But here I am, trying to put a moral in the poet’s mouth, not reflecting that a moral is the last thing he means in his fairy tales and wonder stories. They are of a witchery far beyond sermoning, in that quaint humor, that subtle suggestion, that fidelity to what we know of ourselves, of our small passions and vanities and follies as young children and our full-sized faults as old ones. You might go through them all with no more sense of instruction, if you pleased, than you would feel in walking out in a pleasant country, with here and there a friendly homestead, flocks grazing, and boys and girls playing. But perhaps such a scene, such a mild experience, makes one think as well as a direct appeal to one’s reason or conscience. The children, however, need not be afraid. I think I could safely assure the worst of them (and how much better the worst of them are than the best of us!) that they can get back to themselves from this book, for the present at least, with no more trouble of spirit, if they choose, than if they had been reading the Arabian Nights. Long afterward it may be that, when they have forgotten many Arabian Nights, something will come to them out of a dim memory of these fairy tales and wonder stories, and they will realize that our dear Hans Christian Andersen meant so and so for their souls’ good when he seemed to be merely amusing them. I hope so.
—from his Introduction to
Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales and Wonder Stories (1914)
W. H. Auden
Hans Andersen, so far as I know, was the first man to take the fairy tale as a literary form and invent new ones deliberately. Some of his stories are, like those of Perrault, a reworking of folk material—“The Wild Swans,” for example, is based on two stories in the Grimm collection, “The Six Swans,” and “The Twelve Brothers”—but his best tales, like “The Snow Queen,” or “The Hardy Tin Soldier,” or “The Ice Maiden” are not only new in material but as unmistakeably Andersen’s as if they were modern novels.
—from his introduction to Tales of Grimm and Andersen (1952)
Alison Lurie
Mutual romantic love is very rare in Andersen’s tales. Again and again, his protagonists are rejected by those they court—and in this they share the unhappy experience of their author. All his life, Andersen continually fell in love with upper-class or titled persons, both male and female. Though he made many acquaintances, he had almost no romantic success: these people liked having him come to their houses, tell stories to their children, and sign books, but their attitude always remained one of friendly, slightly distant patronage.
—from Boys and Girls Forever: Children’s Classics from Cinderella to Harry Potter (2003)
QUESTIONS1. Is there a philosophy, theory, thesis, morality, or conception of human life that holds these tales together?2. What do these tales reveal to us about Andersen’s understanding or feeling about the relations between the sexes?3. Money certainly holds a prominent place in Andersen’s tales. Can you think of anything in the tales that has greater value?4. If you were told you had to invent a tale of the sort Andersen wrote, what, in brief, would it be about? Compose a paragraph-length synopsis of your plot.
For Further Reading
TRANSLATIONS OF ANDERSEN’S WORKS IN ENGLISH
Andersen, H. C. Author’s Edition [Andersen’s Works]. 10 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1869-1908.
The Andersen-Scudder Letters. Edited and translated by Waldemar Westergaard; introduction by Jean Hersholt; interpretative essay by Helge Topsøe-Jensen. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949. Andersen’s correspondence with American editor, publisher, and writer Horace Elisha Scudder.
Brothers, Very Far Away and Other Poems. Edited by Sven Rossel. Seattle, WA: Mermaid Press, 1991.
The Diaries of Hans Christian Andersen. Edited and translated by Patricia Conroy and Sven Rossel. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990.
The Fairy Tale of My Life. Translated by W. Glyn Jones. New York: British Book Centre, 1954.
The Fairy Tale of My Life. Translated by Horace Scudder. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1871.
Hans Christian Andersen’s Correspondence with the Late Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Charles Dickens, etc. etc. Edited by Frederick Crawford. London: Dean and Son, 1891.
The Improvisatore; or, Life in Italy. Translated by Mary Howitt. 2 vols. London: Richard Bentley, 1845.
In Spain. Translated by Mrs. Bushby. London: Richard Bentley, 1864.
In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1870.
Lucky Peer. Translated by Horace E. Scudder. Scribner’s Monthly (January, February, March, and April 1871).
Only a Fiddler! and O. T.; or, Life in Denmark. 3 vols. Translated by Mary Howitt. London: Richard Bentley, 1845.
Pictures of Sweden. Translated by I. Svering. London: Richard Bentley, 1851.
Pictures of Travel in Sweden, among the Hartz Mountains, and in Switzerland, with a Visit at Charles Dickens’s House, etc. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1871.
A Poet’s Bazaar. 3 vols. Translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer. London: Richard Bentley, 1846.
Rambles in the Romantic Regions of the Hartz Mountains. Translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer. London: Richard Bentley, 1848.
Seven Poems—Syv digte. Translated by R. P. Keigwin. Odense: Hans Christian Andersen’s House, 1955.
The Story of My Life. Translated by Horace E. Scudder. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1871.
To Be, or Not to Be? Translated by Mrs. Bushby. London: Richard Bentley, 1857.
The True Story of My Life. Translated by Mary Howitt. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1847.
