Page:Danish fairy and folk tales.djvu/11



HE fairy tales and popular stories gathered in this volume are "Danish" only insomuch as they have been collected among the population of Denmark, and are colored by the thinking and doing of the people of this country. It would be difficult, indeed, to apply the name of any nationality to any of the numerous popular stories gathered by a host of ardent and studious collectors in the different European countries. Very few of all these tales can be truthfully said to have originated in the native land of those into whose spiritual life they have entered.

The framework of all genuine European fairy and folk tales are of Indo-European origin. The stories have spread from one country to another, and from one individual to another, without losing their original typical character; they have become disseminated among the population by means of living words—words which sound and are heard—which breathe into the listening ear the glee and