The end of the year is often a time of reflection, so I thought I would take some space here to sum up the last twelve months or so. 2025 has been a year different from the last few years; I haven't had all the work on the Asbjørnsen & Moe collections to do. I began the year quite slowly, then, focussing on my well-being more than getting anything done. Eight years of relentless translation, writing, and editorial work (which came to an end in September 2024), on top of a fulltime job, took me several months to recover from.
During this time, I realised that my reading had more or less stalled. Of course, I have read volumes (for the purpose of writing), but by the end of last year, my personal reading for pleasure had dwindled to little more than one book a month. This is no way to live! Digging deep into my soul, I realised that my sluggishness had its root in publicly tracking my reading on Goodreads. Apparently I am put together in a way that rebels at anything that whiffs of obligation or competition, hence the depressed mood. I closed my Goodreads account, et voilà! My reading has increased to a level I now find acceptable. I still log what I read – what I have read, when I began and finished, as well as what I thought of the book – but these records are for my eyes only.
As spring sprang, I felt rested enough to get back into publishing something. My translation of Regine Normann’s Legends from Arctic Norway had been completed in tandem with the production of Asbjørnsen & Moe, but it needed editing and compiling. This I did, and made it available at the beginning of June. An ebook followed at the end of the summer.
Then I had the idea of creating a compendium of brief texts as an advent calendar. The folklore had already been translated, so again, all it needed was editing and compiling, which I did. Christmas in Norway, 2025 is still available, and still as entertaining after advent.
In ancient news, my volume of Erotic Folktales from Norway has this year sold its thousandth copy (it’s taken eight years, but even so…), which makes it my best selling book, which has given me the greatest return, and which has subsidised all the other books. If I have lost money overall, it’s not much, which thanks to this book.
The coming year
My plans for the coming year consist of publishing more folktales and legends, and writing articles. Articles on the block include an introduction to three early Norwegian women writers of fairy tales; an essay on (and translation of) the only bisexual/ polyamorous folktale I have come across; and a discussion and translation of a folktale rumoured to be a source of “The Story of the Three Bears,” Robert Southey’s famous fairy tale from 1837.
Bookwise, I have a volume of draug (revenants of the sea dead) legends largely finished, which is in want of brief explanatory introductions to the unfamiliar authors and texts, and then editing. This one has been a long time coming, ever displaced by other projects. But no more!
After that, I have these volumes in the works:
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A volume of forgotten folktales that are in some manner connected to Asbjørnsen & Moe.
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A volume of legends and hulder tales by Astrid and Olaf Thalberg:
Old Jon Berget knew a thing or two; he could make twisted limbs whole again, or recite some words over sick livestock to make it recover. Folk said he owned a black book.
- A second advent calendar. It probably won’t recoup my investment, but it’s my money, and I enjoy putting it out there,
But whatever the coming year throws our way, I hope it is an improvement on 2025, and I hope that yours is a happy new year!