The Ash Lad Who Went to the King’s Palace: A Norwegian Folktale
In a narrow valley where pine forests climbed the hillsides and the wind carried the smell of woodsmoke year-round, there lived a poor farmer with his three sons. The house was small, its walls darkened by age and soot, and its hearth burned almost constantly, for the winters were long and unforgiving. The two elder sons were strong-backed and loud-voiced.
