The Melkevoll Viewpoint

We are now heading back north through the valley. As the lake slides past on one side and the mountains on the other, there is time for a few stories we didn't get to on the way out. Imagine living here two or three hundred years ago. No roads. No electricity. No way to understand what caused the lightning strike that hit the mountain, or what made the cow disappear on a dark autumn evening. You need stories. Norwegian folklore is full of creatures that inhabit exactly these kinds of landscapes. The Huldra is the beautiful, dangerous forest spirit who lures men off the path and into the wilderness. In the rivers lurks the Nokk – a water creature that can take the form of a white horse to tempt the gullible into climbing on, only to drag them down into the depths. In the mountains live the trolls, clumsy and slow, but dangerous to those who show no respect. What is fascinating about these stories is that they are not merely superstition. They are geography. The Huldra belongs in dense forest where it is easy to get lost. The Nokk inhabits rivers with strong currents and dangerous eddies. The trolls live in mountains where storms can surprise a hiker in an instant. For people who lived close to nature, these stories were survival manuals in disguise.