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H.C. Andersen's Copenhagen - Denmark Day 3

Emily Salazar
Jul 31, 2016
2 min read

Today, we visited the amazingly corny museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen. It's right by Tivoli, a lot of shopping (aka tourist traps) and near the water, so the museum's aim seems to be to portray a few facts about Andersen's life and then show some sweet, animatronic versions of his fairy tales.

Perhaps what was most interesting about the museum was a chance to see the fairy tales that the Danish people love. I'd say that the most popular of his tales in the U.S. are "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and the Pea," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and maybe "The Little Matchgirl," thanks to the short that was nominated for an Oscar last year. However, the museum clearly put a focus on "The Flying Trunk," and "The Swineherd," which I'll need to look into!

I also learned that Andersen is equally well-known in Denmark for his travelogues, which are equally amusing. Below is an image of Andersen's original hand-written manuscript for one of the travelogues.

Next, we headed to Denmark's Nationalmuseet (National Museum), for a bit of culture and to get back in touch with the Vikings!

There is a bog near Denmark that was often used to sacrifice ships in thanks to the gods for winning battles from the year 800-1200. The bog kept everything marvelously in tact, so archaeologists were able to piece together a viking ship. I truly did not have an appreciation for how primitive these vessels were until I saw this. This ship would be so low to the ocean's surface! And a single sail! I have no idea how this would have traveled across the Atlantic, which has me truly in awe.

Then, there was a bit of an exhibit on Beowulf! Beowulf (a great warrior of the Geats) came to Denmark to help the Danish King Hrothgar with his beastly Grendel problem. In compensation for destroying Grendel and his mommy, Hrothgar awarded Beowulf with lots of treasures, such as...