The Troll's Gift

Sakariasa Topelius (1818–1898) is a famous Finnish poet, storyteller, and scientist of Swedish origin, who played in the history of Finland the same role as Pushkin in Russia. Legends have been created about his talent. According to one of them, as a child little Sakariasa picked up a feather that had fallen from the wing of the swan princess Radigunda, and thus he found his poetic gift.
This book includes selected tales by Topelius, closely related to Scandinavian mythology, Finnish and Karelian runes, which he often heard in childhood from peddlers, and the stories told to him by an old nanny. On the pages of the book, readers will encounter trolls, house spirits, and giants, princes and princesses, as well as ordinary boys and girls with whom real adventures take place...