A collection of tales that grew out of the sprawling flatlands, the oozing fjords, the dark forests and the waves that crash on the shores of Denmark.
How a Viking ship carried a future king into Roskilde Fjord, how a mermaid’s laughter brought fortunes to her fisherman host, how the people of Lolland survived a flood with waves 3m high and how a princess found her freedom in becoming a prince.
Experience the history, landscapes, stories and fairy tales brought to life by a storyteller who called this country home for nearly sixty years.
A review from Inger Barbara Christensen, Danish author. Translated from Danish by Svend-Erik Engh (and a little help from Google).
Svend-Erik Engh is the storyteller and Tea Bendix is the illustrator and together they have woven a durable shirt of Danish folk stories in English measure! The collection Danish Folk Tales counts 27 stories, legendary kings dancing side by side with unknown heroes, and common people; Good does not always prevail over evil, but the stories always call for reflection – about the times that were and perhaps also the times that are to come!
With threads of Tea Bendix’s drawings, the written word is woven together from Svend Erik’s mouth leather: A strong piece of narrative material that can withstand being told and retold an indestructible number of times. Tea draws itself into the pauses between the image-creating words of the story, as a reader I dwell for a long time on the porous and vivid illustrations of the drawings. The stories range widely, both gripped in Ewald Tang Kristensen’s treasure chest, the legendary kings and the beautiful unknown.
