Staffan the Stable Boy

It's Christmas night. The dark winter sky is hovering above a snow-covered landscape. Nature is lifeless and quiet; only the stars seem to breathe. It is Christmas peace, and a bright star is reminiscent of the one who shone above the manger of Christ. On this holy night, one would think that humans too would find peace. Suddenly however, the sound of feet drifts across the courtyard. A torch moves across to the stables, and after a while riders in wild gallop is seen leaving the farms, following the road to the nearest neighbor. Shouting and and screaming interrupt the silence of the night.

Such nightly rides bore some resemblance to the dreaded åsgårdsreien (Eng. the wild hunt)- only worse. With their shrieks and bawls, the riders made as much havoc as they could, knocking down the doors, banging on the timber walls. At each door they got a sip of the mighty Christmas beer, and as the night unfolded, the more intense the riding became. Not seldom did a rider fall off his horse, making the animal run home unaccompanied. 

Yet these rides were not solidly an excuse to kicking down the neighbour's door for a taste of the Christmas beer. There were also had a earnest idea involved; for it was said that one should go out to the crack of dawn with the horses and let them drink of the wells. There were some springs in particular which had a reputation for their clean water, and it was important to be there first; it was "holy water," and whoever drank first, drank wine; the horses would thrive of such water. As a result, there was a violent race race to come first, people rode like crazy. Coming in second was simply not an option, stories tell even of lives being lost. This nocturnal race called for the "'Staffan's race," and songs about him have been sung in Scandinavia since the Middle Ages. Staffan was a stableboy, watering his horses… These lines of text are among our oldest musical treasures. But who was he really - this Steffan?

The biblical Staffan - Stephen – we already encounter in the Acts of the Apostles; shortly after Jesus' death, the number of disciples is increasing continuously. The original twelve apostles need help in the practical work of a fast-growing congregation and appoint seven men to help. One of them is Stephen - the stable boy of King Herrod. Stephen does not content himself with serving food without preaching; Stephen start doing wonders on his own which, eventually, resulting in him being being stoned to death by an angry crowd, as the first Christian martyr. Consequently, Stephen quickly became a revered saint and the deacons appointed Stefanus as their patron saint. His increasing popularity led to the legends surrounding his life story, legends that were both colorful and imaginative – and completely devoid of reality.

The rooster miracle depicted on an altar front from the 1100s. Originating from Broddetorp's church in Västergötland, the altar piece is exhibited at the Historical Museum in Stockholm.

One of the legends tells about how Stephen on the night of Christmas Eve sees the Star of Bethlehem. He understands that it is a sign that the King of Judah, the Savior, has been born. Stephen tells of his discovery of Herod. The king refuses to believe his words, unless the fried rooster lying on his breakfast table rises, flaps his wings and crows. Of course, this is exactly what happens. The king is horrified at how powerful this newborn king must be who can already do such wonders. He decides to kill the child who threatens his kingdom. Stefanus himself is captured and stoned to death outside the city walls. “The rooster miracle”, as the event was called, became the prelude to the Massacre of the Innocents; by Herod’s orders, all boys two years of age and younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity, should be killed. In the Middle Ages there was a widely held belief that the child murders in Bethlehem were the first and perhaps most cruel of the martyrs.

In medieval Scandinavia, the legend of Stefanus, or Staffan as he is called here, takes on a quite different approach in which the horses play an important role. It's Christmas night and Staffan has ridden out to a well to water Herod's horses. But a horse refuses to drink from the water. It has seen the reflection of the star in the water and rears frightened into the night sky. 

Staffan stable boy and the star depicted on the ceiling of Dädesjö church in Småland.

Images of Staffan with his horses or in conjunction with the rooster miracle became popular in the early medieval Scandinavian art. The motif is often found on baptismal fonts as part of the story of Jesus' birth. The fact that it became so popular may have to do with the long and protracted Christianization process that characterized especially the ancient Sweden. Around the year 1100, the majority of the Swedish population was still pagan. It took nearly 300 years for Christianity to gain a foothold. The long missionary period caused Bible stories to emerge at the same time as a later developed cult of saints. The legend of Stephen and Herod must have been quite remodeled when it came to the Nordic countries, for then to be transformed by local traditions. In the Old Norse cult, the horse was put in the center and Christmas was a time when you should take special care of your horses. Making pagan customs Christian became a way for the new religion to establish itself. The legend of Stefan and Herod is a typical example of this initiation.

