Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

Born in Christiania, Norway, in 1812, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen became one of the key figures in preserving Norwegian folklore. He is most closely associated with the fairy-tale collections he published with his friend Jørgen Moe, drawing on stories they gathered from oral tradition.

Their collections of folk and fairy tales played a major part in shaping Norway’s literary culture and keeping traditional storytelling alive for later generations. Alongside his literary work, Asbjørnsen also had wide-ranging interests in nature and science, which added to his reputation as a curious and energetic observer of the world around him.

He died in 1885, but his stories and folklore collections remain widely read and deeply influential. For many readers, his work is still one of the great gateways into the rich imaginative world of Norwegian folk tradition.