What do Norwegian women want? Only tall men? Feminist men? Rich men? Last week the debate went briskly. But there is at least one thing that it is possible to state that Norwegian women definitely want. Margit Sandemo’s “Sagaen om Isfolket” was the peculiar mixture of occultism, soft porn and easy history teaching. The first volume in the book series of 47 books came in 1982 and heralded a sensation. “The Saga of the Ice People” was to have a circulation of over 6 million and change Norwegian entertainment literature. PHENOMENON: The 47 books in “Sagaen om Isfolket” had a circulation of 6 million and changed Norwegian entertainment literature. Photo: Promo And 42 years later, everything is apparently the same. Now author Hilde Susan Jægtnes has been given permission by Sandemo’s survivors to write a new Isfolket series, a prequel to the story in the original books. Only a week after publication, the novel “Son of the Sun” reigns superbly at the top of the bestseller list. Why hasn’t this universe, this type of novel, expired? Norway in 1982 was, after all, very different. Not least, there was another access to, what shall we say, piquant homework. For many women, and girls in the throes of puberty, book series such as “Sagaen om Isfolket” were one of the very few places where the reader could empathize with women who desired and were desired, in fairly undisguised terms. There was probably more than one blushing school student who experienced that a book that had been dropped on the floor, of its own accord, turned up on the most erotic pages, preferably with mother and father present. THEATER TOO: Heidi Ruud Ellingsen played “Sol av Isfolket” in the theater performance of the same name, in Valdres in 2008. Photo: Ole Jørgen Liodden A librarian I spoke to recently told me, with slight despair, about the hordes of women back then who would never borrow anything else than “The Saga of the Ice People”. They did not accept other tips. When they were done, they just started all over again. For those readers who moved on to other literature, “Sagaen om Isfolket” probably quickly became a stage they left behind. After the first rush, it would become increasingly obvious that the same plots are used again and again, that overly modern thoughts and expressions are put into the minds of people in the 16th and 17th centuries and that the people are easily divided into good and evil. This really means nothing more than that these were books that were only meant to provide entertainment and diversion, not push the readers, stretch or challenge them. As associate professor and literary sociologist Cecilie Naper at Oslomet once pointed out when I interviewed her: The traditional kiosk novels should be understood by absolutely everyone. Reading can be compared more to daydreaming than to anything else. WHAT WE READ: Associate Professor Cecilie Naper has researched popular novels in Norway. Photo: Vilde Alette Monrad-Krohn The reader must identify strongly with the heroine. Therefore, the bad must be bad, and the man whom she finally wins, must be a dream man. The dream man, yes. For men who read “Sagaen om Isfolket” (they don’t), Sandemo’s ideal men could cause some nervousness. They are usually extremely masculine, tall, dominant, well-equipped, broad-shouldered. The latter is a central part of the plot of the book series. The reason why there is something called the ice people is, according to the mythology of the story, that the ancestor Tengel the Evil once sold his soul to the devil. The pact means that one of his descendants in each line of the family is cursed. They have yellow eyes and magical abilities, but also broad and pointed shoulders that often take the life of their mother when they are born. YELLOW EYES: Dominic and Villemo, seen here on the cover of the eleventh book of the series, “Blood Revenge”, both carry the curse in the books. Many of the men suffering from this curse meet Sandemo’s various female protagonists. And through the gaze of these heroines, the reader can also be fascinated, desire these men and, not least, alleviate the pain they live with. This last is important. Cecilie Naper has pointed out how many of the greatest reading successes in Norwegian literature have had clear similarities, even if they are of very different quality. Nobel Prize winner Undset and serial writer Sandemo have something in common in their most popular works. They write historical novels, with female protagonists. A love plot is central. Through her love, the woman saves or redeems a closed and secretive man. What do women want? Yes, this. CRITICIZED: When “Sagaen om Isfolket” first came out, Margit Sandemo was criticized for cultivating the demonic and devilish in the stories. Photo: Lisbeth David-Andersen / news At the same time, the entertainment novels are also characterized by their time. Naper has pointed out that Silje, the main character in the first volume of “Sagaen om Isfolket”, is active and independent, keen to succeed as a wallpaper painter. She breaks with entertainment literature as it had been until then, also in an international context. Before, the female protagonists had been more passive, obedient, relegated to waiting for events to find them. More worryingly in today’s eyes, it is probably that Sandemo more than once portrays abuse as something sexy. Perhaps not completely clean, but no worse than a quick apology enabling victim and abuser to find together in a happy marriage. It must be said that the contemporaries did not react strongly to this either. Then it was more controversial with Sandemo’s fascination with the demonic and diabolical. What has historically been portrayed as dark and evil forces is presented here as a liberating alternative to a strict and narrow Christianity. NEW LIFE: Author Hilde Susan Jægtnes has received permission from Margit Sandemo’s family to write a prequel to “Sagaen om Isfolket”. Photo: Thomas Brun It is interesting to see a new author take up this material, especially since Hilde Susan Jægtnes herself comes from a different and more literary tradition. She has previously been nominated for the Brage Prize, and is therefore not a typical entertainment writer herself, although she speaks with sincere enthusiasm about “The Saga of the Ice People”. Incidentally, it strikes me that Jægtnes is not the first Isfolket reader I have come across who excitedly draws out the original series’ 33rd book, “Demon of the Night”, where the heroine Vanja ends up in very hot embraces with a demon that surpasses mortal men in every conceivable way. Where Sandemo only wrote, Jægtnes must imitate. She has to enter a tradition and an atmosphere that has been created by others, and try to bring it back to life. The project says something about what someone who is not Margit Sandemo herself believes made her books what they were. ALSO ON TV: “The Saga of the Ice Folk” was also the subject of news’s quiz program “Quitt or double” in 1989. The highest prize sum of NOK 48,000 was presented to winner Marit Kjellevold by Margit Sandemo herself. Photo: NTB Jægtnes’ main character, Hanna, is a heroine in classic Sandemo casting. She is wild, ugly, sorcerous, half-outcasted by society because of her difference. The same difference makes the men she meets become obsessed with her. She is close to nature, fond of animals, and filled to the brim with unsatisfied desire. In other words, she is stronger and more desirable than ordinary women, but at the same time with a trait that makes her not a superhuman, but someone the reader can also feel sorry for and identify with. And: It is not easy to find a man she can see as an equal. In this sense, she is probably also a 2024 woman in the book’s 1501. And the one many, many women are reading about right now.
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Women still want this mix of occultism and soft porn. – Speech
