The Seven Sisters

About the legend

Being

Troll (Hestmannen)

Cultural meaning

The Seven Sisters legend is an etiological tale — a story created to explain natural features of the landscape. Norway's dramatic coastline, with its steep mountains and deep fjords, inspired countless such legends. The motif of trolls turning to stone at sunrise is one of the most widespread in Norwegian folklore and reflects a deep cultural connection between storytelling and landscape.

Fun fact

The Seven Sisters are seven real mountain peaks on the island of Alsten in northern Norway, and the tallest one is over 1,000 metres high! Nearby, there is a mountain called Torghatten with a real hole going right through it — the legend says a troll's arrow made that hole!

Cultural notes

The legend of De syv søstre (The Seven Sisters), Hestmannen (The Horseman), and Torghatten (the mountain with a hole through it) is one of Norway's most famous landscape legend cycles. It connects real geological features along the Helgeland coast into a single narrative. The Seven Sisters are seven peaks on the island of Alsten in Nordland, ranging from 910 to 1,072 metres. Hestmannen is a mountain on a nearby island that resembles a rider on horseback. Torghatten, on Torget island, has a natural tunnel through it — geologically formed by wave erosion during the last ice age, but explained in legend as the arrow shot by the pursuing troll. Petter Dass (1647–1707), one of Norway's greatest poets, lived as parish priest at Alstahaug on Alsten, directly beneath these peaks, and wrote extensively about the Helgeland landscape in his masterwork 'Nordlands Trompet.'

About this retelling

Traditional tale, retold for children A retelling of the Helgeland landscape legend of the Seven Sisters, Hestmannen and Torghatten.

The legend cycle connecting these real mountains along the Helgeland coast is Norwegian folk tradition. Scenes and dialogue are adapted for young readers.

Sources

• Nordlands Trompet — Petter Dass (1739)
• Norges land og folk: Nordlands amt — Amund Helland (1908)
• Norsk Folkeminnesamling (Norwegian Folklore Collection) — SAMLA national folklore archive

Themes

• sisterhood
• freedom
• courage
• unity
• De syv søstre
• Seven Sisters
• Hestmannen
• Torghatten
• Helgeland
• Nordland
• troll
• mountains
• landscape legend
• Norwegian folklore
• coast
• petrification

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