Chapter 2 – Christmas Shopping
The lights above shone in small spots, like stars plucked from the sky and hung on the trees lining the street. In the middle of the city square stood a giant Christmas tree, towering above the two-story council building next to it. The cobblestone streets shone lazily as the thousands of lights on the trees reflected in the soft rain, making the street look almost like a mirror ball with all the small squares of reflected light. Ringkøbing is a magical city all year around, but never more so than when the old-fashioned streets are adorned with lights, stars, and evergreen branches to celebrate the holiday. Located on the western shore of Denmark, it is known for its charm and westernness – which, in Denmark, means extra gravy with the potatoes and pronouncing the word “onsdag” as “ooooonsdag”.
This is the city Loki steered the boat towards this fine Tuesday morning. The whole gang was in the boat except Sleipnir, who, Sigyn thought, would stand out a little too much with his eight legs. Vali was there though, despite his wolfish form.
The trip was not originally something they had planned, Sigyn had taken care to stock the kitchen with everything they would need over the Solstice, but last night as they were cleaning up after their introduction to Viking traditions, they had gotten to talking about different traditions, like the Yule Log that was happily burning in the living room of the house on the island, meant to signify the returning of the light. In the end they had agreed to mix it all this year – try everything, keep only their favorites, and make this time of year their own. And so, though the 22nd is a little late for this kind of thing, today they were all in town to do their Christmas shopping – something none of the Norse had heard of before, but which the Americans took great pride in.
“What the Nifl!” Loki exclaimed loudly as he spotted the giant tree in the city square.
“I’m sorry?” Max asked confused, having no idea what Nifl was supposed to be. Loki turned and looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“That’s not how you do it?” he asked, genuinely confused.
“Do what?” Max asked, equally confused.
“What you did yesterday,” Loki prompted. “You said ‘what the Hel’ – as in Helheim. What the Helheim.” Max stared at him, but then could not help but laugh.
“So you mean… like, there’s a place called Niflheim?” Both Loki and Sigyn stared at him as if he just asked them if Heimdall guards the Bifrost. Ian put a hand on Max’s shoulder to silence him.
“No, you’re right Loki,” Ian assured the god. “‘What the Nifl’ is the correct way to say it.” Max tried very hard not to smile. Loki made a mental note that it was not about the nine realms, but he would save future experiments for later. “We should probably split up,” Ian continued. “Sigyn and Nari can come with me, and Loki and Vali can go with Max – then we can switch around later so it’s Loki and Sigyn together and Nari and Vali.”
“Sounds good,” Max agreed. “We will take this way,” he said, indicating north east, not realizing there is next to nothing that way except a McDonalds. They wandered around for a bit and eventually found their way to a small second hand store called G-Faktor down a side street.
“Is that supposed to be Freya?” Loki demanded, pointing to a small figurine in the shop window. Max searched for a moment to figure out what Loki was talking about, and finally spotted the small woman in a long dress with wings on her back and a halo over her head.
“No,” he laughed softly. “That’s an angel. Those are from after your time.” Loki tilted his head and looked at the figurine.
“It kinda looks like her though,” he said. “With the golden hair and the falcon wings.” He shrugged, but then his eyes fell on something else: a figure of what appears to be a young boy with a pointy red hat on, a red shirt, grey pants, and wooden shoes. The boy had full, round cheeks painted bright red, as if he had been playing outside in the cold and just came back into the warmth. “Who’s that?” Loki demanded.
“I…” Max started. “I’m not sure, actually. Maybe an elf? Though they usually wear green.” Loki lingered a little on the small figurine, and then walked into the shop and asked the first person he found there.
“This one?” she replied, picking up the figurine. Loki confirmed. “This is called a ‘nisse’,” she informed them. “They are small creatures living in the attics of old houses. They sleep all year around except for in December where they come out. If you have a nisse living in your house and you don’t treat him or her right, for example if you forget to put out the rice pudding for them, they will make trouble for you.” Her voice was bright with fondness for the little creature, as if she truly loved the mini sized trouble maker. Loki’s eyes lit up at the sound of trouble.
“What kind of trouble?” he asked eagerly.
“Well,” the woman hesitated. “It depends on what you did to them. If it’s something minor they might turn the milk sour, or hide your keys from you, but if it’s something worse they might give you a big nose, let all the pigs out of their fold, or if it’s really bad they will burn your house down – of course, never letting harm come to the animals.” Loki’s smile faded a bit, none of those pranks were really up to his level. The sales woman noticed and smiled at him. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but imagine you have just gotten fresh milk from the grocery store, and you pour yourself a nice big glass only to taste it and find out it’s sour. Then, when your friend smells it to see if it really is sour, it is perfectly fine again. The milk is only ever sour when it’s you drinking it, and you begin to wonder if you’ve gone mad.” Loki pursed his lips and slowly nodded as she spoke.
“That sounds more like it,” he stated. “How does one get one of these nisser?” She laughed softly at him.
“Well, if they truly do exist and aren’t just a fairytale children believe in, then I suppose they come with the house. The only thing I can help you with is a figurine or a paper cutout.” Her smile faded slowly and wonderingly, and she asked them to wait there just a second. A moment later she was back holding a thick DVD box in her hand titled Purys – Alletiders Nisse.
“What is that?” Loki asked.
“It’s a TV advent calendar about nisser,” she replied, thinking he was asking about the content and not wondering what a DVD is. “Sadly,” she said and lifted her eyes from the back of the cover. “There is no English speech or subtitles available.” Ignoring the strangeness of the words she spoke, Loki replied:
“I understand Danish,” with a tone of uncertainty. Max nodded.
“We’ll take these two then,” Max said decidedly.
“Hold on,” Loki objected. “I want to see if there is anything else of interest in here.” The sales woman smiled and showed the two men around – Vali being tied to a small ring outside next to a water bowl the store has set out for all pets. The store was small and quaint, with furniture set up in the middle and a curtain sewn of old denim jeans separating the store from the employee’s workspace behind the counter. It was charming and had an old sort of feel to it, none of the moderness of rows upon rows of identical clothing and machine made goods. Here, handcrafted and second hand were in front and center, and the whole place had an undeniable feel of what the Danish call “hygge” – a concept not unlike wrapping yourself up in everything nice, like a big cozy blanket of pure happiness or bliss.
On the opposite side of town Sigyn, Nari, and Ian were working their way through something called “Bog og Ide” – which seems to be something like the Danish version of Barnes and Noble. Sigyn too had come across the concept of “nisser” – this time depicted on a puzzle. Nari had gone through pretty much the entire board game section and picked out one of each and every game to buy for Hel – so there’s a bit of entertainment down in Helheim. Sigyn had made a mental note of every book Nari had looked at and planned to come back when they switched partners and get them for him, knowing he sometimes missed Helheim a bit, for the simple reason that there were more people there to talk with.
When it was finally time to go home, they had so many presents that they could not all possibly fit into the boat. Max and Ian volunteered to stay behind and wait for Loki to sail back for them, most of all because Max had had a grand old idea and appreciated the chance to separate from the others for a little bit. As soon as they were out of sight he snuck back to the bookstore and bought all kinds of Christmas ornaments, and then shuffled off to a grocery store and bought whatever Christmassy snacks he could get a hold of. The Norse family won’t know what hit them when he is done with them.
Will Loki accept or reject the concept of Nisser as a continuation of his proud lifetime of mischief? What other traditions can Max and Ian introduce the Norse family to? And will there be any more horrors in store for the Americans? The next ten days will certainly show us.