Standard Edition
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Nordic Tales
Dark folk tales. Epic soundscapes.
Ancient stories retold.
Not museum glass. Not nostalgia. Still alive.
Epic Nordic storiesOriginal musicDigital editionsIndependent creation
Folk tale
Never Look Back
A winter traveller accepts a supernatural ride home on one condition: whatever he hears behind him, he must never look back.
Based on the Norwegian folk legend “Jutulen og Johannes Blessom”, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen.
Collector's Edition
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Choose a tale
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Folk tale
The Cormorants of Utrøst
A poor fisherman is driven through a deadly storm to Utrøst, a hidden island where three black cormorants guard an ancient promise between the sea and those who remember.
Traditional: Based on the traditional Norwegian folktale “Skarvene fra Utrøst”, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.
Folk tale
Never Look Back
A winter traveller accepts a supernatural ride home on one condition: whatever he hears behind him, he must never look back.
Traditional: Based on the Norwegian folk legend “Jutulen og Johannes Blessom”, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen.
Folk tale
Three Billy Goats Gruff
A troll beneath the bridge. Three brothers, one road, and the logic of getting to the other side.
Traditional: A Norwegian folk tale known from the Asbjornsen and Moe tradition.
Folk tale
The Ash Lad
The youngest son. Never supposed to amount to anything. Always the one who succeeds - by paying attention.
Traditional: A Norwegian Askeladden folk-tale figure from the Asbjornsen and Moe tradition.
Creature
The Nøkk
He plays from the river. The music is beautiful. Getting out of the water again is someone else's problem.
Traditional: A water-spirit figure from Nordic folk belief and legend.
Folk tale
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
A girl lights a candle when she shouldn't. The prince disappears into an impossible castle, and she walks to the edge of the world to find him.
Traditional: A Norwegian wonder tale known from the Asbjornsen and Moe tradition.
Folk tale
The Husband Who Was to Mind the House
A farmer is certain his wife has the easier job. She hands him the scythe and goes to the fields. He does not have a good day.
Traditional: A comic Norwegian folk tale from the Asbjornsen and Moe tradition.
Original tale
Bergtatt
Three people live beneath a black mountain that remembers hunger. When the mountain takes what it wants, one man goes in after them - with fire in his hand and no intention of bargaining.
Original Nordic Tales: An original Nordic Tales story built from the dark landscape of Norwegian mountain folklore and troll traditions.
Folk tale
Paul and the Chickens
A Norwegian farmhand loses his hens to a fox and his pride to arithmetic. A folk tale about small losses, working-class stoicism, and the particular dignity of getting on with it.
Traditional: A Norwegian folk tale retold through the Nordic Tales project.
Folk tale
The Boy with the Beer Keg
A Norwegian farmhand refuses to drink with God or the Devil, but shares his Christmas ale with Death - and earns a gift he cannot keep forever.
Traditional: A Norwegian folk tale retold through the Nordic Tales project.
Folk tale
The Fox's Widow
A Norwegian animal fable about a widow who knows exactly what she wants - and waits patiently until the right colour coat knocks on her door.
Traditional: A Norwegian animal fable retold through the Nordic Tales project.
Folk tale
Soria Moria
Halvor - the boy who only ever sat in the ashes - kills three trolls, frees three princesses, loses everything through pride, and walks back through the dark to earn it again.
Traditional: A Norwegian wonder tale known from the Asbjornsen and Moe tradition.
Watch & Listen
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Nordic Tales videos are presented with local posters. The YouTube iframe is created only after you actively press play.
Open HugByte on YouTubeWhere the Black Wings Lead – Utrøst | Nordic TalesNever Look Back – The Jotun and Johannes Blessom | Nordic TalesThree Billy Goats Gruff (Nordic Folk Song) | Trip Trap - HugByte Nordic TalesAsh Lad Rises - Dark Nordic Rock Tale (Askeladden)The Nøkk | The Song Beneath the Water | Nordic Tales #nordictalesEast Of The Sun, West Of The Moon - Dark Nordic Techno TaleThe Husband Who Was to Mind the HouseBergtatt - Taken by the MountainPaul and the ChickensThe Boy with the Beer Keg | A Dark Nordic Tale About Death and FateThe Fox Widow | A Darkly Playful Nordic Folk Tale Song | Nordic TalesSoria Moria - The Castle of GoldWhat is Nordic Tales?
Fiction, music and cinematic production from the North
Nordic Tales retells old stories from the North through fiction, music and cinematic production. Some tales come from folklore and myth. Others are original stories built in the same dark landscape.
The goal is not to preserve them behind glass. The goal is to make them live again.
- Ancient roots
- Modern telling
- Stories to own
- Independent creation
Originals & Sources
Where the stories come from
Traditional stories and original Nordic Tales are marked separately. Original stories are not presented as old folk tales.
Traditional material
- Norske Folkeeventyr - P. Chr. Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe.
- Norske Huldre-Eventyr og Folkesagn - P. Chr. Asbjornsen.
- Popular Tales from the Norse - George Webbe Dasent's English translation tradition.
- Norwegian folk belief and legend, including troll and water-spirit traditions.
Original Nordic Tales
- Bergtatt: An original Nordic Tales story built from the dark landscape of Norwegian mountain folklore and troll traditions.
Choose a tale. Read it. Hear it. Keep it.