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The Tinderbox Painting. Author Elena Ringo.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts About The Tinderbox (Fyrtojet)

The Tinderbox is a fairy tale created by Hans Christian Andersen. It is about a soldier who summons three powerful dogs for his bidding purposes from a magic tinderbox.

The soldier was sentenced to Death after one dog transported a sleeping princess to his room. But he was able to summon the dogs to save his life.

Andersen learned these tales in his childhood. These tales were his first of the first fairy tales story In 1946, 鈥淭he Tinderbox鈥� became the source material for the first Denmark animated film. In 2007 it became a  ballet with costumes and scenery which was designed by Queen Margrethe II.

Here are some of the top 10 Fascinating facts about Tinderbox

1. The Story Start with a Poor Soldier Returning Home

Tinder Box.

The Tinderbox story starts with a poor soldier going back home from war. The soldier meets a witch along the way and asks him to climb a hollow tree to retrieve the magic tinderbox. In the process of retrieving the Tinderbox, he was given a chance to take anything he found at the chambers and return the tinderbox.

 At the hollow tree, the soldier found three chambers, they were filled with precious coins but guarded by dogs.  The soldier collects the money, took the tinderbox, and he returned to the witch. When the witch demanded the tinderbox without any given explanation reason, the soldier loped off her head with his sword.

2. It was Published in 1835

The Tinderbox鈥� is one of Andersen鈥檚 first fairy tales. Was published in May 1835 in an unbound 61-page booklet in  Copenhagen, Denmark by C. A.

 The booklet also had other Children’s stories such as 鈥淟ittle Claus and Big Claus鈥�, 鈥淭he Princess and the Pea鈥�, and 鈥淟ittle Ida鈥檚 Flowers鈥�. In 2009 the cost of the booklet was 25 Dkr, Or approximately US$5. Andersen was paid  30 rixdollars which was US$450 in 2009 for the manuscript. It was republished 1842 in a  second edition in 1842. In 1845 it was republished for a  third time.

3. Tinderbox was Reprinted in 1849

In December 1849, The Tinderbox was reprinted in the Fairy Tales. It was a  five-volume Collection of Andersen鈥檚 fairy tales published.  It had 125 drawings by Vilhelm Pedersen who was  Andersen鈥檚 favorite illustrator. In 1862 it was published again in December.

In 1863 in remarks of the second volume of Fairy Tales and Stores, he wrote,  鈥�The style should be such that one hears the narrator. Therefore, the language had to be similar to the spoken word; the stories are for children, but adults too should be able to listen in. The first three fairy tales are ones I heard during childhood, in the spinning room and during the harvesting of the hops; 鈥淟ittle Ida鈥檚 Flowers鈥� on the other hand, came into being one day while visiting the poet Thiele, when I was telling his daughter Ida about the flowers at the botanical gardens; I kept and adapted a few of the child鈥檚 remarks when I later wrote the fairy-tale down.鈥�

4. The Tinderbox was First Criticized in 1836

In 1836, when  Andersen鈥檚 tales got their first reviews,  appeared unenthusiastic. It was criticized for its informal and chatty style of the tales and also lack of morals.

 Carsten Hauch who was the main critic of his work objected to the indifferent moral of 鈥淭he Tinderbox鈥�. His work was not mentioned by a literary journal at all, while others advised him to stop wasting time writing fairy tales. After the discouragements, he returned to novel writing which he believed was his true calling.

5. Tinderbox was First Translated into English by Charles Boner

The Tinderbox was translated into English by Charles Boner. Boner worked with a German translation instead of a Danish original.

 Due to this, he missed the joking style of 鈥淭he Tinderbox鈥�. For example the part of the king鈥檚, 鈥淲e will not 鈥� 鈥�,  to 鈥淲e are not graciously pleased.鈥� His translation work was Published as  鈥淭he Tinder Box鈥� in one of the  Danish Story-Book in 1846.

6. The Tinderbox is Personalized with Humor

“The Tinder Box”. Author Anne Anderson.

Andersen personalized the Tinderbox with a lot of humor and detail. For instant when the soldier found gold in the chamber, which was below the hollow tree.

 He realized that he could buy all the soldier tins and whips together with the rocking horses in the world. Andersen’s characteristic in his work on the Tinderbox is a social satire that marks the point when the soldier lost his riches.  His fair-weather friends never visited him because of the stairs to climb to his attic dwelling.

7. It has Explained the Sociopolitical Formula of the Bourgeoisie

The Tinderbox has also touched on the sociopolitical formula for bourgeoisie progress and success. They acquire money through one鈥檚 talents and renew one鈥檚 money and power to use it to maintain social and political hegemony.

Zipes says that “the soldier is justified in his use of power and money because he is essentially better than anyone else 鈥� chosen to rule. The king and queen are dethroned, and the soldier rises to assume control of society through the application of his innate talents and good fortune.鈥�

8. The Tinderbox was used by the Queen to Make a Ballet

The Tinderbox 2007 was used in a 30-minute ballet, the sets and costumes were designed by Queen Margrethe II. The ballet was opened at  Pantomime Theatre of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens in July 2007. It became the third time a monarch designed a ballet for Tivoli based on the  Tinderbox.

9. A Graphic Game was Named Tinderbox in 1985

Gremlin Graphics 1985 released a ZX Spectrum game that was meant for children and was named  Tinderbox. The profit from this game went to help the Ethiopian famine relief fund through Soft Aid.

The game was written by Colin C. Chadburn, where a wounded soldier by the name of Tom had to defeat a wicked witch.

10. Tinderbox Featured in a Russian Animation

In 2020 a Russian animation was released based on Tinderbox.  Which was called Ginger tales. The Tinderbox was later recognized as one of the best in the country