The biography of Hans Christian Andersen shows that he didn’t have a very charmed beginning, however, the storyteller rose from poverty to create a world of literature that has charmed nations.
Born in 1805 in Odense, Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen was the child of a shoemaker and washerwoman. He lost his father at age 11, and his father made the biggest impression on him at a young age, as young Hans Christian was regaled with tales from A 1001 Nights. He was also told tales by elderly women at the Odense Hospital. He wanted to be famous and perform, so in 1819, at age 14, he went to the Royal Theater in hopes of becoming an actor. As he traveled to the theater, he told his mother, “I’ll become famous! First you suffer cruelly, and then you become famous.” He tried unsuccessfully to meet his goal, but failed. However, his fate would soon change. One of the theater’s directors funded his education after seeing his talent for stories and realizing he needed to go to school. Hans Christian Andersen finished his schooling with a private tutor after experiencing bullying, then went to Copenhagen University. Scholars note that it’s this experience, going from a life of poverty to attending school with the rich elite, that inspired The Little Mermaid story, which features the mermaid moving from one world to another.
During and after going to school, he was extremely prolific, turning out poems, tales and more. In 1835, he published his first novel,The Improvisatore, and the same year, the first collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales was published. The collections were released in 1835 and 1837, and were known as Fairy Tales Told for Children, but later renamed to New Fairy Tales and Stories. He passed away in 1875 in Cophenhagen, Denmark. In honor of his legacy, a tribute, Hans Christian Andersen statue featuring his Little Mermaid was erected in 1913. Another statue depicting the author is in New York City’s Central Park.
Andersen’s fairy tales have been translated into more than 125 languages, and have become culturally embedded in the West’s collective consciousness. Two of the most known works for Hans Christian Andersen, the Snow Queen and The Little Mermaid, have been retold for hundreds of years in various forms. Readers of these Hans Christian Andersen stories will quickly find that the original stories are starkly different yet just as enjoyable. Other famous stories by Andersen include The Princess and the Pea and The Ugly Duckling, both of which you’ll find as audiobooks on the Fairytalez Audio App, along with many other Andersen stories.
Once upon a time there was an old poet, one of those right good old poets. One evening, as he was sitting at home, there was a terrible storm going on outside; the rain was pouring down, but the old poet sat comfortably in his chimney-corner, where the fire was burning and the apples were…
Tief draußen im Ozean, wo das Wasser so blau ist wie die schönste Kornblume und so klar wie Kristall, ist es sehr, sehr tief; so tief, dass kein Seil es ausloten könnte, und viele Kirchturmspitzen, übereinandergestapelt, würden nicht vom Grund bis zur Wasseroberfläche reichen. Dort wohnen der Meerkönig und seine Untertanen. Wir dürfen uns nicht…
Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could sound it, and many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water…
In China, as you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all the people around him are Chinamen too. It is many years since the story I am going to tell you happened, but that is all the more reason for telling it, lest it should be forgotten. The emperor’s palace was the most beautiful…
It was bitter cold, the sky glittered with stars, and not a breeze was in the air. “Bump”- an old pot was thrown at a neighbor’s door; and “bang, bang,” went the guns; for they were celebrating the New Year. It was New Year’s Eve, and the church clock was striking twelve. “Tan-ta-ra-ra, tan-ta-ra-ra,” sounded…
A soldier came marching along the high road: “Left, right—left, right.” He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; he had been to the wars, and was now returning home. {Listen to The Tinder Box plus hundreds of other fairy tale audiobooks in the Fairytalez Audio Book App for Apple and Android devices} As he…
Poor Johannes was sorely afflicted, for his father was ill, past all hope of recovery. Besides their two selves, not a soul was present in the little room. The lamp on the table was flickering, and it was late at night. “You have been a good son, Johannes,” said the sick father, “and God will, no…
There lived once a great queen, in whose garden were found at all seasons the most splendid flowers, and from every land in the world. She specially loved roses, and therefore she possessed the most beautiful varieties of this flower, from the wild hedge-rose, with its apple-scented leaves, to the splendid Provence rose. They grew near…
Several lizards were running about, very quick, in the clefts of an old tree trunk. They could understand one another very well, for they all spoke the lizard language. “Dear, what a rumbling and bumbling there is in the old Elf Hill,” said one of the lizards. “I haven’t been able to close an eye…
Chapter 1: Little Rudy We will pay a visit to Switzerland, and wander through that country of mountains, whose steep and rocky sides are overgrown with forest trees. Let us climb to the dazzling snow-fields at their summits, and descend again to the green meadows beneath, through which rivers and brooks rush along as if they could…