East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North

These are old stories, the kind that were told in farmhouses when the snow piled high against the windows and the fire burned low. Asbjørnsen gathered them from Norwegian storytellers in the nineteenth century, preserving tales that had passed from mouth to mouth for generations before anyone thought to write them down. The title story is the heart of the collection: a poor farmer's youngest daughter goes to live with a white bear in a castle of gold and silver, sleeping each night beside a creature she cannot see. When she discovers he is a prince trapped under a curse, she must journey east of the sun and west of the moon to break the spell, facing trolls and giants and her own courage along the way. Other tales follow similarly brave girls, talking animals, clever tricks, and the thin veil between the human world and the realm of the trolls. These are not gentle nursery tales; they are sharp and strange, full of winter logic and Nordic darkness. They endure because they speak to something ancient in us: the belief that love, if true enough, can break any enchantment.