Short Fiction · Chapter
Tug of War explained
After a storm, a fishing crew attempts to launch a Fembøring but finds it immovable.
What happens
After a storm, a fishing crew attempts to launch a Fembøring but finds it immovable. A man with second sight warns it is too heavy for human strength. A skeptical fourteen-year-old boy throws a stone into the boat, provoking a Draug to emerge and flee into the sea, allowing the boat to launch. That night, the Draug returns and drags the boy toward the door. The crew struggles to hold him, but after a fierce tug-of-war, the Draug releases the boy, who is found dead.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and Folklore
The Draug's attack and the second sight of a crew member illustrate deep-rooted folk beliefs in supernatural forces.
Fate and Free Will
The boy's skeptical defiance of the supernatural warning leads to his inevitable death, highlighting the tension between human will and fate.
Characters to notice
- The Draug
Appears as a seaweed-headed seaman, weighs down the boat, then drags the skeptical lad to his death.
- Jack of Sjöholm
Implied as part of the fishing crew; present during the Draug encounter.
Key passages
“One of the crew, however, who belonged to the fishing-station (he was a smart lad of fourteen), was amusing them all the time with all manner of pranks and tomfoolery. He now caught up a heavy stone, and pitched it with all his might right into the stern of the boat.”
A clever fourteen-year-old boy from the station, who had been joking around, picked up a heavy stone and threw it hard into the back of the boat.
The boy's reckless act provokes the Draug's appearance.
“Then, suddenly and plainly visible to them all, out of the boat rushed a Draug in seaman’s clothes, but with a heavy crop of seaweed instead of a head.”
Suddenly, everyone clearly saw a Draug—dressed like a sailor but with seaweed where its head should be—rush out of the boat.
The Draug's terrifying form is revealed to the entire crew.
“All at once the Draug let go, so that the whole crew fell higgledy-piggledy backwards on to the floor. Then they found that the boy was dead; it was only then that the Draug had let him go.”
Suddenly the Draug released its grip, causing the crew to tumble backward. They then discovered the boy was already dead; only then had the Draug let go.
The Draug's victory is confirmed as the boy dies during the struggle.