The following volume of Swedish fairy-tales represents a careful
choice, after the best original sources, of those examples of their
kind which not only appeared most colorful and entertaining, but also
most racially Swedish in their flavor. For the fairy-tales of each of
the three Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, have a
distinct local color of their own. The wealth of material available
has made it possible to give due representation to most types of
fairy-tales, from the stories of older origin, the tales of giant,
troll, and werewolf, to such delightful tales as "Lasse, My Thrall",
and "The Princess and the Glass Mountain," colored with the rich and
ornate stylistic garb of medieval chivalric poesy. There has been no
attempt to "rewrite" these charming folk-and fairy-tales in the
translation. They have been faithfully narrated in the simple, naive
manner which their traditional rendering demands. And this is one
reason, perhaps, why they should appeal to young American readers--for
young America by instinct takes kindly to that which is straightforward
and sincere, in the realm of fairy-tale as in life itself.