Historical Setting: 789 C.E. Jutland
With fire only embers now, the “seiðr” sops up the last of the juices with a broken crust and takes a long guzzle from the horn of beer then speaks.
She spins a yarn, layer upon layer, starting with a boy with special powers that allow him to change his shape from one thing into another, like a caterpillar into a butterfly. But this story takes an imaginative tour through all of creation.
I’m only beginning to learn this language, but I know from the sound of her voice and response from the gathered, that this protagonist wandered into a dark place amid shadows with strange creatures lurking. Or maybe it is his imagination making the lurking presence fearsome. I’m missing the subtleties. In fact, not understanding the language leaves me wondering. I believe the boy changes himself into an owl that can see through the darkness and rise above the mayhem. Then, this essence of boy becomes the mouse that escapes an owl’s grasp. I wonder why he didn’t become an eagle, and simply snatch the owl from the sky. There are so many things appearing and reappearing as the story is woven. But somehow, knowing the language might help make sense of the motivation for all these shape changes. At least I would understand some reason for the fears that send this ever-transforming essence of character into new dangers, requiring even more new transitions. [footnote]
Marian is sitting at the feet of the storyteller, shaped, as she is, into an avid listener to this tale. She isn’t about to step out of the storyteller’s spell just to translate it for me and answer my questions. So, I just do the best I can knowing only a few words here and there that tell me lots of the who’s and what’s but nothing of the why. Does this strange fantasy even have a reason?
The embers are low and offer no heat now, so I glance over at the fellow who told me not to add a log, wondering if it’s time for another log. Apparently, the story has gone on long enough that everyone is cold and tired and some are leaving, and the essence of boy transfigures into a human again. Those who stayed awake for the ending offer up a polite cheer of approval. But mostly they just wander off — everyone but Marian and me.
[footnote] shape changers stories are common in Celtic and Nordic Tales. (2019 Chronical books, L.C.C., Nordic Tales illustrated by Ulla Thynell)
(Continues Tuesday, January 28, 2025)
Lazarus Ink 