East of the Sun and West of the Moon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids East of the Sun and West of the Moon |
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By candlelight, the heroine discovers the identity of her sleeping husband.
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| Folk tale | |
| Name | East of the Sun and West of the Moon |
| Also known as | Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne |
| Data | |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 425A (The Search for the Lost Husband) |
| Region | Norway |
| Published in | Norske folkeeventyr, by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe |
| Related | Cupid and Psyche; Beauty and the Beast |
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" (Norwegian: Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne) is a Norwegian fairy tale.
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is Aarne–Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband; other tales of this type include "Black Bull of Norroway", "The King of Love", "The Brown Bear of Norway", "The Daughter of the Skies", "The Enchanted Pig", "The Tale of the Hoodie", "Master Semolina", "The Sprig of Rosemary", "The Enchanted Snake", and "White-Bear-King-Valemon". The Swedish version is called "Prince Hat under the Ground". It is related to both the tale of "Cupid and Psyche" in The Golden Ass and to "Beauty and the Beast".
It was included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book (1890).
Contents
Synopsis
The White Bear approaches a poor peasant and asks if he will give him his prettiest and youngest daughter; in return, the bear will make the man rich. The girl is reluctant, so the peasant asks the bear to return, and in the meantime, persuades her. The White Bear takes her off to a rich and enchanted castle. At night, he takes off his bear form in order to come to her bed as a man, although the lack of light means that she never sees him.
When she grows homesick, the bear agrees that she might go home as long as she agrees that she will never speak with her mother alone, but only when other people are about. At home, they welcome her, and her mother makes persistent attempts to speak with her alone, finally succeeding and persuading her to tell the whole tale. Hearing it, her mother insists that the White Bear must really be a troll, gives her some candles, and tells her to light them at night, to see what is sharing her bed.
The youngest daughter obeys, and finds he is a highly attractive prince, but she spills three drops of the melted tallow on him, waking him. He tells her that if she held out a year, he would have been free, but now he must go to his wicked stepmother, who enchanted him into this shape and lives in a castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, and marry her hideous daughter, a troll princess.
In the morning, the youngest daughter finds that the palace has vanished. She sets out in search of him. Coming to a great mountain, she finds an old woman playing with a golden apple. The youngest daughter asks if she knows the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon. The old woman cannot tell her, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach a neighbor who might know, and gives her the apple. The neighbor is sitting outside another mountain, with a golden carding comb. She, also, does not know the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach a neighbor who might know, and gives her the carding-comb. The third neighbor has a golden spinning wheel. She, also, does not know the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach the East Wind and gives her the spinning wheel.
The East Wind has never been to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but his brother the West Wind might have, being stronger. He takes her to the West Wind. The West Wind does the same, bringing her to the South Wind; the South Wind does the same, bringing her to the North Wind. The North Wind reports that he once blew an aspen leaf there, and was exhausted after, but he will take her if she really wants to go. The youngest daughter does wish to go, and so he takes her there.
The next morning, the youngest daughter takes out the golden apple. The troll princess who was to marry the prince sees it and wants to buy it. The girl agrees, if she can spend the night with the prince. The troll princess agrees but gives the prince a sleeping drink, so that the youngest daughter cannot wake him. The same thing happens the next night, after the youngest daughter pays the troll princess with the gold carding-combs. During the girl's attempts to wake the prince, her weeping and calling to him is overheard by some imprisoned townspeople in the castle, who tell the prince of it. On the third night, in return for the golden spinning wheel, the troll princess brings the drink, but the prince does not drink it, and so is awake for the youngest daughter's visit.
The prince tells her how she can save him: He will declare that he will marry anyone who can wash the tallow drops from his shirt since trolls, such as his stepmother and her daughter, the troll princess, cannot do it. So instead, he will call in the youngest daughter, and she will be able to do it, so she will marry him. The plan works, and the trolls, in a rage, burst. The prince and his bride free the prisoners captive in the castle, take the gold and silver within, and leave the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon.
Retellings and translations into English
- Eastward of the Sun, and Westward of the Moon, 1849, by Anthony R. Montalba, in Fairy Tales From all Nations. London: Chapman and Hall, 1849.
- The Mysterious Prince, 1908, by Wilbur Herschel Williams, in Fairy Tales From Folk Lore. New York: Moffat, Yard & Company, 1908.
- East o' the Sun & West o' the Moon, 1910, translated by Sir George Webbe Dasent and illustrated by the brothers Reginald L. Knowles and Horace J. Knowles
- East o' the Sun & West o' the Moon, translated by G. W. Dasent (1910), illustrated by P. J. Lynch
- East of the Sun & West of the Moon, 1914, translated by G. W. Dasent (1910), illustrated by Kay Nielsen
- "East of the Sun and West of the Moon", The Dancing Bears, 1954, by W. S. Merwin
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon retold by Kathleen and Michael Hague and illustrated by Michael Hague (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980)
- East of the Sun & West of the Moon, 1980, written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer
- East of the Sun, West of the Moon, by D. J. MacHale, illustrated by Vivienne Flesher (Rabbit Ears Productions)
- East of the Sun & West of the Moon, 1994, play by Tina Howe
- East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Adapted by Anthony Ravenhall for the stage: Cleveland Theatre Company (CTC) in 1994. Directed by Anthony Ravenhall, toured Christmas 1994/5. Also toured 1996/97 Northumberland Theatre Company (NTC).
- East of the Sun, a short play by Darcy Parker Bruce, included in "The Best American Short Plays 2015-2016" edited by William Demastes and John Patrick Bray
- Once Upon a Winter's Night, 2001, by Dennis L. McKiernan
- East, 2003, novel by Edith Pattou
- Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, 2009, by Jessica Day George
- Ice, 2009, novel by Sarah Beth Durst
- Enchanted: East of the sun, West of the moon, by Nancy Madore
- East of the Sun, West of the Moon, 2013, written and illustrated by Jackie Morris
- A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2015, by Sarah J. Maas
- Echo North, 2019, novel by Joanna Ruth Meyer
- Beautiful, 2019, audiobook by Juliet Marillier
Film adaptations
- In the early 1980s, Don Bluth Productions began work on an animated feature film entitled East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Ultimately, the film was never made due to a loss of financial backing, even though the film was heavily into production at the time of its cancellation.
- Max von Sydow narrates the Rabbit Ears Productions' version of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" to musical accompaniment by Lyle Mays.
- The Storyteller features an episode called, "The True Bride", which was directly based on a German folktale of the same name, but references this story in its ending. The heroine's love is bewitched by a female troll into forgetting her, but the prince is told the truth by the troll's prisoners. In the episode "Hans My Hedgehog" the husband also turns from a beast into a human.
- The themes of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" appear in the 1991 film The Polar Bear King, also known as Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon. The story of the film is almost an exact parallel to the fairy tale.
- The Polar Bear King https://vimeo.com/169482387
Illustrations by Kay Nielsen (1914)
Images for kids
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The white bear carries his intended on his back. Illustration from The Blue Fairy Book by Henry Justice Ford.
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The North Wind carries the maiden across the stormy sea. Illustration from The Blue Fairy Book by Henry Justice Ford.
