The Angel

"The Angel" (Danish: Engelen) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about an angel and a dead child gathering flowers to carry to Heaven. The tale was first published with three others in New Fairy Tales by C.A. Reitzel in November 1843. The four tales were received by the Danish critics with great acclaim. A print depicting the angel and child became very popular. When the tale opens, a child has died, and an angel is escorting him... More

"The Angel" (Danish: Engelen) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about an angel and a dead child gathering flowers to carry to Heaven. The tale was first published with three others in New Fairy Tales by C.A. Reitzel in November 1843. The four tales were received by the Danish critics with great acclaim. A print depicting the angel and child became very popular. When the tale opens, a child has died, and an angel is escorting him to Heaven. They wander over the earth for a while, visiting well-known places. Along the way they gather flowers to transplant into the gardens of Heaven. The angel takes the child to a poverty-stricken area where a dead field lily lies in a trash heap. The angel salvages the flower explaining that it had cheered a crippled boy before he died. The angel then reveals he was the boy. Jens Andersen, author of Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life (2005) describes Death as "one of Andersen's most beloved ghosts" and notes that Death in "The Angel"...

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