The Steadfast Tin Soldieris the first story Andersen wrote without a folktale source or literary model, so it stands as a completely original work of the imagination, which changed the fairytale genre for all time.

"There were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers. They were all brothers, born of the same old tin spoon. . . . All looked exactly alike except one. He looked a little different as he had been cast last of all. The tin was short, so he had only one leg. . . . But just you see, he'll be the remarkable one."

So begins Andersen's classic tale of good and...