The Visionary: Pictures From Nordland

ll, when the men and maids, and the wayfarers who were putting up for the night, sat in the ev

ins-he had this name, because he made komags. Komag-Nils was a little fellow, with untidy yellow hair, which hung over his eyes, and a face as round as a moon, on which the nose looked like a little button; when he laughed, his wide thin-lipped mouth and large jaws gave him almost the expression of a death's-hea

rinking, and nearly lost his place in consequence. And yet in his way he was extremely capable. In any real dilemma-in a storm-he rose at once to the responsible

and had a good figure. Her eyes, beneath strongly marked, black eyebrows, were as black as coal; and when she was angry, they could flash fire. She was in love with the silent Jens, and was extremely jealous, without the slightest cause. It was said that these two would make a match when he had been on two or three more fishing expeditions, bu

n the other hand, it was just down there that the most interesting things in the world were talked about. The consequence was that I used to steal down secretly. I remember how, one dark autum

lanterns, and said: "A thief at the Christmas ale"! But Rasmus did not neglect his opportunity. He flung the heavy jug right in the goblin's face, and ran away as fast as his legs would carry him. Outside there was moonlight on the snow; he heard cries and howls down on the shore, and became aware that goblins were pursuing him in ever-increasing numbers. When he came to the churchyard wall they were close upon him, and in his extremity he bethought himself of shouting over the wall: "Help me now, all ye dead!" for the dead are enemies of the goblins. He heard them all rising, and noises and yells as of a battle followed. He himself was closely pursued by a goblin, who was just on the point of springing upon him as he seized the latch of the door,

re them into space. They see all kinds of things, and sometimes an exclamation escapes them, such as: "A fire has broken out in Merchant N.N.'s buildings in --vaagen"! or "Trondhjem is burning now"! Sometimes they see a long funeral procession passing, with such distinctness that they can describe the place and appearance of every man in it, the coffin and the streets through which the procession wends its way. They will say: "A great man

for human power. In one of the crews that put up in the fishing-hut there was a lively boy of fourteen, who entertained them the whole time with tricks of all kinds, and was never quiet. He took up a huge stone and threw it with all his might into the stern of the boat. Instantly there rushed out, visible to every one, a gnome in seaman's dress with a great bunch of seaweed for a head. It had been sitting at the stern weighing down the boat, and now rushed out into the sea, dashing the water up in spray round it as it went. After that the boat went smoothly into the water. The man with the second sight looked at the boy, and said he ought not to have done as he had; but the boy only laughed and said that he did not believe in goblins or spirits. In the night, when they had come home and lay sleeping in the hut, at about twelve o'clock they heard the boy crying for help. One of the men thought, too, he saw by t

cannot be learned theoretically; for it is a matter of special skill on the part of the builder of each boat. Ill-constructed boats are sometimes put together but they are, of course, unsatisfactory and sail only moderately well. The Nordland boat-builders have long since discovered the high fore and aft, sharp-keeled boat, to be the most practical, with one mast and a broad, prettily cut square sail admirably suited to what is most required, rapid sailing in fore and side winds, though less so for tacking. The boat is exactly the same shape under water as the fast-sailing clippers for which t

e came from, down at D?n? near Ranen, in Helgeland, there were as many and as wonderful stories and boats, as with us in Nordland. The narrator was a little, quick-speaking fellow, who sat the whole time rocking backwards and forwards, and fidgetting upon the bench, while

who had formerly been servant at the minister's over at Alstadhaug. They had put up a cott

