East of the Sun and West of the Moon: the Norwegian tale of the white bear and the North Wind
A poor girl agrees to live with a white bear, breaks a promise and crosses the world to undo the mistake. The tale was published in Norway in the 19th century.
Few Norwegian tales are as well remembered as East of the Sun and West of the Moon, in Norwegian Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne. It was published in the 19th century by two collectors, Asbjørnsen and Moe, who travelled the country writing down the stories told in the countryside.
The white bear
The tale begins in a very poor house with many children. One stormy night a great white bear knocks at the door and asks for the youngest daughter. In return he promises wealth for the family. The girl accepts, after talking with her parents.
The bear takes her to a castle and gives her everything she could want. At night, someone enters her room in the dark and lies down beside her. She does not see who it is. By the agreement, she must never light a candle.
The candle
The girl goes to visit her family, and her mother, suspicious, gives her a candle to spy on her companion. Against the promise, she lights it during the night. She sees a handsome prince sleeping, and three drops of wax fall on his shirt. He wakes.
The prince tells her he was under a spell and that if she had waited a year he would have been free. Now he must marry a troll princess with a nose three ells long. Her castle lies east of the sun and west of the moon, and he vanishes.
The four winds
The girl sets out on foot to look for the castle. She meets three old women, who give her three gifts: a golden apple, a carding comb and a spinning wheel, all of gold. They also send her to the winds, who may know the way.
The East Wind, the West Wind and the South Wind do not know. The North Wind, stronger and ruder, knows the way and carries her flying to the castle, after a journey so tiring that he can barely keep aloft.
The end
At the castle, the girl uses the golden gifts to buy three nights beside the prince. On the first two he is drugged and sleeps. On the third, a prisoner warns the prince, who pretends to drink the potion and stays awake.
To escape the troll princess, he proposes a test: he will marry whoever washes his wax-stained shirt. The trolls try, but only make the shirt dirtier. The girl washes it and it comes out clean. The troll princess bursts with rage, and the prince marries the girl.
Origin
The type of story, of a mysterious husband lost through a broken promise, is very old and appears in many countries. The Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche is a well-known relative. The Norwegian version has the white bear, the winds and the trolls, which make it typical of the North.
To help the girl cross the sky carried by the North Wind, play The North Wind.
Sources.
- Norske Folkeeventyr, by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe (collection published from 1841)
- Encyclopedia entries and studies on Norwegian folk tales
- Studies on the tale type "Cupid and Psyche" (ATU 425A)