Tales of guidance and warning
We gather around the fire on a dark evening. There we tell tales about ghosts and ghosts. Someone who was saved from storm and accident.
This tale comes from Øksnes
A fisherman from Hjellsand in Øksnes caught a marmel one day. He knew to treat it well, so he handed over his jumper. He took the marmel ashore, and sheltered it in his boathouse for the night. There was a storm which lasted well into the next day.
The marmel wanted to return to the place where it was caught, so the two of them went out in spite of the weather. As they reached Hjellsandvika, the marmel said: “The mountains wail and the waves roar. Blessed be the man that helped me before,” and laughed heartily. The man asked about the joyous outburst. “I laugh because nobody knows of the great fishing spot beneath us right now.”
The fisherman made a note of the place. When they reached the spot where the marmel was caught, it jumped overboard and vanished. The fisherman returned to the new fishing spot and filled his boat to the brim. For the rest of his days, he could go there and bring home a plentiful catch. For that reason, he called it Stabburet (the Larder).
Read more tales
The tale of the warning from the underworld is part of the exhibition “Tales of guidance and warning.