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Folktales and Legends from Norway and the rest of Scandinavia

Christmas in Norway, 2025

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Christmas in Norway 2025

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Over the years, I have translated innumerous tidbits of folklore from all sorts of collectors and writers from across Scandinavia. My first advent calendar, containing 24 amusing Norwegian texts in English translation, is a way of beginning to publish this work.

This is a digital publication only. The table of contents follows.

Christmas in Norway, 2025
An Advent Calendar

  1. How the Fox Got His Name of Mikkel
    2. A legend published by Ole Tobias Olsen in 1912.
  2. Old Christmas Customs
    3. An article published by Thrond Sjursen Haukenæs in 1885.
  3. Good Morning - Axe Handle
    4. A folktale published by Ole Tobias Olsen in 1912.
  4. When the Mice Wanted to Hang a Bell on the Cat
    5. A fable published by Mathilde Munch in 1928.
  5. Sobbing-and-Sorrow
    6. A folktale published by Hallvard Bergh in 1882.
  6. The Christmas Tree from the Sea
    7. A literary legend published by Regine Normann in 1920.
  7. The Fox and the Billy-Goat
    8. A folktale communicated by Hallvor Aakre, and published by Johannes Skar in 1913.
  8. South of the South and North of the North, by the Great Golden Mountain
    9. A folktale published by Kristofer Janson in 1878.
  9. The Troll’s and the Gyger’s Counting Contest
    10. A folktale published in 1913.
  10. The Bend
    11. A legend published by Rasmus Løvland in 1904.
  11. The Kid Who Could Count to Ten
    12. A counting tale published by Alf Prøysen in 1954.
  12. Wolf Greyshanksson Poochstead
    13. A folktale published by Dina Thorsen in 1876.
  13. The Mountain Fellow and the Great Drummer
    14. A folktale published by N. Vonen in 1869.
  14. The Magpie Calls
    15. A literary fable by Simon Roy Hughes.
  15. A Troll at Christmas
    16. A folktale published by Torkell Mauland in 1928.
  16. The Cat and the Mouse
    17. A folktale published by Halfdan Egedius in 1894.
  17. When the Hen Went to the Troll’s Place to Take Back Her Husband
    18. A folktale communicated by Marit Haugen, recorded by E. Langset in 1915, and retold by Simon Roy Hughes.
  18. The Man’s Skull
    19. A folktale published by Ivar Aasen in 1855.
  19. The Boy Who Tamed the Troll
    20. A literary tale published by Jacob B. Bull in 1928.
  20. Nisses in Telemark
    21. An article by Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802–1880), published posthumously in 1926.
  21. The Light in the Stable
    22. A literary legend published by Astrid and Olaf Thalberg in 1929.
  22. The Hulder Bride
    23. A poem by Simon Roy Hughes.
  23. A Boar and a Sow
    24. A folktale communicated by Pauline Paulsen, and recorded by Thora Skolmen in the early 1900s.
  24. An Old-Fashioned Christmas Eve
    25. A hulder tale and folk legend published by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen in 1845.

Get your ebook edition here

  • If you buy directly from me through Ko-Fi, you get an unrestricted ePub that you can save wherever you save digital files, and read in your app of choice, or sideload on to your favourite ebook reader. This option gives you the best price and the most freedom, yet gives me the best royalty.

  • If sideloading is something you don’t feel comfortable with, then you may also purchase the book on Amazon’s Kindle platform. Buy it and read directly, with little fuss.

In the interests of transparency, and because of a recent suggestion that I am concerned with profits, I have decided to share the financial background of this book.

Christmas in Norway, 2025 is a slim tome of 24 texts, a little more than 26,000 words. Because I do all the production work myself, my only expense is the editing, which has cost me approximately €260, all told.

I am pricing the book at €3.49 (US$4.99 on Amazon to accommodate their levy), which after subtracting the various associated fees, leaves me with a royalty of around €3 per sale, no matter where it is bought.

Dividing my expenses by the royalty per sold book tells me that I will have to sell just shy of 90 copies before I break even on this title. (Exactly 90 books will in fact earn me a €10 profit!) I understand that for a seasonal book, released about a month before the relevant season, and with no targetted promotion, selling 90 copies of an ebook is unlikely. Sales in December will probably decline, compared with those of November, and come the new year? Well, this book is so 2025!

Perhaps it is fortunate for me, then, that my motives are not profit-driven. I love the raw material. I love the work I have to put in to the selection, translation, formatting, editing, and design (such as it is). I love making the work available for others to enjoy, so no matter how many copies I do or do not sell, to me this book is valuable.

(Please buy the book.)

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Categories Publishing, Promotion