A Scandinavian Folk Tale

A very long time ago, in far off Scandinavia, there was a village called Skallanes.

During one particularly cold and dark winter, the people of Skallanes were yearning for spring. March passed and then April. Yet the snow remained. Nowhere, did green shoots or any other signs of new life appear. By the time May commenced, the villagers were worried that they were facing an eternal winter.

One day, the mayor gathered everyone together in the village hall.

“I have bad news,” the mayor announced gravely, “Spring has been kidnapped by Old Man Winter.”

The villagers gasped. If Spring was imprisoned, she could not bring her warmth and new life to their village. They would be doomed to live in the bleak cold forever.

The mayor continued… “Other villages have already sent rescue missions to free Spring but to no avail. None of the people who have tried have returned. We need a volunteer to try to rescue her.” Most villagers looked down at their

Saving SpringA Scandinavian Folk Tale

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feet. If other people had tried to free Spring and not returned, they certainly didn’t want to volunteer!

“I will go,” came a soft voice from the back of the hall. The villagers all looked

around. The voice belonged to Oscar, a timid young man of only twenty years of age. Everyone was surprised. Oscar was a shepherd who generally lived a solitary life on the outskirts of Skallanes.

“My sheep cannot continue much longer in these freezing conditions,” Oscar explained, “I will go and rescue Spring.”

After gathering provisions, Oscar started off on his long, hard trek to the North Pole. Through howling winds, bitter sleet and freezing snow, Oscar journeyed. At times, he felt he could not go on but Oscar reminded himself that should he succeed, Spring would return. Eventually, Oscar reached Old Man Winter’s foreboding castle. The castle walls were high and all around was an eerie silence. There was a clunk and the huge iron gates creaked open. Before he could fight back, Oscar was surrounded by grim-faced soldiers carrying spears. Two of the soldiers

Saving Spring A Scandinavian Folk Tale


grabbed Oscar’s arms and marched him through the gates and into a room just inside the castle walls. The soldiers threw Oscar to the ground and left.

Oscar heard a key turn in the door. Oscar looked around his prison. The walls were grey and damp and puddles had formed on the bare stone floor. There was no light source other than a tiny window in the top of one wall. In the corner of the room, there were a variety of shivering animals (rabbits, deer and guinea pigs) all huddled together to keep warm.

His heart filled with despair as Oscar realised that his mission had failed before it had even really started. He sat on the cold, hard floor and eventually fell asleep.

A few hours later, Oscar awoke. His stomach rumbled with hunger. Rising, Oscar realised that

something was wrong. He felt strange. Getting a glimpse of his reflection in one of the puddles on the floor, Oscar was horrified to see he had been turned into a large, angry-looking tiger!

His stomach growling again, Oscar spotted a tiny white rabbit in the corner of

the room. Before he even realised what he was doing, Oscar sprang at the rabbit who only just managed to avoid the sharp, tiger claws that were now in the place of Oscar’s fingernails.



“I came to save Spring,” explained Oscar. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, what can I do? ”

The rabbit hopped over to Oscar’s side and held out one of her front paws. Oscar could see writing on it. “The only way to remember you’re a human is to write your name on your paw. The only ones of us who still have memories of our human lives are those with our names on our paws.”

Looking at the rabbit’s silky paw, Oscar could see the name ‘Greta’.

“My name is Oscar, I come from the village of Skallanes.” He held out his huge paw and Greta wrote ‘Oscar’ using a thick, white stone.

“Those of us who remember who we are, have a plan,” Greta continued, “we are digging a tunnel under the castle to find Spring’s cell. However, because we are all so small, it has taken us a long time and we have made very little progress. With your huge claws, our tunnel could be completed much quicker.”

Greta led Oscar to a corner of the room. Using all her strength, she lifted up a flagstone with her tiny paws. Oscar could see a long, dark tunnel. After helping Greta move the flagstone out of the way, Oscar followed Greta down into the tunnel.



Over many days, Oscar and the other animals dug through the dark, hard earth, extending the tunnel until it reached Spring’s cell. Oscar and the other animals burst into the room. There sat Spring. Her long, raven-black hair fell all the way to the floor. She was wearing a gown of glimmering gold and there was a crown of beautiful spring flowers on her head.

“I knew someone would come and rescue me,” said Spring in her soothing, gentle voice.

Hearing noises coming from the cell, guards rushed in. At the unexpected sight of the fierce tiger, the guards ran away in fright.

Oscar, Greta, Spring and the other animals rushed out of the castle.

“Won’t Old Man Winter come after you again?” a guinea pig asked nervously.

Spring shook her head. “I was asleep when he kidnapped me. Now I am awake, I am stronger than he is. The seasons will return to their natural order and we will ensure this never happens again.”

Spring gently kissed each animal on the head. With each touch of her lips, the animals returned to their human forms. Having restored each human, Spring flew away, leaving a stream of canary-yellow rose petals behind her. The humans began their journeys back home. As they walked, they saw signs of spring everywhere. The snow and ice melted. They could hear birds singing sweetly in the trees. Green shoots sprung from the ground and daffodils sprouted up.

As her village had been destroyed by the long winter, Greta returned to Oscar’s village with him. On their return, the two were greeted as heroes by the villagers who had already started to celebrate the return of Spring.

Eventually, Greta and Oscar were married. Each year, the seasons followed their natural order. Never again did Old Man Winter attempt to overstay his welcome.



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A Scandinavian Folk Tale