Danish Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Fables
Read Danish folk tales, legends of Norse gods, and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen now. See full list of Danish folk tales.
About: Danish folklore finds its roots in Norse Mythology and Scandinavian folk tales. With a landscape that sweeps ever out to sea, and 400 nearby islands, Denmark has long been a land of sailors and sea merchants. The rich nautical history is woven into Denmark’s folk tales to reveal customs, anecdotes and colloquialisms unique to their culture. Read Danish folklore to see all it has to offer.
“The mermaid.” Illustration by Charles Robinson. Published in Fairy Tales from Hans Christian Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen (1899), J.M. Dent & Sons
The best known fairy tales were written by Hans Christian Andersen. A natural born storyteller, Andersen’s tales reflect his Christian morals, but many of his characters were certainly based on the folklore he grew up hearing. His characters were often based on Norse gods or goddesses, and included subtle pagan rites and rituals within an otherwise Christian framework. In this way, they are a good reflection of the changing religious landscape that Denmark experienced.
Since Medieval times, Danish folklore was passed down through generations in the oral tradition. The folk tales of Denmark were finally collected and written in the 19th century in an effort to preserve cultural history while also building national consciousness and a common ethnicity.
- The Bishop of Borglum and His Warriors
- Buckwheat
- The Butterfly
- The Bell-Deep
- The Bottle Neck
- The Bond of Friendship
- The Beetle
- Elder-tree Mother
- Everything in Its Right Place
- The Emperor's New Clothes
- The Elf of the Rose
- The Elf Hill
- Esben and the Witch
- The Flax
- The Farmyard Cock and Weathercock
- The Flying Trunk
- The Fellow Traveler
- The Flea and the Professor
- The Fir Tree
- The Greenies
- The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf
- The Goblin and the Huckster
- Great Claus and Little Claus
- The Goloshes of Fortune
- The Garden of Paradise
- The Gardener and the Manor
- The Great Sea Serpent
- The Green Knight
- Good Humour
- In the Duck-Yard
- The Ice Maiden
- In the Uttermost Parts of the Sea
- It is Quite True
- I Know What I Have Learned
- Ib and Christine
- Little Thumbelina
- The Lucky Peer - Parts III and IV
- The Lucky Peer - Part V
- The Little Match Girl
- The Loving Pair
- The Leaping Match
- The Lucky Peer - Parts VI and IX
- The Lucky Peer - Parts X, XI and XII
- The Lucky Peer - Parts XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, and XVII
- The Last Dream of the Old Oak
- The Little Mermaid
- The Loveliest Rose in the World
- Little Tuk
- Little Ids's Flowers
- The Marsh King's Daughter
- The Mail-Coach Passengers
- The Money Box
- The Magic Book
- The Metal Pig
- Master and Pupil
- Maiden Bright-Eye
- The Merry Wives
- The Old Gravestone
- The Old Bachelor's Nightcap
- Ole-Luk-Oie, the dream god
- The Old House
- The Old Street Lamp
- Ole the Tower-Keeper
- The Puppet Showman
- The Pigs
- The Phoenix Bird
- The Pea Blossom
- The Portuguese Duck
- Peter Bull
- The Pen and the Inkstand
- The Princess in the Chest
- The Princess and the Pea
- Princess Rosamund
- The Prince and the Princess in the Forest
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier
- The Swan's Nest
- Sunshine Stories
- The Snow Queen
- The Snow Man
- The Stone of the Wiseman
- The Storks
- The Snowman
- Soup from Sausage Skewer
- The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep
- The Swineherd
- The Snow Drop
- The Story of the Year
- She Was Good for Nothing
- Something
- The Thorny Road of Honour
- Two Maidens
- The Tinder-Box
- The Toy Goose
- The Teapot
- The Three Red Piggies
- There is a Difference
- In a Thousand Years
- The Wild Swans
- What Happened to the Thistle
- What the Goodman Does is Always Right
- The White Dove
- What the Moon Saw
- The Wicked Prince
- The Wind tells about Waldemar Daa and his Daughters
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