East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Because who would be afraid to ride a bear?

Hello, reader! This week's story comes to us from Norway. East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a story about a man who's a real bear, and the woman who loves him. Follow the link above to read the story before we start dissecting it.

I like the heroine of this story right off the bat. Her father is essentially trying to sell her into marriage to a bear and she says no. This girl knows her own mind. Of course, her family is starving, so she eventually decides that she will marry the bear after all and off they go. In several places throughout the story, the heroine is asked if she is afraid, and she always truthfully replies, "No." You have to admire that kind of courage. This woman isn't afraid to do anything to get her love back. Either that, or she just doesn't realize how many things could go wrong in her adventure.

I also want to look at the bear's stepmother for a moment. What kind of stepmother bewitches her stepson to be a bear during the day and a man at night? I am also confused about the princess in this story. The princess and the stepmother live in the same castle. Is the princess from a previous marriage of the stepmother's? That would be pretty messed up to try to make half-siblings get married. Or, maybe the princess is from somewhere else and the stepmother is so determined to marry the girl to her stepson that she invited the princess to live with her. Either way, it's strange. We also never hear about the prince's father, which makes me wonder about his stepmother. And any woman this stepmother wants her stepson to marry.

But I digress. We know this stepmother has quite a bit of magic at her disposal, yet she never interferes with the heroine's journey to win back her man. The heroine is doing quite a bit of running around and you would think there would be plenty of opportunity for the stepmother to foul up the heroine's quest. Maybe the stepmother is too focused on what's happening in her own castle, or she doesn't think the heroine will be able to get to the castle East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Either way, she seriously underestimates the heroine and pays the price for it. By exploding. Maybe her heart just failed her, but the story seems to paint a picture of troll pieces all over the castle. No wonder the reunited couple left it behind.

As far as the moral of this story, I would say it's either not to drip burning wax on the person you love, or to understand that you either have to put your patient pants on or undergo a dangerous and long quest if you want to be happily married to a bear.

What about you? What sort of moral would you give this story? Comment below!

Is there a story you want to see me take apart? Put it in the comments, and I'll write a post about it.