Friday, May 20, 2011

Looks like very old magic

Veien hjem
My friend Heidi often says that all of Norway looks like Narnia. I understand, but I don't agree. As a child, I never fell in love with Narnia as much as I did with The Lord of the Rings. There was always a sense that I was being tricked, that Lewis didn't truly believe in his world the way Tolkien did. Narnia just didn't feel real enough. It didn't feel true.
En hestehale
Of course, Norway does not look like Middle-Earth, either. It doesn't whisper of elves and dwarves and a peaceful time under the stars. But Norway has its very own flavor of magic. A green, old, wild sort of magic that gathers under mossy pines between towering mountains.
The road
Or a gray, cold sort of magic that washes over rocks and shores along the coast, swirled up by seabirds.
Bad omen
Or a knowing, watchful magic that lingers under bridges and barns and old stone walls.
Låve komplett med fuglekasser og traktor
I secretly hope that some day, someone will say: Oh, all of Norway looks like Sylver. To which I would reply: On the contrary. All of Sylver looks like Norway.
Bevegelse
All photos, as usual, by Lin.

6 comments:

Heidi said...

Honestly, Narnia never really captured me either(and I confess to not particularly being a Tolkien fan, to boot). But "Narnia" is just my shorthand for a magical, almost impossibly beautiful place. I tend to think of Sylver as a stunningly beautiful WINTER landscape. But all Line's photos of green hills and clear streams and dense, lush woods make me think of someplace else. Like Norway. Where I really wish I could be right now. And you DO have elves and such. What about Kjeld? (baiting him to start hurling hamster- and elderberry-related insults at me via the Internets). ;-)

tone almhjell said...

And right you are. Sylver is, after all, the Realm of Snow. But there are others that are windwept and bare, or gray and cold, or green and old, or sweet and sunny. And then there are the hidden realms, the realms under rock and bone, where only the pale ones go.

Also, I think maybe Kjeld is a goblin.

Connie Onnie said...

I just realized one of the girls I went to high school Lauren Hays now Jensen lives in Oslo Norway. I love that a world so big can seem so small sometimes.
Thank you for sharing the photos coming from the desert and although I love it, I love seeing others sides of the world.

Li:ne said...

I wish photos could convey smell also. Every single one of those scenes has its own. I feel like I need to leave the city this instant! Luckily we have lilacs in the city.

Heidi said...

Goblin, indeed. Although if you squint, he could easily pass for a wood-sprite.

And Line, they DO convey smell. I can smell the lush, heavy, earthy, woodsy smell and the crisp, green, sweet mountain air. Or at least I think I can. :)

bronwyn said...

I think Norway (and Sylver!) must be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.