What do you think?
Rate this book
Weird Tales from Northern Seas: Norwegian Legends
Strange Finns, lusty women, mariner ghosts, and sea demons haunt the coastal lands of Norway, the setting for this popular collection from 1893. It transports the reader to a strange, salty world of maelstroms and maleficent spirits, boat builders and dream-wreckers. The tales came from northern Norway, and the author was the literary toast of all of Scandinavia.
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1893
12 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
Jonas Lie
187 books21 followersJonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was a Norwegian novelist who is considered one of "the four great ones" of the 19th century Norwegian literature. The others are Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and Alexander Kielland. Jonas Lie stands out for his impressionistic style, picking out only significant details of setting, atmosphere, mood, and speech. In his first novels Lie mingled realistic with fantastic elements. Lie's studies of family life, such as The Family at Gilje (1883), and stories of the life of the fishermen and the stormy Arctic Ocean, represent his finest work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 9, 2018
The eleven stories in this collection by Jonas Lie deal with
". . .the wild legends of his native province, Nordland, some of the grim tales on which he himself was brought up. . ."
The quote comes from the preface, written by R. Nisbet Bain, who translated the book in 1893. Bain goes on to prepare the reader this way:
"The supernatural beings that haunt those shores and seas are, for the most part, malignant and malefic. They seem to hate man. They love to mock his toils, and sport with his despair."
And he wasn't kidding!
I don't usually read spooky books, I have too vivid an imagination for such things. And these stories are full of drowned fishermen coming to haunt people, shape changers, sea demons, devils, enchanted fish, all kinds of creepy creatures.
The various stories all have to do with greed on the part of men, the pacts they make (sometimes unknowingly) to get what they want, and all serve as warnings against too much pride and a lack of respect towards the natural world. Perhaps I should say the supernatural world.
The shortest selection, Tug Of War, gives you an idea of the tone of most of the book. I liked them but I am looking forward to more of the author's original (and less spooky?) ideas the next time I visit his world.
( A Femböring is a large boat with five oars on each side, and a Draug is a sea-demon.)
Tug Of War
"For the last two or three days the weather had been terrific; but on the third day it so far cleared up that one of the men who belonged to the fishing station thought that they might manage to drag the nets a bit that day. The others, however, were not inclined to venture out. Now it is the custom for the various crews to lend each other a hand in pushing off the boats, and so it happened now. When, however, they came to the Femböring, which was drawn up a good distance ashore, they found the oars and the thwarts turned upside down in the boat, and, more than that, despite all their exertions, it was impossible to move the boat from the spot. They tried once, twice, thrice; but it was of no use. But then one of them, who was known to have second sight, said that, from what he saw, it would be best not to touch the boat at all that day; it was too heavy for the might of man to move. One of the crew, however, who belonged to the fishing-station (he was a smart lad of fourteen), was amusing them all the time with all manner of pranks and tomfoolery. He now caught up a heavy stone, and pitched it with all his might right into the stern of the boat. Then, suddenly and plainly visible to them all, out of the boat rushed a Draug in seaman's clothes, but with a heavy crop of seaweed instead of a head. It had been weighing down the boat by sitting in the stern, and now dashed into the sea, so that the foam spurted all over them. After that the Femböring glided quite smoothly into the water. Then the man with second sight looked at the boy, and said that he should not have done so. But the lad went on laughing as before, and said he didn't believe in such stuff. When they had come home in the evening, and the folks lay sleeping in the fishing-station, they heard, about twelve o'clock at night, the lad yelling for help; it even seemed to one of them, by the light of the train-oil lamp, as if a heavy hand were stretching forward from the door right up to the bench on which the lad lay. The lad, yelling and struggling, had already been dragged as far as the door before the others had so far come to their senses as to think of grasping him round the body to prevent him from being dragged right out. And now, in mid doorway, a hard fight began, the Draug dragging him by the legs, while the whole crew tugged against him with the boy's arms and upper limbs. Thus, amidst yelling and groaning, they swayed to and fro all through the midnight hour, backwards and forwards, in the half-open door; and now the Draug, and now the men, had the most of the boy on their side of the doorway. All at once the Draug let go, so that the whole crew fell higgledy-piggledy backwards on to the floor. Then they found that the boy was dead; it was only then that the Draug had let him go."
". . .the wild legends of his native province, Nordland, some of the grim tales on which he himself was brought up. . ."
