Avoid the River at Midsummer Eve!

The river winds its way through the forest. It is Midsummer Eve. It’s not really dark, which make the trees stand in gloomy gray silhouettes.

No wind, no birdsong, only an eternal sound from the river.

This part of the forest has always seemed alarming and eerie.
In some places the trees are felled, some even broken.

Panic rises, he shouldn’t have mocked the water sprite, and now he has to cross the last bridge before he’s safe.

Suddenly the river is silent too! Only dark and smooth on the surface and without a sound –

This is how Selma Lagerlöf, the famous Swedish author, tells the story about the fiddler who meets Näcken in the forest.

I remembered the unhappy fiddler when I passed a house in the Swedish countryside on a quiet midsummer evening. From an open window, beautiful tones flowed from a violin and forced me to listen.

Midsummer Eve in particular is hazardous since it’s there, Näcken plays his violin, trying to lure people down into the rushing river…

Happy Midsummer 😃

American painter, Thomas B. Griffin.

Floden snor sig mellem træerne. Det er midsommeraften. Det er ikke rigtig mørkt. Det får træerne til at stå i dystre grå silhuetter.

Ingen vind, ingen fuglesang, kun den evige lyd af strømmende vand.

Denne del af skoven har altid virket alarmerende og uhyggelig.
Nogle steder er træerne væltede, og nogle er endda knust.

Panikken stiger, han skulle ikke have hånet Nøkken, og nu skal han krydse den sidste bro, før han er i sikkerhed.

Nu er floden også stille! Kun mørkt strømmende vand uden lyd –

Sådan fortæller Selma Lagerlöf om den populære spillemand, som møder Näcken i skoven en midsommeraften.

Jeg kom i tanke om historien, da jeg gik forbi et hus i Halland en midsommeraften. Fra et åbent vindue strømmede vidunderlige toner fra en violin, og tvang mig til at lytte.

Især midsommeraften er farlig, når Näcken spiller sin violin og forsøger at lokke menneskene ned i den strømmende flod.

God midsommer – Trevlig Midsommar Sverige 😀

Note

Midsummer evening Friday 25.6.2021

Spillemanden af Selma Lagerlöf

The Painting Thomas: B. Griffin (American, died 1918). Moonlight on the Delaware River, ca. 1896-1915. Oil on canvas, 29 15/16 x 40 1/16 in. (76 x 101.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Alfred T. Dillhoff in memory of Rosamund E. Lafferty, 54.104 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 54.104.jpg)

An Idyllic Eatery In The Forest

Peter Lieps Hus is steeped in tradition in the Deer Park north of Copenhagen.

I found wonderful paintings on wikimedia from two Danish painters: Paul Gustav Fischer and C.M. Soya – Jensen.

What a joyous time to look forward to, spring and summer ❤

Skovtur ved Peter Lieps hus i Dyrehaven, 1904
Dansk maler; Paul Gustav Fischer, 22. juli 1860 i København – 5. januar 1934 i Gentofte
commons.m.wikimedia.org

Peter Lieps House on a winter day waiting for guests to arrive.

On an autumn day in the Deer Park.

Peter Lieps Hus by Hanna’s Walk, Hanna Greenwood.

Peter Lieps Hus set fra bagsiden
Dansk maler; C.M. Soya_Jensen
Date of birth/death: 27 December 1860 – 21 February 1912
commons.m.wikimedia.org

Love Magic and Midsummer

We have been here before in winter when snow and rain vied for the right to drench the presumptuous creatures who step out on the bare and magnificent rocky beaches.
Where the wind did its best to complete the last part of the work by pushing the haughty people to the ground.
Us who thought to master the elements rampage.
Now it’s the fabled Midsummer, where anything can happen. Days, where herbs are enchanted. It’s about Freya and Frey, Vikings, rituals, and worshipping fertility and a rich harvest.
Love and magic are associated with Midsummer. If you pick seven types of flowers on the way home, and hide them under your pillow, the dream of your loved might come true.

Midsommer

Hubertusjagt , The Drag hunting

Jægersborg Dyrehave byder på mange historier, og naturligvis er haven blevet optaget på Unescos Verdensarvsliste 😎

Jeg har haft mange forskellige oplevelser i haven: En tåget morgen, hvor jeg knap kunne skimte slottet;  en dag, hvor regnen silede ned, og dyrene gik tæt forbi mig, imens de græssede; kronhjorte, der badede en steghed eftermiddag i august; en vinterdag, hvor sneen fik udsigterne til at minde mig om Norges fjeld; og ikke mindst min opdagelse af kolerakirkegården og forbindelsen til Hvidtjørnesletten.
I kan læse nogle af historierne, der ligger som links under billederne i dette indlæg.

Der er mange gode og spændende ture, jeg aldrig havde forventet at opleve i et landskab, der er så kultiveret.

Måske er det magien ved at tage på tur; at færdes på naturens præmisser og være åben over for nye indtryk –

Nu har jeg prøvet en Hubertus Jagt. Det var et rent tilfælde, jeg erfarede jagten fandt sted, og min nysgerrighed overvandt min trang til at søge mindre befærdede naturområder.

Dyrehaven var tilgæld så overbefolket, at jeg kun kunne se korte glimt af rytterne. Det kan jeg godt leve med, fordi jeg så en masse glade mennesker, som havde hver deres fest midt i trængslen.

På Eremitageslottet overværede Frederik og Mary begivenheden sammen med deres børn.

Frederik og Mary

Opløb ved Magasindammen

Opløb ved Magasindammen

Opløb ved Magasindammen

Opløb ved Magasindammen

The Deer Park

Jægersborg Dyrehave offers many stories, and of course, the garden has been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage 😎

I have many different experiences in the garden: One foggy morning I could barely make out the castle; a day when the rain poured down and the animals went close past me while they were grazing; red deer, bathing on a hot afternoon in August; a winter day when the snow made the landscape look like the Norwegian mountains; and especially my discovery of a cholera cemetery and the connection to the Hawthorn plain.

I never thought one could experience that kind of things in a landscape that cultivated. Maybe that’s some of the magic when you are out for a walk,  to get about on the conditions of nature and be open to new impressions.

Now I have tried a Hubertusjagt. It was pure coincidence, I learned ‘the hunt’ took place that particular day, and my curiosity overcame my urge to seek less crowded ‘wilderness’ areas.

Busy, it was in the Deer Park that day, and I only saw brief glimpses of the riders. I can live with that, because I saw a lot of happy people having their own private party going on.

Frederik and Mary and their children were watching the event from the castle.

Opløb ved Magasindammen

Rytterne

Navigation in the fog

The Death and The Hawthorn

Ents and Wolves

______________________

Hvad er Hubertusjagten?

Vandretur i Jægersborg Dyrehave

Happy Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600–1601):

To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn’d his clothes,
And dupp’d the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5