Andrew Lang’s Translation of the Fairy Tale ‘Why the Sea Is Salt’

In this Norwegian fairy tale, a poor man finds a hand-mill that does much more than grind grain.

“Northeaster,” 1895, by Winslow Homer. The sea has many mysteries, including why it has so much salt. This is explained in the fairy tale "Why the Sea Is Salt." Public Domain

How did the sea become salty? Andrew Lang answers this question with his translation of Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe’s “Why the Sea Is Salt,“ in ”The Blue Fairy Book.” Through this tale, Lang shows not only how the sea becomes salty but also how wisdom proves far more profitable than greed.

One Christmas Eve, a poor man asks his rich brother for food. Embittered against his brother’s continual begging, the rich brother hands the poor brother a ham and says: “If you will do what I ask you, you shall have a whole ham. ... You must go straight to Dead Man’s Hall.”

With the ham in hand, the poor brother finds Dead Man’s Hall. Before he enters, he encounters an old man chopping Yule logs outside. After hearing the poor brother’s destination, the old man advises him that he shouldn’t part with his ham to anyone in Dead Man’s Hall, until they give him the hand-mill behind the door.

The poor brother obeys the old man’s advice and soon returns with the hand-mill. The hand-mill works with simple commands. The old man then shows the poor brother how to stop the hand-mill and sends him on his way with this newly earned treasure.

Milling About

Once home, the poor brother asks the hand-mill to “grind light, then a table-cloth, and then meat, and beer, and everything else that [is] good for a Christmas Eve’s supper.” The mill produces everything. Once it has done all he asks, the poor brother uses the old man’s instructions to stop it.

On the third day of Christmas, the poor brother invites friends to enjoy the meal that the hand-mill produced. His rich brother arrives, too, and wonders at such abundance of food and light.

The rich brother asks how his poor brother could have come upon such abundance. At first, the poor brother doesn’t reveal his secret. But later in the evening, the poor brother boasts about the hand-mill and even demonstrates how the mill will produce anything one asks of it.

Jealousy and Greed

Jealous and greedy for what his poor brother has, the rich brother persuades him to sell the hand-mill. So the poor brother sells it for $300, with the stipulation that he himself will keep the hand-mill until after haymaking finishes.

When he finally acquires the hand-mill, the rich brother requests it to make herrings and milk pottage. Unfortunately, because the poor brother never taught him how to stop the hand-mill, the rich brother finds himself and his house flooded with herrings and milk pottage.

He rushes to his poor brother and begs him to take the mill back, but the poor brother says that he won’t take it back until he receives another $300. The desperate brother pays this amount, and thus the poor brother wins back the mill and more money.

After a while, the fame of the poor brother and his hand-mill spreads. One day, a sailor buys it from him, hurries onto his ship, and asks it to make salt. Unfortunately, he was in too much of a greedy hurry to ask how to stop the hand-mill.

Through this tale, children can learn not only the source of the sea’s salt but also that wisdom wins over greed. The poor brother gains more than his rich brother by tact and wisdom, as well as listening to the advice of his elders.

When given the choice, children can choose wisdom over greed, for wisdom sees many options, whereas greed is bound to one frenzied course.

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