The quote comes from the preface, written by R. Nisbet Bain, who translated the book in 1893. Bain goes on to prepare the reader this way:
"The supernatural beings that haunt those shores and seas are, for the most part, malignant and malefic. They seem to hate man. They love to mock his toils, and sport with his despair."
And he wasn't kidding!
I don't usually read spooky books, I have too vivid an imagination for such things. And these stories are full of drowned fishermen coming to haunt people, shape changers, sea demons, devils, enchanted fish, all kinds of creepy creatures.
The various stories all have to do with greed on the part of men, the pacts they make (sometimes unknowingly) to get what they want, and all serve as warnings against too much pride and a lack of respect towards the natural world. Perhaps I should say the supernatural world.
The shortest selection, Tug Of War, gives you an idea of the tone of most of the book. I liked them but I am looking forward to more of the author's original (and less spooky?) ideas the next time I visit his world.
( A Femböring is a large boat with five oars on each side, and a Draug is a sea-demon.)
Tug Of War
"For the last two or three days the weather had been terrific; but on the third day it so far cleared up that one of the men who belonged to the fishing station thought that they might manage to drag the nets a bit that day. The others, however, were not inclined to venture out. Now it is the custom for the various crews to lend each other a hand in pushing off the boats, and so it happened now. When, however, they came to the Femböring, which was drawn up a good distance ashore, they found the oars and the thwarts turned upside down in the boat, and, more than that, despite all their exertions, it was impossible to move the boat from the spot. They tried once, twice, thrice; but it was of no use. But then one of them, who was known to have second sight, said that, from what he saw, it would be best not to touch the boat at all that day; it was too heavy for the might of man to move. One of the crew, however, who belonged to the fishing-station (he was a smart lad of fourteen), was amusing them all the time with all manner of pranks and tomfoolery. He now caught up a heavy stone, and pitched it with all his might right into the stern of the boat. Then, suddenly and plainly visible to them all, out of the boat rushed a Draug in seaman's clothes, but with a heavy crop of seaweed instead of a head. It had been weighing down the boat by sitting in the stern, and now dashed into the sea, so that the foam spurted all over them. After that the Femböring glided quite smoothly into the water. Then the man with second sight looked at the boy, and said that he should not have done so. But the lad went on laughing as before, and said he didn't believe in such stuff. When they had come home in the evening, and the folks lay sleeping in the fishing-station, they heard, about twelve o'clock at night, the lad yelling for help; it even seemed to one of them, by the light of the train-oil lamp, as if a heavy hand were stretching forward from the door right up to the bench on which the lad lay. The lad, yelling and struggling, had already been dragged as far as the door before the others had so far come to their senses as to think of grasping him round the body to prevent him from being dragged right out. And now, in mid doorway, a hard fight began, the Draug dragging him by the legs, while the whole crew tugged against him with the boy's arms and upper limbs. Thus, amidst yelling and groaning, they swayed to and fro all through the midnight hour, backwards and forwards, in the half-open door; and now the Draug, and now the men, had the most of the boy on their side of the doorway. All at once the Draug let go, so that the whole crew fell higgledy-piggledy backwards on to the floor. Then they found that the boy was dead; it was only then that the Draug had let him go."
January 29, 2021
A great set of legends from Norway, it would be nice to see a new translation.
October 19, 2012
Fascinating, lyrical weird tales of Scandinavian seafaring life. Rooted in folklore and hundreds of years of tale-telling around the fire.
May 23, 2007
Some of these stories are really insane and awesome and some are "eh." Which I guess is like most anthologies.
June 4, 2014
One of the weirdest books I've ever read in my life O_O"
September 24, 2013
Norwegians have a dark, yet unique and imaginative, and pessimistic view of life. This book is gripping and fascinating and often ends with the weird death of the main character of the stories. The mythical characters are fascinating. You can feel the great struggle for life on the North Sea in these tales.
December 18, 2025
Enjoyable collection of Norwegian legends. Available for free on Project Gutenberg.
July 3, 2018
Not quiet what I expected...
This collection is not 'weird' in the 'Weird Fiction' sense of the word. It's not strictly folk lore either - and certainly not in the vain of Gaiman's recent Norse collection.
