
“A very thick fog and water as calm as a
pond,” Karl sighs. “Things can’t get any worse than this.”
Karl is a well-seasoned captain of a large passenger ship. He leads many tourists through the mysterious and breathtaking Norwegian Fjords every other week. These tourists come from all over the world to witness these wonders of nature, and as a bonus, they can listen to Captain Karl's many stories.
“What is the matter?” Dina, one of this cruise’s passengers, asks.
“What is the matter?” Karl repeats, looking surprised at the question. “We now sail, completely blind, through the Fjords. We might not have icebergs like the Titanic, but we have mountains. We cannot easily navigate safe waters because of the fog and the extremely calm water. THAT is the matter.”
Weirdly, Dina is slightly disappointed. She had hoped Karl would come up with one of his notorious stories. Stories about trolls, dragons, or even the Kraken. But no, none of this concerned the Captain at this moment.
“But the bells on the buoys can guide us through safe waters?” Dina asks the captain because, no matter how nice it would have been to hear one of his famous stories, a life-threatening situation is not something to look forward to.
“What bells on the buoys?” Captain Karl asks while looking questionable. “There haven’t been any bells on buoys for centuries anymore. Red and green lights replaced them.”
“Ok, but you hear this bell as well, don’t you?” Dina replies. Not sure about what she is hearing anymore.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t hear anything. And because of this darn fog, I can't see anything either, which scares me. Now, excuse me. I have to get back to the bridge.” With a tap to his cap, Captain Karl turns around and continues his way, leaving an astonished Dina behind. Dina watches the Captain leave towards the bridge, then stares into the mist in the direction of the bell she keeps hearing.
A bit confused, she returns to her cabin, where her mother has just exited the bathroom.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she says when she notices the pale face of her daughter. “Not seen,” Dina sighs, still unconvinced whether she is being fooled.
“But….”
“I suggest you come with me to the deck; you will find out for yourself.” Dina hands her mother her coat, which she accepts with a deep sigh. Together, they walk to the promenade deck.
“It is easier when you just tell me what the hell is wrong. It is not the best weather outside.”
“No, I want you to experience it yourself,” Dina replies. She has to be sure her mother is not part of the joke they are trying to pull on her.
When they reach the deck, Dina discovers the mist is thicker and more intense now. She still hears the bell chiming, which appears to be closer than before. A feeling of dread creeps over her now.
“What is it I am supposed to see?” Her mother asks.
“Not see. You can’t see anything throughout this fog,” Dina sighs, slightly annoyed. “Just listen.”
“Listen? I can hear the boat gliding through the water. Apart from that, I can't hear anything else.” Dina looks at her mother in awe, trying to detect any suspicion that she is faking it and trying to trick her.
. “But wait a second…” Dina holds her breath, waiting for her mother to continue talking. See, she wasn't going crazy. Mom can hear it too, she thinks, immensely relieved. “It is way too quiet for a boat in the middle of the sea.”
Disappointed, Dina turns towards the water and stares into the thick fog.
How is it possible that she is the only one to hear this bell chiming like someone needs help? “Can’t you hear this bell chiming?” She asks, immediately realising how ridiculous she sounds.
“Only people who possess ‘The Gift’ can hear the chiming of the bell throughout the fog,” a sudden voice explains.
Startled, the two ladies turn around. Behind them stands a scruffy old man in a blue coverall with oil stains.
“Who are you? And what do you mean by 'The Gift'? What kind of gift?” Dina asks.
“Regular people can’t hear the ship's bell of the ‘Norske Vikingen’.”
“But if there is a ship close to us, we must warn the captain,” Dina replies, slightly panicking and trying to look into the mist to see if she manages to see this ship. “Every sailor knows about the Norske Vikingen. Only a few have actually seen it,” the mysterious man explains.
Dina and her mother are stunned. They look into the mist, at each other, and when they want to ask the man what he means, they notice that he is gone as quickly as he appeared.
“Where did he go? And what kind of gift are you supposed to have that I do not know about?” Dina's mother asks, quite surprised about the things she just witnessed.
Dina shrugs her shoulders, “I am just as surprised as you are. But at least I am happy you saw that guy, too.”
“What guy?” Her mother asks, teasing her daughter.
“Very funny,” Dina replies. She wants to leave as quickly as possible. She feels anything but comfortable standing here outside, in the mist.
The remaining afternoon, this weird event is being forgotten, and no one mentions this thick fog or this apparent gift anymore. When the two ladies prepare for their meal at the restaurant, they notice the engines
being turned off. Not long after being followed by an announcement:
< “Due to the weather and the fog, we shall stop our voyage for a while and sit out the weather. We will continue when it is safe again to sail further.” >
“Great. I hope we will still make it back in time for work. After dinner, I will check for new train connections,” Dina's mother says.
During their dinner at the restaurant, Dina's thoughts keep wandering off to the mist, the chiming bell she hears, and the question about who or what this Norkse Vikingen might be.
