Espen Ash Lad – Folk Tales from Norway

About the Book:

The stories in this book tell of the adventures of Espen Ash Lad who could have been Cinderella’s brother. They are tales of the derided little man who outwits angry trolls, slippery kings and magic spells to win the princess and half the kingdom when bigger men bite the dust.
Just over a century ago Norway gained its independence from Sweden and was recognised as a fully independent sovereign state. Before that time the feeling was that Norway did not have the attibutes of nationhood.
One of the strands which helped increase awareness of Norway’s separate national identity was the publication of over 100 Norwegian Folk Tales collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe from the remote valleys and mountain areas of southern Norway.
These stories were regarded throughout Europe and America as masterpieces of folk literature. The tales were passed down in an oral tradition for many centuries. The author of Grimm’s famous tales believed that they surpassed ‘nearly all others.’
This new translation of the fourteen Ash Lad tales includes 24 illustrations from Theodor Kittelsen, and Erik Werenskiold, well known and much admired Norwegian artists who illustrated the original fairytales.

About the Author:
ROBERT Gambles was born and grew up in Derbyshire. He was a scholar of St John’s College, Oxford, where he took an Honours degree in Modern History and a post-graduate Diploma in Education. He also has a Licentiate Diploma in Music. His professional career was spent in Education, mainly in Cambridge and Liverpool.
He acquired a love of the Lake District early in life and he has lived in Cumbria in his years of retirement during which he has explored the whole district and written a number of books and many articles on various aspects of its history.Through his Norwegian wife he acquired a special interest in the life and history of Norway.
A keen but pragmatic interest in conservation and the protection of the natural environment has always featured in his philosophy of life and he was for many years a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Lake District.

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