It is however, an intriguing collection of stories from the communities of Scandanavian fisherfolk - not so much tales set at sea, but more from the coastal dwellers who rely on the sea for their very existence. Many of these tales would have felt quiet at home, woven into the fabric, of a Knut Hamsun story, but this is where the biggest issue lies I feel - the translations are not good. The stories are there, but you have to work hard and use your own imagination to bring them to life because the manner in which they are written does not lend itself to storytelling. Ironically for tales of the sea, they are far too dry - but again, I lay this at the translation, not the original telling. This particular edition is also in bad need of an edit and could really have done with a Glossary, as I found myself breaking off to look something up.
The stories are of varying length and quality, but I did enjoy 'Jack of Sjoholm and the Gan-Finn' and 'Finn Blood' particularly, although again, a good re-write would enhance these stories and make the endings less abrupt at times.
In all honesty I cannot remember how this crossed my horizon, but I am pleased that it did, and may seek out further Jonas Lie...but will certainly look closely at the translator.
This collection is not 'weird' in the 'Weird Fiction' sense of the word. It's not strictly folk lore either - and certainly not in the vain of Gaiman's recent Norse collection.
It is however, an intriguing collection of stories from the communities of Scandanavian fisherfolk - not so much tales set at sea, but more from the coastal dwellers who rely on the sea for their very existence. Many of these tales would have felt quiet at home, woven into the fabric, of a Knut Hamsun story, but this is where the biggest issue lies I feel - the translations are not good. The stories are there, but you have to work hard and use your own imagination to bring them to life because the manner in which they are written does not lend itself to storytelling. Ironically for tales of the sea, they are far too dry - but again, I lay this at the translation, not the original telling. This particular edition is also in bad need of an edit and could really have done with a Glossary, as I found myself breaking off to look something up.
The stories are of varying length and quality, but I did enjoy 'Jack of Sjoholm and the Gan-Finn' and 'Finn Blood' particularly, although again, a good re-write would enhance these stories and make the endings less abrupt at times.
In all honesty I cannot remember how this crossed my horizon, but I am pleased that it did, and may seek out further Jonas Lie...but will certainly look closely at the translator.
August 7, 2011
I mainly started reading this one because Laurence Housman had done the artwork for this book. I really like his work. The supernatural nature of the stories and the Scandinavian folklore found within the pages of this book also appealed to the anthropologist within me. I took my time reading it, but it was well worth the time.
November 13, 2020
3-
Una raccolta dal sapore di ghiaccio e mare. Ammetto che immaginavo una maggiore varietà nei racconti, specialmente per quanto ne riguardava la struttura, ma si fa leggere. È stato utile per imparare la terminologia navale, questo è certo.
Peccato che la copertina non sia stata stampata bene da Amazon.
Una raccolta dal sapore di ghiaccio e mare. Ammetto che immaginavo una maggiore varietà nei racconti, specialmente per quanto ne riguardava la struttura, ma si fa leggere. È stato utile per imparare la terminologia navale, questo è certo.
Peccato che la copertina non sia stata stampata bene da Amazon.
July 5, 2011
A few of these tales are very good and I appreciated all of the endnotes clarifying Norweigan ships but I didn't like every tale. I think the selection was fair and all of the tales needed to be included to create a good picture of what Norwegian legends are important to Norway. A fun read.
September 5, 2013
A nice book of Nordic/Scandinavian folk tales. Most of the stories are engaging and give the reader an appreciation for the harsh northern life. However some of the stories seem to have lost something in translation and sometimes end abruptly or have little point.
