Espen Ash Lad - Folk Tales From Norway, £15

KENDAL writer Robert Gambles translates into English the collected stories of Peter Christen Asbjornesen and Jorgen Moe who first published their folk tales back in 1852. The product of 10 years' work, the pair were said to have been inspired by success of the Brothers Grimm in Germany and the Tales are now regarded as 'masterpieces' of folk literature.

They tell the tale of Espen Ash Lad, or the tale of a 'little man who wins the princess and half the kingdom when bigger men bite the dust'.

Espen's struggle has to be considered against the the historical context of Norway and the bubbling undercurrent of it striving for independence from Sweden and wider independent recognition as a nation in its own right across Europe which would not materialise until 1905. Mr Gambles point out in his introduction that to 'understand and appreciate these folk tales one should try to imagine what life was like in earlier centuries in the remote valleys of Norway. Families of several generations - grandparents, parents, children, and perhaps great grandchildren - lived on small farmsteads often some distance from their nearest neighbours, surrounded by deep, dark spruce forests and high mountains of moorland. They rarely travelled beyond their own valleys and had to be self-sufficient.

These tales of trolls, fable, folklore and supernatural animals shine a torch far into the distant, dark corners of Norwegian history and myth but also reveal something of a lost innocence and time.

The new book includes 24 original illustrations from Theodor Kittelsen and Erik Werenskiold- bringing to life the tales of ordinary Norwegian. Almost all the images in the book came from one of Norway's oldest and largest photographic agencies and the book is published by Kirkby Stephen's Hayloft Publishing Ltd.

ELLIS BUTCHER