He speaks to the hearts and the imagination with shepherdesses, tin soldiers, nightingales, and swallows.Įye Ole Farm Week or Little Ida's Flowers are my favorites. He does it as a poet, not as a moralist or a philosopher he does it with humor, irony, tenderness, or melancholy. Populated by street children, fabulous animals, and hideous or evil creatures, his tales are closer to Edgar Poe than to the world of Care Bears.Īndersen talks about our anxieties, desires, and difficult path to beauty and truth, pure souls who struggle against discouragement, fear, darkness, stupidity, and contempt. Those who know the Walt Disney version, a cartoon for popcorn eaters, have not had access to the universe of this Danish storyteller who flirts with the unconscious of his readers by dragging them into his dreams and nightmares.

The proof is that sometimes it ends badly. The Will-O’-The-Wisp Is In The Town, Says The Moor-Woman The Shepherd’s Story Of The Bond Of Friendship Georg Brandes questioned Andersen about whether he would write his autobiography, the poet claimed that it had already been written - 'The Ugly Duckling'.Īll the best-loved fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen: Andersen, (2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Hans Christian Andersen often referred to in Scandinavia as H. The Complete Fairy Tales: The complete collection, Hans Christian Andersen

Hans christian andersen fairy tales