J is for Jomfruen på glassberget

Jomfruen på glassberget is a Norwegian fairytale. It's title in English is The Princess on the Glass Hill. It was one of the many fairytales collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe and is the story of a princess who is rescued by a man riding a magical horse. 

The rescuer was the youngest of three sons, often teased for sitting around poking the ashes. (Oh hey, remember Askeladden? I told you he pops up everywhere!) One day he hears a horse whinnying and he manages to tame it. With the horse is a brass suit of armour. He doesn't tell anyone about the horse and the next year a suit of silver armour appears. He still doesn't tell anybody and finally on the third year a suit of golden armour appears. 

Meanwhile, a king had set his daughter high up on a glass hill and given her three apples to hold. It was said that the only person allowed to marry her would be the one who managed to reach the top of the hill and take the apples from her. All of the other princes and knights had failed to reach her, but one night a knight rode 1/3 of the way up the hill and the princess threw him an apple. He rode off immediately, taking the apple with him. The next day a silver-clad rider appears and manages to get 2/3 of the way up the hill. The same thing happens, he is thrown and apple before riding off. On the third day a rider appears, wearing golden armour, and rides all the way to the top where the princess gives him the final apple. He then rides away. (I know, men...)

The king then calls a meeting to find the man that has won his daughter. Our hero shows up but his brothers say that he was at home the whole time, poking about, doing his Askeladden business, etc. But luckily he remembered to bring the apples with him and then they all live happily ever after. 

You might have noticed that this isn't my favourite fairy tale. It feels a bit like someone has sat down and thought, ok there needs to be 'three' of stuff, three apples, three brothers, ok that'll do. Now we need something impossible - a glass hill? Perfect! Now lets throw in some random details that don't add anything to the plot of the story. Oh and someone call that Askeladden and get him to show up, he's always good for a laugh! No, but really, it's a nice example of a traditional Norwegian fairytale. I'm just bitter because, as everyone knows, J is a dark horse when it comes to impossible letters of the alphabet :)

the little nordic cabin

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J is for Joik

In the Northern regions of Sweden, Norway and Finland live the Sami. The Sami are a very traditional people and are the only people in the Nordic region who are allowed to herd the reindeer. They have their own language which is endangered and which, quite unsurprisingly, I’d quite like to learn!

A joik is a traditional form of song, used by the Sami. It is often without lyrics and is a strong form of Sami cultural expression. Joiks can be for a person or a place, an animal or a plant. Interestingly these joiks are used to reflect the person or place, that is to say, they are not about the person but they sort of are the person. I read online that it is the same concept as when you are painting. You do not paint a picture about someone, you paint a picture of someone and it is the same concept when it comes to joiking.

Joiking is still used today and I’d like to show you an example of this in a song sung by a Swedish lady called Sofia Jannok. She has a very pretty voice and I recommend looking out for her other songs. I’m also glad to show you this song, since the video contains such beautiful, Scandinavian scenery:

inspire nordic