Jørgen Moe

Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was born on April 22, 1813, on the Mo estate in Hole, Buskerud. While studying theology at the University of Christiania, he joined with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen to preserve Norway's disappearing oral folklore, traveling extensively through Telemark and Setesdal.

Moe provided the refined, natural linguistic style that made Norske Folkeeventyr an instant classic, finding a vibrant middle ground between formal Danish book language and living Norwegian vernacular speech. He wrote popular children's stories such as I Brønden og i Tjernet (1851) and pious poetry before being ordained and eventually consecrated Bishop of Kristiansand in 1875.