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Why they were told

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Category: Ramblings | Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:37 pm

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Contrary to H. C. Andersen's fairy tales, the Norwegian folk tales had another purpose than amusing children. They were told to explain the inexplicable, to warn the older youngsters, and to teach the nearly-grown-ups how to behave as grown-ups.

In the days before exact science people still asked themselves why healthy children suddenly died in their beds. They could see that a child had Down's but didn't know what to call it. Young aldults suddenly started behaving very weird, and nobody saw a reason for it. Since huldra used to switch children with humans, the mysterious deaths were probably explained. A changeling, of course. If a young woman suddenly became a schizophrenic, she had been bewitched by nøkken. Young men with mental problems had met the lovely huldra. If herders disappeared without a trace, the trolls had taken them into the mountains.

This probably meant comfort to their families. There was a reason for the happenings.

To experience all the excitements and dangers in the folk tales, the main character had to leave home and go far and further than far. There were no evil dangers lurking around peoples' homes. It was the one place that would remain safe and unchanged all through the improbable adventures, and everybody would be there to welcome the returning hero after the last troll's head hit the dust.

It's easy to find the wisdom and morale in many of the old stories. Don't scorn a stranger because he doesn't look quite like you. Be polite, curious and honest in your doings and you will be rewarded. Stay true to your friends and your family, and your future will be good. Lend a stranger in need a helping hand, and help will find you when you need it. Use your wits, don't just sit there.

I used to love the folk stories when I was little, and now I'm reading them for my children. But I find I'm not as brave as my mother. I skip the stories where people are beheaded and then salved with a special salve to make the head and body grow back onto each other... I stick with the ones where the trolls always get their punishment in the end.


This blog entry has been viewed 106 times

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dooley wrote on Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:39 pm:

I like the ones where the bad guys come to a bad end, too. I always read to my boys until they could read and then they didn't want me to read to them anymore. dooley

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Netty wrote on Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:46 pm:

I like the happy endings too and can do without the gross stuff!
My kids still like it when I read to them.

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Biita wrote on Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:57 am:

I used to read to my children all the time when they was little. It was a little ritual before bedtime or on the weekends if it rained. I didn't skip all the gross endings or happenings in the tales but i did censor ones that weren't exactly fitting the age they might of been.

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Droopy wrote on Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:59 am:

I still read to my girls, but the 9-year-old isn't always too keen. She's got all these exciting books that she likes to read herself. So I have to make do with the 6-year-old until she says stop too. Not for another couple of years I hope.

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