The programme of the events in Tartu can be viewed here (in Estonian). Mart Kuldkepp, translator and researcher of the Department of Scandinavian Studies of the University of Tartu, will speak about trolls in Icelandic sagas in the 5th floor hall of the County Government in Pärnu at 15:30 on 12 November. The notorious Icelandic Santa Clauses can be seen in the Harju County Library in Keila.
Nordic Library Week
In the gloomiest time of the year, libraries in the Nordic countries organise Nordic Library Week, as they have been doing each year under the auspices of the League of Norden Associations since 1997. It is seven days of exhibitions, readings, book presentations and discussions in thousands of libraries, schools and community centres in the Nordic countries, Baltic States and Belarus.
Candles will be lit in the darkness of November and excerpts from the Books of the Year will be read aloud. The readings will take place twice a day: Early Morning (for children) and Evening Twilight (for adults). There will also be readings and activities for teenagers and young adults.
The event is designed to showcase Nordic literature and to promote reading and storytelling – a phenomenon that is disappearing in today's busy world.
Trolls in the North
An old Swedish proverb from 1678 says: "Where trolls be spoken of, there be trolls". The North is home to many trolls, who bewitch, beguile and transmogrify people. There are trolls who steal gold and silver, and who abduct small children. Mostly they live in places that are inaccessible to people, and searching for them can be dangerous.
The trolls of the North have many similar features, although they do differ from country to country, which is what makes it possible to distinguish a Danish troll from a Swedish one, or a Norwegian one, or an Icelandic one, or a Sami one.
The organisers of the Nordic Library Week have chosen three books for the event of 2014: Monster Squabbles (Kalle Güettler, Rakel Helmsdal and Áslaug Jónsdottir); Moominpappa at Sea (Tove Jansson); and Troll (Stefan Spjut).
Excerpts of Monster Squabbles and Troll are available in Estonian on the website of the Nordic Library Week. Moominpappa at Sea was published in Estonian for the first time in 1975 by Eesti Raamat. It was translated by Vladimir Beekman.
For further information please contact:
Eha Vain
Cultural Adviser at the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia
Telephone: +372 627 3104 or +372 505 7243
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.