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Updated: May 1, 2025
It is the custom in the country regions of Norway to give the spirit Nipen a share at festival times. His Christmas cake is richer than that prepared for the guests; and, before the feast is finished, it is laid in some place out of doors, where, as might be expected, it is never to be found in the morning.
"There is no cake for you to-night, Nipen. I hope the ale will do. Is the ale good, Nipen?" Off went the dark creature, without a word, as quick as it could go. "Is it offended?" thought Oddo: "or is it really what it looks like, a fox? If it does not come back, I will go down presently, and see whether it has drunk the ale. If not, I shall think it is only a fox."
I do wish Oddo would grow wiser." Ulla shook her head, and then nodded, to intimate that they would not talk of Nipen; and she began to speak of something else. "How did Hund conduct himself yesterday? I heard my husband's account: but you know Peder could say nothing of his looks. Did you mark his countenance, dear?"
"But, Hund," said Oddo, "how did Nipen take hold of you when it laid you sprawling on the rock? Neck and heels? Or, did it bid you go and harken whether the pirates were coming, and whip away the boat before you came back? Are you quite sure that you sprawled on the rock at all before you ran away from the horrible cry you speak of? Our rocks are very slippery, when Nipen is at one's heels."
"You will hear me say less of Nipen, henceforward," said Erica. "That is wise for to-night, at least. Here is the west wind; but only to waft the enemy into our hands. But have you really left off believing in Nipen, and the whole race of sprites?" These words jarred on Erica's yet timid feelings.
There was nothing terrible in the sound itself; yet Oddo grasped the rail of the gallery with all his strength, as he heard it. The strangest thing was, it was not a single cry; others followed, all soft and sweet; but Oddo thought that Nipen must have many companions: and he had not prepared himself to see more spirits than one.
The west wind is, in winter, the great foe of the fishermen of the fiords: it brings in the fog from the sea, and the fogs of the Arctic Circle are no trifling enemy. If Nipen really had the charge of the winds, he could not more emphatically show his displeasure towards any unhappy boatman than by overtaking him with the west wind and fog.
A breath of wind seemed to bring a sudden darkening of the friendly lights which had blazed up higher and brighter, from their first appearance till now. Both rowers looked down the fiord, and uttered an exclamation at the same moment. "See the fog!" cried Oddo, putting fresh strength into his oar. "O Nipen! Nipen!" mournfully exclaimed Erica. "Here it is, Oddo, the west wind!"
Everybody knew this to be true, though Oddo himself declared that he was as frightened as anybody sometimes. Moreover, he asked what there was to pry into, on the present occasion, in the middle of the night, and appealed to the company whether Nipen was not best pleased to be served by the youngest of a party.
He stood listening whether Nipen was coming in a gust of wind, and when he heard no breeze stirring, he looked about for a cloud where Nipen might be. There was no cloud, as far as he could see. The moon had set, but the stars were so bright as to throw a faint shadow from Oddo's form upon the snow.
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