Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by
Encyclopedia
When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town (1955) (Norwegian
: Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by) is a Norwegian
children's book written and illustrated by Thorbjørn Egner
, which tells the story of Kardemomme by (Cardamom Town). It is considered as one of the most important Norwegian children's books. The book includes many songs which are connected to the story. The story is well fit for playing as a theatre act with musical elements.
town of Kardemomme and the people there, as well as the only characters which stir up serious trouble. They are the three robbers, Casper, Jasper and Jonathan who live outside the town and regularly enter to steal the things they need. In the end the robbers are arrested, but good treatment in the jail by the kindly constable Bastian reforms them, and in the final chapter they become the heroes of the day when they extinguish a fire in the tower of the town. At the end Casper becomes the town's fireman
, Jasper becomes the town's circus
manager and Jonathan becomes the town's baker
.
:
Some of the songs from the book/play were issued on the EP
album Kardemommeviser in 1955. The 1975 album Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by (with Egner playing the Jonathan character) was awarded the Spellemann award
.
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
: Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by) is a Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
children's book written and illustrated by Thorbjørn Egner
Thorbjørn Egner
Thorbjørn Egner was a Norwegian playwright, songwriter and illustrator known for his books, plays and musicals for children.-Career:...
, which tells the story of Kardemomme by (Cardamom Town). It is considered as one of the most important Norwegian children's books. The book includes many songs which are connected to the story. The story is well fit for playing as a theatre act with musical elements.
Plot summary
The book is about the peacefulUtopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
town of Kardemomme and the people there, as well as the only characters which stir up serious trouble. They are the three robbers, Casper, Jasper and Jonathan who live outside the town and regularly enter to steal the things they need. In the end the robbers are arrested, but good treatment in the jail by the kindly constable Bastian reforms them, and in the final chapter they become the heroes of the day when they extinguish a fire in the tower of the town. At the end Casper becomes the town's fireman
Fireman
Fireman may refer to::* Firefighter, person who extinguishes fires and rescues people from harms way.* Fire Safety Officer, a senior ranking firefighter or Fire Safety Inspector in the UK...
, Jasper becomes the town's circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
manager and Jonathan becomes the town's baker
Baker
A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
.
Main characters
- The Robbers (Casper, Jasper and Jonathan) (Kasper, Jesper og Jonatan) - loud, prone to quarrelling with each other, and live very cluttered. They live in a strange house, with a (kind) lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
to protect them. - ConstableConstableA constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
Bastian (Politimester Bastian) - the cheerful policeman who is concerned in making sure that everyone is happy. - Aunt Sophie (Tante Sofie) - a middle aged woman who is the auntAuntAn aunt is a person who is the sister or sister-in-law of a parent. A man with an equivalent relationship is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece....
of Kamomilla. Sophie is extremely strict, and the only song she sings is "Aunt Sophies angry song", where she expresses dismay over the horrid state of affairs in the town, and disdain for a number of the people. Regarding Bastian, she sings (A policeman really ought to be a stern and angry man, who goes around arresting people as often as he can). However, Sophie is also a sympathetic character, well ordered and capable of giving some sympathy to those who deserve it. - Tobias - he is the old wise man in the tower with a long beardBeardA beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...
. His job is to give the town its weather forecast from the balcony of the tower in which he lives.
Minor characters
- Kamomilla - Aunt Sophie's young niece. She likes to play the pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. - Tommy - The young son of the town orchestra's HornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
player. - Enoksson the Tram driver - runs the city's tramTramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
. He also plays in the city orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. - Simonsson the barber - the town's barberBarberA barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
. He also plays the clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
in the city orchestra. - The butcherButcherA butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, the bakerBakerA baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
and the merchantMerchantA merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
- after they eventually get tired the robbers' robbings, they decide to bust the robbers once and for all.
Theme park
The setting of Kardemomme by was made into part of a theme park in Kristiansand zoo in 1991. Thorbjørn Egner lived to see the theme park under construction, but not to see it completed.Laws
Law of Cardamon is the only law in Cardemom Town. The law is simple and liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
:
- You should not bother others,
- you should be nice and kind,
- otherwise you can do as you please.
Songs
- Politimester Bastians vise (Constable Bastian's song)
- Visen om været (Song about the weatherWeatherWeather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
) - Trikken i Kardemomme (The tramTramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
in Cardemon Town) - Røvervise (The robbers' song)
- Lille Kamomilla spiller (Little Kamomilla playing)
- Kardemommesangen (The Cardamom song)
- Den talende kamel (The talking camelCamelA camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
) - Tante Sofies sinte vise (Aunt Sophie's angry song)
- Røverfangevise (The capturing of the robbers song)
- Røvernes letevise (The robbers' exploration song)
- Røvernes vise om tante Sofie (The robbers song about Aunt Sophie)
- Sofies sinte vise i røverhuset (Sophie's angry song in the robbers house)
- Røvernes vaskevise (The robbers cleaning song)
- Glade røvere (The happy robbers)
- Hestedans (The horseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
dance) - Papegøyen fra Amerika (The parrotParrotParrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
from America) - Hurrasang for Tobias (Hooray song for Tobias)
- Fru Bastians vise (Mrs. Bastian's song)
- Røvernes vaskevise i fengslet (The robbers' cleaning song in prison)
- Barbermestervise (The barber song)
- Hurrasang for røverne (Hooray song for the robbers)
Some of the songs from the book/play were issued on the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
album Kardemommeviser in 1955. The 1975 album Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by (with Egner playing the Jonathan character) was awarded the Spellemann award
Spellemannprisen
Spellemannprisen is an award presented to Norwegian musicians for their contributions.-Operation:The award was established on the initiative of International Federation of the Phonographic Industry , an organization that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide...
.
Publication history
- First introduced in radio programs for children (Barnetimen for de minste) in 1955
- 1955, Norway, ? (ISBN NA), pub date ? ? 1955, hardback (first edition)
- 1956, play version
- 1976, USA, Anchorage Press (ISBN 0876021720), pub date ? December 1976, paperback (first US English ed.) (as People and Robbers of Cardemon Town - L. Berg & E. Ramsden translators)
- 1993, Norway, J W Cappelens Forlag AS (ISBN 978-8202139773), pub date ? ? 1993, paperback (as When the Robbers came to Cardamom Town - Anthony Barnett translator)
External links
- IMDB entry for the movie
- Theme park site (in Norwegian)