong national feeling, after Norway had won partial independence in 1814. The language of the tales, Danish in form but with Norwegian words and turns of phrase, helped lay the ground for the written language that became bokmål. Askeladden is the hero of many tales in the collection. The storytellers most often called him Askefis, someone who blows on the embers to stoke the fire, but the editors found that name too rustic and settled on Askeladden. The cheese trick is known from other European tales too, as in the Grimms' "The Brave Little Tailor". In 1967 Ivo Caprino made the tale into a puppet film, Gutten som kappåt med trollet.

About this retelling

Traditional tale, retold for children A retelling of the classic Norwegian folk tale of Askeladden, who outwits a troll with cleverness instead of strength.

Based on "Askeladden som kappåt med trollet" in Asbjørnsen and Moe's Norske Folkeeventyr. The forest that belongs to the farm, the brothers who run, the mother's cheese, the cheese squeezed like a stone, the troll's offer to help chop, the buckets called thimbles, the eating contest the boy suggests and the slit knapsack all come from the tale. In the original the troll copies the trick and dies, and the boy takes its silver and gold; here the troll runs away in awe and nobody is hurt. So that no child is tempted to copy the trick, the boy only ever cuts the sack, and he ties it on at home while his brothers laugh, not at the troll's table. The brothers' names, Per and Pål, follow folk-tale custom; in the tale they have no names, and the father is old and poor.

Sources

Themes

cleverness
patience
courage
humility
Askeladden
Ash Lad
troll
folk tale
Norway
Østlandet
Asbjørnsen & Moe
youngest brother
eating contest
cleverness
Norwegian folklore