dhampyresa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dhampyresa) wrote2009-11-17 10:04 am
dhampyresa) wrote2009-11-17 10:04 am
Entry tags:
Du Gamla, Du Fria
I'm also quite proud of this, despite the relatively short time I wrote it in. (Saved from the meme, will de-anon to main comm when Nordics series is over)
Number 2: Sweden
Du gamla, Du fria
There is a child in the village of Vendel that has no mother and no father. That in itself is not unusual. But the boy is an orphan from the north and fancies himself a jötunn.
There is some sense in that as he is not yet fifteen years of age and is already as tall as most grown men.
There is silent fury in his features that is like roll of thunder on a calm summer evening. It is not that the child is frightening per say but that something about him is disquieting and otherworldy.
And he comes from the mountains of the north, the Jotunheimen. The Home of the Giants.
It is no wonder then that the child believes he is one of the jötnar. Half Vendel believes it too.
Berwald Oxenstierna, the boy's name is. The boy. The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden. The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden's name is Berwald Oxenstierna.
The boy's name is Berwald Oxenstierna. Berwald Oxenstierna. Berwald. Berwald Oxenstierna.
Berwald Oxenstierna. It is a good, simple Uppsala name. Yet it does not seem to stick.
There is something about the boy which makes it strange to call so. The half of Vendel that does not believe he is one of the jötnar choose to ignore him because of this.
The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden is respected, ignored or feared for his strange origins. But not loved. No.
There are no children gathering around him to hear his stories, for stories he has, a great many of death-defying bravery and fearsome monsters in the dark. A great many stories that go untold in the cold.
There are no girls to follow him around and swoon and bat their eyelashes at him. It is a shame for he is handsome and the best hunter in the village. No mother would let her daughter marry a jötunn and no father let him glance her way.
There are no men to hunt with him nor old women to cook for him nor friends for him to fish with.
So the Boy-Who-Is-Not-A-Jötunn-But-Does-Not-Know-It-Yet hunts alone, cooks alone and fishes alone.
But it is alright.
There is something in the rustling of the leaves, the crackle of the fire and whisper of the water that makes him feel at home.
Then one day his whole world changes.
The boy meets a jötunn.
The jötunn is taller than him by 2 spans and a half and has hair the color of wildfire.
"Hello" says the jötunn. "You appear to be lost. Can I help you?"
The Not-Yet-Sweden grunts in reply.
"I'm afraid I don't understand" says the jötunn.
"Who are you?" the boy's eyes seem to ask.
"I am Loki, son of Laufey. I am one of the jötnar. Who are you, child that walks our woods?" Loki's voice has a chanting edge to it that wasn't there before.
"'M a j't'nn." says Berwald.
"You're too short to be a jötunn. You're shorter than me! And I'm only a half-jötunn and am still growing."
"Indeed he is not" the voice rings in the clearing drowning out the sounds of the forest. No. Not drawing them out, pulling them in, shaping them into words. This voice sounds like the voice of the trees.
"Mother!" Loki whips around and looks for her.
"You are far out of your way, Konungariket Sverige." rustle the leaves in the trees.
"M' n'me's B'rw'ld." says Berwald.
"Yes, but not only. You are the Kingdom of Sweden. One day you will be great but for now you are small." One of the trees resolves itself into a island of leaves who becomes a woman.
She is beautiful and terrible all at once at their is a wisdom in her features that Berwald knows he will never gain. or at least not for a long time.
"Go forth, child, go forth and tell the world your might." she kisses his brow as she utters those words.
And Berwald founds himself leaving the clearing. As Sweden.
-----
Translations: (And no I don't speak a word of Svenska either.)
Du gamla, Du fria: "Thou ancient, Thou free" is the current national anthem of Sweden.
Konungariket Sverige.: Swedish for kingdom of Sweden
"'M a j't'nn." = I'm a jötunn.
"M' n'me's B'rw'ld." = My name is Berwald.
Which brings us to the subject of what a jötunn (plural jötnar) is. A jötunn is giant from Norse mythology. They are said to live in Jötunheimr from which the Jotunheimen mountain range (south of Norway/north of Sweden) takes it name. Jotunheimr is separated from Mitgard (our world) by high mountains and dense forests.
Loki is the son of Laufey (again in Norse mythology). His father was a jötunn but his mother is commonly believed to have been a goddess. The name Laufey is kenning for 'tree' which is why I made her the goddess guarding the way to Jotunheimr. This is a purely personal interpretation for the sake of this fill. Please don't consider it as fact.
