Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Bartender; Norwegian; genderqueer!

Hello! I thought I'd participate

So I'm a bartender in a very cozy day-open pub that serves food (day-open as in, we open at 10am and close at the latest at midnight, we are not a late-night drinking spot). We're both a spot known to locals (tons of regulars), and a tourist spot in the city.

I'm also Norwegian! Don't know if that's of interest to anyone, but if you have questions about my little long country, go off!

And lastly, I am very happy to answer any (honest, good-faith) questions you may have about genderqueerness. I will note this will be about my individual experience of it, I do not speak for all! I operate on a no stupid questions, as long as I can tell you are honestly curious, and they don't veer too personal. I won't answer surgical/medical questions either!

Were you raised with much Norwegian folklore? If so, any favorites?



I have a character who's a nøkk even though trying to research the lore was such a mashup of different creatures, claims, and geographical origins.

Not as an inherent part of a belief system, but most of us were raised on fairytales which utilizes folklore a lot! And there were kids' myths as well of course - like, trolls turn into stone, so naturally the hills and mountains around us used to be trolls before they got caught in the sun. a common long trip game (car or train or what have you) amongst my friends was trying to see the troll features in hills and mountains! "there's a nose, that's definitely the feet, ooh haha that's his BUM!" etc. good way to keep kids occupied!

i WAS raised on the folklore of the nisse. anything slightly annoying in the home (missing a sock, a creaking door, my favourite snack is empty) could be blamed on the nisse. and every christmas i'd put out a small bowl of porridge to keep em happy for the year.

i think of the creatures the fossegrim is my favourite. i find it so funny that this dude just wants to be left in quiet in his waterfall/river, and play his instrument. big mood!

YEAH the trouble with a lot of the vette is that there's much similarity between the different scandinavian, nordic, and even northern european countries, but they all have their own little twists to the folklore, and sometimes it differs between towns or even families. i think the most important part of a nøkk is that they are there to make people aware of the dangers of water. it can lure you in, sometimes in the shape of a splendid horse, and drown you. especially those deep dark lakes, or swamp water, where you can't see much below the surface and anything could hide, that's the scary ones. but don't be afraid to do your own spin on your nøkk character!!

The troll thing is great. And sounds like the nisse might have actually saved y'all some potential arguments by being a scapegoat!

I actually saw Fossegrim come up a lot when looking up nøkken (nøkken? nøkks?) and their "cousins," sometimes presented as just a nicer one of them. The statues some of them have gotten are pretty neat, too.

My nøkk wasn't originally a nøkk when I made him; instead, it's something that seemed to fit oddly well with only a little adjusting when I decided to flesh him out better. He's more the "attractive young man with a fiddle" version instead of horse, and while he can certainly work as a warning about the dangers of water, his details also make him more specifically a warning about pollution and mismanagement of natural resources. He more proactively hunts humans after some ruined his lake, and to survive he actually keeps some remaining water from it sealed inside little compartments in a magic Hardanger fiddle he made (it seemed a little snazzier and more practical than wearing water-filled boots all the time ).

I’m not super familiar with genderqueerness, but I’d love to understand your experience better! How do you define being genderqueer for yourself, if you don’t mind explaining?