, which could not come from anything good. One day when she was up on the mountain, cutting grass for winter fodder for the two

e were six children in the cottage; and that same autumn the man had scraped together so much that he

intention, he stumbled unexpectedly, upon an immense seal, which lay sunning itself behind a rock down on the shore. The seal was quite as little prepared

hot eyes, so maliciously and venomously, that he was nearly frightened out of his senses. Then the seal rushed straight into the sea, leaving a track of blood-tinged foam behind

tumn he bought his six-oared boat, for which he

oughly secure he ought, perhaps, to put one more plank to support it on each side. He was so fond of

time to grow wider and wider, and then a huge man rushed out through the boat-house door, but not too quickly for Elias to see, by the light of the lantern, that out of his back there stuck a long iron spike. Now Elias began to understand a little; but

ides himself, he heard in the dark a voice that came from a rock at the entrance to the c

t, was seventeen. That autumn Elias went into Ranen with his whole family in the six-oared boat, to exchange it

umn. Elias knew very well what a boat should be, and thought he had never seen one so well built under the water-line. Above,

that, all the same, Elias should have it cheap, if he would only promise one thing, and that was, not to make any alte

poorly enough-had probably advised him beforehand, to sell it cheaply, so that Elias should have it, and also to make it a condition that the boat should not be m

cluding a little keg of brandy for himself and his family. Delighted as he was with his purchase, both h

, and the Christmas fare. His son Bernt sat in the fore-part, his wife, with the help of the second son, held the hallia

hen they got out to sea, it was pretty evident that they would come to prove the boat the first tim

ut so much as a drop coming in, and he therefore judged that he did not need to take i

il, exactly as he had. Her course was the same as his, and he thought it rather strange that he had not seen her befor

ll Elias thought he had never been for such a splendid sail before, and the

le waves had already broken over them. They broke in at the b

close, and they were now so near to one another that a sco

taken in, but Elias was loth to give up the race, and he thought he would wait until they took a reef in over in the other boat, where i

waves of fire about her sides. By their bright light he could even distinguish the spars and ropes in her. He could also distinctly see the men on board

ds lay half-capsized, righted herself and went on her way again, it streamed out astern. While this was happening, he fancied there were ghastly cries in the other boat. But when it was over, his wife, who sat at the halliard, said in a voice that cut him to the heart:

eas he dared not, on the other hand, take in more sail than was absolutely necessary. But the little sail they could carry became gradually less and less. The spray dashed in their faces, and Bernt and his next young

e began rather to dislike the look of the crew on board of her. The two men who stood there holding the yard, whose pale faces he could distinguish under t

ting direction to it, and with as much sail as she could carry, in order to give her sufficient speed to cleave it and sail right through it. In it rushed with the roar of a wate

was washed overboard, he only said: "In Jesus' name!" and then was silent. His inclination was to follow her, but he felt, too, that he must do what he could to save the rest of the freig

possible, helped one another. Elias dared not let go the tiller, and he hel

iron spike which Elias thought he ought to know. And now, in his own mind, he had come to a clear understanding upon two points: one was that it was no other than the sea-goblin himself who was steering his half-boat by his side and was leading him to destr

e done in the wet, and moreover Elias's thoughts were of very different things. He had such an intense desire for revenge, that, if he had not had the lives of his three remaining children to defend, he would have attempted by a sudden turn of his own boat to run into and sink the other, which still, as if in mockery, kept

will capsize, Elias!" Elias, who foresaw the disaster, said aloud: "In Jesus' name!" and told his sons to hold on, with all their might, to the willow bands on the rowlocks when the boat went under, and not to leave go until she rose again. He made the elder boy go forward to Bernt; he himself held the younger close to hi

iness of the boat underneath; and the next to get up on to the rolling keel and knock the plug in, which would let out the air underneath, so that th

clinging convulsively with hands and knees to th

uld the whole time, died of exhaustion, and slipped down into the sea. They had already tr

h mother," but he had strong hopes that Bernt might yet be saved, if he only held out like a man. Then he told him of the goblin he h

or a while, but, as it grew lighter, Bernt saw that his father's face was deadly pale, his hair had parted in several places as it often does when death is near, and the skin was torn from his hands by holding on to the keel. The son knew that his fathe

became easier for Bernt to hold on; and with the growing day there came more hope. The storm lulled, and when it became qu

water within. He did drift nearer and nearer, and at last came so near to one rock that the mast, which was floating by the side of the boat, was lifted up and down the slope of the roc

she climbed the hill to look out. There she saw Bernt upon the rock, and the boat, bottom upwards, rocking up and down against it. Sh

did not go fishing that year. People thought, too,

again. He married the Fin girl and moved up to Malang