Of Huldras and Fossegrimmen

“Even in terms of fiction, nothing in their lives became them like the leaving of it. King Fjolnir rose in the night to make water, fell into a vat of mead and drowned instead; Sveigdir ran after a dwarf when drunk and vanished into a boulder; Vanlandi was trampled to death by a nightmare; Domaldi was sacrificed for good seasons; Dag was struck on the head with a pitchfork when seeking revenge for his sparrow; and so on down to the fifth century.”  Gwynn Jones (on odd deaths and Vikings)

We boarded a small ferry in Gudvangen bound for Flam. The ferry would bring us along the Naeroyfjord, the narrowest fjord channel in Europe. The weather was cold and rainy but the mountains were high, the water deep, and waterfalls plentiful. 

We disembarked at Flam, the only village with a train connection. Flam is surrounded by steep mountains, deep valleys, and the ubiquitous waterfalls. We even saw a couple of Fjord horses. Population of Flam is only 450. However, over the course of a year, it receives almost 450,000 visitors, primarily due to the huge cruise ships that ply the fjord. Over recent years, villages like Flam have become alarmed at the consequences of such high tourist traffic. The number of people puts a huge strain on the village’s one public toilet (such that visitors use other means upsetting to the village folk) and the heavy oil/diesel pollution in the once pristine fjord is reaching alarming heights. Ships are also allowed to dump their greywater when docked in Flam and the locals talk about how the fish have disappeared from the waters. Flam receives over 160 cruise ships a year so it is easy to see how problematic that can be.

 The next morning we boarded the train. The Flam line between Flam and Myrdal is 20 kilometers long. However, because it is one of the steepest railway tracks in the world and because it uses a system called ‘spiralling’ to ascend the mountain, it took us an hour to complete the trip. A railway spiral rises on a steady curve until it completes a loop, sometimes passing over itself as it gains height. It was a little disconcerting to see ourselves going as we were coming. And it was high, snow and ice was still in abundance.

At one point, the train stopped and one of the conductors ran up to the front of the train where he changed the shunt tracks by hand so that we and an approaching train would not be on the same track. That was a little disconcerting too, admittedly.

At another point, the train stopped again and allowed people off to take a photo of a magnificent waterfall. A Metallic Voice on the overhead intercom warned that the deck could be wet. An understatement! Barry went out (in pants and t-shirt only) to take a photo. I noticed that several people were donning rain coats, hats, and boots such that they looked like fishermen on a Newfoundland fishing boat. Barry came back a short time later, completely soaked. “The deck is more than a little slippery”, he dryly commented. Apparently the force of the waterfall is such that it washes great gouts of spray and surge completely across the deck, causing its own mini rainstorm in the process. The more prepared people had obviously either ridden this train before or had more informative trip guides than the information that was given to us.

We also noticed a phenomena that repeated itself over and over again on this trip. There are people that take photos of scenery, or landscapes, or buildings, etc.; and those that take selfies of themselves in front of the subject, reducing the spectacular to background. Strange, we thought.

As we chugged further into the deep forests and steep mountainsides, Metallic Voice told us of the existence of the Huldra. Norway is rampant with trolls of one kind or another, but Metallic said that this troll is particular to that area between Flam and Myrdal. The Huldra is a troll-like woman living in the abundant woods on the steep mountainsides and in the valley. She is un-troll-like in that she is fair and beautiful, but is wild and has a long cow-tail. She is a lonely, lost soul, doomed to live underground. She tries to tempt human passersby to remain with her so she won’t be alone anymore.

As we passed yet another series of waterfalls, pounding their way from the heights to the floor of the valley, Metallic Voice told us another story. This one was of the Fossegrimmen (also known as just Grim as that is the Norwegian word for waterfall). The Grim is a water creature. He is a young, handsome man who sits naked under waterfalls, playing the fiddle. He plays the music of nature itself; the sound of the water, the wind in the trees, it all comes from his music. He is said to teach humans how to play if they secretly brought him a stolen piece of meat. Torgeir Augundsson, better known as Myllarguten, was a famous fiddle-player from Telemark, Norway who was so good it was rumored he had sold his soul in exchange for Fossegrimmen’s skills.

So lots of trolls, and the Huldra, and the musical Fossegrimmen, but I have noticed a decided lack of wildlife in our travels so far. While out driving with Martin in Italy, we saw one lone deer – quickly, briefly. Martin’s excitement is indicative of how rare an occurrence this is. While climbing on the train through the Flam valley and mountainsides, I expected to see some sort of wildlife. However, though we passed enough ponds, pools, and lakes to slake the thirst of the world, there were no ducks bobbing on the surfaces, no animals drinking at their shores, no moose, no deer, no wolves, no mountain goats. We saw, instead, a few flocks of sheep. Perhaps a cow or two, and two Fjord horses. Nothing more through all that tangle and tumble of wildness. 

Martin had told me, in explanation of how exciting it was to see a deer, that Europe is particularly bad for having pushed all of its wild things out – due to agriculture or development. He admitted that in those parts of Europe that humans found too challenging to live in, the wild may still be found. But certainly not in Tuscany, and sadly, it appeared also not in the mountains and valleys of Flam. That being said, there is no doubt that this part of Norway is one of the most beautiful places on earth.