RELIGIOUS MOTIFS IN THE FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

The purpose of the article is to present to the Slovenian professional public the important characteristics of the fairy tales of the Danish storyteller H. C. Andersen (1805–1875). In his lifetime, Andersen wrote seventy books (autobiographies, operas, librettos, romances, etc.) and one book of fairy tales which has been reprinted several times and for which he actually became famous in the 19th century – the golden age of fairy tales, as Jack Zipes (Golden Age of Fairy Tales) calls it. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Andersen’s birth in 2005, Danish researchers set up a scientific website and, with renewed interest, researched his life and work, translations and his influence on other authors, fairy tales and culture.