Short Fiction · Chapter
The Wind-Gnome explained
Bardun, a headstrong skipper from Dyrevig, captures the daughter of the Wind-Gnome while gathering eiderdown from a perilous cliff.
What happens
Bardun, a headstrong skipper from Dyrevig, captures the daughter of the Wind-Gnome while gathering eiderdown from a perilous cliff. She grants him a magical rudder that ensures fair winds for him and ruin for his enemies. Bardun becomes a tyrannical ruler over Finmark, defying magistrates and the king. His daughter Boel marries a young officer against his will, and when she and her husband flee, they perish in a storm. Bardun, now believing himself a god, sails south into a monstrous storm.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and Folklore
The Wind-Gnome's daughter grants Bardun a magical rudder, embodying supernatural forces that control wind and fortune.
Greed and Ambition
Bardun's relentless pursuit of power and wealth leads him to defy all authority and ultimately to his downfall.
Fate and Free Will
Bardun's choices, driven by ambition, set a tragic fate in motion, culminating in his daughter's death and his own destruction.
Characters to notice
- Bardun
The headstrong skipper who captures the Wind-Gnome's daughter and becomes a tyrannical ruler.
- Boel
Bardun's beautiful daughter who marries a young officer and perishes in a storm.
- A Young Officer
The king's officer who woos and marries Boel, then dies at sea.
Key passages
“I am the daughter of the Wind-Gnome, and now thou hast dominion over me!”
The Wind-Gnome's daughter declares that Bardun now controls her.
This marks the moment Bardun gains supernatural power over the wind.
“He was God himself now, said he, and could always get a fair wind to steer by, and could rule where he would in the wide world.”
Bardun proclaims himself a god, believing he can command the wind and rule everywhere.
Bardun's hubris reaches its peak before his final voyage.