The Fir Tree

The tale is about a fir tree so anxious to grow up, so anxious for greater things, that he cannot appreciate living in the moment.

The tale was first published 21 December 1844 with "The Snow Queen" in Copenhagen, Denmark by C. A. Reitzel.

One scholar indicates that "The Fir-Tree" was the first of Andersen's fairy tales to express a deep pessimism.