The Two Baronesses. 2 vols. Translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer. London: Richard Bentley, 1848.
A Visit to Portugal 1866. Translated and edited by Grace Thornton. London: Peter Owen, 1972.
A Visit to Spain and North Africa. Translated and edited by Grace Thornton. London: Peter Owen, 1975.
CRITICAL WORKS
Andersen, Jens. Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life. Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2006.
Atkins, A. M. “The Triumph of Criticism: Levels of Meaning in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier.” Scholia Satyrica 1 (1975), pp. 25-28.
Bain, R. Nisbet. Hans Christian Andersen: A Biography. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1895.
Bell, Elizabeth, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells, eds. From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.
Book, Fredrik. Hans Christian Andersen: A Biography. Translated by G. Schoolfield. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962.
Born, Ann. “Hans Christian Andersen: An Infectious Genius.” Anderseniana 2 (1976), pp. 248-260.
Brandes, Georg. “Hans Christian Andersen.” In Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century. Translated by R. B. Anderson. New York: Crowell, 1886.
Braude, L. Y “Hans Christian Andersen and Russia.” Scandinavica 14 (1975), pp. 1-15.
Bredsdorff, Elias. Hans Andersen and Charles Dickens: A Friendship and Its Dissolution. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1956.
—. Hans Christian Andersen: The Story of His Life and Work, 1805-75. London: Phaidon, 1975.
Bredsforff, Thomas. Deconstructing Hans Christian Andersen: Some of His Fairy Tales in the Light of Literary Theory—and Vice versa. Minneapolis: Center for Nordic Studies, University of Minnesota, 1993.
Browning, George. A Few Personal Recollections of Hans Christian Andersen. London: Unwin, 1875.
Burnett, Constance B. The Shoemaker’s Son: The Life of Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Random House, 1941.
Dahlerup, Pil. “Splash! Six Views of “The Little Mermaid.” Scandinavian Studies 63:2 (1991), pp. 141-163.
Dal, Erik. “Hans Christian Andersen’s Tales and America.” Scandinavian Studies 40 (1968), pp. 1-25.
Duffy, Maureen. “The Brothers Grimm and Sister Andersen.” In The Erotic World of Faery. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972, pp. 263-284.
Frank, Diane Crone, and Jeffrey Frank. “A Melancholy Dane.”
The New Yorker (January 8, 2001), pp. 78-84.
. “The Real Hans Christian Andersen.” In The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Diane Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, pp. 1-36.
Godden, Rumer. Hans Christian Andersen: A Great Life in Brief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1954.
Grønbech, Bo. Hans Christian Andersen. Boston: Twayne, 1980.
Haugaard, Erik C. “Hans Christian Andersen: A Twentieth-Century View.” Scandinavian Review 14 (1975), pp. 1-15.
Hees, Annelies van. “The Little Mermaid.” In H. C. Andersen: Old Problems and New Readings, edited by Steven Sondrup. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 2004, pp. 259-270.
Heltoft, Kjeld. Hans Christian Andersen as an Artist. Translated by Reginald Spink. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1977.
Holbek, Bengt. “Hans Christian Andersen’s Use of Folktales.” In A Companion to the Fairy Tale, edited by Hilda Ellis David-son and Anna Chaudri. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2003, pp. 149-158.
Houe, Poul. “Going Places: Hans Christian Andersen, the Great European Traveler.” In Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World, edited by Sven Rossel. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996, pp. 123-175.
. “Andersen in Time and Place—Time and Place in Andersen.” In Hans Christian Andersen: A Poet in Time, edited by Johan de Mylius, Aage Jørgensen, and Viggo Hjør-nager Pedersen. Odense: Odense University Press, 1999, pp. 87-108.
Johnson, Spencer. The Value of Fantasy: The Story of Hans Christian Andersen. La Jolla, CA: Value Communications, 1979.
Jones, W. Glyn. Denmark. New York: Praeger, 1970.
. “Andersen and Those of Other Faiths.” In Hans Christian Andersen: A Poet in Time, edited by Johan de Mylius, Aage Jørgensen, and Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen. Odense: Odense University Press, 1999, pp. 259-270.
Jørgensen, Aage. Hans Christian Andersen Through the European Looking Glass. Odense: Odense University Press, 1998.
Koelb, Clayton. “The Rhetoric of Ethical Engagement.” In his Inventions of Reading: Rhetoric and the Literary Imagination. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1988, pp. 202-219.
Kofoed, Niels. “Hans Christian Andersen and the European Literary Tradition.” In Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World, edited by Sven Rossel. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996, pp. 209-356.
Lederer, Wolfgang. The Kiss of the Snow Queen: Hans Christian Andersen and Man ’s Redemption by Women. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Manning-Sanders, Ruth. Swan of Denmark: The Story of Hans Christian Andersen. London: Heinemann, 1949.
Marker, Frederick. Hans Christian Andersen and the Romantic Theatre: A Study of Stage Practices in the Prenaturalistic Scandinavian Theatre. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971.
