Our last day in Denmark sees us driving out to Odense to visit the birthplace and childhood home of perhaps Denmark’s historically most famous person. Anyone of my vintage will have grown up knowing HC Anderson’s works. His books have fallen off the radar with little kids today but he is very much part of even their childhoods in films such as “Frozen” and “Little mermaid” which have been lifted directly from his writings.
Born into poverty in 1805 he had a rough upbringing. His father died young and his mother an illiterate, alcoholic washerwoman remarried 2 years later. She pushed him to become a tailor. Nonetheless he persevered with school where he endured physical and verbal abuse especially from the headmaster with whom he was forced to board. Anderson describes those years as “the darkest and most bitter of his life”.
He ultimately moved to Copenhagen and started writing children’s fairytales. He ultimately wrote 156 fairy tales and stories, many modelled on people around him, some with a dark edge to them. It is thought that the “Ugly duckling” story was inspired by his life experiences.
