Unexpected avenues of exploration at Hans Christian Andersen Special Interest Day

On Wednesday, nearly fifty of our members and guests enjoyed a fascinating Special Interest Day presented by Karin Fernald. We were very fortunate to have found a presenter with an unrivalled knowledge of her subject and the ability to share this with others in such an entertaining, engaging and inventive fashion. Her early training in drama came into its own in her eloquence and presentational style.

Many of us were familiar with the fairy tales of Andersen but few knew of his biography and parallel artistic talents. He was born in 1805 and grew up in a remote area of Denmark into a poor family where, as soon as they were old enough, all the members were required to do hard manual work in order to supplement the family’s meagre income. His father was a cobbler and plied his trade in their small dwelling. However, he saw Hans had artistic talents and helped him to build a small puppet theatre in which they manipulated the figures to tell tales from Shakespeare and Danish folklore, embellished by the young man’s imagination. However, Hans’ father died when he was 11 and Hans became apprenticed to the local tobacco factory, a job that he could not abide. He was desperate to get to Copenhagen and to be part of the artistic scene there. His ambition was eventually realised by means of a state funded grant, but this was at a time when the city was ravaged by war and plague. However, the state theatre remained a jewel in its crown and Hans was able to use his musical talents to gain small, walk on, singing and dancing parts. He was then able to get a grant to attend a grammar school and there his artistic talent flowered. He wrote stories and poems and, much like Charles Dickens he gave public readings. He was spotted and ‘adopted’ by a wealthy Danish family and he was on his way!

Then began the next phase of his life and his passion for travel. He travelled extensively in Europe, gathering information from the varied folk traditions that he found on his way. His influences ranged from Aesop to the Tales of the Arabian Nights and thence to La Fontaine and the brothers Grimm. He joined a society of Danish Artists in Rome and began writing in earnest at a time when the writing of Fairy tales was A La Mode.  However, he never considered himself to be a children’s author and always pointed to the deeper meanings of his tales. His fame spread and he attracted some of the most famous illustrators of the day to contribute to his published works. One of the most surprising was Heath Robinson! We also saw his influence extending to more familiar illustrators such as Arthur Rackham.

Alongside his literary talents he made the most amazing and intricate paper cuts and many hundreds of these survive today in Danish collections. They contained whimsical figures from folklore and his own writings.

In his personal life he never married but had an unrequited love for Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale and was godfather to many children of his friends. He had a lifelong interest in science and discovery and always sought to draw out the parallels between the two courses of study.

It was amazing to learn how an impoverished young man, writing in a minority language, became famous the world over. Equally who would have thought that a Special Interest Day  on a ‘children’s fairy tale ‘ writer could have opened up so many avenues of exploration into the world of the 19th century ; the Napoloeonic Wars, the fluidity of the borders of the Scandinavian countries, travel, Drama, visual arts and music . A very special event and our thanks go to Annabel our SID organiser.