And then there’s Norway.
That brings me back memories of when is was ~5 years old and visiting my father’s cabin in the forest, which had a copy of that painting on the wall. He would put hall of the mountain king on full blast and tell troll stories just to scare me from time to time.
Nøkken was scarier though, kept me from going down to lake alone after dark, which I guess was the original intention of that creature.
What is the name of that picture if you kbow perhaps?
The Water Sprite (Nøkken in Norwegian) by Theodor Kittelsen
He was one of the most popular artists in Norway due to his illustrations of Norwegian fairy tales and legends.
Some of his other works includes:
Pesta (personification of the black death)
And The Forest Troll
Ngl the Pesta ones are quite spooky.
The skogtrollet is rad though
Fuck yeah Savatage! Rare to see referenced in the wild.
Edit: wait I didn’t click the link, did you mean this 80s metal classic or Edvard Greig’s lol
Just heard that song (and band) for the first time, and it’s great!
Hell yeah!
I’m speaking about nordic folklore, so Edvard Grieg. I’m not sure the metal music could ever scare the same way Grieg’s symphony did back then.
Tbf while it is great peer gynt isn’t that frightening either, reminds me of Looney Tunes.
Savatage fucking rules too though, and I just remembered Rainbow also has a song by that title too which also rules!
When all you can see outside the window is the pitch black forest and the moon over the looming mountains in the valley, and your dad start telling you tales of dangerous troll lurking in the forest, The Hall of Mountain King got a different mood over it. Especially when your father is telling you that as the music is reaching its prestissimo finale the troll in the tale is running towards your house lol.
Especially with pictures like this on the wall
Savatage fucking rules too though, and I just remembered Rainbow also has a song by that title too which also rules!
Any metal band that want to draw inspiration from the nordics outside of norse mythology are bound to stumble upon Grieg and Ibsen so that checks out.
That’s Tony Tony Chopper. Don’t be scared, he’s a doctor.
