An overview of “Nordic Tales” folk tales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Weird times call for weird books because I needed something weirder than my everyday experiences to kind of even things out. It's Nordic Tales illustrated by Ulathino. And let me tell you, it was more than I bargained for, but it was exactly what I needed. And when I say weird, people call me weird all the time. We're using dictionary definitions here. Okay, here they are.

[00:00:26]How do I even tell you about some of my favorite tales? There's the one where a man fell in love with a mouse before he realized she was actually a human princess. A man sold his daughter to a polar bear who then held her captive until she was allowed to visit her family under strict conditions which she broke. So then they were both cursed.

[00:00:47]And at that point she realized she was in love with him and she had to wash a troll's dirty shirt that no other wench had yet been able to clean so that she could see him again. There's the one about the bewitched elf queen disguised as a maid who had to disappear someone every Christmas Eve so that she could visit with her family for just a few hours. There's the one about the girl who made a deal with the devil over some dancing shoes and when her soul came due, she tricked him and escaped her fate. There's the one about the girl who cheated death with whom she had an agreement. There's the one about the who conned the good woman with his nail broth recipe that she just couldn't resist. Then there's the one about the boy who turned one penny in a roundabout way into $600. And I haven't even finished the book yet. At first I was kind of like, I don't know about this.

[00:01:44]Then I realized how much I actually needed it. Nordic tales. Enjoy.