With Gustaf Vasa and the Reformation, the Catholic saint traditions connected to Stephen was abolished. Staffan the stable boy however, did not lose his popularity. During the 18th century, it was common to go horseback racing, in relation with the Staffan cult, and long into the 20th century he remained a part of the Christmas plays and carols, performed on his memorial day, the 26th of December.

Nowadays, the songs about Steffan stable boy has been as become a cherished part of the Lucia-celebration, as a companion of the female saint. "Staffansvisan", "Sankt Staffan" or "Staffan was a stable boy" is a well known and traditionally bound Swedish Lucia song, which is usually performed by the star boys in a so called Lucia proseccion.

Sources:

• Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson. 'Staffan var en stalledräng.' URL: https://historiska.se/upptack-historien/artikel/staffan-var-en-stalledrang/ 
• Kristofer Visted (2016). Jul i gamle dager. Norsk Folkeminnelag/ Scandinavian Academic Press/Spartacus. 

"Betrothed to the Mountain King". The ballad of Liti Kjersti

In the common folk belief, the idea that the subterraneans could lure people into their realm, was well established. For the most part, this practice did not occur at random, yet was percieved as a punishment for committing some sort of norm violation. Whoever in charge to keep watch over the cattle, should not under any circumstances fall asleep, act careless, accompany strangers; if so doing, chances were that underworld creatures would come and lure you off the beaten track.

Many stories tells of a young boy or girls’ encounter with the creatures in the mountain. Some emphasize the splendor and riches which was finally within grasp; for those wrestling the struggle and toil of everyday life, the idea of surrender to a magical world of otherworldly creatures might have been alluring. However, this feature is not a predominant part of these legends. It was considered a great victory when someone was freed from the subterranean grasp, returning to conventional labor. If one were lucky that is; for the stories exists also about many a soul, returning from the mountains as halfwits mutes, never being able to recover back to a normal life. 

Painting by Swedish artist Axel Törneman (1880-1923). The Troll King and the Princess, 1905

Painting by Swedish artist Axel Törneman (1880-1923).

The Troll King and the Princess, 1905

As with the idea that the subterraneans execute kidnappings, by switching human babies with their own changelings, it was also believed that these creatures were able to mate, and consequently have children with human beings. According to the folk belief, it was usually young women who were lured into the mountain, and several songs depict their longing back to the human realm. In Norway, the ballad of Liti Kjersti is one of the most well-known within this folk song-tradition – similar ballads are to be found also in Sweden, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Scotland.

Liti Kjersti has been lured by mountain king into his realm, where she gives birth to his children. After returning to her own home, her mother discovers this because of milk dripping from her daughters’ breasts. Kjersti Plays a harp that the mountain king has given her, and he comes riding to the farm and takes her with him. When they approach the mountain, her little children come running toward her, and Kjersti recieves a forgetfulness potion, so all reminiscent of the world of mankind is lost.

This ballad has been interpreted in many different ways throughout the years, and it is perhaps part of the reason why it has been so popular. Different singers and listeners have been able to add different experiences and emotions in it. Some emphasize the tragedy of Liti Kjersti being seduced and abducted by someone who lures her from her familiar and safe environment. However, although being identified as a “mountain king”, he can also be interpreted as a symbol of a man who does not fit within the socially accepted norms of relations – therefore Kjersti is evicted from home, when deciding she wants to be with him nonetheless. The text has also been subjected to a psychoanalytic interpretation that goes in the direction of strong maternal bond, and Kjersti inability to secede and choose for herself. The mountain king in this sense emerges as both her liberator as well as her destruction. Kjersti must make a clean break with her mother to able to see to her children again, and to return to where she has come to belong.

Little Kjersti was so young and innocent a maiden,
- The brown foal trips so lightly.
She could not govern her own life.
- But the rain falls and the wind blows,
because far north in the mountains,
deep beneath the rocks the underworld is luring you.

Welcome, Mountain King, to my home
- The brown foal trips so lightly.
I have prepared ale and vine.
- But the rain falls and the wind blows,
because far north in the mountains,
deep beneath the rocks the underworld is luring you.

