# The Wind-Gnome explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Jonas Lie.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_32_se/chapters/the-wind-gnome
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_32_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_32_se/chapters