There are also grey dwarfs and murktrolls to cope with, and the siren calls of unseen ‘unearthly ones’.

But as well as birds, fish and wild horses, even bears, the forest is home to other unfamiliar creatures: vildvittror or wild ‘harpies’ – a bloodthirsty type of spirit or wight (from the Swedish vittra or vættr) – and in the winter the troglodyte rumpnissar or rumphobs, tiny primitive goblins. What then if Matt’s beloved Ronia were to cross or contradict him? And what will happen when Ronia realises exactly how Matt’s band acquires all the goods that she takes for granted?Īs Ronia grows up she takes to exploring the surrounding woods and enjoying the delights of nature. It begins in a jokey fashion, mostly fixated on Matt’s comic temper tantrums with him smashing food or drink against the castle hall’s walls, but it soon becomes clear that these displays of unrestrained anger are not only dangerous but may well lead to unforeseen outcomes. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this tale, either before or during much of the reading of it. The scene is thus set for a bitter feud between the two groups will brave young Ronia be able to reconcile the rivals or will things turn out entirely differently from the usual narrative predictions for children’s stories? Moat at Raglan Castle © C A Lovegrove

And in time that other part of the castle separated by what’s termed Hell’s Gap is taken over by a rival band of robbers led by Borka, to Matt’s impotent rage. There are no children however in the band – until one dark and stormy night when little Ronia is born, the baby girl who immediately becomes the apple of Matt’s eye.īut the night of Ronia’s birth a terrific lightning bolt splits the castle asunder. Matt and Lovis are in charge of a group of twelve robbers who waylay unwary travellers in what’s known as Matt’s Forest before retreating to their safe refuge on Matt’s Mountain, an eerie called Matt’s Fort approachable only by the Wolf’s Neck. That’s how it is.” įirst published in Swedish in 1981, Ronja Rövardotter was the last novel that Astrid Lindgren wrote at the age of 72, and it’s the kind of fairytale she thought people needed, essentially a Romeo and Juliet story but with a happy ending, set in an alternative medieval Sweden. “I write fairy tales, and people need fairy tales.

Ronja rövardotter by Astrid Lindgren