Skål
Welcome to another adventure from the Thousand Acre Woods deep within Trollheim of the NJ Pine Belt! Tales Chronicled by Jonathan Hulton... That's me! In today's tale, Bjorn is bringing his daughter to Cedarbridge Tavern for her first drink of mead.
"I know you're three hundred and fifty today, though Gramps and Karl wanted to take you for your first drink, you're mom would of killed me," Bjorn said when his daughter turned legal drinking age. Even if she was still in high school. Things are different when you live for thousands of years. The butterfly effects can grow exponentially… So maturity is something slowly nurtured in their culture.
So before crossing Cedarbridge to the tavern on the other side, he taught Angrboda this.
"Before you cross this bridge, I need to teach you an immortal lesson popularized through wolf spittle," Bjorn said with hand on shoulder.
"I know better than to quiver with you, but can you get to the point?
"Do you know how to cross this bridge?"
"I know we are Trolls, we are quite familiar with bridges. At least hiding under them…"
"We never hid under them, magic did. Remember we are named after night magic, Nattrolls."
"What magic hides under the bridge?"
"The magic that powers the mare in your dreams or joys."
"How is that?"
"Venus is born out of water,"
"Yes,"
"Women or Yang energy represents the emotions,"
"OK,"
"Your emotions are always flowing as your logic mostly is steadfast,"
"This is going to take awhile…"
"Do you know the moat around the castle symbolizes the water barrier in your brain."
"Hmmm…"
"The castle is your mind and its corridors are the paths of your thoughts?"
"No, does Humpty Dumpty show up somewhere."
"The raging river can sustain or kill, as your emotions can."
"The water is barely moving…"
"Harrisville mill had a leak that is causing a bloom under the bridge, do you think you should be careful drinking it…"
"OK, we are talking about subtle matters."
" Do you think you're ready to cross?"
"I feel like I am."
"Are you happy today?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you will be sad sometimes crossing this bridge to go to the tavern."
"Could be…"
"Do you think it would be wise to cross when there is a raging storm in your mind and you lost temporarily control of your wits and logic?"
"I have seen Karl do some strange and stupid things, remember that time with the mule, the butter churn, and those two dwarves—"
"The Monkey, donkey, and dwarf; Freya blushed hearing that story. Now look at this ash at the edge of the river, it stands still, moving ever slightly with one thought to stretch to the sun. Its logic is mostly firm,"
"Yes, Mimir's tree and Askr, or Adam, are made of ash…"
"Mimir was the finest logistician,"
"Yeah, but he lost his head.."
"Exactly, you don't want to lose your head before crossing. Think of the Dutch with their Hessian story,"
"Yes, even the erudite teacher lost his life crossing the bridge,
"What started his troubles?"
"A fight over a girl?"
"Logic overwhelms the teacher who lost touch of his emotions. Did he go mad believing in a headless horseman or did he lose his head?"
"The answer is the same."
"Yes, before getting to Sleepy Hollow he had to cross a bridge in his mind. He had to mix his emotions of what he liked doing with the eventual outcome of his wages and emotion growth in a community of strangers,"
"I'm starting to understand, the bridge is a thickened tightrope we need to balance and the wisdom of our elders made it wider and easier to cross,"
"Balance of what?"
"Our emotions and logic."
"Plus the faith in those who crossed it before— would you trust a bridge if I forced you to go first—"
"No!"
"Would you cross an Incan rope bridge?"
"Yes, the community has been rebuilding them for thousands of years."
"Even how thin they are?"
"Of course!"
"Remember, society also creates great evil it supports for centuries too,
"Remember, Sammy Buck crossed this bridge and only defeated the devil when his head cleared of the booze at the crossroads of his life, only then did he dwell up the beautiful emotions he pulled from his heart to create the Song Out of the Air to defeat Old Scratch,"
"They did say he drank in moderation afterwards and his family's sawmill began teetotaling."
"Yup, and I think we are ready to cross and get a horn of mead."
If you like this tale, hit the share button below or just even tell your friend the old fashion way, with your mouth. Come back next week for our next tale.
We just released our first collection of Trollheim stories in print. It is available on this website at www.salemhousepress.com and Barnes & Noble. Pick up your copy today, pretty please with sugar on top...
Fiction/ Illustrated Fantasy/ Mythology / Scandinavian Myth/ Norse Sagas / Scandinavian Folk Lore / Coffee Table Book
Paperback: $45 | Hardcover: $65 | PDF eBook $5
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Following the Harry N. Abrams, Inc. tradition of the series that created Brian Froud's and Alan Lee's Faeries and Gnomes by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet, we present you with what would have been the next book in the series: Trolls: A Compendium. Trolls—do you think you know what they are? Could you be wrong?
Trolls within Scandinavian lore, myth, saga, fantasy, and folktales are actually anything magical within our northern neighbor's culture. Richly illustrated in this volume are the tales of faeries, dwarves, nissen, huldras, gods, Jotuns, draugar, ghosts, and more. Also, this book introduces our readers to the world of Trollheim, populated by Nattrolls that escaped the 17th-century Swedish colony within the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Narrated by Christopher Jonathan Hulton, who lives in the Thousand Acre Woods just after the Civil War, their tales are filled with Native American lore and tales of their neighbor, the Jersey Devil.
Preview: Google Books
Hardcover: $65.00
PDF (non-flowable, best on tablet, desktop, or laptop) eBook: Download a copy onto your device today! Only $5.00
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