The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen

A guide to Hans Christian Andersen's The Fir Tree, a melancholy Christmas tale about impatience, memory and failing to enjoy the moment you are living.

A small fir tree spends its life wishing for the next thing. It wants to grow, to leave the forest, to become something important. When it finally becomes a decorated Christmas tree, even that wonderful moment passes while the tree is busy wondering what comes next.

Andersen was extremely good at disguising existential dread as children's literature.

The Christmas lesson hiding inside it

The story works beautifully as a December reminder: anticipation is part of Christmas, but permanently living one step ahead can make the actual day disappear before you notice it.

Filed under: Hans Christian Andersen · Christmas tree story · classic Christmas tales