Massengale, James. “The Miracle and A Miracle in the Life of a Mermaid.” In Hans Christian Andersen: A Poet in Time, edited by Johan de Mylius, Aage Jørgensen, and Viggo Hjørager Pedersen. Odense: Odense University Press, 1999, pp. 555-576.
Meynell, Esther. The Story of Hans Andersen. New York: Henry Schuman, 1950.
Mishler, William, “H. C. Andersen’s ‘Tin Soldier’ in a Freudian Perspective.” Scandinavian Studies 50 (1978), pp. 389-395.
Mitchell, P. M. A History of Danish Literature. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1957, pp. 150-160.
Mortensen, Finn Hauberg. A Tale of Tales: Hans Christian Andersen and Danish Children’s Literature. Four parts in 2 vols. Minneapolis: Center for Nordic Studies, University of Minnesota, 1989.
Mouritsen, Flemming. “Children’s Literature.” In A History of Danish Literature, edited by Sven Rossel. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992, pp. 609-631.
Mudrick, Marvin. “The Ugly Duck.” Scandinavian Review 68 (1980), pp. 34-48.
Mylius, Johan de. The Voice of Nature in Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Odense: Odense University Press, 1989.
. “Hans Christian Andersen and the Music World.” In Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World, edited by Sven Rossel. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996, pp. 176-208.
Mylius, Johan de, Aage Jørgensen, and Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen, eds. Hans Christian Andersen: A Poet in Time. Odense: Odense University Press, 1999.
Nielsen, Erling. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875): The Writer Everybody Reads and Loves, and Nobody Knows. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1983.
Pedersen, Viggo Hjørnager. Ugly Ducklings? Studies in the English Translations of Hans Christian Andersen’s Tales and Stories. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2004.
Prince, Alison. Hans Christian Andersen: The Fan Dancer. London: Allison and Busby, 1998.
Reumert, Elith. Hans Christian Andersen the Man. Translated by Jessie Bröchner. London: Methuen, 1927.
Robb, N. A. “Hans Christian Andersen.” In Four in Exile. 1948. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1968, pp. 120-151.
Rossel, Sven, ed. A History of Danish Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
, ed. Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996.
Rubow, Paul V. “Idea and Form in Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales.” In A Book on the Danish Writer Hans Christian Andersen: His Life and Work. Copenhagen: Committee for Danish Cultural Activities Abroad, 1955, pp. 97-135.
Sells, Laura. “‘Where Do the Mermaids Stand?’ Voice and Body in The Little Mermaid.” In From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture, edited by Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995, pp. 175-192.
Sondrup, Steven, ed. H. C. Andersen: Old Problems and New Readings. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2004.
Spink, Reginald. Hans Christian Andersen and His World. London : Thames and Hudson, 1972.
Stirling, Monica. The Wild Swan: The Life and Times of Hans Christian Andersen. London: Collins, 1965.
Toksvig, Signe. The Life of Hans Christian Andersen. London: Macmillan, 1933.
Trites, Roberta. “Disney’s Sub/version of The Little Mermaid.” Journal of Popular Television and Film 18 (1990/1991), pp. 145-159.
Wullschläger, Jackie. Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller. London: Allen Lane, 2000.
Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization. London: Heinemann, 1983.
. Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Alphabetical Index of the Tales
Auntie Toothache
Bell, The
Bird Phoenix
Bog King’s Daughter, The
Bronze Pig, The
Butterfly, The
Clod Hans
Cripple, The
Darning Needle, The
Drop of Water, The
Dung Beetle, The
Emperor’s New Clothes, The
Everything in its Proper Place
Family of Hen-Grethe, The
Flea and the Professor, The
Flying Trunk, The
Galoshes of Fortune, The
Garden of Eden, The
Gardener and the Gentry, The
Girl Who Stepped on Bread, The
Hill of the Elves, The
Holger the Dane
Ib and Little Christine
Ice Maiden, The
In the Duckyard
It’s Perfectly True!
Jewish Maid, The
Little Claus and Big Claus
Little Match Girl, The
Little Mermaid, The
Most Incredible Thing, The
Mother Elderberry
Naughty Boy, The
Nightingale, The
Old House, The
Pixie and the Gardener’s Wife, The
Pixie at the Grocer’s, The
Princess on the Pea, The
Puppeteer, The
Rags, The
Red Shoes, The
Rose Elf, The
Shadow,The
She Was No Good
Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep, The
Snow Queen, The
Snowdrop, The
Snowman, The
“Something”49
Spruce Tree, The
Steadfast Tin Soldier, The
Storks, The
Story Old Johanna Told, The
Sunshine’s Stories, The
Swineherd, The
Thorny Path to Glory, The
Thumbelina
Tinderbox, The
Traveling Companion, The
Ugly Duckling, The
What Father Does Is Always Right
What One Can Think Up
Wild Swans, The
Will-o’-the-Wisps Are in Town, The
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Fairy Tales Page 68
