Character guide

Jack of Sjöholm

major

Also known as Jack

A shipwrecked boatman from Sjöholm who, taken in by a Finn family, cannot stop redesigning their boat even as the Finn girl Seimke falls in love with him.

Eilert

major

A fisherman's son drawn to the Finn family across the promontory, torn between his parents' contempt for them and his fascination with Zilla and her tales of Draugs and Mermen.

Gjermund Strömshagen

supporting

Also known as Gjermund, Strömshagen

A debt-ridden young farmer of Strömshagen, proud and quick-fisted, whose boyhood friendship with Sigrid Evjen survives the lawsuit that ruined his family.

Bardun

supporting

A Finmark strongman who outlasted every magistrate sent to rule him, only to find his daughter's officer husband quietly taking the reins of power he thought secure.

Elias

supporting

A boatman who buys a Fembøring on the builder's strange condition that he never alter it, then sails his family home into a rising gale.

Toad

supporting

Also known as stout Toad

Toad astonishes the household by hauling hogsheads of train-oil from the boats into the shop, and the general dealer's delighted laughter buys her a lifetime of idleness. She trades that strength for small tyrannies — pilfered syrup, gobbled porridge, sly ogling whenever her master passes through the door — while her mistress watches the sugar-pot dwindle. Her comic, unsettling presence exposes how favoritism and appetite quietly govern the household's economy.

Sigrid Evjen

supporting

Also known as Sigrid, Evjen

Sigrid runs the family council with kind, sensible words and an innate dignity that makes everyone call her an heiress, yet she turns away the richest peasants of the district one by one. When her father jests that she will end up with the brawler Gjermund Strömshagen, she flees the room in tears — proof that the old childhood friendship across the ravine is no small thing. Her withheld choice sits at the center of the feud between the two farms.

Seimke

supporting

Also known as this Seimke

Seimke moves between the Gan-Finn's smoke-filled hut and the bewitched snow-hills, whispering warnings to Jack about the Finn's anger and the boat that would ruin his fair-wind trade. She smuggles Jack in under the old man's nose, feeds him, and lies with her forehead to the floor praying to the Finn God while the Finn jöjks among the ashes. Her divided loyalty — kin to the magic, drawn to the stranger — makes her the fragile hinge on which Jack's survival turns.

The Gan-Finn

supporting

Also known as the old Finn, The Finn, Gan-Finn

The Gan-Finn broods in his smoky hut among the ashes, jöjking and muttering until the ground shakes, while snow-hills multiply and northern lights blaze long into the day to keep Jack from the sea. He shelters the boatman in his house even as he hunts him through fog and drifts, a host and a hunter at once. His magic gives the tale its eerie weather and stakes: one man's boat against one sorcerer's livelihood.

The General Dealer

minor

A merchant character who appears in the narrative.

The Draug

supporting

The Draug seizes a lad in the night and pulls him toward the door while the fishermen grip his arms and upper body, swaying back and forth through the midnight hour in a tug-of-war no one can win. When the creature finally lets go, the crew tumbles backward and finds the boy dead. Its grip on the story is the same as its grip on the boy: a cold, patient reminder that the sea takes what it is owed.

Her Master

minor

A master character referenced in the narrative.

Jon Evjen

supporting

Also known as Evjen, old Jon Evjen, Jon, old Jon

Jon Evjen secured the contested brushland behind the hill with three fragile hedges the law recognized, and the victory impoverished Strömshagen and left Gjermund's family in debt. Proud of his thriving farm, he cannot resist needling his daughter Sigrid about the brawler neighbor, then half-regrets the tears it costs her. His old triumph and his careless tongue set the feud and the courtship both in motion.

Bernt

minor

A named character appearing in the narrative.

Boel

minor

A female character with a presence in the stories.

The Grey

minor

Also known as old Grey

A grey-colored animal or entity featured in a story.

The Boat-Master

minor

A master of a boat who appears in the narrative.

The Finn God

minor

Also known as God, Finn, Finn blood

A deity or supernatural figure associated with the Finns.

Thore

minor

A named character with a brief appearance in the narrative.

The Finns

minor

Also known as the Norwegian Finns

A group of Finn people referenced in the stories.

The Merman

minor

Also known as the lurking old Merman

A mythical merman appearing in the narrative.

Isaac

supporting

A fisherman haunted by a leather jacket and sea-boot he dredged up, whose stubborn insistence on a proper funeral earns him a reputation for second sight.

Madame

minor

Also known as row Madame

A woman referred to as Madame in the narrative.

Oesten Störsat

minor

Also known as the rich Oesten Störsat, Störsat, Oesten

A wealthy man from Störsat appearing in the stories.

Kjel

minor

A named character with a minor role in the narrative.

A Young Officer

minor

A young military officer appearing in the stories.

Anders Brunsberg

minor

Also known as Brunsberg

A named character from Brunsberg in the stories.

Karen

minor

A female character with a minor role in the narrative.

Malfri

minor

Also known as merry little Malfri, pretty Malfri

A cheerful young woman appearing in the stories.

Old Jon

minor

Also known as Jon

An older man named Jon appearing in the stories.

Brönö

minor

A character or place name referenced in the narrative.

The Draugs

minor

Multiple draug creatures appearing collectively in the tales.

Swain

minor

A young man or servant character in the stories.