East of the Sun, West of the Moon - Author Unknown - ★★★.½
AUTHOR: Unknown
GENRE: Folktale
PUBLICATION DATE: N.A.
RATING: 3.5 stars.
A Norwegian folktale with the ‘Animal As Bridegroom’/’The Search for the Lost Husband’ theme.
Plot Preview:
A white bear asks a poor farmer for his youngest daughter in exchange for wealth. The daughter reluctantly agrees and goes to live with the bear. Things go decently enough except for one issue.
After some time, when she feels homesick, the girl asks the bear for permission to visit her parents. He allows the same, but with one condition. You can guess what might have happened immediately after, but how does the title come into play in this story? Read and find out..
One of my upcoming ARCs is loosely inspired by this classic fairytale, so I had to push it in my reading schedule. I have read it a couple of times earlier, but am reviewing it for the first time.
As far as fairy tales go, this story is obviously great, and obviously of its time. Certain elements haven’t stood the test of time. But as sensible readers know, books ought to be read keeping their era in mind.
That said, I love how the story shows the farmer first asking his daughter for her approval to the match. Of course, he doesn’t directly accept her refusal and works hard to convince her otherwise, indulging in some emotional blackmail about the family’s dire straits. Regardless, the fact that he still asked her first instead of directly agreeing to the match without letting her know is a novelty. This might be one of the very few fairy tales to have active consent on page.
I wish there had been greater elaboration on the bear’s character. He feels like a stranger even till the end. But the girl’s spirit comes across strongly. There are some other interesting characters as well.
The story does quite well on the standard folklore factors: a mysterious animal character, a female protagonist who is brave and courageous and ready to fight the odds and yet not infallible, some magical beings, some magical objects, and a happy ending.
A good option for fairy tale fans.
This story has made its way to numerous picture book adaptations and fairytale collections. But as it is in the public domain, you can also read it free of cost on various sites online. Here’s the link I used:
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