News of Norway, issue 4, 1996
Traditional folktale motifs find refreshing new life in the timeless struggles between Northern seafolk and beings from the spirit world.
In one story, a hooked fish drags a fisherman's boat through a hole in the ocean floor, into a strange mud haven of monsters and slimy seaworms. Another story features a "treasure mountain" with hundreds of drawers containing everything from gold to Meerschaum pipes. "Fairy-tale" transformations are not absolute, but creepy and mysterious: A greedy housekeeper turns out to be a horse. A white halibut seems to embody a fisherman's sea-wrecked brother. A beautiful maiden is an island cormorant who disappears or dies, as she must, on the evening of her wedding.
The stories were written by Jonas Lie (1833-1908) and are illustrated in this new edition with beautiful line drawings from the 1893 translation. Lie received the King Oscar II Medal of Merit in gold and a government stipend for life. His works include "The Commodore's Daughters," "The Family at Gilje," "Ole Bull," and many more.Weird Tales from the Northern Seas: Norwegian Legends, by Jonas Lie, translated by R. Nisbet Bain, $12.95 incl. s/h, 128 pages, 6 x 9 paperback, ISBN 1-5716-021-7, published by Penfield Press, 215 Brown Street, Iowa City, IA 52245, Phone: 800/728-9998, fax: 319/351-6846.