Living on Troll Mountain

By Judith Olson

These are short stories depicting the lives of three little girls growing up in Norway during the 1930s. They live in the country with their parents, just outside of Star Lake at the foot of Troll Mountain. Star Lake is a small settlement located on the side of the Hardanger Fjord adjacent to the mountain. Most of the people living in and around Star Lake are lumberjacks and make their living logging on Troll Mountain.

The children experience many different situations, both fun-loving and dangerous, while living at the foot of the mountain. They are always wary of the trolls living on the mountain and fear running into them. Max, their pet dog, is their constant companion and is always looking after them and keeping them free from danger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524545017

Book preview

Living

on

Troll Mountain

Judith Olson

Copyright © 2016 by Judith Olson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/23/2016

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CONTENTS

Lost on Troll Mountain

Baking Biscuits

The King’s Jewels

Halloween

The Barn Fire

The Day of the Mountain Lion

The Mystery in the Garage Stove

Wolfie Comes to Star Lake

Christmas Tree Outing

Fang

The Tale of the Two-Headed Snake

Hotel Stay in Bergen

Circus Day

Puzzy’s Last School Year

To Blake and Ashby Olson

Two of my grandchildren who have always loved story time

THREE LITTLE GIRLS OF NORWAY

Introduction

T HESE STORIES DEPICT the lives of three little girls growing up in Norway in the 1930s on the Hardangerfjord at the foot of Troll Mountain. Their parents settled in the country a mile or two from Star Lake, where their grandparents owned a boarding house. Star Lake is also the name of the small community settlement established on the side of the fjord, which consists of a sawmill, a mercantile store, an ice house, two churches, a post office, a schoolhouse, and a pub.

The population of Star Lake consists of about twenty families, and most of the men are either farmers, loggers, or workers at the sawmill, with the exception of the people who own the mercantile store, the postmaster, and the pub owner. Once a week the doctor comes from the city of Bergen either by train or by boat taxi down the Hardangerfjord to see anyone who is sick. The pastor and the priest for the churches also come by train or by boat from the city to hold church services on Sunday. When the one-room school is in session, the teacher lives with one of the families in Star Lake.

The girls’ grandfather (Paw Paw) is a lumberjack, or logger, and their grandmother (Mea Maw) runs a boarding house for the lumberjacks who come up from the city to work on the mountain. Their parents (Maga and Paga) have a small farm along the hillside of the fjord at the foot of Troll Mountain and have one cow, a horse, some chickens, and a small garden. Paga owns the pub in Star Lake and also works at the sawmill. Maga sometimes works at the pub during the day and also helps Mea Maw at the boarding house.

The lumberjacks cut down the trees on the mountain side, and large draft horses pull the logs down to the fjord so the lumberjacks can float them to the sawmill. After the logs are cut into lumber, it is put onto wagons and hauled to the docks. It is then loaded onto a barge and taken into the city of Bergen to be sold. The rest of the families living in the area are all farmers, except the postmaster and the mercantile owner.

Children

Parents

Grandparents

Pet Dog

Childhood Friend from Sweden

Friend’s Grandparents

LIFE ON TROLL MOUNTAIN

M Y NAME IS Petrine, and my parents were married in Star Lake, Norway, in my grandparents’ home, and settled in a small two-bedroom farmhouse along the hillside of the Hardangerfjord in Norway below Troll Mountain. They chose this location so that my father could have a small farm, plus he’ll still be able to own a pub in Star Lake and also work at the sawmill. I was born in 1928 and was named Petrine, which is a Scandinavian name that means rock. People living in Norway and Sweden like to know what their names mean.

I was an only child until I was five years old, and then my sister Paiva was born. Her name means god of sun. I didn’t like her very much when she was born because I wasn’t getting very much attention, as everyone was making a big fuss over Paiva. Eventually we got along better after she was three years old and could talk a little bit. Then our baby sister was born. She was named Thora, which means thunder, and oh my goodness, could she cause a lot of thunder. She was very loud and did just what she wanted to do and did not mind very well at all, and it seems she was always getting into trouble or causing trouble.

After Thora started to talk, she could not pronounce our names very well, and we