Norwegian legend - The “Skjervøy King’s” Treasure

 

Outside, in the cold, big ocean there is a small island called Skjervøy. I grew up here, by the foot of the Stussnes Mountain, and here I have many times dreamt of finding the secret of the island.

It was my grandfather who first told me about the treasure, but since then I have heard many different versions of the story. We, the people who live here, have probably sent curious glances up towards the mountain and maybe we have dared to go treasure-hunting late nights – but always got scared down again.

It is not that the mountain is big and scary, I’ve been up there myself, but if you go there thinking about finding the treasure… then it is as if the mountain knows. There is whispering among the trees and you can hear hoarse raven screams. The ravens are both bigger and darker in their plumage than other places and they say that their glances are colder than a winter’s cold night sky. These are the guardians of the Stussnes mountain: the “Skjervøy King” and his maid.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, the Skjervøy King and his maid lived as citizens in the little fishing community in Northern Troms. The Skjervøy King, or Heggelund as his real name was, was a Danish trader who came to the island and established it as a sea trading town. At this time, “petty kings” were common, and hence the name the “Skjervøy King”. You may think that everyone got a hold of the wealth, but that was not the case. Instead, the people had to pay taxes to the Skjervøy King and the priest, something that led to less money in the pocket of the ordinary man. People were unhappy. Heggelund tried to make them happy by giving them a new altarpiece for the church, but that did not help. A new altarpiece could not fill their stomachs!

Then one golden autumn morning a foreigner came to the island. He had nothing to sell and did not even want to buy anything. People thought this was odd, but it was always a real treat to get strangers to the village, and they welcomed him warmly. Still, there was one man who sent the visitor straight out the door without giving him a bite to eat - and it was of course the greedy Skjervøy King. This was, however, something he would later regret. It is said that the stranger spat on the doorstep and muttered something that no one understood.

The same night the Skjervøy King got ill. The maid cared for him day and night, without him getting any better. She sent for the doctor and the priest, but they could not help either. When Sunday came, The Skjervøy King sent the maid to church to pray for him. The girl was standing outside the church after the sermon, and bragged about all the money that she was going to receive as soon as Heggelund passed away.

The priest heard what she said and he slapped her before he went to Heggelund, and recounted everything she said. Heggelund got so furious that it was as if all sickness disappeared when he got the message from the priest. The same night he pretended that he was sleeping, and when he was sure that the maid had gone to sleep, he dressed up. Quietly he tiptoed out into the dark autumn night, and the only thing that could be heard was the jingle from his cash box. He climbed up on the Stussnes mountain, and there he hid the treasure.

The cold autumn air was not good for him, and during the night, he got seriously ill. The maid wanted to ask for the priest, but then the Skjervøy King immediately became suspicious.

-It is strange how busy you suddenly became? Perhaps you are going into the scree to find my money?

As soon as the words were spoken, he was certain that it was the truth. The thought of the girl taking his fortune made the greedy man furious with rage, so he used his last power to kill her. The next morning the priest found them both dead.

The rumour about the treasure reached far, and many strangers came to the little fishing village to hear the story. Nobody in Skjervøy had forgotten about the odd stranger who had spat on Heggelund’s doorstep and mumbled words nobody could understand. People talked more and more about this stranger: Had he cast a bad spell on Heggelund?

When my grandfather was a young man, three men came to the island and settled. They had sailed all the seven seas and had a good laugh about the history and people’s fear of the two ravens. The two ravens had arrived on the island on the same day as the Skjervøy King and his maid were buried. People who had looked for the treasure could tell stories about the madness of the unworldly birds. They screamed and clawed after every man. Soon people managed to put two and two together and they agreed to blame the stranger. They thought he had to be a shaman and had cast bad spells on both Heggelund and the greedy maid. Now they were doomed to guard the treasure forever – as ravens.

The three sailors could not stop laughing. They did not believe that two quarrelsome ravens could be worse than their wives at home. With the taste of gold in their mouth, they went to the Stussnes mountain, but only one hour later , they went straight back down again, just as emptyhanded as before they went up. They were clearly terrified, and would not have anything more to do with the treasure hunt. They did not say anything more about their trip up to the scree that night in June such a long time ago. However, in the village it is told that people had heard numerous raven screams and earth-shattering human cries.

As of today, no one can tell for sure what happened with the three visitors. They settled on the island, but never wanted to explain what they experienced on the mountain, not even years after it happened. The ravens are still up there somewhere. They are still circling around the mountain, and you can often hear raven screams from the peak. Then you can see three men turn their gaze to the ground and shiver their now timeworn backs. They may know where the treasure is hidden, but they also know the savagery of the treasure’s guardians: The Skjervøy King and his maid.