Number 2: Sweden
Du gamla, Du fria
There is a child in the village of Vendel that has no mother and no father. That in itself is not unusual. But the boy is an orphan from the north and fancies himself a jötunn.
There is some sense in that as he is not yet fifteen years of age and is already as tall as most grown men.
There is silent fury in his features that is like roll of thunder on a calm summer evening. It is not that the child is frightening per say but that something about him is disquieting and otherworldy.
And he comes from the mountains of the north, the Jotunheimen. The Home of the Giants.
It is no wonder then that the child believes he is one of the jötnar. Half Vendel believes it too.
Berwald Oxenstierna, the boy's name is. The boy. The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden. The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden's name is Berwald Oxenstierna.
The boy's name is Berwald Oxenstierna. Berwald Oxenstierna. Berwald. Berwald Oxenstierna.
Berwald Oxenstierna. It is a good, simple Uppsala name. Yet it does not seem to stick.
There is something about the boy which makes it strange to call so. The half of Vendel that does not believe he is one of the jötnar choose to ignore him because of this.
The Boy-That-Is-Not-Yet-Sweden is respected, ignored or feared for his strange origins. But not loved. No.
There are no children gathering around him to hear his stories, for stories he has, a great many of death-defying bravery and fearsome monsters in the dark. A great many stories that go untold in the cold.
There are no girls to follow him around and swoon and bat their eyelashes at him. It is a shame for he is handsome and the best hunter in the village. No mother would let her daughter marry a jötunn and no father let him glance her way.
There are no men to hunt with him nor old women to cook for him nor friends for him to fish with.
So the Boy-Who-Is-Not-A-Jötunn-But-Does-Not-Know-It-Yet hunts alone, cooks alone and fishes alone.
But it is alright.
There is something in the rustling of the leaves, the crackle of the fire and whisper of the water that makes him feel at home.
Then one day his whole world changes.
The boy meets a jötunn.
The jötunn is taller than him by 2 spans and a half and has hair the color of wildfire.
"Hello" says the jötunn. "You appear to be lost. Can I help you?"
The Not-Yet-Sweden grunts in reply.
"I'm afraid I don't understand" says the jötunn.
"Who are you?" the boy's eyes seem to ask.
"I am Loki, son of Laufey. I am one of the jötnar. Who are you, child that walks our woods?" Loki's voice has a chanting edge to it that wasn't there before.
"'M a j't'nn." says Berwald.
"You're too short to be a jötunn. You're shorter than me! And I'm only a half-jötunn and am still growing."
"Indeed he is not" the voice rings in the clearing drowning out the sounds of the forest. No. Not drawing them out, pulling them in, shaping them into words. This voice sounds like the voice of the trees.
"Mother!" Loki whips around and looks for her.
"You are far out of your way, Konungariket Sverige." rustle the leaves in the trees.
"M' n'me's B'rw'ld." says Berwald.
"Yes, but not only. You are the Kingdom of Sweden. One day you will be great but for now you are small." One of the trees resolves itself into a island of leaves who becomes a woman.
She is beautiful and terrible all at once at their is a wisdom in her features that Berwald knows he will never gain. or at least not for a long time.
"Go forth, child, go forth and tell the world your might." she kisses his brow as she utters those words.
And Berwald founds himself leaving the clearing. As Sweden.
-----
Translations: (And no I don't speak a word of Svenska either.)
Du gamla, Du fria: "Thou ancient, Thou free" is the current national anthem of Sweden.
Konungariket Sverige.: Swedish for kingdom of Sweden
"'M a j't'nn." = I'm a jötunn.
"M' n'me's B'rw'ld." = My name is Berwald.
Which brings us to the subject of what a jötunn (plural jötnar) is. A jötunn is giant from Norse mythology. They are said to live in Jötunheimr from which the Jotunheimen mountain range (south of Norway/north of Sweden) takes it name. Jotunheimr is separated from Mitgard (our world) by high mountains and dense forests.
Loki is the son of Laufey (again in Norse mythology). His father was a jötunn but his mother is commonly believed to have been a goddess. The name Laufey is kenning for 'tree' which is why I made her the goddess guarding the way to Jotunheimr. This is a purely personal interpretation for the sake of this fill. Please don't consider it as fact.