1 h 42 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 1 h 42 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Enter a north where summer nights stay bright, winter darkness lingers, and the hills seem to have their own will.
Under the Midnight Sun, compiled by Lehman Wendell, gathers myths and tales from the Sami lands of Lapland and the forests, lakes, and mountains of Sweden. Drawn from oral traditions, these short stories carry the beliefs, fears, and humor of unnamed tellers who pass them from one generation to the next.
Here, the landscape is more than a backdrop. Long winter darkness and bright summer nights shape a world of giants, spirits, trolls, and clever people close to nature. The collection explores the power of wit against strength and the deep ties between human life, animals, weather, and land.
What you’ll discover
- Light against darkness Step into northern landscapes where the changing seasons shape the life and mood of tales.
- Giants and spirits Meet the great beings and unseen presences that fill the world of northern folklore.
- Wit against strength Explore a recurring folktale idea: a quick mind can find a way past brute force.
- Land with a will Feel the closeness of people to forests, lakes, mountains, animals, and uncertain weather.
- Stories passed along Discover tales that preserve the fears, beliefs, and humor of the people who tell them.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy fairy tales, trolls and goblins, Christmas stories, clever heroes and gentle humor, or wish to share short northern tales aloud with children and friends.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Lapp wit beats giant strength
- Swedish giants meet small, clever foes
- Hidden kingdoms lie inside the hills
- Faith and the centuries on trial
- Cleverness and conscience in daily life
- Humor and a fireside voice
Who’s who
- The giant of The Giant's BrideA lazy, clumsy giant who wants a Lapp bride and the reindeer promised with her, and believes everything he is told.
- The clever LappA poor man who meets a giant and survives by inventing contests of strength that he cannot lose.
- RisoA giant on Garphyto in the Kils Mountains who wants to destroy the new church at Orebro because its bells enrage him.
- The goatherd boyA small boy who meets a giant in the forest and uses cheese, a sack and quick answers to seem very strong.
- KronosThe Mountain King who holds court once each century and judges the spirits of the centuries on how they lived.
- IngemarA little boy at Lundokro who joins his father to find the Christmas Eve light on the hill and then dreams of Ansgar.
- AndersA seventeen-year-old who drives corn to the village church and boasts that he fears no ghosts until one night tests him.
- Peter the TurnerA maker of spinning wheels who wants only to feed his hungry children and is driven toward a wicked choice.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 42 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Unter der Mitternachtssonne in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Unter der Mitternachtssonne
A giant woos a log in a bridal dress while a Lapp girl and her father slip away across the frozen hills.
Easy readUnder 2 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Under the Midnight Sun is a collection of folk tales, legends and short stories from Lapland and Sweden, brought together by Lehman Wendell. You will meet giants who are strong and foolish, mountain kings who live under hills, forest nymphs, goblins, lantern men and a witch whose house has a roof of cheese.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Lapp wit beats giant strength
The book opens in Lapland, where old traditions say giants are feared for their huge size and their taste for human flesh. Yet these giants are lazy and clumsy, and the Lapps are far sharper. In The Giant's Bride, one such giant falls in love with a Lapp girl. Neither she nor her father wants him, but they dare not refuse, so they even thank him for the honor.
The father buys time. He sets a day for the giant to come and carry off his bride, then makes his plan. He takes a log the size of his daughter and dresses it in a new dress, a cap, a silver belt, shoes and laces. He stands it in a corner of the tent under a heavy veil, as Lapp custom asks. All the while, the real girl waits with reindeer and a sled behind a nearby hill.
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What is Under the Midnight Sun about?
It is a collection of folk tales, legends and humorous sketches from Lapland and Sweden. Giants, goblins, mountain kings, nymphs and a cheese-roof witch appear, along with village stories about fear, hunger, honesty and Christmas.
Who is Kronos in The Report of the Centuries?
Kronos is the Mountain King who rules a palace under a hidden mountain. Once each century, at midsummer, the mountain rises, and the spirits of the earlier centuries appear before him to explain how they lived.
Are these real Lapp and Swedish folk traditions?
Many tales are given as Lappish or Swedish traditions, such as the origin of the first people, the stones of Ulfgryto and Tiblo's palace. Others are told as family memories or as modern stories and jokes by Wendell.
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