Mors lilla Olle - Olle, mother's small boy

 

'Mors lilla Olle' by Elsa Beskow 

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'Mors lilla Olle' is a  Swedish children's song by Alice Tegnér. 

You can hear it here. The song is about the boy Olle, who meets a 

bear in the forest. He is not frightened, believing the bear to be a dog, and feeds 

the bear all of his precious blueberries. When Olle's mother sees him and the bear 

she screams loudly, and the bear flees. Olle then asks his mother if the 'dog' couldn't come 

back again.In the song, Olle is approximately 4–5 years of age, and therefore does not understand 

what a bear is. The lyrics was inspired by an actual event. In September 1850, a toddler named 

Jon Ersson and his older siblings picked lingonberries a couple of hundred meters from their 

home in Morbäcksätern outside the village Särna in Dalarna. Jon, at that time just one year 

and seven months old, met a female brown bear with two cubs and fed the cubs lingonberry 

twigs. They got tired and the cubs and Jon all lay to rest next to the female bear. 

Jon's eldest sister then fetched their mother and she scared off the bears. 

A Norwegian newspaper wrote an article about this incident in April 

1851 and the author Wilhelm von Braun (1813–1860) wrote a 

poem about it, 'Stark i sin oskuld' ('Strong in his innocence') 

which starts with the line 'Small boy in a mountain forest 

went, rosy cheeks and angelic look...' 

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 'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow, n.d.

Purchase it here

 

 'Ekorrn satt i granen...'. From:

'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903

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 Blåsippa - Anemone blue. From:

'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow 

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'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903

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 'Välden är så stor, så stor, Lasse, Lasse liten'. From:

'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903

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 'A.a a. vinter vill vi ha!' From:

'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903 

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'En Sockerbagare här bor i Straden'. From:

'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903

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'Mors lilla Olle and other Songs by A.T.'

illustrated by Elsa Beskow. Stockholm, 1903

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 Alice Tegnér, 1925 

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Alice Charlotta Tegnér (1864-1943) was a Swedish music 

teacher, poet and composer. She was recognized as a foremost composer 

of Swedish children's songs during the first half of the 20th century. She attended 

seminars in Stockholm (Högre lärarinneseminariet) and trained as a teacher. 

After graduation, she served as governess. Alice Tegner was a teacher at  

Djursholms samskola and cantor in Djursholms chapel where  

Natanael Beskow was a priest. In 1885 she married the 

lawyer James Tegnér (1851–1926) 

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Mors lilla Olle LP

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 Mors lille Olle tape

Designed by Elisabeth Dunker, Fine Little Day

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Mors lilla Olle EP

Artists: Astrid Söderbaum, Lars Lennartsson & Solveig Linnér

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Stoneware blueberry basket ornament. 

Handcrafted by Caryn Burwood of Concepts in Clay

Purchase it here