Asbjørnsen, Peter Christian [key], 1812–85, Norwegian folklorist, writer, and naturalist. Norwegian Folk Stories (4 vol., 1841–44), which he collected with the poet Jørgen Moe, his friend from school days, was acclaimed throughout Europe for its contribution to comparative folklore and literature. In 1845 he published the first series of his Norwegian Fairy Stories and Folk Legends. English translations of his works include Popular Tales from the Norse (tr. 1858) and Fairy Tales from the Far North (tr. 1897). Asbjørnsen was a forester for many years and wrote numerous scholarly papers on the natural sciences.
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