Jørgen Moe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (1813-1882) was a Norwegian bishop and author who is best known for his work in collecting and publishing Norwegian fairy tales as one of the name-pair "Asbjørnsen & Moe".

Moe was, through his collaboration with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, responsible for collecting and editing Norwegian folk tales, Norske Folkeeventyr. To Norwegians, the names "Asbjørnsen and Moe" have become synonymous with traditional folk tales, the way the name brothers Grimm is associated with German tales.

[edit] Biography

Born at the farm of Mo, at Hole in Ringerike, he met Asbjørnsen while the two were preparing for exams and soon found they had a shared interest in folklore.

From 1841 Moe travelled almost every summer through the southern parts of Norway, collecting traditions in the mountains. In 1845 he was appointed professor of theology in the Military School of Norway.

Moe had, however, long intended to take holy orders, and in 1853 he did so, becoming for ten years a resident chaplain in Sigdal, Krødsherad, northwest of Christiania (present days Oslo). His first parish was where he found inspiration for many of his most famous poems, like "den gamle Mester" (the old Master) and "Sæterjentens Søndag" (a Sunday at the Mountain Pastures). In 1863 he moved to Drammen, and became parish priest of Bragernes, then in 1870 to Vestre Aker close to Christiania. In 1875 he became bishop in the diocese of Agder, based in Kristiansand. He was a very much beloved bishop, and his teaching had a great impact on his contemporaries.

In January 1882 he resigned his diocese on account of failing Health, and died on the following 27th of March.

Moe has a special claim on critical attention in regard to his lyrical poems, of which a small collection appeared in 1850. Moe felt strongly that writing should be "objective," in the sense that it removed the ego from the narrative. Still, he strove to build and maintain a literary aesthetic in his work. He wrote little original verse, but in his slender volume are to be found many pieces of exquisite delicacy and freshness. Moe also published a delightful collection of prose stories for children, In the Well and the Churn (I Bronde og i Kjoernet), 1851; and A Little Christmas Present (En liden Julegave), 1860. Asbjornsen and Moe had the advantage of an admirable style in narrative prose. It was usual that the vigour came from Asbjornsen and the charm from Moe, but it seems that from the long habit of writing in unison they had come to adopt almost precisely identical modes of literary expression.

His son, Moltke, continued his father's work in folklore and fairy tales and became the first professor in the subject at the Christiania University.

[edit] Impact on Norwegian culture

Moe's impact on Norwegian culture was, together with Asbjørnsen, enormous. Not only did they collect and secure for the future, parts of the wealth of Norwegian fairy tales and edit them for common readers, but in doing this, they also contributed to the development of the Norwegian language. Even if other countries have a rich folk literature, Norwegians will normally claim that theirs, through the work of Asbjørnsen and Moe, is one of the most original and rich. Their work constitutes a very important part of Norwegian identity, and the Askeladden character (the Ash boy), whose creativity and innovativity always wins him the Princess and half the Kingdom, is seen as something typically Norwegian. Some of his works of poetry are still cherished, not least because of the tunes set to them. His achievements in the Church is now mostly forgotten, except locally.