While lying in bed late at night, Dina suddenly hears this bell again. Quickly, she puts on some clothes and walks quietly towards the deck. Their ship lay still in the water. Because of the mist and it being night, Dina couldn’t see a thing. The sound of this ship's bell is so close that it almost appears to be chiming from off this deck instead of coming from the water.
“You can’t save the ship anymore…” an eerie voice speaks from behind her.
Completely startled, Dina turns around. Behind her is that mysterious old man, still wearing his dirty old coveralls. Now, standing closer, she looks at him better and can see that this man is injured.
“Which ship can't be saved? And how did you get injured? Do you need any help?”
Dina wants to call out for help, but at that moment, it feels like she is being grabbed by her throat, unable to make any sound.
“Nobody can save us anymore.” The man repeats.
Startled and starting to panic, Dina looks around her. Suddenly, she can see a dark silhouette of an old and battered ship next to her in the water.
“What is that?” She asks.
“That is my awful fate,” the mysterious man answers. Now, Dina sees some blood running down the man’s face. This blood is coming from a nasty-looking head injury.
What the hell is happening here, Dina wonders. She rubs her eyes an extra time, ensuring she is awake.
“You possess the ‘Gift’.” Continues the man. Reciting his lines like an actor in a terrible movie. “You can see us. Even hear us. But you can not help us.”
The man, not paying any attention to the questionable facial expression of a surprised Dina, tells his story:
“Every Norwegian kid knows the folk stories about Nökk en Draug. It is the Norwegian way of preparing them to respect the water and all the dangers it hides. Nökk terrorises the rivers and lakes, and his brother Draug haunts the seas.
I was also told about these stories. My mother told them to my brother and me before nightfall. She hoped that the stories would prevent us from choosing the same path as our father. According to our mother, Nökk took him into the depths of the water. Our father was stubborn. And against all rules and warnings, he went fishing at the lake during a thick mist. All villagers knew that Nökk would use the mist as a cloak. So, no one would see the white stallion galloping over the water to catch you.
The only thing they ever found of my father was his empty fishing boat.
But it never helped. I ended up doing what my mother had always hoped we wouldn't do: I worked as an engineer on various kinds of ships. I travelled a lot until I met the captain of perhaps the most famous ship of the Norwegian Fjords: Den Norske Vikingen. Or should I say, notorious?”
“Notorious?” Dina asks.
Like he did not hear her question, the man continues his story.
“Captain Jens was a big, grumpy man, the terror of anyone who ran into him. He did, as he said, honour his Viking blood. His ancestors would be proud of him.
The Norkse Vikingen was a toll-ship. Everyone who wanted safe passage through the Fjords had to pay the toll. In the VOC era, they would be called, Privateers.
I was unaware of the horrors the captain or his crew carried out inside my old engine room.
One day, a thick mist suddenly covered the entire fjord, and we had just entered a passenger ship. The entire crew was panicking, and it didn't take long for Draug's name to be mentioned. Jens didn’t want to hear anything about it. Most certainly not believing all these myths, and ordered his man to carry on collecting his taxes.”
The man paused his story. He scratched his head, just next to the nasty-looking head injury. Then he continued as if nothing really happened.
“Women and children began to scream, and suddenly, I heard several gunshots. This did not sound good, so I ran to the deck out of my engine room. Because of this mist, I couldn't see a thing, so I feared for my life. Suddenly, I could see a silhouette of an old, half-ghost ship….
DRAUG!
With my mother's tales reciting through my head, I rang the ship bell to warn the rest of the crew, but they never returned…”
The mysterious man shook his head remorsefully.
Dina couldn't believe what she had just heard. This man must have hit his head really hard; he was definitely confused.
“Shall I bring you to the ship's doctor?” She asks.
“No one can save us…” the man repeats and walks away.
Because of the mist, Dina can’t see him anymore. The silhouette of the mysterious ship disappeared, too.
“Whatever,” she mumbles, shrugging her shoulders. She gets back inside and goes back to bed.
The following day, they notice the ship is sailing again, and the fog has completely disappeared.
When they arrive at port, the captain stands on deck to wish his passengers farewell. Dina decides to ask him about the injured engineer.
“No one in my crew is injured,” the captain reacts with a tone of surprise.
“It was an old man with a big, nasty-looking head injury,” Dina tries to describe him.
“I am the only ‘old man’ on this ship, and it doesn’t look like I’ve got a head injury,” the captain laughs.
Dina is completely lost now. “And what about his story about a ship called ‘Norske Vikingen’?”
The captain now looks surprised.
“You heard of this story?” Dina Asks.
“Yes, I have heard about the story,” the captain acknowledges. “Only people who possess the gift know about this story.”
“You are the second person telling me this. What do you all mean by this ‘Gift’?” Dina asks, almost annoyed and agitated.
“The Gift? Hahaha. The gift we mean is the gift of a vivid imagination. Hahaha”
Laughing, the captain shakes Dina and her mother's hands and wishes them well before moving on to the other guests.
Dina feels like she is being fooled; even her mother is laughing.
Together, they walk off the ship, returning home, obviously missed their planned train connection. Both already counting down to their next trip and adventures.
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