It's a dreadful thought, but I have to say this is also a good way of getting myself to re-proof-read these sections. I keep finding typos.
Also - suddenly realised both these stories have a Norwegian theme - for no particular reason.
This is another very long one - some are really short - honest!
A close-up - the Goblin King of Norway, and the Elf King's daughter.
The King of Wands: The Elf Hill
Hans Andersen
A very long time ago, but not so far from here, there was once a grand elf-hill in which the old elf king had his palace. One day the place was all aflutter with comings and goings as the king was expecting distinguished goblin visitors of rank and had decided to invite everyone who was anyone to a huge ball in celebration. The old man of the sea and his daughters received invitations, as did the old man of the stream, the brownies, the grave-pig, the bone-horse, the church dwarf, and a whole host of others.
On their hill, the elf maidens had already begun to dance, even as the great hall was being prepared; the floor was being washed with moonlight, and the walls were polished with witch wax while the old elf king had his gold crown specially shone with powdered slate pencil.
“Dear father elf,” said his youngest daughter, “please tell us now who the guests of honor are to be.”
“Well,” he said, “ I have made a splendid match for two of you, my dear daughters. The venerable goblin king of Norway, who has a gold mine and castles and strongholds galore, is on his way here with his two sons, and each son wants a wife. The old goblin king is a real Norwegian, honest and true, straightforward and merry. I have known him for many a year, and his wife too, before she died. His sons are rough, but you can polish them easily enough.” Just as he finished speaking, hey ho, the goblin king himself arrived, impressively crowned with sparkling icicles and polished fir cones, muffled in his bearskin coat, and wearing his sledge-boots.
They all entered the mound, where all the best people were gathered. Everybody had excellent table manners except the two young Norwegian goblins, who put their feet on the table just as if they were in a rowdy inn.
However, their father conducted himself quite differently. He talked entrancingly of the high crags of Norway, and of waterfalls rushing down with a roar like thunder. He described bracing winter nights on which the sleigh bells chime, and boys with flaming torches skim over polished ice so clear that one can see the startled fish swish away underfoot. He had a way of talking that made you both hear and see the scenes he described. As he spoke the elf maidens did their dances, whirling around like tops. But the king was not interested in dancing. “Whirling indeed.” he laughed, “What else can the girls do?”
So the Elf King showed off his daughters’ skills. One could make things vanish – but this was judged by the goblins not to be a useful attribute. The next could become her own shadow, again not so useful to a practical goblin. The third had studied brewing with the swamp witch, and this skill immediately got the goblin king’s attention. The fourth daughter played a harp that could make people obey her, and the fifth liked Norwegians – something she regarded as a rare skill. The sixth was embarrassed “I can only tell the truth,” she said, “so nobody likes me.” And the seventh? Ah, the seventh daughter had the skill of telling stories. “Why, I’ll take you for my own wife,” exclaimed the king, “and in the winter you shall be our teller of tales. We shall sit in my great stone castle where the pine logs blaze, and we shall drink our mead out of the golden horns of old Norwegian kings, and have a good time indeed.”
But what of the boys? Well, they had got bored with the whole process, and forgetting all about elfin wives were off racing around the fields. Dismissing them from his mind, the old goblin danced around the room with his young bride. Then he changed boots with her, which for goblin-kind was much more fashionable than merely exchanging rings. Just then, the cock crowed. The dancing was finished, but at least one maiden had found a good match.
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES
Theatrical and charismatic – a showman • Unconventional and often inspiring • A communicator who can carry off eccentricity with panache • A leader who attracts followers with sheer energy • Someone who never follows the pack – always out in front.
The King of Wands is a showman - he loves to be noticed and to be the centre of attention. One of the lovely, and very Andersen, touches in this story is that the old goblin king manages unintentionally to completely outshine his dull sons. The older and more socially able king is the one who combines straightforwardness with an unexpected romanticism, whereas his sons are simply louts. While we see that the king is attracted by the elf who can brew good beer, it’s the girl who can tell stories that he immediately takes for his own - at heart he loves imagination and fantasy more than ale, but his sons are quite the opposite in their tastes.
When this Court card appears in a reading it tends to indicate the influence of someone who is self-assured, showy, very active and often charismatic. Think of the way in which the old goblin king enters completely into the spirit of the ball, telling fabulous stories, charming his hosts and, at the end, dancing with energy and enthusiasm, and you have a snapshot of this King. He may not necessarily be physically handsome (although sometimes he will be), but he is always attractive. It isn’t surprising that he’s often the one who gets the girl, and that he’s also usually surrounded by friends old and new.
While it may not be strictly relevant to the most obvious meanings in reading this card, there is an aspect of this story that may repay discussion; this is the whole notion of elves and fairies living in mounds and hills. Lewis Spence, writing in British Fairy Origins sees this as a very strong indication that there was much confusion and merging together of old myths about ghosts, spirits and fairies. As he writes, “Many barrows and other sepulchral spots in Britain and elsewhere are pointed out as fairy dwellings.” [Spence] It’s obvious to anyone who reads much fairy mythology that the very same mounds that were used to bury the dead in ancient times were later associated with both the hauntings of spirits and the activity of the fae. Certainly, to enter a neolithic barrow or a fairy mound (and they could be one and the same site) was seen as dangerous for humans. It’s significant, in this tale by Andersen, that it’s only denizens of fairyland who are invited to the Elf Hill; for ordinary people the glamour of fairy is both hazardous and often false.
So perhaps an awareness of the dangers of fairy hills can add an unusual, but significant, nuance to this card? Mostly the King of Wands is like an egotistical but charismatic older actor - insisting on being the centre of attention but with such charm and energy that few people around him really mind. But perhaps, just sometimes, he does carry a certain danger in his attraction? Certainly with this King all may not be as it appears and theatricality and performance will come above sense and sensibility at times. So admire, enjoy and befriend this King, but don’t get too caught up in his performance, it may fade with the light of reality and leave you with little but faint memories of colour, fantasy and a beguiling glamour.
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