“An Evening by Andelven” paints a pastoral picture of the river west of Eidsvoll, at the close of beautiful summer’s day. We meet Sir John Tottenbroom for the first time in this text, a pompous know-it-all who is so interested in the fishing that he complains of the picturesque surroundings that draw his attention. We will meet him again in the collection’s longest text, “Mountain Scenes” (along with Per Gynt).
The tales in this text are concerned with invisibility. If you wear a hulder hat, even one that looks like a milk strainer, you will turn invisible. We have met invisible hulders before, in “An Evening Hour in The District Governor’s Kitchen,” where they hold horses until spied through the bridle. “The King of Ekeberg” also mentions an eye salve by which Christian-folk may be allowed to see the normally invisible subterraneans.
Perhaps their invisibility is why we so rarely see them.
(Now with a more more screen-friendly format.)
I'd love a pot of that eye salve! Any idea how it is made? (or if it should be?)
ReplyDeleteI have no idea, I’ll have to keep an eye out (ha!), now.
DeleteSomeone else has a recipe.
Delete