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An annotated collection of Icelandic folk- and fairy tales

Andlit á glugga (e. Face at the window); authors Romina Werth and Jón Karl Helgason
School of Humanities, University of Iceland

Andlit á glugga (e. Face at the window) is an annotated collection of Icelandic folk- and fairy tales with modern spelling, containing around sixty stories as well as a thorough introduction. The work is mainly intended as a course book for students of the Icelandic language and is currently taught in Icelandic as a second language at BA level at the University of Iceland.

By reading folktales, students will increase their cultural literacy and become acquainted with the Icelandic rural community of past centuries as well as the cultural-historical context of the stories. Furthermore, many Icelandic artists have drawn on the folktales for their own creations and, therefore, a close reading of these intriguing tales provide an opportunity to view Icelandic works of art from a new and exciting perspective. Because of the vocabulary of folktales can prove difficult for foreign students, this edition offers elaborate annotations accompanying the texts.

The collection was compiled and introduced by Romina Werth, doctoral student at the Faculty of Icelandic and Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland and Jón Karl Helgason, professor and at the same faculty. The illustrations are by Icelandic artist Halldór Baldursson.