A book filled with fairy tales and legends from Denmark.
I have chosen 27 favorites and Tea Bendix has created a magical universe with her illustrations.
Published by The History Press
October 2023.
A Journey into Danish Storytelling
Danish Folk Talesis a collection of 27 traditional stories from Denmark — retold with warmth, humour and deep respect for the Nordic storytelling tradition.
In this beautifully produced book, Danish storyteller Svend-Erik Engh breathes new life into folktales that have travelled through generations. You will meet Viking kings and common folk, clever young women and foolish rulers, brave farmhands and eerie water spirits. The tales speak of human courage, folly, wisdom, and wonder — and invite us to reflect on the past and the present.
The stories are accompanied by whimsical, evocative illustrations by award-winning Danish artist Tea Bendix.
What Readers Say
Inger Barbara Christensen, Danish author, via TRACS:
"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 Talescounts 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.”
Read full review on TRACS
Tarkabarka, Amazon.com reviewer:
“This book is just... friendly. It feels like a very friendly storyteller sharing stories with you from their culture.”
Amazon.com
Lizzie, Amazon UK reviewer:
“I loved this inspiring collection of stories, selected by the author from the many saved from oblivion by their collector Evald Tang Kristensen.”
Amazon.co.uk
Anna Lundquist, Waterstones reviewer:
“A varied collection of stories, told with heart and presence. Written in such an accessible way that you feel you could easily retell them yourself, if you wanted to.”
Waterstones
From the intro written by Svend-Erik Engh
So use the stories in this book to be inspired, maybe to visit some of the places I describe in the book, use the book to be troubled by some of the images and then always remember that the stories were meant to be told and that was a common experience between the storyteller and the listener, so the storyteller could adjust the stories in that moment to the listeners response to the story. ‘The princess that became a man’ is the story in this collection with the most troublesome images, so when you read that story, be with somebody that you trust and if the image feels too strong, talk about it, find a way to make it a useful experience for you. And you could of course just skip that story and read ‘The fat cat’, a lovely little joke - I hope I don’t offend anyone by using the word ‘fat’ about a cat - stories are like that, some are deep and troublesome, some are just plain funny and there are no bigger ideas behind them.
And do yourself the favour and scroll through the illustrations of Tea Bendix, then if you have found something intriguing that has caught your eye, take a deeper look at the drawings. Each of these illustrations has told me a new story. Tea has found a new dimension in the relations between the characters and the landscapes in the stories, just notice the ant in the tree in ‘The Shoemaker’s boy’. She has spotted something deeper than I have with my simple twisted Danish mind. To work with Tea has been such a joy.
'Trump og en seriøs date' handler om to mennesker, der kommer fra meget forskellige kår. De prøver at få kærligheden til at vokse, men det er ikke nemt, når den ene er født med en guldske i munden og den anden knap ved, hvem han far er og hvordan han skal skrabe penge sammen til den næste øl.
Den dag de to mødes og sød musik opstår, bliver Donal Trump indsat som U.S.A.'s 45. præsident og han kiler sig ind imellem de to elskende.
Så der er nok af udfordinger for de to turtelduer.
"Forfatterens møde med døden danner den grundlæggende melodi i bogen, hvor andre toner og strofer skaber en livsmelodi. 'En ven i Valby' handler om døden og om livet. Om livsændringer, livsbegyndelser og afslutninger. Der er en eftertænksomhed og et nærvær i bogen som giver ro, og får mig til at se verden på en ny måde. Bogen handler også om ansvar, for andre og for sig selv."
Dorthe la Cour
Hvordan påvirker kærlighed folks livshistorier og kan man snyde fjenden og overleve ved at agere vanvittig?
”Hovedløst” er en interessant blanding af små historier, lidt længere historier og poesi, som fortælleren Svend Engh står bag. Bogen er opdelt i 15 dele, som hver især begynder med et digt, der efterfølges af to historier.
Enghs blanding af historier bringer læseren vidt omkring. Til en sommerdag med ungdomsforelskelser, til en pige der er vild med stjernebilleder, til en togtur med Øresundstoget og mange andre steder. Det, at man som læser ikke ved, hvor han fører os hen på næste side, fungerede virkelig godt for denne læser og det er tydeligt i sproget, at han er vant til at skrive historier.
Bogens illustrationer, som Emil Scharff Christensen står bag, fungerer utrolig godt til bogens temaer og giver dem en vis ekstra kant.
Alt i alt en fin blanding af poesi og små historier, som både kan læses ud i ét eller som små bidder på forskellige dage og stadig give god mening pga temaerne, som samler 3 tekster under hver af dem.
Mette myder millioner
mens mor maltrakterer Mortens marsvin
«En herlig historie om en moderne prinsesse, der kan få alt og alligevel ved hun ikke helt, hvad der gør hende glad. Der er i al fald grin for store og små i Den Sure Prinsesse.»
Lama Juma
«Din bog har en fin og elegant balance og er meget i øjenhøjde med læseren det virker som om, at du tager din læser alvorligt, men det er måske også fordi at historien er blevet fortalt frem. Det virker i hvert fald.»
Aske Ebbesen
«Det er en herlig børnebog!!!! Jeg kan godt lide at du har beholdt den direkte mundtlige fortællerstil som så alligevel går i dialog med tegningerne, som er herlige. Et ægte anarkistisk eventyr.»
Lisbet Soya Nørgaard
Steve Denning, author of six books on Organisational Storytelling, talks about the book:
"At first sight, the worlds of storytelling and organizations look very different. Storytelling is often viewed as being about fabulous tales of glorious heroes and beautiful heroines, narratives that make the imagination soar and the heart leap. It seems far from the world of business, commerce and making money, with talk of performance targets, budgets, work programs, the bottom-line and the like. That is the interest of this book. To storytellers who are interested in making a journey from storytelling into organizations. And to managers and people in organizations who are wondering whether there is anything in storytelling that is of relevance to business. The book points out matters of profound interest to both the world of storytelling and the world of organizations. In writing it, Svend-Erik has done a service to both worlds, and I hope you find it both educational and entertaining."
Children's Book / 2-6 year
Princess Grumpy and the Talking Elephant is a modern fairytale about a Princess who feels sad and angry, but one day she meets an elephant and everything changes.
Just wanted to say thank you about the Princess Grumpy book, I bought it earlier this year for my daughter who likes it too, but at the moment, for the last few weeks at least, is our 2-year-old's favourite, he asks to read it at least once or twice a day and joins in on 'Boos and hisss' and every 'ouch', and has us singing Nelly the elephant every time too.
Ossi Jalonen
