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East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon

A. Context

Part of the collection Folk and Fairy Tales, East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon is a Norwegian tale, collected by Peter Christen Asbjörnsen. The collection contains 33 tales - East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon is the 27th. Translated in English by H. L. Braekstad, the work dates from 1883 and has appeared in New York.

B. Summary

The tale begins with the family's portrayal, depicting their low welfare state. The father is presented as unable to sustain his family and their needs. He had many children, their names are not mentioned, but the youngest daughter was the prettiest of all.
Once, in Autumn, on a Thursday evening, a peculiar incident happened. While in the house and seeking shelter against the bad weather, the poor family received an unexpected visit that was going to change their lives forever. The White Bear paid them a visit and asked for their youngest daughter to become his one and only. Feeling pressed by the circumstances, the father agreed, but asked for a respite of one week in order to convince his daughter. Once the waiting time came to an end, the White Bear came back again to find his answer. Driven by the taste of wealth, the girl accepted the Bear's offer, and the two departed towards the kingdom of ice. After travelling a great distance, they arrived at the enchanted castle. The damsel stood by and wondered at such opulence; the chambers were sprinkled with gold and silver, everything seemed to be majestic. The White Bear expressed his servitude and gave her a silver bell to use in case she needed something.
During the first night, she received a strange visit. After she had put out the light, a man entered the room and laid beside her. It seemed that the White Bear turned into a man at night, but he disappeared before the daylight. After a while, the girl started to feel lonely and bored and she wanted to return home to visit her parents. The White Bear agreed, but he warned her not to talk with her mother alone. She did not respect the warning and she let herself be persuaded by her mother, who told her to wait for the monster to fall asleep and then to light a candle in order to see his face. Furthermore, her mother made a cautionary remark and warned her not to let any tallow drop on him.
Once she got back "home", she followed her mother's advice and waited for the perfect moment. As the White Bear fell asleep, she kindled a light and saw him, as the most handsome man that she had ever seen. Unaware of the consequences, she kissed him, but she failed and let three drops of tallow to drop on his shirt. Her deed released a dark curse that forced the prince to go back at the East of the sun and West of the moon palace, and marry another. Alone and in deep sorrow, the girl found herself the next day lying on the bare ground, surrounded by rags. The castle and the prince disappeared in a blink of an eye, along with the mirage of luxury and welfare. Faced with a situation, the girl decided to start her lifetime journey and find her prince again, no matter what.
She started a long journey for at the end of which she hoped to find her one and only. In order to prove her worthiness after her mistake, she started her search. She met three old ladies during her pursuit that helped her and gave her several gifts: a golden apple, a golden carding-comb and a golden spinning-wheel. Desperate to find the kingdom where her prince dwelt, she met each of the four winds and asked for their help. After several attempts, she managed to arrive at the destination, where she found both the Prince and the maiden who was to have him, named the Princess with the long nose. The girl played with the golden apple while walking by the castle, and attracted the Princess's attention, who became interested to buy the golden apple. She agreed to give her the apple, but she asked for a night with the prince in return.
As she went to the Prince's apartment, she found him sleeping and couldn't wake him. The next day, the Princess saw her with the golden carding-comb and the exchange was repeated. In the third night, after giving her last gift, the golden spinning-wheel, she managed to reach her prince and have a word with him. The prince told her that he was about to get married the second day, and asked her to do a task so she would win him in marriage against the ugly Princess. The second day, the Ugly Princess and the damsel had to remove a spot from the Prince's shirt, but only the damsel succeeded. After being defeated, the ugly Princess who turned out to be a troll vanished away.
The Prince and his damsel set free the Christian people imprisoned by the trolls, took the gold and all the belongings and fled away, as far from the East of the Sun and West of the Moon castle as possible, and lived happily ever after.

C. Position in the Aarne-Thomson-Uther Index

East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon is cataloged as a search for the Lost Husband tale, registered with (ATU 425A)-the maiden searched for her beloved Prince. Also, it belongs to the Tales of Magic classification, to be more specific, Supernatural or Enchanted Husband.

D. Characters and functions according to Vladimir Propp

Characters of the fairy tale, due to Propp’s theory:
The seeker hero: The damsel
The victim who needs to be rescued from evil (the curse): The Prince
The donor: Three old women who gave magic objects to the girl
The villain: The ugly Princess

The functions of the fairy tale:
The initial situation- The girl is demanded by the big White Bear, and her parents granted their blessing.
The hero leaves home-The Departure: After several days spent at the castle, the young beautiful girl wanted to meet again with her family.
The interdiction is addressed to the hero: The White Bear agreed with the lassie’s departure, but warned her not to follow her mother’s advice. If not, both of them would be damned with misery.
The interdiction is violated: The heroine failed her engagement and did as her mother advised her.
The acquisition of Magical Agent: The girl received three magical objects (golden apple, a golden carding-comb and a golden spinning-wheel).
The hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search (spatial transference between two kingdoms, guidance). The hero flies through the air, she is carried away by the wind. She is led by the four winds, who show her the route. In East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, the object of search is vaguely located, somewhere between east and west.
The victory: The ugly Princess who turned out to be a troll was defeated by the young beautiful Damsel in a contest- the spot removal from the Prince’s white shirt.
The initial misfortune is liquidated: the spell on the Prince was broken, and he was redeemed.
The wedding ceremony/ happy ending: The Prince and The Damsel reunited and lived happily ever after.

C. Similarities

East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon is similar to Beauty and the Beast, a subcategory of the AT-425 tale, more specific- AT-425C. The plot is analogous, it depicts the story of a beautiful young lady, who belonged of the middle class, forced by the circumstances to marry a monster. In fact, both stories reveal the woman’s anxieties regarding prepared marriages.
Another similar tale is Cupid and Psyche, who actually was the original version.


D. Modern-day editions in English

The East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon fairy tale is still known today, it has been republished by Naomi Lewis. The last edition dates from February 2005, containing outstanding illustrations, made by P. J. Lynch.
Another modernized version of the tale is Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, written by Jessica Day George in 2008.


Sources:
Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales collected by Asbjörnsen
Uther Classification of Folk Tales by Aarne-Thompson
Morphology of the Folk Tale by Vladimir Propp
http://surlalunefairytales.blogspot.com/