Dovrefell troll offers sausage to the white bear, Kittelsen,1915
Actual individually inspected plate has printed cat/sausage caption and TK signature. One Christmas troll bends beside the ordinary white bear mistaken for a cat; exact named episode, not the enchanted East-of-the-Sun bear.
Overview
Every Christmas Eve, trolls force Halvor's household to leave its cottage on the Dovrefell. The people prepare a feast before departing, including rice porridge, fish and sausages. When a traveller arrives with a captured white bear intended for the Danish king, he obtains permission to remain. The bear rests under the stove while the visitor takes a neighbouring room.
The arriving trolls are visibly diverse: some are large, some small, some have long tails, others none, and some have exceptionally long noses. A little troll pokes sausage at the bear and calls it a cat. The bear drives the entire party out. Next Christmas, Halvor tells a returning voice that the cat now has seven larger, fiercer kittens. The trolls stay away thereafter; the supposed kittens are his deterrent claim, not creatures observed by the narrator.
Origins & earliest records
The Cat on the Dovrefell is a named Norwegian tale in Asbjørnsen and Moe's collection, translated by Dasent in Popular Tales from the Norse, first published in 1859. The accessible electronic version includes a later-edition notice. This profile identifies the Christmas visitors by their episode, without inventing a native collective name or an oral starting date.
Records & interpretation
The feast scene gives unusually explicit variation in troll size, tails and noses. The bear is an ordinary animal within the story, while the seven kittens exist only in Halvor's warning. This distinction matters: the text supports a party of folkloric visitors and a successful deception, not a zoological report of monstrous cats.
In the literature
“some had long tails, and some had no tails at all”
Tale XII, The Cat on the Dovrefell; Description of the Trolls entering Halvor’s house · George Webbe Dasent
The narrator distinguishes the varied bodies of the Trolls at the Christmas feast.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Cat on the Dovrefell (Popular Tales from the Norse)
Inspected named tale XII. Electronic witness includes a notice to the second edition; its exact print date is unresolved.
- 02
Popular Tales from the Norse — The Cat on the Dovrefell
Dasent historical English translation of Asbjørnsen and Moe. Hosted PG8933 text includes a Second Edition notice but does not establish the exact selected print edition date or printed pagination. The 1859 first English publication is context, not an asserted date for this selected witness. Exact observed HTML tale anchors and narrative episodes provide locators.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Popular Tales from the Norse — The Cat on the Dovrefell
Dasent historical English translation of Asbjørnsen and Moe. Hosted PG8933 text includes a Second Edition notice but does not establish the exact selected print edition date or printed pagination. The 1859 first English publication is context, not an asserted date for this selected witness. Exact observed HTML tale anchors and narrative episodes provide locators.
- Halvor normally abandons his house to Christmas Trolls. A traveller shelters a white bear under the stove; a Troll mistakes it for a cat, offers it sausage and the bear drives the intruders out.
Tale XII, The Cat on the Dovrefell; Christmas Eve bear encounter
- Halvor tells a returning Troll that the big cat now has seven still larger kittens. The frightened Troll promises never to return and the narrator says the promise was kept.
Tale XII, The Cat on the Dovrefell; Following Christmas; final woodland conversation
Complete named tale read. No invented print pages, exact selected edition date, earliest attestation or general rule for all members of a creature class is inferred.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textPopular Tales from the Norse — The Cat on the Dovrefell (tale XII)Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationDovrefell troll offers sausage to the white bear, Kittelsen,1915
Actual individually inspected plate has printed cat/sausage caption and TK signature. One Christmas troll bends beside the ordinary white bear mistaken for a cat; exact named episode, not the enchanted East-of-the-Sun bear.
