Hansen, Thore
Entry updated 21 September 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1942-2026) Norwegian author, painter, cartoonist, illustrator and editor. He was known to a vast audience for his distinctive book cover illustrations and numerous picture books for children. In the 1960s he created many humorous cartoons for various Magazines. Hansen's first sf short story was "Saptnach" as by Jonas Wal in Science Fiction-Magasinet for March/April 1972. Under his own name he was listed among the editorial staff of that magazine and created some of its early covers. His long sf comic Stasjon Nexus ["Nexus Station"], based on a script by Jon Bing and Tor Åge Bringsværd, appeared in the sf anthology Nazar II: Åndeskrift (anth 1976) edited by Bing and Bringsværd.
Next to Jon Bing and Tor Åge Bringsværd, Thore Hansen was in his day probably the most significant writer of fabelprosa ["fable prose"], a Norwegian term for Fantastika. The majority of his stories are fables (see Fabulation), written with a subtle imagination and imbued with human understanding and solidarity. With Bringsvaerd he published nine highly acclaimed children's picture books [not listed below] about the sea serpent Ruffen and another series about Det blå folket ["The Blue People"].
His first book for adults was Grimaser ["Grimaces"] (coll 1975) comprising 12 sf and fantasy short stories and revealing "Jonas Wal" to be the pseudonym of Thore Hansen. It was followed by Karivold ["Karivold"] (1978) – also mostly sf stories – Bobadillas sirkus ["Bobadilla's Circus"] (1980), Skumringer ["Twilights"] (coll 1984) and Han som lengtet til stjernene ["He Who Was Longing for the Stars"] (1985). The last is a Children's SF tale whose Alien protagonist longs for distant worlds and visits Earth.
Hansen's major works of sf/fantasy are the nine volumes of Skogland ["Forest Country"], starting with Gutten i dragereiret ["The Boy in the Dragon's Nest"] (1988). This and the following eight books tell dramatic stories from this fantasy realm. Despite many atrocities and battles throughout the series, Hansen's characters are notable for their warm and friendly attitude toward each other. All nine books were assembled as Skogland: Samlede fortellinger ["Forest Land: Collected Stories"] (omni 2003). Like all well told fantasy tales, Skogland is enjoyable for readers of any age with an open imagination.
Parallel to the Skogland series, he continued to write children's books, fairytales and fantasy novels: Død manns blues ["Blues For a Dead Man"] (1989), En vind fylt av tusen sommere ["A Wind Filled with One Thousand Summers"] (1994), Høstfabel ["Autumn Fable"] (1996), Enhjørninger gresser i skumringen ["Unicorns Are Grazing at Twilight"] (2004) and Madagaskar ["Madagascar"] (2005). In the new century he wrote two crime/mystery novels [not listed below]. [CPe]
Thore Hansen
born Fredrikstad, Norway: 10 January 1942
died Fredrikstad, Norway: 8 September 2026
works (sf and fantasy only)
series
Skogland
- Gutten i dragereiret ["The Boy in the Dragon's Nest"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1988) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Reisen til den glemte byen ["The Voyage to the Forgotten City"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1989) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Dragebyen ["The Dragon's City"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1990) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Demonene ved elvens munning ["The Demons at the River's Estuary"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1992) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Der skogstiene møtes ["Where the Paths of the Forest Meet"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1993) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Frost og varme ["Frost and Fire"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1997) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Den vidunderlige leken ["The Wonderful Play"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1998) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Alvens lengsel ["The Elf's Longing"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1999) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Skogene kommer ["The Forests Are Coming"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2001) [Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
- Skogland: Samlede fortellinger ["Forest Land: Collected Stories"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2003) [omni of the above nine: Skogland: hb/Thore Hansen]
individual titles
- Karivold ["Karivold"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1978) [pb/Thore Hansen]
- Bobadillas sirkus ["Bobadilla's Circus"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Tiden, 1980) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- Han som lengtet til stjernene ["He Who Was Longing for the Stars"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1985) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- Død manns blues ["Blues for a Dead Man"] (Oslo, Norway: Tiden Norsk Forlag, 1989) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- En vind fylt av tusen sommere ["A Wind Filled with One Thousand Summers"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1994) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- Høstfabel ["Autumn Fable"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1996) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- Enhjørninger gresser i skumringen ["Unicorns Are Grazing at Twilight"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2004) [hb/Thore Hansen]
- Madagaskar ["Madagascar"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2005) [hb/Thore Hansen]
collections
- Grimaser ["Grimaces"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1975) [coll: in the Publisher's Lanterne Science Fiction series: pb/Peter Haars]
- Skumringer ["Twilights"] (Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1984) [coll: hb/Thore Hansen]
links
previous versions of this entry