Danish Folktales, Legends, & Other Stories transed. by Timothy R. Tangherlini (review)

The study of folklore has evolved a great deal since its earliest interest in preserving oral antiquities, which gained traction in nineteenth-century Europe. This is due in no small part to the position Nordic collectors and theorists of folk materials hold in the founding of the field. We have come a long way from being satisfied with stand-alone collections of tales that make no mention of their tellers or the collection situation. We have become much less interested even in the origins of these tales in the last 50 years, focusing instead on—and benefiting significantly from—learning about the lives of tradition-bearers and the fieldwork that curates their repertoires.

The further one goes back, as a general rule, the less likely published works on folklore will include contextual information, beyond nationalist claims about Volksgeist (national spirit). Ironically, from a modern standpoint, the less contextual information provided, the less convincing is the animation of a collective spirit. Evald Tang Kristensen (1843–1929), who spent his life collecting Danish folk material, understood the dynamics of folklore from the beginning. He took copious biographical notes on all his informants as well as the details of his fieldwork trips, often including excellent photographic portraits of the people from whom he collected. So, why do we need Timothy Tangherlini to come along and publish a new book based on Kristensen's 5 decades of careful fieldwork?

The answer is at least twofold. First, there have not been adequate English translations of Kristensen's work to date, and the abundance of contextual information resides in archives and long out-of-print publications, not immediately accessible to the modern student. Prior to Tangherlini's painstaking research, those interested in Kristensen would have had to conduct research in the Danish national and regional archives themselves. A second important reason should also be noted, namely, that many published works have not captured Kristensen's interest in genre studies.

Tangherlini's book pulls together a variety of different perspectives, giving nuance to historical, biographical, and genre studies of the great Danish fieldworker and theorist. It also employs an exciting organizational strategy: legends, tales, and other stories are arranged by the repertoires of their tellers. There are five storytellers in focus: "Bitte Jens" Kristensen, who was a cobbler in Ersted, Denmark; Kirstin Marie Pedersdatter, who was a farm owner born in Nielstrup; Jens Peter Pedersen, a day laborer and turner who lived in Vendsyssel; (Ane) Margrete Jensdatter, who was extremely poor her entire life and lived in Mejlby; and Peder Johansen, who was a lifelong bachelor, a fiddler, and an important journeyman miller at Fuldbro Mill, who also contributed significantly to the economic and social life of the mill.

The personalities of the storytellers, their social backgrounds, and the different lines of tradition-bearers, of which they are a part, bring vibrancy to the tales. It may be off-putting to some readers that none of the stories (by which I also mean legends and folktales) appear with titles, just a series number that locates them in Kristensen's collections. But, again, we must keep in mind that the conventions of published tales may not always feature oral literature in its best light. As soon as a collector or publisher puts a title on a story, it gets typed and compared and possibly dismissed, depending on the expectations created by mere naming. Also, I doubt that the storytellers themselves had titles for their tales, so why should we put an artificial label on them? The effect of each of the chapters focusing on the storytellers is to take in the whole—the tales, the person, the history, the biography, the social context—rather than separating out the selections of tales by themselves. And that is as it should be.

Tangherlini translated the material beautifully, although in a few spots (but not many), he has chosen literal translations of idiomatic Danish, which could obscure...