PART
two

9781921776724_0099_001

The Humiliation

‘… and they steered their course towards

parts where Martin had never been, far past

Tyska Botten and Blackeberg—and there

ran the border for the known world.’

HJALMAR SÖDERBERG, MARTIN BIRCKS UNGDOM

But he, whose heart a skogsrå steals

it never will recover

His soul will long for moonlight dreams

and no mere mortal lover…

VIKTOR RYDBERG, ‘SKOGSRÅET

(A SKOGSRÅ IS A BEAUTIFUL BUT SINISTER FOREST SPIRIT.)