September 27, 2014
უკეთესის მოლოდინი მქონდა :/ თუმცა მაინც <3
January 3, 2021
This is a translation of an anthology of Norwegian Sea themed fairy tales collected and written by Jonas Lie in the late 1800s and translated then by R. Nisbet Bain. There is a wonderful vibrancy to the telling of these tales, with vital word choices that add a strange and powerful energy to these tales. While I was reading these tales I had an amazing sense that I could be listening to these in some storm tossed sea side tavern in the north seas. The majority of these stories I had never heard before. In general, the tone of the tales is an interesting mix of humor and grimness, with a bit of sorrow and longing mixed in here and there. Always, there is the crash of waves and boat work in these stories. I don’t think I ever realized so many different sorts of boats existed! There was also a fantastic symbolism lapping beneath and along each tale-for instance “the earth draws” protagonist plight can surely be applied to each of us as we are all mortal and must one day go to abide into the earth. Now allow me a brief aside and degress-As with much of my reading as of late I have been in search of the cultural gasps of the mostly lost Norse gods, as I am currently writing a text based CYOA video game with an extensive Norse section and I want to get them right. So it was that I was very excited to read “Isaac and the Parson on Brono” where a one eyed man looses his eye to the sea and gains wisdom, total shades of Odin...may be a bit of a stretch but the woman depicted in “the cormorants of andvaer” seemed the very image of Vor to my minds eye, the cateful one as she seemed an aware careful, supernatural thing...if so obviously the tale had changed to just echoes of echoes in the same way the earlier tale mentioned was of Odin. Finally, “the wind-gnome” reminded me of Balder a bit and if so connected might explain why Loki hated Balder. Anyway, to end the degression, “the fisherman and the draug” begins this collection strong with a supernatural encounter dripping with an animalistic otherworldly cruelty that was enchanting to read about. “Jack of sjoholm and the gan-fin” seems to fit well with other Jack stories as this Jack has the same sort of roguish brashness in his other tales from other cultures. The dark magic here is brilliant and the refrain of the “sea fire” seemed truly gripping to me as were other words choices. I felt truly bad for “merry little Malifry” and astounded by Jacks continued cruelty and general apathy throughout much of the tale...for me at least, this seemed story telling at its best. As said, “the earth draws” seemed allegorical and haunting, as was perhaps “the cormorants of andvaer”, the later linking our world to the sacred and the animalistic, as well as the impermeance of all things. “Isaac and the parson of brono” was humorous in a macabre way. “The wind gnome” seemed a bit of a moral tale. “The huldrefish” was a fast bit of whimsy. “Finn blood” was one of my favorite, as it shows how far we have come in the battle against racism and how far we have yet to go. That people once were largely racist and nasty towards people that looked almost identical is striking-I live in a time when I doubt anyone would think more than a second on if someone might be ethically this or that for the most part, with certain large exceptions still plaguing society. To me it seemed very sad how the protagonist morphed into his racism though I was happy for how things worked out, as it seemed to at least leave us on a high note that the innocence of youth before being taught racism might be reattained. The homestead westward in the blue mountains” was fascinating-I mean, what a lucky youth to have four maidens pinning after him, though then again there was the serpent imagery and all, so maybe not. With a great change in society I for one didn’t see what the big deal was about there being no home stead, but though I think I probably missed the moral lesson here, I still rather enjoyed the tale. “It’s me” finished off the collection brilliantly, an absolutely hilarious tale of employment gone beyond horribly wrong. I’d recommend this collection to anyone that likes a good story tale, especially those with a bit of humor and hardness, and the sounds of the sea washing through the stories.
July 13, 2024
this came to my attention from ulla thynell’s illustrated collection of nordic tales, which ended with jonas lie’s jack of sjöholm and the gan-finn. this includes that and ten more stories, all translated in 1893 by robert bain. unfortunately his translations leave something to be desired. i’m not sure if it’s because of how archaic his style is, but each story is appended with unnecessary footnotes and has very sparse prose. reliance on imagination for this collection is a must. thankfully the content is so far from the usual that it’s easy to get swept away and fill in the lines on your own. my favorites: the cormorants of andvær (a shape-shifting waterbird), the huldrefish (entry to an unknown realm), and finn blood (star-crossed romance between a scandinavian boy/finnish girl).
January 6, 2024
🖋️ “Weird Tales” is an appropriate description of these stories by Norwegian Jonas Lie. Although they are written with an old-fashioned style, these are not for my taste.
📙Published in 1893.
Chapters
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 I
X. FINN BLOOD
X. THE HOMESTEAD WESTWARD IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
XI. "IT'S ME!"
🟣 Kindle.
●▬●♦️●♦️●▬●
📙Published in 1893.
Chapters
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 I
X. FINN BLOOD
X. THE HOMESTEAD WESTWARD IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
XI. "IT'S ME!"
🟣 Kindle.
●▬●♦️●♦️●▬●
November 20, 2018
ترجمة سيئة أدت لصعوبة القراءة و فهم النص الأصلي
August 12, 2022
Interesting setting that I usually have only experienced through myths. Slightly pedestrian storytelling style.
May 9, 2024
‘The Earth Draws’ — Huldrefolkussy just hits different.
September 8, 2024
✔️The Earth Draws 9/08/2024
April 4, 2025
Đã có bản dịch Những Câu Chuyện Kì Bí Vùng Biển Bắc của Nguyễn Thành Nhân (dịch tuec tiếng Anh)
October 24, 2013
October 2013
The Tug of War
The Tug of War
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews