"The Hulder-Maiden"

 

[A good source of information about the hulder-folk is D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls, where I learned the story of hulder-women luring humans onto their mystical farms to live in exchange for their souls. This site also has some info about them: http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/finfolk/huldre.htm]

The hulder-maiden knew, as she walked into town from the hill under which she lived, that she would stand out among those surroundings and confuse whoever saw her. For one thing, she was gliding along serenely in her skirt, boots, and loose-cut top, while the people outside were shaking their heads with concern at the flood waters filling their town's streets. For another, her tail was showing. It kept slipping out from beneath the hem of her skirt.

A man standing with a camera at the edge of a deeply submerged playground glanced first at the hulder-maiden's tail, then up at her. She stopped in the street to regard him as he took her picture. When he lowered his camera, she saw that he was frowning. She was undeterred.

"It's been a terrible week," she said, joining him at the side of the playground. "I'm sorry for everything your town's been through."

The man's frown relaxed a bit, though he still held his suspicion in front of him like a sword at the ready. "Yeah, well," he said, kicking a stone, "I suppose we got off lucky here, considering everything that's been going on. But still. More and more, as much as I like this world, I just don't think I get it." Hearing that, the hulder-maiden hoped to snare his gaze, by which she would make him love her and then ferry him off to her home beneath the hill. She turned, though, and saw that his gaze had traveled ahead of hers and was stopped at the hairs of her tail, which swept over the sidewalk like the bristles of a broom.

"Can I ask why you're in costume?" he asked, his frown once again tight.

The hulder-maiden thought about how to answer this. "It's not so much a costume as it is... cultural wear," she said carefully. "I simply wished to call to mind thoughts of my homeland during these trying times. It's a lovely place. The fields are always golden, and the cows are always giving milk. The air is just cold enough to make you feel alive."

"And the women have tails," the man said.

The hulder-maiden smiled. "There are many differences between here and there."

The man narrowed his eyes, crouched, and, facing the playground, lifted his camera. "This place you come from sounds pretty incredible," he said. "Is it far?"

"Not at all," said the hulder-maiden. "You could likely walk the distance."

"You don't say. I've never heard of a place like that around here. Tell me, how do you get there?"

The hulder-maiden drew in her breath. "You simply give up your soul."

The man stood so quickly that the hulder-maiden imagined a whip being drawn into a fierce crack and was overtaken by the thought. "Okay, listen," said the man. "I don't know what you're playing at, or if you're making some kind of threat or what, but let me tell you this: you and I are here right now, and in this land, we deal with things like floods and bombings and whatever, and we come back big and strong because that's what happens to our souls when we carry all of that around all the time. So please, please don't tell me that you're some kind of terrorist or something crazy like that, because you are absolutely the most beautiful person I've talked to in a long time, and I don't want to think that someone like you has given up on this world, too."

The man stepped back. He brought his hands to his head and pulled his hair, as if he could pull himself up and keep from collapsing inside. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know where that came from," he said. "It's just, this week--are you all right? Are you okay?"

The hulder-maiden backed away as well. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm sorry. Thank you." Then she turned and ran, thinking of the stories the old hulder-folk told, of the hulder-maidens who had married into man's society and were baptized, who along with the waters of baptism had been given souls. She ran all the way back to the hill she called hers, unsure of what the words spoken between her and the man meant, but feeling heavy and wondering if what she was feeling inside her was like flood water starting to rise.