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WEIRD TALES FROM NORTHERN SEAS
FROM THE DANISH OF JONAS LIE

BY R. NISBET BAIN

WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS

BY LAURENCE HOUSMAN

Translation 1893

PREFACE

Jonas Lie is sufficiently famous to need but a very few words ofintroduction. Ever since 1870, when he made his reputation by his firstnovel, "Den Fremsynte," he has been a prime favourite with theScandinavian public, and of late years his principal romances have gonethe round of Europe. He has written novels of all kinds, but he excelswhen he describes the wild seas of Northern Norway, and the stern andhardy race of sailors and fishers who seek their fortunes, and so oftenfind their graves, on those dangerous waters. Such tales, for instance,as "Tremasteren Fremtid," "Lodsen og hans Hustru," "Gaa Paa!" and"Den Fremsynte" are unique of their kind, and give far truer picturesof Norwegian life and character in the rough than anything that can befound elsewhere in the literature. Indeed, Lie's skippers and mates areas superior to Kjelland's, for instance, as the peasants of Jens Tvedt(a writer, by the way, still unknown beyond his native land) aresuperior to the much-vaunted peasants of Björnstjerne Björnson.

But it is when Lie tells us some of the wild legends of his nativeprovince, Nordland, some of the grim tales on which he himself wasbrought up, so to speak, that he is perhaps most vivid and enthralling.The folk-lore of those lonely sub-arctic tracts is in keeping with thesavagery of nature. We rarely, if ever, hear of friendly elves orcompanionable gnomes there. The supernatural beings that haunt thoseshores and seas are, for the most part, malignant and malefic. They seemto hate man. They love to mock his toils, and sport with his despair. Inhis very first romance, "Den Fremsynte," Lie relates two of theseweird tales (Nos. 1 and 3 of the present selection). Another tale, inwhich many of the superstitious beliefs and wild imaginings of theNordland fishermen are skilfully grouped together to form the backgroundof a charming love-story, entitled "Finn Blood," I have borrowed fromthe volume of "Fortællinger og Skildringer," published in 1872. Theremaining eight stories are selected from the book "Trold," which wasthe event of the Christmas publishing season at Christiania in 1891.Last Christmas a second series of "Trold" came out, but it isdistinctly inferior to the former one.

R.N.B.

CHAPTER

I. THE FISHERMAN AND THE DRAUG

II. JACK OF SJÖHÖLM AND THE GAN-FINN

III. TUG OF WAR

IV. "THE EARTH DRAWS"

V. THE CORMORANTS OF ANDVÆR

VI. ISAAC AND THE PARSON OF BRÖNÖ

VII. THE WIND-GNOME

VIII. THE HULDREFISH

IX. FINN BLOOD

X. THE HOMESTEAD WESTWARD IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

XI. "IT'S ME!"