Doverodde Diary: Day 5 - Gold Boat and Mountain Man

Bronze Age, Stone Age: who knows? Our ancestors often reused burial mounds – they were a practical, plundering people. Now, we’re a little more respectful, or perhaps – profligate.

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When King Skjold died, his body was sent to sea in a boat filled with gold. But the boat was so heavily laden that it stranded on the Limfjord and to avoid embarrassment Skjold was buried, as had been the custom in ancient times, under a barrow of earth. You can see the sea from its summit.

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No one dares to steal the gold from this tomb because an evil troll is guarding it. However, the troll (who is not above stealing) helps himself to wives and children from the farms nearby. The troll will release the gold when Denmark is in its hour of need. Meanwhile the locals must put up with the troll’s evil ways.

Doverodde Diary: Day 4 - Which Bird?

They say that birdsong is a sure sign of spring. Well, this week every bird is in song, so I’m not sure why that bird, or rather that song, arrested me. I’m afraid I can’t quite describe how it went, being no expert in the curious phonetics of birdsong. I stared into the branches for some time before I saw a small dull thing perched on what looked like a dead twig at the very tip of the tree. I was able to match the peculiar sound to the wobble of its throat, so I knew I’d got the right one. But what was it?

Liz peered where I was pointing and said she thought it might be the Fuglekonge.

The Fuglekonge, or crested wren, is Europe’s smallest bird, and rather rare, according to the bird book. I was impressed that we’d found a Fuglekonge without even trying, but the bird book also suggested that what we’d seen was actually a Stillids, or common goldfinch. Now Liz says it’s a goldfinch for sure, but I’m sticking to my small bird story.

Doverodde Diary: Day 3 - His Last Journey

The loyal assistant has tears in his voice. The princess is filmed from behind; we glimpse her hair knotted demurely beneath her hat. We do not see the funeral. The news cuts from the disappearing hearse to recent footage of shipping containers, each branded with a white star. We are informed that they will continue to circle the seas.

Doverodde Diary: Day 2 - The Gardener

An empty bucket is a bad omen. But when I encounter Liz, she is carrying a bucket full to the brim with dandelions. As we talk she squashes the yellow heads down into the bucket with her hoe and a bitter smell rises; at least, she says, she caught them before the seeds could blow all over the square. I look at the neat paving under our feet, where pink bricks have been set down among the grey.

- It’s a rose, Liz says.

Doverodde Diary: Day 1 - Watch out for otters

The poster has hung in the kitchen for so long that the otter is beginning to fade to the same colour as the water. Pas på odderen. It’s ambiguous. Are there otters in the kitchen, or only among the reeds? Should the otter be watching out for me, or should I be watching out for the otter? This faded otter looks too respectable to bite anyone. She holds out her paws as if she were about to begin playing a piano sonata.