Andersen's Fairy Tales Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

There's like a whale's worth of shout-outs in Andersen's tales. So, we've got some listed below, but if you want a neat supplement to this section, check out the Hans Christian Andersen Center's list of motifs in Andersen's tales, which contains links to each of the tales that contains a given motif (such as angels, communion, or priest).

Literary and Philosophical References

Homer, The Iliad (A Rose from Homer's Grave.4, 9; The Muse of the Twentieth Century.28)
Homer (The Thorny Path.6)
The Odyssey (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.28)
Achilles and Hector (The Shadow.31)
Shakespeare (The Bird Phoenix.5, The Millennium.5, The Muse of the Twentieth Century.17)
Goethe, Faust (A Happy Disposition.15)
Goethe (The Millennium.11)
Molière (The Millennium.6, The Muse of the Twentieth Century.17)
Aristophanes, The Clouds (The Thorny Path.4)
Aristophanes (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.17)
Voltaire, (The Thorny Path.18)
Tristan and Isolde (The Old Pepperman's Nightcap.34)
Don Quixote (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.6)
The Eddas (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.13)
The Thousand and One Nights (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.13)
The Song of Hiawatha (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.22)
Byron, Prisoner of Chillon (The Ice Maiden.247)

Historical References

King Hans (The Magic Galoshes)
Michelangelo (The Bronze Pig.7, 22, 36; Psyche.2)
Galileo (The Bronze Pig.21, The Thorny Path.17)
Dante (The Bronze Pig.22)
Machiavelli (The Bronze Pig.22)
Holger the Dane (Holger the Dane.3-6, The Philosopher's Stone.1, "The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town,"
Said the Bog Witch.7)
The Congress of Vienna (The Old Street Lamp.22, 34)
The Lombards and the Normans (The Swans' Nest.2-4)
Tycho Brahe (The Swans' Nest.8, The Thorny Path.20, The Muse of the Twentieth Century.22, Godfather's Picture Book.83)
Thespis (Everything In Its Right Place.29)
Vikings (The Swans' Nest.9; The Millennium.3; The Bog King's Daughter.2, 3, 34; The Two Brothers.1; The Songbird of the People.9; Godfather's Picture Book.24; The Days of the Week.2)
Charlemagne (The Millennium.6)
Napoleon (The Millennium.6, The Puppeteer.4, The Ice Maiden.64, The Wood Nymph.9)
Columbus (The Millennium.7, The Thorny Path.15)
Cortes (The Millennium.7)
Luther (The Millennium.11, The Puppeteer.4, Godfather's Picture Book.61)
Oersted (The Millennium.11, The Two Brothers.12, Godfather's Picture Book.139, Great-Grandfather.23)
Linnaeus (The Millennium.11)
Socrates (The Thorny Path.4)
Joan of Arc (The Thorny Path.18, The Wood Nymph.9)
Robert Fulton (The Thorny Path.21)
Beethoven (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.14)
Mozart (The Muse of the Twentieth Century.14)
Raphael (the painter, not the ninja turtle) (The Ice Maiden.241; Psyche.2, 4)
Louis XI (Moving Day.12)
Socrates (The Road.43)
The Hanseatic League (Godfather's Picture Book.44)
Charlotte Corday (The Wood Nymph.9)
The Paris World's Fair of 1867 (The Wood Nymph)
Newton (Luck Can be Found in a Stick.2)

Pop Culture References

The Frère Jacques song (Inchelina.28)
Humpty-Dumpty (The Pine Tree.37, 41, 63)