They gave her a drink poured in a red and golden horn
- The brown foal trips so lightly.
and into the drink they slipped three villar grains
- But the rain falls and the wind blows,
because far north in the mountains,
deep beneath the rocks the underworld is luring you.

In the mountain I wish to live and die
- The brown foal trips so lightly.
And there I am betrothed to the Mountain King.
- Oh, the rain falls and the wind blows,
because far north in the mountains,
deep beneath the rocks the underworld is luring you.

Sources:

• Ørnulf Hodne (1999). Norsk folketro. Cappelen. 
• 30 ballader – om drap og elskov, skjemt og lengsel (Norsk Visearkiv). URL: http://www.bokselskap.no/wp-content/themes/bokselskap2/tekster/pdf/30ballader.pdf 
• Thank you to Gjendine at Lyricstranslate for the wonderful translation of Liti Kjersti: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/liti-kjersti-little-kjersti.html

The Search for Spring

Now the sun is shining, on the highest hillsides
It is spring, I know it in my heart
The song is chiming in every valley
And the south wind draws near and makes my day

Written by Hans Hyldbakk from Surnadal during the spring of 1945, the poem “Vårsøg” (“the search for spring”) might first surface as a sole tribute to the season; the smell of grass, the warmth of the sun, and the beauty of the moment when the sun is shining down on snow white summits.

The text is however first and foremost a reflection of the time it was written; the 9th of April 1940, Norway had been invaded by German troops, an attack which initiated almost 5 years of German occupation. When peace finally at long last was within reach, it is only natural to assume that the approaching coming of spring emerged as a expression of the brighter days to come.

26 years later, the Norwegian composer Henning Sommerro, then 19 years of age, created a melody for this poem, which has grown to be a beloved part of the Norwegian musical canon. For many Norwegians, Vårsøg is not a song; it is a sound – the sound of the coming of spring. In my opinion, there needn’t be any contradiction between the musical expression and Hyldbakks’ original aim; listening closely, the melody appears quite solemn, and almost humble in a way. It is a reminder to never take these brighter days for granted, nor the privilege to draw our breath in peace.

Christmas Eve

Twinkling lights are glowing
in silent hamlets tonight
And the hands of thousand children
hold the lights up towards the sky.

And joyful with song they’re greeting
their brother in heaven’s hall,
who came to us as our savior
as a child in a little stall.

There he laid, on a pillow made of hay
crying in his simple crib
the angles singing out there
on the desolate meadows of Bethlehem.

There they sang, for the first time
at night above David’s town
the eternal heavenly song,
which is always is young and new.

The song which tolls once more
with cheer each Christmas night
about the child, God's Son, our reconciler,
who gave us eternal life.

Jakob Sande 1929. 

Foto: Gyldendal.

Eigar: Jakob Sande-selskapet

On what has been said to be a sizzling hot summer’s day in 1931, a young man sat in a garden in the shadow of a tree and wrote. The man was Jakob Sande, the poet who two years before had published the poetry collection Svarte næter ("Black nights,") a book which had attracted a great deal of attention. The poem he now was about to write, was commissioned to be a part of a Christmas booklet by the title Jol in Sunnfjord (“Christmas in Sunnfjord”). The poem was simply called Jolekveld (”Christmas Eve”). 

Jakob Sande himself probably did not think very highly of what was to become his most famous poem, for it is not represented in any of his poetry collections. The public however, would have it otherwise, much due to the melody created for the poem by Lars Søraas in 1948. Today known as Det lyser i stille grender ("Twinkling lights are glowing in silent hamlets"), Sandes lyrics and Søraas' melody belongs to the Norwegian Christmas song canon, and the song remains as one of the most well-known and beloved carols to date.

Countless versions has been put on record throughout the years, the perhaps most renowned sung by Sissel Kyrkjebø (whom many might remember from the Titanic-soundtrack, as well as Prince Igor, a 1997-crossover duet with rapper Warren G.)

The following version, I must however admit to be my favorite one by far. Performed by the Norwegian trio Vintermåne, first released on their Christmas album Søde Julenat in 2005, it brings an overwhelming sense of warmth and tranquility, most certainly fit for the occasion.

With best wishes for a peaceful, and very merry Christmas.