poets and themes for further development." His collection did indeed have a profound influence on the Danish Golden Age, providing inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales, Steen Steensen Blicher's short stories, Johan Ludvig Heiberg's plays and Christian Winther's poetry. Indeed, it laid the foundations for Denmark's Modern Breakthrough and the regional literature movement that dominated elite literary circles later in the 19th century. Numerous Danish folktales contain mythical figures such as trolls, elves, goblins, and wights as well as figures from Norse mythology. The nisse is a particularly well-known legendary figure in Danish folklore, apparently dating back to pre-Christian times when it was believed there were household gods. Other Scandinavian countries also have similar figures and there are similarities to the English brownies and hobs. Just Mathias Thiele collected legends about the nisse in his Danske Folkesagn (Danish Folktales) (1819–1823), which encouraged artists such as Johan Thomas Lundbye to depict the julenisse (Christmas nisse) later in the 19th century. Dressed in grey with a pointed red cap, he was no taller than a 10-year-old boy. Traditionally each farm had its own nisse living on the loft or in a stable. The creatures would be helpful if treated properly, for instance by giving them a bowl of porridge with a clump of butter at night, but, failing such treatment, they could also be troublesome. References Literature Bay, Jens Christian, tr. Danish Fairy Tales: A Collection of Popular Stories and Fairy Tales from the Danish of Svend Grundtvig, E. T. Kristensen, Ingvor Bondesen, and L. Budde. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1899. Grundtvig, Sven, coll. Danish Fairy Tales. Tr. Jesse Grant Cramer. Boston: The Four Seas Company, 1912. Koudal, Jens Henrik. 1997. The impact of the "Stadsmusikant" on Folk music in Doris Stockmann & Jens Henrik Koudal (eds). 1997. Historical studies on folk and traditional music: ICTM Study Group on Historical Sources of Folk Music, conference report, Copenhagen, 24–28 April 1995. Museum Tusculanum Press. Lunding, Astrid. "The System of Tales in the Folklore Collection of Copenhagen". In: Folklore Fellows Communications (FFC) nº 2. 1910. Tangherlini, Timothy R. 2013. Danish Folktales, Legends, and Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. . Danske Folkeeventyr, samlede. (Gesammelte dänische Volksmärchen). Kjobehavn: 1823. External links Danish Folklore Nexus Danish Folk Tales (en) Danish culture Social history of Denmark