The Tinderbox

"The Tinderbox" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It was originally published in Copenhagen, Denmark in May 1835 in the first booklet of Fairy Tales Told for Children. The three other stories in the booklet were "Big Claus and Little Claus", "The Princess and the Pea", and "Little Ida's Flowers". The critics did not like these stories. They thought the stories immoral. "The Tinderbox" is Andersen's retelling of "The Spirit in the Candle", a traditional Danish story he knew as a child. It is also similar to "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", another Andersen childhood favorite. The tale has been adapted to various media including the first Danish animated movie.

"The Tinderbox"
Illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen, Andersen's first and favorite illustrator
Author	Hans Christian Andersen
Translator	Charles Boner
Country	Denmark
Language	Danish
Characters	Soldier Old Witch The Princess The Queen The King Three Dogs
Genre(s)	Literary fairy tale
Published in	Fairy Tales Told for Children (first booklet)
Publication type	Fairy tale collection
Publisher	C. A. Reitzel
Media type	Print
Publication date	May 1835
Published in English	1846 in A Danish Story-Book
Notable adaptations	First Danish animated movie
Followed by	Big Claus and Little Claus

Story

A soldier steals a magic tinderbox from an old witch. The tinderbox can summon three magic dogs that will do what the soldier wants them to do. He orders one dog to bring him a sleeping princess from her parents' castle. When the king and queen learn where their daughter is, the soldier is arrested and sentenced to death. At the last moment, he summons the dogs. They save his life and he marries the princess.

Other websites

• "Fyrtøiet" Archived 2005-12-18 at the Wayback Machine. Original Danish text
• "The Tinder Box". English translation by Jean Hersholt

References

• Opie, Iona and Peter. 1974. The Classic Fairy Tales. Oxford University Press.