Expectations

Norwegian fairytales have their roots in our nature. There are just certain things that makes sense, you know.
Any mountain cave have trolls in them, or the the mountain itself is a troll that was too stupid to get inside before the sun turned it into a craggy mountain. They were not the brightest of species. Why Norway had so many of them, I do not know.

You would expect a troll living underneath a bridge like this, threatening to eat the three billy goats on their way to the summer grazing up in the mountains.

You would expect to find Fossekallen, a variation of Old Erick (which again is the Norwegian version of the devil) living underneath this waterfall, playing his fiddle and luring people to their deaths. The fiddle was considered an evil instrument in Norway for a long time....

And there is absolutely NO doubt whatsoever that the water troll, Nøkken, is still living under here, just waiting for you to get too close so that he can grab you and pull you under. Can't you see his fingers coming up?

The story also tells us that he would sometime turn himself into a white beautiful horse. And the minute you get on him, he dives into the lake and drags you under.

Maybe the child proofing of fairytales that Disney has been doing these last 50 years isn't such a bad thing, really.... I can thank my story telling grandfather for me being afraid of the dark...

Anyway, got my last three flowers for the midsummer bouquet: forget me nots,

day and nights and

butter flowers. Good thing, too, as midsummer is tonight! The longest day of the year. No wonder we celebrate it. The opposite, the longest night of the year in mid December, is not something to celebrate. Brrrr...