I spent a
most enjoyable few days in Copenhagen recently.
Like every
tourist I was keen to see the Little Mermaid and that wish was fulfilled when I
took a boat trip from the colourful harbour area.
And like every tourist I was surprised at how small she was –
and where she was. Somehow I thought she was in the middle of the sea rather
than by the shore – but I suppose that would be too difficult.
The statue of
the Little Mermaid* of course is there because she is the creation of one of
Denmark’s most famous sons, Hans Christian Anderson.
Before Anderson there
were no authors of fairy tales – only collectors of tales from the oral
tradition, passed on from generation to generation, from region to region and
culture to culture.
So says the
Introduction to Best Fairy Tales which I bought while I was in Copenhagen.
(It’s published
by Macmillan in London and I suppose I could have waited and bought it for less
when I got home but I thought it was a lovely edition and a fitting souvenir of my holiday.)
Andersen was
born in rural Denmark in 1805 to a poor family, but his shoemaker father read
to him from the Arabian Nights and encouraged his early interest in theatre.
Later, in a way
that makes a good tale in itself, Andersen was able to travel, visiting
twenty-nine countries and meeting fellow writers and folklorists.
His first volume
of stories included The Princess and the
Pea and The Tinderbox and
astounded Denmark’s literary establishment.
I ‘met’ him in a
very touristy shop devoted to him (how bemused people from long ago would be if they
saw the trinkets commemorating them) but at least there was no charge for
having your photo taken with him.
I saw him again
in the grounds of Rosenborg Castle.
This statue
wasn’t completed and unveiled until after Andersen’s death. Apparently he objected
to earlier versions which had him reading to a group of children, maintaining
that his stories were for adults too.
The leafy graveyard
in which he is buried was about five minutes walk from where I was staying
His grave is
well kept, and on that day pretty with planted pansies, but it occurred to me that it ought to
be burnished with gold and studded in diamonds as grateful thanks from the various film
corporations and from other authors and illustrators who have taken his stories – The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The
Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes, The Snow Queen, to name but a few – and made them their own.
* photo courtesy of Rosemary Gemmell
* photo courtesy of Rosemary Gemmell
Lovely post, Kate. We enjoyed a short visit to Copenhagen a few years ago and I too was eager to see the Little Mermaid. Like you, I was surprised at her size and location! I do have a photo which I can email to you.
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