Religious/Mythological References

God (most tales)
Cupid (The Naughty Boy.9)
The Dalai Lama (The Magic Galoshes.109)
Lamias (The Wild Swans.70)
The Garden of Eden (The Garden of Eden, The Bird Phoenix.1, The Most Incredible.6)
Adam and Eve (The Garden of Eden.3, 71; The Bird Phoenix.2; The Watchman of the Tower.7; The Most Incredible.6; The Cripple.19)
John the Baptist (The Bronze Pig.12, 47)
The Virgin Mary (The Bronze Pig.12, 47, 80)
Jesus Christ (The Bronze Pig.12, 14, 47; The Snow Queen.20; The World's Most Beautiful Rose.14; On the Last Day.25; She Was No Good.24; The Servant.5; The Old Oak Tree's Last Dream.35; The Bog King's Daughter.79, 136; A Story from the Dunes.12; Psyche.58)
Christmas (The Pine Tree.15, 20, 74; Holger the Dane.3; The Little Match Girl.7; The Pixy and the Grocer.1, 17; The Old Oak Tree's Last Dream.16, 33; The Ice Maiden.220; The Songbird of the People.10; Moving Day.3; The Gardener and His Master.45; The Story Old Johanna Told.15; The Cripple.2-4)
The Devil (The Snow Queen.2-6; Everything In Its Right Place.11; The Philosopher's Stone.19, 31, 74; The Girl Who Stepped on Bread.18; The Watchman of the Tower.23; The Story Old Johanna Told.38)
Confirmation (The Red Shoes.7-11, The Janitor's Son.22)
Communion (The Red Shoes.13, She Was No Good.36, A Story from the Dunes.147)
The Lord's Prayer (The Red Shoes.18, The Story Old Johanna Told.111)
The Bible (The Red Shoes.41, Everything In Its Right Place.11, A Leaf from Heaven.10-12, The Uttermost Parts of the Sea.4, The Servant.19-22, The Philosopher's Stone.9, Anne Lisbeth.60, What the Whole Family Said.9)
Odin (The Shadow.31; The Bird Phoenix.5; The Bog King's Daughter.23, 35, 67, 79)
Thor (The Shadow.31; The Bog King's Daughter.23, 67, 79; The Days of the Week.8)
Moses (On the Last Day.23; The Bog King's Daughter.1; The Muse of the Twentieth Century.16; The Most Incredible.5, 14)
Mohammed (On the Last Day.21, The Bog King's Daughter.41)
Sodom and Gomorrah (Everything In Its Right Place.7)
Mount Olympus (The Millennium.9)
Jonah and the whale (Five Peas from the Same Pod.24)
The story of Joseph (A Leaf from Heaven.10)
Psyche (The Last Pearl.17; Psyche.8, 9, 74)
The Old Testament (The Servant.10, The Muse of the Twentieth Century.28)
King Solomon (The Philosopher's Stone.4, 9)
Freya (The Bog King's Daughter.23, The Days of the Week.9)
Balder (The Bog King's Daughter.81, 116, 135)
Loke/Loki (The Bog King's Daughter.107, A Story from the Dunes.70)
Ragnarok (The Bog King's Daughter.134, The Muse of the Twentieth Century.28)
Noah's Ark (What the Wind Told About Valdemar Daae and His Daughters.16)
Easter (What the Wind Told About Valdemar Daae and His Daughters.29, A Question of Imagination.1)
Judgment Day (Anne Lisbeth.42, A Story from the Dunes.110, "The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town," Said the Bog Witch.72)
Pygmalion and Galatea ("Lovely".43, 60)
Jacob and Esau (The Two Brothers.5)
The Koran (The Dung Beetle.49)
Apollo (Psyche.43)
Jupiter (Psyche.43, The Days of the Week.8)
Orpheus (The Wood Nymph.67)
Helen of Troy (The Wood Nymph.67)
Mercury (The Days of the Week.6)

Folklore References

Elves (The Traveling Companion.23, The Rose Elf, The Hill of the Elves, How to Cook Soup Upon a Sausage Pin.11, "The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town," Said the Bog Witch.40)
Trolls (The Traveling Companion, The Hill of the Elves)
Mermaids (The Little Mermaid)
The Sandman (The Sandman)
Dryads (Mother Elderberry.17, How to Cook Soup Upon a Sausage Pin.36, The Wood Nymph)
Will-o'-the-wisps (The Hill of the Elves)
Frau Holle (The Old Pepperman's Nightcap.27-29)
William Tell (The Ice Maiden.90, "The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town," Said the Bog Witch.7, The Comet.16)
Pixies (The Pixy and the Grocer, The Pixy and the Gardener's Wife, Moving Day.5)
The Flying Dutchman (The Windmill.2)
Ossian (The Songbird of the People.15)
Aesop (The Road.43)